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APRIL 3, 1954

Product Digest): KNOCK ON WOOD, ELEPHANT WALK, PRISONER OF WAR, (In News

otter January-12, mSh at the Post 0§ic£^ at New York City, U. S. A., under the acc of March 1. 1S79. Pith-
PAtbttshing CiL^ 227Q Sixth Avotue^ Rocktfeller Center, Nezt* York 20, :V, V, Subscription prices: $5M0

fl^.00 a year Foreign, Single ea^y, 25~ cents. All contents atpyrighted 1954 by Quig/ey Publishing Company, Inc.

EXHIBITORS EVERYWHERE ARE SINGIHG

• • •

"JULIUS

AND YOU’LL
BE HEARING
THIS:

SENSATIONAL
NEW OPENINGS:

CAESAR”

("I Love You !”)

Frisco

12th Week
Los Angeles
5 th Month
Detroit
9th Week
Wash., D. C.

9th Week
Philly

9th Week
Dallas
4th Week

Toledo
2nd Week

Columbus
2nd Week

Pittsburgh

Milwaukee

Buffalo

Rochester

Syracuse

EXCELLENT BIZ:

Akron

Canton

Reading

Denver

AND MORE ON
THE WAY!

A NATIONWIDE SENSATION!

M-G-M presents

THE FIRST GREAT MUSICAL IN

CiNEMjdScOpE

In Color Glory

"ROSE MARIE”

starring

"/Lo^e

ANN BLYTH • HOWARD KEEL • FERNANDO LAMAS

BERT LAHR • MARJORIE 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 FRIML and HERBERT STOTHART

Photographed in EASTMAN COLOR • Directed by MERVYN LeROY

3rd Week at
Music Hall swell!
Off to a solid
start throughout
the nation!

LISTEN FOR
THIS:

^'RHAPSODY”

n Love You!")

TRADE SHOWS
APRIL 7

ALBANY

Worner Screening Room
no N. Pearl St. • 12 30 P.M
ATLANTA

20lh Century-Fox Screening Rm

197 Walton St. NW • 2 00 P.M.

BOSTON

RKO Screening Room

122 Arlington St. • 2:00 P.M.

BUFFALO

20th Century-fox Scr Room
290 Franklin St. * 8 00 P.M.
CHARLOTTE
20fh Century-Fox Scf Room
308 S. Church St. • 2 00 P.M

CINCINNATI

RKO Poloce Th Screening Room

PaloceTh. Bldg E. 6lh 8 00 PM

CLEVELAND

20th Century-Fox Screening Room
2219 Povne Ave. • 2 00 P.M.

CHICAGO DALLAS

Worner Screening Room 20th Century-Fox Scr Room

1307 So. Wobcth Ave. 1:30 P.M. 1803 Wood St. > 2.00 PM

DENVER

Poromount Screening Room
2100 Stout St. •2 00 PM.
DES MOINES
Poromount Scr Room
1125 High St. *12:45 P.M
DETROIT

Film Exchonge Building
2310 Coss Ave. 2.-00 P.M

INDIANAPOLIS
20fh Century-Fox Scr. Room
326 No IllinoijSt • 1 00 P.M
JACKSONVILLE
Florida Theatre Bldg. Scr.Rm.

128 E. Forsyth St. • 2 00 P.M
KANSAS CITY'

20lh Century-Fox Scr Room
1720 WyondotteSl. • 1:30P.M.

LOS ANGELES
Worner Screening Room
2025 S. Vermont Ave • 2 00 P.M
MEMPHIS

20th Century-Fox Screening Room
151 Vance Ave. • 12:15 P.M.
MILWAUKEE
Warner Theotre Screening Room
212 W Wisconsin Ave. 2 00 P.M.

MINNEAPOLIS
Worner Screening Room
1000 Currie Ave. 2:00 P.M.
NEW HAVEN
Worner Theotre Proj. Room
70 College St. • 2:00 P.M.
NEW ORLEANS
20th Century-Fox Scr. Room
200 liberty St- *8.00 P.M.

NEW YORK
Home Office

321 W, 44fh St. • 2:15 P.M.

OKLAHOMA

20fh Century-Fox Scr. Room

10 North Lee Si. • 1:30 P.M.

OMAHA

20th Century-Fox Scr Room
1502 Davenport St. 1:30 P.M.

THEM

STARRING

JAMES WHITMORE - EDMUND GWENN - JOAN WEEDON - JAMES ARNESS

ONSLOW STEVENS
SEAN iVIcCLORY
CHRIS DRAKE

LE-DEEP CATACOMBS TO SPREAD THEIR TERROR FROM LAND, SEA AND SKY!

PHILADELPHIA
Warner Screening Room
230 No. UlhSl. • ?;OOP.M.
PITTSBURGH
20th Cenfury-Fox Scr Room
1715 Blvd. of Allies 1;30P.M.
PORTLAND
Star ScrRm.

SALT LAKE CITY
20th Century-Fox Scr. Room
316 East 1st South l OOP.M.
SAN FRANCISCO
Republic Screening Room
221 Colden Gate Ave. 1;30P.M.
SEATTLE
Modern Theotre

ST. LOUIS
S'renco Screening Room
3143 Olive St. • 1 00 P.M.
WASHINGTON
Worner Theotre Building
13lhSE.Sts. N.W. 7:30 P.M.

»2S N. W. Hlh »ve. 2 00 P.M. 2400 Third Ave. • g0.30 PJl

Screen Play byTED SHERDEMAN • Produced by DAVID WEISBART
Directed by GORDON DOUGLAS • Music by Bronislau Kaper

MR. SHOWMAN, THIS IS

WARNER BROS.
SHOWMANSHIP!

HOTHING UKE ITS

STAGGERING STGRY
EVER HIT THE
SCREEN REFGRE!
NGTHING UKE ITS
SPECTACUUR
RALIYNCG
EVER
HEARD GR
SEEN REFGRE I

AREA-AFTER-AREA I
TO BE SUPER -SATURATED
WITH TELECAST-AFTER-
TELECAST AND BROADCAST-
AFTER-BROADCAST!
THE BIGGEST NATIONAL
DAY AND DATE RELEASE
EVER RECORDED! |

**ln recognition of their
imagination^ showmanship
and foresight, an honorary
award has been voted to
the 20th Century-Fox Film
Corporation for introducing
CinemaScopeF

Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences

In the Wonder of 4-TRACK HIGH-FIDELITY STEREOPHONIC SOUND

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. I

MARTIN QUIGLEY, }R., Editor

April 3, 1954

Cheers for COMPO

The fact that the campaign for relief from the
admissions tax was long and arduous makes the
victory more satisfying. Amid understandable re-
joicing over the new tax, time should be taken to give
due credit to COMPO. Without such an all-industry or-
ganization sparking the fight, tax revision might not
have been granted theatres.

Great importance for the future should be attached to
the point that after being grouped with the “cats and
dogs” of the amusement business at the beginning of
the Korean War, theatres are now separately classified
in the excise regulations. The twenty percent admission
tax continues to be levied on cabarets, night clubs, pro-
fessional sporting events, horse and dog races.

Now that theatre admissions are specially handled the
way will be open at the appropriate time to press for
lifting of the ten percent tax on the admissions above
fifty cents or at least increasing that exemption figure
substantially. In any event many of the theatres in
gravest financial straits are those which have been charg-
ing: a net admission price of less than fifty cents.

Since COMPO embraces the industry every one is
entitled to share in the credit for the success of the tax
campaign. Special mention is to be made of Robert
Coyne, COMPO executive director, Charles McCarthy,
information director, and Albert Sindlinger, statistical
expert. Over-all strategy was directed by the tax com-
mittee headed by Col. H. A. Cole and Pat McGee, work-
ing with the cooperation of the governing triumvirate of
Sam Pinanski, A1 Lichtman and Wilbur Snaper, who
succeeded Trueman Rembusch as Allied’s representative
several months ago.

Let’s give one cheer more !

■ ■ ■

Put Oscar to Work

The television program of the Academy Awards
presentation last week was a triumph for the mo-
tion picture and its people. One regret is that this
unusual opportunity to reach tens of millions was used
to sell automobiles— -in 1953 it was TV sets- — instead of
new films.

Only interest in motion pictures and screen personali-
ties could attract and hold the attentions of such a great
audience, yet all the commercials on the program were
for Oldsmobile ! Surely this is a situation that should not
be allowed to be repeated again. Unlike some industry
problems, here is one in which the remedial action is
neither obscure nor complex. As many in exhibition, dis-
tribution and production- — -as well as outsiders — have
suggested, the television program of the presentation of

the awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences should be sponsored by the industry.

Under industry sponsorship the show should continue
to be produced annually in all its splendor but it should
include appropriate reference to the new pictures with
which the honored artists are associated. Such informa-
tion would not only be fitting; it would be interesting
to the home audience throughout the country. The Oscar
is more than a symbol for past excellent service. Those
who receive it have new opportunities to exercise their
talents in current and forthcoming films.

In the past a few persons have asserted that the in-
dustry should not sponsor the Academy Awards in the
competitive medium of television. Those who have taken
this position should recall that the event happens only
once a year and the millions who see it at home get re-
newed enthusiasm for pictures and for stars. Theatres
are in a position to benefit from this enthusiasm through-
out the entire year.

Now — not next year — -is the time for the industry to
make definite arrangements to underwrite the staging
of the Academy Awards and the network television
charges. The several hundred thousand dollars involved
would be well spent.

The Patron and the Tax

Because changes in the admission tax were in-
cluded in a general excise bill which reduced many
taxes, a public relations situation has been created
for some exhibitors. Each exhibitor must decide for him-
self, situation by situation, in the light of community and
competitive conditions, how to establish his new admis-
sion prices. Care should be exercised to make sure that
patrons understand the new pricing policy. Many thea-
tres need all the tax relief granted in order to operate
with normal profit. In some situations the tax gains will
be split between theatres and customers. In others, prob-
ably a small minority, the entire amount of the tax will
be cut from the prices. Questions from patrons about ad-
mis'-.ions should be answered fully and frankly. The pub-
lic knows the exhibitor has been needing more revenue.

■ ■ ■

^ Among the many charitable and humanitarian causes
actively supported by Barney Balaban, president of
Paramount Pictures, none has been closer to his heart
than the Joint Defense Appeal. Therefore, it is especially
fitting that he should be honored at a dinner inaugurat-
ing the New York campaign on April 8. Mr. Balaban is
being saluted for “his efforts in the fight to protect
American civil rights and liberties.”

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

CinemaScope — Pro and Con

To THE Editor:

We were in attendance at the National
Allied convention in Boston last fall, and
quite frankly we were as antagonistic as the
next exliibitor when the subject of Cinema-
Scope and stereophonic sound came up.
However, we like show business and want
to stay in it and decided to take a chance
on CinemaScope — that it was the one chance
for exhibition to survive — both large town
and small.

We have just completed seven days of
“The Robe” — and as we have been told, we
are the smallest theatre to be equipped for
CinemaScope and four-channel stereophonic
sound thus far — we thought you would be
interested in the reaction of the people in
our small community.

Visually, CinemaScope in a small theatre
is even more impressive than in a large one
due to the fact that the illusion in grandeur
and size is greater in a small building — pro-
viding there is sufficient width. The average
exhibitor seems to be of the opinion that
the stereophonic sound is lost in a theatre
our size. We found the opposite to be true.
Not only is stereophonic sound far superior
in quality and reproduction to any theatre
sound thus far, but we found the directional
effect just as apparent as the CinemaScope
pictures we have seen in larger theatres.

We did very well with the picture and
our public is eagerly awaiting our next
CinemaScope attractions. We are stating
these facts with the hope that if this letter
is published, it will help to inspire con-
fidence in the theatres the size of our own
to take the big step and install CinemaScope
with full stereophonic sound as we did. In
this way everyone, from producer to small
town exhibitor, can benefit through more
and better CinemaScope products. — /. 0.
GUTHRIE, ozmer, Karol yn Theatre, Neiv
London, Ohio; City Hall Theatre, Green-
wich, Ohio.

To THE Editor:

An open letter to Spyros P. Skouras :

Like the Washington State exhibitor who
tendered you his plaudits recently in these
columns, I also am an agonized onlooker
at the wide screen, stereophonic melee, and
I do not operate a theatre in a large city.

However. I do own a small amount of
20th Century-Eox stock. I purchased it in
memory of the old “State Eair” days — when
the name Fox was synonymous Vv'ith quality

in motion pictures, and I hung on to it
with faith undiminished as recently as
“Titanic.”

The exhibitor referred to above remarks
that some people “feel they are being cru-
cified” by your tactics and those of the
other producers who have followed in your
footsteps. Don’t you realize in plain sober
truth that they are being crucified?

Hundreds of small business men have
their entire savings invested in the mechan-
ism for exhibiting motion pictures which
they assumed to have been standardized in
technical form.

Every manufacturer of a product knows
that there comes a time where he must
“freeze” its design and put it on the market
as is — even though it could probably be
much further improved in time. The orig-
inal developers of the motion picture art
were forced to come to an early comiiromise
on the shape of the picture, and to stick to
it — otherwise the industry could never have
gotten started.

You are not original in the desire to go
outside the existing form of an art for the
sake of variety, but you do come close to
originality in your power to force this type
of change willy-nilly on the practitioners of
your art, and in the feudal power of what
amounts to life or death which you hold
over the exhibitors who have raised you
to the position you hold.

In this day and age you are lucky to
hold this power, and it is my opinion that
if you abuse it beyond reason it will be
taken away from you.

There are around 30 million television
set owners who are looking at a picture of
3x4 aspect ratio. Not one of these sets
could receive a picture of a different shape,
or altered in any one of the many other
precise standards which have been set for
their transmission. The U. S. Government
has frozen these standards, and rightly so,
for the protection of both receiver owners
and station operators all over the country.

The producers of shows for TV have ac-
cepted these standards and are doing quite
well, thank you, in providing a variety of
entertainment of many different kinds.

Have you ever heard of a sonnet by Keats,
a concerto by Beethoven ? All of the arts
are characterized by self-imposed forms,
and the true artist works as willingly within
this framework as the football player who
plays his game by the rules.

Only the motion picture, which was al-
most ready to be accepted as an art, has
seen fit to break the rules, and panicky
because of a depression in attendance has
sought by a wholly unwarranted disruption
of its teclinical framework the solution to
its troubles.

You cannot fool the public. They know
that CinemaScope is just a long, thin movie.
So do all the honest reviewers who have no
axe to grind in giving the flagging movie
industry an undeserved shot in the arm.

So “The Robe” has out-grossed any movie
in history. If you count in the old-fashioned
way by heads of disappointed viewers in-
stead of inflated 1954 dollars, how has it
done ?

Be honest with yourself, Mr. Skouras,
liefore it is too late.

The people still like to go outside their
liome for an evening of community enjoy-
ment. They will still laugh and cry together
over a “Lilli” filmed almost entirely on one
set, or a “Stalag 17” which costs practically
nothing but abides by tried and true drama-
tic rules of hundreds of years standing.

Above ail, the public is intelligent. Do not
underestimate them. Ask yourself, “Would
I go across the street to see this picture
myself?” If the answer is not a truly honest
“yes,” think twice, Mr. Skouras, before you
pour any more money into the campaign to
bulldoze a.udiences into the theatre by sheer
weight of size and sound.

There is still no thrill on television which
can compete with the way theatre audiences
cheered Elizabeth Taylor home in “National
Velvet,” or any commerical-riddled so-called
drama in this medium that really strikes
home like “Bells of St. Mary’s” or “Going
My Way.”

You must still have the talent out there
in Hollywood. Give some of your great
directors and writers free rein again, be-
fore they too desert you forever.

We small exhibitors are still waiting. We
refuse to dig into our hard-earned savings
for wide screens and fancy speakers and
lenses for only one reason : we feel instinc-
tively that they will solve nothing.

We are waiting, but we can’t wait lonf.
You have only a few months to start making
plain, good movies for us, and releasing
them without gimmicks, to play on standard
equipment.

Otherwise, when the ruins of Cinema-
Scope lie at your feet, and you finally look
around for us, we won’t be there. — /. R.
COONEY, president, Waldo Theatre Cor-
poration, Waldoboro, Maine.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3. I9S4

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

April 3, 1954

INDUSTRY scores smashing victory in long
fight on taxes Page 12

CINEMASCOPE guarantee for exhibitors
reaffirmed by Skouras Page 13

20TH-FOX reports earnings for year are
more than doubled Page 16

PARAMOUNT Pageant visitors hear
promise of top product only Page 17

MGM announces plans to release eleven
films in five months Page 17

RKO-Hughes deal to go through as court
approves plan Page 17

SENATE group finds again film rentals not
arbitratable Page 20

VARIETY Club convention warm as or-
ganization's heart Page 22

MYERS declares SuperScope lens is the
best buy today Page 26

BRITISH laboratories resume work pending
labor settlement Page 26

ACADEMY awards seen by millions in vast
screen promotion Page 27

LIPPERT announces plans to offer eighteen
films this year Page 30

COUNCILS, united in Federation, attack
film censorship Page 34

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 35

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising Page 46

Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene Page 32

Late Review Page 30

Managers' Round Table Page 41

People in the News Page 34

What the Picture Did for Me Page 35

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews
Short Subjects Chart
The Release Chart

Page 2245
Page 2246
Page 2248

Motion pictures are among
12 lines of business which
Standard and Poor’s Invest-
ment Advisory Survey believes will
earn 10 per cent or more this year
than during 1953. Some others are
aircraft, food chains, chemicals,
dairy products, tires and rubber
goods. The survey also predicts
that among the lines which will de-
cline in earnings by 10 per cent or
more is radio-television.

► Motion Picture Association offi-
cials say they still have not received
any appeal from Howard Hughes
on the board’s fine against RKO
over the release of the “French
Line,’’ nor have they received pay-
ment of the fine. They would not
say how long they’ll wait before do-
ing something.

► MGM’s “Julius Caesar’’ has pulled
in more than $1,500,000. This is from
38 runs. The New York City run,
incidentally, now in its tenth month,
accounts for $500,000. The film will
have 75 more openings during April.
It still has no general release.

► The official Government film of
the first H-bomb explosion in
November, 1952, is finally being re-
leased for theatre and television
showing, starting April 7.

► It is apparent despite lack of offi-
cial confirmation at midweek, that
Walt Disney Productions is flirting
with big-time television production.
The board of directors at press time
was reported to have put aside ap-
proval of a deal with the American
Broadcasting Company, pending
further negotiation. The board met
at Burbank, Cal. Earlier, ABC di-
rectors were said to have approved
the proposals which were by Roy
Disney, president of the film com-
pany, and Robert E. Kintner, net-
work president. They are reported

to be for a one hour weekly show on
film; and also for operation of a
southern California amusement park
to be known as Disneyland. This
latter would apparently be a locale
for film production and a tourist at-
traction.

^ Says the Polaroid Corporation :
public acceptance of 3-D has grown.
Its 1953 report also points to su-
perior draw against “flat” versions.
Polaroid covering all its enterprises,
reports a net profit of $1,415,021. Its
1952 profit was $597,210.

► Paradox in Italy: The HERALD
correspondent in Rome reports that
Piero Piccioni, whose involvement in
a recent murder scandal threatened
to topple the middle-of-the-road
government in which his father is
Foreign Minister, also contributed
the musical score to a film called
“La Spiaggia,” described as “open
Communist propaganda.”

► The editor of the West Virginia
“News,” Ronceverte, W. Va., has
his own theory of what happened
to the motion pictures and what
now will happen. Exhibitor J. C.
Shanklin, a close friend of the edi-
tor, forwards an article in which he
says : “The more we see of tele-
vision the more convinced we be-
come that we have been wasting a
lot of sympathy for the future of the
movies. They have nothing to fear
if they stick to entertainment. Let
the movies forsake all forms of
propaganda, political and otherwise,
and that includes racial relations
propaganda, and they will recover
and enlarge a healthy clientele.”

^ The Senate Small Business Com-
mittee’s new criticism of Allied
States Association for insisting on
arbitration of film rentals will not
alter Allied’s stand. Allied officials
insist.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable oddress,
“Qulgpubco, 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;
Roy 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 Will.iams
Bvrnup, 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 11 of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3. 1954

by the Herald

SIGNING GREER
G A R S O N for
"Strange Lady In
Town". With Miss
Garson are Jack L.
Warner, right, exec-
utive producer, and
Mervyn LeRoy, who
will direct. Mr. Le-
Roy previously di-
rected Miss Garson
In starring roles tor
MGM.

AT THE RECEP-
TION following the
wedding in London
of Arthur S. Abeles,
Warners' director
for Great Britain.
At left, Dr. Eric
Fletcher: Mrs.
Abeles, the former
Mrs. Audrey Han-
son-Lawson; Wolfe
Cohen, Warner
International presi-
dent; and Mr.
Abeles.

ENLISTING THE INDUSTRY for the Red
Cross drive in New York, which must raise
$5,900,000. The scene at the Metropolitan
Club, In that city, Tuesday, as Spyros
Skouras, 20th-Fox president, and chairman
of the industry committee, convened Its
members at luncheon. The speaker Is Mr.
Skouras. With him are George H. Coppers,
National Biscuit Company president and
general chairman of the Red Cross cam-
paign; actress Vanessa Brown; actress
Phyllis Hill; LeRoy A. Lincoln, Metropolitan
Life Insurance board chairman and national
campaign vice-chairman; and William J.
German. The local industry goal is $44,600.

IN ATHENS, posing at the home of West-
ern New York State circuit owner Nikitas
D. DIpson: Mr. and Mrs. James Coston,
of Standard Theatres, Chicago; and Mr.
and Mrs. DIpson.

by the Herald

AMERICC ABCAF, foreign sales manager
tor Universal International, as he spoke to
trade reporters last week in the New York
home office after his return from the Film
Festival In Brazil and visits to other countries.
See page 34.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

THE DEVICE, above. At the right, Dr, Robert Gottsehalk displays
his creation to the press. Below, some who attended the New York
demonstration: left, Arthur Steele, Al Suchman, Louis Golding;
center, Eugene Pleshette, Bob Shapiro; right, SuperScope inventors
Joseph and Irving Tushinsky and producer Sam Spiegel, center.

INTRODUCING THE
SUPER-PANATAR

by the Herald

IN HOLLYWOOD,
as the Mot ion Pic-
ture Sound Editors
presented their first
annual award to
producer George
Pal and Paramount
Pictures, for "War
of the Worlds". At
the right, Mr. Pal;
actress Pat Crow-
ley, who presented
the citation; and as-
sociate producer
Frank Freeman, Jr.

MAKING HIS FIRST VISIT.
Eugene P. Walsh, center, recently
elected vice-president and treas-
urer of Universal International, is
guest at a studio reception. With
him are James Pratt, executive
manager; Edward Muhl, vice-presi-
dent In charge of production; Gil-
bert Kurland, production manager;
and Morris Weiner, studio man-
ager.

SPEAKER, at the or-
ganizational meeting
last week In New York
of the Federation of
Motion Picture Coun-
cils: Marjorie G. Daw-
son, associate director
of the Motion Picture
Association of Amer-
ica community rela-
tions department.

by the Herald

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

TAX VICTORY: 10%,
50 TEXTS EXEMPT

by J. A. OTTEN

WASHINGTON: Emerging from a long, hard, two-year
battle of the Congress over admission taxes, led vigorously
by COMPO, the motion picture industry this week yelled
“Victory !”

As President Eisenhower here Wednesday affixed his
signature to the excise tax measure immediately before
the April 1 deadline, the industry counted its blessings,
and they were more than had been expected earlier.

From a compromise committee of House and Senate
conferees had come Monday night an exemption from all
tax on tickets costing up to and inclusive of 50 cents, as
well as the reduction of the tax itself from 20 per cent to
10 per cent. The reduction was basically agreed to by
each house separately, while the 50-cent exemption was
a compromise from the Senate’s unexpected — and very
welcome — action of last week in calling for an exemption
of tickets inclusive of 60 cents.

COMPO officials estimate that 9,000 theatres in the
U. S. will now be tax exempt.

Committee officials estimated that the admissions tax
provision as finally approved would cost the United States
Treasury about $190,000,000 a year in admissions tax
revenue.

THE OLD AND NEW SCALES

Total

, Old Tax ^

( New Tax n

Price

Admission

Tax

Admission Tax

15^

12^

15^^ 1

Exempt

from tax

1 1

$1.00

* Tax not

breakable for this

total admission

price.

The conferees went along with COMPO
in an important aspect: The tax rate on
the higher-priced tickets would be one per
cent for each 10 cents or major fraction
thereof, as provided in the Senate bill. The
House bill had made the rate one cent for
each 10 cents or fraction even if the frac-
tion were a minor fraction. COMPO had
argued this would be especially important
with respect to children’s admissions and
tickets for smaller theatres.

A major fraction, Congressional tax ex-
perts ruled, is six cents or more. Thus a

54- cent ticket would be taxed five cents, a

55- cent ticket would be taxed five cents, but
a 56-cent ticket would be taxed six cents.

Col. H. A. Cole and Pat McGee, co-chair-
men of COMPO’s tax committee, in a state-
ment issued after the President signed the
bill, said the 50-cent exemption in addition
to benefiting 9,000 theatres, would remove
the threat of bankruptcy from more than
4,800 small town houses and put on a
sounder footing another 1,300 now in a mar-
ginal position. He also predicted that as
many as 1,000 theatres, forced to close be-
cause of the 20 per cent tax, would be able
to reopen.

In a separate statement, Sam Pinanski,
co-chairman of COMPO, cautioned that
despite the help the industry will get from
tax relief many problems still remain to
be solved. Praising the work of Col. Cole,
Mr. McGee and Robert Coyne for their
leadership, he said, “the potency of intra-
industry cooperation has been amply demon-
strated. It must continue. We must plan

the establishment of a strong, solidly based
permanent intra-industry organization.’’

In another aftermath, a “solemn warning’’
to exhibition that it guard the admission
tax cut from being exploited by local govern-
ment agencies was sounded by Alfred Starr,
former president of the Theatre Owners of
America. He coupled the warning with a
second admonition which he called a “worse
threat.’’ Distribution, he charged, will accept
the cut as a “signal to increase rentals.’’

COM^Cites

Tax Status

The Council of Motion Picture Organiza-
tions in the fifth ad in “Editor and Pub-
lisher” March 27 made it clear to newspaper
editors, as the industry spokesmen have
to Congress, what would happen when the
expected tax cut went into effect.

“Many theatres will be able to pass the
tax saving to the public in the form of low-
ered admission prices,” the ad said. “But,
as we have tried to make clear in these
advertisements, there are others that will
find such a reduction in price impossible.

“The reason for this is easy to under-
stand,” it points out. “Prevented from
adequately raising their prices during in-
flation by the 20 per cent Federal admission
tax, which acted as a ceiling, these theatres
have been operating at a loss for years. If
they don’t keep for themselves the slight

■

nj’" E^:. Pr. J

■

■ ’

, w'i

1 Sc I

O/d and new style tickets for New York's
Radio City Music Hall. The ticket at top
shows the admission totai before tax reduc-
tion, and below is the new look.

saving represented in the admission tax cut
they will have gone out of business.”

All this was made clear in the testimony
of industry representatives before the House
Ways and Means Committee last April. The
ad cites the testimony of Pat McGee of
Denver, one of the industry representatives,
who said: “Maybe one man (meaning an
exhibitor) will give it all back, maybe his
neighbor, the man across the street, will
try to give back part of it, and perhaps
some who are in a desperate state will retain
it all and still struggle.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3. 1954

CINEMASCOPE PROMISE
REAFFIRMED R Y SKOCRAS

A MOMENT for tribute. Spyros Skouras, left, 20fh-Fox president, presiding at the press
conference Monday in New York, pauses as Charles Einfeld, vice-president, reads a
telegram from a prominent producer, asking for permission to use the new CinemaScope
photographing lenses. Center, W. C. Michel, executive vice-president.

Fox Heads Cite Advances,
Advantages in System
for All Exhibitors

by VINCENT CANBY

This week once again it was Cinema-
Scope, the first and foremost of all the
’scopes, which dominated the news. The oc-
casion was a luncheon at New York’s Plaza
Hotel with Spyros Skouras, 20th-Fox presi-
dent, as host to 75 members of the industry
and lay press. Led by Mr. Skouras, 20th-
Fox’s first team of executives presented the
latest in the CinemaScope story, four high-
lights of which were :

Q A reaffirmation that 20th-Fox
will guarantee profit to every ex-
hibitor who plays a 20th-Fox
CinemaScope production.

^ A promise that within the next
30 to 40 days the company will
hold both here and abroad tests of
four-track, magnetic stereophonic
sound versus single track sound,
to be in conjunction with demon-
strations to exhibit technical ad-
vances in CinemaScope photog-
raphy.

Announcement of reduction by
Bausch & Lomb of the price of
CinemaScope projection attach-
ments to $547.50 for a small size
unit and $597.50 for a large size
unit, or $1,095 per small pair and
$1,195 per large pair.

^ Announcement of completion
of seven new CinemaScope cam-
era lenses of increased focal
lengths which provide greater
flexibility, range and depth.

The Monday presentation was a carefully
staged affair, designed to present the latest
CinemaScope developments, in relation to
all that has gone before in its evolution,
while at the same time presenting cogent
answers to questions raised recently by pro-
moters of other ’scope systems.

Mr. Skouras presided, introducing key
men of the 20th-Fox staff to discuss in de-
tail the various phases of the CinemaScope
story. Sharing the speaking chore were A1
Lichtman, director of distribution ; Maurice
Silverstone, president of 20th Century-Fox
International ; Earl Sponable, head of the
company’s research department; Herbert
Bragg, assistant to Mr. Sponable, and Wil-
liam C. Michel, executive vice-president.

Mr. Skouras and the other company offi-
cials emphasized repeatedly that 20th-Fox
“welcomes” the introduction of new proc-
esses and techniques which will help win
and hold public interest for motion pictures
in the competitive battle with television. At
the same time, they left no doubt that in their
minds CinemaScope has no rival on the
scene yet.

“In developing CinemaScope,” said Mr.
Skouras, “we have had only one goal: to
bring back the large masses of people to
the motion picture box office. Our aim at all

times has been to keep the theatres of the
world prosperous and open, because we
know that their welfare and .their success is
our own success. . . . CinemaScope has made
this not just a hope but a reality. Every the-
atre in the Lhiited States which has played
a CinemaScope picture has made a profit.

“We have said before and we now re-state
that 20th Century-Fox guarantees a profit
to every exhibitor on every CinemaScope
picture.” This, officials explained earlier,
would consist of a review of the rental terms
of a CinemaScope picture if the exhibitor
finds he has not made a profit.

Mr. Skouras revealed that the company
has invested $15,900,000 in the process. This
includes guaranteed minimum number of
sales of lenses, stereophonic sound equip-
ment and screens, research and promotion,
among other things. It does not include any
film production costs. Despite the fact that
20th-Fox had not yet recouped all of its in-
{Continued on page 16)

CINEMASCOPE vs. ITS PREDECESSORS

A comparison of the grosses on the first five CinemaScope
features with previous regular features is shown below. With
the exception of "Gone with the Wind," used as a base for

Weeks in Theatre

Fraduction Release Gross Bookings Film Rental

The Robe 25 $24,600,000 1,370 $13,263,238

Millionaire 18 8,500,000 813 3,728,001

<2-Mile Reef 13 3,872,000 454 1,558,006

Khyber Rifles 12 2,653,000 473 1,306,346

Hell & High Water 4 1,473,600 99 518,739

"The Robe," the pictures were chosen because they had approxi-
mately the same stars or production values as the CinemaScope
features.

Production

Weeks in
Release

Bookings

Film Rental

Gone with the Wind

5,450

$13,500,000

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

10,418

4,433,981

Anne of Indies

123

14,1 17

1,271,400

Pony Soldier

14,703

1,622,000

Destination Gobi

12,004

1,048,124

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

The Hate-Beast

who ves to k

IS oose

The Year's

biggest

tHRllVA

A Panoramic Production
Released by 20th Century-Fox

Lee J. Cobb

John G. Kellogg

KINS and BARNEY SLATER

CINEMASCOPE

(Continued from page 13)

vestment in equipment, Mr. Skouras said, it
had nevertheless recommended to Bausch
& Lomh that it reduce the price of the lenses
as of April 1.

Referring to the company’s insistence
upon stereophonic sound, the 20th-Fox chief
said, “We can easily abandon our policy. We
would then be heroes — but thousands and
thousands of theatres would close their
doors.”

The company, he continued, will approach
once again Theatre Owners of America and
Allied States Association for a series of
single track versus stereophonic sound tests,
and he expressed hope that committees
would be selected in each exchange area “to
bring in their own findings.” Should the
industry overwhelmingly reject stereophonic
sound, he said, 20th-Fox would “give every
consideration” to the possibility of giving up
its present policy on that score.

Mr. Lichtman, hitting at those who would
“bastardize the medium,” outlined his senti-
ments and the company’s conviction of the
need for stereophonic sound.

Repeats Fox Policy on
Exhibitor Credit Aid

He also reiterated 20th-Fox’s policy of
aiding small exhibitors who wish to equip
but who do not have the ready cash. In no
instance, he declared, where 20th-Fox has
lias been asked to help the exhibitor gain
long-term credit, has the company failed the
exhibitor.

On the question of product, Mr. Lichtman
said that CinemaScope productions now in
release, before the cameras or planned, num-
ber 75. This figure includes 30 from 20th-
Fox, 14 from Warner Brothers, 15 from
MGM, two from Universal, eight from Col-
umbia, three from Walt Disney, two from
United Artists and one from Allied Artists.

Mr. Lichtman also enunciated the 20th-
Fox policy on double feature programs.
“With CinemaScope,” he said, “we’re trying
to kill double bills,” maintaining that the
twin feature has never been liked by the
public.

Briefing the press on the foreign field,
IMr. Silverstone declared that “The Robe”
gross was running 400 per cent greater than
the company’s previous record grosser, “The
Snows of Kilimanjaro.” In 79 engagements
“The Robe” has grossed more than the av-
erage 20th-Fox picture does in 18,000, he
said.

Some 1,000 theatres abroad, he reported.

EARL I. SPONABLE, 20fh-Fox research di-
rector, as he displayed, explained and lauded
the new series of Bausch and Lomb lenses
at the Monday luncheon in New York.

now are equipped or are in process of being
equipped for CinemaScope, and he added the
prediction that by the end of the year 5,000
or more theatres will be able to handle the
medium.

CinemaScope’s technical advances and the
reasons for its superiority were the subjects
handled by Mr. Sponable and Mr. Bragg.

Describing the seven new Bauch & Lomb
CinemaScope camera lenses, Mr. Sponable
said that their focal lengths range from
13mm to 152mm, or in terms of horizontal
field angles, from 122 degrees to 18 degrees,
inclusive. These, he said, will improve the
definition of CinemaScope pictures, in addi-
tion to giving the director greater flexibility.
The superior quality of these “taking lenses,”
he said, would be demonstrated in conjunc-
tion with the forthcoming sound tests.

Commenting on prismatic or variable ana-
morphic lenses — two of which were demon-
strated recently in New York, the 20th-Fox
research chief said the company had tested
such devices in England and found them
fuzzy around the edges in short throws and
as expensive as cylindrical lenses for very
long throws in large theatres or drive-ins.
It is “unlikely,” he said, that as good results
can be obtained with a variable lens as “one
designed to do a specific job.”

At the same time he affirmed his faith in
the principle of photographing “anamor-
phicly” (with an anamorphic camera lens)
rather than shooting with a conventional
lens and making anamorphic prints in the
laboratory. “There is a better quality in
blowup work,” he said. If producers gener-
ally should take up the recommendation of
the Tushinsky brothers and make anamor-

Photos by the Herald

HERBERT BRAGG, 20th-Fox research author-
ity, as he told of trial-and-error, evolved
improvements, and advantages of magnetic
sound used in CinemaScope. With him is dis-
tribution director Al Lichtman.

phic prints available in ratios of 1 :85-to-l
and 2-to-l, rather than CinmeScope’s 2:55-
to-1 ratio, Mr. Sponable said an adopter
would be available from Bausch & Lomb for
attachment to the CinemaScope projector
device, thus making unnecessary the pur-
chase of an entire new lens.

Mr. Bragg defended 20th-Fox’s magnetic
stereophonic sound policy on both the price
and technical levels. At least three tracks are
required, he said, for the best stereophonic
effects. Single track directional optical
sound, he said, is limited in frequency re-
sponse, volume and range.

Savings Are for Producers,

Labs, Not for Exhibitors

The single optical track directional sys-
tem he described as a saving principally for
the producer (whose prints can be played
either in the conventional or stereo man-
ner ) and the laboratory, and practically none
at all for the exhibitor who still must pur-
chase the horns, amplifiers, wiring, etc., as
with magnetic stereo sound. He also ven-
tured the opinion that stereo sound is just
as important to the small theatre as the
large, adding that some theatre managers
believe it is better in the small theatres
where there are frequently fewer acoustical
problems.

The subject of stereophonic sound at
drive-ins was touched upon earlier by Mr.
Lichtman, pro predicted that drive-in oper-
ators will get on the bandwagon and install
the necessary equipment. He said that since
the first drive-in CinemaScope showing, at
the Motor-Vu, Salt Lake City, he had re-
ceived many enquiries on how to get ready
for CinemaScope. He also read a telegram
from Claude Ezell, of Texas, telling of the
enthusiastic reception in Dallas last week to
the drive-in showing of “Prince Valiant” at
the Buckner Boulevard drive-in.

Editor Talks to NYU Group

Martin Quigley, Jr., editor of The
HERALD, addressed the Pre-Bar Associa-
tion of the law school of New York Univer-
sity, Wednesday, March 31, on the subject
“Movies, Morals and the Law.”

FOX MORE THAN DOUBLES EARNINGS

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation and wholly-owned subsidiaries Tussday
reported consolidated net earnings of $4,560,887 for the year ended December 26.
1953. This amounted to $1.65 per share on the 2.769.486 shares of common stock
outstanding. Comparable operations for the year 1952 showed net earnings of
$2,178,117 which amounted to $.78 per share. The net earnings for the fourth
quarter ended December 26. 1953. amounted to $3,127,850 as compared with
$900,849 for the fourth quarter of 1952.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3. 1954

Caurt Clears
WayiarRKO
MMaghes Real

The way wa cleared for the carrying
through of the Howard Hughes-RKO Pic-
tures deal last Friday when Chancellor Col-
lins Seitz, in Wilmington, Del., ruled against
two minority stockholders seeking to enjoin
the sale of the company to Mr. Hughes.

Chancellor Seitz, in dismissing the suit
brought by Louis Schiff and Jacob Sacks,
wrote a 34-page opinion.

Under the deal, which according to the
Hughes ot¥er, had to be consummated not
later than 10 A.M. Friday, April 2, stock-
holders were to receive their pro-rata share
of the purchase price, consisting of $6 for
each share tendered for redemption. The
Hughes $23,489,478 offer set the Friday
deadline for the transfer of the company’s
assets to Mr. Hughes.

Chancellor Seitz found that the plaintiffs
had failed to sustain the burden of proof
of showing fraud or bad faith and that they
were not entitled to an injunction. The
chancellor also noted that the plaintiffs have
not pressed for a receiver, and assumed that
this action was abandoned.

The chancellor’s decision concluded a
judgment on the merits in favor of the
defendant RKO. The decision came follow-
ing a four-day hearing early in March and
the vote of the RKO stockholders in Dover,
Del., last week which approved the offer.

Meanwhile in Las Vegas, Nev., the RKO
Pictures minority stockholders suit pending
against Mr. Hughes was dismissed Tuesday
by the District Court of Nevada. Plaintiff's
were Eli and Marion Castleman and Louis
Feurerman.

MUM Plans
//, Manths

MGM has revised its tentative schedule
of releases and will make available to ex-
hibitors 11 pictures from April to August.
In the new program announced for the
coming months, “Gone With the Wind” is
definitely set for release in July on wide
screen. It will be continued in its original
220-minute length. Nine of the 11 pictures
are in color, the two exceptions being
“Executive Suite” and “Prisoner of War.”

“Julius Caesar” will make a 12th picture
and will be continued to be handled with an
eye toward special bookings.

For April the schedule provides for
“Gypsy Colt,” with Donna Corcoran, Frances
Dee; “Rhapsody,” Elizabeth Taylor, Vit-
torio Gassman; “Executive Suite,” William
Holden, June Allyson and Fredric March.

Set for May is “Prisoner of War,” Ron-
ald Reagan, Dewey Martin and “Flame of
the Flesh,” Lana Turner, Pier Angeli.

In June there are two releases ; “Men of

PROMISE TOP PRODUCT ONLY
AT PARAMOUNT'S PAGEANT

Photos by the Herald

Edward Bell, Leon Rosenblatt, Sam Einhorn,

Irving Kaplan, Sam Rinzier, Norman Elson.

Richard Brandt, Tom Rodgers. Walter Brecher Harold Klein, Julius Joelson.

Exhibition was Informed by Paramount
Monday that the company henceforth will
deliver top product exclusively "because
theatre men want and need such pictures
to make money."

A. W. Schwalberg, president of Para-
mount Film Distributing Corp., and Don
Hartman, Paramount Pictures executive
producer, outlined this policy from the
screen of 26 theatres in as many key cities
to audiences of exhibitors, bookers and
critics, who attended the initial presenta-
tion of the week's Paramount Pictures
Pageant.

The two Paramount executives spoke to
the audiences in specially made short sub-
jects that were included in the program
presenting "Elephant Walk," "About Mrs.
Leslie" and "Knock on Wood." By the end
of the week the Pageant program was to
have been presented in 34 key cities.

Mr. Schwalberg and other Paramount
sales executives Monday attended the
home office preview showings in New York
for metropolitan area exhibitors. Division
and branch managers were hosts at the
pageant screenings in their respective terri-
tories.

the Fighting Lady,” Van Johnson, Walter
Pidgeon, and “The Student Prince,” in
Cinemascope with Ann Blyth, Edmund
Purdom.

July will have the new release of “Gone
With the Wind,” and “Betrayed,” Clark
Gable, Lana Turner.

In August there are “Seven Brides for
Seven Brothers,” CinemaScope, Howard
Keel and Jane Powell; “Her Twelve Men,”
Greer Garson, Robert Ryan.

Completed and still in the final stages of
editing are five: “Beau Brummel,” Elizabeth
Taylor, Stewart Granger; “Brigadoon,”
CinemaScope, Gene Kelly, Van Johnson;
“Crest of the Wave,” Gene Keily; “Valley
of the Kings,” Robert Taylor, Eleanor
Parker. In addition to these there are five
productions in preparation, namely “Athena,”
“The Last Time I Saw Paris,” “The Glass
Slipper,” “Green Fire” and “Jupiter’s
Darling.”

Affirm Dismissal of
National Screen Suit

PHILADELPHIA: The United States
Court of Appeals here Wednesday affirmed
the dismissal of the Lawlor and Pantzer
suit against National Screen Service Cor-
poration and all motion picture distributors.
The decision was unanimous.

Mr. Pantzer and Mr. Lawlor, as the In-
dependent Poster Exchange, filed the suit in
1949, claiming monopoly and violation of
the anti-trust laws. In November, 1953,
Chief Judge Kirkpatrick of the U. S. Dis-
trict Court granted a motion to dismiss the
action. The Poster Exchange appealed, re-
sulting in Wednesday’s decision.

Praising the dismissal as “gratifying,”
Herman Robbins, president of National
Screen, said “National Screen will continue
its efforts to render useful services at mode.st
prices to exhibitors.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

Cash In On The Biggest Movie News

PARAMOUNTS CROWD-PUILING

STALAG 17

with the Academy Award performance for

BEST ACTOR OF THE YEAR

with the Academy Award performance for

BEST ACTRESS OF THE YEAR

ROMAN HOLIDAY

WILLIAM HOLDEN

AUDREY HEPBURN

GREGORY AUDREY

PECK on. HEPBURN

in William Wyler’s

production of

ROMAN HOLIDAY

with EDDIE ALBERT

Produced and Directed by William Wyler
Screenplay by Idn McLellan Hunter and John Dighton
Story by Ian McLellan Hunter

MORE ACADEMY AWARDS-to Edith Head for its
costumes — and to Ian McLellan Hunter for its story.

STALAG 17

starring

WILLIAM DON OTTO

I HOLDEN -lAYLOR- PREMINGER

Produced and Directed by Billy Wilder
Written for the screen by Billy Wilder and Edwin Blum
? Based on the play by Donald Sevan and Edmund Trzcinski

Of The Year By Dating Immediately

ACADEMY AWARD AHRACTIONS !

Never before has the awarding of the Oscars
aroused such widespread interest. The TV and radio
audience totaled over 60 million theatregoers in every
city, village and hamlet in America -with headlines
in every newspaper from coast to coast! We’re
ready to give extra fast service, plus special
Academy Award campaign material, to all the alert
showmen who are rushing to book Paramount’s
winners. The quicker you act, the bigger the profits!

SHANE is hotter fhan a smoking gun too because
the Irving Thalberg Award for Distinguished Achievement
went to its producer-director, George Stevens, and it won
the color cinematography Oscar for Loyal Griggs.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS has new sensation-value

because millions have just heard that it grabbed the Oscar
for special effects, devised by its producer, George Pal.

SENATE GROUP REPEATS:

Instatlation
Of Perspecta
Is Urged

RENTALS IVOT
ARBITRATABLE

Small Business Unit Backs
Industry Attempts for
System Without Allied

WASHINGTON: The Senate Sinai! Busi-
ness Committee reiterated its last year’s
statement that film rentals are not the proper
subject of arbitration, and endorsed the in-
dustry’s decision to go ahead and try to
work out an arbitration system despite Al-
lied States Association’s refusal to take part.

This was contained in the official version
of the Committee’s 1953 annual report, filed
in the Senate last week. It was omitted from
an earlier version which had been released
by the committee as the official committee
report, but which turned out to have been
a staff report, not fully concurred in by Sen.
Schoeppel ( R., Kans. ). He was chairman of
the subcommittee which last year investi-
gated film industry trade practices.

Cuts Justice Criticism

The new version also toned down some-
what the earlier version’s criticisms of the
Justice Department, but still indicated
strong disapproval of the pre-release prac-
tice and other distributor trade practices,
and still indicated misgivings about the
Justice Department’s activities in this field.

Senator Schoeppel later took the Senate
floor to say that he still had not had time to
go over the earlier version as carefully as
he would have liked, but that he had man-
aged to make certain “minimum changes.”
He said he had been “amazed” to learn of the
release to the press of the earlier report on
March 16, and that he felt the earlier ver-
sion “contained inconsistencies and substan-
tial differences” from the film subcommit-
tee’s report of last August. He had there-
fore insisted on certain changes, he said.

The earlier version, on the subject of ar-
bitration, merely said there was disagree-
ment over arbitrating film rentals, and ex-
pressed the hope that this would not be al-
lowed to break up the efforts for an arbitra-
tion system.

See No Bar to Arbitration

The official version filed last week pointed
out that the committee’s film report last
August had stated unequivocally that it does
not believe film rentals should be the subject
of arbitration and that a distributor is en-
titled to the best possible price for product.

“That position, in the committee’s opinion,
is a sound one and it reiterates it here,” the
final report said. “There is no reason to be-
lieve that the non-inclusion of film rentals
as an arbitrable matter will prevent the
working out of a successful arbitration sys-
tem. The committee has noted with approval

MYERS ATTACKS
"DOGMATICISM"

WASHINGTON: Commenting on the
Senate Small Business Committee's
reaffirmation of its belief that film
rentals should not be arbitrated,
Abram F. Myers, Allied States Asso-
ciation general counsel, said he found
It "rather astonishing that the Com-
mittee should be so dogmatic about
an Issue that was not developed be-
fore it by oral testimony in the hear-
• 1 1
mgs.

the formal invitation extended by the dis-
trihutor groups to exhibitors to again sit
down for the purpose of reaching agreement.

“It also notes with approval that despite
the fact that one exhibitor organization re-
fuses to confer, a number of other exhibitor
organizations have agreed to go ahead in an
effort to gradually overcome many of the
industry’s problems. The committee cannot
too strongly emphasize its belief that a vol-
untary arbitration system will do much to
get the motion picture e.xhibitors and dis-
tributors out of constantly publicly airing
their differences.”

The other changes made by Senator
Schoeppel from the earlier version of the
committee report seemed aimed at taking
out certain slaps at the Justice Department’s
anti-trust division, without removing the
committee’s basic criticisms of the depart-
ment’s policy.

Still Critical, However

For example, the new version still says
the committee cannot understand why the
division approved the “flat sum” method of
pricing before it determined whether the
pre-release practice involved illegal clear-
ances and price fixing. However, the report
eliminates a sentence in the earlier report
that this decision will “provoke consterna-
tion in the ranks of the independent exhibi-
tors.”

The new report still says that if the spirit
of the law is to be observed, the limitations
placed upon clearance itself should he ap-
plied to the pre-release period, but deletes
an earlier sentence that “the main issue en-
compasses the spirit as well as the letter of
the injunctions in the Paramount case.”

The final report still criticizes RKO for
its handling of the Reuben Shor case, but
eliminates a sentence in the earlier report
that “it is even now a matter of conjecture
why the Anti-Trust Division failed to issue
even a reprimand in this case.” Other
changes were in keeping with these.

All theatre owners who also are “good
housekeepers” were advised last week by
Barney Balaban, Paramount president, to
install Perspecta Stereophonic sound.

In an interview in New York following
the announcement that Paramount had
joined MGM in the adoption of Perspecta
Sound, Mr. Balaban said that whether or
not the exhibitor installs the Perspecta
Sound reproducer, he will be furnished with
prints. However, he added, “if I were an
exhibitor and wanted to do a good house-
keeping job, I would install the system with
my large screen.” Perspecta Sound is a
single optical track so equipped with a con-
trol that it can be played directionally over
several speakers, or in the conventional
manner through one speaker.

Paramount, said Mr. Balaban, had adopted
Perspecta Sound in an effort to move to-
ward standardization. He said Paramount
made its decision on the basis of the MGM
study of the system which he described as
simple and cheap.

In Hollywood, Y. Frank Freeman, Para-
mount vice-president in charge of the studio,
was host Thursday at a special demonstra-
tion at the studio of the company’s Vista-
Vision process. On hand were exhibitors
from the six western branch territories, as
well as theatre men from the Los Angeles
area who had been unable to attend the
earlier showings. The time and the theatre
for the New York VistaVision showings
will be set in the near future.

All Loew Theatres Plan
Perspecta Sound Units

All Loew’s theatres in the United States
and Canada soon will begin installation of
Perspecta Sound integrators, reproducers to
be used with the new Perspecta Stereophonic
optical sound system which Paramount and
MGM recently announced they would use in
recording all forthcoming films. Target date
for public introduction of the new equipment
is about June 1, according to Joseph R.
Vogel, vice-president in charge of Loew the-
atre operations. Since all Loew theatres al-
ready have installed equipment for use with
magnetic stereophonic sound, the new
scheme requires only the installation of the
Perspecta integrator unit. The same horns
and wiring system are used for both.

Loew Theatres Honor
Veteran Film Critics

The current issue of “Movie Memo,”
Loew’s Theatres’ house organ, is a salute
to the “Motion Picture Critics’ 30-Year
Club,” honoring MGM’s 30th anniversary
jubilee. Included are pictures and brief biog-
raphies of 19 veteran motion picture critics,
led by Terry Ramsaye, “Class of 1905,” who
is consulting editor of Quigley Publications.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

“THE NAKED JUNGLE”

IN TECHNICOLOR IS RUNAWAY
ROXOFFICE SENSATION ! AWE-
INSPIRING GROSSES FIRST
IN MICHIGAN, NOW COAST TO
COAST. PARAMOUNT'S HARO-
HiniNG CAMPAIGN, WITH RIG
TV SUPPORT, GRINGS YOU THE
CHANCE TO CASH IN ON THE
TOP PROFIT HIT OF THE SEASON!

****

WARMTH OF VARIETY PARTY
IS MATCHED BY ITS HEART

George Hoover of Miami, new Infernafional chief
barker, with Supreme Court Justice Tom C. Clark,
guest of the convention on its final day.

Robert Stack and Barbara Stanwyck
watch an operation on a baby at Dallas'
Freeman Memorial Clinic. Miss Stanwyck,
soon to star in UA's "Witness to Murder",
and Stack, new 20th-Fox star, presided at
several of the convention functions.

NEW and reelected officers of International Variety at
the Convention in Dallas last week: Seated, Marc
Wolf, International Main Guy; John H. Rowley, first
assistant chief barker; George Hoover, new Inter-
national chief barker; George Eby, second assistant
chief barker; Jack Beresin, retiring chief barker;
standing, William McCraw, executive director; Ed-
ward Shafton and Ezra Stern, International fixers;
Benny Goff stein, new International press guy; Nathan
Golden, chairman Heart Committee; Rotus Harvey,
International representative at large; and Ed Emanuel,
new property master.

Dr. Karl Friedrich Meyer, right, receives
the Humanitarian Award from Jack Bere-
sin. It was awarded for his development
of a polio vaccine.

Clive Waxmnn, right, receives
the Heart Citation from Bar-
bara Stanvryck at the banquet
concluding the convention. The
Citation, awarded to the Tent
doing the best "Heart of Vari-
ety" charity work was won
by Grand Rapids, Tent 27,
with Omaha, Tent 16, getting
Honorable Mention.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

VARIETY Clubs International concluded one of its
best attended conventions in its history last week
in Dallas with a banquet attended by 1,000 canvas-
men, delegates and guests. Wednesday, the day preced-
ing the closing, the delegates in an all day session listened
in close and heart-warming attention to the tent-by-tent
reports on the “Heart of Variety,” the details of the
expenditures for charity by each tent. These, summarized
in the chart below, ranged from cancer, cerebral palsy,
polio and heart clinics and research, to important and
valuable work done through boys clubs and camps in
preventing juvenile delinquency and caring for handi-
capped children.

Winner of the annual Heart Citation, presented by

Barbara Stanwyck at the concluding banquet, was Grand
Rapids Tent 27, for its sponsorship of Youth Common-
wealth, Inc., a boys club on a grand scale. Omaha’s
Tent 16 was a close second in the judging for its building
and entire operation of a school for handicapped children.

Guests of honor at the concluding Humanitarian Award
banquet, held in the huge Automobile Hall of the Dallas
Fair Grounds, included Supreme Court Justice Tom C.
Clark, Judge Sarah Hughes, Jeffrey Hunter and Debra
Paget, 20th-Fox stars, and Dallas civic and social leaders.
Robert Stack, introduced by John H. Rowley, the con-
vention chairman, was master of ceremonies. The Hu-
manitarian Award was presented to Dr. Karl Meyer by
Jack Beresin, retiring chief barker.

Expenditures

Number of

Tent

Main

Additional

Total

Pledge

People

No.

City Membership Name of Main Charity

Charity

Charities

Expenditures

1954-55

Benefiting

Pittsburgh

684

Roselia Foundling Home & Camp

O'Connell

$71,383.00

$2,854.00

$74,237.00

$400,000.00

3,000

Cincinnati

215

Foundation tor Retarded Children

25,000.00

8,175.00

39,175.00

50,000.00

990

St. Louis

175

Day Nursery Care Program

40,000.00

22,200.00

62,200.00

40,000.00

1 1,671

Detroit

Cerebral Palsy

5,000.00

20,000.00

1,000

Cleveland

124

Cerebral Palsy Foundation School

80,000.00

2,500.00

82,500.00

50,000.00

2,050

Buffalo

192

Cerebral Palsy Clinic

19,996.00

2,500.00

22,496.00

20,000.00

200

Albany

Albany Boys' Club Camp Thacher. .

13,500.00

700.00

14,200.00

25,000.00

15,500

Indianapolis

147

Cerebral Palsy Association and Boy

Scouts & Boys' Clubs

259,900.00

500.00

260,400.00

250,000.00

N.R.

1 1

Washington, D. C. .

465

Children's Hospital

22,533.34

22,488.50

45,021.84

50,000.00

99,500

Minneapolis

292

Variety Club Heart Hospital

32,000.00

17,000.00

49,000.00

75,000.00

9,000

Philadelphia

380

Variety Club Camp & Infantile Paralysis

235,000.00

1,000.00

236,000.00

250,000.00

5,828

Milwaukee

138

Variety Club Heart Clinic

25,000.00

200

Des Moines

115

Des Moines Health Center

8,000.00

6,250.00

14,250.00

15,000.00

9,700

Omaha

Omaha Opportunity Center

32,500.00

1,000.00

33,500.00

36,000.00

131

Dallas

796

Variety Club Boys' Ranch

122,310.91

8,505.94

130,816.85

1 10,000.00

6,320

Dayton

103

Variety Manor tor Children

80,000.00

2,200.00

82,200.00

90,000.00

3,300

Baltimore

305

Boys' Club & Summer Camp. . . .

18,100.00

10,000.00

43,000.00

35,000.00

4,800

Memphis

215

Home tor Convalescent Children

8,000.00

2,000.00

10,000.00

35,000.00

1,025

Atlanta

468

Cerebral Palsy Home

79,786.00

16,819.60

96,605.60

90,000.00

42,166

Oklahoma City ....

291

Variety Club Health Centers

12,645.00

6,500.00

19,145.00

25,000.00

71,247

Boston

220

Children's Cancer Research Foundation

453,682.00

200,000.00

214

Charlotte

202

Variety Children's Clinic and Eye & Ear

Clinic

29,160.76

1,315.69

30,476.45

30,000.00

1 1,300

Los Angeles

322

Variety International Boys' Club

50,000.00

12,000.00

62,000.00

132,000.00

86,292

Chicago

202

LaRabida Jackson Park Sanitarium

98,145.77

75,000.00

1,000

Grand Rapids

Youth Commonwealth

33,018.79

2,1 15.00

35,133.79

35,000.00

82,000

Toronto, Canada . . .

354

Variety Village for Handicapped Boys.

67,501.00

4,1 15.00

71,616.00

75,000.00

3,530

Mexico City, Mexico.

123

Boys' Clubs & Orphan Home

12,000.00

6,000.00

18,000.00

24,000.00

8,150

New Haven

Jimmy Fund & Fresh Air Fund

39,300.00

75.00

39,375.00

40,000.00

350

San Francisco

267

Blind Babies Foundation

45,698.90

750.00

46,448.90

50,000.00

1,275

Miami

377

Variety Children's Hospital

309,126.25

250,000.00

5,752

Houston

314

Variety Boys' Club

75,000.00

1,993.80

95,262.00

100,000.00

3,085

New York

562

Foundation to Combat Epilepsy

47,965.00

3,000.00

50,965.00

50,000.00

665

London, England . . .

309

The Heart of Variety, Ltd

42,628.93

5,661.62

48,290.55

50,000.00

N.R.

Denver

Denver University Speech Clinic

2,000.00

N.R.

Salt Lake City ....

354

State Children's Hospital

4,000.00

1,000.00

5,000.00

550

Las Vegas

168

School for Handicapped Children

• 68,200.00

4,500.00

75,000.00

50,000.00

2,100

Tokyo, Japan

N.R

Dublin, Ireland ....

123

Irish Blind Children's Institutions

8,400.00

700.00

9,100.00

8,400.00

100

Hamburg, Germany.

Sponsorship tor Orphans

571.20

100.00

671.20

N.R.

733

totals 9,537 $2,577,052.85 $176,519.15 $2,795,040.20 $2,865,400.00 494,724

N.R. — Not reported.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

The First True-Life Adventure Feature

The Living Desert

Thanks to the Academy members^ my staff , and
our patient cameramen^

THE MOST HONORED MOTION PICTURE SERIES

IT’S BREAKING RECORDS

«.w>'0''"

Walt Disney «^ido<

a whole new
entertainment

MYERS CALLS SUPERSCOPE
LENS TODAY'S BEST BUY

WASHINGTON: "As of today," the Tush-
insky SuperScooe lens represents the best
buy for exhibitors desiring wide screen
film projection in either indoor or drive-in
theatres, according to the "watchdog
committee" of Allied States Association.

This decision was announced this week
in a bulletin to Allied members from
Abram F. Myers, general counsel. The
watchdog committee was appointed to
keep an eye on new projection and sound
processes. It consists of Wilbur Snaper,
Sidney E. Samuelson, Irving Dollinger and
Mr. Myers, and recently it witnessed the
New York SuperScope demonstration.

Mr. Myers said the words "as of today"
were included in the watchdog committee's
conclusion because "this is a fast-develop-
ing art and one never knows when some-
thing new will be announced that will excel
all that has gone before." In the same
bulletin, Mr. Myers criticized Loew's for
permitting foreign exhibitors to play Cine-
maScope pictures with Perspecta Sound
while requiring U. S. exhibitors to install
the more expensive stereophonic sound in
order to get MGM CinemaScope films
for their theatres.

Cites Cast at
JMetv Systems

American Broadcasting- Paramount Thea-
tres, Inc., will have spent approximately
$6, ()()(), 000 by the end of this year in equip-
ping about 260 theatres for 3-D, Cinema-
Scope and stereophonic sound, Leonard
(Toldenson, president, announced last week in
the company's annual report to stockholders.

Of the $6,000,000 total. Mr. Goldenson
said that $3,621,000 had been spent in 1953.
He also reported that during the year the
company disposed of its interests in 39 thea-
tres, leaving it with a whole or partial in-
terest in 669 theatres at the year end. The
company is required to divest itself of 65
more theatres by -September 3, 1954, to
complete the requirements of the consent
decree.

]Mr. Goldenson told the stockholders the
new screen techniques had been a great
stimulant to the industry and “movie-goers
everywhere" and that further imiirovements
could be expected. "Public response and
taste," he added, "will dictate the standards
which will ultimately he used and accepted.’’

During the year the company paid divi-
dends amounting to $4,445,000 or 894^ cents
per share on the 5% par preferred and $1
per share on the common. At the same time
it collected and turned over to the Govern-
ment $21,450,000 in admission taxes.

"This, It seems to me, has the effect to
make second class citizens of the American
independent exhibitors," Mr. Myers stated.
"I do not see how this can be explained
on any theory except that there is a com-
pact between Fox and Metro, or between
either or both of them and the major cir-
cuits that have installed stereophonic
sound, to the effect that the domestic com-
merce in CinemaScope pictures shall be
burdened with costly stereophonic sound
as a means of crippling the small inde-
pendent theatres in their efforts to com-
pete with the circuits. We sincerely hope
there is some other explanation of Metro's
queer attitude and that it will be forth-
coming soon."

Mr. Myers, however, praised Loew's and
Paramount for giving exhibitors the option
of converting to Perspecta Sound with re-
spect to all Paramount films and to Loew's
non-CinemaScope films. "The unholy plan
to force all exhibitors to convert to Cine-
maScope with its trimmings of stereophonic
sound and Miracle Mirror screens has been
given the Humpty Dumpty treatment and
can never be put together again," he de-
clared.

Commons Gives 2nd Reading
To Commercial TV Bill

LONDON : The Government’s Television
Bill — establishing a commercial television
service — ^vvas accorded a second reading in
the House of Commons by 296 votes to 269.
The future of commercial TV this side still
seems uncertain, however. Herbert Mor-
rison, deputy leader of the Labour Party
opposition, warned the House that if and
when his party is returned to power it would
scrap the entire plan if it were not then in
operation. On the other hand he reserved
the right to modify it if it were working.
Certainly, i\Ir. Morrison said, a Socialist
Government would eliminate advertising
from TV programs.

Allied Appoints Five
Regional Vice-Presidents

Five regional vice-presidents for Allied
States Association were appointed last week
by Ben Marcus, president. The men and
their territories are: Irving Dollinger, New
England, Connecticut, New Jersey, eastern
Pennsylvania and Maryland ; Jack Kirsch,
Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin;
Horace Adams, West Virginia, western
Pennsylvania and Ohio; Benjamin Berger,
lowa-Nehraska, North Central states, Kan-
sas-IMissouri, Mid-Central states. Rocky
Mountain states; Abe Berenson, Mid-South
states, Oklahoma, Gulf states and the Texas
territorv.

British Cabs
Besume as
Talks Ca an

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : Following the intervention of
the Labour Minister and his appointment
of a conr.nittee to investigate the dispute
between the Film Laboratories Association
and the Association of Theatrical and Cine
Technicians, temporary agreement was
reached and the laboratories were scheduled
to resume work Thursday. The threat of
a complete shutdown of all laboratory work
here thus is held in abeyance — for the time
being.

After talks with the Labour Minister, in
which the latter asked both parties "to
take immediate steps to enable normal work-
ing to be resumed in the film laboratories,”
the Laboratory Association announced that
it would withdraw its dismissal notices and
reopen its plants on an assurance from the
union that for its part it would abandon
restrictive practices ( overtime !)an and
"work-to-rule”) .

The union announced, consequently, that
it had agreed “without prejudice" to lift
its work-to-rule and overtime ban but that,
at the same time, the Minister should “ex-
tract” undertakings from employers’ associa-
tions other than F. L. A. with regard to
"hostile action" and that their dismissal
notices be withdrawn at once. The latter
reference is to the Producers’ Association
and the Newsreel Association which had
announced their intention to close down
activity as a result of the labor dispute.

Both associations have promised to with-
draw the notices when normal working is
resumed at the laboratories.

Sixty-eight theatres had opened here
with CinemaScope as of this Monday. "The
Rohe,” 20th-Fox’s spokesmen claim, con-
tinues to big business everywhere. Already
the company’s share of the take is more
than that from the complete release of an
average picture. "Reef” continues for a
fifth week at the Carlton, with "The Robe"
returning there April 2.

The Rank Organization has booked no
other CinemaScope picture since “The
Robe" and "Millionaire,” so 20th-Fox con-
tinue to book the indepedents. "Reef” will
be on release April 4 and "Khyber Rifles”
by about mid-April.

Benjamin Aids Fund for
Westminster Abbey

Robert S. Benjamin, chairman of the
board of United Artists, is chairman of an
appeal for the American Fund for West-
minster Abbey, among firms and executives
in the motion picture industry. Greer Gar-
son, Danny Kaye and Radie Harris are
soliciting stage and screen performers. The
Fund’s co-chairmen are Morris L. Ernst,
William V. Griffin and Langdon ?. Marvin.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

MILLIONS SEE AWARDS,
VAST SCREEN PROMOTION

Glamor y Excitement Mark
Annual Affair with Full
Coverage Over World

HOLLYWOOD: The 26th annual Acad-
emy Awards presentation took place at the
RKO Pantages theatre in Hollywood,
Thursday, March 26, conferring upon Wil-
liam Holden and Audrey Hepburn the desig-
nation of best actor and actress, respectively.

The Production Code and its
Administrator, Joseph I. Breen,
received a special nod from the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences last week at the
Awards presentation. Mr. Breen
was honored with a special Oscar
for “his able and dignified han-
dling of the Production Code,
which has served as a bulwark
against self-appointed wildcat
censorship groups.” Charles
Brackett, president of the Acad-
emy, presented the Award.

Above, Burnett Guffey, photography; Daniel
Taradash, screenplay; Donna Reed, support-
ing performance; Fred Zinnemann, direction;
Buddy Adler, production. Right, Walt Disney,
shorts, documentaries. Below, Edith Head,
costumes.

and honoring Columbia’s much-cited “From
Here to Eternity” as the year’s best picture.

The traditional ceremonies
were marked with the accus-
tomed fanfare and glamor. Inter-
est was aroused throughout the
world. In this country millions of
people witnessed the presenta-
tions over television. The show
was carried over the NBC-TV
network nationwide under the
commercial sponsorship of Olds-
mobile. In addition, the show was
covered by radio, press, shortwave
and transcriptions.

Detailed listing of the awards follows.

Best Picture

“From Here to Eternity,” Columbia, Buddy
Adler, producer.

Best Writing

Story — “Roman Holiday,” Paramount. Ian
McLellan Hunter.

Best Art Direction

Black-and-Whitc — “Julius Caesar,” M-G-M
Cedric Gibbons and Edward Carfagno.

Joseph Breen, above. Code administration.
Left, George Stevens, Irving G. Thalberg
Memorial Award.

Color — '“The Rohe,” 20th Century-Fox.
Lyle Wheeler and Georg Wh Davis.

Best Cinematography

Black-and-Udiitc- — “From Here to Eter-
nity,” Columbia. Burnett Guffey.

Color — “Shane,” Paramount. Lloyd Griggs.
(Coiitiiuicd oil page 30)

Best Performances

Actor — William Holden in “Stalag 17,”
Paramount.

Actress — Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holi-
day,” Paramount.

Supporting Actor — Frank Sinatra in “From
Here to Eternity,” Columbia.

Supporting Actress — Donna Reed in “From
Here to Eternity,” Columbia.

Best Direction

Fred Zinnemann, “From Here to Eternity,”
Columbia.

Screenplay — “From Here to Eternity,” Col-
umbia. Daniel Taradash.

Story and Screenplay — “Titanic,” 20th Cen-
tury-Fox. Charles Brackett, Walter Reisch
and Richard Breen.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

Now all seats are

Watch an audience, as one of today’s wide-screen
romances unfolds. There’s a new feeling' of reality — a
new sense of being right in the midst of things. And
everyone in the house shares it. All of this comes from
combined new technics in picture-taking, processing and
projection — problems which the Eastman Technical Serv-
ice for Motion Picture Film is helping the industry solve.
Branches at strategic centers. Inquiries invited.

Mijf/A

m^m

Address: Motion Picture Film Department

EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, ROCHESTER 4, N.Y.

East Coast Division
342 Madison Avenue
New York 1 7, N. Y.

Mi^v^esf Division
1 37 North Wabash Avenue
Chicago 2, Illinois

West Coast Division
6706 Santa Monica Blvd.
Hollywood 38, California

down front!

THE AWARDS

(Continued from piujc 11)

Best Costume Design

Bhick-aiid-JJ'hitc — "Roman Holiday,” Para-
mount. Edith Head.

Color — “The Rohe,” 2()th Century-Fox.
Cliarles LeMaire and Emile Santiago.

Best Film Editing

“From Here to Eternity,” Columhia. Wil-
liam Lyon.

Best Sound

“From Here to Eternity,” Columbia. John
R. Livadarv.

Best Musical Achievements

Scoring of a Musical — "Call Me Madam,”
20th Century-Fox. Alfred Newman.
Draniahc or Comedy Film Nrorc— -“Lili,”
M-Cr-M. Bronislau Kaper.

Song — • “Secret Love.” from “Calamity
Jane,” Warner Bros. Music by Sammy
Fain. Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster.

Best Short Subjects

Cartoon — "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom,”
Walt Disney Productions. Buena Vista.
Ouc-Rccl — “The Merry Wives of Windsor
Overture," M-G-M. Johnny Green, pro-
ducer.

Tivo-Rccl — “Bear Country,” W'alt Disney
Productions, RKO Radio.

Best Documentaries

Short Subjects — “The Alaskan Eskimo,”
Walt Disney Productions, RKO Radio.
Feature — “The Living Desert,” Walt Disney
Productions. Buena Vista Distribution Co.
Walt Disney, producer.

Special Awards

Irz'ing G. Thalberg Memorial Aioard : To
George Stevens.

Special Honorary Awards

To Joseph 1. Breen for his administration of
the Production Code.

To 2()th Century-Fox for CinemaScope.

To Pete .Smith.

To Bell & Howell Co. for its years of serv-
ice to the industry.

In addition to the awards listed above the
Academy made the following awards for
scientific and technical achievements:

Special Effects: “War of the W'orlds,”
Paramount.

Class I Aioard : “To Fred Waller, for de-
signing and develojjing the multiple photo-
grai)hic and projection systems which culmi-
nated in Cinerama.”

Class I Azoard : “To Professor Henry
Chretien and Earl Sponable, Sol Halprin,
Lorin Grignon, Herbert Bragg and Carl
Faulkner of 20th Century-Fox Studios for
creating, developing and engineering the
processes and technicpie known as Cinema-
Scope.”

Class II Azvard : “To the Reeves Sound-
craft Corporation ( Hazard Reeves accei)ting
in New York) for the development of a
process of applying stripes of magnetic oxide
to motion picture film for sound recording
and reproduction.”

I^ippert ITTII
Have IS to
EntI of Year

CHICAGO : Eight egii features for release
during the balance of 1954 were announced
here this week by Robert L. Lippert at the
annual Lippert Pictures sales convention at
the Blackstone Hotel.

Included in the 18 are five by William
F'. Broidy, who attended the sessions for
his first meeting with the 28 Li]>pert dis-
tributors. Arthur Greenblatt, general sales
manager, presided.

Nine releases for April, May and June
are “The Cowboy,” “Fangs of the Wild,”
“Blackout,” “Pleat Wave,” “Devil Ship,”
“Paid to Kill,” “The Big Chase.” “Mon-
ster from Beneath the Sea” and “The
Siege.”

i\Ir. Lippert also disclosed that beginning
in July, the company’s features will go out
under the new releasing label of Screen
Art. These will include Mr. Broidy’s
“Thunder Pass,” “Dynamite Anchorage,”
“F'ugitive Valley,” “The Gunslinger” and
“Cry Vengeance.”

Also set for latter half of 1954 are f’aul-
ette Goddard in “The Unholy F'our”; Lloyd
Bridges and Finlay Currie in “The Deadly
Game” : Richard Conte and Mari Aldon in
“A Race for Life” ; and “The Black Pirates.”

Fox to Open $ 1 ,000,000
Theatre in Denver

DENVER : The opening of Fox Intermoun-
tain Amusement Corporation’s new $1,000,-
000 deluxe Fox Centre theatre here has
been set for April 29 by F. H. Ricketson,
Jr., president. Industry leaders from all
parts of the country have been invited to
attend the opening. “This theatre will stand
as a symbol of the motion picture exhibitors’
renewed faith in the future of the motion
picture industry,” Mr. Ricketson said in an-
nouncing the opening. The new F'ox Centre
will he a part of the operation of Ray W.
Davis, Intermountain’s metropolitan district
manager here.

"Safari" to FWC House

“Champagne Safari,” a color film record
of the Rita Hayworth-Prince Aly Khan
honeymoon through Europe and Africa, will
have its premiere this month at the Fox
West Coast Cinema theatre, San Francisco,
it was announced in New' York last w'eek
by Herbert Bregstein, president of Defense
Film Corp., wdiich owms the world rights
to the feature.

Class III Azvard: “To the Westrex Cor-
poration for the design and construction of
a new film editing machine — a platoon in the
vast army of scientists and technicians
wdiose patience and unique talents have
helped to brighten the screens of the
world.”

LATE REVIEW

Prince Valiant

20+h-Fox — For Young and Old

(Color by Technicolor)

Once upon a time, before Gene Autry and
even before Bronco Billy, the youngsters of an-
other generation were properly thrilled with the
exploits of King Arthur and His Knights.
These legends contained all the basic plot mate-
rial that has been retold in cowboy Westerns,
ever since. “Prince Valiant” is juvenile fare,
for the same reason, but it will command a new
audience today.

Told in settings that are convincing, with im-
pressive backgrounds for CinemaScope, the cur-
rent attraction will be found exciting and en-
tertaining by all ages, including those who have
never grown up. It has new dimensions, so even
the same stories of gallant heroes and dastardly
villains look different on the screen. But with
lance instead of lasso, and shining sword instead
of six-gun, it’s still a Western in the tried and
true formula of SO years of movie experience,
which has never failed.

The picture is based on King Features Syn-
dicate’s successful cartoon strip of the same
name, and while liberties have been taken with
the ancient folk tales, it is hard to tell where
legend leaves off and license begins. Perhaps, in
the dialogue, which is right out of the cartoon
strip — much of the time — you are most forcibly
reminded of the adaptation of today. And there
is much of Disney in the production values, for
only a cartoon character, with Disney inspira-
tion, could fight such battles, and win, against
such odds.

Robert Wagner, in the role of “Prince Val-
iant” manages to give us a generous measure of
Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., just to mix up all the
periods in motion picture history. He certainly
deserved his knighthood, and to win his girl,
after all the spectacular fighting he did. Whether
the lad will ever be recognized again without
his Viking hairdo is a question.

It’s the settings and the production values that
will entrance the adult audience. The final, furi-
ous fight with fire in the ancient castle is as
thrilling as you've ever seen, in all the swash-
buckling films of every era. They really do a
job of wiping up the villains, who in this period,
actually wore horns, but that doesn’t keep you
straight, for even our hero was himself a Vik-
ing, and had family and a number of friends
among them.

James Mason, Victor McLaglen, Sterling
Hayden, Brian Aherne, Donald Crisp and many
other of the knights and kingly characters, are
in keeping with their costumes, but Janet Leigh
and Debra Paget are straight out of Holly-
w'ood, and you can almost see where they got
off the bus, just outside the CinemaScope sight
lines. The scene where the girls are first intro-
duced shows great restraint.

Major credit must go to Henry Hathaway,
director, and Robert L. Jacks, producer, for
making this as convincing and really entertain-
ing as it is, obviously with tongue in cheek,
but with a sincere desire to create top bracket
entertainment. Technicolor is given a field day,
with all praise for outdoor scenes, and only a
few garish interiors that could hardly be helped
in an assortment of costumes such as you’d ex-
pect in King Arthur’s Court. They didn’t try
iiard to keep the color in low key, in those days,
so it’s realistic, as is most of this entertaining
film.

Seen at the 20th Century-Fox Little theatre.
Rez'iezver’s Rating: Excellent. — W alter Brooks.

Release date, April, 1954. Running time, 100 min-
utes. PCA No. 16695. General audience classification.

Sir Brack James Mason

Aleta Janet Leigh

Prince Valiant Roliert Wagner

Tlene Debra Paget

Sir Gawain Sterling Hayden

Victor McLaglen, Donald Crisp, Brian Aherne. Barry
Tones, Mary Philips, Howard Wendell, Tom Conway,
Sammy O'gg, Neville Brand. Ben Wright. Jarma
Lewis, Robert Adler, Ray Spiker, Primo Camera,
Basil Ruysdale, Fortune Gordian, Fercival Vivian.
Don Megowan, Richard Webb, John Dierkes, Carle-
ton Young, Otto Waldis, John Davidson, T^loyd Ahern,
Jr., I^ou Nova, Hal Baylor, Mickey Simpson, Eugene
Roth

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

THE ADS TELL THE STORY

PLAYGIRLS

This is their story... of tis®
men they ruled . . .
the lives they ruined
and fbeir secret
^ heod/mes

cou/dn ’# print/

isiorrinn

GREGG PALMER - RICKARD LONG
KENT TAYLOR

COLLEEN MILLER

*****

jtornn9

The story
of notorious
Fran Davis...
who lives her
life in the
' after hours
and makes men
pay,. .and pay...
and pay I

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fo^H^ v!

starring SHELLEY \

WINTERS

..«.&R£Ge PALMER ‘RICHARD LONG
KENT TAYLOR

BARRY ^

SULLIVAN

presenting

COLLEEN MILLER

Pictures with that Universal Appeal

and so will your BOX-OFFICE when yoii play

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollyzmod Editor

The 26th annual Awards function of the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences taught Hollywood a good deal. Pre-
eminently it taught the professional town
that it has no business being smug, a lesson
the collective arts and sciences of the cinema
community had been hopeful of skipping
lightly over, although unhappily aware that
it was lurking there to be learned one dark
day — which turned out to be a bright night
instead. The learning was less painful than
anticipated, being cushioned with pomp and
circumstance, but it was inescapable.

A Program Full of
Top Bracket Talent

The artists and the craftsmen of the
motion picture, long and undisputedly the
world’s greatest in their respective lines of
endeavor, were shown that it is possible now
for a firm like General Motors to buy for a
little more than a quarter of a million dol-
lars a production presenting more top-tier
personalities than any studio could procure
for 50 times that sum, and to convey it
simultaneously and gratis to more millions
of people than attend all the theatres in the
United States on a single day in the best
of contemporary conditions.

To be sure, the occasion was special, the
personalities were donating their presences,
and the motion picture was sure to l)e
greater gainer than Oldsmobile, but the
lesson was there, the thing had been done,
and what’s been done can be done again —
will be done again — better and, for such is
the course of progress when Big Business
takes hold, cheaper !

No time at all ago Hollywood would have
scoffed at mention of such a possibility. No
time at all ago most studios were stoutly re-
fusing to let their stars go on television
(some still are, with qualifications) lest they
dim their box office allure. Only yesterday- —
the really big-league stars, the class of
player who used to condescend to do two
or three radio appearances a year at $5,0011
apiece, looked down their noses at television
much as Broadway stars looked down at
the flickers half a century before them.

Smug Attitude Is Now
Out of the Window

These smug attitudes are out the window,
The biggest and the best of cinema person-
alities are stumping the television screens of
the nation in behalf of the pictures they’re in.
That’s good business for everybody, natu-
rally, but “everybody” is a completely in-
clusive word.

When it was proposed, two years ago.

that the Academy’s awards ceremony be
telecast, in addition to being broadcast, as
had been done for many years, the board of
governors rejected the idea. Quite a num-
ber of reasons for the rejection were stated,
but the unstated reason that really made the
difference was the belief that television had
not attained a technical proficiency equal to
presenting the film stars attractively.

That and the other reasons were swept
aside a year ago and the first televising of
the event went off very well indeed. This
year’s ceremony, undertaken more confi-
dently in view of last year’s success,
eclipsed its predecessor in so many ways
that next year’s exercises, providing for
continued improvement, loom almost fright-
eningly, from the professional point of view.

Yes, the Academy telecast taught Holly-
wood plainly enough that it has no business
being smug, if it ever had. But Hollywood
learned something else, too, which ought
to be made known. That is to say, more
accurately, that the Hollywood which was
present in the Pantages theatre, a group
embracing all the leaders and the principal
experts, learned it. The Oldsmobile com-
mercials, widely reported as especially satis-
factory among commercials on home re-
ceivers, were all but unbearably intrusive
as experienced in the theatre.

The conspicuous explanation of this con-
tradiction is the fact that Man has not been
conditioned to the interruption of his theatre
entertainment, whereas the home observer of
free viewing material has been.

THE studios started six pictures and fin-
ished seven, for a shooting level of 22.

MGM started “The Last Time I Saw
Paris,” beginning with background footage
in Paris, using so-far unnamed color. This
picture is being produced by Jack Cummings
and directed by Richard Brooks, and it has
Elizabeth Taylor, Van Johnson, Walter
Pidgeon, Donna Reed, the 1954 Academy
Award-winner, Eva Gabor, Kurt Kasnar
and many others in the cast.

“Athena” is another MGM project, this
one in color by Technicolor and wide screen.
This is being produced by Joe Pasternak
and directed by Richard Thorpe. Jane
Powell, Edmund Purdom, Debbie Reynolds,
Vic Damone and Louis Calhern are in the
principal cast.

Universal-International began shooting
“Three Gobs in Paris,” with color by Tech-
nicolor and on tlie wide screen, which has
Tony Curtis, Gloria DeHaven, Gene Nelson,
Paul Gilbert, Mara Corday and Christiane
Martel among its players. The producer is
Albert J. Cohen, and the director is Richard
Quine.

lllllllllilllllllllllilllllllllllllilllilllllllllElllllllllll

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (6)

COLUMBIA

Bat Masterson, Bad Man
(Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Bandit (Shaftel; Super-
Scope; Eastman)

Night Music (Dowling;
Eastman)

COMPLETED (7)

A.A.

Bowery Boys Meet the
Monster

COLUMBIA

I Was a Prisoner in
Korea

INDEPENDENT

Snow Creature (W. Lee
Wilder)

SHOOTING (16)

COLUMBIA

Black Dakotas
(Technicolor)

Long Gray Line
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Joseph and His Brethren
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Three tor the Show
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
( VistaVision;
Technicolor)

Big Top (Wallis;
VistaVision;
Technicolor)

Mambo (Pontl-
De Laurentis)

Country Girl

RKO

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;

MGM

Last Time I Saw Paris
( Color)

Athena (Technicolor)

U-l

Three Gobs in Paris
(Technicolor)

U.A.

White Orchid (Cosmos;
Eastman)

Barefoot Contessa
(Figaro; Technicolor)

U-l

Tight Squeeze
Bengal Rifles
(Technicolor)

CinemaScope;

Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

Broken Lance
( CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Egyptian

( CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

U.A.

Vera Cruz (Hecht-
Lancaster;
Technicolor)

Sitting Bull

(CinemaScope;

color)

U-l

Nevada Gold
(Technicolor)

Francis Joins the Wacs

WARNER

Battle Cry

( CinemaScope;
Warner Color)

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Sam Katzman turned cameras on “Bat
Masterson, Bad Man,” for Columbia, with
William Castle as director. Color is by
Technicolor. George Montgomery, Nancy
Gates and James Griffith are top players.

Allan Dowling Pictures, producing in-
dependently, rolled “Night Music,” Techni-
color, with Linda Darnell, Rick Jason, Dan
Duryea, Faith Domergue, Hal Baylor and
Mary Young as principals. Allan Dowling
is executive producer, with Hugh Brooke as
producer, and Stuart Heisler directing.
RKO release is indicated.

Josef Shaftel Productions, independent,
started “The Bandit,” in SuperScope and
Eastman color. Arthur Kennedy, Betta St.
John and Eugene Iglesias are principals
under direction of Edgar Ulmer. Josef
Sliaftel is producer.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3. 1954

Sehimel HVill
Head UtfA.
Campaign

Adolph Schimel, vice-president, secretar}'
and general counsel of Universal Pictures
Corporation, was appointed chairman of the
amusement division of the United Jewish
Appeal for the 1954 campaign at the first
planning and organization meeting held re-
cently at the Paramount home office in New
York. Mr. Schimel served as division chair-
man for last year’s campaign.

Barney Balaban, Paramount president,
was host at the luncheon which accompanied
the meeting and introduced Edward M.
Warburg, U.J.A. national chairman, who
discussed the needs of Israel at the present
time.

Reporting on the amusement division’s ac-
complishments in the 1953 campaign, Mr.
Schimel disclosed that contributions amount-
ed to $586,000. The total for the preceding
year was $516,000. He said that the vendors’
division, chairmaned by Charles Moss,
accounted for $53,000, and that Mr. Bala-
ban was instrumental in obtaining outside
contriliutions amounting to about $120,000,
with which the amusement division was not
credited because the donors were from out-
side its ranks.

Mr. Schimel reappointed Abe Dickstein
chairman of the film exchange division and
expressed hope that Mr. Moss, now in Eu-
rope, would serve again in his previous
capacity. Spyros Skouras, Jr., was named to
head the corporate gifts. It was announced
that the main campaign function will be
held at the end of May, probably in the form
of a luncheon, as last year.

Legion Approves Five of
Six New Productions

The National Legion of Decency this
week reviewed six new films, putting two
in Class A, Section I, morally unobjection-
able for general patronage; three in Class
A, Section II, morally unobjectionable for
adults, and one in Class C, condemned. In
Section I are “Jungle Man-Eaters” and
“The Seige at Red River.” In Section II
are “The Eternal Mask,” “The Lonely
Night” and “Rails into Laramie.” In Class
C is “Sensualita,” because it “dwells with-
out variation upon suggestiveness in situa-
tions, costuming and dialogue and, as such,
in the manner of treatment seriously offends
Christian and traditional standards of moral-
ity and decency.” The Legion also noted
that it had placed “La Ronde” in Class C
when it was reviewed November 8, 1951.

Defer Virginia Unit Meet

RICHMOND : Leonard Gordon, president
of the Virginia Motion Picture Theatre As-
sociation, has announced that the conven-
tion originally planned for May 25-27 has
been changed to June 8-10 at the Chamber-
lin Hotel, Old Point Comfort.

IFE

SCOOPS THE
INDUSTRY WITH THE
TIMELIEST PICTURE
IN YEARS!

Pius X First Pope Canonized
in Two Hundred Years

VATICAN CITY. —Popp
Pius X will bP canonized in a
public ceremony in St. Pcter'.s
uaie Mav 29. it was announced

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3, 1954

People in Dlie f]i

e in ^ne t lewd

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiii

Arnold M. Picker, United Artists vice-
president in charge of foreig'ii distrilnition,
left New York last weekend for Paris on
the first leg' of the European phase of
his round-the-world trip.

Don H.crtman, executive producer of Para-
mount Studios, left New York by plane
for London last weekend on an extended
European tour of the company’s overseas
offices.

Albert U. Hecht has been named vice-
president in charge of production of the
National Television Eilm Council.

Roy Fjast.mj last week named head of the

Abaaf Cites
Fine 3Marhet

Latin America is a “wonderful market”
and is heconiing more important as liuro-
pean restrictions and other difficulties in-
crease, Americo Aboaf, Universal-Interna-
tional foreign sales manager, declared in
New York last week following his return
from the Brazilian Eilm Festival and visits
to other Latin American territories.

Even now, despite dejiressed admission
prices in some countries helow the border,
and continuing remittance delays, the mar-
ket accounts for 26 per cent of the com-
pany’s foreign fmsiness, he said. The year
1952 hrought more Imsiness than 1952. and
from current reports, he said he could pre-
dict the company this year will he about 12
per cent ahead of 195,5.

One of the factors, he pointed out, is
realignment of ownerships and booking
policies in some of the major countries.
Theatres h.ave broken away from circuits ;
there now are more first runs. Another
factor, according to iMr. Ahoaf, is Univer-
sal's “hread and butter” fare.

Brazil, he declared, has become the
world’s third bi.ggest film market. The Gov-
ernment recently allowed a special admis-
sions increase for CinemaScope, and this
may indicate a general increase, he thinks.
Although European pictures are receiving
more bookings, they merely are replacing
the product of countries like Mexico, whose
pictures have declined in quality, he said.

Downing Announces Additions
To Heart Dinner Committee

Russell V. Downing, chairman of the din-
ner committee for the New York Variety
Cluh first annual heart award dinner, has
announced the following additions to the
sponsoring committee: Charles Alicoate,
Robert S. Benjamin, Max A. Cohen, George

Paramount studio music department, suc-
ceeding Louis R. Lipstone, who died
last week.

B.\rney Pitkin, Connecticut exchange
manager for RKO Radio Pictures, will
be honored at a testimonial dinner at
W’averly Inn, Cheshire, Conn., tentatively
set for April 27.

Jack Lord, motion picture and television
actor, has been signed for representation
by Famous Artists Corp.

Danny K.\ye has closed a deal with Para-
mount for the release of his next inde-
pendent production, “The Court Jester.”

F. Demhow, Richard Dickson, Emanuel
Frisch, Peter .S. Harrison, Benjamin Kal-
menson, Edward Lachman, Ahraham Last-
fogel. Jack Levin, Mrs, Charles E. Lewis,
A1 Lichtman, Sidney B. Lust, Harry iMan-
del, Carl Marks, Janies A. Mulvey, Louis
Nizer, Eugene D. Picker, Martin Quigley,
J. Robert Rubin. Montague Salmon, Abra-
ham Schneider, Robert Shapiro, Ben Shlyen,
John E. Stott, Morton Sunshine, S. J.
Switow, and Douglas Yates. The dinner
will lie held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel
May 6. William J. German, president of
the Variety Cluh Foundation to Comhat
Epilepsy, will he the .guest of honor.

Cleveland Catholic Parents
Threaten Theatre Boycott

Cleveland theatre owners have received
notice from the Catholic Parent-Teacher
League of its recent resolution to boycott
theatres whch play a picture condemned or
not bearin.g a Production Code seal. The
resolution says in part: “We will call to
the attention of our membership all con-
demned films and the theatres presenting
them.” It interprets the section of the an-
nual Legion of Decency pledge asking com-
municants not to go to places of amusement
which show immortal films, as meaning
“specifically that we will stay away for
good from any theatre whose management
has purposely, wilfully, and with fore-
thought, shown a condemned film.”

Arthur Silverstone Gets
Fox Sales Promotion

.\1 Lichtman. director of distribution for
20th Century-Fox, this week announced the
promotion of Arthur Silverstone to assistant
general sales manager, to work with Air.
Lichtman and executive assistant general
sales manager W. C. Gehring. At the same
time, Glenn Norris. Atlantic division sales
manager, has been promoted to eastern sales
manager. Air. Silverstone’s former position.
Both appointments become effective April 5.

Cnuneils in
Federn tinn
Mit Censer

The newly-formed Federation of Alotion
Picture Councils, last Wednesday, the final
day of its three-day meeting in New York,
passed a resolution flatly opposing legal
censorship of motion pictures as “un-Amer-
ican in principle.”

Winding up the meeting, delegates to the
new Federation noted that its predecessor
group, the Alotion Picture Councils of
America, was formed “in revolt against legal
censorship of motion pictures administered
hy political appointees.”

“Through the ensuing years of experience
with state and municipal censorship,” the
resolution said, “it has been our experience
that legal censorship involving previous re-
straint creates more problems than it solves
and is un-American in principle.”

The Federation resolution also expressed
the group’s “intention of encouraging, sup-
porting and cooperating wdth the Alotion
Picture Association of America in its pro-
gram of voluntary-self-regulation.” Related
hy their common interest, the delegates,
representing 85 motion picture councils,
voted in their opening session to federate.

Follow'ing the adoption of a constitution
and hy-law's, the new' federation elected the
following officers: Airs. Alax AI. Williams,
Royal Oak, Mich., president; Airs. Arretus
Burt, St. Louis, first vice-president ; Airs.
Edward Hass, Springfield, Alass., second
vice-president; Airs. W. Lashley Nelson,
Jr., Philadelphia, recording secretary;
Phillip A. Ley, Youngstowm, O., treasurer.

Speakers who addresed the delegates in-
cluded Richard Griffith, director of the
Aluseum of Alodern Art film library : Paul
Terry, producer of “Terrytoons” ; Herbert
Barnett, president of the Society of Alotion
Picture and Television Engineers, and vice-
president of Cinerama Corp.; Sigmund
Spaeth, film chairman of the National
Federation of Alusic Clubs; Arthur H. De-
bra. director of community and exhibtor
relations of Alotion Picture Association of
America and Airs. AI. Henry Dawson.
AIPAA associate director of cemmunity
relations.

To Honor Balaban at
Opening JDA Dinner

Barney Balaban, president of Paramount
Pictures, wdll be honored for his “eff’orts in
the fight to protect American civil rights
and liherties” at the opening dinner of the
1954 Joint Defense Appeal campaign, it was
announced hy Irving AI. Engel and Henry
E. Schultz, co-chairmen for JDA in Greater
New A'ork. The dinner will be held Thurs-
day. April 8, at the Waldorf-Astoria. Ihe
dinner wdll open the JDA drive to raise
$5,000,000 to finance the activities of the
American Jewish Committee and the Anti-
Defamation League of B’nai B’rith.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

ALBANY

Four Fabian and two Stanley Warner
tri-city first-run theatres increased the week-
day matinee price for adults from SO to 60
cents, and the evening admission from 74 to
85 cents. The houses (Palace and Strand in
Albany, Proctor’s and Plaza in Schenectady,
and Proctor’s and Troy in Troy) hiked the
weekend scale to 85 cents top, 18 months
ago. . . .“Julius Caesar,” which had been
playing the smaller and art theatres, was
booked into the 3,650-seat Palace, at $1 top,
for what Fabian division manager Saul J.
Ullman called “a fine Lenten presentation.”

. . . “Saskatchewan,” the second recent Uni-
versal release to score a box office bullseye
at the Strand, was moved to the Ritz. . . .
Visitors included: Louis W. Schine, Donald
G. Schine and Dorene Schine Higier. . . .
John Gardner’s Turnpike drive-in. West-
mere, which opened at the same time as
Alan Iselin’s Auto-Vision, East Greenbush,
F. Chase Hathaway’s Hoosick drive-in, and
Harry Lamont’s Riverview, Rotterdam, and
Sunset, Kingston, is on a week-end schedule
for early spring.

ATLANTA

Mrs. Ernest Schwartz, widow of the
Cleveland, Ohio, exhibitor, died in Miami
Beach, Fla. Her husband died six weeks
ago. . . . Frank Benton, of Benton Bros.
Film Express, Atlanta and Jacksonville,
Fla., expects to open offices in Miami and
Tampa. . . . The second of the series of
spring meetings for the members of the
Motion Picture Exhibitors of Florida will
be held near the end of April in Miami. . . .
Randolph Ellinor, manager of the State
theatre. Cocoa, Fla., has installed Cinema-
Scope equipment. . . . Bernard Sammons
has been appointed manager of the Lyric,
Dunnellon, Fla. He replaces Gordon Cooper,
who has been transferred to the Inverness
theatre, Inverness, Fla. . . . The Carolina
theatre. Rock Hill, S. C., has closed its
doors. Bill Cooper, local manager for Stew-
ard and Everett Theatres, stated that the
closing was due to high state and Federal
taxes. . . . O. C. Lam, president of Lam
Amusement Co., Rome, Ga., has appointed
C. F. McDannel as manager of the Royal,
Hogansville, Ga. He replaces Frank Jack-
son, who has been transferred to La Grange,
Ga.

BALTIMORE

Among the local exhibitors attending the
SuperScope demonstration in New York
were: Leon Back and Ed Kimpel, Rome
Theatres; Bill Brizendine, Schwaber The-
atres; Aaron Seidler, New Albert theatre;
Sam Temple, Durkee Theatres; Henry Bus-
man, Dusman Theatre Supplies. . . . Rodney
Collier, Stanley manager and chief barker
Tent No. 19; Lauritz Garraan and his
daughter Alice, Garman theatre, have re-
turned from the Variety Convention in Dal-

las. . . . Irv Grant, Northwood has returned
from a Hawaiian vacation. . . . Earl Bishop
is the new assistant at the Town theatre. . . .
Betty S. Sound is new at the Northwood.
. . . J. Lawrence Schanberger, Keith’s the-
atre, has returned from a New York visit.
. . . 1. M. Rappaport, Rappaport Theatres,
back from New York. . . . Bill Myers has
reopened his Pocomoke drive-in near Poco-
moke City, Md. . . . Don Hoff, Schine
Strand theatre in Cumberland, was visiting
in town.

BOSTON

Myron J. Segal, son of U.A.’s branch
manager Harry Segal, has l)een added to
the booking staff at U.A. He formerly
managed the State theatre, Lowell, and later
did an extensive operational survey for the
E. M. Loew circuit. He joins Agnes Dona-
hue and Sam Levine in the booking staff
at U.A. . . . Tom Dowd, well known thea-
tre man in this area, has returned to Boston
to handle the package deal of “Heidi” and
“White Mane” for U.A. for the Easter open-
ing at the Majestic theatre. . . . An auto
accident killed John Murphy, 31, manager
of Lockwood & Gordon’s Winslow drive-in,
Winslow, Maine. . . . The City theatre,
Brockton, Mass., is to be torn down to make
room for a parking space.

WHEN AND WHERE

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 Mld-
Oentral, Fontanelle Hotel, Omaha.

May 4-5: Annual convention. Independent
Theatre Owners of Arkansas, Marlon
Hotel, Little Rock, Arkansas.

May lO-ll: Annual convention, North-
Oentral Allied Independent Theatres
Owners, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis.

June 8-10: Annual convention, Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Ohamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 15-16: Annual spring meeting, Allied
Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore
Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind.

BUFFALO

The Old Vienna theatre, which a few
weeks ago re-opened and closed the same
evening, when word got around that bingo
would be tried there, is now going to open
on April 9 with a weekend vaudeville policy.
. . . Frank E. Tindle, a director in Skyway
Drive-In Theatres, Inc., and immediate past
president of the YMCA board, will be hon-
ored April 7 at a luncheon in the Buffalo
Statler in recognition of his “distinguished
service to the YMCA.”. . . Paramount
branch manager Ed DeBerry greatly pleased
with the big turnout for his “Paramount
Pictures Pageant” last Monday in the Nia-
gara theatre. . . . Tony Raguso, who oper-
ates the Transit drive-in near Lockport, is
building a new 900-car outdoorer at Wheat-
field on the Niagara Falls boulevard near
the Cataract City.

CHICAGO

Jerry Hogan, veteran stage hand who col-
lapsed on the job a couple of months ago,
is back at work after surgery to remove a
needle from his spleen. . . . Chuck Dyas’
new drive-in, under construction for the
past three years on the outskirts of Earl-
ville. 111., will open some time during April
under the name “Dyas’ 34 drive-in.”. . .
Jack Kirsch, president of Allied Theatres
of Illinois, has returned from a Florida
vacation. ... Ted Tokarz has opened the
rebuilt Holiday, Round Lake, 111. The old
building was demolished by a windstorm
last summer. ... Ed Trinz of the Clark
theatre is in from the West Coast on busi-
ness. . . . Robert Ruggles has taken over
the Lakes, Antioch, 111., from Ted Tokarz.

. . . Mort Green, veteran theatre manager
more recently in the television sales field,
is in Michael Reese Hospital. . . . Paul A.
Watkins has taken over the Lux in East
Peoria, Illinois.

CINCINNATI

Contrary to the general practice in prac-
tically all other parts of the country, the
“Hamilton Journal-News” does not place a
premium on theatre or amusement advertis-
ing, it was revealed recently. Rates are the
same for theatres as all other types of busi-
ness. . . . Paul Hollen, formerly associated
with the Alpine circuit in West Virginia, has
joined the local S. & S. chain, operating
downtown Keith’s theatre, the Twin drive-
in and other suburban houses. . . . The Fed-
eration theatre, in Dayton, Ohio, has been
closed for an indefinite period, it was an-
nounced by the owner, Mrs. Mary Semel-
roth, who also operates the Franklin thea-
tre, in nearby Franklin, Ohio. . . . The
Roslyn theatre in Evarts, Ky. and the Bardo
theatre, in Bardo, Ky., have been acquired
by O. G. Roaden, who operates some 16
other houses in the area.

(Continued on follozving page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3. 1954

CLEVELAND

“The Little Fugitive,” playing simulta-
neously at the Fairmount theatre on the
east side of town and the Detroit on the
west side, was held over for a 10-day run.
Only “The Robe” held 10 days in these
houses. . . . Harry Weiss returns here as
Paramount exploitation representative. . . .
Paul Gusdanovic is first of the migratory
exhibitors to return from Florida. . . . Rob-
ert Wile, ITO secretary, made a TV ap-
pearance of Dorothy Fuldheim’s Friday
news program to discuss the evils of state
film censorship. . . . Frank Slavik, of Mid-
dlefield, Ohio now operating three indoor
and two outdoor theatres, acquired lease
on the Garrettsville theatre, Garrettsville,
O. . . . A1 Boudouris announced sale of
the Little Flower drive-in, Ottawa, didn’t
go through. . . . Edward Graves, with 20th-
Fox for 30 years as cashier and booker, is
now a member of the Warner booking staff.

COLUMBUS

Grandview, Hudson and Pythian, neigh-
borhood theatres of the Miles circuit, have
installed CinemaScope equipment and are
now showing “The Robe.”. . . Meeting of
the board of directors of the Independent
Theatre Owners of Ohio is scheduled here
April 6. A Cleveland hotel will be selected
at the meeting for the 1956 National Drive-
in Convention and dates designated. . . .
Eddie Force, manager of RKO Grand, Chi-
cago, has succeeded James Corriveau as
manager of RKO Grand here. Corriveau
has resumed his former line of work, phys-
ical education, at the Roger Eells studio
here. . . . Kim Phillips has replaced Bar-
bara Myers on the staff of “Twic,” local
amusements magazine. Miss Myers is now
on the staff of the Dispatch.

DENVER

Les Smith, assistant manager at the Para-
mount, Cheyenne, Wyo., has been promoted
to city manager at Longmont, Colo., by
Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres, succeeding
Robt. Demshki, who had been named as
manager of the new Centennial drive-in,
Denver, set to open this month. . . . Amel
Hudson, Mayan assistant manager, father
of seven-pound son, Shawn Dennis. . . . Ross
Bluck, veteran film row employee, is assist-
ing C. G. Differ in operation of several
Colorado theatres. . . . V. J. Dugan, 20th-
Fox branch manager, to Los Angeles for
sales meeting. . . . Robert Hill, operated on
at hospital, recuperating at home. . . . Arthur
Salcida buys County drive-in, Tucumcari,
N. M., from Waldo Slusher. . . . Tom Bailey,
Lippert franchise owner, to Chicago for
sales meeting. . . . Hugh Ferguson, 47-year-
old son of Mrs. Louise Ferguson, office
manager at National Theatre Supply, died
suddenly in St. Louis following heart attack.

DETROIT

The Telenews has changed to a first run
policy again showing “Genevieve.”. . . Quick
in getting in on Academy Award publicity.
United Detroit and Coop are running “From
Here To Eternity,” “Roman Holiday” and
“Stalag 17” in their various houses. . . .
Optimism was the keynote of a column-long
interview with Butterfield manager, Arthur
.Sanford, in the Pontiac Press. Sanford

AN ANNIVERSARY

“Marietta gets another first." The Mari-
etta, O., newspaper thus headlined a local
theatre manager's promotion, tied in with
the first transmission by wire, 78 years ago,
of the human voice. The promotion, by
the Star-Lite Drive-In's manager, J. B.
Steadman, was of an automatic telephone
answering and message service. The pic-
ture above, in which he is shown with the
local commercial manager of the Ohio Bell
Telephone Company, its Installer, and the
machine, was featured In the newspaper. It
helped announce the 600-car drive-in's
opening. The machine gives attractions
data and starting times on a 24-hour basis;
and It also takes messages while Mr. Stead-
man is out on the lot.

felt that the turning point had been reached
in the industry’s downward trend with 1953
the best year since 1947. Sanford operates
the Oakland, first run Pontiac house. . . .
A parade of ancient autos from Henry Ford
museum took off for Ann Arbor with a
fanfare to celebrate the opening of “Gene-
vieve.”. . . Also celebrating, the Cinerama
Corporation partied their employees under
the stage Saturday. Occasion was apprecia-
tion for the fine job all did handling the
extra duties during the recent anniversary.

HARTFORD

The Hartford territory’s first drive-in
theatre built with CinemaScope screen and
stereophonic sound will have its opening
about April 14. . . . Sperie Perakos, gen-
eral manager of the seven-unit Perakos
Theatre Associates, has disclosed that the
$200,000, 950-car capacity Plainville

(Conn.) drive-in, will have a mid-April
opening. . . . Paul Sullivan, manager. Blue
Hills drive-in theatre, Bloomfield, Conn.,
has been elected vice-president. Peter Le-
Roy continues as president and treasurer,
and his son, Milton, as secretary and film
buyer. . . . Morris Keppner and Lou Lip-
man, building a 750-car capacity, $100,000
drive-in theatre at Mansfield, Conn., plan an
April 14 opening. . . . Mr. Keppner has left

Hartford Hospital following surgery. . . .
Sperie Perakos is publicity chairman for
the April 9 Yale Glee Club concert in New
Britain, Conn.

INDIANAPOLIS

Clifford Wallace, who opened the first
Paramount office here and was United Art-
ists district manager in Chicago for years,
died here March 22. He owned the Boone
theatre at Thorntown. . . . Marc Wolf, gen-
eral manager of Y & W, will be master of
ceremonies for the Sigma Alpha Mu frater-
nity regional dinner dance here Saturday.

. . . Charlton Heston spent Monday here
making the rounds with Dave Friedman,
Paramount field representative. . . . The
Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana board
will meet at noon April 6 in the Hotel Lin-
coln here. . . . The Indiana Film Transit
Co. has issued a new tariff, with the same
rate charge but a $2 minimum. . . . Howard
Rutherford, manager of Loew’s is back from
a three week vacation in Florida.

JACKSONVILLE

Lee Chumley, Paramount branch manager,
left hurriedly for his old home in Arkansas,
where his father was seriously iff. . . . Mrs.
Evelyn Hazouri, formerly a Fox booker, is
now independently booking for the Subur-
bia drive-in, Gainesville; the Boynton thea-
tre, Boynton; and the Florida theatre, Day-
tona Beach. ... In from the road for branch
office meetings were Metro salesmen John
Allen, of the Ft. Myers-Tampa area, and
Bob Capps, of Northwest Florida. . . . Ex-
hibitors on Film Row included Les Sipe,
who operates drive-ins at Gainesville and
Ft. Lauderdale, and L. V. Desquinn, New
theatre, Punta Gorda. . . . Back from Wash-
ington, where they saw Florida’s Congres-
sional delegation in connection with the tax
cut were LaMar Sarra, Florida State Thea-
tres, and Horace Denning, Dixie Drive-Ins,
both of this city; and Bolivar Hyde, Talgar
Theatres, Lakeland.

KANSAS CITY

Eleven drive-in theatres are now operat-
ing within driving distance of Kansas City
— three, the Heart, Riverside and Boulevard,
at the edge of the city, and the others from
two to 30 miles away. Most recently opened
for the season are the New 50, the Terrace,
the Kansas, the Lakeside and the Crest. The
Claco, Leawood and .Shawnee make up the
eleven. . . . Phil Blakey, many years with
Commonwealth, in its city theatres and later
with its drive-ins, has been appointed man-
ager of the circuit's downtown Regent in
Kansas City, with duties also assisting in
the management of the other Greater thea-
tres of the circuit in the metropolitan area.
. . . J. D. King, city manager at Lawrence,
Kas., for Commonwealth, has been appointed
western division manager, succeeding Lloyd
Morris who moved over to film buyer.

LOS ANGELES

In torvn to buy and book was Paul Robin-
son of the Park theatre, Tucson. . . . Mel
Brown, who operates the Twin Vue, Car-
dena, returned from vacationing in Mexico.
. . . Jim Schiller, exploitation man for Allied
Artists, was in San Francisco to set up a
(Coiitinncd on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3. 1954

(Continued from opposite page)
campaign for that company’s “Riot In Call
Block 11.”. . . The Lou Lindleys of the
Acorn Press, were off to Las Vegas for a
short vacation. . . . The latest addition to
the sales staff of National Theatre Supply
is Cal Tyler. . . . The long-dark Sunset
theatre in Hollywood had a gala re-opening
when Lou Federici who operates the Cinema
theatre here, took over the house with a
straight art policy. . . . Harry Nace and
Vice Murphy were in town on a buying and
booking assigment for the Harry L. Nace
Theatres. . . . Norma Cain, Warner Bros,
biller, was injured in an auto accident.

MEMPHIS

Four Oscar-winning films were in prog-
ress in Memphis and two already booked
when announcements were made. “From
Here to Eternity,” was at the Ritz, “Roman
Holiday” and “Shane” at Strand and “Sta-
lag 17,” at Rosemary. . . . D. C. Pratt,
owner of New Dixie at Fulton, Miss., en-
tered Baptist Hospital in Memphis for a
kidney operation. . . . Arthur and Earl
Elkin, owners of Elkin at Aberdeen, Miss.,
left for an extended Florida holiday. . . .
Grover Wray, Exhibitors Services, Mem-
phis, is off to California for a vacation with
Mrs. Wray. . . . Arkansas theatre, first run
movie house in Little Rock, Ark., which is
booked out of Memphis, will close because
“of a scarcity of A pictures.” . . . Russell
Bovim, St. Louis, district manager of
Loew’s Theatres, was in Memphis. . . .
M. A. Lightman Sr., president of Malco
Theatres, Inc., was a winner in the open
bridge tournament of Mid-South Bridge
Conference held in Nerv Orleans.

MIAMI

Producer Sam Briskin and director Tony
Mann were in Tampa working on Para-
mount’s “Strategic Air Command” in which
Jimmy Stewart is to be starred. ... In
the Sunny Isles, Miami Beach area, a 94-
acre tract is being developed to include a
modern shopping center complete with a
motion picture theatre. . . . WTVJ, Wo-
metco’s “Theatre of the Air” and Elorida’s
first TV station, celebrated its 5th birthday
recently. ... Two World Premieres were
set for the area with “Lucky Me” getting
a tri-Florida State Theatres boost with
Robert Cummings, Nancy Walker and Phil
Silvers doing personal appearances and
“The Miami Story” a Columbia picture
produced by Sam Katzman, getting Womet-
co’s triple theatre play. . . . Two of the
Wometco houses, Miami and Capitol are
getting installations of RCA equipment for
theatre TV.

MILWAUKEE

Jack Frackman, branch manager here for
the Republic exchange, announced that Wil-
liam Young is their new salesman. Mr.
Young was formerly manager for SRO
here. . . . Mr. Bates, office manager at Re-
public, celebrated his birthday the other
Friday. . . . William Spooner was in town
at the Milwaukee Film Center, Inc., to ac-
quaint exhibitors with Pola-Lite’s single
strip 3-D process. Mrs. Helene Hanke.
Lyric theatre here, and Mrs. Evelyn Guten-
berg, Grand theatre here have left for three
weeks in Hawaii. . . . The Airway theatre
here, operated by Jerry and Gene Goderski,

CITIZEN OF YEAR

E. Kelley Baione is the "Citizen of
the Year" in Tempe, Arizona. The
manager of the College theatre was
thus chosen by the local Veterans of
Foreign Wars post, and will be given
its VFW Citizen Plaque at the
Chamber of Commerce May Meet-
ing. The honor goes to Mr. Baione
because he is interested in the welfare
of local children "beyond the line of
duty"; because he supported worth-
while community projects; and be-
cause he helps "without fanfare and
expectation of thanks". The "Tempe
Daily News" said of him: "He's a first
name friend of most of the youngsters
and teen-agers."

is now featuring CinemaScope. . . . The
Vista theatre, Mukwonago, operated by
Paul Nowatske, will reopen shortly. . . .
James Schmidt is the new assistant booker
at the Columbia office here. . . . Hugo Vogel
and Sam Kaufmann attended the Variety
Club convention in Dallas.

MINNEAPOLIS

Trial of a suit by the Twin City Theatre
Co. of St. Paul against Minnesota Amuse-
ment Co. began before a jury in Ramsey
country district court in .St. Paul. The Twin
City theatre group is asking return of
$75,000 it claims it paid for the Strand and
Tower theatres in St. Paul in 1950. The
plaintiff claims the Minnesota Amusement
Co. misrepresented the earnings of the two
second-run theatres. . . . Frank Hahn will
open his new Triad drive-in at Ashland,
Wis., May 6. . . . Herb Greenblatt, RKO
Central division sales manager, and his as-
sistant, Milton Platt, were in. . . . Ev Seibel,
advertising and publicity director for Min-
nesota Amusement Co., his wife and daugh-
ter vacationed in Los Angeles.

NEW ORLEANS

The Carver, Lazarus-Dichary project,
the negro patronage theatre, is now pre-
senting “The Rohe.” . . . Among the two-
week holdovers are “Rose Marie” at Loew’s,
“Melba,” at the Civic and “The Long, Long-
Trailer” at the Joy^ . . . “The French Line,”
billed strictly “Adult entertainment,” is in a
third week at the Tudor. . . . Aiken John-
son, brother of L. C. Montgomery, president
Delta Theatres, Inc., passed away March 26
in Ferriday, La., where he had lived in re-
tirement on his ranch the past 10 years or
so. . . . The L. C. Montgomery’s will ob-
serve their 30th wedding anniversary year
by taking an extended trip to Europe and
the British Isles. They plan to leave New
Orleans April 15. . . . The long-shuttered
Leslie, Denham Springs, Pa., is slated for
reopening in about 30 days. L. E. Watson,
the new owner, is having it enlarged and
re-equipped.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Debra Paget and Jeffrey Hunter, on a
goodwill tour for the industry were in the

lobby of the Harber theatre last week to
meet all comers and sign autographs. . . .
“The Cormnand” is having a week’s run at
two suburban theatres, the Will Rogers and
the May. . . . “Night People” is now show-
ing at both the Criterion and Plaza theatres.
. . . U. S. district court at Muskogee has
been asked by six motion picture distributing
companies to determine the amounts of the
allegedly misrepresented receipts at Sulphur
and Davis theatres and to fix damages.

OMAHA

William W. Troxel, 73, who entered the
theatre business 30 years ago as owner of
the Dundee in Omaha, died at his home
after a lingering illness. After selling the
Dundee he bought theatres at Newman
Grove and Wilber, Neb., and only a few
weeks ago sold his theatre at Bancroft. For
last 12 years he managed the Beacon in
Omaha. . . . FEPCO employes gave general
manager Henry McGrath a party and watch
on his twenty-fifth anniversary with the
firm. . . . Elmer Huhnke, lowa-Nebraska
Allied treasurer, said his mother who lives
in Milwaukee had been ailing. . . . Tom
Cox, ex-manager’s aid at the Orpheum, has
returned to Omaha after two years in ser-
vice, most of the time in Germany. . . .
F. A. Van Husan, former owner of the
Western Theatre Supply Company and re-
cently affiliated with the Ralph Goldberg
Theatres, is recuperating after a heart at-
tack. . . . Herman Gould has opened the
8'4th and Center Drive-In,

PHILADELPHIA

.Stanley Warner Circuit leased its dark-
ened Ogontz in that section of the city to
a church group relighting the former key
neighborhood house as “Philadelphia’s First
Reel Theatre” on April 10 with “The Revolt
of Berlin.” . . . An upstate group from
Wilkes-Barre, Pa., seeking a change in zon-
ing to create a 700-car drive-in theatre on
the site of the Flourtown Fair Grounds in
nearby Flourtown, Pa. . . . Charles Cohen,
manager of the Fairmount, became a grand-
father with the birth of a son to his daugh-
ter-in-law. . . . April 12th has been chosen
liy the local Variety Club luncheon at which
the members will honor James P. Clark,
head of Highway Express, film delivery
service, and first chief barker of the local
tent No. 13, and Earl W. Sweigert, veteran
distributor executive, who was one of the
organizers of the Variety Club. . . . Ex-
hibitors in Wilmington, Del., planning a pro-
test to the “Wilmington Sunday Star” on
its new rate card increasing contract rate
for amusement advertising.

PITTSBURGH

Jeff Chandler spent Tuesday here plug-
ging his new Universal-International pic-
ture, “Yankee Pasha” at the Harris as well
(Continued on following page)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

{Continued from preceding page)
as his new Dacca records. . . . Loew’s Penn
set “The Naked Jungle” to follow “Act of
Love.” That house will feature “Tennessee
Champ” as its Easter movie along with one
of its rare stage shows. . . . “Turn the Key
Softly,” which was forced out of the Squir-
rel Hill art house after just one week be-
cause of a locked booking for “The Living-
Desert” will return to that house, probably
right after the Disney Oscar-winner leaves.
. . . Perry Como, once of nearby Canons-
burg, will headline the Variety Club telethon
April 24 from Syria Mosque to raise $750,-
000 for an addition to the Club’s pet project,
the Roselia Foundling and Maternity Home.
Dennis James will emcee the show. . . .
Latest double-bill to get a first-run in a
score of local and district houses pairs
“Jezebel” with “White Fire.”

PORTLAND

Second and third run houses are scratch-
ing for product. Long holdovers have cut
down available product making 30-day ad-
vance bookings a problem. . . . Jesse Jones’
Family drive-in was set to open March 31
with lots of opening activities set up by
general manager Keith Petzold. . . . Frank
Alexander, noted theatre organist, passed
away this week. . . . William Thedford,
Evergreen vice-president, was in town to
conduct a one-day session with all Ever-
green managers in the Oregon district. The
meeting was part of a National Theatres
drive. . . . Oregon district manager Russ
Brown and booker Lou Metzlaar went to
Seattle last week. . . . Guild manager Marty
Foster is still in New York. . . . Walter
Hoffman, Paramount field man in the NW,
became the father of a 7-pound daughter
this' week. Mother, the former Marylin
Goldstein, was in the press department of a
radio station in Minneanolis Minn. This is
their third girl.

PROVIDENCE

The Majestic theatre was the scene of the
New England premiere of the 3-D film

“Phantom of the Rue Morgue.” . . . “The
Glenn Miller Story,” starring James Stew-
art and June Allyson, held for a second
week at the RKO Albee. ... So popular was
Walt Disney’s “The Living Desert” that it
held for a fourth week at the Avon Cinema.
. . . The Boro drive-in, on Route 1 between
Providence and North Attleboro, was the
third open-airer in this territory to open for
the new season. . . . House-trailer distribu-
tors continued to run good-sized advertise-
ments in local newspapers, plugging “The
Long, Long Trailer,” (and their own mo-
bile homes), as the picture held for a sec-
ond week at Loew’s State. . . . The Bay
State drive-in, just over the Massachusetts
state line between Providence and Fall
River, announced a twin-featured program
would inaugurate their 1954 season. . . .
Gifts were awarded the first 100 female
patrons as the Route 44 drive-in ushered in
the new season.

SAN FRANCISCO

William Greenbaum’s Film Booking
Agency of Northern California has taken
over the Sequoia and Colonial at Sacra-
mento. . . . William Blair sold the Calistoga
in that town to W. G. Wickoff. . . . Affiliated
Theatres’ Weed, Weed, has been sold to
Jacob A. Leech who formerly owned the
Ocean drive-in, Crescent City. Booking will
be done by Dick Miller of Medford, Oregon.
... At Golden State Theatres, Chan Car-
penter, booker, resigned to work for Roy
Cooper’s booking agency and Cooper’s for-
mer secretary resigned to work for him also.
She is Mary Mora. Fred Dixon, former
supervisor of bookings, took over Cooper’s
Golden State post as buyer and Robert
Naify, Jr. took over Dixon’s desk. . . . Harry
Sack, co-owner of the Haight theatre, died
suddenly Mar. 21 while engaged in a game
of golf.

TORONTO

Nipiwan Theatres Ltd. of Regina, headed
by Leonard Reinhorn, will erect a two-story
restaurant and banquet hall next to the

Nortown which I. Reinhorn operates. . . .
A motion picture on industrial design will
be financed by the Federal Government to
the extent of $15,000. . . . Manager of Tele-
pix Movies Ltd., TV film distributing firm
here, is Lloyd Burns. Joseph Dunkleman,
company founder, is president. . . . Private
exhibition groups organized on a non-profit
basis in Manitoba are no exception to cen-
sorship regulations, according to Merlin
Newton, Provincial censor. . . . Bill Lester
arranged for a group of youngsters from St.
Patrick’s Orphanage to attend a special
vaudeville show. . . . Winnipeg branch of
United Artists is leading the third group
in the 36th Anniversary sales drive, while
Saint John is third. Winnipeg manager is
Abe Feinstein and I. J. Davis is in charge
at Saint John.

VANCOUVER

Charlie Doctor, Capitol manager, was the
winner of $400 first prize in the IFD contest
on “Gilbert & Sullivan.” International B'ilm
Distributors offered $1,000 in prizes ex-
clusively for Famous Player managers for
the best exploitation campaigns. . . . Jim
Fairley, manager-projectionist at the Park,
Parksville, on V ancouver Island, as a result
of a booth mishap has a badly dislocated
back. . . . Edward Cloutier, doorman at the
Capitol, Prince Rupert, headed the entire
Famous Players Circuit in individual sales
of books of theatre tickets at Christmas, ac-
cording to a final tabulation. . . . Beno-
graph closed its local office Wednesday. . . .
Bell & Howell of Canada have taken over
the Benograph interests. . . . Vickie Allan,
formerly at the Paramount, Chilliwack, now
a cashier at the Capitol Vancouver, was
married to Frank Redekop. . . . Phyl Latta,
(former Phyl Dixon) cashier at Columbia
Films, has joined MGM in the same ca-
pacity, replacing Violet Bedford, who was
with MGM for 17 years. The latter re-
signed when she received her C-A degree.

. . . Barbara Gray, of Columbia, is ill.

WASHINGTON

Stanley Warner district manager Charles
Grimes is recuperating from recent surgery
at Doctors Hospital. . . . Many Washington
exhibitors and theatre people generally were
at the Spyros Skouras testimonial dinner in
Baltimore Wednesday, given by the Balti-
more Variety Club. . . . There will be an
official “unveiling” of Stanley Warner’s
Metropolitan redecorating job April 17 with
the opening of “Lucky Me.” . . . Glenn Nor-
ris, 20th Century Fox district manager, had
sales meetings with salesmen and bookers
in Washington and Pittsburgh. . . . The
Variety Club had Open House March 27.

. . . Jake Flax, Republic Pictures branch
manager, was planning to spend a little
time in Florida after attending the Variety
Clubs convention in Dallas.

Forms Israel Company

Yehoshua Brandstatter, managing direc-
tor of Israeli Motion Picture Studios, Ltd.,
has announced he has completed negotiations
for the formation of Israel-Anierica Motion
Pictures, Inc. (I.SRAM) with headquarters
in New York. ISRAM will be headed by
•Samson R. Diamond, president, and will re]i-
resent Israel’s largest studio in llie United
States, Canada, Central and .South America.

M-G-M TRADE SHOW- APR. 5th

PRISONER OF WAR

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
NEW YORK

20th-Fox Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
M-G-M Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
Warner Screen Room
RKO Palace Theatre Bldg.
20th- Fox Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
Paramount Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Rodm
Max Blumenthal’s Sc. Rm.
20th- Fox Screen Room
Florida State Screen Room
Paramount 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

OKLAHOMA CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room

OMAHA
PHILADELPHIA
PinSBURGH
PORTLAND
ST. LOUIS
SALT LAKE CITY
SAN FRANCISCO
SEATTLE
WASHINGTON

20th- Fox Screen Room
M-G-M Screen Rqom
M-G-M Screen Room
B. F. Shearer Screen Rm.
Paramount Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
Jewel Box Preview Thea.
RKO Screen Room

1 052 Broadway

4/5

2 P.M.

197 Walton St., N. W.

46 Church Street

4/5

2 P.M.

4/5

2 P.M.

290 Franklin Street

4/5

2 P.M.

308 S. Church Street

4/5

1 :30 P.M.

1307 S. Wabash Ave.

4/5

2:15 P.M.

16 East Sixth St.

4/5

8 P.M.

2219 Payne Avenue

4/5

1 P.M.

1803 Wood Street

4/5

2:30 P.M.

21 00 Stout Street

4/6

2 P.M.

1300 High Street

4/5

1 P.M.

2310 Cass Avenue

4/5

1 :30 P.M.

236 No. 1 llinois St.

4/5

1 P.M.

128 East Forsyth Street

4/5

2 P.M.

1802 Wyandotte St.

4/5

1 :30 P.M.

1851 S. Westmoreland

4/5

2 P.M.

151 Vance Avenue

4/5

12 Noon

212 W. Wisconsin Ave.

4/5

1 :30 P.M.

1015 Currie Avenue

4/5

2 P.M.

40 Whiting Street

4/5

2 P.M.

200 S. Liberty St.

4/5

1 :30 P.M.

630 Ninth Avenue

4/5

2:30 P. M.

10 North Lee Street

4/5

1 P.M.

1502 Davenport St.

4/5

1 P.M.

1233 Summer Street

4/5

2 P.M.

1623 Blvd. of Allies

4/5

2 P.M.

1947 N. W. Kearney St.

4/5

2 P.M.

2949 Olive Street

4/5

1 P.M.

216 E. First St., So.

245 Hyde Street

4/5

1 P.M.

4/5

1 :30 P.M.

2318 Second Avenue

4/5

1 P.M.

932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W.

4/5

2 P.M.

*Excepf Denver which is April 6

M-G-M presents "PRISONER OF WAR" starring Ronald Reagan • Steve Forrest • Dewey Martin • with
Oscar Homolka • Written by Allen Rivkin • Directed by Andrew Marton • Produced by Henry Berman

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3. 1954

tht^feykan Ci)ef Clean- tlfiyitne

SMART showuien who know t!ie value of
good theatre housekeeping, and recog'-
nize the fact that Mother, when she
brings the family to the theatre is always
appreciative of the good housekeeping ges-
tures that go with the season, are facing the
fact that theatres generally need refurbish-
ing, but this year it’s vital to give your place
of business a new aspect in axldition tf)
ratios.

The public have been told, and they will
discover for themselves, that the movies are
better than ever, and that something new
has been added that gives motion pictures a
new advantage, in the competitive battle for
the public’s amusement dollar. They will
be looking around to see what’s new, from
the moment they cross the sidewalk towards
your box office. Give them the look of fresh
paint, the smell of cleanliness, and the glamor
of a theatre, which differs from most places
of business because we deal in glamor, and
must have the appearance to justify it.

People go to the theatre, in preference to
staying home, because they want to feel they
are “going out” for pleasure, and to see and
enjoy that brightness that goes with the at-
mosphere of a theatre in contrast even to
their own homes. They like to see people,
and meet friends, and be seen themselves, in
company, at the right places. Theatre man-
agers have more reason for Spring house-
cleaning than even Mother does, with her
annual effort.

There’s lot of valuable community and
public relations in the process of paint, polish
and primping at this time of year. Your
neighbors along Main Street will observe,
and do likewise. A whole neighborhood can
be lifted out of seasonal doldrums and made
to feel better, with a dose of Spring tonic
that originates at their community play-
house. Of course, there’s never any excuse
for being far behind with house cleaning,
but that doesn’t stop Mother, who has the
place in an uproar with her campaign for
chasing dirt.

And you can go far in community affairs

50th ANNIVERSARY

John J. Fitzgibbons, president of Famous
Players-Canadian Corporation, is celebrat-
ing the completion of fifty years in the
industry. The strong man of Canada, now
64, made his start as a projectionist's assist-
ant at the age of 14 years, in the old Bijou
theatre, Meriden, Conn., his birthplace. He
has competent knowledge of every phase
of theatre management and operation,
because he has worked his way up through
the ranks, and he takes pride in the fact
that he has personally handled every job
that he asks others to fill in his wideflung
organization. Many good showmen in the
Dominion credit their own progress to his
insight and foresight as to the duties,
responsibilities and rewards of good man-
agement.

And while we were on vacation recently,
came a nice letter from John J. Fitzgibbons
Jr. president of Theatre Confections,
Limited, with a word of praise and encour-
agement to the Herald for the new depart-
ment, "Better Refreshment Merchandising"
which is now a neighborly adjunct to the
Round Table in each issue. Young Jack is
following his father's good example. He
stepped out to form his own company in
the theatre refreshment field, and built his
position so strongly that he won the sub-
stantial business of Famous Players-Cana-
dian theatres, along with an independent
sales approach to a majority of other
theatres, across Canada.

if you key a Spring drive of this sort with
the sponsorship of paint and housewares
dealers, with the Fire Underwriters, the
Safety Councils, the Village Impvrovement
Association, the women’s organizations and
civic clubs, the school authorities, all down
the line, interested in the same thing at the
same time, for better living in your town.

€| JEFF JEFFERIS sends us a copy of his
monthly programs, from Piedmont, Mis-
souri— “written by Jeff and censored by
Maude, as usual” — a good showmanship
team who work together for the advantage
of their industry — and he makes a side-
remark, addressed to us, because the reverse
side of the program is devoted to a personal
message to his home folks, in the friendly
style of the middle west. He asks, “How
corny can a guy get ?” — but he needn’t
worry. If it will make him feel better, the
Round Table is sometimes designated as “the
corn crib” — and we have three red ears
hanging over the transom, where they usu-
ally put the horseshoe for luck.

There is much to enjoy and appreciate in
Jeff’s own style. He announces that he is
dosing the Jefferis theatre on April 27th,
and his Pine Hill Drive-in will open x\pril
29th. He says “Maude and I decided to keep
the theatre closed this summer, as we have a
lot of remodeling to do.” His patrons have
been proud of Jefferis theatre housekeeping
for 21 years, and this is the opportunity for
a new approach. He thinks folks will really
he surprised.

Jeff' has some little differences in Drive-In
operation that bring a smile of appreciation.
He runs a “midnight” show, at 1 1 p. m. on
Saturday nights, and charges those who stay
for it when they leave ! That’s new and dif-
ferent. And he raises his own beefburgers
on the premises. Says he never saw a pair
of more contented steers.

^ WE’RE GLAD that the Rivoli theatre
has re-opened with “The Lost Weekend”
— which was an all-time record breaker in
this same theatre when it was first released
— and that Vincent Trotta’s “one man show”
is installed in the Rivoli mezzanine as a
feature during the run. We expect photo-
graphs and publicity material from Monty
Salmon, who has been boosting for an
exhibit of the fine drawings of the veteran
industry artist. — Walter Brooks.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 3, 1954

Expioiiaiion"'
0Pn the Mark

For the opening of "The Glenn Miller Story" at the
Capitol theatre, on Broadway, these attractive models
carried portable radios bringing the tunes directly to
potential patrons.

Keenan Wynn, in person, created quite a sensation at
the premiere of "Tennessee Champ" at Loew's State
theatre, in Memphis, where he not only made friends and
influenced people, but met with local Golden Gloves
fighters, in the theatre lobby.

Dane Clark, star of United Artists' "Go, Man Go!”
makes a personal appearance in the lobby of the
Globe theatre, to present free basketballs to the first
25 amateur basketball teams to purchase tickets.

Garters for all! Those red garter girls, Pat Blake and Betty Thomas,
right out of the Paramount picture, scatter souvenir garters to movie fans
at the opening of "Red Garters" at the Fox Wilshlre theatre, Los Angeles.

Alfred Lowenthal
gave early patrons a
"millionaire snack' '
— French Parfait —
at the opening of
his new Cinema-
Scope film at
Skouras' David Mar-
cus theatre, in the
Bronx.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

QUIGLEY AWARDS
CONTENDERS

MARK ALLING
Golden Gate
San Francisco, Cal.

J. T. BRIDGES
Victory, Timmins, Can.

C. F. BRODIE
Regal, Barrow, Eng.

BILL BURKE

Capitol, Brantford, Can.

TERRENCE C. BUHLE
Rex, Reading, Eng.

H. STUART CODDE
20th Century-Fox
Sydney, Australia

GERRY COLLINS
Loew's, Toronto, Can.

MAX COOPER
Cove, Glen Cove, N. Y.

E. De LAMATER, JR.
Rhodes, Atlanta, Ga.

ELMER N. De WITT
Valentine, Defiance, O.

BOB DIEM

Colonial, Reading, Pa.

THOMAS di LORENZO
Drive-In

Massapequa, N. Y.

CHARLES DOCTOR
Capitol,

Vancouver, Can.

RICHARD EMPEY
Granada, Duluth, Minn.

JACK FINK
Park, Tampa, Fla.

GEORGE J. FORHAN
Belle, Belleville, Can.

MARTY FOSTER
Guild, Portland, Ore.

MARCEL GALEAZZI
Republic Pictures
Rome, Italy

ARNOLD GARY
College

Birmingham, Ala.

PETER H. GASTON
Savoy, Sale, Eng.

LARRY GRAVER
Mastbaum
Philadelphia, Pa.

ALVIN GUGGENHEIM
Yale, Houston, Texas

E. D. HAINGE
Odeon

Birmingham, Eng.

MERLE F. HALLFORD
Martin, Thomson, Ga.

J. P. HARRISON
Campus, Denton, Texas

ROBERT HARVEY
Capitol, North Bay, Can.

G. C. HOPKINS
Astra

Wellesbourne, Eng.

SAM HORWITZ
Harbor, Brooklyn, N. Y.

JAS. S. HOWARD, JR.
Air Vue Drive-In
Goldsboro, N. C.

TED IRWIN

Electric, Lamed, Kansas

JEFF JEFFERIS
Jefferls, Piedmont, Mo.

HAROLD C. JENKINS
Coosa

Childersburg, Ala.

HELEN JOHNSON
State

Statesville, N. C.

SUNTORN JUBANDHU
Chalerm Thai Bangkok

MICHAEL KING
Alhambra, Toronto, Can.

SIDNEY KEEPER
College

New Haven, Conn.

FRANK KOVALETZ
Paramount
Wilkes Barre, Pa.

D. E. LACEY
Savoy

South Shields, Eng.

FRED C. LENTZ
Paramount, Toledo, O.

NORMAN LEVINSON
Poll, Hartford, Conn.

A. LOWENTHAL
David Marcus
New York, N. Y,

J. NORMAN LONGLEY
Imperial, Walsall, Eng.

EDWARD McGLONE
Palace, Cincinnati, O.

WILLIAM McLARTY
Regal, Hamilton, Eng.

MOREY MARCUS
Republic Pictures
Hongkong

JOSEPH MIRASOLA
Lincoln

Union City, N. J.

STUART MURRAY
Hays, St. Cloud, Minn.

K. NAIR

Republic Pictures
Bombay, India

RUFUS C. NEAS
State

Mooresville, N. C.

HENNING NOACK
Republic Pictures
Copenhagen, Denmark

R. W. PARKER
Regal, Torquay, Eng.

C. D. E. PARKIN
Ritz, Wigan, Eng.

MERLIN W. PAUL
Hunt's, Wildwood, N. J.

FRED PAULUS
Republic Pictures
Manila, P. I.

GEORGE PETERS
Loew's, Richmond, Va.

LESTER POLLOCK
Loew's, Rochester, N. Y.

ROY RAISTRICK
Gaumont
Sheffield, Eng.

BILL RIDING
Regent, Harrisburg, Pa.

JAMES ROBERTSON
Regal, Girvan, Scot.

CARL ROGERS
Loew's, Dayton, Ohio

ROBERT E. ROSEN
Bismarck
Bismarck, N. D.

MORRIS ROSENTHAL
Poll, New Haven, Conn.

JERRY SCHUR
Crotona

New York, N. Y.

OLGA SHARABURA
Orpheum

Sault Ste. Marie, Can.

JACK SIDNEY
Century, Baltimore, Md.

JOHN L. SMITH

Palace, Arbroath, Scot.

BOYD SPARROW
Warfield

San Francisco, Cal.

LESLIE SPRINKLE
Lyric, Elkin, N. C.

D. CYRIL STEIN
20th Century-Fox
Johannesburg, S. Africa

MIKE STRANGER
Plymouth

Worcester, Mass.

BILL TRAMBUKIS
State

Providence, R. I.

C. B. TRISCIUZZI
Republic Pictures

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

D. J. VAN LEEN
Centra Fil ma
Amsterdam, Holland

EDUARDO V. VIDAL
Republic Pictures
Mexico City, Mexico

JOHN V. WARD
Seneca

Niagara Falls, Can.

W. H. WILSON
Paramount
Edmonton, Can.

MARTIN S. WUCHER
Town, Miami, Fla.

B. F. ZIALCITA
Republic
Manila, P. I.

Round Table

Q Howard Pettengill, advertising and publicity manager for Florida
State Theatres in Jacksonville, promised to send us a picture of a
managers’ meeting scheduled in Orlando, and that he would have done,
only the photographer didn't show up, and since we wanted to run the
picture with names reading from left to right, we can’t quite make this
illustration for “Showman in Action’’ as we expected to. But the inten-
tions were good, on all sides. . . . Seymour Morris, in the same capacity
for the Schine circuit in Gloversville, reports the exploitation which Lou
Hart, manager of the Avon theatre, Watertown, N. Y., had for “Riot
in Cell Block 11’’ and says they played the picture in three other situa-
tions and were amazed at the business it did. He says “we can contribute
a lot to the TV saturation campaign, but didn’t entirely depend on it, for
individual managers did a tremendous job locally.’’ . . . Fox-West Coast
Showtime shows a picture of a stage setting for a sponsored cooking
school arranged by manager Fred Gebhardt at the Mesa theatre, and
says, “It’s Spring! . . . Managers Jack McGeorge of the Taft theatre,
and Mike Kirsch, of the Santa Paula, given a first rate boost in Fox-
West Coast Showtime for their handling of display on “Living Desert.”
. . . Dean Hyskell, editor of the same circuit house organ, instructs
Fox West Coast managers to wait for instructions as to just when and
how they are to contact newspaper editors in regard to the COMPO
series of industry advertisements now running in Editor & Publisher.
There’s a scheme afoot, to get manager and editor together in a joint
operation at the point of sale. And it should button-up on this front, to
be effective.

▼ ▼ T

I Famous Players-Canadian managers were eligible, and they won,
hands down, the $1,000 in prize money offered by International Film
Distributors for the best campaigns on “The Story of Gilbert & Sulli-
van” playing the Canadian circuit. Charley Doctor won top prize, $40(J,
in “A” situations, and we don’t wonder, since the same campaign was
entered for the Quigley Awards, and it was “magnificent”- — as Jimmie
Nairn said. Freeman Skinner, manager of the Paramount, Halifax,
was second in this class, for a $200 award. In the “B” situations. Bill
Burke of the Capitol theatre, Brantford, walked away with the top prize
of $250, and Charlie Dilly, of the Paramount, Port Arthur, was second
in this group, for $150 prize money. It’s a well deserved tribute to
ambitious showmen of real ability and skill. . . . Edward Cloutier is the
“Young Man of the Year” in Jimmie Nairn’s current issue of “What’s
New” from Famous Players-Canadian Theatres. Eddie is the doorman
at the Capitol theatre. Prince Rupert, and he headed the entire list with
the greatest sale of theatre ticket books this year. His personal sales
amounted to $3,153.30 and the circuit reports the greatest aggregate sale
of ticket books in the company’s history. . . . Tiff Cook, well known in
the Round Table and attached to FP-C’s headquarters in Toronto, took
a Theatre Confections, Ltd., truck to an outdoor game and attracted
plenty of attention and customers to things to buy and eat while being-
otherwise entertained. . . . Matt Saunders, manager of Loew’s Poli
theatre, Bridgeport, got a front-page story, carried over with art work
and two columns of copy, when he helped a local mother to talk to her
soldier son and his French bride, in an international phone call for the
American Red Cross.

▼ ▼ T

^1 Visiting with Frank Boucher in Washington the other day, we
J agreed that we should spend a day in Baltimore, where a number
of Round Table members and good showmen are always in action. And
since returning to this desk, and finding Jack Sidney’s excellent cam-
paign on “Knights of the Round Table” waiting for us here, we are even
more anxious to put Baltimore on our list of places to hold a Round
Table meeting in the foreseeable future. . . . Incidentally, Frank publishes
the TV Guide in both Washington and Baltimore, and it is a potent
program and advertising schedule. ... Jim Hardiman, “Circus Boss”
at Odeon’s headquarters in Toronto, selling a new contest for circuit
managers for “The Greatest Showmanship on Earth” with sponsored
prizes and other incentives to enlist the interest of the wives and mothers
of contenders. . . . Cecil McGlohon, manager of the Avon theatre,
Savannah, Ga., says that TV advertising on “Creature of the Black
Lagoon” really paid off in a big way. ... A pressbook printed in Italy
for Titanus Films, Rome, has an ingenius format, including a dozen
halftone pictures, printed as bleed-pages, loose in the folder, and looking
like real photographs, for use by the exhibitor as lobby display. ... A
patron of the Totah theatre, Farmington, New Mexico, was so pleased
with “The Robe” that he spent $24 advertising in local papers to tell
friends and neighbors that seeing the picture would make our world a
better place to live in. . . . William Brown, manager of the State
theatre, Manchester, Conn., is named “Manager of the Month” in the
New England zone, by Stanley Warner theatres, for his good campaign
on “Long, Long Trailer,” which was promoted at little cost and produced
very sizeable results.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 3, 1954

The Resemblance Is

Really Remarkable

Not Lauren Bacall, Marilyn Monroe or
Betty Grable, above, but their duplicates,
top-winners in a contest promoted by RKO
Theatres in New York with the cooperation
of the the New York W ovld-Tclcgram — and
we’ve seldom seen such look-alikes. It was
an exciting finish, for a contest to promote
“How To Marry a Millionaire.”

These winners were chosen in the finals,
held in the swank Continental Room of the
liner Nassau, at Pier 42, North River.
Under newsreel floodlights, punctuated by
the glare of photographers’ flash bulbs, the
contenders vied for a top prize of a $500
savings bond, but the experience all three
are looking forward to is that luxurious.

seven-day, all-expense-paid, vacation cruise
aboard the liner to the Bahamas. It will be
the first trip for any of the trio, who’ll sail
together on April 9th. Before they go, each
will get a complete vacation wardrobe, a
nationally known wrist-watch, and a new
hair-do, all contributed by sponsors.

Our Vice President in charge of such
matters has been deprived of Portfolio for
his failure to get us invited to the affair.
They had 15, count-em, 15 Marilyn Monroes,
every one exactly like the original Marilyn
in one way or another, and it’s said that as
many millionaires crashed the party to see
if they could out-play Joe DiMaggio, against
the field.

**Search for
Stars ” Held

During our recent vacation from this
desk, Frank Hughes, manager of the Ave-
nue theatre, San Francisco, sent news of
his new talent show, “Search for Stars”
which opened with so much success that it
has now been held over for an additional
six weeks. It has brought up the box office
by 140 per cent. We’re glad to publish the
story, with credit to him for the Bay Area’s
popular discovery show, which is now being
copied in other houses.

Successful amateurs who have appeared
on important radio and Tv shows provide
a nucleus for incoming talent, all of whom
strive to impress the Avenue audience with
their talents. New people are being found
regularly, who will go on to other appear-
ances, and who may find success in any of
the allied fields of radio, television or motion
pictures.

" 1 00 Gals" Awarded
To " 1 00 Winners"

Peter Melnyk, manager of the Century
theatre, Bonnyville, Alberta, promoted a
cooperative advertising deal with a local gas
station, who gave out a gallon of gas to
each of 100 winners who purchased lucky
number tickets. An insurance agency paid
for the distribution of handbills, each with
a safety-pin attached, in case you lost a
button laughing at “Scared Stiff.” His
program calendar, lithographed in Canada
by Pan-American Advertising Service, New
Hope, Ont., is very attractive in color, and
style. It is underwritten by cooperative
advertisers.

Merry-Go-Round Horses
Double in Ballyhoo

William Butterfield, owner of the Lake
Drive-In theatre, Pasagoula, Miss., an old
hand at exploitation, had his entire staff in
western costume, placarded the concession
counter with one-sheets and photographs,
had a display of old guns, and the horses
from his playland’s merry-go-round, as
ballyhoo and atmosphere for Republic’s
“Jubilee Trail.”

Boyd Sparrow reports that the San Fran-
cisco Chronicle gave Loew’s Warfield thea-
tre a nice break with pictures and story
on the opening of “Rose Marie.”

Ben Domingo, manager of RKO Keith’s
Memorial theatre, Boston, combined two na-
tional tieups in his lobby for “Clenn Miller
.Story” — Army Recruiting and Webcor
jihonographs.

Bob Diem, manager of Loew’s theatre.
Reading, Pa., not only had that New Moon
trailer tieup for “The Long, Imng Trailer”
but had so many trailers and so much street
frontage that it looks like a parade, just
parked in front.

^Obliging . Unifo^r*

1 PERSONABLE DEPENDABLE

1 >ikCMlFR< 1 DOOR/WEN

Rri O O O D

mRT AND PROJECTION

USHERS

Orderly /^ooressive

SYSTEWATIC '

CLEANING SALESMANSHIP

UNYTtWHCE OtfT j:c^nMmDAHTS

Leadership I

ORGANIZATION I
PROMOTIONAL I
IWKNAOESAENT I

Jo/inny Corbeft, manager of Schine's Glove and Hippodrome theatres in Gloversville,
N. Y., held a joint staff meeting on stage, at the showing of Irving Mack's training film,
"Courtesy Is Contagious" — with this line-up of employees who are sold on the idea, and
drive if home with slogans, based on what they've learned.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 1954

MMritish Miaund Table

FST Create
Their Own
jPressbaoks

Howard Pettengill sends samples of the
kind of pressbooks which are created by
Florida State Theatres and circulated to
managers in the circuit, directly from the
headquarters advertising and pulilicity office
in Jacksonville. We’ve known this was
common practice in Howard Pettengill’s
contact with circuit houses, but we haven’t
known many other instances where it is as
welt handled. It’s a little difficult to deter-
mine how much of these books are actually
printed in Florida for the purpose, and how
much is assembled and bound from national
sources, but the result is uniformly good.

The campaign manual for Walt Disney’s
“Living Desert’’ is a substantial job, with
sales ideas and suggestions, partly in mimeo-
graph, but with added proof pages, where
actual ad copy can be tipped in. Prevue
comment cards and the use of opinion quotes
gets special attention, and there is sound
advice as to how to get the family trade
with a typical Disney attraction. Also, we
note in passing, a warning to “delete or
cover art on snakes’’ in lobby display,
proving that Florida managers know patrons
don’t like snakes.

On “The Bigamist’’ the sales approach
runs along “True Confessions’’ lines and the
warning line is repeated in every ad —
“Adult Entertainment for Adult Audiences.”
Special lobby display was prepared in the
Jacksonville Art Shop and shipped to thea-
tres in the circuit booking. Newspaper
teaser ads were smartly designed to capital-
ize the adult approach and the nature of the
picture, which is proper handling tor this
type of attraction. It’s never smart to ignore
the warnings on adult pictures.

Local Playdates Listed
In National Advertising

The first 1,150 theatres which dated Uni-
versal’s new Technicolor adventure film,
“Saskatchewan”, will find their playdates
listed in record-making two-and-a-half page
ads in Collier’s and Look magazines, dated
March 19th and 23rd. This marks the
largest number of dates ever listed in this
type of national magazines, in line with the
advertising policy of Universal’s Dave
Lipton, who seeks to bring this “want-to-
see” promotion closer to the actual theatre
playdates, throughout the country.

FILMACK

Trailers
When You
Need Them

Service Is Quick
Like A
Bunny

Trailers
Famous
For Quality

Q I D. Huuhes, manager of the Regal cine-
ma, Cheltenham, sent photos of Ava
Gardner with a covering letter to American
bases and the larger factories for “Alogambo,”
in addition to the usual exploitation. . . . G.
Lennox, assistant manager of the Regal,
Hamilton, Scotland, obtained a natural tieup
when a local restaurant called “The Spider’s
Web” agreed to a window display in exploita-
tion of “The Maze.”. . . C. G. Manhire, man-
ager of the Savoy cinema, Edinburgh, Scotland,
promoted a jungle window display in a local
florist shop, complete with bears borrowed from
a furrier for “Tarzan and the She-Devil,” and
good business proved the value of this extra
effort. . . . S. V. Murdoch obtained valuable
away-from-theatre publicity on "East of Suma-
tra” through a tieup with a nearby laundry
whose trucks carried advertising for the picture
at the Gaumont cinema, Liverpool, where he is
manager. . . . I. C. Myrans who manages the
Odeon theatre in Chelmsford, sends photo of
good exploitation tieup with the local Road
Safety Committee for “From Here to Eternity”
and says it is the first time they have been
known to tie up with anybody. . . . F. B. Page’s
simple but attention-getting exploitation stunt
for “Sombrero” at the Rex cinema, Islington,
was a man in Mexican costume sitting outside
the theatre in typical head down, crossed legged
siesta. . . . R. Parrott, manager of the Ritz
cinema, Doncaster, hopeful that material sent
us on recent exploitation will qualify him for
Round Table membership, and we assure him
that he has been enrolled and card is on the
way. . . . Roy Raistrick, manager of the Gau-
mont, Sheffield, sends a fine “How to Marry a
Millionaire” entry for the next Quigley Awards
competition. He plays up a different angle by
offering five days in Paris to the girl whose
voice is most similar to Marilyn Monroe’s. . . .

V ▼

Ml Noel Briggs, assistant manager at the
Lyric cinema, W ellingbrough, played
“Dangerous When Wet” in cold weather, and
rather than emphasize the bathing suit angle,
had a well publicized fashion contest showing
dresses made of “safe when wet” materials. . . .
Another assistant manager, A. Buckley of the
Regal cinema, Halifax, put the doorman in
gorilla get-up to parade the streets for “Mo-
gambo.”. . . A. S. Cooke, manager of the Regal
cinema, Cirencester, contacted the heads of 30
local schools with invitations for groups of chil-
dren to see “The Conquest of Mt. Everest,”
with resulting good will. . . . D. S. Copeland,
assistant manager of the Globe cinema. Stock-
ton, had the world-renowned clown, “Coco” at
a special minors’ matinee, and twm local news-
papers gave the story good space. . . . J. D.
DEL Nevo, acting manager at the Regal cinema,
Oxford, using a “Day to Remember” contest
to exploit the picture of that name. First prize
was a portrait, promoted from a local photog-
rapher. . . . R. N. Douglas, assistant at tlie
Waverly cinema, Shawlauds, Scotland, another
who believes in contests. This was a tout con-
test with two weeks m Italy as first prize in
exploitation of “Quo Vadis.”. . . Charles L.
Fowler, manager of the New Hippodrome &
Tudor House, Huddersfield, tied up his cam-
paign for “Second Chance” with the local Road
Safety Commission who put up posters and
supplied 1000 children’s road safety painting
books. . . . Peter H. Gaston, assistant man-
ager of the Savoy cinema. Sale, sends campaign
book showing all-out exploitation for “Mo-
gambo,” including gorilla masks and street
ballyhoo. . . . E. D. Hainge, manager of the
Odeon cinema, Birmingham, contacted heads of
social and church organizations in advance of
his playdate of “The Robe” and invited the
mayor and other dignitaries. — W. T.

T ▼

Miss Lily Waff, manager of fhe Odeon fheafre, Coafbridge, Scofland, and one of our
besf Round Table members anywhere in fhe world, displays her Scroll of Honor cifafion,
won in fhe fhird quarfer for fhe Quigley >1 wards of 1953 — fo a visifor, Roy Rogers, in
person, on a six-weeks four of Brifain's music halls.

As a maffer of inferesf, in addifion fo fhe Roy Rogers Fan Club, wifh over 50,000
members, fhere are now 65 cinemas wifh Riders Clubs in Brifain. Roy refurns wifh fhe
resolufion fo make new films for theatres, at long lasf. If's been years since his loyal
fans have had a current release.

MANAGERS’ ROUND TABLE SECTION. APRIL 3.

954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menting the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

CANDY, BEVERAGE VARIETY GROWS

Popcorn may he the kingpin of theatre
refreshment vending, but both candy and
beverages have made significant gains in
popularity among patrons of the indoor
snack bars. As a consequence the visitor
to the refreshment stand now finds a greater
variety of confectionery and soft drinks to
choose from than ever Irefore !

These were important findings in the
Sixth Annual Theatre Refreshment Sales
Survey in which exhil)itors throughout the
United States were polled concerning vari-
ous aspects of their snack service operations.
(The first report on the survey results was
published in the Better Theatres Market
Guide Number, issued March 27.)

That increase in the range of candy
brands available at the theatre snack stand
has grown steadily the past few years. Back
in 1952 the average theatre was shown in
survey results to offer its patrons a choice
of about 29 bars. Last year this figure
iumped to 35. In 1954 it is 40 — an advance
of 273^2% in only two years!

With such an increase in the kinds of
candy stocked in theatres, it was inevitable
that the list of “best-sellers” among the
brands should also be considerably expanded.
As a part of the poll each year exhibitors
are asked to name the ten brands which are
most popular among their patrons. In tabu-
lating the results it was found that there
were 156 different kinds !

From all the brands listed each year the
Herald selects those which received the
largest number of votes, and these are
awarded Theatre Sales Champion Shields,
which signifies that they lead the field in
popularity with theatre patrons. (The com-
plete list of winners is reproduced at right.)

In addition to naming their “best-selling”
candies, exhibitors reported the beverages
which are most often purchased by their
clientele.

W'liile less popular with theatre patrons
than either popcorn or candy, according to
survey results, beverages have over the
years gradually earned for themselves a sub-
stantial place in refreshment stand business.
While in 1952 exhibitors reported that an
average of only 6 out of each 100 patrons
purchased a soft drink, this year that figure
was 28 — a jump of almost 500%!

Theatre Sales
Champions

. . . best-selling candies and
soft drinks named in survey

CANDY

Almond Joy

Baby Ruth

Brock Assortment

Butterfinger

Clark Bar

Goobers

Mr. Coodbar

Hershey Bars

Hollywood Milk Shake

jujyfruits

M & M’s

Malted Milk Balls

Mars

Mason Dots
Milk Duds
Milky Way
Mounds

Necco Peppermints
Nestle Bars
Oh Henry

Planter’s Peanuts
Pom Poms
Powerhouse
Peanut Butter Cup
Raisinets

Switzer’s Licorice
Three Musketeers
Tootsie Roll
Welch Jr. Mints

BEVERAGES
Canada Dry

Orange and Grape
Coca-Cola
Dad’s Root Beer
Hires Root Beer
Mission Orange
Orange Crush
Pepsi-Cola
Seven-Up

Manufacturers of Champions not identified in the brand names are as follows: Almond Joy and Mounds. Peter Paul.
Inc., Naugatuck, Conn.; Baby Ruth and Butterfinger, Curtiss Candy Company. Chicago; Goobers and Raisinets,
Blumenthal Bros., Philadelphia; Mr. Goodbar, Hershey Chocolate Corporation, Hershey, Pa.; Jujyfruits, Henry Heide
Company, New York; M & M’s, Hawley & Hoops, Newark. N. J.; Malted Milk Balls and Powerhouse, Walter H.
Johnson Candy Company. Chicago; Mars, Milky Way, and Three Musketeers, Mars, Inc., Chicago; Milk Duds,
M. J. Holloway Company, Chicago; Necco Peppermints. New England Cairdy Company, Cambridge, Mass.; Oh Henry.
Williamson Candy Company, Chicago; Pom Pom and Jr. Mints, James 0. Welch Company, Cambridge, Mass.; Peanut
Butter Cup. H. B. Reese Candy Company, Hershey, Pa.; Tootsie Rolls, Sweets Company of America, Hoboken, N. J.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3, 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

JACK SLADE: Mark Stevens, Dorothy Malone —
With the aid of some extra advertising, especially a
big two column mat provided by Allied Artists, this
western did a lot of business. It’s a brutal picture
as far as the action is concerned, since Mark Stevens
kills about seven or eight people during the 89 min-
utes. If your patrons like a rough, tough picture,
then by all means play “.Tack Slade.” Played Thurs-
day, Friday, Saturday, February 4, 5, 6. — Mel Edel-
stein, Lybba Theatre, Ilibbing, Minn.

RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11: Neville Brand, Leo
Gordon — This picture is terrific in excitement, in fact
and at the box office. It was advertised on television
in this section of the country, which aroused a great
deal of enthusiasm, and the people simply wanted to
see it. We suggest this sort of advertising for more
pictures. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, March
114, 15, 16. — Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middle-
Ibury, Vt.

TORPEDO ALLEY : Mark Stevens, Dorothy Ma-
lone— Very interesting picture, full of action and well
<!one. My patrons seemed to enjoy it ^ thoroughly.
Played Friday, Saturday, March 19, 20. — Ken Gorham,
Town Hall TTieatre, Middlebury, Vt.

Columbia

PARATROOPER: Alan Ladd, Leo Genn — Alan Ladd
plays the part cf an American who joins the para-
troopers in England prior to the United States entry
into World War 11. There is plenty of action and
the story is authentically filmed. In addition, the
Technicolor photography is very good. This gave a
good account of itself at the box office, considering
that war pictures haven’t been too successful lately.
Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Janu-
ary .11, February 1, 2, 3. — Mel Edelstein, Lybba Thea-
tre, Hibbing, Minn.

Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer

BRIGHT ROAD: Robert Horton, Dorothy Dand-
ridge — This has an all Negro cast and I’m sure our
house would have been full if it hadn’t been for a
March blizzard. Tliere were so many comments that
people wanted to see the picture but couldn’t get in.
Play it up and give it preferred time. 1 think it will
make money for you. Very small town, rural patron-
age.— J. R. Snavely, Leith Opera House, Leith,
No. Dak.

EASY TO LOVE: Esther Williams. Van Johnson
— I played this picture starting New Year’s Day and
it was grand entertainment for the whole family. The
usual fine photography and settings that typify a
Metro picture were not left out, and on a wide screen
the picture was very good. But maybe the public is
getting tired of Esther Williams, as the box-olfice
returns were not as good as T expected. Business was
average, but my patrons liked what they saw, so I
have no complaint. Played Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
Monday, January I. 2, 3, 4.— Mel Edelstein, Lybba
Theatre, Hibbing, Minn.

ESCAPE FROM FORT BRAVO: William Holden.
Eleanor Parker — This is one of the best outdoor
action pictures that we have played in quite some
time. The picture was well acted and the photography
was excellent. I played it at a ratio of 1:75-1 on the
wide screen, and some of the shots were breathtaking.
Business was very good and comments were likewise.
Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, De-
cember 27, 28, 29, 30. — Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre,
Hibbing, Minn.

GIVE A GIRL A BREAK: Marge & Gower Cham-
pion, Debbie Reynolds — This is just a fair musical that
failed to do average business. The dancing is good,
but our patrons do not especially like the Champions
as the leading stars. Debbie Reynolds was satisfac-
tory, but the picture lacked a story to keep the audi-
ence interested. Played Sunday, Monday, February
7, 8. — Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre, Hibbing, Minn.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 3. 1954

SOMBRERO: Ricardo Montalban, Cyd Charisse—
This is strictly a large situation picture. Even if
you can buy it right, leave it alone unless your pa-
trons go for musicals in a big way. Small town and
rural patronage. Played Saturday, Sunday, February
2i), 21.— J. S. Snavely, Leith Opera House, Leith,
No. Dak.

WILD NORTH: Stewart Granger, Cyd Charisse —
I looked for some good pictures thaf I could buy
right by playing late on account of the March
weather, and this was one of them. If you haven’t
played it, do it now, as it has everything. Box office
good. Very small town, rural patronage. — J. R.
Snavely, Leith Opera House, Leith, No. Dak.

Paramount

FLIGHT TO TANGIER: Joan Fontaine, Jack Pal-
aiice — This is just a fair drama with a mixed up plot.
I couldn’t figure out who was chasing who, and
the audience had the same trouble. They had better
give Jack Palance some decent roles again, as he was
well liked in “Sudden Fear” (RKO.) and “Shane”
(Para.). Business was just average for the mid-week
change. Played Wednesday, Thursday, January 13,
14. — Mel Edelstein, Lybba Tlieatre, Hibbing, Minn.

HERE COME THE GIRLS; Bob Hope, Rosemary
Clooney, Arlene Dahl. Tony Martin — We had a stretch
of below-zero weather during the entire run of this
picture, which undoubtedly hurt the attendance. How-
ever, the comments on the picture were not very good,
which was understandable after seeing the picture.
Bob Hope had better stick to straight comedy instead
of going musical, or his following will get less and
less. Played Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, January 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. — Mel Edelstein,
Lybba Theatre, Hibbing, Minn.

MONEY FROM HOME: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
— O'ne of their best to date, and Technicolor helped
considerably. Tlie horse race is a scream. Played
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, IMarch 31, 22, 23. — Ken
Gorham, Town Hall Theatre, Middlebury, Vt.

THOSE REDHEADS FROM SEATTLE: Rhonda
Fleming, Gene Barry — Good little action and color
picture, but didn’t do any good on it. Priced a little
too high for us, but Paramount usually kicks back
with a little. Played Sunday, Monday. Tuesday, Feb-
ruary 14, 15, 16. — Bill Brooks, Liberty Tlieatre,

Hailey, Idaho.

THOSE REDHEADS FROM SEATTLE: Rhonda
Fleming, Gene Barry — A cute little picture that is a
small town natural. No stars, but entertaining. —
J. C. Balkcom, Gray Theatre, Gray, Ga.

VANQUISHED, THE: John Payne, Jan Sterling-
Tbis is not a bad picture, but we played to a small
loss on Friday, Saturday. — Bill Brooks, liberty Thea-
tre, Hailey, Idaho.

VANQUISHED, THE: John Payne. Jan Sterling—
Our patrons liked it and so did our box office. Good
color by Technicolor. Very small town, rural patron-
age. Played Saturday, Sunday, February 6, 7.— J. R.
Snavely, Leith Opera House, Leith, No. Dak.

RKO Radio

TARZAN AND THE SHE-DEVIL: Lex Barker,
Joyce MacKenzie — I never fail on these Tarzan pic-
tures. Tliis one is excellent. “Cheta,” the monkey,
really stole this picture. If your patrons like jungle
pictures, play it. Did extra business both nights.

Played Friday, Saturday, February 5,6. — James Hardy,
Shoals Tlieatre, Shoals, Ind.

TEMBO: Floward Hill and Wild Animals — With this
one we had some of the biggest fun and games we
have had since we opened. It may seem strange to
fellow exhibitors that although we live in central
Africa and are supposed to see lions and tigers each
day (which we don't — in the 18 years I’ve been here,
I've only seen them on the screen) we fill the house
to capacity each performance with a good wild animal
film, especially if authentic and in color. "Tembo”
brought us the biggest gross for Sunday -Monday -
Tuesday since we opened. We were sold out for the
first two nights ahead, a thing that never happens
here. Crowded houses loved this and I thought it ex-
cellent. Critics gave it a fair rating, but then I must
expect good business when they do this! Play
“Tembo” any time, anywhere for good box office and
bouquets. It was fun watching the hundreds being
turned away each night. Sorry I did not have a TV
official here to watch the bedlam. Played Sunday,
Monday, Tuesday, February 21, 22, 23. — Dave S.

Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rho-
desia, Africa.

Republic

FLIGHT NURSE: Joan Leslie, Forrest Tucker —
This is a good picture that portrays the feminine side
of tile Korean police action. There is action, romance
and humor, and all in all, it’s a pleasing picture. Busi-
ness was good and everyone seemed to enjoy it — even
the men. Played Friday, Saturday, January 29, 30.—
Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre, Hibbing, Minn.

MISSOURIANS, THE: Monte Hale, Paul Hurst— I
used a return engagement of this good little western
the same day I played the Monte Hale-Ray Whitley
stage show. These two fellows really have a good
show and were very friendly and cooperative among
the patrons in and around the lobby. We need more
fellows of the type of Hale and Whitley touring the
country to create good will for the industry. 'Would
like to see a new series of westerns with these two
stars. Played Tuesday, March 2. — S. T. Jackson, Jack-
son Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

TRENT’S LAST CASE: Michael Wilding, Margaret
Lockwood — Very good detective story, well acted by
top British actors, and one an audience will enjoy,
especially in college towns. Played Wednesday, Thurs-
day. March 24, 25. — Ken Gorham, Town Hall Theatre,
Middlebury, Vt.

Stratford

MR. POTTS GOES TO MOSCOW: George Cole,

Nadia Gray — An excellent comedy for an art house.
The picture is tops with good story, but business not
at all what it should have been. Played Sunday, Mon-
day, February 28, March 1. — Ken Gorham, Town Hall
Tlieatre, Middlebury, Vt.

United Artists

99' RIVER STREET: John Payne', Evelyn Keyes-
Fellow exhibiors, here is a picture that will have your
patrons on the edge of their seats. It’s got action,
suspense and some real good acting. The cast isn’t
terrific and neither is the title, but once you get them
inside the theatre, they’ll really enjoy the proceed-
ings. Business was average, but the comments were
good. Played Wednesday, Thursday, January 27 , 28. —
Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre, Hibbing. Minn.

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 border 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 immediately
available. Write for details. S. O. S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New York 19.

USED EQUIPMENT

BIG SAVINGS ON BIG SCREENS AND LENSES
at Star! Write us! Pair Simplex-Acme Projectors;
suprex 50 ampere Lamphouses, RCA rotary stabilizer
sound, heavy bases, rebuilt, $1,095; Brenkert Enarc
Lamphouses, rebuilt, $489.50 pair; 3-unit electric Ticket
Register, rebuilt, $139.50; Century CC Mechanisms, re-
built, $725 pair; Griswold Splicers, $12.95. What do you
need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd St.,
New York 19.

PROJECrrORS 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. S2nd St., New York 19.

BUY BY JIAIL AND SAVE! RECTIFIERS, G. E.
copper oxide, 40 to 60 amps., bargain at $250 pair;
Brenkert Enarcs $325 less reflectors; DeVrys less
amplifier and speaker. $400, 1 k.w. lamps and recti-
fiers, $400. Special discount on lenses. DODGE
EQUIPMENT CO.. P. O. Box 11. Cincinnati 30, Ohio.

POSITIONS WANTED

ARE YOU SEEKING CAPABLE, QUALIFIED
manager, well recommended for top operation? BOX
2779. MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

MANAGER, ASSISTANT MANAGER. PROTEC-
tionist, .';nd/or doorman. Nine years’ experience. BOX
2781, MOTION PICTURE HERALD'.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS. HERALDS,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO..
Cato, N. Y.

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.

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 TELE’VISION ALMANAC
— the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition.
Contains over 12,000 biographies of important motion
picture perscmalities. 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.

THEATRES

FOR SALEr^500-CAR DRIVE-IN THEATRE,
wonderful location, prosperous area, 75 miles New
York City. Gross approximately $100,000, handsome
net. Price $110,000. BOX 2777, MOTION PICTURE
HERALD.

BUSINESS BOOSTERS

FREE BROCHURE DRIVE-IN. INDOOR ADVER-
tising specialties. PARKHURST ENTERPRISES,
Lansing 10, Mich.

NEW EQUIPMENT

SAVE ON CARBONS! ALL SIZES MOTORIZED
carbon savers for angle trim arc lamps (Mighty 90.
etc.) $59.50. S. O. S. ONEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602
W. 52nd St., New York 19.

BIG PANORAMIC SCREENS-LOW PRICES!
All purpose metallic screens 90c sq. ft. Wide angle
lenses, special apertures immediately available. S. O. S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New
York 19.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

HARNESS YOUR EXPERIENCE— SHOOT LOCAL
newsreels. TV commercials, documentaries. Arrange
advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Ask for Film
Production Catalog St-10. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY
CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New York 19.

HELP WANTED

WEST COAST CIRCUIT LOOKING FOR
aggressive, imaginative dynamic advertising and pro-
motional specialist. Opportunity for right party to
progress with rapidly expanding part of the country.
Send the details of your qualifications, experience,
age, marital and family status, etc., in a letter to
BOX 2780, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

A-FL/ Council
Asks Cop Aid

HOLLYWOOD: Because of “growing un-
employment” in the motion picture studios,
the Hollywood AFL Film Council last Sun-
day in an “urgent communication’ asked
industry leaders to fight against artificial
monetary restrictions and subsidies by for-
eign governments wbich cause American
industry to produce pictures abroad.

When foreign government representatives
participate in negotiations between the
American and foreign film industries, the
American government should be “a support-
ing member” of the American “negotiating
team in order to equalize the bargaining
power,” the council said.

The council said it recognized that “the
economic welfare of the employees in the
motion picture industry depends on the eco-
nomic health of our whole industry’’ and de-
clared that the workers “are particularly
affected by the rapid decline of the domestic
production of this industry. . . .”

The communication was sent to Eric

Johnston, Alotion Picture Association of
America; Ellis Arnall, Society of Indepen-
dent Motion Picture Producers, with copies
to John Foster Dulles, U. S. Secretary of
State, and other State Department officials.

Expec-l Big Turnout for
Wisconsin Allied Meet

The “year-of-decision” convention of
Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Wis-
consin, to be held next Tuesday through
Thursday at the Schroeder Hotel, Milwau-
kee, is expected to break all attendance
records for such affairs in Milwaukee. Fea-
tured speakers at the affair will be Ben
IMarcus, president of National A.llied; Sig
Ooldberg, president of the Wisconsin unit,
and Al Sindlinger, research expert.

Ballantyne Wide Drive-in Screen

The Ballantyne Company of Omaha this
week announced two new developments con-
cerning wide screens for drive-ins. The first
is a prefabricated Boyer giant screen tower
40 feet high by 90 wide and the second con-
sists of prefabricated sections for the stand-
ard Boyer screen tower which can convert
them to wide screen use.

Harry R. Morgan Dies

NEWPORT, R. L: Harry R. Florgan, 57,
owner of the Opera House and a member
for many years of civic organizations, died
March 23 of a heart attack in the Newport
Hospital. He took over the Opera House
30 years ago, where he switched from stage
presentations to motion pictures. He is sur-
vived by his wife, a son, three daughters.

George E. Whiteside

George E. Whiteside, 80, pioneer theatre
owner and operator of Salem, Ore., died
of a heart attack March 24. The owner of
the Palace, Majestic and Whiteside theatres
in Corvallis, Ore., he was a native of Burl-
ington, Iowa.

John F. Murphy

PROVIDENCE : Local theatremen were
shocked on hearing of the death of John F.
Murphy, former manager of the Avon
Cinema here, in an automobile crash in
Maine. Mr. Murphy managed the Avon
prior to entering the U. S. Air Force. After
discharge in 1946, he became manager of
the Waterville, Me., Opera House, and later
managed two Maine drive-ins.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 3, 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 122 attractions, 5,347 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.

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Foxj

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM) .

♦Lili (MGM)

Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB)

Liitle Boy Lost (Para.)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)

Actress, The (MGM)

All-American (Univ.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)
Appointment in Honduras (RKO)

Back to God's Country (Univ.)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th”Fox)

Big Heat (Col.)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Blowing Wild (WB)

Blueprint tor Murder, A (20th-Fox) .

Border River (Univ.)

Botany Bay (Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Caddy, The (Para.)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Cease Fire! (Para.)

City of Bad Men (20th-Fox)

Command, The (WB)

Conquest of Cochise (Col.)

Craiylegs — All-American (Rep.)

(Creature from the Black Lagoon (Univ.)
(Crime Wave (WB)

Decameron Nights (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

East of Sumatra (Univ.)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

Flight to Tangier (Para.)

Forbidden (Univ.)

Forever Female (Para.)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glass Web, The (Univ.)

Glenn Miller Story (Univ.)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Golden Blade. The (Univ.)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

Half a Hero (MGM)

(Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox) .

Island in the Sky (WB)

(It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. The Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Joe Louis Story, The (UA)

(Jubilee Trail (Rep.)

(Julius Caesar (MGM)

1 1

“

Man Between, The (UA)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)
Marry Me Again (RKO) . . .
Martin Luther (de Rochemont)
Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.) . .
Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox)

Mogambo (MGM)

Money from Home (Para.) . .

*Moon Is Blue, The (UA)

Moonlighter, The (WB)

Nebraskan, The (Col.)
99 River Street (UA)

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.)

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

(Red Garters (Para.)

Ride Clear of Diablo (Univ.)
Riders to the Stars (UA)
Riot in Cell Block 11 (AA)
Rob Roy (Disney-RKO) .

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Roman Holiday (Para.) ..

Saadia (MGM)

Sabre Jet (UA)

(Saskatchewan (Univ.)

Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.)

Shane (Para.)

Shark River (UA)

(She Couldn't Say No (RKQ)
Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) . .

Sky Commando (Col.)

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

So Big (WB)

Stand at Apache River (Univ.)
Steel Lady, The (UA)

Take the High Ground (MGM) . .

Tara, Son of Cochise (Univ.)

Terror on a Train (MGM)

Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox) . .

Thunder over the Plains (WB)

(Top Banana (UA)

Torch Song (MGM)

Tumbleweed (Univ.)

Veils of Bagdad (Univ.)
Vicki (20th-Fox)

Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.)

War Arrow (Univ.)

War of the Worlds (Para.)

Wild Qne (Col.)

Wings of the Hawk (Univ.)

1 1

37 22 - I

-2-3-

--832

1 1

„

1 1

- 33

- 23

2 7

- 1 1

Drive A Crooked Road
Seen As Sleeper Of
The Year

The sleeper of the year so far
(i.e., an unexpected bonus for
film-goers) is an electrifying crime
thriller. This is Columbia’s 'Drive
A Crooked Road, acted (but
not overacted) by Mickey J
Rooney with Dianne Foster M
and Kevin McCarthy. A ^
nearly perfect thing of its

REPRINTED FROM
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

ANEW
AND GREAT
MICKEY ROONEY

ytm:'

Two

cfion^

iter January 17, 1931,
'^i^lUhing Co., Inc., 1
$10.C0 a y^pr JJatsign.

Bmt Office, at Ah?zu York City, U. S. A., itudir the act of March 3, 1S79. Pub
f/ivegp»e. Rockefeller Centm^ New York 20, N. T. Subscription prices: $3.00
.ieents. All contents copyrighted 1954 by Qm^ey Pubiishing Company^ Ivi .

'coMm

Jive! “/\n Editorial

APRIL 10, 1954

sponsors
Mixtures witi
jydate Guaranti

's 35fh BIRTHDAY

'eshwBsent BMerchandisiwBy

The Role of Stereophonic Sound
/ Wide-Screen^ New Adaptobillty
? for APRIL Loren Ryder Explains .VIstaVislon

LANA

TURNER

The Greatest Sin...
To Steal Another
Woman’s Man”

She’s even
exciting
now as a
brunette!

TRADE SHOWS-APRIL 26th )

ALBANY 2Clth- 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 RKO Palace Theatre Bldg.

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. hm.

INDIANAPOLIS 20th- Fox Screen Room

JACKSONVILLE Florida State Screen Room

KANSAS CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room

LOS ANGELES United Artists' Screen Rm.

1052 Broadway

4/26

2 P.M.

197 Walton St., N. W.

4/26

2 P.M.

46 Church Street

4/26

2 P.M.

290 Franklin Street

4/26

2 P.M.

308 S. Church Street

4/26

1 :30 P.M.

1307 S. Wabash Ave.

4/26

2:15 P.M.

16 East Sixth Street

4/26

8 P.M.

2219 Payne Avenue

4/26

1 P.M.

1803 Wood Street

2:30 P.M.

2100 Stout Street

2 P.M.

1300 High Street

4/26

1 P.M.

2310 Cass Avenue

4/26

1 :30 P.M.

236 No. Illinois St.

4/26

1 P.M.

128 East Forsyth St.

4/26

2 P.M.

1720 Wyandotte St.

4/26

1 :30 P.M.

1851 S. Westmoreland

4/26

2 P.M.

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 20th- Fox Screen Room

PHILADELPHIA M-G-M Screen Room
PITTSBURGH M-G-M Screen Room
PORTLAND B. F. Shearer Screen Rm.

ST LOUIS Paramount Screen Room

SALT LAKE CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room
SAN FRANCISCO 20th- Fox Screen Room
SEATTLE Jewel Box Preview Thea.

WASHINGTON RKO Screen Room

151 Vance Avenue
212 W. Wisconsin Ave.
1015 Currie Avenue
40 Whiting Street
200 S. Liberty St.

630 Ninth Avenue
10 North Lee Street
1502 Davenport St.

1233 Summer Street
1623 Blvd. of Allies
1947 N. W. Kearney St.
2949 Olive Street
216 E. First St., So.

245 Hyde Street
2318 Second Avenue
932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W.

4/26

12 Noon

4/26

1 :30 P.M.

4/26

2 P.M.

4/26

2 P.M.

4/26

1 :30 P.M.

4/26

2:30 P.M.

4/26

1 P.M.

4/26

1 P.M.

4/26

2 P.M.

4/26

2 P.M.

4/26

2 P.M.

4/26

1 P.M.

4/26

1 P.M.

4/26

1 :30 P.M.

4/26

1 P.M.

4/26

2 P.M.

leo^+hai's a
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• Prodcced b, )0E PASTERNAK

Based On a Novel by
AUGUSIE BAILLY

Tfie industry's Showmanship Event! 30th Anniversary Jubilee!

and a cordial invitati

We are showing you a glimpse of
our future— because it is your future, too!''

EVERY EXHIBITOR IN THE NATION IS INVITED TO A
PRESENTATION BY MiLmn [g^lN A

SPECIAL Cinemascope subject to be shown in

SELECTED THEATRES IN EVERY EXCHANGE CITY!!

Warner Bros. Studios are now engaged in
by far the biggest, costliest of all our production
programs. Almost any one of the pictures ready, in
production, or soon to be made,could have been con-
sidered the leading industry attraction of any past
season. We want you to have the whole story— all
the history- making facts that speak for themselves.

ALFRED HITCHCOCK’S

OCCASION

for Murder

THEATRES
lENING OF

on from Warner Bros.

^HIS SCREEN REPORT, prepared especially for
exhibitors, shows actual scenes from our forthcoming
productions to give you a detailed review of the look
and shape of things to come . . . the scope of the great
books, great plays, great stories and great talent in the
Warner Bros, pictures on the way to your screens.

We sincerely urge that you make every effort to
attend. We are positive that what you will see will
convince you as we are convinced that for the cus-
tomers of Warner Bros, and for the Studios of Warner
Bros, the times just ahead will be the most mutu-
ally profitable of any time we have made pictures
and you have shown them.

CITY

THEATRE

TIME

CITY

THEATRE

TIME

ALBANY

STRAND

....10:00 AM

MEMPHIS

...WARNER

9:30 AM

ATLANTA

RHODES

....10:30 AM

MILWAUKEE

...WARNER

9:30 AM

BOSTON

FENWAY

....10:00 AM

MINNEAPOLIS

...UPTOWN

10:30 AM

BUFFALO

CENTER

....10:00 AM

NEW HAVEN

...ROGER SHERMAN ....

10:00 AM

CHARLOTTE*

CAROLINA

....10:00 AM

NEW ORLEANS ...

...SAENGER

8:35 AM

CHICAGO

CENTURY

....10:30 AM

NEW YORK

...R.K.O.-86th ST

9:45 AM

CINCINNATI

HOLLYWOOD

.... 2:00 PM

OKLAHOMA

...CRITERION

9:30 AM

CLEVELAND

COLONY

....11:00 AM

OMAHA

...STATE

9:45 AM

DALLAS

PALACE

.... 9:00 AM

PHILADELPHIA

...BROADWAY

11:00 AM

DENVER

ESQUIRE

.... 2:00 PM

PITTSBURGH*

...SCHENLEY

10:30 AM

DES MOINES

.... 9:15 AM

PORTLAND

...EGYPTIAN

2:00 PM

DETROIT

HOLLYWOOD

.... 2:00 PM

SALT LAKE

...CENTRE

10:00 AM

INDIANAPOLIS ...

FOUNTAIN SQUARE....

.... 1:30 PM

SAN FRANCISCO .

...PARAMOUNT

9:30 AM

JACKSONVILLE ...

ST.JOHNS

.... 9:00 AM

SEATTLE*

...EGYPTIAN

1:30 PM

KANSAS CITY

PLAZA

....10:30 AM

ST. LOUIS

...ST. LOUIS

1:00 PM

LOS ANGELES

FOX BOULEVARD

.... 2:00 PM

WASHINGTON

..AMBASSADOR

10:00 AM

* — denotes 2D

3 Dimension

IN THE HITCHCOCK MANNER!

AND

WarnerColor

For

CenemaScOPc (

SPECIAL

HONORARY

ACADEMY

AWARD

color by TECHNICOLOR

20th Century-Fox presents ROBERT MITCHUM and MARILYN MONROE in "RIVER OF NO RETURN”
with RORY CALHOUN • Tommy Rettig • Murvyn Vye • Douglas Spencer • Produced by STANLEY
RUBIN • Directed by OTTO PREMINGER • Screen Play by FRANK FENTON • From a story by
Louis Lantz • Color by Technicolor

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

VoL 195, No. 2

MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor

April 10, 1954

Keep COMPO Alive

IRONIC as it may seem, COMPO’s very existence as
a living tool in the service of the motion picture
industry is in jeopardy while cheers are still ringing
for its successful tax fight.

This bizarre state of affairs is due to the fact that
COMPO, apart from the tax campaigns, never received
wholehearted support from all sectors of the industry.
Some exhibitor leaders, unwisely it would seem on the
record, surmised that a strong COMPO would be a threat
to the existence and financial well-being of regional or-
ganizations. From the beginning, some important circuit
executives, for unknown motives, took a dim view of
COMPO.

Make no mistake — if COMPO is not promptly given
a precise mandate to continue in operation and a prac-
tical program to carry out, U: will wither and die. That
will mean many battles that need to be fought for the
industry will be waged without this most potent weapon.

During the several years of the pre-Korean War tax
campaign and the recent successful drive COMPO func-
tioned under a compromise of expediency. To salve the
feelings of those who opposed it, all funds were ear-
marked for activities in support of the tax committee.

With the same teamwork, careful planning and enthu-
siastic execution that characterized the tax campaign, a
properly backed COMPO should have equal success in
other fields. The industry needs a united voice today
more than ever before. No false sense of security should
be felt because one-half the country’s theatres no longer
pay admission taxes and the other half pay 10 percent.

The activities with which COMPO should be
charged fall into two general classes: 1) Protection
of the industry’s rights, and 2) Promotion of the
industry’s business.

Protection includes not just elimination or blocking
of unfair, discriminatory taxation at the national, state
and community levels. It also means defense against
all customs, rules, laws and practices that place an ex-
hibitor (or producer or distributor) at a disadvantage
with respect to other businessmen. On the tax front
there is work to keep part of the COMPO staff busy
indefinitely. Too many states and communities have
been eyeing theatre admissions as a source of revenue.
Too many states at present are collecting such levies.
There are also censorship laws, Sunday closing regula-
tions and special licenses which require attention. The
existence of a discriminatory ordinance in any commu-
nity is a threat to the entire industry.

Up to now COMPO has not been given a real chance
to serve as a promotion facility. Motion pictures need to
be sold institutionally and nationally more than ever. The

U. A. 35 Years Young

The new management team of Arthur Krim, Robert
Benjamin, Matthew Fox, William J. Heineman, Max E.
Youngstein, Arnold Picker and Seymour Peyser has reason
to be well satisfied with the excellent results of their
direction of the affairs of United Artists during the past
two years. Now on the eve of the company's thirty-fifth
anniversary its prospects have never been brighter. UA
has lined up a larger number of "A" budget films for
release in each of the next two years than any other com-
pany. At a time when exhibitors have set up a hue and
cry for more quality films, UA has set its sights high.

During its life span to date United Artists has had a
fascinating history. Right from the beginning it served
as a medium of bringing fresh ideas for productions into
the screen marketplace.

Mr. Krim, Mr. Benjamin and their associates continue
the basic policies of the UA founders, applying them to
current conditions in the industry. Today, as in 1919,
UA is an independent distributor with the purpose of
"marketing photoplays in the interests of the artists who
create them."

movie-going habit must be stimulated. It can be — but
not without effort on an all-industry basis. Soon the
most direct type of competition for leisure entertainment
time — home television — will win increased audiences as
color receivers become cheaper and widespread. Today
a handful of homes have color TV. Tomorrow millions
of homes will be so equipped.

The motion picture industry as a whole has failed to
get full advantage of the new techniques because too
frequently individual companies have made announce-
ments that confused the public. COMPO should be in a
position to enlighten the press and public generally in
order that the maximum possible stimulus be given to
the box office. After all each of the techniques seeks
acceptance at the same theatres from the same public.

Many all-industry promotions belong under the spon-
sorship of COMPO. It is the natural organization to
present the next Academy Awards show. It is the logical
unit to work on improving the industry’s public relations.
It is the best voice for winning enhanced prestige.

Those who believe in COMPO should make themselves
heard immediately. The executive committee represent-
ing all the constituent organizations should be sum-
moned to a meeting this Spring in order to formulate new
plans. If COMPO is allowed to drift along without sup-
port and without a policy through the Summer, it will
soon be past reviving.

If COMPO is allowed to die, the responsibility rests
with its members, individually and collectively.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

^Letter'd to tLe -J^efctid

April 10. 1954

Academy vs. Industry

To THE Editor :

I am sure that the televising of the Acad-
emy Awards last Thursday night was a
good thing for the industry as a whole. I
am told, from an unofficial source, that this
event attracted an audience of approximately
sixty million viewers.

While watching this telecast T couldn’t
help thinking what a wonderful thing it
would be if instead of advertising Olds-
mobiles they had advertised somiC of the
new product coming to the nation’s theatres.
In other words, Paramount, MGM, Warner
Bros., Fox, etc. buy the advertising time
for their new releases. Also, reserve the
spots before and after for the local theatres
to advertise current movies. — JOHNNY H.
JONES, Rits and Jake Theatres, Shawnee,
Okla.

To the Round Table

To Walter Brooks:

Your “Misapprehension” article (issue of
March 13) is a masterpiece of “whole truth”
that should be read, then told over and over
again by every single individual in this
industry, and an honest effort made by every
manager in the business to get the “whole
story in which there will not be half
truths” into every newspaper across the
land in which a movie institution stands ! !
Better understanding for Patrons . . . .
Patrons for Better Understanding. — MIKE
STRANGER, Plymouth Theatre, Worches-
ter. Mass.

Small Theatres

To THE Editor:

As always, the film companies are putting
the small independent behind the sight ball
by making less product and raising rentals
and asking more percentage. Will there
ever be a time when the small independent
is helped instead of hindered ? — Minnesota
Exhibitor.

Institutional Ads

To the Editor :

Give COMPO a great big hand for that
No. 1 ad in a series which is to be published
in “Editor and Publisher,” the magazine
that goes to the nation’s publishers of our
newspapers.

May it be the beginning of a new deal
in a public relations program for our busi-
ness, which not only will reach the publish-
ers but which idea can ultimately be con-
verted into one designed to reach people of
all walks of life, to sell them again on the
idea of movies and what movies mean to
them in the way of entertainment.

If there ever was a time in the history
of our business when we should think along

THE MOST

TO THE EDITOR:

I've been subscribing to your maga-
zine for almost three years now and
in the vernacular of the jazz world, it's:
THE MOST TO SAY THE LEAST.—

THOMAS HUSSEY, Valley Falls, R. 1.

institutional lines in selling movies as enter-
tainment to the nation, that time is now.

We, of course, will have to have the sup-
port of the producers in turning out films
which will have a universal appeal particu-
larly to women, and blood and thunder stuff
is not the answer, of course.

People can be brought back to the movies
in great numbers with good institutional ad-
vertising in the nation’s leading magazines
and on the local level. Exhibitors would
welcome ads, or some source where institu-
tional type of ads could be secured. Maybe
COMPO will do something about this when
the “Editor and Publisher” campaign has
ended. — Georgia Exhibitor.

T railers

To THE Editor:

Whoever is making the trailers up for
all features should resort to the climax or
plot, not a bunch of nonsense, as they are
now doing. Most of the trailers give the
patrons the wrong impression of the fea-
tures. Why don’t the companies do some-
thing about it? — Castle Theatre Corpora-
tion, Wichita Falls, Tex.

On Rentals

To THE Editor:

I buy from seven companies. Out of this
seven, two sell me double features of their
own product at below pre-war prices. The
others still seek higher rentals. The results :
^ of my playing time or more is taken up
by these two companies. I’ve been forced
to close mid-week because of high rentals.
— West Virginia Exhibitor.

More Thought

To THE Editor:

We need more good pictures. Lay off
weak stories. Use some thought and sense
instead of “Hollywoodism,” and let exhibi-
tors in on planning, etc. — California Ex-
hibitor.

More Shorts

To THE Editor:

We need more diversified short subjects
ot help avoid the more than one feature
programs. — T exas E.vhibitor.

ALLIED sponsors production, plans call for
12 films, one a month Page 12

DISNEY closes deal for production of TV
shows with ABC Page 12

TAX cut benefits big as public accepts
situation Page 13

BRITISH industry unexpectedly wins tax re-
lief in new budget Page 16

NEW techniques undergo further tests for
British industry Page 16

20TH-FOX reports 1,452 theatres using
pictures in CinemaScope Page 17

VISTAVISION available to whole industry,
Paramount insists Page 17

UNITED ARTISTS finds Many Happy Re-
turns on birthday card Page 20

MAJOR THOMPSON leaves RKO to be-
come a labor consultant Page 29

WISCONSIN Allied unit hold annual meet-
ing in Milwaukee Page 29

INDUSTRY honored at public library cele-
bration in Boston Page 29

ITALIAN Industry adopts film code like that
in United States Page 30

COMPO ad in trade journal stresses value
of Production Code Page 30

WARNERS announce plans to step up pro-
duction on coast Page 32

BOX OFFICE Champions for the month of
March Page 33

RKO Radio resumes production activity at
studio Page 33

SMPTE announces program for semi-annual
convention Page 35

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 37

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Better Refreshment Merchandising Page 48

Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene Page 34

Managers' Round Table Page 43

People in the News Page 36

What the Picture Did for Me Page 41

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews
Advance Synopses
Short Subjects
The Release Chart

Page 2253
Page 2255
Page 2255
Page 2256

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

On tLe Ort

opizon

yiMERICAN film companies re-
ceived $176,200,000 in 1953
from foreign showings of their
films, the Department of Commerce
estimated this week. This was a
considerable increase from the $167,-
000,000 estimated for 1952 and the
$160,400,000 for 1951. U.S. payments
to foreign countries for films shown
here amounted to $5,200,000 in 1953.
This was an increase over the $4,-
000,000 estimated for 1952, but well
below the $11,000,000 estimated for
1951. The figures were presented by
Carl F. Oechsle, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Commerce, in testimony
before Congressional committees in
support of the proposed universal
copyright convention and in support
of proposed legislation to implement
U.S. participation in the new con-
vention.

► The Bank of America is de-
termined to make some money from
those 30 films it foreclosed. It is
renting them for approximately five
years to General Teleradio, principal
owners of the Mutual Broadcasting
System. The price is $1,250,000.
Most were made between 1946 and
1949. Universal released 11 of them;
United Artists, eight; MGM, three;
Republic, one; Eagle Lion, four;
Columbia, one ; RKO Pictures, two.
A few of them : “Arch of Triumph,”
“Secret Beyond the Door,” “The
Private Affairs of Bel Ami,” “Four
Faces West,” “Let’s Live a Little,”
“Magic Town,” “The Miracle of the
Bells,” “Macbeth.”

► The film industry loses a some-
times-critic, sometimes-friend in
Congress in the announced decision
of Senator Ed Johnson of Colorado
not to run for another term. As
chairman of the Senate Commerce
Committee during recent Demo-
cratic-controlled Congresses, Senator
Johnson was a close student of the
film and broadcasting industries.

► Some lens manufacturers have re-
ported indication among orders for
new lenses, that there is an im-
pression among exhibitors that pris-
matic anamorphotic systems, like
that of Joseph and Irving Tushin-
sky, are able to expand any print
for projection of a wide-screen pic-
ture. The only prints which can be
expanded are those having the

photograph compressed for optical
increase of the width in projection.
The expansion must be at substan-
tially the same ratio (not to be con-
fused with “aspect ratio,” or picture
proportions) as that employed for
making the particular print being
projected.

► Paramount likes the reaction to
its Spring Pageant, and may have
one this summer, according to A. W.
Schwalberg, Paramount Film Dis-
tributing Corporation president. He
termed the exhibitor acceptance of
the screenings “fabulous,” citing an
attendance of 25,000 people through-
out the country.

► Having hit the jackpot with “The
Glenn Miller Story,” Universal-
International is going to try again.
The next subject will help make
the picture. He is clarinetist and
band leader Benny Goodman. He
will make recordings of all the musi-
cal numbers. Mr. Goodman is as
legendary a character as Glenn
Miller. He was our “King of
Swing”; his recordings are collec-
tors’ items ; his band graduated star
leaders and virtuosos of jazz; and
he is respected as a player of the
clarinet in “good music” orchestras
such as the Philadelphia Symphony
and the NBC orthestra, which is
very good music, indeed.

► The Independent Theatre Owners
Association has accepted “unani-
mously” the invitation of New
York’s Mayor Wagner to take the
initiative in formulating a construc-
tive youth program designed to
combat juvenile delinquency. The
association has appointed a commit-
tee which soon will meet with the
Mayor’s Advisory Council and with
representatives of the Metropolitan
Motion Pictures Theatres Associa-
tion.

► The Senate Small Business Com-
mittee is temporarily soft-pedaling
any film inquiries. Partly that’s be-
cause it’s busy on other matters,
partly because it wants to let die the
recent tempest in a teapot over the
release of its annual report.

► The recently-passed excise tax
bill could help the industry in an-
other important way besides cutting
the admissions tax; it puts close to
another $900,000,000 back into con-
sumer pockets for spending, by cut-
ting other excise rates also.

► Industry-wide negotiations for,
“white-collarite” distribution em-
ployees belonging to Local H-63 of
lATSE will be launched next year
for the first time, according to a
verbal agreement reached between
union and distribution officials.

In BETTER THEATRES

Submitting the claims of stereophonic sound for a place in the technical ad-
vancement of the motion picture, in two articles: "Stereophonic Sound in the
Development of New Techniques," and "Making Growth of the Art Complete
with Stereophonic Sound," the Better Theatres Section of this issue turns to the
most recent developments —

The Tushinsky variable anamorphic system, in "Wide-Screen's New Adapta-
bility" ...

Paramount's VistaVision, in the first of three articles by Loren L. Ryder, head
of the Paramount Engineering aitd Recording Department; and . . .

The Perspecta sound system, in "Three-Channel Sound from One Optical
Track".

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc,, Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable oddress,
’ 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, Martin Starr, manager, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone
Hollywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative. Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Often, National Press Club; London,
Hope VVilliams Burnup, manager,^ Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in principal capitals. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley
Publications: Better Theatres, published 13 times a year as Section Two of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac, Fame.

IIMI--.--L

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

LAUNCHING THE UNITED
ARTISTS FILM FESTIVAL,
marking its 35 years: some of
the guests at a New York re-
ception Sunday honoring Lillian
Gish. They are Gloria Swanson,
Carmel Myers (Mrs. A. W.
Schwalberg), UA vice-president
Max E. Youngstein, Miss Gish,
and Mr. Schwalberg, Paramount
sales chief. See page 20.

by the Herald

"INDUSTRY MAN OF THE
YEAR," 20th-Fox president
Spyros P. Skouras receives his
citation at the Baltimore Variety
dinner March 3 I , from Maryland
Governor Theodore McKeldin,
right.

WALT DISNEY GOES TO TELEVISION. The
scene, at left, as the historic agreement was
signed. See page 12. Mr. Disney is seated.
In array around him are American Broadcast-
ing Company president Robert E. Kintner;
AB-Paramount Theatres vice-president Sidney
E. Markley: and Disney Productions president
Roy Disney.

A BOOST FOR VISTAVISION
came this week from producer
Fred Brisson, in New York. Say-
ing he was the first independent
to advocate using it, he pre-
dicted its universal adoption.
He will use it for his next, "The
Girl Rush," which he will release
through RKO, which will star
Rosalind Russell, and cost more
than $2,500,000.

i6 wee

L in pictured

A THRILL FOR THE
VISITORS. Mr. and Mrs.
Habananda, who operate
theatres in Thailand (Siam),
have an unexpected pleasure
on their tour of the Para-
mount studio. On the set of
"The Country Girl," Bing
Crosby signs an autograph
book.

r ■ ■ 1

by the Herald

MUNIO PODHORZER, of the
Casino Film Exchange, New
York, has been named repre-
sentative for a major group of
German producers, and will
establish an office for promo-
tion and distribution.

AT THE MIAMI BEACH
"Lucky Me" opening: star Phil
Silvers, Variety International
chief barker George Hoover;
Nancy Walker; and host Major
Albert Warner.

AT DINNER preceding Columbia's Brooklyn screening tor New York exhibitors, of
its "The Jolson Story" with the "new look": A. Montague, Columbia sales manager;
Max Fellerman, Louis Weinberg, Russell Downing, Ben Joel, Eugene Picker, Joseph
Vogel, John Murphy, Paul Lazarus, Jr., and Leonard Goldenson. See page 36.

SPEAKER, right, at the
Independent Motion Pic-
ture Distributors Associa-
tion luncheon In New York
Tuesday: Dr. Hugh Flick,
state censor. With him,
attorney Ephraim London,
distributor and luncheon
chairman Arthur Mayer,
State Senator Fred G.
Morritt, and George Mar-
golin.

hy the Herald

PLANNING the June 8-10
Virginia Motion Picture The-
atre Association summer
convention in Old Point
Comfort: the committee
chairmen, meeting on the
site, the Hotel Chamberlin.
Seated: Roy Richardson,

president Leonard Gordon,
Syd Gates, and Jerome Gor-
don. Standing, back row,
Dave Garvin, Jr., Hal. J.
Lyon, John Bateman, Sidney
L. Bowden, Jay Gordon,
W. E. Jasper, J. K. Crockett,
G. E. Spaugh. Standing, sec-
ond row, T. D. Field, Jeff
Hofhei mer, James Booth,
Carlton Duffus.

ALLIED SPONSORS PRODUCTION,
PLAN 12 FILMS, ONE A MONTH

WASHINGTON: Allied States Associa-
tion announced Tuesday it had entered into
an agreement with a Hollywood indepen-
dent producer for 12 feature pictures to be
delivered at the rate of one a month be-
ginning in late summer or early fall. The
theatres would not put up any money in
advance but would merely sign contracts to
take all 12 films at predetermined flat
rentals, on a fixed run status.

General Counsel Abram F. Myers, who
announced the arrangement, said it repre-
sented Allied's "first step in its endeavor to
secure additional product for the picture-
starved independent exhibitors." He em-
phasized that Allied would continue to work
on its previously-announced plan to influ-
ence one of the major companies to pro-
duce more features, and might also make
similar arrangements with others.

The arrangement announced Tuesday was
with Hal R. Makel im, who heads his own
production company, Hal R. Makelim Pro-
ductions, and a distributing company known
as Atlas Pictures Corp. Mr. Myers said
Mr. Makelim leases an RKO-Pathe studio in
Hollywood, and has been working on his
plan for almost a year, traveling some
15,000 miles in the past three months
checking and perfecting it.

To Encourage Production

Mr. Myers recalled that Allied had long
been working on a plan to influence one of
the major companies to step up output by
increasing exhibitor stockholding in the
company and by guaranteeing playdates
for any additional films. He pointed out
that the February board meeting had de-
clared that this plan would take some time
to accomplish, and that in the meantime

iys should be studied to encourage in-
dependent film production. Mr. Makelim
appeared before the February board meet-
ing to outline his plan, and an Allied com-
mittee, after study, recommended that
Allied go ahead with it.

This is the way Mr. Myers described it:

No exhibitor will put up any capital or
in any way engage in producing or dis-
tributing the films. Twenty-five hundred
theatres will be afforded a chance to sign
— on a first come, first served basis — con-
tracts for 12 features at predetermined flat
rentals. The total rentals will equal the
production costs of the films, and Mr.
Makelim will get his profit from marketing
the pictures to additional theatres.

In other words, the 2,500 "charter mem-
bers" will underwrite the production costs,
but will not advance any money. Pre-
sumably Mr. Makelim will get his advance
capital elsewhere on the strength of the
advance contracts. The exhibitors will pay
as the films are delivered.

Total costs are being allocated among
the several film territories in the proportion
that each territory contributes to the gross
film rentals for all companies. Mr. Myers
said these ratings "are well known."

It the films are successful, the 2,500
"charter members" will also get certain re-
bates under a profit-sharing clause in the
contract.

Allied members "and others who may be
invited by the regional leaders" will be
given the opportunity to sign contracts at
a series of meetings to be held in May and
June. Mr. Makelim will disclose the names
of available story properties, stars, direc-
tors and technicians at these meetings.
Then he will return to Hollywood and start

production. Mr. Makelim, whose film career
dates back to when he was a 16-year-old
actor for Essanay in Chicago, formed Atlas
Pictures last year to distribute independent-
ly. The first picture for Atlas was "Man
of Conflict," which he produced and
directed.

John Wolfberg is acting for Allied in
completing the arrangements on the coast,
and Trueman T. Rembusch is serving as co-
ordinator in planning the meetings.

List Meeting Dates

Firm dates for local exhibitor meetings
are these: Denver, May 3; Omaha, May 4;
Kansas City, May 5; and Minneapolis, May
I I. Other tentative dates are: Milwaukee,
May 13; Chicago, May 14; Columbus, May
17; Pittsburgh, May 18; Philadelphia, May
19; New York, May 20 and 21; Boston, May
24; Baltimore, May 25; Indianapolis, May
27; New Orleans, May 28; Memphis, June
I; St. Louis, June 2; Oklahoma City, June
4; and Dallas, June 7.

Mr. Myers said Mr. Makelim explained
that the average production cost per film
would be low in comparison with major
studio budgets, due to "lower overhead
and economies made possible by existing
conditions in Hollywood, and will not be
reflected in the quality of the pictures."

"This is the first time," Mr. Myers added,
"in the history of our industry that a pro-
ducer of motion pictures has taken into full
consideration the problems of the indepen-
dent exhibitors and has taken direct steps
to meet those problems. The Hal R.
Makelim plan is perfect in theory to pro-
vide vital product to the exhibitors in time
of direst need, and I am very hopeful that
it will succeed."

Disney Siyns
TV Contract

Walt Disney has entered television. The
announcement came from the American
Broadcasting Company and the Disney or-
ganization late last week and stated that it
was the result of more than a year of “ex-
ploration.” It ends the welter of rumors that
Mr. Disney, as a major producer, would be
the first of his kind to enter television
production actively and follows many months
of study and negotiation.

Mr. Disney will produce each year at least
26 one-hour programs for television. He will
make them at his Burbank, Cal., studio.
ABC will present them weekly beginning in
October. It will disclose time period and
sponsors later. ABC also obtains exclusive
rights to present any future Disney proper-

ties for television which might be forthcom-
ing from the organization.

The two organizations have worked out a
corollary project. With the added participa-
tion of ABC-Paramount Theatres, Inc. (the
latter being ABC’s parent company), they
will develop “Disneyland.” This will be in
southern California. It is reported it will be
a sort of amusement park featuring Disney
characters, and that some of the programs
will emanate from there, as well as some
motion pictures.

Meanwhile, Mr. Disney said his organiza-
tion is cognizant of responsibilities to both
theatres and television and believes them
compatible, and that its faith in motion pic-
tures for theatres is so great it has in work
three of its most expensive pictures, “20,000
Leagues Under the Sea,” “Lady and the
Tramp” and “Sleeping Beauty.” It also, he
pointed out, has outlined its screen program
for the next five years.

Court Denies Lloyd Right
To See Decca Books

George Lloyd, former Decca Records di-
rector, who has been critical of the man-
agement headed by Milton Rackmil, presi-
dent of both Decca and Universal, was told
this week in New York Federal Court he
may not see Decca books. Judge Morris
Eder held he was not entitled to the exa-
mination because he no longer is a director.
Meanwhile, the Decca Stockholders Protec-
tive Committee has mailed to stockholders
demands for new directors so that Mr.
Rackmil may be replaced. Its literature
states Decca Records sales have declined
while those of opposition companies have
increased. The committee has nominated for
the board Robert Allen, Washington news
commentator; Michael Francis Doyle, Phil-
adelphia lawyer ; Mr. Lloyd, an insurance
man, and Spencer Samuels, art dealer.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

TAX crx BENEFITS BIG
AS PUBLIC ACCEPTS

Newspaper Comment Aids;
Recent Shifting Prices
Make Acceptance Easy

The enormous and immediate value to the
industry of the tax cut enacted by Congress
last week was apparent this week in the
news from cities and towns across the coun-
try. The benefits operated flexibly to the ad-
vantage both of those exhibitors — mostly in
smaller situations — who were able to record
an immediate advance in revenue by pocket-
ing the difference between the new and the
old tax, and of those who passed the benefits
on to the public, reaping some benefits in the
area of public relations.

Two factors operated to the
benefit of the industry, both of
them in the direction of making
the new scales acceptable to the
public. One was favorable news-
paper comment and the second the
fact that box office prices recently,
because of advanced admission
price pictures, have been in a
state of flux.

A spokesman for one large circuit pointed
out that the newspapers, on the whole, had
been very cooperative, realizing the merits
in the industry’s position that in many situa-
tions the 10 per cent tax cut and the tax ex-
emption on tickets of 50 cents and less, had
to be retained by the distressed exhibitors.

Another circuit exhibitor claimed the
public doesn’t know the difference, explain-
ing that during the past year most theatres
have maintained a “flexible” price policy, in-
creasing prices for CinemaScope produc-
tions, roadshow pictures and such films as
“From Here to Eternity.”

The success of the excise reduction bill
prompted Eric Johnston, president of the
Motion Picture Association of America,
while in Paris late last week, to issue a call
to all foreign countries to follow the lead of
the U. S. Congress. The action, said Mr.
Johnston, “should meet cordial reception all
over the world. I hope that every country
with amusement taxes will consider the U. S.
action a sound precedent for reducing such
taxes.”

City-by-City Report
Tells Own Story

Poliowing is a city-by-city account of the
admission picture in the first week of tax
relief.

ALBANY : Theatres here are retaining
most of the tax reduction money. Fabian’s Pal-
ace and the Stanley Warner Strand, which re-
cently increased the weekday matinee charge
from 50 to 60 cents and week nights from 74
to 85 cents, kept the afternoon scale but cut the
evening price by five cents.

BALTIMORE: First run theatres are
passing along a portion of the tax cut to the

MAY USE OLD TICKETS
FOR REASONABLE TIME

Present stocks of serially numbered
admission tickets may be used for "a
reasonable period of time on or after
April I" provided signs are conspicu-
ously placed at the ticket window
showing the admission price and tax,
and tickets sold after April 30 must
be overprinted or overstamped.
These instructions, from the Internal
Revenue Service, were passed on this
week in a special bulletin from the
Council of Motion Picture Organiza-
tions. Concerning refunds, the Serv-
ice told COMPO that if an exhibitor
wants money back on admission tax
tickets he sold prior to April I, for
use after April I , he must show signed
evidence from the ticket purchaser
that the latter has received reim-
bursement. Such reimbursement must
be made, or the consent obtained,
before the event tor which the charge
of admission was made.

public. The Town, Little and Hippodrome have
cut the 80-cent admission to 75 cents. Morning
prices are below the 50-cent tax free figure and
remain unchanged. Neighborhoods in almost
every instance had a 50-cent admission previ-
ously and are continuing it.

BOSTON: Major circuits in downtown
first runs have reduced evening prices from 95
to 90 cents and from 90 to 85 cents. Morning
prices remain at 50 cents, while afternoon prices
have been reduced from 74 to 65 cents or from
65 to 60 cents. American Theatres Circuit, with
many suburban and sub runs, is maintaining old
prices with the adjustment of a penny or two.

BUFFALO: Downtown first runs re-
duced their prices from 55 to 50 cents until 6
P.M., with evening prices remaining the same
as before at 80 cents. The Seneca and Elmwood,
community houses which recently raised prices
to 55 cents, will go back to 50 cents.

CHICAGO: Leading independents and
such circuits as Balaban & Katz, H & E Bala-
ban. Alliance Theatres and Great States are
continuing their former prices. With a few
minor exceptions, all are holding the line. A
few neighborhood repeat houses which had been
charging 55 cents have gone to 50 cents.

CINCINNATI: RKO and other first runs
reduced matinee charges from 55 to 50 cents and
are considering other reductions for some later
date. Several houses showing CinemaScope fea-
tures have reduced matinee tickets from 74 to
70 cents and evening tickets from $1 to 95 cents.

CLEVELAND: A survey of the Greater
Cleveland area indicates that first subsequent
runs, including those of the Associated, Com-
munity, Modern, Washington, Warner, RKO
and Loew circuits are maintaining prices as be-
fore. Some are adjusting scales “to eliminate
traffic in pennies.”

COLUMBUS: First runs have lowered
their weekday matinee and weekend evening
prices by five cents. Most neighborhoods are
holding at the old level.

DENVER: The only houses making down-
ward price adjustments are those which previ-
ously charged 55 cents which have come down
to 50 cents. Pat McGee, co-chairman of the
COMPO tax repeal committee, said he would
not cut any prices in Cooper Foundation the-
atres of which he is general manager.

DETROIT: Major circuit houses so far
are holding the line, but managers are worried
over the fact that publicity on reductions in lux-
ury commodities may boomerang, especially be-
cause theatres last year asked patrons to sign
petitions for tax reduction.

HOLLYWOOD: The policy of the first
run theatres in this territory still remains unde-
cided, with prices holding at former levels for
the time being.

INDIANAPOLIS: First run theatres are
splitting the tax cut with the patrons at most
price levels, but the subsequent run situation
still is fluid.

KANSAS CITY: The RKO Missouri and
the Paramount reduced prices from five to 10
cents, but most first runs and subsequent runs
have stayed the same. Individual situation of a
theatre, rather than circuit policy, has dictated
the action of a theatre.

MEMPHIS: With the exception of the
Memphis Little theatre, a civic project which
benefited from total elimination of the admis-
sions tax, there have been few if any price re-
ductions by theatres, first run or otherwise.

MILWAUKEE: For the time being, the
circuits seem to be absorbing the tax saving.
Small neighborhood houses, however, are ad-
justing to the nearest nickle, while drive-ins are
raising prices from 74 to 85 cents.

MINNEAPOLIS: Both the circuits and
the independents have indicated that they will
continue prices as before.

NASHVILLE: The Rockwood Amuse-
ment Company is reducing prices in some situa-
tions, while the Crescent circuit contemplates
“few if any changes.” A spokesman for the Bi-
jou Amusements Company^ stated flatly that
prices would be held since it had absorbed the
tax from the beginning.

NEW ORLEANS: On the whole, the ad-
mission price pattern here remains unchanged.
It is pointed out that local admissions still in-
clude city, state and welfare taxes.

NEW YORK: Most independent and cir-
cuit operators have lowered prices here between
five and IS cents. Included in those reducing
prices are such big Broadway houses as Radio
City Music Hall, Roxy, Paramount, Capitol,
Astor and Loew’s State. Maintaining previous
levels are the Globe and Mayfair.

OKLAHOMA CITY: Video Independ-
ent Theatres has reduced admission prices.
Most major houses, however, here and in Tulsa,
are holding the line.

PITTSBURGH: Matinee prices in almost
all situations have been reduced by five cents.
Evening prices remain the same.

PORTLAND: Most theatres here still are
undecided on what they will do. Neighborhoods
in Salem are reducing prices five cents.

SALT LAKE CITY: It seems to be
“wait-and-see” in all situations here. In the
meantime, prices continue at the same old level.

WASHINGTON: If any general pattern
prevails, it’s this: where the former price, in-
cluding tax was over 60 cents, at least part of
the tax cut is being passed on to the public.
Where prices were below 60' cents, the exhibi-
tor is keeping the tax cut money. The excep-
tions to this are children's tickets.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

COVERS BROADWAY AND THE

Four crowd-drawing attractions
at once on New York’s Main Stem

WITH BIG

prove what every Main Street
exhibitor from coast

to coast knows:

that Paramount leads

the industry with a
steady flow of great
product today!

^ wtfh

Book ‘‘CALLING SCOTLAND YARD”

These six 30-minute suspense featur-
ettes starring Paul Douglas, are that
extra to your show that brings extra
profit to your boxoffice. Broadway’s
Mayfair is playing one, Broadway’s
Victoria is playing another. They’re all
excitement-packed. And on every bill,

Play Paramount News and Shorts

TECHNIQUES IN
BRITISH TEST

Warner Demonstrates 2
Sound Systems, as Fox
Reaffirms Its Policy

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : Two events here in the last 10
days have added more fuel to the fire of the
controversy surrounding the question of
stereophony with CinemaScope.

On April 2 at the Warner thea-
tre, Warner Brothers staged the
first actual test to be held here
of four-track magnetic stereo-
phonic sound versus single track
optical sound. It was an affair
carried out with great showman-
ship. This week, then, 20th-Fox,
led by 20th Century-Fox Inter-
national president, Murray Sil-
verstone, staged a big press con-
ference at which latest Cinema-
Scope developments were dis-
cussed and the standing policy
on stereophonic sound reaffirmed
with evangelical vigor.

It is doubtful whether either show won
any new converts to a cause not previously
espoused. It would seem that each simply
served to reinforce beliefs already held.

Since that day back in the summer when
Spyros Skouras brought exhibitors together
for his first unveiling of CinemaScope,
there’s never been such a grouping of
showmen in one theatre here as attended
the Warner tests. The several-hundred-
strong safari, headed by the full strength of
C.E.A.’s executives and circuit leaders like
J. Arthur Rank and Sir Philip Warter,

came from all parts of the British Isles and
represented theatres of every size.

The programme was projected on a
newly-erected 43-foot Stableford screen and
consisted of the travel short “Aloh Nui” on
three-channel magnetic tracks, a trailer of
Jack L. Warner announcing his company’s
forthcoming attractions with excerpts from
CinemaScope productions (single track opti-
cal) and “The Command,” the first half of
which was shown with optical sound and
the remainder with full stereophony.

Credit to Abeles

High credit was given Arthur Abeles and
his New York chiefs for according the
C.E.A.’s long expressed demand for a full-
dress test. But close analysis of the subse-
quent prolonged and occasionally heated
post-mortem revealed a pronounced “as-
you-were” feeling.

Run-of-the-mill exhibitors and other non-
technical members of the invited audience
continued to maintain that there was no dis-
cernible or appreciable difference between
the two sound systems ; certainly none that
would justify considerable capital invest-
ments at this moment.

It is true that acoustic specialists and
other technically-minded persons claimed the
picture assumed a new and unexpected
warmth when multiple magnetism came into
play. But against that was the unhesitating
verdict of the non-technical majority. It
looks very much as though C.E.A.’s forth-
right and unyielding resistance to stereo-
phonic sound will carry the day, at least for
the time being.

Showmen now ask if exhibitors them-
selves cannot discern a vital difference

between conventional and multiple-track
sound how can the customers ? Moreover,
they find allies now for themselves in
Warner Brothers and Paramount.

Wolfe Cohen already has announced that
Warner CinemaScope product will be made
available to customers here who refuse to
install stereophonic. Paramount has now
followed suit with a declaration from Don
Hartman (in Europe on a VistaVision mis-
sionary tour) and another from the com-
pany’s London chief, James E. Perkins, to
the effect that Loren L. Ryder will be here
early in May for a demonstration of Vista-
Vision’s dual purpose track for single or
multiple horn reproduction — Perspecta
sound.

20th-Fox to Hold Tests

Highlighting Mr. Silverstone’s remarks
to the press Monday was the announcement
that 20th Century-Fox will itself conduct
tests of stereophonic versus single track
sound here late in May under the super-
vision of Mr. Skouras. The 20th-Fox Inter-
national chief also repeated announcements
of new CinemaScope developments which
were given the American press last week.

The announcements included those con-
cerning : development of new CinemaScope
camera lenses ; lower prices on Bausch &
Lomb projection attachments; guarantee of
a profit on the engagements of 20th-Fox
CinemaScope films; withdrawal of 20th-Fox
from the marketing of projection attach-
ments, and 20th-Fox support for all proc-
esses which help theatres compete with tele-
vision.

Mr. Silverstone emphasized that the com-
pany is confident that CinemaScope not only
will provide a profit for all concerned but
also will preserve the British exhibitor from
the devastating competition which will con-
front him when commercial television gets
under way here.

Would Smash Release System

Twentieth-Fox, by means of Cinema-
Scope, is determined, said Mr. Silverstone,
to smash the pernicious British-Scotish re-
lease system which is stifling worthwhile
pictures with its cast iron release pattern.
He indicated the solution lies in fewer but
mightier pictures. The 20th-Fox executive
began slowly, but in the course of the con-
ference, spurred by the questions of the
press, gathered considerable momentum and
finished up by presenting a mighty convinc-
ing case for CinemaScope as-is.

Film laboratories reopened here under
normal working conditions with reportedly
nb incidents. Priority was given the process-
ing of outstanding newreels.

The Minister of Labour’s committee in-
vestigating the causes and circumstances of
the laboratories dispute met Monday in pri-
vate. The committee’s deliberations are ex-
pected to last two to three weeks. Its report
will be made in the first instance to the Min-
ister and later handed to the disputing
parties.

Accepted generally here as a direct con-
{Continucd on o(>posite page)

BRITISH WIN TAX RELIEF

LONDON: Chancellor of the Exchequer R. A. Butler opened his budget to the
House of Commons Tuesday, revealing admission tax relief for British exhibitors to
the extent of £3,500,000 a year. The announcement is regarded as a triumph for ^
the exhibitors in view of the fact that the budget makes practically no tax conces-
sions to other industries. Parliament, of course, must approve the new proposals.

The new tax bill, to go into effect May 30, provides complete exemption for
seats costing ninepence and lower. It also provides tax reductions of a halfpenny
on seats costing from tenpence to one shilling, ninepence; three farthings on seats
costing from one shilling, tenpence, to two shillings, one penny; one penny on
seats costing from two shillings, one penny, to two shillings, sixpence; penny-
farthing on seats costing two shillings, sevenpence, to three shillings, one penny;
and penny-halfpenny on seats costing three shillings, twopence, and up.

The CEA memorandum to the Treasury sought tax relief amounting to £7,000,000.
This was necessary, CEA argued, if the adverse balance in the trading accounts of
the majority of exhibitors was to be corrected. In their claim the exhibitors were
supported by all other interests in the trade, and a joint deputation, including
NATKE representatives, saw John Boyd Carpenter, the Treasury's Financial
Secretary.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

Vista Vision
MMere far All:
M^aramaunt

HOLLYWOOD : Paramount, which devel-
oped and perfected VistaVision, a new wide
screen filming process, “has made and will
continue to make all details about Vista-
Vision and VistaVision cameras available
freely and without compensation to the mo-
tion picture industry,” Y. Frank Freeman,
vice-president, said here this week, denying
rumors that Paramount was withholding
VistaVision information.

Mr. Freeman repeated earlier statements
that “Paramount is not in the equipment
business” and revealed that as long ag’o as
last September the company had supplied all
details of the process to the Motion Picture
Research Council which disseminates tech-
nical information to the industry.

The first VistaVision demonstration in the
east will be held at the Radio City Music
Hall in New York April 27.

Paramount also announced this week that
the studio has ordered two additional Per-
specta Sound System units for use with
VistaVision at the studio and that hence-
forth, for purposes of identification with
VistaVision, the sound system will be re-
ferred to as “VistaVision Sound.”

Meanwhile, in New York, the Fairchild
Recording Equipment Company, manufac-
turers of Perspecta equipment, announced
that it had established a new motion picture
sound division, to be under the direction of
Ray Crews, vice-president of Fairchild and
formerly a supervisor of sound recording
under Loren L. Ryder at Paramount.

IN BRITAIN

(Continued from opposite page)
sequence of A.C.T.’s wrangle with the labo-
ratories is the announced intention of the
much larger studio union — Tom O’Brien’s
N.A.T.K.E. — to withdraw from the Joint
Industrial Council. The latter is a body com-
prising the three unions concerned and the
Producers’ Association and set up to deal
by conciliation machinery with all produc-
tion wage claims and working agreements
generally.

The Government’s Television Bill, under
which it is proposed to set up an independ-
ent television authority, has passed its com-
mittee stage in the House of Commons.
Despite vigorous opposition from the La-
bour Party arguing that the Government
was using public money to subsidize private
enterprise, the Commons approved annual
grants of £750,000 to the authority.

Theatre Tax Collection
Increases in Chicago

CHICAGO : Theatre business here con-
tinues to run ahead of last year, according
to figures released by the City Collectors

FOX REPORTS 1,452 THEATRES
WITH CINEMASCOPE FILMS

A total of 1 ,452 theatres throughout the
world will be showing 20th-Fox Cinema-
Scope productions during Easter week, the
company announced this week in conjunc-
tion with a product statement revealing
that during 1954 the company will release
16 high-budget films in the new medium.
The addition of 12 standard releases, eight
of which are in color, will bring the 1954
release total to 28.

Of the 1 ,452 theatres showing 20th-Fox
CinemaScope features at Easter, 1,336 are
domestic and Canadian and I 16 are
abroad. It Is further emphasized that
more key city first runs will show a 20th-Fox
film during the holiday season than ever
participated during a past year. Sparking
this showing are 208 openings of "Prince
Valiant." Others being screened across the
world are "Night People," "How to Marry
a Millionaire," "Hell and High Water,"
"King of the Khyber Rifles," "Beneath the
12-Mile Reef" and "The Robe."

The CinemaScope productions, all of
which are in color by Technicolor or Tech-
nicolor-De Luxe, to be released during the
remainder of 1954 include two May re-
leases: "River of No Return," starring
Marilyn Monroe and Robert Mitchum, and
"Three Coins in the Fountain," starring
Clifton Webb and Dorothy McGuire. The
June CinemaScope release will be "Deme-
trius and the Gladiators," sequel to "The
Robe," starring Victor Mature and Susan

Hayward, which takes up the story where
"The Robe" ended.

"Garden of Evil," starring Gary Cooper
and Susan Hayward, will be the July re-
lease, to be followed In August by "Broken
Lance," starring Spencer Tracy, Gene Tier-
ney and Richard Widmark. The big fall
release will be Darryl Zanuck's production
of "The Egyptian," starring Edmund Pur-
dum, Jean Simmons and Victor Mature.

Five other CinemaScope productions to
be released during the last quarter of the
year are: "A Woman's World," starring
Clifton Webb; "Ice Capades," to be pro-
duced by Leonard Goldstein; "The Man
Who Never Was," to be produced by
Nunally Johnson; "The Racer," to be pro-
duced by Julian Blaustein, and "There's
No Business Like Show Business," Irving
Berlin musical starring Ethel Merman.

The following standard productions from
Panoramic are also scheduled for release,
as follows: April, "The Rocket Man," with
Charles Coburn and George "Foghorn"
Winslow; April, "The Selge at Red River,"
Technicolor, with Van Johnson; May,
"Gorilla at Large," Technicolor, 3-D, Cam-
eron Mitchell and Ann Bancroft; June,
"Princess of the Nile," Jeffrey Hunter and
Debra Paget. Later In the year will come
"The Raid," starring Van Heflin; "The
Gambler from Natchez," Technicolor, star-
ring Dale Robertson, and "Hawk of the
Desert."

office, showing that the three per cent collec-
tions on February theatre receipts were
$96,939.31 against $90,575.11 for the same
month in 1953, although the collections were
down from the previous month’s $99,554.62
for January receipts. Total collections so
far this year are $285,983.72, compared with
last year’s $267,678.36, an increase of six per
cent. With the elimination of Federal taxes
up to 50 cents and reductions of 10 per cent
on higher prices, city officials are expecting
an increased “take” from theatres, inasmuch
as in most cases the reduction will not be
passed on to the public.

Supreme Court Refuses
Griffith Suit Review

WASHINGTON : The Supreme Court this
week refused to overturn an Appeals Court
decision throwing out a private anti-trust
suit which was filed against Griffith Con-
solidated Theatres, Inc.

The suit had been brought by Duffy Thea-
tres, Inc., which owned the only two thea-
tres in Mangum, Okla., in the 1930s. Duffy
claimed Griffith made it impossible for the
two Duffy theatres to get films and forced
Duffy to .sell the theatres to Griffith. How-
ever, when the theatres were sold in April,

1938, Duffy signed a statement releasing
all claims against Griffith.

In 1951, Duffy filed an anti-trust suit
against Griffith, but the district court and
the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said the
statement had freed Griffith of all claims
and threw out the Duffy suit.

Appeal Shuberf Case

WASHINGTON : The Justice Department
has appealed to the Supreme Court its anti-
trust suit against the Shubert Brothers, al-
leging a monopoly in legitimate theatres in
11 major cities. The suit was thrown out by
a New York District Court on the ground
that under the Supreme Court’s baseball case
decision, entertainment is not subject to the
anti-trust laws.

Drop Brando Action

HOLLYWOOD : Damage claims against
Marlon Brando have been dropped, Darryl
F. Zanuck, vice-president in charge of pro-
duction for 20th Century-Fox announced
last week. Costs caused in “The Egyptian”
when Brando failed to appear will be borne
by Brando and the studio. His contract is
restored, and he will start June 7 in
“Desiree.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

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WATCH THE RESULTS

WHEN COLUMBIA’S

ALL-STATE

FLORIDA!

Many Happy Returns

A Galaxy of Stars

IT'S A LONG time between anniversaries — especially 35th anniver-
saries. With this In mind United Artists is celebrating its 35th year in the fittest way
possible for a film company, with product. The lineup for 1954, which at this writing
comprises 51 films but may well go beyond that figure before the year is out, still repre-
sents one of the industry's most interesting uniting of artists — producers, directors, writ-
ers, actors and actresses. It's the kind of lineup to insure many happy returns.

Without going into affairs of state and management, which certainly have had their
effect on UA's fortunes, one of the most important factors In UA's current good health
would seem to stem from the evolution of the independent producer to his position as a
man of tremendous importance to the overall health of the industry. It is the recognition
by UA management of this importance, as well as the recognition of the talent available,
which has been directly responsible tor putting the firm in such a desirable position.

Take a look at the independents who will make the record for 1954: producer-director-
writers John Huston and Joseph L. Manklewicz; Stanley Kramer; Harold Hecht and Burt
Lancaster of Hecht-Lancaster Productions; Orson Welles; Anatole Litvak; newcomer Paul
Gregory whose production of "The Caine
Mutiny Court Martial" is one of the big-
gest box office hits of the legitimate stage;

Edward Small; Robert Rossen; the Russ-
Field Corporation headed by Jane Russell
and Robert Waterfield; Auorey Schenck;

Clarence Green and Russell Rouse, and
space veteran Ivan Tors, among others.

Their productions will be supplemented
by specially selected films from England
and the continent from the J. Arthur Rank
Organization and Lopert Films. The variety
of the subject matter is reflected in the fact
that on the year's roster are films shot
wholly or in major part in England, Italy,

France, Hawaii, Malta, Algiers, Central
Africa, India, Morocco, Germany, Brazil,

Mexico, Switzerland, the British West In-
dies, Brazil and the Philippines.

Gory Cooper, of "High Noon" memory, and
Burt Lancaster star in "Vera Cruz", now in
production in Mexico.

Stars who will be figuring in one or more
of these films include Gregory Peck, Hum-
phrey Bogart, Burt Lancaster, Ava Gardner,
Jennifer Jones, Robert Mitchum, Kirk
Douglas, Charles Coburn, Katharine Hep-
burn, Alec Guinness, Jack Hawkins, Gene
Tierney, Tony Curtis, Ginger Rogers, Van
Heflin, Errol Flynn, Barbara Stanwyck and
James Mason. A couple of years ago an
independent production featuring any one
of these would have been a major accom-
plishment in the field of contractual rela-
tions. The production structure is changing
and the independent is reaping benefits.

Prominent on the UA schedule are the
following films which either are in release
or are completed and wait release:

"Act of Love," produced and directed
in France by Anatole Litvak and starring
Kirk Douglas; "Apache," Hecht-Lancaster
production, starring Burt Lancaster and
Jean Peters, color by Technicolor; "Beat
The Devil," produced and directed by John
Huston in Italy with a cast headed by Hum-
phrey Bogart and Jennifer Jones; "The
Long Wait," screen adaptation of the
Mickey Spillane thriller, produced and di-
rected by Victor Seville and starring An-
thony Quinn and Charles Coburn; "Man

Anthony Quinn in "The Long Wait". The second Mickey Spillane story to be filmed by Victor
Saville, it is scheduled for release late this year.

Gregory Peck in "Man with a Million", a light-hearted adaptation of the Mark Twain classic
"The Million Pound Banknote".

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10. 1954

to United Artists

With A Million," a J. Arthur Rank presenta-
tion starring Gregory Peck, color by Tech-
nicolor; "Personal Affair," another J. Arthur
Rank presentation starring Gene Tierney
and Leo Genn, and "The Malta Story," also
from J. Arthur Rank, starring Alec Guinness
and Jack Hawkins and filmed on location
in Malta.

Also in the same category are "Othello,"
produced and directed by — and starring
Orson Welles; "Witness to a Murder," pro-
duced and written by Ohester Erskine and
starring Barbara Stanwyck and George
Sanders; "The Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe," produced by Henry Erlich, star-
ring Dan O'Herlihy, in PatheColor; "The
Man Between," produced and directed by
Carol Reed and starring James Mason and
Claire Bloom.

Heading the list of productions currently
shooting are "The Barefoot Contessa,"
{Continued on page 28)

The Orson Welles production of Shake-
speare's "Othello."

Burt Lancaster as a hard-lighting Indian chief
in "Apache."

Barbara Stanwyck stars with Gary Merrill and George Sanders in
"Witness to Murder", a "Double Jeopardy" kind of role.

Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner star in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's
"The Barefoot Contessa."

Dan O'Herlihy as Crusoe and James Fernandez as Friday in "The
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe."

Kirk Douglas and Dany Robin in a scene from the romantic drama,
"Act of Love."

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

'STROCK

ROBERT ALDRICH
GEORGE BREAKSTON
LUIS BUNUEL
MURIEL BOX
JACK CARDIFF
RICHARD CARLSON
RENE CLAIR
LUIGI COMENCWJ
E. A. DUPONT
SEYMOUR FRIEDMAN
SIDNEY GILLIAT

DAWN

ADDAMS

LEX

BARKER

actors

JOHN BENTLEY
JACQUES BERGERAC
CLAIRE BLOOM
HUMPHREY BOGART
BRUCE CABOT
RORY CALHOUN
ROD CAMERON
RICHARD CARLSON
PEGGIE CASTLE
CHARLES COBURN
GARY COOPER
BRODERICK CRAWFORD
TONY CURTIS
DENISE DARCEL
YVONNE DE CARLO
ANTHONY DEXTER
KIRK DOUGLAS
CONSTANCE DOWLING

JOANNE DRU
RICHARD EGAN
GENE EVANS
MAURICE EVANS
ERROL FLYNN
EVA GABOR
AVA GARDNER
LEO GENN
ALEC GUINNESS
VAN HEFLIN
KATHARINE HEPi
WANDA HENDf
TAB HUNTER
MARTHA HYER
JOHN IRELAND
ADELE JERGENS j
GLYNIS JOHNS
CELIA JOHNSON
JENNIFER JONES
. PATRIC KNOWLES

BURT LANCASTER
GINA LOLLOBRIGIDA
FRANK LOVEJOY
WILLIAM LUNDIGAN
JACK MAHONEY
DOROTHY MALONE
HERBERT MARSHALL
JAMES MASON
GARY MERRILL
BEVERLY MICHAELS
ROBERT MITCHUM
GEORGE MONTGOMERY
ROBERT MORLEY
MARY MURPHY
J. CARROLL NAISH
ANNA NEAGLE
HILDEGARDE NEFF
ROBERT NEWTON
EDMOND O’BRIEN
IIAN OTiERLIHY |

DENNIS O’KEEFE
GREGORY PECK
JEAN PETERS
GERARD PHILIPE
ANTHONY QUINN
DS-E ROBERTSON
DANY ROBIN
GINGER ROGERS
RUTH ROMAN
CESAR ROMERO
JANE RUSSELL
GEORGE SANDERS
PHIL SILVERS
FRANK SINATRA
Bfmm STANWYCK
ITIERNEY
JE

ORSON VWES
CORNEL TOE

DENNB O'KEE
ROBERT ?m
ANTHONY PEL

directors

producers

FRANK 0. GRNf^i
ALFRED E. GREM
STUART HEISC^P
BRIAN DESMONDiu
JOHN HUSTON |
ANTHONY KIMMINS
MILTON KRIMS
LEW LANDERS
CHARLES LAUGHTON
ARNOLD LAVEN
DAVID LEAN

AUBREY BARING
ROBERT BASSLER
JOHN BRYAN
OSCAR DANCIGERS
ANTONY DARNBOROUGH
PETER DE SARIGNY
HENRY EHRLICH
CHESTER ERSKINE
W. R. FRANK
ARTHUR GARDNER
SIDNEY GILLIAT
, FRANK 0. GRAHAM
CLARENCE GREENE

PAUL GREGORY
HAROLD HECHT^t‘ W
JAMES HILL

BRIAN DESMOND HURST
JOHN HUSTON
ANTHONY KIMMINS
HOWARD WjKOCH
STANLEY KRAMER
FRANK LAUNDER
DAVID LEAN
REGINALD LE BORG
SOL LESSER
JULES V. LEVY

ANATOLE L4TVAK
ILYA LOPERT
OTTO LUDWIG
J. BARRET MAHON
NASSOUR BROS.
STEVEN PALLOS
BEN PESKAY
JACK POLLEXFEN
HARRY M. POPKIN
J. ARTHUR RANK
CAROL REED
CHARLES REYNOLDS
ROBERT ROSSEN

RUSSELL ROUSE “a
LESSER SAMUELS I
VICTOR SAVILLE
AUBREY SCHENCK
MAXWELL SEHON
EDWARD SMALL
RAYMOND STROSS
.HVAN TORS
^ LAZAR WECHSLER
ORSON WELLES .
HERBERT WILCOX
AUBREY WISBERG
ALBERT ZUGSMITH

OPERATION HEARTBREAK
RETURN OF ZORRO - Color

TIMBUKTU - Color by Technicolor

TRAPEZE

ACT OF LOVE

BEACHHEAD - Print by Technicolor^' ^

JEAT THE DEVIL H

IeAUTIES OF THE NIGHT

IlLBERT AND SULLIVAN - Color by Technicolor

jElBI

■igiLAND PACIFIC - Color Corp. of America

SOUTHWEST PASSAGE - Color by PatheColor, 3-D .

THE CAPTAIN’S PARADISE

THE CONQUEST OF EVEREST - Print by Technicolor
THE GOLDEN MASK - Color by Technicolor
THE LONE GUN — Color by Color Corp. of America

THE MAN BETWEEN

THE SCARLET SPEAR - Color by Technicolor
TOP BANANA — Color by Color Corp. of America

WICKED WOMAN I

now m
release

. of Am

scREABaii'MGLEs

SITTING Bin£ - Color Corp. of America, Cinemascope

STAR OF INDIA — Color by Technicolor, Widescreen

THE BAREFOOT CONTESSA - Color by Technicolor

THE BEACHCOMBER - Color by Technicolor

THE DIAMOil-3 0

THE FIREMIHD — Print by Technicolor

THE HELICOPTER STORY - Color

THE LONG WAIT 1

THE PURPLE PLAIN - Color by Technicolor r f '

THE YELLOW TOMAHAWK - Color Corp. of America

THE WHITE ORCHID - Color Corp. of America

TWIST OF FATE

VERA CRUZ — Color by Technicolor

^Br by TechnteMo^^^B
ffiNO-^Color, 3^^^H

ll THE SLAVE Gtl^^Bl
KB.L

I THE WILD - Eastmari Color
INORDS PatheColor
ns|i^^ior, 3-D

Corp of Anrer

completed or
in production

^ Color by Color Corp. of America

«rfor by Teclffli^r

iJt.

SURE

ISLA

eColer

THE CONQVEROR- Color by Technicolor
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST — Color by technicolor

CAPTAIN JAN

DATELINE INDO CHINA -

KING SOLOMON & HIS THOUSAND WIVES - CoTor
KISS ME DEADLY
LILACS IN THE SPRING
MARTY

MY GUN IS QUICK
NOT AS A STRANGER

RING AROUND SATURN - Eastman Color, 3-D
JANE RUSSELL PRODUCTIONS
SUDDENLY
TEN MILES UP
THE GABRIEL HORN
THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER

THE STORY OF WILLIAM TELL - PatheColor, CinemaScope
THE SWORD OF ROBIN HOOD - Color
THE TIME OF THE CUCKOO — Color by Technicolor
THE WAY WEST

coming up

The Men Who
the Rescue

by VINCENT CANBY

HAD THE dramatic unities of time and place
been observed a little more closely, the United Artists story,
as of its 35th anniversary April 17, would resemble the script
for a melodrama on the order of its own "Way Down East."

Conceived in hope and great expectation in 1919 by its four
founders, Mary Pickford, Charles Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr.
and D. W. Griffith, the company subsequently grew, flowered
and prospered for more than 20 years. Suddenly, however,
evil days settled upon the firm in the post World War II era
and in 1951, UA was in as much trouble as Lillian Gish on that
ice floe.

In the case of UA it took seven young men rather than one
Richard Barthelmess to prevent the disaster. The seven — who
have among them an average age of 40 years and some weeks —
are Arthur B. Krim, president; Robert S. Benjamin, board chair-
man: Matthew Fox; William J. Heineman, distribution vice-presi-
dent; Max E. Youngstein, vice-president in charge of advertising
and publicity: Arnold Picker, vice-president In charge of foreign
distribution: and Seymour Peyser, vice-president and general
counsel.

Within one year from the time they took over provisional man-
agement of the company from Miss Pickford and Mr. Chaplin,
on February 15, 1951, the company showed its first profitable
calendar year since 1946. As a result, the conditions of the
provisional agreement with Miss Pickford and Mr. Chaplin were
met, and the group became owners of 8,000 shares of UA stock
with lO-year voting control rights of the remaining shares owned
equally by the last two of the original four united artists.

The acumen displayed by the new management In pulling the
firm out of the red In so short a time proved to be a highly
attractive recommendation and top flight Independents were
quick to join. The first of these were S. P. Eagle and John Huston

Taken at the Pickford-Fairbanks studio the day Joseph M. Schenck
became a United Artists producer, March 2, 7925. Left to right:
Hiram Abrams, then UA president; Dennis F. O'Brien, general coun-
sel; Mary Pickford, Mrs. Charlotte Pickford, Charlie Chaplin,
Arthur Kelly, Douglas Fairbanks and Mr. Schenck.

Rode to

The new management: Top, Arthur B. Krim, president; Robert S.
Benjamin, chairman of the board; Matthew J. Fox; William J. Heine-
man, vice-president in charge of distribution; Max E. Youngstein,
vice-president in charge of advertising, publicity and exploitation;
Arnold M. Picker, vice-president in charge of foreign distribution,

whose "African Queen" was a huge money-maker and Academy
Award winner. The same was true of Stanley Kramer's "High
Noon," and Mr. Huston's "Moulin Rouge." Also slightly more
than just profitable was UA's pioneering In the release of the
independently made "Bwana Devil," a film with certain historical
significance in connection with 3-D.

Among the articles of incorporation when the company was
formed, April 17, 1919, was one which set forth the guiding
principles as being "to Improve the photoplay industry and its
artistic standards, and the methods of marketing photoplays"
and to "market photoplays In the interests of the artists who
create them."

The notion of wedding art with commerce In a happy, pros-
perous union was not a new aim, but it had hardly ever been
successful in previous attempts.

The first picture to bear the legend "released through United
Artists" was Douglas Fairbanks' "His Majesty, The American,"
which had its world premiere October 24, 1919 at the new
Capitol theatre in New York. This got the company off to a
fast start and was followed by Miss PIckford's "Pollyanna."

The first radical change in the corporate set-up of the firm
came in 1925 when Joseph M. Schenck was allowed to buy into
the firm and become an owner-member. Mr. Schenck became
chairman of the board and was responsible for bringing into
the group Samuel Goldwyn, who became the second new owner-
member of the company in 1927.

In the thirties, the film Industry was changing Its shape, a result
of the depression years, the emergence of new stars and the
fading of old, and the Introduction of the double feature. New
producers, directors and stars came into the UA fold, including
Alexander Korda and David O. Seiznick.

By 1940, only two of the original founders. Miss Pickford and
Mr. Chaplin, remained. Mr. Griffith had retired. Mr. Fairbanks
had died, and the Messrs. Schenck, Goldwyn, Korda and Seiznick
had withdrawn. The end of the war and the "easy prosperity"
of those years started a downward UA spiral which a succession
of stewardships labored valiantly — and In vain — to stem.

Today the UA management makes rather proud point of the
fact that it's a company without a pat motto or slogan. It has
a name and it has product. And it Is making money. The
wedding would appear a happy one.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

r — —

Victor Saville

Congratulates

United Artists

on its

35tt ANNIVERSARY

NOW IN RELEASE

1, THE JURY"

•

NOW COMPLETED

"THE LONG WAIT'

•

NOW IN PREPARATION

"KISS ME DEADLY"

"MY GUN IS QUICK"

•

CONGRATULATIONS TO

UNITED ARTISTS ON

THEIR 35th ANNIVERSARY

Arch 0 holer

Magic- Vuers

1309 North Wilcox Avenue
Hollywood, California

Exhibitors and Independent Producers
Should Give a Cheer and Many Thanks
to the Men Who Are Doing it at

UNITED ARTISTS

Ex-Exhibitor

Frank Graham

In Production
"COUGAR CANYON”

Recently Completed

Frank Graham’s Editing

"CHALLENGE THE WILD” "THE BIG STAMPEDE”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

'/icn/mn

ENGRAVERS TO THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY

m m Ji9 2.® ?,
2^4 zg 26 27 2

FAITH IN

UA’s

TOMORROW

Congratulations
to United Artists on its
35th Anniversary.

We, at Collier,

are delighted to affirm

our faith in the future of this

great

organization.

CONGRATULATIONS
UNITED ARTISTS

Your ContlrLued Success

(Our Future)

USSoUf

8460 WEST THIRD STREET • LOS ANGELES 48. CALIFORNIA

UA BIRTHDAY

(Continued from page 21)

being produced and directed in Italy by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, starring Humphrey
Bogart and Ava Gardner, color by Tech-
nicolor; "Vera Cruz," a Hecht-Lancaster
production, shooting in Mexico and star-
ring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster, in
Technicolor: J. Arthur Rank's "The Purple
Plain," starring Gregory Peck, Technicolor,
now shooting in Ceylon; "Sitting Bull,"
being produced on location in Mexico by
W. R. Frank, in CinemaScope and color,
starring Dale Robertson.

Set to go before the cameras in the near
future are Stanley Kramer's screen adapta-
tion of the current best selling novel, "Not
As a Stranger"; "The Way VV'est," Hecht-
Lancaster production of the Pulitzer Prize
novel, with Mr. Lancaster starring; "Alex-
ander The Conqueror," a biography of the
Macedonian general, to be produced and
directed by Robert Rossen on location in
Europe and the Near East; "The Night of
the Hunter," which will be produced by
Paul Gregory, directed by Charles Laugh-
ton, to star Robert Mitchum; "The Time
of the Cuckoo," to be co-produced by
David Lean and Ilya Lopert and to star
Katharine Hepburn.

Schedule Five Films
For April Release

United Artists will release five films in
April, including two new productions in
color and two reissues, William J. Heine-
man, vice-president has announced.

The five films are : Edward Small’s
“Southwest Passage,” in PatheColor and
3-D, starring Rod Cameron and Joanne
Dru; “Lone Gun,” in color by the Color
Corporation of America, starring George
Montgomery and Dorothy Malone; Lazar
Wechsler’s “Heidi,” filmed in Switzerland,
and two Stanley Kramer reissues, “Cham-
pion,” with Kirk Douglas, and “Home of
the Brave,” with Frank Lovejoy.

Congratulations UA

COMPLETE COPY SERVICE

ROTOCOPY, Inc.

6 E. 46th St., N. Y. City MU 7-9126

35th

Anniversary Greetings to
United Artists

FROM

REILLY ELECTROTYPE COMPANY

FOR

20 Years

SUPPLIER TO U.A. OF

ELECTROTYPES
MATS • PLASTICTYPES

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10. 1954

Mndusiry Ms
MMonored at
MSastan Affair

BOSTON : Sponsored by the Boston Public
Library, the industry was honored here
Tuesday night at a banquet designed to serve
a dual purpose; to celebrate the 100th anni-
versary of the first free library in the United
States and to salute the motion picture
industry for its progress. Approximately 400
attended.

With Howard Dietz as toastmaster and
Charles E. Kurtzman presiding, the color-
ful event was highlighted by addresses by
notables in many lines of business and civic
affairs.

The keynote address was delivered by
Ralph M. Binney, executive of the First
National Bank of Boston and general chair-
man of the Boston Public Library Centen-
nial Celebration. In paying tribute to the
film industry, Mr. Binney said that “many
of the modern inventions and improvements
in camera, sound and optical scientific
developments stemmed from this area, so
that New England is proud to be part of
such an important industry, financially as
well as artistically.”

Charles Brackett, president of the Acad-
emy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
also addressed the large audience. Head
table guests were A. Montague, of Colum-
bia Pictures, Brackett, Academy; William
Heineman, United Artists ; A. W. Schwal-
berg. Paramount; Carl Hallauer, Bausch
& Lomb ; Lester Isaacs, Cinerama ; Joseph
Vogel, Loew’s; Ted Curtis, Eastman
Kodak.

Local industry representatives, in addi-
tion to Mr. Kurtzman, Loew’s North-
eastern division manager, were Samuel
Pinanski, Martin Mullin, Theodore Fleisher,
Arthur Lockwood and Walter Brown.

Town Council Halves
10% Amusements Tax

The Martinsville, Va., City Council has
voted to cut in half the 10 per cent tax
on amusements in response to a two-year
plea by theatre operators for “some relief”
to offset dwindling box office receipts. A
Council spokesman said the amusement tax
reduction, which will reduce the city’s an-
nual revenue by an estimated $12,500, is
the first major tax cut in Martinsville since
pre-war days. “It was time to pay some
heed to the financial plight of movie opera-
tors,” Councilman D. Hurd Goode declared.

Open Houston Art Theatre

The Avalon theatre, Houston, a neighbor-
hood property of O. K. Theatres, has re-
opened with a policy of French, Italian and
British films. The house was re-done mod-
ernistically, and seats were reduced to 750.
Manager is Doyle Shelledy, formerly of the
Pix Theatre, Jersey City, and the Park
Avenue, New York.

THOMPSON QUITS RKO
TO BE LABOR ADVISOR

by the Herald

MAJOR LESLIE E. THOMPSON, above,
director of labor relations for RKO Thea-
tres, has tendered his resignation, effective
Friday, April 16. After a vacation. Major
Thompson will open offices in New York as
labor consultant for RKO Theatres and
other film and theatrical enterprises.

An announcement from the circuit said
William F. Whitman, general counsel, and
Mary E. Tuttle, director of personnel, would
serve the company in labor matters. Frank
Smith will continue In his present capacity
representing the circuit In the field.

Major Thompson has been concerned
with amusement Industry labor relations
since 1919, when he became assistant to
the late J. J. Murdock in the Keith Corpo-
ration. In 1930 he was assistant general
manager of RKO. He also served as presi-
dent of Trans-Lux In 1933 and 1934. Since
his return to RKO at the end of 1934 he
has been in charge of labor relations. In
addition, he has been chairman of theatre
labor negotiating committees for many
years. Prior to divorcement he also took
care of labor relations for the RKO dis-
tribution department and production In
the east.

General Precision Shows
Sharp Profit Increase

Sales of motion picture theatre equipment
and supplies by subsidiaries of General Pre-
cision Equipment Corporation in 1953 were
66 per cent greater than in the previous
year, reaching the record level of $22,-
878,000, Hermann G. Place, president and
board chairman of the corporation, an-
nounced last week. The increase reflects the
general improvement in the industry and the
heavy demand for the new types of equip-
ment, he said. The annual report of the
corporation shows consolidated net sales of
$87,763,925 for 1953 compared with $54,-
326,849 in 1952. Net income for the two
periods amounted to $3,436,349 or $5.09 per
share on 649,087 outstanding shares com-
pared with $1,255,278, or $1.88 per share
on 646,087 outstanding shares.

HViscansin
AHied Unit
In Meeting

MILWAUKEE: The first session of the
“year of decision convention” of Wisconsin
Allied here Tuesday was presided over by
president Sig Goldberg. All phases of drive-
in operation were discussed, and Robert
Koratz talked on all phases of operations
and improvement that could be made. On
stereophonic sound Mr. Karatz reported that
sound engineers state that it is impossible
to get the effect in a car.

When screen sizes and ratios were
brought up, Ben Marcus warned about
rushing into enlarging screens too fast. “A
lot of us have rushed in and brought a lot
of junk,” he said.

Talks on Concessions

Spiro Papas gave a detailed talk on con-
cessions, recommending the operation of
one’s own concession stand. He stressed
sanitation and cleaniness in all phases of
concession operation, and said that repeat
business depends on the quality of the
merchandise used.

Mr. Goldberg pointed to threats of day-
light saving to drive-ins, then called on S. J.
McWilliams for a report. Mr. McWilliams
said there is no danger this year, but that
next year the committee will seek to have
daylight saving repealed. He urged every-
one to fight against it.

Keynote at Wednesday’s session was the '
attack on film rentals, percentages and
the enforcement of stereophonic sound with
CinemaScope.

Mr. Marcus, principal speaker in the
afternoon, pointed out that after the success-
ful fight in Washington in which both dis-
tribution and exhibition combined their ef-
forts and work together and wen, “why
can’t we work together on other things?
Allied is not composed of reactionaries try-
ing to destroy. We want to work in har-
mony with every phase and branch of the
industry. But we do not feel that stereo-
phonic sound is economically feasible or
possible in good business to be forced upon
theatres and subsequent situations. Allied
is not against CinemaScope but against en-
forcing installation of stereophonic sound.”

Some Praise Perspecta

Perspective sound was mentioned. Some
praised its good quality saying that in some
cases it is better than stereo sound. Film
shortages are created by these new mediums,
Mr. Marcus warned.

A vote of thanks and gratitude was given
to F. J. McWilliams of Madison, in resolu-
tion form, on his announcement of wanting
to step down from the board of directors to
make room for the younger men. A panel
discussion was held on equipment in the
morning and Polalite put on a demonstration
of its single-strip 3-D system at the Fox
Strand.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

ITALY ADOPTS
SCREEX CODE

All Scripts to Be Reviewed
Before Shooting; Follows
Criticism of Industry

by ARGEO SANTUCCI

ROME: A voluntary self-regulation
system for Italian motion pictures has
been established by the Union of Pro-
ducers, the producing company divi-
sion of the over-all trade association
ANICA (Associazione Nazionale In-
dustrie Cinematografiche ed Affini), it
was announced April 2 by Eitel Mo-
naco, ANICA president.

Action was taken as a result of Italian
government, local and foreign press criti-
cism of Italian film industry on grounds of
Communist infiltration and immorality of
some productions. Henceforth all scripts are
to be reviewed in advance of filming by a
committee of five prominent personalities to
be named shortly. The standards to be met
will be established by the new committee.

Will Carry Seal

All producing companies which are mem-
bers of the Union of Producers are bound
to comply with the decisions of the control
system. Approved pictures will carry a dis-
tinguishing seal. Pictures without the seal
will not be eligible for Italian Government
subsidies nor for distribution abroad by
Italian Films Export. The committee will
advise members on the moral and social re-
strictions of foreign countries.

Following announcement of the agreement
Mr. Monaco cabled Martin Quigley, Jr.,
editor of The Herald, as follows : “Having
just succeeded in instituting within ANICA
a system of producer control over Italian
motion picture production I recall at this
auspicious moment meetings we had in Rome
in 1945 when together you and I formulated
the general provisions of such a production
code.”

[The project of an Italian pro-
duction regulation system, on a
voluntcSry basis, was sponsored
originally by Martin Quigley, Jr.]

The first Italian film code, II Codice per
la Cinematografia, was drafted by Mr.
Monaco, then general counsel of ANICA.
It was based on the American code as modi-
fied by Mr. Quigley and Mr. Monaco fol-
lowing discussions with a score of Italian
film experts. Although the code was accepted
individually by a majority of the producing-
distributing companies and formally endorsed
by ANICA in 1945, no administration sys-
tem was established.

Principal opposition to the Codice per la
Cinematografia — or any self-regulation sys-
tem— during the past eight years has come
from the Italian Communist Party. The new

industry production control committee is not
bound by the code but will use it as a frame
of reference, according to reports from
Rome.

The Association of producers examined
also some “hostile and contradictory state-
ments recently expressed on certain political
and moral trends of the Italian production”
and concluded in the statement announcing
the Code that such statements were due to
competitive industries. “It was plain that the
source of such unfair charges is in the re-
sentment of some foreign industries against
the unexpected success of the Italian pro-
duction in the most important markets in
the world,” the statement of the Association
said.

The communist daily “L’Unita” approv-
ing the statement of the Association of pro-
ducers against the “Government and Ameri-
can threats” criticizes the establishment of
the new voluntary regulation which “looks
so much like the self-censorship made up by
the monopolists of the American motion pic-
ture with their implacable Production Code”
of the industry.

JVew Methods
Forecast

More and better techniques were forecast
by Ben Marcus, National Allied president,
to the Gulf States unit annual convention at
Edgewater Beach, Miss., last week, and at
the same time he pleaded for standardization.
Some of the other speakers were Max E.
Youngstein, United Artists vice-president;
Rube Shor, National Allied treasurer ; Mike
Simons, MGM exhibitor relations director.

The unit reelected Abe Berenson presi-
dent. Others reelected are E. G. Prat, Jr.,
vice-president ; T. G. Solomon, treasurer ;
L. C. Montgomery, chairman. A new officer
is J. V. O’Quinn, secretary, succeeding Har-
old Bailey. Elected a director is Ed Ortte.
Reelected are Mr. Berenson, Mr. Montgom-
ery, and Claude Darce.

National Allied’s position on 20th-Eox’s
alleged forcing of stereophonic sound was
supported in resolution.

Box Office Receipts Show
Big Increase in Italy

Motion picture box office receipts in Italy
for January, 1954, were $90,000 higher than
the returns for the corresponding period of
1953, according to figures received here by
Italian Eilms Export. Gross admissions for
the first month of this year totaled 1,481,-
000,000 ($2,468,335). Some 63.79 per cent
represents admissions to American films ;
28.9 per cent Italian films ; 4.91 per cent
Erench films; and 1.91 per cent English
films. ^

COMPO Ad
Tells About
Film Code

The sixth COMPO ad to be published
in “Editor & Publisher” tells the story of
the motion picture industry’s Production
Code, pointing out that there is nothing
mysterious about it — just plain common
sense. The ad, entitled “What’s All This
Euss About the Movie Code?” appeared in
the issue of Saturday, April 3.

In adopting the Code 25 years ago, the
ad says, the signatory companies, in fact,
had only two thoughts in mind: first, to
keep their pictures acceptable family enter-
tainment, and secondly, to protect their in-
vestments. Eurthermore, it adds, “there was
no nonsense about the Code’s being a form
of censorship. Then, as now, the motion
picture industry was known for its uncom-
promising stand against governmental cen-
sorship. No; the Code was recognized for
what it was — voluntary self regulation.”

“We think it has worked reasonably well,”
the COMPO ad states. “Of course there
have been mistakes ; the people who run
the Code are human beings. But on the
whole, the Code has done what it was de-
signed to do: preserve the decency of the
American movies.”

Italian Government Plans
Curbs on Industry Reds

ROME: The Italian Government has given
what amounts to official confirmation of the
reports that it would take firm measures in
curbing Communist influence in the Italian
motion picture industry. According to the
semi-official news agency, ARI, “a Govern-
ment spokesman made clear that all monop-
oly of Communists and their allies in
motion pictures will be decisively broken in
the near future.” This is the first time that
the Government has openly charged the
country’s film industry with being Com-
munist-dominated. The steps which the
Government will take to change this situa-
tion are believed to be restraints against film
and other export companies which help sup-
port the Communist party.

MPEA Protests Turkish
Tax on Film Imports

Protests with the Turkish Government,
objecting to a new 75 per cent ad valorem
tax on film imports, will be registered by
the Motion Picture Export Association, it
was disclosed recently. An MPEA meet-
ing which discussed the tax also took action
on the Guatamalan situation, voting to con-
tinue the film shipment embargo in protest
against the tax policy of the Guatamalan
Government. Overtures by Guatamala to
reduce the 20 per cent tax on the distribu-
tors’ share in Guatamala City to 10 per cent,
but with the imposition of an additional two
per cent tax on exhibition grosses, were
found unsatisfactory.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10. 1954

OOOOOOOOOQGGut

BUY of iheYear!

wonderful

single-reel

WALT DISHEY

•iJf

Musicals "

BIG-STAR NAMES! . . . Tops in Music! . . . Tops in
Comedy! . .Tops in Outstanding Entertainment!
Ail in Color by TECHNICOLOR!

Presenting the Talents of

^ BENNY GOODMAN

Two for the Record

The maddest of
rug-cutting jamborees,
as 'All The Cats Join In.'

• • • • (Release date, Apr. 23)» • • •

^//

THE KING’S MEN

The Martins and the Coys

The rowdy saga of backwoods
feudin' and fightin'.

* • • • (Release date, June 18)* • • •

THE ANDREWS SISTERS

n p "UttleToot"

The prankful escapades of
a cocky little tugboat.

• • • ® (Release date, Aug. 13)»* ♦ •

THE ANDREWS SISTERS

"Johnny Fedora and W c>
Alice Blue Bonnet'

The heart-warming story of a
romance between two hats.

• • • * (Release date. May 21)* • • ♦

JERRY COLONNA

"Casey at the Bat"

Thayer's boisteraus baseball epic . . .
a new high in rugged caricature.

• • • • (Release date, July 16)* ♦ • •

FRANCES LANGFORD ^

"Once Upon a Wintertime"

A 'Currier & Ives' ice-skating
courtship of two shy young lovers.

• • • • (Release date. Sept. 17)* • • *

©Walt Disney Productions. Re-Released by RKO Radio Pictures from “Make Mine Music” and “Melody Time.**

CONTACT

PdO'OOQO

WARNERS STEP
EP PRODECTION

To Put 12 in Work During
Spring and Summer with
More to Follow Rapidly

BURBANK : Jack L. Warner Tuesday an-
nounced the Warner studio is launching im-
mediately upon the most impressive produc-
tion schedule of his company’s history.
Twelve top bracket productions are to go
before the cameras during spring and early
summer, with others scheduled to follow as
scripts are completed and castings are set.

Cinemascope and Color

The forthcoming Warner pictures, se-
lected from contemporary best selling novels,
literary classics, Broadway stage hits and
popular television shows, will be given the
benefit of the newest production techniques,
Mr. Warner said. CinemaScope and War-
nerColor will predominate in the immediate
schedule.

Three pictures are starting at once. They
are “Helen of Troy,’’ “Land of the
riiaraohs’’ and “Dragnet.”

“Helen of Troy” is the Homeric spectacle
narrating one of the world’s liest known love
stories. It will be filmed in CinemaScope
and WarnerColor “as one of the most am-
bitious pictures ever made,” Mr. Warner
said. Rossana Podesta, fiery young Italian
star, will play the role of Helen. Jacques
Sernas, continental star, portrays Paris, the
Trojan lover of Helen, and the supporting
cast includes Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Nial
MacGinnis, Stanley Baker, Robert Douglas,
Torin Thatcher and Harry Andrews. Rob-
ert Wise is directing the production, which
is being filmed in Italy.

To Be Filmed in Egypt

“Land of the Pharaohs,” with an all-star
cast headed by Jack Hawkins, voted Eng-
land’s number one boxoffice personality for
1953 in the HERALD-Fame poll, will be
produced and directed by Howard Hawks,
from an original screenplay by William
Faulkner.

"Dragnet,” a full-length screen story in
WarnerColor, based on the award winning
TV and radio show, goes into production
within the next week. Jack Webb will star
in the picture and direct it, performing the
same dual function he does for the TV and
radio show. Stanley Meyer will produce
this Mark VH production for Warner Bros.

Scheduled for an early June start, Mr.
Warner announced, is “The Silver Chalice,”
adapted from Thomas B. Costain’s novel
which recently passed the 2,000,000 sales
mark. Virginia Mayo has been named for
one of the leading roles in the all-star cast.

“Strange Lady in Town,” starring Greer
Garson under the direction of Mervyn
Le Roy, in CinemaScope and WarnerColor,
also is scheduled for a June start. Frank

Butler, Academy Award-winning writer, is
now completing the script for this first of
Le Roy’s pictures under his new WMrner
Bros, contract.

“East of Eden,” CinemaScope and W^ar-
nerColor production of John Steinbeck’s
best selling novel, is next on the filming
schedule, with Elia Kazan producing and
directing.

Other properties which Mr. Warner an-
nounced for imminent filming are :

“Giant” on Schedule

Edna Ferber’s “Giant,” to be produced and
directed by George Stevens, in association with
Henry Ginsberg.

“Mr. Roberts,” the all-time Broadway hit,
to star Henry Fonda in the title role he created
on the stage and to be directed by John Ford.
Leland Hayward will produce.

“The Sea Chase,” to star John Wayne. John
Farrow will direct the CinemaScope and War-
nerColor production.

“Daniel Boone,” to star Gary Cooper in the
title role of the famed frontiersman. A United
States Pictures production for Warner Bros.,
the CinemaScope and WarnerColor picture will
be produced by Milton Sperling.

“The Spirit of St. Louis,” story of Col.
Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight from New York
to Paris. Leland Hayward will produce the
picture and Billy Wilder will direct it in Cin-
emaScope and WarnerColor.

“Moby Dick,” which will star Gregory Peck
and be produced and directed by John Huston
in CinemaScope and WarnerColor.

Story of Marines

Currently filming, Mr. Warner continued, is
“Battle Cry,” saga of the U. S. Marines. The
starring cast includes Van Heflin, Aldo Ray,
Nancy Olson, James Whitmore, Tab Hunter.
“Battle Cry” is based on Leon Uris’ best sell-
ing novel and is being produced in Cinema-
Scope and WarnerColor with the full coopera-
tion of the Marine Corps, under the direction
of Raoul Walsh.

Just completed and cited by Mr. Warner as
one of the most important pictures made in
many years is “A Star Is Born,” starring Judy
Garland, James Mason, Jack Carson, Charles
Bickford. This musical drama, in CinemaScope
and Technicolor, was directed by George Cukor
from the script by Moss Hart. The songs are
by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin.

Finished and scheduled for early release are ;

“Lucky Me,” starring Doris Day, Robert
Cummings, Phil Silvers, Eddie Foy, Jr. Henry
Blanke produced and Jack Donohue directed
the CinemaScope and WarnerColor picture.

“Dial M for Murder,” based on the interna-
tional stage hit and starring Ray Milland, Rob-
ret Cummings, Grace Kelly. Alfred Hitchcock
directed the picture which was yhotographed in
3-D and WarnerColor.

Beatty Circus Story

“Ring of Fear,” colorful circus background
story starring Clyde Beatty and his big three-
ring circus : mystery writer Mickey Spillane
appearing in person, Pat O’Brien, Marian Carr.
Robert Fellows produced, James Edward Grant
directed the Wayne-Fellows production for
Warners in CinemaScope — WarnerColor.

“The High and the Mighty,” starring John
Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day and Robert
Stack. It is based on Ernest K. Gann’s Book-
of-the-Month Club and present best selling

novel. William A. Wellman directed and Rob-
ert Fellows produced the Wayne-Fellows pro-
duction for Warner Bros, in CinemaScope and
WarnerColor.

“Them!” a scientific mystery thriller star-
ring Edmund Gwenn, James Whitmore, James
Arness, Joan Weldon. The picture was pro-
duced by David Weisbart, directed by Gordon
Douglas.

“King Richard and the Crusaders,” adapted
from Sir Walter Scott’s romance, “The Talis-
man,” and starring Rex Harrison, Virginia
Mayo, George Sanders, Laurence Harvey.
David Butler directed, Henry Blanke produced
in CinemaScope and WarnerColor.

Skiafron Approves
Matthew Fox Pact

Stockholders of Skiatron Electronics &
Television Corporation, at a special meet-
ing in New York this week approved an
agreement with Matthew Fox, television and
motion picture industrialist, granting him
and his group an exclusive 99-year franchise
for the world-wide exploitation of Subscri-
ber-Vision, the company’s system of sub-
scription-television.

An application for commercial introduc-
tion of Subscriber-Vision will be filed with
the Federal Communications Commission
within the next 60 days.

The agreement with Mr. Fox provides
the large-scale financing required to bring
subscription-TV to the commercial stage.
Under the terms of the arrangement, Mr.
Fox is to set up an operating company, to be
known as “Skiatron TV.” It will pay Skia-
tron five per cent of the gross income re-
ceived from all forms of entertainment to
he shown on TV. In addition, Skiatron is
to receive 50 per cent of any domestic or
foreign franchise arrangements entered into
by the operating company.

Reade Drive-in Offered
For Easter Services

For the fifth successive year, all Walter
Reade drive-in theatres in New Jersey and
New York will he the scene of Easter Sun-
rise Services sponsored by local groups, at
6 A. M. on Sunday, April 18. The Reade
organization has been making its outdoor
theatre facilities available to local church
groups as a public service, and is in keeping
with its policy of making the theatres an
integral part of the life of the community,
the circuit has announced.

Francisco Named to Head
Non-Theatrical Companies

New officers of the American Association
of Film Producers, non-theatrical group,
are L. Mercer Francisco, president of Fran-
cisco F'ilms, Chicago, president; James A.
Kellock, Wilding Picture Productions, vice-
president; Joseph G. Betzer, Sarra, Inc.,
secretary; and L. P. Monimee, Atlas Film
Corp., treasurer. New directors at large
are Frank Balkin, Reid Ray Films, St. Paul;
and Harry Watts, Jam handy Organization,
Detroit. Reelected to this post is Fred L.
Niles, Kling Studios, Chicago. Mr. Fran-
cisco succeeds George T. Becker. The As-
sociation voted at its annual meeting in
Chicago.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

ProdcUction
Resumes ui
RKO Studio

HOLLYWOOD : Two independents started
production at RKO Radio Pictures studio
Monday, with starting dates for filming of
five other pictures set.

The announcement came shortly after the
consummation of the Howard Hughes deal,
under which Mr. Hughes purchased the
assets of the company.

Heading the production list is “The
Conqueror,” scheduled to roll April 15.
Dick Powell will produce and direct, while
John Wayne and Susan Hayward head the
cast. Color will be by Technicolor.

An early June start has been set for
“The Girl Rush,” to be made in VistaVision
and Technicolor, and to star Rosalind Rus-
sell. It will be produced by Frederick Bris-
son for Independent Artists.

Production started Monday on Allan
Dowling’s “Night Music,” and Benedict
Bogeaus’ “Where the Wind Dies.” “Night
Music’’ stars Linda Darnell and Dan Dur-
yea. Hugh Brooke, who wrote the original
story, is also producer, while Stuart Heisler
directs.

“Where the Wind Dies,” which will be
filmed in color for wide screen projection,
stars Cornel Wilde. Harmon Jones is direc-
tor. The film will be photographed in the
High Sierra country.

Dowling’s second film for RKO release
is “The Sea Is a Woman,” the starting date
for which will be May 7. Tom Gries will
produce while Walter Doniger will direct.

June 1, Bogeaus will start “Cattle Queen
of Montana,” starring Barbara Stanwyck.
The film will be made in color for wide
screen projection.

Also scheduled to get under way shortly
is “Americano,” starring Glenn Ford, Cesar
Romero, Arthur Kennedy and Ursula Thies.
RKO is currently negotiating for a director
for this picture, it was stated.

Meanwhile, the company is readying for
release several pictures, already completed.
They are: “Susan Slept Here,” in Super-
Scope and Technicolor; “Jet Pilot,” in
Technicolor; “Silver Lode,” in SuperScope
and Technicolor, and “The Big Rainbow,”
in SuperScope and Technicolor.

Ritchey Sees Upturn in
Latin American Area

Reporting a marked increase in business
in all territories, Norton V. Ritchey, presi-
dent of Allied Artists International Corpora-
tion, returned to New York recently after
two months in Latin America. Mr. Ritchey
said, “Allied Artists product has never been
so much in demand in South America as
at present. Our business everywhere in
Latin America is very much on the up-
swing, and even the difficulties with remit-
tances from Argentina seem much closer to
a satisfactory solution.” Commenting on
the recent Film Festival in Brazil, which he

Rox Office
For 3Mureh,

The Box Office Champions are selected on
theatres throughout the coxintry.

THE GLENN MILLER STORY

(Universal)

Produced by Aaron Rosenberg. Di-
rected by Anthony Mann. Written by Val-
entine Davies and Oscar Brodney. Techni-
color. Cast: James Stewart, June Allyson,
Charles Drake, George Tobias, Henry Mor-
gan, Frances Langford, Louis Armstrong,
Gene Krupa, Ben Pollack, Kathleen Lock-
hart, Barton MacLane, Sig Ruman, Archie
Savage Dancers, The Modernaires, Marion
Ross, Irving Bacon. (Champion for the
second month.)

HELL AND HIGH WATER
(Twentieth Century-Fox)

( Cinemascope)

Produced by Raymond A. Klune. Di-
rected by Samuel Fuller. Written by Jesse
L. Lasky, Jr., and Samuel Fuller. Techni-
color. Cast: Richard Widmark, Bella Darvi,
Victor Francen, Cameron Mitchell, Gene
Evans, David Wayne, Stephen Bekassy,
Richard Loo.

THE LONG, LONG TRAILER

( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

Produced by Pandro S. Berman. Directed
by Vincente Minnelli. Written by Albert
Hackett and Frances Goodrich from a
novel by Clinton Twiss. Technicolor. Cast:
Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Marjorie Main,
Keenan Wynn, Gladys Hurlbut, Moroni
CIsen, Bert Freed. (Champion for the
second month.)

attended, Mr. Ritchey expressed the view
that this function had created a tremendous
amount of good will for the American film
industry.

Ease Money Rules on
Films in Denmark

COPENHAGEN : The Danish Ministry of
Commerce has agreed to abolish the existing
allocation system for films purchased on a
dollar basis.

At the same time all other regulations for
purchases of films have been cancelled.
Foreign producers are now allowed to take
more than the 60 per cent of net income
on films. In addition, advance and guarantee
payments are again accepted, bringing the
Danish film trade back to pre-war condition.

Allotments granted during recent years
have been: 1949, $408,000; 1950, $608,800;
1951 and 1952, $456,750, and 1953, $695,000.
Figures are based on the Danish kronen,
which is worth 14.5 cents in American
money.

Chumpious

1954

the basis of the gross revenue at key city

MONEY FROM HOME

( Paramount)

Produced by Hal B. Wallis. Directed by
George Marshall. Written by Hal Kanter.
Adaptation by James Allardice and Hal
Kanter from a story by Damon Runyon.
Technicolor. Cast: Dean Martin, Jerry
Lewis, Marjie Miller, Pat Crowley, Richard
Haydn, Robert Strauss, Gerald Mohr,
Sheldon Leonard, Romo Vincent. (Cham-
pion for the second month.)

PHANTOM OF THE RUE
MORGUE

(Warner Brothers)

Produced by Henry Blanke. Directed by
Roy Del Ruth. Written by Harold Medford
and James R. Webb. WarnerColor. Cast:
Karl Malden, Claude Dauphin, Patricia
Medina, Steve Forrest, Allyn McLerle,
Veola Vonn, Dolores Dorn, Anthony Car-
uso, Merv Griffin.

SASKATCHEWAN

(Universal)

Produced by Aaron Rosenberg. Directed
by Raoul Walsh. Written by Gil Doud.
Technicolor. Cast: Alan Ladd, Shelley Win-
ters, J. Carroll Nalsh, Hugh O'Brien, Rob-
ert Douglas, George Lewis, Richard Long,
Jay Silverheels, Antonio Moreno, Frank
Chase, Lowell Gilmore, Anthony Caruso,
John Cason, Henry Wills.

Georgia, Alabama Units
To Meet Jointly May 9

ATLANTA : The joint annual convention
of the MPTO of Georgia and the Alabama
Theatres Association will be held May 9-11,
at the Biltmore Hotel here. Among industry
leaders already scheduled to attend are Wal-
ter Reade, Jr., TOA president; Herman M.
Levy, TOA general counsel; E. D. Martin,
TOA vice-president, and Jack Braunagel,
co-chairman of the TOA drive-in committee.
Heading business sessions will be J. H.
Thompson, president of the Georgia unit,
and R. M. Kennedy, president of the Ala-
bama group. Walter Reade, Jr., will speak
at the Tuesday, May 11, luncheon. Mr.
Reade and Mr. Levy will speak Tuesday
afternoon, followed by an open forum. Tues-
day afternoon also each association will
hold its annual election of officers. The an-
nual president’s banquet will end the con-
vention. Governor Herman Talmadge of
Georgia and Mayor W. B. Hartsfield of
Atlanta will address the Monday luncheon.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllll

J s.

cene

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

On January 15, 1947, a perfect day for
it, as matters chanced, the show-wise Frank
Graham signed over to eager buyers the last
of his theatres in Auburn, Wash., to devote
100 per cent of his time thenceforward to
producing motion pictures instead of exhibit-
ing them.

He’d been a motion picture exhibitor for
36 profitable years and was around to con-
cluding that was enough of that. He’d
opened his first theatre in Anacostier,
Wash., back in that unspoiled, untaxed,
unembattled and serenely untelevised 1911
which may in fact have had its own thorny
aspects, historically, but not any that can be
remembered at this unhappy distance.

Nickel Was a Nickel in
Those Happier Days

A nickel was a nickel, a dollar was quite
a piece of change, and involuntary unem-
ployment hadn’t been invented yet. So the
first Frank Graham theatre throve, and the
Graham exhibition empire spread to take
in Aberdeen, Centralia, Chehalis and, for
20 years ended on above date, Auburn. ( All
exhibitors present who wish they’d sold out
on that skillfully selected date say aye.)

Now anybody who’s been up and down the
practically interminable western coast of this
widespread nation knows right well that
there’s a heap o’ mighty purty country up
there around Washington, with unlimited
room for huntin’ and fishin’, ranchin’ and
dairy in’, but maybe most folks who haven’t
lived up there a good spell don’t realize that
it’s mighty satisfactory flyin’ country, too,
which it most emphatically is, nonetheless,
as Exhibitor Graham stands ready to prove
with the first of the three pictures, the
United Artists release, “Challenge the Wild,”
ready Memorial Day.

Lot of Territory Is Home
To the Flying Grahams

Yessir, you’ve gotta go a long way to find
better flyin’ country, and probably you won’t
find any, no matter which way you look,
because north of Washington is Canada,
.which can be properly described as bigger’n
all outdoors, and north of that vast and
wondrous dominion is Alaska !

As has been indicated, the Grahams are
a flying family. For two years prior to the
selling of his last theatre in Auburn, Exhibi-
tor-pilot Graham flew his nature-loving
family to the famed hunting places and the
unknown recesses of the Canadian Rockies,
the North Woods, the Alaskan mainland and
the surrounding islands, shooting the wild
life with his camera, from the air and on
the ground, and with a rifle when self-
defense demanded. One of the climactic
scenes in “Challenge the Wild” is the only

recorded instance of felling two Kodiak bears
(that was when they menaced four -year-old
George). The Kodiak bear is the biggest
carniverous animal in the world. Mrs. Gra-
ham holds the Kodiak, Grisley and Moose
world’s championship for huntswomen. The
fourth member of the family, and cast, is
Sheila, aged nine, whose pet fawn, “Zim-
mie,” picks up where Bambi left off and
goes on to stardom at a single bound.

Now “Challenge the Wild” has not been
screened for the press, as yet, but the word-
of-mouth in its favor that is circulating in
the Hollywood community, where a hit is
an even harder secret to keep than a flop is,
already has ensconced it among the pleas-
anter expectancies of the release year.

Whether or no. Producer Graham has
completed his second picture, “The Big
Stampede,” and is at work preparing the
third, “Cougar Canyon.” Like “Challenge
the Wild,” they’re big, outdoor subjects
filmed in the big outdoors that was Ex-
hibitor Graham’s front yard.

PRODUCTION turned sharply upward as
March blew itself out, with the start of eight
pictures and the finish of two others lifting
shooting level to a thrifty 30 — thrifty since
many are being shot abroad.

Warner Brothers led the studios in point
of new undertakings, with two in the upper
bracket category going before cameras
abroad.

“Helen of Troy,” which got started in
Italy, is in CinemaScope and WarnerColor,
and is being directed by Robert Wise. Ros-
sana Podesta, Jacques Sernas, Sir Cedric
Hardwicke, Tor in Thatcher, Robert Doug-
las and a great many other players indeed
are cast for the production.

“Land of the Pharaohs,” the other War-
ner starter, is being filmed in Egypt, where
producer-director Howard Hawks has begun
shooting exteriors. Players will be an-
nounced later. The production goes in Cin-
emaScope and WarnerColor.

Twentieth Century-Pox began filming
“Untamed” in South Africa, in Cinema-
Scope and also by Technicolor. Bert Fried-
lob and William A. Bacher are co-producing
the picture, which Henry King, whose il-
lustrious list of distinguished productions
includes many of the biggest ever photo-
graphed, is directing. Cast announcement
is to be made shortly.

Lewis J. Rachmil put his Columbia pro-
duction, “The Bandits,” in front of Techni-
color cameras and CinemaScope lenses, with
Glenn Ford, Barbara Stanwyck, Edward G.
Robinson and Dianne Foster heading the
cast. Rudy Mate is directing.

Robert Lippert, Jr., went into production
with “The Big Chase,” to be distributed
by Lippert Pictures. Arthur Hilton is di-
recting Lon Chaney, Glenn Langan, Adele

STARTED (8)

COLUMBIA

Bandits (CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Turmoil (Haas)

Case File F. B. I.

( Eclipse)

LIPPERT

Race tor Life (Hammer)
Big Chase

COMPLETED (2)

COLUMBIA

Black Dakotas
(Technicolor)

SHOOTING (22)

A.A.

Sons of the Navy

COLUMBIA

Bat Masterson, Bad Man
(Technicolor)

Long Gray Line
( CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Joseph and His Brethren
( CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Three tor the Show
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Bandit (Shaftel; Super-
Scope; Eastman)
Night Music

(Dowling; Eastman)

MGM

Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
(VistaVision;
Technicolor)

Big Top (Wallis; Vista-

20TH-FOX

Untamed (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)

WARNER

Helen of Troy
(CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

Land of the Pharoahs
(CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

U.A.

Sitting Bull (Cinema-
Scope; Color)

Vision; Technicolor)
Mambo

(Ponti-De Laurentia)
Country Girl

RKO

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

Broken Lance (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)
Egyptian (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)

U.A.

Vera Cruz (Hecht-Lan-
caster; Technicolor)

U-l

Three Gobs in Paris
(Technicolor)

Nevada Gold
(Technicolor)

Francis Joins the Wacs

WARNER

Battle Cry (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllll

Jergens, Jay Lawrence, Douglas Kennedy,
Phil Arnold, Jack Daily and Lou Robeson
among others.

Over in England Mickey Delamar is pro-
ducing “A Race for Life,” a Hammer pro-
duction for Lippert Pictures distribution,
with Richard Conte, Mari Aldon and George
Coulouris in principal roles under direction
of Terence Fisher.

“Case File F. B. 1.” is an Eclipse produc-
tion headlined by Broderick Crawford, Ruth
Roman, Martha Hyer and Marissa Pavan.
Arthur Gardner and Jules Levy are pro-
ducing, with Arnold Laven directing the
production.

“Turmoil” is another independent com-
position by the one-man production com-
pany, Hugo Haas, its producer, director,
star, and in all likelihood its author. This
time he has Cleo Moore, Lance Fuller, John
Qualen and Melinda Markey in his cast, and
lists Robert Erlik as associate producer.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10, 1954

Repubiic to
IMavo Contest

Stimulated by the results of “The Quiet
Man” showmanship contest, just concluded,
Herbert J. Yates, Republic president, has
announced a Republic Pictures International
Jubilee Year Showmanship Contest.

Winners of “The Quiet Man” contest,
announced by Republic Pictures Interna-
tional president Richard W. Altschuler, are
Mrs. Clelia B. Trisciuzzi, publicity director
of Republic Pictures of Brazil, and Henning
Noack, president of International Pictures.
Ltd., Denmark.

“The Quiet Man” Showmanship Contest
was extended over a period of 14 months to
enable Republic representatives from all
over the world to participate. The commit-
tee of judges — Mr. Altschuler; Douglas T.
Yates, vice-president of Republic Pictures
International Corp. ; and Roberta Daniel,
director of International advertising and
publicity — agreed that the contest provided
an incentive for Republic representatives to
display their initiative and know-how.

The new showmanship contest will cover
nine productions now completed and ready
for release: “Geraldine,” “Jubilee Trail,”
“Laughing Anne,” “Johnny Guitar,”
“Trouble in the Glen,” “Hell’s Half Acre,”
“The Outcast,” “Make Haste to Live” and
“The Shanghai Story.”

POLISH REDS STEAL
"MA KETTLE"

Polish Commmtists, who spend a
good deal of their time denouncing
Hollywood as the arch-symbol of West-
ern decadence, aren’t above cribbing
a bit when- the need arises. A clipping
from the Polish tabloid review, "Prze-
kroj,” reveals an unidentified still of
Marjorie Main, in Ma Kettle pose, as
the wise aunt who answers readers’
weekly questions. In the issue at hand
Miss Main is asked by one subscriber
whether there is some chemical way to
turn earth’s vegetation blue, as it is
reputed to be on Mars. As a matter of
fact, it sounds like something Pa Kettle
might ponder in his next film, which,
won’t be shown in Poland.

Publish New Edition of
Cinerama Souvenir Book

The third completely new edition of the
Cinerama souvenir program, which has al-
ready sold more than 750,000 copies in the
10 theatres showing “This Is Cinerama,”
has just been published, with an initial print-
ing of 1,000,000 copies, the company an-
nounces. The booklet, which sells for 50
cents, features new editorial material, in-
cluding by-line stories by Lowell Thomas
and S. H. Fabian.

SMPTE ta
Meet May 3

The latest in technical developments af-
fecting the industry will be explored in a
number of scientific papers to be read dur-
ing the 75th semi-annual convention of the
Society of Motion Picture and Television
Engineers, in Washington, May 3 through 7.

Some of the engineers who will deliver
such papers are C. E. Phillimore, of Bell
and Howell ; C. E. K. Mees, Eastman
Kodak; Willy Borberg, General Precision;
John G. Frayne, Westrex; John 1. Crabtree,
Eastman Kodak; Richard S. O’Brien, CBS;
Axel J. Jensen, Bell Telephone.

Some of the subjects are special photo-
graphic effects, color cinematography, studio
lighting, stage designs, loudspeaker systems,
photography of motion, electronic shutters,
high speed photography, electronic television.

The convention begins with registration
and then a get-together luncheon on the first
day, Monday, and features a pioneers’ din-
ner Tuesday evening, and a dinner dance
after a cocktail party Thursday evening.
The affair will be at the Hotel Statler.

Venice Festival August 22

The Venice Film Festival will open 16
days of performances August 22. The ac-
companying showings for children, and of
documentaries, will open August 9.

COLUMBIA PICTURES ANNOUNCES THAT PRINTS OF THE FOLLOWING
PICTURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR EXCHANGES FOR SCREENING

MASSACRE

IVIl#

Starring

eURRYlLIl

““John Baer- A

Stofy and Screen Play by ROBERT E. KENT
Diiecled by FRED 1

General Relec

CANYON

-PHIL CAREY

1 IITHFR fllll FR AUDREY TOTTER

LU 1 1 1 L ll nU LL 11 Oouglas Kennedy • JeffDonnell

rlplp IprirpnQ

Julu JuIwUllO story and Screen Play by DAVID LANG

. , ^ Produced by WALLACE MacDONALD

• Produced by SAM KATZMAN

Directed by FRED F. SEARS

.SEARS

ise: Ala/ General Release: May

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

People in

DLn

ew6

IMew Touch
For *Folson*

exchange, effective April 12. He succeeds
Arther Levy, resigned.

Reissue

Eric Johnston, president of the Motion
Picture Association of America, returned
this week to Washington from Paris,
where he had been conducting talks on
the Franco- American film agreement.

Herbert J. Yates, president of Republic
Pictures, arrived in New York Wednes-
day after an extended survey trip abroad.
Accompanying him were his wife, Vera
Ralston, and William Saal, his execu-
tive assistant. Richard W. Altschuler,
president of Republic Pictures Interna-
tional, arrived in New York Tuesday
after a six-week tour of the company’s
European branches.

Mort Blumenstock, Warner vice-president
in charge of advertising and publicity,
arrived in New York this week to conduct
talks at the home office on campaigns on
forthcoming product.

Dr. Renato Gualino, of Lux Films and
president of the International Association
of Motion Picture Producers, has been
named to supervise and coordinate the
newly established foreign office of the
Italian Motion Picture Producers Asso-
ciation.

Sidney Cooper, New Haven branch man-
ager for United Artists, has been named
to head the company’s Washington, D. C.,

Reuters und
FOA. Rlun u
doint Meet

The combined trade show of the Theatre
Equipment and Supply Manufacturers As-
sociation, the Theatre Equipment Dealers
Association, and the Theatre Owners of
America will be held October 31 through
November 3, 1954, at the Conrad Hilton
Hotel, Chicago, it has been announced
jointly by the heads of the three groups.

Fred C. Matthews, president of TESMA,
Ray G. Colvin, executive secretary of
TEDA, and Walter Reade, Jr., president of
TOA, all expressed enthusiasm over the
fact that for the second time their respec-
tive organizations are joining resources,
and all unhesitatingly predicted that the
1954 trade show would surpass any such
event in the history of the industry.

Each association will hold separate an-
nual conventions at the hotel concurrently
with the trade show and will join forces
at such events as open forums on theatre
equipment and new processes, the annual
banquet and possibly other social events.

♦

John Cusack has been named managing
director of the Victoria, Astor and Bijou
theatres. New York City, it was announced
this week by Max Fellerman, vice-
president of Lopert Films, Inc.

Charles Adams, television writer-director-
producer, this week joined the Loucks &
Norling Studios, Inc., New York, as man-
ager of its newly created film department.

Harry Bostwick has assumed his new
duties as southeastern district supervisor
for Florida State Theatres in Miami. He
succeeds George C. Hoover, Variety
Clubs’ newly elected international chief
barker, who resigned.

Earle W. Sweigert has resigned as sales
manager of the Universal exchange in
Philadelphia and with Charles Goldfine
is forming a new buying and booking
service organization.

Dr. Hugh Flick, director of the New York
State Censor Board, Tuesday in New
York addressed the annual meeting of the
Independent Motion Picture Distributors
Association.

Warner Officers Are
Reelected by Board

All officers of Warner Brothers Pictures
were reelected at a meeting of the board of
directors in New York last week. The re-
named officers were; Harry M. Warner,
president; Albert Warner, Jack L. Warner,
Herman Starr, Stanleigh P. Friedman,
Samuel Schneider, Benjamin Kalmenson,
Mort Blumenstock, Robert W. Perkins, vice-
presidents ; Albert Warner, treasurer.

Also Cyril H. Wilder, assistant treasurer ;
Robert W. Perkins, secretary and general
counsel ; Harold S. Bareford, assistant secre-
tary; Edward K. Hessberg, assistant secre-
tary; Roy Obringer, assistant secretary;
Samuel Carlisle, controller; Thomas J. Mar-
tin, auditor; and Walter Meihofer, assistant
controller.

The board also declared a dividend of 30
cents a share, payable May 5 to stockholders
of record April 16.

Dissolve Benograph

TORONTO : Associated Screen News, Ltd.,
has dissolved its Benograph division. The
company is shutting down this division,
which conducted equipment merchandising
functions and operated film libraries, in
order to concentrate on film-making and
laboratory services.

Columbia has taken the fabulous “The
Jolson Story” out of the vaults and adorned
it with such modern-day accout: ements as
wide-screen and stereophonic sound in
preparation for re-release. It seems like a
shrewd move.

A second look at the spectacularly-gross-
ing picture, which first made the distribution
rounds in 1946, is heartening. It stands up
magnificently, for it has a timelessness of
quality. Its songs, vitality, production num-
bers and spirit-of-the-age quality beguile
one into a joyous mood. Seeing it in the
perspective of elapsed time, one realizes
how it set the standard for the subsequent
film biographies that followed.

In first reviewing the Technicolor musical
in The HERALD, issue of Septemer 21,
1946, the reviewer stated:

“Now here is the way to produce a mu-
sical biography . . . ‘The Jolson Story* is
a show that can’t miss. The music will have
you humming and remembering, the acting
will please you, you’ll admire the production
and the carefully-done and subdued coloring.
It’s a special kind of picture with the widest
kind of appeal.”

Those sentiments stand strongly in 1954.

Especially noteworth in the Sidney Skol-
sky production is the masterful portrayal
of Jolson by Larry Parks. His performance
stands undimmed with the passing years.
Others in the cast are Evelyn Keyes and
William Demarest. Alfred E. Green di-
rected.— M. H.

To Release "Sinbad"

Without Code Seal

HOLLYWOOD : RKO Pictures’ “Son of
Sinbad,” which has failed to gain a Produc-
tion Code Seal, is being prepared for re-
lease, according to a company announcement
here.

The picture, minus a Code Seal, has been
submitted to the state censor boards of New
York and Ohio and in both instances was
rejected because of “objectionable” scenes.

This week the censor board of Memphis
banned the picture. Chairman Lloyd T. Bin-
ford said the picture had “one of the vilest
dances I ever saw.”

Kupper to Head Sales
For Chromart Colour

LONDON: William J. Kupper, retiring
managing director in Britain for 20th Cen-
tury-Fox, has been appointed vice-president
and general sales manager of the Chromart
Colour Organization. In his new post, he
will handle the sales of the organization s
product in Canada and the U. S. According
to present plans, he is expected to make
annual trips to Britain to oversee the market
here.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

ALBANY

Surprising is the frequency with which
area exhibitors cite the current box office
click and audience impact of “The Glenn
Miller Story” and “The Long, Long
Trailer” to prove their contention a picture
need not be produced in special process to
win favor. They say such films, featuring
a good story and sound entertainment value,
do not even require a wide-screen for out-
standing success, although this may enhance
the effect. . . . Fabian’s Mohawk drive-in,
largest in the exchange district, managed
by Irwin Ullman, and Menands drive-in,
headed by Joe Miller, former local Columbia
manager, reopened Apr. 2. . . . John Gard-
ner switched from a weekend to a full time
schedule at Turnpike drive-in, Westmere.
. . . Visitors included : Mr. and Mrs. George
Holtrey, Harrisville; Mrs. Wadad Bouman-
sour, Malone; Sartos Smalldone, Malta;
Robert Johnson, Smalley Theatres, Coopers-
town; Phil Baouudi, North Creek; Sam
Slotnick, Syracuse and Waterford; Rube
Canter, Syracuse and Watertown; Ben Cole-
man, Guilderland.

ATLANTA

Johnny Harrell, buyer for Martin Thea-
tres, Columbus, Ga., is back in Atlanta after
a trip to New Orleans. . . . The Plaza drive-
in theatre has been purchased from the Plaza
Amusement Co. by Mid-Tennessee Amuse-
ment Co., Tullahoma, owners of several
other drive-ins in Tullahoma. . . . Rube
Joiner, Joiner Booking Service, is back in
his Atlanta office from Florida. . . . A1
Bondy, sales manager for G-E, was in At-
lanta at the Kay Exchange. . . . The Fox
theatre building. Red Bank, Tenn., near
Chattanooga, has been sold to the Red Front
Food Stores, which has announced that
operation of the theatre will be continued
for the present. . . . J. B. Dumestre, Jr.,
Southeastern Theatres Supply Co., Atlanta,
has been named international dough guy for
Variety Club. . . . The WOMPI Club held
its annual meeting with a big crowd. . . .
The Carol theatre, at Denham Springs, Fla.,
has been granted a charter of incorporation.

BALTIMORE

Leon Back, C. Elmer Nolte, Jr., Lauritz
Garman and Mrs. Helen Diering were re-
elected officers of the Allied MPTOM. . . .
Ed Euttle is the new manager of the Beacon,
replacing Ben Oletsky. . . . Elmer Caftnen,
Aero projectionist, is recuperating from a
heart attack. . . . Howard McCall, Little pro-
jectionist, is in Maryland General Hospital.
. . . Stanley Baker, Hicks Circuit, is enjoy-
ing a visit from his daughter. . . . Frank
Durkee, Durkee circuit, has returned from
his Miami vacation. . . . Charles Grimes,
Stanley Warner district manager, is out of
Doctors Hospital and recuperating at home.

BOSTON

A. J. Herman is the new northeast dis-

trict manager for IFE Releasing Corp., re-
placing Ellis Gordon who has resigned to
become a vice-president of Minot TV, Inc.,
selling TV shows on film on a national basis.
Herman has been branch and district man-
ager at Universal here as well as for Eagle
Lion. . . . The Sundown drive-in in West-
field opened its gates March 31 during an
unseasonable blizzard. The new ownership
is Joe Levine and Barnet Yanofsky. . . .
Stanley Young and Edward Michaelove,
20th-Fox salesmen, have resigned. Richard
Kelly, former booker, has been upped to
salesman for Maine and New Hampshire.
. . . Lyman O. Seley, Manley’s district man-
ager, is in the Leonard Morse Hospital,
Natick, recovering from an emergency ap-
pendectomy.

BUFFALO

Buffalo was visited with a terrific spring-
time snow storm one day last week, on the
evening of which there was the worst traffic
jam in the city’s history. As a result, the
opening of the drive-ins in and around the
city was postponed to April 7. On the night
of the storm local box offices all took the
count of 10. . . . George J. Gammel, head
of the Gammel circuit and president of the
M.P.T.O. of N. Y., western New York zone,
leaves Buffalo April 28 with Mrs. Gammel
for a two month tour of Europe. . . . The
Center booked “From Here To Eternity” for
a “limited engagement” starting last Friday
and manager Leon Serin reported a big
week-end business. . . . Chief barker Billy
Keaton and Tent 7 Delegates Murray

WHEN AND WHERE

April 19-21: Spring convention, Allied The-
atres of Michigan, Hotel Statler, Detroit.

May 2-7: Semi-annual convention, Society
of Mofion 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
Hofei, Little Rock, Arkansas.

May lO-ll: Annual convention, North-
Central Allied Independent Theatres
Owners, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis.

June 8-10: Annual convention, Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 15-16: Annual spring meeting. Allied
Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore
Hotel, Lake Wawasee, Ind.

Whiteman and Marvin Jacobs reported to
Buffalo Variety club members on the Dallas
convention in the clubrooms last Monday
noon at a dutch treat luncheon.

CHICAGO

Jeff Chandler, star of “Yankee Pasha,”
made a personal appearance the opening day
of the film at the B. & K. United Artists
here. . . . Bill Hollander, B. & K. director
of advertising and publicity, returned from
a vacation on the West Coast. . . . The Ski-
Hi drive-in, Elmhurst, has enlarged its
screen and remodelled its concessions stand.
. . . Van Nomikos, vice-president of Allied
Theatres of Illinois, and Duke Shumow have
taken over the Deluxe, Chicago, which has
been operated by Charles Golan since 1930.
The new management has closed the theatre
to install a wide screen and do some other
remodelling. . . . John Jones of Jones, Linick,
and Schaefer, and Mike Stern, of Joseph
Stern Theatres, continued on to the West
Coast after attending the Variety Club con-
vention at Dallas. . . . RKO Theatres has
transferred manager Ed Force from the
Grand, Chicago, to the Grand, Columbus,
Ohio. . . . The Today theatre, without con-
cessions since its opening 15 years ago, has
installed candy machines and a drink dis-
penser. . . . Harry Lustgarten, B. & K. book-
ing and buying department chief, and his
wife are on a West Indies vacation.

CINCINNATI

Although the admission price structure in
the Cincinnati exchange area has undergone
some changes following the Government re-
duction of excise taxes, additional downward
revisions may possibly be inaugurated later
after the full impact of the tax cut is given
further study, it was stated by an exhibitor
spokesman. In the local and area first rfins,
the matinee scale has been reduced from 55
cents to 50 cents, but prices in the higher
brackets have not been reduced. In some,
but not all situations where CinemaScope is
shown, matinee prices have been pared down
from 74 cents to 70 cents, with a reduction
from $1 to 95 cents for the evening scale.
. . . Local theatremen are predicting a con-
siderable patronage increase for the pictures
which the Ohio censors previously had ban-
ned and subsequently released following the
U. S. Supreme Court decision on censorship.
. . . John A. Schwalm, veteran, but retired,
exhibitor in Hamilton, Ohio, who recently
returned from his annual Florida vacation,
is this month celebrating his 81st birthday.
He founded one of the first picture houses
in Hamilton in the days of the silent screen.

CLEVELAND

All Greater Cleveland theatres are holding
to their old admission scales and not pass-
ing on any portion of the saved Federal ad-
mission tax, a survey of the area reveals.
Only noted price change is reduction of the

{Continued on following page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10. 1954

(Continued from preceding page)

5Sc price to 50c. . . . Loren Solether, owner
of the Falls theatre, Chagrin Falls, is seri-
ously ill in St. Luke’s Hospital, Cleveland.
Industry has issued a call for blood doners
to supply the five pints a day ordered by his
doctors. . . . Herb Ochs, head of the Ochs
operated Canadian drive-in chain, has moved
to Port Huron, Mich., where he will per-
sonally manage the Blue Water drive-in,
while his Cleveland headquarters will be
manned by his sons, Jack and Jimmy who
are in charge of the circuit’s booking. . . .
M-G-M booker Bill Daurelle has been trans-
ferred to the company’s Indianapolis branch.
. . . Student booker Bob Dittrick has been
promoted to succeed him. ... Joe Lissauer
of the Skirball circuit is back from Florida.

COLUMBUS

Opponents of daylight saving time held
a lead of 284 votes in the latest tabulation
in the public poll conducted by the Columbus
Citizen. About 3,500 votes have been
counted. Several opponents said they liked
to attend drive-in theatres and would resent
the change to a longer daylight period. . . .
James Leonard, manager of WLW-C, NBC-
TV outlet here, said the station will be able
to handle color telecasts by the end of June.
. . . Police have been ordered to enforce
the city’s curfew law, which forbids children
under 17 from public amusement places,
streets and parks after 10:30 p.m., unless
accompanied by an adult. . . . First wide-
screen cartoon show here is scheduled for
Easter Monday at Loew’s Broad. . . . There
has been little public reaction to the Federal
admissions tax cut. Downtown houses cut
weekday matinee and weekend evening rates
five cents. Neighborhoods are standing pat.

DENVER

The Ogden puts its CinemaScope and
stereophonic sound into use with “Knights
of the Round Table.” Other Fox Inter-
Mountain houses installing similar equip-
ment include the Mayan, Denver, Fox Aurora,
Colo., and the Fox, Longmont, Colo. . . .
The Vogue, art theatre, which has been get-
ting 60 cents for students, and 90 cents for
others, has boosted the student price to 75
cents. . . . Realart Pictures moved their ex-
change to 824 Twenty-first street. . . . A1
Brandon, Lippert salesman, has been named
as branch manager for Preferred Pictures,
and will also make the territory. . . . The
Monaco drive-in packed them in on its
fourth birthday, with a 4-cent admission for
four features and four cartoons. It was nec-
essary to run until 4:30 a.m. They made up
on the concessions what they lost otherwise.
. . . The Tower, Denver, has installed Cine-
maScope and stereophonic sound, and the
Cactus drive-in. Albuquerque, N. M., has
widened its screen to 100 feet. . . . Lester
Zucker, Universal district manager, was in
conferring with Mayer Monsky, branch
manager.

DETROIT

The Roxy and Hollywood have been run-
ning “Creature from the Black Lagoon” in
3-D using the Pola-Lite unit attached to
standard projector. . . . Mrs. Frances Knapp,
business agent of the Janitor’s Local 58 and
head of the Music Hall janitor staff, baked
a tremendous birthday cake for the staff.
Occasion was a party given by the man-

agement thanking them for handling of
the tough anniversary week. . . . National
Screen Service is distributing a series of
one minute traffic films prepared by the
Highway Department. . . . Joe Busic, Allied
Film Exchange salesman, has been installed
in a new office in Grand Rapids. . . . White
Cloud, Michigan, has no theatre since the
closing of the Glen-Arah by G. W. Beach.
. . . Eddie Loys, RKO office manager, has
been getting hospital-checked.

HARTFORD

One of America’s largest drive-in theatre
screens is the $200,000, 950-car Plainville
(Conn.) drive-in, erected by Perakos Thea-
tre Associates. Sperie Perakos, general
manager of the circuit, says the screen meas-
ures 114 feet wide and 58 feet high. The
theatre, opening on Apr. 14, is first drive-in
theatre on the seven-unit Perakos circuit.
. . . Roy Jones, of the MGM field exploita-
tion staff, has completed promotion in Hart-
ford, Springfield and Worcester on “Julius
Caesar.”. . . Mrs. Ernie Grecula, wife of
the Hartford Theatre Circuit executive, has
been recuperating from surgery. . . . First
drive-in for the Morris Keppner-Lou Lip-
man interests, the $100,000, 750-car Mans-
field drive-in, will open around Apr. 14. . . .
Peter Perakos, head of Perakos Theatre
Associates, is marking his 48th year in show
business.

INDIANAPOLIS

First run theatres here dropped from 60-
85 cents after the tax cut to 60-80 cents,
with a new 50 cent early bird price, on
regular attractions. All drive-ins and all 28-
day subsequent runs, except those on the
north side, reduced admissions from 55-60
to 50 cents. . . . The Allied Theatre Owners
of Indiana April bulletin cited Trueman
Rembusch for his two-year campaign as
chairman on the unit’s tax committee. . . .
Barney Brager of Republic is distributor
chairman for industry projects this year. . . .
Herman Halberg, 20th-Fox salesman, suf-
fered a broken nose in a traffic accident last
week. . . . Ethel Walsh, Scottsburgh exhibi-
tor, has bought the Moonlite drive-in there.
. . . Edward Spiers, Allied Artists branch
manager, is vacationing in the South.

JACKSONVILLE

MGM’s new Florida exploiteer. Jack
Weiner, was in Atlanta, working on pub-
licity for personal appearances of star Nina
Foch. . . . Paramount reported that, in the
wake of the Academy awards, “Roman Holi-
day” and “Stalag 17” were grossing better
than in their Florida first runs. . . . Johnny
Tomlinson, Warner salesman, and Fred
Hull, Metro branch manager, took their
families on a vacation fishing trip to Cocoa.
. . . The Paramount News H-Bomb news-
reel received top billing above the first-run
feature attraction at the Florida theatre.
. . . Exhibitors on Film Row included Harry
Dale, Lake Butler; Martin Carstein, Jr.,
Tampa; Leon Task, Miami; Carl Floyd,
Haines City; George Painter, Fort Meade;
and Lee Sherwood, Chattahoochee. . . . Lee
Chumley, Paramount branch manager, was
expected back from Arkansas, after attend-
ing his father’s funeral.

KANSAS CITY

The Kimo is now showing “The Beggar’s

Opera.” . . . The Vogue brings back Alec
Guinness in “The Man in the White Suit”
and “Tight Little Island.”. . .“The Moon is
Blue” is in its fourth week at the downtown
Esquire. . . . Eleven drive-ins now are oper-
ating in or not-so-far-from Kansas City. All
but three are double-bill. Five of the double-
bill drive-ins and one single-bill offer an
extra feature for a midnight show, no extra
charge — and one of these also offers free
coffee for those who stay to the midnight
show. . . . The double-bill “Academy Award
winners” program at the subsequent-run
Rockhill, “From Here to Eternity” and
“Roman Holiday,” is being held over for a
second week. . . . The Leawood drive-in
opened with “The Joe Louis Story” Sunday.

LOS ANGELES

Fire which broke out in the Canoga thea-
tre, Canoga Park, caused considerable dam-
age to the booth. House is operated by Tom
Muchmore. . . . Arthur Bianco has assumed
operation of the Azteca theatre, San Ber-
nardino. ... A new 600 car ozoner, known
as the Family Motor Vu drive-in, has been
opened in Brawley, California, by Gillett
and Bowen. . . . Killed in a plane which he
was piloting was Raymond Savage, projec-
tionist of the Palm theatre, Palmdale, Cal.
. . . The Century theatre has been taken
over by Tim Tate. House was formerly
operated by Simon Lazarus. . . . Alex Coop-
erman, IFE sales manager is back at his
desk after visiting Salt Lake City and
Denver offices. . . . FWC manager of the
Westlake theatre, Marvin Tallman, was the
winner of a 1954 Ford at the recent affair
staged by the Variety Tent 25. This made
the second Ford for Marvin, as just the
week before he had purchased one. . . . Plot-
ting a trip to Europe is Alex Schreiber,
owner of the Paradise.

MEMPHIS

Movie patrons continued to pay the same
admission prices in Memphis after the Fed-
eral excise tax reduction. . . . “The Wild
One,” banned in Memphis by censors, has
opened at Sunset drive-in and Avon theatre.
West Memphis, Ark., just across the Missis-
sippi river from Memphis. . . . Howard
Nicholson, branch manager of Paramount,
had a record number of mid-south exhibitors
as his guests as he entertained with a lunch-
eon at Parkview Hotel and the screening of
three pictures. . . . Princess theatre, Bonne-
ville, Miss., has installed CinemaScope equip-
ment and booked “The Robe.” . . . Clayton
Tunstill, United Theatres, announced open-
ing of Ark-Air drive-in, Clarksville, Ark.

MIAMI

George Hoover, international chief barker
for Variety Club, has resigned from Florida
State Theatres to devote more time to Mi-
Ame Canned Beverages Inc., a soft drink
company of which he is president, and to
allow himself more time to travel on Variety
business. Mr. Hoover will continue to have
some connection with theatres and says, “I’m
not qutting show business.” . . . Harry
Botwick, long associated with theatre busi-
ness and an executive in the Jacksonville
office of Florida State Theatres, takes over
the vacated spot as southeastern district
supervisor for the organization. . . . NBC
officials are promising the area a color cable

(Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10. 1954

(Continued from opposite page)

expansion program around June 1 and local
programs should be available in 1955, ac-
cording to Mitchell Wolfson, of WTVJ. . . .
Ed Melniker of the Coral Way Auto theatre,
passed along a 10(i saving to the patrons of
his drive-in, coincident "with the passing of
the new excise tax bill. Other theatres are
maintaining present level prices with seme
slight reductions promised.

MILWAUKEE

Otto Prieser, 67, well known in theatre
circles here, passed away after a heart at-
tack. He was associated with the Savoy
theatre here with Sax interests. He had been
associated with Sax since 1933. Many years
ago he was associated with the Liberty the-
atre. His wife survives. . . . The Bluemound
drive-in. Highway No. 15 and the 41 Twin
Outdoor reopened for the season last week-
end. The weather was not in their favor as
it was cold with snow flurries. . . . Invita-
tions, sent out for a luncheon in honor of Jeff
Chandler, were in the shape of a phonograph
record with his picture in the middle. Cap-
tion on it read “More Than Anyone” “I’d
like to meet YOU in person.” “More Than
Anyone” being one of the songs he recorded
for Decca. . . . Theatres here are absorbing
the tax exemption in their admission prices.
Some theatres are adjusting to the nearest
nickel.

MINNEAPOLIS

Emil Nelson has reopened his Star the-
atre at Osceola, Wis., which has been closed
since Jan. 30. . . . Billy Elson, partner in the
Elson & Nathanson circuit with Gilbert
Nathanson, is in from Los Angeles. He will
manage the business while Nathanson and
his wife are in Europe. . . . The balcony
ceiling of the Granada theatre at Sioux
Falls, S. D., collapsed in the morning while
the theatre was unoccupied. House is oper-
ated by Art Johnson. ... A group of Elmore,
Minn., business men are issuing theatre tick-
ets to their customers which entitle the
whole family to attend the Border theatre
for 50 cents. These tickets are good for
Tuesday and Wednesday evenings only. . . .
Ted Mann, operator of the World and sub-
urban World theatres, is back from a busi-
ness trip to Chicago. . . . Lauren Garnant
has reopened his LeRoy theatre at LeRoy,
Minn. . . . Fred Bunkelman, Universal South
Dakota salesman, is settled in his new home
in suburban St. Louis Park. . . . Major
circuits in the territory plan no cut in ad-
mission prices with the tax reduction.

NEW ORLEANS

Isadore and Lucille Lazarus accompanied
their mother, Mrs. Henry Lazarus on a
motor trip to New York for a week’s visit
prior to the latter’s sailing oii April 10 for
an extended motor tour of Europe. The tour
will be made in Mrs. Lazarus’ car which she
is taking with her. . . . C. W. Douglas has
taken over the Roxy, which he will convert
to an all-Negro patronage theatre. . . . Tony
Tortorich is observing his 10th year as head
shipper for Monogram Southern Exchange,
now Allied Artists . . . Louis “Mike” Gutt-
man, who holds the longest service record
in the local Columbia Exchange, will cele-
brate his 80th birthday May 16. . . . The
Joe Faia’s are the proud parents of a baby
boy. Father is sales representative for
Hodges Theatre Supply.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Glenn Walker is new manager at the
Plaza theatre. He formerly was manager of
the Sooner theatre here. . . . Paramount Film
Corp. rented the Tower theatre, March 29,
for the screening of its three Pageant pic-
tures. The screening was attended by be-
tween 700 and 800 exhibitors and theatre
personnel from throughout the state. . . .
The Criterion theatre, will close April 26
for remodeling. . . . R. Lewis Barton, the-
atre owner, has bought the Buick Agency on
S. Walker St. Grand opening was held April
2. L. O. Barton is manager. . . . The Tinker
drive-in reopened April 2. It has been closed
during the winter months. Roy Kier has been
named manager for the new season. . . .
There has been a shift in managers at the
Barton Theatres. R. Duncan, formerly man-
ager of the Del City, has been appointed
manager of the Agnew. Mrs. Mattie Ruddle,
former manager of the Redskin theatre, has
been appointed manager of the Del City.
Jack Delaughter is the new manager of the
Redskin. . . . Mrs. Zelma Plato, manager of
the Chieftain theatre, has taken a week’s
leave to be with her daughter, who will be
married soon.

OMAHA

Math Wuebben, veteran Canton, S. D.,
exhibitor, is coming along well after an
emergency appendicitis operation. ... A new
theatre is scheduled to be built at Arnold,
Neb., by G. R. Dunn, contractor of Jules-
burg, Colo. Owner of the present theatre at
Arnold in Central Nebraska is Ulysses
Brown, his father-in-law. . . . Ira Wateyne,
exhibitor at Tecumseh, Neb., bought an auto
transport and is hauling equipment, trucks
and cars between the two coasts while his
wife manages the theatre back home. . . .
“The Best Years of Our Lives,” brought
back to the Brandeis, opened slow in mid-
week but took a big surge after the Oscar
awards program and finished ahead of aver-
age. . . . “From Here to Eternity” did even
better at the Admiral-Chief.

PHILADELPHIA

Stanley Warners’ Stanley and Boyd, first-
run center-city houses, made a parking tie-in
with the city-owned Parkcade nearby the
houses to provide reduced auto parking rates
for the movie patrons. . . . Jack Forscher,
veteran booker at 20th Century-Fox, resigned,
leaving an all-female booking staff in Lillie
Rosentoor, Mae Greenus and Ethel Rudick.
. . . The Park, Scranton, Pa., adopted a Sun-
day policy of art films. ... A new front,
including marquee, cushioned seats, air con-
ditioning and wide screen are among the
many improvements at the completely-
remodeled Majestic, Stanley Warner house
in Gettysburg, Pa., with Sydney Poppay,
who' held the post since 1939, continuing as
house manager. . . . Emanuel S. Rosenberg,
manager of the Park, Reading, Pa., intro-
duced a request in the City Council there
asking repeal of an old city ordinance re-
quiring the employment of a licensed pro-
jectionist for every projector in the booth.
Originally set up as a safety measure, he
pointed out that the need does not exist any-
more for such requirement, with the local
projectionists union supporting his action
in behalf of all exhibitors. . . . With the
interior remodeled, including modern sound
and projection equipment, owners Carl M.
Schaeffer and Celan J. Riehl have offered

their Joy, Newmanstown, Pa., for lease. . . .
Charles Beilan, Warner branch manager,
serving as local chairman for the Crusade
for Freedom.

PITTSBURGH

Unconfirmed rumons persist that the 700-
seat State theatre will be taken over by
Loew’s in June when that chain’s downtown
Ritz theatre is scheduled to be razed. The
Ritz has been mostly a second-run house for
movies which play the de luxe Penn as first
runs. . . . Nina Foch spent a busy day here
plugging the Penn’s incoming “Executive
Suite.” “The Living Desert” came within
$100 of meeting the Squirrel Hill’s house
record, which is still held by “The Cruel
Sea.” . . . “The Creature of the Black La-
goon” in 3-D finally reached the Fulton after
six big weeks of “The Glenn Miller Story.”
. . . “Rhapsody” has been set as the Easter
movie in the Penn which also brings a stage
show headed by 'Vaughn Monroe and the
Sauter-Finegan orchestra. . . . “Julius
Caesar” rates a second week in the Ritz and
its third downtown.

PORTLAND

First run admission prices continue the
same as before the tax reduction. . . . Harold
J. Kennedy, character actor, was in town
for a few days to address the Knife and
Fork Club. . . . George Jessel was here as
guest speaker for the Jewish Welfare Fund.
. . . Mrs. J. J Parker is off on a hurried trip
to Los Angeles . . . Guild theatre manager,
Marty Foster, is back at his desk after three
weeks in NYC. . . . Keith Petzold had a big
opening of the Family drive-in with plenty
of activities. . . . George Montgomery was
here for personal appearances April 8-10.

PROVIDENCE

In conjunction with the screening of
“New Faces” at the Majestic, the City Hall
Hardware, largest ‘variety’ store in the city,
offered free guest tickets to the picture with
all purchases of records featuring songs of
Eartha Kitt, and other members of the cast.
. . . Alec Guinness fans, of which there are
legion in this territory, were duly appre-
ciative when the star’s “The Promoter” was
presented at the Avon Cinema. Companion
feature was the R. 1. premiere of “The Tit-
field Tunderbolt.” . . . “The Glenn Miller
Story” held for a third week at the RKO
Albee. Local record dealers report a sharp
increase in the demand for records made by
the late orchestra leader. . . . “The Moon
Is Blue” is currently playing at neighbor-
hood houses and drive-ins, including the
Park, Elmwood, and Pike drive-in. . . .
Almost to the day, spring arrived with the
balmiest weather of the year which did much
to stimulate business at the surrounding open
air theatres.

TORONTO

Many downtown theatres used newsreel
(Continued on foUozving page)

UniSurface SCREEN FACING

for Drive-ins. SEAMLESS, JOINTLESS!
Picti/hes as flawless as indoors. Ideal
light efficiency and viewing quality
from all angles. Low cost! Saves upkeep!

firsi: ‘American jpWucfc

1717 Wyandotte S)., Kansas City 8, Mo.

.me.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10. 1954

{Continued from preceding page)
shots of subway opening as bait in their
advertising. In its first week of operation,
the subway system, first in Canada, carried
over a million passengers. While many were
sightseers, downtown theatre managers re-
port increased business. . . . Charles Chap-
lin, UA general manager, was among those
attending the Academy Awards presenta-
tions in Hollywood. . . . Theatre owners in
Ontario who do not receive copies of the
Theatres Act, 1953, which recently became
effective are asked to write the Motion Pic-
ture Censorship and Theatre Inspection
Branch at Toronto. The new act carries
regulations among which are some that pro-
vide for stiffer penalties for infractions of
advertising regulations. . . . Annual Toronto
Baseball Club benefit for Variety Village
has been set for June 11. At that time, the
Maple Leafs play Buffalo Bisons. . . . Crest
theatre, legit house, has an lATSE picket
line in a dispute with stagehands.

VANCOUVER

A surplus of qualified projectionists is a
possibility in British Columbia with circuits
converting to one-man in a booth in place of
two under the new law. The ozoners how-
ever will take up the slack at least for the
summer. It’s understood that many over-age
booth workers will retire and be taken care
of under the union welfare plan. . . . Usual
Lent and income tax complaints are being
blamed for the current slump here. . . .
A new application to open a drive-in theatre
on Musqueam Indian reserve, south of
Marine drive in Vancouver, has been re-
ferred to the Town Planning Commission.
Proposed ozoner, which was turned back on
protest of residents some time ago, would be
built on the reserve. . . . Odeon Circuit are
equipping the Vogue, Vancouver, and the
Grand Calgary with CinemaScope.

WASHINGTON

The Nathan D. (doldens (he's director of
motion picture division of the Department

of Commerce) are in Cologne, Germany,
to attend the Photokina 1954 International
Photographic Trade Fair and Show. The
Goldens will then vacation in Europe until
early June. . . . New manager of the Globe
theatre in Arlington, Va., is Robert Fullmer.

. . . Glen Echo amusement park opened last
Saturday with Jerry Price, general man-
ager, again in charge. ... A fire burned out
the ticket office and damaged the lobby and
stairs of the Pix theatre. No one was in
the theatre at the time. Damage was esti-
mated at about $5,000. . . . Nate Shor, Uni-
versal booker, was given a stag party by
his friends and co-workers prior to his mar-
riage this month. . . . Allied Artists had a
luncheon party in honor of the opening of
their new offices at 913 New Jersey Ave.

Pioneers Name Takiff
And Kirsch to Board

At a special meeting of the board of di-
rectors of the Motion Picture Pioneers and
the Pioneer’s Foundation, in New York re-
cently, Harry J. Takiff and Marvin Kirsch
were elected to membership on the board.
At the meeting were Jack Cohn, Sam Dem-
bow, Jr., G. S. Eysell, S. F. Fabian, William
German, William Heineman, John J. O’Con-
nor, Martin Quigley, Sam Rinzler and Her-
man Robbins.

The board approved an amendment to the
by-laws, granting authority to the board, at
its discretion, to replace members of the
board who fail to attend two consecutive
meetings.

The board also instructed the nominating
committee, A. Montague, Nate Blumberg
and George Dembow, to prepare a list of
nominees for board membership, to be pre-
sented to the full membership at the annual
meeting. The board also appointed a com-
mittee of five. Jack Cohn, William German,
Sam Dembow, Jr., John J. O’Connor and
Herman Robbins to select the “pioneer of
the year,” who will be honored at the 1954
Motion Picture Pioneers dinner.

li^E Cretiit
In Deal Ms
$9,000,000

ROME: According to official estimates, the
total amount of credit which will have been
granted by American distributors in Italy
to Italian Films Export under the current
agreement between this country and the
American film industry will be $9,000,000
when the agreement expires next August 31.

Arrangements for the resumption of the
talks on a new agreement are expected to
be made by Eric Johnston, Motion Picture
Association of America president, in the
near future. They may be held either here
or in New York. Initial talks were begun
recently by Eitel Monaco, ANICA vice-
president, and G. Griffith Johnson of MPAA
here. No definite decision was made. How-
ever, unofficial sources say the American
industry’s proposals involve a sharp reduc-
tion of financial aid to I.F.E.

Industry circles here regard it as more
than a coincidence that the Society of In-
dependent Motion Picture Producers and
the Independent Motion Picture Distribu-
tors Association chose this particular time
to renew their attacks on the agreement.

Allied Artists Holders
Approve Capital Increase

HOLLYWOOD : Steve Broidy, president
of Allied Artists, announced recently that
the company’s stockholders at a meeting at
the studio voted 534,488 to 25,403 approving
an amendment to the certificate of incorpor-
ation which will permit an increase in the
authorized capital stock of the company.
The new issue authorized consists of 150,000
shares of Sf/z per cent cumulative converti-
ble preferred stock with a par value of $10
a share. Mr. Broidy expressed the man-
agement’s appreciation to the stockholders
for their substantial vote in favor of the
amendment. The proceeds from tne sale
of the preferred stock when issued, he
pointed out, will be used for expansion of
Allied Artists’ production program, for gen-
eral operating purposes and for reduction of
present banking indebtedness.

Saskatchewan Exhibitors
Meet With Officials

TORONTO : Proposed amendments to the
Theatres and Cinematographs Act of Sas-
katchewan came under discussion at a joint
meeting of directors of the Saskatchewan
Motion Picture Exhibitors Association and
officials >if the Province. Although the
changes in the act were not made public,
the directors finished their discussions with
the knowledge that the amendments would
be submitted to the legislature now in ses-
sion. William Winterton of Saskatoon pre-
sided at the meeting in Regina.

The 15-member board of the association
met with three government officials at the
third session of a directors meeting.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

Exhibitors Evaluate the

Status of the Snack Bar

1 ixth
{^ults
sifer Theatres’ hkrkl

$ bh v|Qclang nee<

OUT OF THEIR Continually
developing experience with refreshment
service, theatre exhibitors have acquired
over the years some very definite opinions
about all its phases of operation. Again this
year, as a part of the Sixth Annual Refresh-
ment Sales Survey of indoor and drive-in
theatres, operators were asked to express
themselves on their vending policies and
needs in whatever respect they saw fit.
Their comments were just as candid and
outspoken as last year and provide an in-
formative picture of the status of the thea-
tre refreshment business today — including
what is good about it and how it can be
improved.

(The general report on results of the
vending survey was published in the Better
Theatres’ Market Guide Number, issued
March 27th as Section 2 of the Herald.

At that time also the 1954 Theatres Sales
Champions — the brands of candy and soft
drinks that lead in sales as reported by
exhibitors — were announced. This list is
reprinted in this issue on page 4-R. )

In analyzing the special comments ap-
pended to the survey this year one aspect
that was especially notable was the lack of
condemnation of theatre refreshment serv-
ice as a “nuisance.” Last year a number
of indoor exhibitors so termed it in rather
vehement language. On the other hand,
several operators this year made special
mention of a “terrific” growth in business.
As one of them put it, “the snack bar is
rapidly becoming a major instead of a
minor source of income. And we are con-
stantly on the lookout for means of im-
proving our sales.”

Another exhibitor (in Maine) reported

that recently he considerably enlarged his
refreshment stand, having previously sold
only popcorn and ice cream. “Last year
our sales percentage-wise to attendance
were 87%,” he explained, “bi\t after reno-
vation they jumped to 134%!”

While wholeheartedly agreeing wuth the
importance of refreshment sales to theatre
income, however, some exhibitors expressed
a growing concern over the problems of
the costs of merchandise and setting prices
to charge the customers. Seeking a solution,
an operator in Mississippi, who caters to
low-income patronage, reports he keeps
prices as low as possible and concentrates
on a high volume of sales. So far that is
w'orking out well, he says.

In contrast to that method some exhibi-
tors are starting to emphasize selling
higher-priced merchandise. One in Oregon
relates that he has changed his candy stock
to 10c and 30c Items almost exclusively
and that they are proving very popular.
Similarly, a manager in Indiana has found
that “concentration on the higher-priced
articles usually increases the total revenue.”
In some areas, he adds, raising “nickel”
candy to 6c or 7c works fine. “However
in most neighborhoods this policy reverses
the revenue,” he has found.

An exhibitor In Illinois has tackled the
profit problem with candy by stocking only
ten-cent bars, “d'hat way,” he explains,
“the children know exactly how much

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

l-R

m()iie\ to bring from home. Since adopting
this policy, oiir sales are much greater.”

Still another manager in Florida, how-
ever, citing the problem of price, complains
that the children don’t have the amount
of money they used to have.” And he has
no solution for that !

A large Ic candy business is reported by
a W^isconsin operator, who attributes it to
the fact that his children’s admission price
is 14c.

1 o the manufacturers and distributors
of candy the e.xhibitors offered a number
of suggestions as to hovv' they might im-
prove their service to theatres. Indeed this
particular subject was referred to more
often in the survey than any other.

'1 he main bone of contention with candy
seems to be the manner and size in which
it is packaged, but there is disagreement
among the exhibitors as to what they want.
Where one would like to have «// candy
in 100 count, another with the same size
theatre (300 seats) wants a 24 or 48 count
rather than 100 or 120. The latter’s rea-
sons are that he would be able to offer his
patrons a ‘‘greater variety and fresher
product.’’

The ‘‘blown-up candy package with a
small bar inside and a cardboard stiffener
to make it hold its shape” was scored by
an operator in Rhode Island. ‘‘I have had
plenty of kicks on account of this,” he
complains.

And an exhibitor in Alinnesota would
like assistance from candy manufacturers
in devising a “fool-proof” inventory con-
trol. His suggestion is that each candy bar
or box should be numbered with a dupli-
cate tab to be torn off at the time of sale.
“ 1 he tab should contain the name of the
bar,” he states, “and the remo\’ed tab
should be placed on a spindle after each
sale.”

“Such a system,” he declares, “would
eliminate theft and provide a double check
to see that attendants rotate the stock to
prevent it from becoming stale.” He sug-
gests that the numbers go up to 10,000 and
then start over.

Further in regard to candy, a manager
in Texas expresses the hope that “with the
general trend toward the large dime bar,
manufacturers won’t forget to package the
nickel size attractively.”

Manufacturers in all the fields — includ-

ing beverages and ice cream as well as
candy were once again heavily scored by
the polled exhibitors for their lack of as-
sistance in providing sufficient promotional
material especially designed for theatre use.

Such display matter should be provided
at no cost to the theatres,” declares an op-
erator in California, “to help give the stand
an ever pleasing, different and appetizing
appearance. This promotion will help sell
merchandise many times over. I also think
manufacturers should change the wrappers
on their products occasionally to stimulate
interest and sales appeal.”

“At the present time,” he concludes,
“there is one company in particular that is
cooperating with theatres in respect to
such material — the Coca-Cola Company.
And they are selling their product, too!”

AUTOMATIC VENDING UNITS

Regarding the value of automatic vend-
ing machines for indoor theatres, there is
again divided opinion among theatre men.
A good many theatres — particularly in the
larger cities — have a machine adjacent to
the snack bar and sometimes up in the bal-
cony. On the other hand, some small the-
atres have only machines to dispense re-
freshments. Those who favor them believe
they increase the volume of sales and also
profits.

'Fo a manager in Georgia the venders are
fine for soft drinks — but otherwise “taboo”
he says. “We get more sales from a self-
service display than any five vending ma-
chines would supply,” he avows, adding
that “when customers see full boxes they
know the candy is fresh, and it has added
appeal.”

A Missouri exhibitor has found that
vending machines are “not so good in our
theatre. We have two Ic venders, but the
kids are putting slugs in them all the time
and they try to damage them by stuffing
paper and candy in the coin slots. If we
had any more of such venders of any type,
we would be forced to hire a man to watch
them !”

The need for a candy machine with a 6c
coin mechanism was cited by one exhibitor
while another would like to have vending
machines furnished theatres on a percentage
basis exclusively. Finally regarding these
machines, an operator in Colorado believes
that representatives from the companies
should call on theatres more often — at least,
he says, every six months.

Several of the operators responding to
the survey offered statements of general
policy which they have found helpful to the
operation. From Michigan comes a reaffir-
mation of the importance of courtesy. “A
smile and thank you, sir, are strictly in force
here,” it Is pointed out, “and we have a
sign prominently displayed that states 'your

{Continued on page 4-R)

Variety in Back Bar Display

Ct'drm----

Promoting the sale of theatre ticket books.

Heralding the arrival of Popcorn Week.

INGENIOUS use of the refreshment
stand back bar to promote a variety
of products is demonstrated in these
displays arranged at the Paramount
theatre in Monoton, New Brunswick,
by manager T. Murray Lynch. The
availability of theatre ticket books
was tied in with the Valentine holi-
day as shown at left. When buttered
popcorn was first Introduced, It was
exploited through the display at left
below. And "Popcorn Week" was
heralded with the attractive arrange-
ment at right below.

Display announcing buttered popcorn.

2-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

MAIL TODAY

C. E. Cook's Concession Sales 33y3%

Concession owners and drive-in operators from all parts of the
country have reported amazing increases after using Armour
intermission shorts. Mr. C. E. Cook of the Dude Ranch Drive-
In, Maryville, Missouri, says, “ I started using Armour inter-
mission shorts last June 9th, and on that first night my hot dog
business increased 25%. For the entire season my total con-
cession business picked up around 33,^% over the previous
year!”

Think what an increase of 33M% in your concession business
would mean in dollars and cents! These color films have musi-
cal backgrounds by Bing Crosby’s Starlighters and are loaned to
you by Armour and Company— free of any rental charge. All you
pay is the return postage! Clip the coupon below right now.
Armour and Company will send you an illustrated folder with
complete information on these 11 intermission shorts.

I 1

I I

I Armour and Company MPH-3 ■

I I

I Fresh & Smoked Sausage Dept., Union Stock Yards i

] Chicago 9, Illinois j

I Please send me your folder with complete information on |

I Armour and Company’s intermission shorts. 1

These One-Minute Color Food Films Boosted

State ^

Theater Address.

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

3-R

{Continued from page 2-R)
purchase free if we fail to say thank you.’
The attendant must pay if she forgets.”

And from Wisconsin come suggestions
for placing equipment at the stand and
types of merchandise to offer. The operator
states: “The beverage unit should be built
into the stand. Buttered popcorn should be
featured on top of the counter and a noise-
less bag should be provided for plain corn
by request. Don’t undersell the value of
ice cream; your sales will double with self-
service freezers. With candy handle only
top brand names and fast sellers and never

more than two five centers for ten centers.
Fill the remaining space with attractively
displayed bag and box candy that can be
taken home by the patron. And take time
to train your staff in ways to make more
vending dollars.”

Drive-In Theatres

ASKED FOR any general
remarks on the refreshment operation at
his drive-in theatre, an exhibitor in Missis-
sippi replied thus; “None except that if it

weren’t for the concession stand, we
wouldn’t he in business!” While that terse
comment may be an exaggeration as far as
the average drive-in operator is concerned,
it does give a fair indication of the impor-
tant place the snack bar has earned for
itself in the outdoor theatre field.

Like many of their indoor colleagues,
the drive-in managers responding to the
survey expressed concern over the matter of
merchandise costs and prices to charge the
customer. The latter problem, as they
phrased it, is keeping prices “fair” or “regu-
lar” or “popular” or “no higher than out-
side prices.” In this respect a Florida ex-
hibitor warns of the danger of seeking to
“get 10c for 5c worth of merchandise.”

An operator in Michigan has found that
it helps sales to keep prices at “even money”
(except for cigars) and also facilitates mak-
ing change. Though there is a sales tax in
that state, he does not collect it. “Our items
are priced to discourage the bringing in of
foods and drinks from outside, and that
way they are a box-office stimulant.” He
feels also that too many drive-ins act as
“clip-joints” merely because they are able
to get away with it. “Smaller community
operations cannot do this and make friends.”

PERFORMANCE COMES FIRST

The importance of not letting the snack
service overshadow the main function of
the drive-in — motion picture entertainment
— was similarly cited by several of the
polled exhibitors. “Never give the impres-
sion,” says one from Kentucky, “that the
performance is merely an adjunct of the
snack bar. Let the stand speak pretty much
for itself and it will make as much money
as the theatre. There should be no carnival
atmosphere about the operation.”

Expanding the subject further, this ex-
hibitor goes on to say that “overplugging
will not pay off over a long period of time.”
As an example he cites the recent cut he
made in the running time of his intermis-
sion— from ten minutes to three. “Per
capita sales greatly increased,” he declares,
“which proves that people should not be
made captives by long breaks. They will
buy if they are hungry and the prices are
right with or without breaks.”

However, an operator in Georgia relates
he has found that the ten-minute intermis-
sion works fine provided a trailer is run
during the wffiole period. This not only
prevents restlessness and stops the blowing
of horns, but it helps boost sales, he points
out. And an exhibitor in California has dis-
covered that a sales promotional announce-
ment over the loudspeaker system by the
manager about half-way through the inter-
mission period produces a last-minute buy-
ing spurt at the stand.

Frequent changes in their service systems
{Continued on page 10-R)

Theatre Sates
Champions

. . . best-selling candies and

soft drinks named in survey

1 ■

CANDY
Almond Joy
Baby Ruth
Brock Assortment
Butterfinger
Clark Bar
Goobers
Mr. Coodbar
Hershey Bars
Hollywood

Juj

Malted Mjj
Mars

Mason Doi
Milk Duds
Milky Way
Mounds

Necco Peppermint
Nestle Bars

:^ufa«turen ot Ch«nM>^s not UMtlflnt In the tiranil
Inii,. NjMAiRTsek, Conn.; Baby Ihrtb «nil ButtaBmw, *'—*»■
Btwue^kl Bros., Philadelphia; Mr. Booitfiar, Hersh^
Company, New York; M &. M’e, Hawlw & Hoops. Ne
Jotmoon Candy Company. ChioafiFT Vnr*, Milky Way,
;Upni»n&'' Company, Chicago; Neec* Poppermlnts,
WtiltianiMn Candy Company, Chicago; Pom P«gi and ir.
.-Butli^^p. H. B. Reece Candy Company, Hershey. Pa.;

Oh Henry ^

Planter’s Peanu^^:;
Pom Poms
Powerhouse
Peanut Butter Cup
Raisinets

Switzer’s Licorice
Three Musketeers
Tootsie RoH,
elcb Jr. Mints

RAGES
Dry

and Grape

■hp.

3K2

Tip

4-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

Merchandise Mart

★ news of products for the theatre
refreshment service and their manufacturers

Manual On Driye-ln
Refreshment Operation

A NEW booklet containing
information on various aspects of drive-in
refreshment service, entitled “Design and
Operation of \our Drive-In Concession,”
has been prepared by Manley, Inc., Kansas
City, Mo.

The 36-page booklet, which is illustrated
wi th many photographs and drawings, has
material divided into four general cate-
gories: operation, layout, equipment and
supplies.

In an introduction to the “ABC’s of
D rive-in Concessions,” it is pointed out
that there are two prime requisites for suc-
cessful operations — proper location and
speed of service. About the former it is
observed that the building “should be
located as near as possible to the center of
the parking area to make it conveniently
accessible to patrons.” And speed of ser-
vice— handling customers quickly during
the short break periods — is said to depend

on proper layout of the stand, adequate
personnel to handle crowds, modern equip-
ment, and thoughtful organization.

In the section on “Operation” the sub-
ject of what food items should be offered
is thoroughly e.xplored, including the gross
profit potential of each and the volume
that can be expected. There is a “sug-

gested menu,” including prices, and a “sug-
gested starting inventory.” This section
also discusses material requiring special
preparation, including deviled meat sand-
wiches and french fried potatoes. Next the
problems of storage space, electric and

water supply, types of equipment, and in-
ventory forms are examined. In conclusion
this section has an outline of special mer-
chandising and sales training tips designed
to help boost sales and profits.

Part 2 of the booklet, “Layout,” has
diagrams of the various possible types of
service. Station-type service is recom-
mended for small drive-ins fOO-car

capacity and less — while the cafeteria is de-
clared “most practical for those with 800-
car capacity.” It is pointed out that the ser-
vice designs pictured are all “adaptable

either to station or cafeteria service depend-
ing upon specific needs and desires.”

In the section on “Equipment,” there
are detailed diagrams and specifications of
the company’s various models of popcorn
machines, including the “Super Stadium,”
“Aristocrat,” “Stadium,” “Counter Sta-
dium,” “Display Console Model,” and
“Elevator Model.” There are also pic-
tures and descriptions of the Manley “Ice-
O-Bar” drink dispenser; Buckingham bev-
erage dispensers; the Manley “Frank-
Bank,” a frankfurter steamer and bun
warmer; the Manley Hamburger Grill;
and various “Hotpoint” cooking equipment
models.

The final section in the booklet,
“Supplies,” contains data on Alanley’s
popcorn, popcorn salt, seasoning, bags and
boxes, and kettle cleaner.

Prepared especially to give drive-in
operators the benefit of IManley’s 30 years’
experience in the refreshment service field,
the booklet also contains advice pertaining
to snack bar operation in indoor theatres.
A free copy of the manual may be obtained
bv writing the company (1920 Wyandotte
Street, Kansas City 8, Mo.)

CALIFORNIA CANDY CROWS

California is now the fifth largest candy
producing center in the United States and
the second largest candy consuming state,

The Best Drive-ins Are Featuring

the ONE popping oil that

DOES EVERYTHING!

It pops America’s Best-Selling ||||
Popcorn! . adds butter-like 0^
flavor, color and aroma that makes
people ask for more. 1

IT’S AMERICA’S MOST USEFUL FRYING OIL FOR DRIVE-INS!

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

5-R

according to a report by Philip P. Gott,
president of the National Confectioners’
Association, delivered at the Western
Candy Conference of manufacturers and
suppliers held in San Francisco last month.
IVIr. Gott said the state’s sales volume in
1953 accounted for over 4% of the total
U. S. candy sales (wholesale level) which
was an increase of 3% over 1952. The
candy sales volume for the country as a
whole increased only 1% in that same
period. “California’s continued growth as
a candy producing area is mainly due to the
local candy industry’s ability to produce
quality candy at fair price,’’ Gott said.

Rotisserie with 160
Frankfurter Capacity

.4N “infra-red’’ rotisserie
designed to barbecue 160 frankfurters at a
time within a few minutes has been
marketed by the Bell Engineering Com-
pany, Lynn, Mass. The unit is glass-
enclosed on all four sides for counter
display.

Called the “Barhe-Cutie,” the equipment
has four spits per machine. There is a
warming griddle on top to keep an extra
stock of finished products fresh and hot or

to griddle other foods. The unit is con-
structed of heavy gauge aluminum. Heat
switches are adjustable to high or low, and
there is a separate switch to rotate the foods
without heat for display purposes.

Dimensions of the unit are: width, 17

Such popularity
must be deserved!

4lasm DOTS

inches; length, 20 inches; height, 27
inches. There are two motors and the
unit plugs into a 1 15 volt a. c. outlet. Spits
are also available for barbecuing chickens
and roasts.

MASON, AU & MAGENHEIMER

Box 549. Mineola. L. I., N. Y.

Automatic Ice-Shaver
For Variety of Uses

■VN AUTOMATIC ice-shav-
ing machine for use in making sno-balls,
sno-juleps, sno-parfaits, sno-cones and
koolers and also for icing fountain drinks,
has been marketed by the Sno-Master
Manufacturing Company, Baltimore, Md.

Called the “Sno-Master,” the unit is
designed to produce uniform, finely shaved
ice at the touch of a lever. It is operated
by a General Electric h.p. motor,
equipped with an 8-foot rubber-covered
wire and ground connection. The base of
the unit is aluminum, finished with baked
crinkled enamel.

Holding 25 pounds of ice, the hopper is
constructed of 18-gauge brass. It is chrome
plated and insulated with two inches of
fiber-glass. The mercury switch is rubber-
dipped and has rubber-covered leads. The
switch lever is equipped with a rubber
bumper to protect glasses from breakage.

The three tool steel blades are fixed,
requiring no adjustment. For drainage the
unit is equipped with inter-connecting
copper tubing and 3 feet of rubber hose.
The cutter disc is cast aluminum and
equipped with an agitator.

Dimensions of the unit are as follows:
height, 31 inches; base, 10 by 20 inches;
with 12 by 10 inches of counter space
required. The machine weighs approxi-

6-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10. 1954

mately 80 pounds crated and 70 pounds net.
It is being distributed by branches of
National Theatre Supply.

Candy Makers Request
Cocoa Bean Surrey

A THOROUGH survey of
the critical world cocoa bean situation by
the Department of Commerce has been
requested by the National Confectioners’
Association, Chicago, in an effort to ease
the high price of cocoa beans which is
declared to be “resulting in an increasing
scarcity of chocolate products in the United
States.”

“An increase of over 1000% in the price
of cocoa beans since 1941 warrants an ex-
planation in our opinion,” declared Philip
P. Gott, the association’s president, in a
letter delivered to Jacob Schaffer, Chief,
Food Division, BDSA, Department of
Commerce, Washington, D. C.

The letter then asks: “Is the increase
caused hy ( 1 ) the estimated drop in world
cocoa bean production or (2) the increased
demand for beans by the United Kingdom
and is this demand for consumption within
the United Kingdom or for export; or (3)
is production really down or are supplies
being withheld by farmers, shippers or
marketing agencies; or (4) are funds re-
tained by the marketing boards for produc-
tion promotion unreasonably large?”

“These are questions that U. S. candy
manufacturers want the answers to,” Mr.

POPCORN AND CANDY DISPENSER

This combination candy and popcorn machine was
made into a console unit by the stagehands at
Loew's theatre, Rochester, N. Y. Prominently placed
in the lobby, the new dispenser is reported to
attract a good deal of patron attention through its
two-tone coloring and neon lighting.

Gott said. “The increased cost of cocoa
beans not only threatens the expansion of
the confectionary business of the United
States but is also a great detriment to the
cocoa bean farmers and to the development
of helpful international relations,” he
emphasized. An increase in production of
non-cholocate items or development of new
types of confections is inevitable according
to many candy manufacturers unless some
price relief is available, he said.

“U. S. candy manufacturers want more
facts,” he pointed out, asking for a survey
of the world situation in cocoa beans. The
facts should be revealed by a survey which

would cover these points: the volume of
the cocoa bean producing crop and stocks
on hand in all producing countries ; the
changes in distribution ; increase in export
duties ; the effect which currency values may
have on encouraging shipment of beans
from one country to another and any other
factors which might create the current
situation, Gott said.

NEW PEPSI COLA BROCHURE

AN ILLUSTRATED brochure
containing descriptions of equipment avail-

The house is packed for

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.

Crunch, Milk and Almond
available in and 10^ sizes.
Coconut in 10^ 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.

7.R

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

able for dispensing Pepsi-Cola and point-
of-sale material for promoting the product
in theatres has been issued by the Pepsi-
Cola Company, New York. Dispenser
models pictured and described include rail,
counter and island base types in addition to
an “iced fountainette” with up to three
dififerent dispensing heads and a “concession
unit” designed for handling crowds at
intermissions or “hold outs” when the load
climbs to a fast peak. The brochure also

reprints several testimonial letters from
theatre exhibitors. It was prepared for the
company by Perry Wachtel, head of De
Perri Advertising, Inc., New York.

Frankfurter Broiler
For Counter Display

A NEW frankfurter broiler
with rotisserie action, constructed largely

of glass so that it may be used for counter
display to stimulate sales, has been marketed
by the Hollywood Servemaster Company,
Kansas City, Mo.

Called the “Roto-Grille,” the unit has
a drum with a capacity of from one to 60
frankfurters per load. The drum is re-
movable and may be interchanged with an
additional drum which can be provided for
re-loading.

The exterior of the unit is finished in
flashing chrome. All interior parts are
stainless steel and metal-plated. A bun
warming compartment with a capacity of

approximately five dozen buns is also
provided.

The unit cooks the frankfurters by the
“Infra-Red” process, which is designed to
prepare them in a few minutes and also
hold them for hours without deterioration.
Barbecued frankfurters can be prepared by
swabbing them as they rotate with a special
sauce.

BRECHT INTERESTS SOLD

Controlling interests in the Brecht Candy
Company, Denver, have been purchased by
L. N. Dur3'ea and Associates, Chicago,
operators of King Cole Candies, Inc.,
Chicago, which manufactures bar and bulk
candies mainly for sale through variety
chain stores. Mr. Duryea will become
president of the Brecht Company through
the sale, and Frank E. Whitmer, now vice-
president in charge of sales for the King
Cole firm, will assist him.

REPORT ON CANDY SALES

Candy manufacturer - wholesalers in-
creased sales 8% in January compared with
the previous month, according to the latest
report issued by the Bureau of the Census,
U. S. Department of Commerce. In sharp
contrast, sales by manufacturer-retailers
were 16% below January 1953 figures and
declined 71% from December 1953.

. Better Refreshment Merchandising
Advertisers' Index ond Inquiry Coupon

ADVERTISERS' PAGE AND REFERENCE NUMBERS:

• If the service available through the coupon below is preferred for obtaining fur-

ther information concerning products advertised, those of interest may be indicated

simply by writing in the Reference Number

given in the first column of the listing

(numbers in right hand column indicate pages on which advertisements appear).

Ref. No.

Page No.

1— ARMOUR & COMPANY

3-R

2— THE COCA-COLA COMPANY

- . I-A

3— J. J. CONNOLLY, Inc

9-R

4— MASON, AU & MAGENHEIMER

6-R

5— THE NESTLE COMPANY

7-R

6— C. F. SIMONINS' & SONS, Inc

5-R

REFERENCES FOR ADDITIONAL INQUIRY:

• Classes of products on which information

is desired may also be indicated in the

coupon by the number preceding the item in

the following list:

100 — Beverage dispensers, coin

1 15 — Gum machines

101 — Beverage dispensers, counter

116 — Ice cream cabinets

1 02 — Butter

117 — Mixers, malteds, etc.

103 — Candy bars

1 18 — Popcorn, raw

104 — Candy specialties

119 — Popcorn machines

105 — Candy machines

120 — Popcorn warmers

106 — Cash drawers

121 — Scales, coin-operated 1

107 — Cigarette machines

122 — Soda fountains j

108 — Coffee-makers

123 — Soft drinks, bottle 1

1 09 — Custard freeiers

124 — Soft drinks, syrup |

1 10 — Films, snack bar adv.

125 — Showcases

1 1 1 — Food specialties

126 — Vending carts

112 — French fryers

127 — Warmers, buns, etc.

1 13 — Sum, chewing

INQUIRY COUPON ^

no BE MAILED 4M SIGNER'S BUSINESS ENVELOPS

To BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING Departments
Motion Picture Herald, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y.

I am interested in products as indicated by the reference numbers wrifta in
below, and would like to receive literature concerning them.

‘■'H,

.jjii .Theatre

■(Address . .r

8-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

Systems for Serying
Soft Ice Cream Products

EQUIPMENT for preparing
and serving soft ice cream products de-
signed to eliminate the necessity of using
the “hand-dipping” method of service has
been announced by the Sweden Freezer
Manufacturing Company, Seattle, Wash.,
makers of “Soft-Serv” and milk shake
making and dispensing units.

The company calls its service set-up the
“Sweden Sj-stem of Automatic Fountain
Operation.” It employs two machines —
a “Soft-Serv” freezer in which is made soft
ice cream for use in cones and in preparing
sundaes, sodas and floats; and the “Frigid-
mixer,” in which is made a milk shake base
that needs only the addition of flavoring
and a few seconds on the mixer before
serving.

The machines are completely automatic
in operation and require only toe pressure
on a foot switch to draw the product. A
special mix-feeding arrangement automati-
cally adds mix to the cylinder from a
refrigerated reserve mix tank recessed into
the top as the product is drawn from the
machine.

The new system is available in several
sizes of combinations depending upon re-
quirements. The company states that it
will analyze each individual operation to
determine what adoption of the set-up can
do for the exhibitor. Requests for the
analysis should be made to local Sweden
dealers or the company’s home office (3401
Seventeenth Avenue West, Seattle, 09.)

•

APCO DISPENSERS DEMONSTRATED

]\Iore than 200 operators from the
Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin areas attended a
recent private showing by Apco, Inc., New
York, of its complete line of automatic
“SodaShoppe” soft drink cup dispensers in
the Illinois Room of the Palmer House,
Chicago. Greeting the guests was Mel
Rapp, vice-president of Apco, and other
members of the company present included
Danny Gould, Mid-West divisional man-
ager ; Bill Kirschke, regional representative
in Indiana; Claude Robarge, regional rep-
resentative in Wisconsin; and Ray Joschko,
chief engineer at the Apco factory in
Minneapolis.

JOHNSON EXPANDS FACTORY

Plans for constructing two additional
floors in its factory in Chicago have been
announced by the Walter Johnson Candy
Company. The extra room will be used
for shipping purposes, it is reported, and
will add several thousand feet of space to
the plant.

The "Sweden System of Automatic Fountain Operation." See story at left for details of the set-up.

A NATURAL for Movie theatres!

COMNOLLY

AUTOMATIC

ROLL-A-GRILL

Now Operating in Thousands of

• INDOOR THEATRES • DRIVE-INS

Boosting FRANKFURTER Sales and Profits

bese are

ROLL-A-GRILLS:

Ito Theatre, Tulsa. Okla

n Palms Onve-ln
".corpus Christi. Texas
lywood Theatre,
eavenworth, Kansas
!omo Drive-)n Theatre,
;okomo, Indiana
ifro Drive-In Theatre,
Vancouver. Washington
jsevelt Theatre, ,

>t. Louis, Missouri

M„"n?g'’ome™. Alabama

)sa Drive-In Theatre,

Yuma. Arizona
lunibia Theatre,

Dayton. Ohio

■^'j'kenBow.'Nrbraska

“indlanapolis,

'^ti>“ra"'’ballfornia

ubbard Drive-In Theatre.

Hubbard, Oregon
incoln Theatre.

Tampa, Tu-otre

(wood orive-ln Theatre,
Eiwood. Indiana

‘^"K^nslfcitJ; Missouri

Bailey Theatre, Atlanta. Ga.

Twilight DrWe-ln Theatre, j

Uivingston, Montana ,

Orpheum Theatre, |

Flagstaff. Arizona
Do-Drive-In Theatre,

Mobile, Alabama

®''^SrgeviMe,^Missouri

State Theatre. nakota
Chamberlain. So. DaKoea
Albany Orive-ln Theatre,
Albany, Oregon

'^'o^yt’ona* Beach, Florida
Civic Center Theatre
^'cVeat Falls. Mont.

Sandy Boulevard Drive- In
® Theatr". Portland Oregon

East Orive-ln Theatre

Morehead City. N. C.

Pat's Auto Theatre,
Sinelterville, Idaho

••likes it very MUCH'."

.rucATRE East Edmonton
CKY VUE DRIVE-IN have beeit using one

?„»aci,^nrof’ trsam^^

457 W. 40tli St.. N. Y. 18. N. Y.
PKone: CH 4-5000 Cable JAYCONLEY

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-BASTENG. 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.

J. J. Connolly, Inc. 457 W. 40th St.. N. Y. 18, Dept. BT-4 g
Send Connolly Automatic Roll-A-Grills literature to — |

I Name. . .
Theatre
Address
City

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

9-R

REMODELED THEATRE GETS NEW SNACK BAR

As part of a general remodeling project at the Rialto theatre in Casper, Wyo., recently, a new refreshment
stand was installed as shown above. Equipment for the stand Includes a Manley "Aristocrat" popcorn
machine; a Coca-Cola counter-model beverage dispenser; a Ritchie's nut warmer and a self-service ice
cream unit (far left). Candy Is sold from the display case In front of the counter and the large shelves
on the back-bar wall.

CANDY FROM ENGLAND BOOSTS STAND SALES

Chocolate candy bars imported from England were recently introduced at Schine's
Oswego theatre in Oswego, N.Y., with the result that refreshment sales "jumped
considerably," according to Harry Wiener, theatre manager. The bars were pro-
moted by the display sign shown on the right which reads as follows: "Something
new; We have just received from England the world’s most famous chocolate bars;
limited supply; two bars to a customer." The attractive "sweet bar" background dis-
play for the stand cost only a "negligible sum," Mr. Wiener also reports.

10 R

Exhibitors Eyaluate
the Snack Stand

{Continued from page 4-R)

and equipment are a hard-and-fast rule
with most drive-in operators, who are faced
with the problem of doing most of their
business within a short intermission period.
TVhether a cafeteria, a general counter or
a two-or-more station system is the most
effective is a matter of controversy, the
opinions varying according to individual
experience.

"The cafeteria style is particularly ad-
vantageous during rush periods," according
to an Indiana exhibitor. But a manager
with a small drive-in in Wisconsin finds
the station system better suited to his needs.
"Refreshment sales amount to 50% or bet-
ter of the theatre receipts with this system,”
he adds, “and we find it as quick as the
cafeteria style.”

Changes reported by an operator in Ari-
zona include conversion from a general
counter to cafeteria style. “The results are
unbelievable,” he declares, “with faster
service and much less work for the snack
bar attendants.” He has also eliminated all
slow-moving items and norv sells only one
flavor of ice cream and other articles “to
eliminate the customer stopping too long
to make up his mind and slowing down the
entire line. Also we handle only ready-to-
deliver items instead of cooking hamburgers,
etc.,” he says.

Vending machines seem to be gaining
in acceptance among drive-in exhibitors,
especially those for cigarettes and candy
placed away from the main service area.
“Such machines speed up my line about as
much as anything I could have done,” a
Missouri exhibitor declares, “since the chil-
dren no longer hold up the line while they
decide what they want.”

Complaints about beverage dispensers
were voiced by several exhibitors, one of
whom states he needs a soft drink machine
which will pour much faster than his pres-
ent model. Another (in Michigan) declares
he has “yet to see a carbonated drink ma-
chine that delivers a cold enough drink fast
enough for intermission peak loads.”

On the other hand an operator in (Maine
has increased his drink sales by selling di-
rectly from a cooler a regular carbonated
drink. “While it cuts drink profits about
10%, ” he explains, “we make up the differ-
ence in good will. Our rivals in the terri-
tory use non-carbonated dispensers and we
find there are considerable kicks from peo-
ple who have been to their drive-ins and
tasted the difference. As a matter of fact
our stands have enjoyed from 45% to 60%
return consistently on food sales as against
r>ur ticket receipts.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10, 1954

An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen— Walter Brooks, Director

Well Hleed tl/lefeykan ^0un4 0^ CheefJ

T EVER in our industry history
have so few done so much for so
many” — that’s a quote from the
telegram of congratulations sent by Walter
Reade, Jr., on behalf of Theatre Owners of
America, to Robert Coyne, special counsel
of COMPO, Pat McGee, Sam Pinanski, Col.
H. A. Cole, Wilbur Snaper and A1 Licht-
man, when the tax victory was hnalized and
made official, by the President’s signature.

Now, the greatest risk to our industry
future, and to public relations, for the in-
dustry, is the temptation to let-down, to take
the victory for granted, and to coast-in, from
here, with a suspension of the effort which
won such an important stake in our business,
for so many distressed theatres. R’s because
there were “so few’’ concerned in the actual
tax battle that we fear for the future. Too
many will he willing to let others do it, from
now on. It takes every shoulder to the
wheel to win public respect.

We hope that COMPO’s excellent series
of advertisements in Editor & Publisher
will continue as forcibly as in the past —
and we have confidence in the sources. In-
dustry leaders credit the text and style of
these advertisements to the professional
skill of Donahue & Coe, advertising agency,
and Oliver Kingsbury, executive in charge.
We have needed this kind of institutional
advertising for many years, and it has taken
so long to make this start. It is gratifying
to see that the sixth advertisement of the
series is an honest exposition of the Pro-
duction Code and what it means in our busi-
ness, which should be better known to
newspaper editors. We pray that this ap-
proach to newspapers will have strong sup-
port by theatre managers at the point of
sale. Be sure that you know the contents
of the COMPO advertisements, and that
they provide your cue to call on your news-
paper man, and talk with him, across his
editorial desk. The tax victory was won at
the grass roots, and we hope that future
advertisements of this series will be dedi-
cated to the grass roots, where the public is
found in greatest numbers.

REFRESHMENT AWARDS

Not all the rewards In refreshment mer-
chandising In theatres are made over the
counter. No one doubts the financial
profit in competent theatre merchandising,
but there ate some who know that this fac-
tor in itself constitutes public relations,
for the individual theatre and the Industry.

To stimulate this understanding of the
policy and practice of "Better Refreshment
Merchandising" — our friends and neigh-
bors in the adjoining pages will offer a
series of special merit awards to theatre
managers, in recognition of the importance
of this branch of operations, and to ex-
tend the esteem and honor of the Quigley
Awards system to those who show the best
effort in refreshment merchandising. An-
nouncement of this plan has been made,
and a selection of winners, will follow.

We have one comment to make about
the business of refreshment sales. It is
relatively new in the industry, and it thrives
in smaller situations. For once, the big
theatre can do no better job than the little
fellow. In fact, it Is the small theatres and
the drive-ins that lead. In this field. We
shall be gratified to have the point estab-
lished as a matter of fact, and proof of it
recognized In the presentation of these
quarterly awards. Sheer size of operation,
or population of the city or town involved,
has less weight when you judge merchan-
dising in limited space.

, We ask COMPO to put the theatre man-
ager in their copy and to put his viewpoint
of our business — as he sees it, on the firing
line — as argument and discussion of motion
pictures, accenting his place in community
affairs. Our industry is divided into three
parts, of which one has been neglected.
Production, distribution, exhibition — but the
greatest of these, in strategic value, is at
the box office line.

^ MARTIN STARR, an old friend, and
long-time contemporary of ours in the nar-
row confines of industry operations in New
York, has been appointed to the important
post of Hollywood manager for Quigley
Publications, and starts this week in Los
Angeles, representing Motion Picture Her-
ald and Daily, Fame, the Motion Picture &
Television Almanac, Better Theatres, and
ex officio, the Managers’ Round Table — for
California and the West.

We’ve had the benefit of several days of
visiting with Martin just prior to his leav-
ing for the Coast, and we are agreed on sev-
eral things that have to do with theatre man-
agers and their keen interest in Hollywood
affairs. It’s based to a degree on the recip-
rocal measure of interest, from Hollywood,
in the manager’s affairs. Thus, we hope that
Hollywood stars and their producers will
lean more towards the manager at the point
of sale, recognize his place in the business
of selling pictures, and his part in the whole
transaction of dealing with the public.

There are so many ways in which the
Hollywood stars are appreciated. Some-
times the tendency is to take a quick look at
the top-bracket theatres and overlook the
grass roots, where the ground surge of pub-
lic acclaim really begins. We compliment
those Hollywood stars who h.ave made
"Movietime” tours in small situations and
we know they will bear us out — that in the
public squares of the little places, they have
found their most sincere admirers. Let’s
have more, and better, tours, and a full re-
vival of that Movietime spirit in the cause
of public relations.

Recently, we’ve noticed a tendency to
move more of the business of preparing
showmanship materials for pressbook and
other purposes, to the studio advertising and
publicity departments, and that can be a
benefit, providing the Hollywood sources
will follow our urgent plea to become better
acquainted with a showman’s problems. It
won’t do to aim these forces entirely at the
first-run theatres — and let the devil take the
hindmost. — Welter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 10, 1954

Miuppy Returns On
**The Rest Yeurs ”

Ivir. Samuel Goldwyn, with the re-Issue of the most honored
picture of all time, the winner of nine Academy Awards — "The Best
Years of Our Lives" — has offered to Round Table members as
contenders for fhe Quigley Awards, a special group of prizes for
the best campaigns entered by the end of the second quarter,

June 30th, 1953. Here are some early dates, across the country.

Larry Caplane, manager of the RKO Missouri theatre, Kansas City,
discusses the production with the editors of high schooi newspapers
prior to an advance screening for teen-agers.

Front display at the Astor theatre, in Boston, where the
picture had a pre-release, re-release premiere. This is one
of the most decorative theatre fronts, and it is notable
they use a painted display, which might be a 24-sheet in
similar style.

Representative Edith Nourse Rogers,
Chairman of the House Commifffe on
Veterans Affairs, and Harold Russell, who
won two Academy Awards for his role in
the picture, were luncheon guests as part
of the festivities in Washington.

Forty student edi-
tors, representing all
public and parochial
schools in the Denver
area, were invited to
a screening prior to
the opening at the
RKO Orpheum thea-
tre, where Bill Hast-
ings is manager. In
the picture at left,
T. Bidwell McCor-
mick, RKO field man,
greets the student
coordinators on the
popular Denver TV
program, "Voice of
Youth."

Front display in Atlanta, at the Rialto theatre, with crowds standing around the
corner and down the block, for the reissue.

Jerry Baker, manager of the RKO Keith's theatre, in Washington, had a top-brass
premiere, with the front display at left.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

Jack Miose SHOWMEN IN ACTION

Talks Abaut
CinewnaScope

Jack Rose, partner with Alex Manta in
the operation of the Manta & Rose circuit
of 15 theatres and 3 drive-ins in suburban
Chicago, was in town for his daughter’s
wedding, and to pay an annual visit to
industry leaders here. He was willing and
anxious to tell us about the success his chain
of theatres are having with CinemaScope
which is now installed in about half of the
houses. He not only likes CinemaScope and
Stereophonic Sound, but he likes the deal
he’s been getting from 20th Century-Fox,
and says so, with vigor. Told us, at the
Plaza the other day, he couldn’t lose under
the terms of his contracts, not even with
the least of these new-dimensional films.

“The Robe” Broke Records

\\ ith "The Robe” they really did a phe-
nomenal job, both technically and financially.
And promotionally, for his theatres had the
benefit of civic applause and merchant ad-
vertising', to welcome the new devices for
improvement of motion pictures in neighbor-
hood theatres. A1 Kapp, manager of the
Elko theatre, Elkhart, Indiana, had wonder-
ful ads, and did wonderful business. And
we liked all of the page ads in the Elkhart
Truth, sponsored by cooperative advertisers
with very generous allocation of space to
the theatre and its attraction. Elkhart is
the home of the Conn hand-instrument com-
pany, and they liked "The Glenn Miller
Story” — and Jack told us of the fine spon-
sored shows they run during three midweek-
days before Christmas, with no tickets on
sale at the box office, and every seat given
away by merchants as their Christmas gift
to patrons. It’s a great piece of merchandis-
ing, in the week before Christmas, when
often there’s not a soul stirring'.

Good Round Table Members

We have high regard for Manta & Rose
theatres, here in the Round Table, for all
managers are members, and contenders for
the Quigley Awards, and regular readers
of Motion Picture Herald. We hope that
Jack Rose or Alex Manta or both of them
will be here for the annual Quigley Award
judging, scheduled early in May, this year.
The Lido at Maywood, the Tivoli at Michi-
gan City, the Indiana at Indiana Harbor,
and the LaPorte theatre, at Laporte, In-
diana, are all well known to our members
as theatres that are on the beam, for better
showmanship. Currently, the circuit is run-
ning a series of “Manager of the Month
Merit Awards” which will reward the best
showmanship effort each month throughout
the year. No fancy entries, no gingerbread
or gimcracks, just plain evidence of good
management and the ability to produce busi-
ness at the box office. We will be glad to
report this contest from time to time as
awards are made to individual managers.

Joe DeSilva, manager of Schine’s Play-
house theatre, Canandaguia, N. Y., got a
whopping big New Moon trailer for the
exploitation of "Long, Long Trailer” — then
found an old ordinance prohibited parking a
trailer on downtown streets, so he had to
keep his ballyhoo moving — but it didn’t mat-
ter a bit, for he toured the town.

At Schine’s Auburn theatre. Auburn,
N. Y., m.'inager Jack Mitchell had better
luck with the law, and they allowed him to
park in front of the theatre, where the local
New Aloon dealer was on duty at all times
to show people through, and cooperated with
local advertising and radio spots.

Dick Cook, manager of Schine’s Palace
theatre. Corning, N. Y., found a local de-
partment store owner had a ranch in Colo-
rado, near the location where “The Naked
Spur” was filmed — and wanted all his friends
and customers to see the picture.

Ken Carter, manager of Schine’s Madison
theatre, in Richmond, Ky., had a coloring
contest in cooperation with a local news-
paper on "Phantom of the Rue Morgue” — a
natural for the youngsters to use the special
coloring mats in the pressbook.

Seymour Morris has been making extra
preparations for Schine Theatres to get spe-
cial handling for MGM’s “Rose Marie” and
the headquarters publicity and advertising
department in Gloversville has a brochure
on the subject for showmen.

Merlin W. Paul, manager of Hunt’s thea-
tres, Wildwood, N. J., had over 2,000 bal-
lots cast for his audience choice for the best
picture, best actor, best actress and best car-
toon idea, with local newspapers following
the results a month in advance of the Acad-
emy Award selections.

Station WHB-TV, in Kansas City, ad-
vertised “A Movie a Day — In Your Own
Home” on the amusement page of the Kan-
sas City Times, offering their “Alovie Mat-
inee”— every weekday afternoon at 4 p. m.

Dick Weaver in on tour for United Art-
ist’s “Not for a Stranger” — upcoming Stan-
ley Kramer picture, contacting editors and
tieups to launch heavy publicity broadsides,
with more than 1,000 newspapers interested
in artist’s conceptions of the appearance of
hero of the novel, who is yet to be cast for
the part.

Alvin Guggenheim, manager of the Yale
theatre, Houston, Texas, sends photos of
his realistic ballyhoo front display for the
first neighborhood showing of Burt Lan-
caster in “His Majesty O’Keefe” which
brought results at the box office.

▼

James A. Carey, manager of the Hiway
theatre, York, Pa., had excellent promotion
for “Long, Long Trailer” with a really long,
long trailer and the sponsorship of local
Mercury and trailer dealers in making movie
ballyhoo. Phillip Morris covered the coun-
tryside with posters for the picture.

What newer faces than these chubby, smiling baby faces, entered in a popularity con-
test sponsored by the Ladies Auxiliary of the American Legion? Murray Spector, man-
ager of the Skouras Plaza theatre, Englewood, N. J., found a showmanship natural to
advertise his current attraction. He says, "Unfortunately, we couldn't use our stage due
to the new CinemaScope screen" — and that's too bad.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION. APRIL 10. 1954

Hally§vaad Star a
JVelcame Visitor

Jack Sag-e, manager of the Michigan
Tlieatre. Detroit, is an exhil)itor who opens
the door wide when opportunity in the form
of big-time exploitation seeks entrance. And
opportunity knocked with unmistakable
emphasis when rarainount's “The Naked
Jungle” was set to open at the Michigan.

“The Naked Jungle,” a South American
adventure drama, stars Charlton Heston.
Mr. .Sage, aware that the actor’s parents
are Detroit residents, at once saw his big
opportunity. It should be easy, he reasoned,
to persuade Heston to come to Detroit for
the opening and engage in promotional
activity on behalf of the film, for it would
give the actor an opportunity to visit with
his family. And it loas easy.

In no time Mr. Sage and Paramount were
working on the idea. A big schedule of
opening day promotion activity was laid out
for Heston who arrived at Willow Run Air-
port early that morning eager to work. His
first stop was Station WWJ where he was
interviewed on the “Fran Harris Reports”
show. Shortly afterwards at the Sheraton
Cadillac Hotel films were made of Heston
for use that evening on Station WJBK-TV.

Feeding the Press

Then came a press luncheon for the actor
and his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Russell W.
Carter. On hand were Helen Bower of the
Free Press; Dick Osgood, Station WXYZ;
A1 Weitschat, Detroit Nctvs; Walter
Stevenson, Detroit Times; Branch Manager
Mike Simons and klrs. Simons and Para-
mount field representative Art Leazenby, Jr.
Always “The Naked Jungle” was Heston’s
main topic of conversation.

First order of business in the afternoon
was a taped interview with Mr. Osgood for
rebroadcast that evening. Next Heston was
interviewed on radio by Paul Winters of
WXYZ in the lobby of the Statler Hotel,
where a large crowd of observers was on
hand. The actor then hastened over to the
Michigan Theatre where he greeted open-
ing day crowds and long lines formed as
Heston passed out autographed photographs

Arnold Gary Lets Patrons
Draw the New Dimensions

Arnold Gary, manager of the College
theatre, Birmingham, Alabama, has a wide
screen in the new dimensions, so encourages
his patrons to draw outlines, following sug-
gestions on a herald, to show the new size
as compared with the old screen, and as
compared with TV, for devastating contrast.
He makes his point when he says the new
screen is “gigantic addition” to their enter-
tainment. He also promoted a giveaway of
Yellow Label Syrup, with a free jar to
housewives, all day Wednesday, and that’s
better than dishes, in our book.

of himself to the patrons. Thereafter he
went backstage at the Michigan for an in-
terview with high school and college editors.
After a two-hour respite during which he
visited with his family the actor was back-
in the Michigan lobby again autographing
photos for a long line of customers.

As his plane headed West that night,
Heston must have been pretty well ex-
hausted for it was indeed a big day. But
it was also a big day at the Michigan’s box-
office. In Mr. Sage’s own words it was
the “best turnout of customers I have seen
in the last two years.” Obviously when he
answered opportunity’s knock this time an
avalanch of dollars and good will poured
in to start a highly successful run of “The
Naked Jungle.” And don’t think manager
Sage hasn’t got his ear cocked for the sound
of opportunity’s knock again. He has.

Persuades Merchants to
Use 24-Sheet Displays

Realizing that many merchants are hard
put to find materials for window displays.
John V. Ward, manager of the Senaca thea-
tre, Niagara Falls. Ont., persuaded a local
furniture dealer, with big window space,
to use 24-sheets on “How To IMarry A
Millionaire” of those gals in their working
clothes, which inspired equally interesting
cut-out pictures to surround a double-truck,
two-page cooperative newspaper ad in the
Evening Review. Marilyn, Lauren and Betty
could sell a lot of furniture, to other than
millionaires.

Defiance^ O.,
Reparts On
**The Rabe^^

Defiance, Ohio, a town of about 10,000
population, is a good situation to report
progress with new dimensions, and Elmer
N. DeWitt, manager of Mailers Brothers
Valentine theatre, gives us a good idea of
the kind of promotion he used there. He
wrote personal letters, to introduce his sub-
ject, to 46 school authorities, to 304 minis-
ters of all faiths, and to 20 newspaper
editors in his trading area. It’s an excellent
example of the direct approach, and it
worked, to perfection. Special shows for
schools, at 9:30 and 12 noon on school days,
accounted for 17% of the total gross. Eorty-
six of the ministers took active part in the
promotion of the picture, in their churches.
Tear sheets show how effective!}- the twenty
editors responded to a direct request to pub-
licize something new and different. His
other advertising forms, including news-
paper display and the use of heralds, was
up to the standard of the attraction, and
he had a 10-day run, which was very con-
siderably beyond expectations.

Just to prove that he could do the same
thing in a variation, he used practically the
same approach for “Martin Luther” with
practically the same result. The town is
about 50% Catholic, so, in this instance, he
circulated the personal letter to 148 minis-
ters, and 17,000 church discount tickets were
used by 65 different churches, some as many
as 40 miles away. Three local Lutheran
ministers spearheaded the drive for “Martin
Luther” — which incidentally, preceded “The
Robe” in Defiance, at the Valentine, and
played to about 70% of the population.

Ed Rosenfield, manager of the Trans-Lux
Colony theatre, New York, made up his own
30x40 display for "Beat the Devil" — just us-
ing scissors, glue, some back number maga-
zines and pressbook ads, plus, of course, his
native ingenuity, to catch a ride on recent
national magazine publicity for the stars.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

Visitors From Nearby

Leo Raelson, manager of the Trylon the-
atre, Rego Park, in the Borough of Queens,
New York City, and Mrs. Raelson, were
visitors at the Round Table. They didn't come
far, nor do they come often, so it’s news.
Leo has been a member of the Round Table
since 1933, and mostly on Long Island, just
over the horizon, out of our window.

The Trylon runs single features, and Leo
tries for the best short subjects, and gets
them. The house seats 600, but he says, "we
do better than some that seat 2,000." In
other words, his discriminating audience likes
quality rather than quantity, and prefer his
style of showmanship. He runs frequent
sponsored children's shows as morning mati-
nees, but doesn't encourage patronage of
youngsters at other hours. His patrons also
like to enjoy the program, and not be
bothered with small fry.

Direct Mail to the
Interested Audience

Miss Helen Johnson, manager of the State
theatre, Statesville, N. C. — who will receive
her membership card in the Round Table
just as soon as our Secretary gets back from
her vacation — used mimeographed postcards
to advantage, contacting certain groups
and organizations. For example, on “Flight
Nuise she addressed all hospital alumni
in the country, and for “Cease Fire”
cards were sent to over 200 members of
the V. F. W. and Korean Veterans in the
area. She studies her pressbooks avidly (so
Mr. Agle tells us) and finds the special
interest for the special audience.

Suggestion Box for
Audience Program

R. E. Agle sends in a novel stunt, devised
by James “Starkey” Howard, live-wire man-
ager of the Stateville Theatre Corporation’s
Air Vue and Waco Drive-In theatres,
Goldsboio, N. C. Starkey uses a suggestion
box,^ in which patrons deposit their best
stories, funny happenings, gags and stunts
regarding the family, which he uses over
the P. A. system in an impromptu “Yak Yak”
program, giving his patrons a part in the
show, and providing lojs of room for ,plugs
for the theatres under his management.^i And
if Starkey didn’t know, that’s how 'Walter
Winchell got his start — with a suggestion
box in the old N. V. A. Club, in New York.

Selling Approach

NEW FACES — 20th Century-Fox. Cinema-
Scope, in Technicolor, with Stereophonic
Sound. You've got a front row seat for a
fabulous Broadway musical revue, with its
stars, songs, dances, fun. It's theatre ex-
citement intact. At popular prices, filmed
In the new magic of CinemaScope. Eartha
Kitt sings "Santa Baby" — "C'Est Si Bon"
— "Uskadara" — tops of new talents, in new
dimensions. All members of the Original
Broadway Company, filmed directly from
the Original Broadway production. Excel-
lent 24-sheet made for special lobby or
marquee display. Other posters in suit-
able style. Throwaway herald keys the
campaign with showmanship approach.
Newspaper ad mats are in generous size
and shape, to sell an expensive musical
show at movie prices. Some of the 2-col-
umn ads, while using large space up and
down the page, will attract notable atten-
tion. The complete campaign .met at 35c
from National Screen, gives six ad mats in
one- and two-column width and two pub-
licity mats, all for the low price. Naturally,
music and record tieups are tops, and radio
disc-jockey cooperation is a natural. You
can praise "New Faces" for exactly what it
is — something new and different.

•

CALLING SCOTLAND YARD — Para-
mount. Six exciting new mystery featur-
ettes, 3-reel, 27-minute films to supply
every exciting box office element. The
answer to the problem in "weaning" an
audience from a double-feature policy.
Starring Paul Douglas as "the story teller"
with such titles as "The Sable Scarf" — "The
Javanese Dagger" — "The Missing Passen-
ger"— "Present for the Bride" — "The Final
Twist" and "Falstaff's Fur Coat." No
paper larger than one-sheets, but this
poster and a set of four 11x14 lobby dis-
play cards, at National Screen, on each
separate attraction. Also, as the bargain,
complete campaign mat for small situa-
tions, selling for 35c and including at least
six ad mats and slugs, plus two publicity
mats, for each release of this series. First
time such advertising aids have ever been
supplied for a picture of less than feature
length. But you can handle "Scotland
Yard" on terms equal to the second fea-
ture on a double bill, with more satisfaction
and at less cost. The pressbook is com-
plete in itself and will provide ideas and
inspiration to showmen in selling this group
of films.

GYPSY COLT— MGM. Most amazing
animal star on the screen, in exciting color.
A thrill Ing story of escape and pursuit in
the wilderness. With the fury of a wild ani-
mal, Gypsy Colt conquers the dangers of
the West. MGM had good experience
with pictures on this order, and right now.

Capt. Volney Phifer is on the road with
Gypsy Colt in the flesh, making personal
appearances. You may find them in front
of your theatre — better look now. And if
not, there's always a colt or a pony to play
the role, in any community, even the small-
est. Six-sheef and window card have
action picture of the Colt, with the cast of
attractive young people. A set of 8x10
color prints will fill up a special lobby
frame. The newspaper ad mats are in mod-
est sizes and generous variety but the com-
plete campaign mat, selling at 35c, con-
tains everything needed for small situa-
tions, nine ad mats and slugs, two publicity
mats and some linotype borders. The pub-
licity mats show the nice youngster, Dlonna
Corcoran, who is the lead in the picture,
co-starred with Gypsy Colt, Ward Bond
and Francis Dee. It's an answer to the
prayer of exhibitors who ask for family pic-
tures in old dimensions.

•

THE NAKED JUNGLE — Paramount. In

color by Technicolor. The picture about
the MARABUNTA! Proving th ar curiosity
about what the word means will sell tickets,
and probably that it means something ex-
citing. Eleanor Parker and Charlton Hes-
ton, in an adventure film, produced by
George Pal, and that is another promise of
something unusual. The dread MARA-
BUNTA, nature's deadliest force, a living
terror twenty miles long and two miles
wide, the only thing on earth that could
bring these two together! Terrifying real-
ism! Now, if you're not curious, you never
will be. 24-sheet and all posters are ex-
actly what the Doctor ordered for special
lobby and marquee display. There's a her-
ald, not illustrated in the pressbook, but
the newspaper ad mats have a distinctive
sales angle, and will sell the mystery of
MARABUNTA along with sex. Even the
pressbook is exciting! The complete cam-
paign mat at 35c from National Screen
contains nine ad mats and slug, along with
two publicity mats, but you really need one
of the large display mats to sell MARA-
BUNTA. We're beginning to wonder what
it is. A set of teasers looks unfinished, but
maybe that's the idea. Seriously, there are
some good ads in this novel selling ap-
proach. We'll have to go over to the May-
fair on Broadway and find out what this
is about.

FILMACK

Service Is Quick

1 railers^\,^\ Bunnv/ j/Trailers
When Famous

Need Them For Quality

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 10, 1954

In your theater^ too . . .

everybody
goes for Coke!

When your patrons come to see the show, they expect
to find refreshment, too. Because they do, you have
the happy opportunity to pick up extra profits.
Everyone enjoys the sparkling refreshment of deli-
cious Coca-Cola. 1 ou ll en;oy the handsome return
you get when you install vending equipment m a few
square teet of floor space. There’s a wide variety
available. For the money-making details, write The
Coca-Cola Company, P. O. Box 1734, Atlanta, Georgia.

for extra
profit

“COKE" IS A REGISTERED Tl

“WLi ik

picture did it

ov me

. . . Ihe 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 tor the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS, What the Picture Did for Me,
Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20.

Allied Artists

DESERT PURSUIT: Wayne Morris— Played this
real late. Used on double bill. Better picture than
expected. Played Wednesday, Tliursday, March 3, 4.
— S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

Columbia

EL ALAMEIN: Scott Brady — Fair little war pic-
ture. Used on Saturday double bill. It’s O.K. for
that. Played Saturday, February 27. — S. T. Jackson,
Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

LAST POSSE, THE: Broderick Crawford, John
Derek — A poor western. Not even color to help it
along the way. Played Sunday, January 3. — W. R.
Shepherd, Regent Cinema, South Shields, England.

PRINCE OF PIRATES: John Derek — Good. Played
six days starting Monday, February 15. — W. R. Shep-
herd, Regent Cinema, South Shields, England.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

LONG, LONG TRAILER, THE: Lucille Ball, Desi
Amaz— Our best gross in a long, long time on the
change. I can’t stand Lucy and Desi on television
and wasn’t impressed with the picture either. How-
ever, our public ate it up. So I say let’s give ’em
more! MGM did an excellent iob of pre-selling. My
advice to fellow exhibitors: Dbn’t sell this picture
short. Give it your best playing time. Played Thurs-
day, Friday. Saturday, March 18, 19, 20. — Levin B.
Culpepper, Carolina Theatre, Elizabeth City, North
Carolina.

YOUNG BESS: Jean Simmons, Stewart Granger —
Not too bad considering we were under snow. A good
film but a poor title. It doesn’t say much for the
intelligence of some of my patrons but some of them
thought it was about a horse! Played Thursday,
February 4. — W. R. Shepherd, Regent Cinema, South
Shields, England.

Paramount

HERE COME THE GIRLS: Bob Hope, Rosemary
Clooney — Rather light-weight comedy. Didn’t do very
well at the boxoffice. Played Sunday, Monday, March
21, 22. — Rowell Brothers, Idle Hour Theatre, Hard-
wick, Vt.

STALAG 17: William Holden — An excellent picture
with plenty different angles to attract all ages, the
young as well as the older folks. The ones who saw
the picture were well pleased. Played Friday and
Saturday. — O'. P. Tucci, Victory Theatre, Spring Hill,
W. Va.

RKO Radio

APPOINTMENT IN HONDURAS: Glenn Ford.
Ann Sheridan — This was fair. Used it on single bill
Sunday, but don’t believe it is Rood enouRh for a
Sunday play date. Played Sunday, February 28. —
S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

BEWARE, MY LO'VELY: Ida Fupino, Robert Ryan
— Doubled with “The Hitch-Hiker” (RKO) to a good
three days’ adults only business. Played three days
starting Monday, February 22. — W. R. Shepherd,
Regent Cinema, South Shields, England.

FALLEN ANGEL: Alice Faye. Dana Andrews—
This is a good re-issue. Played Friday, March 5. —
S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

Twentieth Century-Fox

HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE: Betty
Grable.. Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall — A good

comedy which we hope will double our average gross.
Played Thursday-Wednesday, March 25-31. — Levin B.
Culpepper, Carolina Theatre, Elizabeth City, North
Carolina.

INFERNO: Robert Ryan, Rlionda Fleming — We
played the 2-D version. Excellent. Lots of built-up
suspense. Did slightly better than average at the
box-office. Everyone liked it. Played Wednesday,
Thursday, March 24, 25. — Rowell Brothers, Idle Hour
Theatre, Hardwick, Vt.

VICKI: Jeanne Crain, Jean Peters — A very good
picture. The few who saw it liked it very much but
the trouble was that there were too few. Played
Tuesday and Wednesday. — O. P. Tucci, Victory
Theatre, Sprin^r Hill, W. Va.

WHITE WITCH DOCTOR: Susan Hayward. Robert
Mitchum — With these two stars, Technicolor, and title,
plus “Sand” (Fox) in the program, could it possibly
fail? Played Monday, January 25. — W. R. Shepherd.
Regent Cinema, South Shields, England.

Universal

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL
AND MR. HYDE: Double-billed this one with
■'Private Eyes.” I did extra business. People like
this kind of program. Play it. Ran Friday, Saturday,
March 12, 13. — James Hardy, Shoals, Shoals, Ind.

DESERT LEGION: Alan Ladd, Arlene Dahl — If you
can’t buy it right, don’t play it — certainly not a per-
centage picture. We could have done better booking
a western. There is a good plot and fine scenery, but
that alone doesn’t bring them in. Very small town,
rural patronage. Played Saturday, Sunday, February
13, 14. — J. R. Suavely, Leith Opera House, Leith,
No. Dak.

IT HAPPENS EVERY THURSDAY: Loretta
Young, John Forsythe — One of the best family pictures
we’ve played in a long time, but we are in the basket-
ball slump and the receipts didn’t look too good at
the box office. If you’re operating a small situation.
I would suggest you play it. Very small town, rural
patronage. Flayed Saturday, Sunday, January 30, 31.
— J. S. Suavely, Leith Opera House, Leith, No. Dak.

SEMINOLE: Rock Hudson, Barbara Hale — I

thought it was just another Indian and Cavalry pic-
ture, but the setting of the picture made the plot
somewhat different. I believe the trailer could have
been better. Then maybe our patrons would’t have
thought it was going to be a massacre and probably
the box office would have looked better. Very small
town, rural patronage. Played Saturday, Sunday. Feb-
ruary 27, 28. — J. S. Suavely, Leith Opera House,
Leith, No. Dak.

Warner Bros.

SHE’S BACK ON BROADWAY: Virginia Mayo,
Steve_ Cochran — The only thing wrong with this pic-
ture is that Steve Cochran is sure miscast. If your
patrons like musicals, play it — otherwise no. Musi-
cals have failed for me in the last three years. I went
in the red on this one. Rental too high. Played
Tuesday. Wednesday. February 9, 10. — James Hardy,
Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind.

THREE SAILORS AND A GIRL: Jane Powell,
Gordon MacRae — This picture won’t cause any stam-
pede at the box office, but it is pretty good entertain-
ment nevertheless. I thought Jane Powell was mis-
cast, and so did the people in the audience. The come-
dian, Jack Leonard, was very funny — all 350 pounds of
him— and his agility at dancing and clowning brought
laughs and applause. Sunday business was very good
but it fell off considerably on Monday and Tuesday.
Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. January 10, 11, 12
—Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre, Hibbing, Minn.

Shorts

Columbia

GOOF ON THE ROOF: Stooge Comedy — The 3
Stooges are at it again, and this time they try to get
a television set working, which includes trying to put
up the aerial on the roof of their apartment. Every-
one had a good time and the laughs were plentiful. —
Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre, Hibbing, Minn.

PINK AND BLUE BLUES: Mr. Magoo — Pointless,
even to Magoo fans and Fm one. — W. R. Shepherd,
Regent Cinema, South Shields, England.

RKO Radio

RHYTHM WRANGLERS: Ray Whitley— Good two-
reel reissue. Would like to have some new ones like
this. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

WESTERN WELCOME, A: Ray Whitley — Very
good musical western reissue. Could use more like
this. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

Twentieth Century-Fox

CURTAIN CALL: Art Films — Wonderful short
made with grace and beauty. My heartiest congrats
to Silverstone for producing this series. It’s a pleas-
ure to include them in our programme. Play it —
you won’t be sorry. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre,
Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa.

GRUNTERS & GROANERS: Lew Lehr — Good re-
issue.— S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

Universal

CHILLY WILLY: Lantz Technicolor Cartune — Ex-
cellent cartoon. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre,
Flomaton, Ala.

Warner Bros.

PUNCH TRUNK: Merrie Melody Cartoon — A clever
cartoon about a tiny elephant who causes a panic
wherever he goes. — Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre,
Hibbing, Minn.

THAR SHE BLOWS!: Excellent documentary of
whales and whaling in color by Technicolor. Being
situated on the river where whaling vessels come for
overhauling and where men in the audiences we had
have worked on the ships, this was thoroughly enjoy-
able and interesting. — W. R. Shepherd, Regent Cinema,
South Shields, England.

Serials

Columbia

GREAT ADVENTURES OF CAPTAIN KIDD:

This serial is not so hot. Even have complaints from
the kids. Wonder if there will ever be another good
one? — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

Realart

GANG BUSTERS: The print on this old serial is
not too good ; however, the serial itself is fair.
Universal made this one originally. Wish they would
start making them again. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson
Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

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 border 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)

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

MAKE MONEY MAKING MOVIES. SHOOT
local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries.
Arrange advertising tie-ups with local merchants.
Ask for film production catalog. S. O. S. CINE-MA
SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

USED EQUIPMENT

BIG SAVINGS ON BIG SCREENS AND LENSES
at Star! Write us! Pair Simplex-Acme Projectors:
suprex 50 ampere Lamphouses, RCA rotary stabilizer
sound, heavy bases, rebuilt, $1,095; Brenkert Enarc
Lamphouses, rebuilt, $489.50 pair; 3-unit electric Ticket
Register, rebuilt, $139.50; Century CC mechanisms, re-
built, $725 pair; Griswold Splicers, $12.95. What do you
need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd St.,
New York 19.

PROJECTORS BY DeVRY REBUILT LIKE NEW
by S. O. S. from $895. Send for bulletin. Time deals
available. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W.
52nd St., New York 19.

NEW EQUIPMENT

SAVE ON H. I. CARBONS! 9, 10, 11mm MOTOR-
ized Carbon Savers for angle trim arc lamps (Mighty
90, etc.), $59.50. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP..
602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

BIGGER, BETTER PICTURE IS YOURS WITH
Mirro-CIaric all purpose Screen, only $1 sq. ft.
Seams absolutely invisible! Kollmorgen wide angle
lenses, special apertures: immediately available!
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-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.

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.

BUSINESS BOOSTERS

FREE BROCHURE DRIVE-IN. INDOOR ADVER
tising specialties. PARKHURST ENTERPRISES.
Lansing 10, Mich.

POSITIONS WANTED

ARE YOU SEEKING CAPABLE, QUALIFIED
manager, well recommended for top operation? BOX
2779. MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

SEATING

VALUE UNSURPASSED! 500 FULL UPHOL-
stered back, box-spring cushion, excellent condition,
only $4.95. Many more. Send for chair bulletin.
S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP.. 602 W. 52nd St.,
New York 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

PRICES START AT $1595. COMPLETE DeVRY,
.Simplex, Century outfits rebuilt like new. (Send for
lists.) Time deals arranged. Wide angle Lenses.
Immediately available. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY
CORP., 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

HELP WANTED

CONVENTIONAL AND DRIVE-IN THEATRE
managers wanted by West Coast Independent Circuit.
Immediate openings, with ample opportunities for
advancement, in permanent positions. Send descrip-
tion of past experience, age, family status, with sum-
mary of accomplishments and abilities, and photograph
to MOTION PICTURE HERALD, BOX 2782. All
replies confidential.

Allied of Maryland
Elects New Directors

BALTIMORE : The Allied Motion Picture
Theatre Owners of Maryland elected a new
board of directors at the annual meeting.
Those named were Leon Back, C. Elmer
Nolte, Jr., Jack Levin, Meyer Leventhal,
Stanley Baker, Jack L. Whittle, J. Robert
Gruver, Milton Schwaber, Edward Parotka,
Richard Worman, Lauritz Garman and
Dom Delauney.

Legion Approves Eight
Of Eleven New Films

The National Legion of Decency this
week approved eight of 1 1 pictures reviewed,
classing three as unobjectionable for general
patronage, “Her Twelve Men”, “Jungle
Man Eaters” and “The Siege of Red River”,
and five as unobjectionable for adults, “The
Eternal Mask”, “Make Haste to Live”, “The
Lonely Night”, “Rails Into Laramie” and
“Secret Assignment.” “The Long Wait”
was called objectionable in part because of
“suggestive costuming and situations; low
moral tone.” In Class C (Condemned) were
two films. “La Ronde” (French) was cited
in a restatement of the objections of 1951,

thus : “this film in the story it tells condones
and glorifies immoral actions and contains
suggestive sequences. “Sensualita” (Italian)
was cited : “this picture in the story it por-
trays dwells without variation upon sug-
gestiveness in situations, costuming and
dialogue and as such in the manner of treat-
ment seriously offends Christian and tradi-
tional standards of morality and decency.”

Entwistle, Famous Players
Oldest Partner, Dies

EDMONTON, ALBERTA: Alex Ent-
wistle, Famous Players’ oldest partner, died
here recently at the age of 89. Until the past
few years he was active in the operation of
the Entwistle circuit. His son, Clarence, has
been carrying on alone since the death of the
late Mr. Entwistle’s son Arnold in 1952. Mr.
Entwistle came to Canada from England in
1905, and to Edmonton in 1908. In 1910 he
became the projectionist at the Bijou, then
some years later the manager of the Dream-
land, which he acquired in 1919. In 1920
his sons joined him in establishing Ent-
whistle theatres, now a six-house circuit. He
had been honorary president of the Alberta
branch of the Canadian Picture Pioneers.

Henry C, Cox

HOLLYWOOD: Henry C. Cox, 63, vice-
president and treasurer and a member of the
board of directors of National Theatres, Inc.,
died April 1 at St. Vincent’s Hospital of a
heart condition. He is survived by his
widow, a daughter and a son, Henry L. Cox.

Max Patterson

Colonel Max Patterson, 62, president of the
Waynesboro Theatre Corporation, Waynes-
boro, Va., operating the Cavalier and Wayne,
died April 2. He was active in civic and
business ventures. His widow survives.

Olen W. McCutchen

MEMPHIS: Olen Walker McCutchen, 64,
Blytheville, Ark., theatre owner, died April
4 at Battle Creek Sanitarium, Battle Creek,
Mich. He owned a motion picture house at
Charleston, Mo., and at Sikeston, Mo.

Ernest Mattsson

Ernest Mattsson, 65, president of Scandia
Films, Inc., distributors of Swedish films
in this country, died April 3 in New York
after a brief illness. His wife, Alice, sur-
vives.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 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 121 attractions, 5,547 playdates.

Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en-
gagements on each attraction reported. The tabulation is ctimula-
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.

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB)

Little Boy Lost (Para.)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)

*Actress, The (MGM)

All-American (Univ.j

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) . .
Appointment in Honduras (RKO)

Back to God's Country (Univ.)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil ( UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox) . .

Big Heat (Col.)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Blowing Wild (WB)

Blueprint tor Murder, A (20th-Fox)

Border River (Univ.)

Botany Bay ( Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Caddy, The (Para.)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Cease Fire! ( Para.)

City of Bad Men (20th-Fox)

Command, The (WB)

'•‘Conquest of Cochise (Col.)

Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (Univ.)
Crime Wave (WB)

Decameron Nights (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

East of Sumatra (Univ.)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

t El Alamein ( Col.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse ( Rep.)

Flight to Tangier (Para.)

Forbidden (Univ.)

Forever Female (Para.)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glass Web, The (Univ.) . .

Glenn Miller Story (Univ.)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

*Goiden Blade, The (Univ.)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

Half a Hero (MGM)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox)

■^Island in the Sky (WB)

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. The Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Joe Louis Story, The (UA)

Jubilee Trail (Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

Marry Me Again (RKO)

Martin Luther (de Rochemont)

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)

'•'Mister Scoutmaster (20th-Fox)

Mogambo (MGM)

Money from Home (Para.)

Moonlighter, Ihe (VVB)

Nebraskan, The (Col.) .

99 River Street (UA)

1 1

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

1 1

Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.)

Private Eyes (AA)

1 1

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

—

Red Garters (Para.)

Ride Clear of Diablo (Univ.)

Riders to the Stars (UA)

Riot in Cell Block II (AA)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Roman Holiday (Para.)

Saadia (MGM)

Sabre Jet ( UA) . .

Saskatchewan (Univ.) . .

Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.)

—

Shane (Para.)

Shark River ( UA) . .

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)

Sins of Jezebel (Lippert)

Sky Commando (Col.) ....

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

So Big (WB)

*Stand at Apache River (Univ.)

Steel Lady, The (UA)

lake the High Ground (MGM)

Taza, Son of Cochise (Univ.)

'•‘Terror on a Train (MGM)

Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)

Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( UA)

Torch Song (MGM) .

Tumbleweed (Univ.)

Veils of Bagdad (Univ.)

Vicki (20th-Fox)

Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.)

War Arrow (Univ.)

War of the Worlds (Para.)

Wild One (Col.) .

Wings of the Hawk (Univ.)

1 1

2 4 3 2

2 13 13 2

I 19 15 13 I

- - 2 3 1

---05

3 7 1-

- 2 3 7 -

611 6 5 2

- 2 2 5 10

3 9 7 --

- I 2 6 3

-56--

- I 9 3 I

64 7 2 - -

15 41 39 8

I 2 11 7

2 25 37 10 5

3 18 7 I I

- I 5 9 3

56 48 7 2 -

- 17 13 I 4

- - 5 - 2

- 2 8 6 2

- 4 10 - I

- I 3 4 2

I 19 68 22 5

4 17 15 4

- - 9 10 -

1 1

1 4

1 5

1 1

- 33

- 25

2 7

uJOD-aswzh • auui-hUJui-Dauj -sa-zi-ujzazuuj

M(0)irD®M [p> n (£ TT M [1. s

^dnl

TIP-TOP concession profit builders

TEH TIPS

«f the meifflt

Ten ways to build
your drive-in
concession profits!

1 TT’S THE “EXTRAS” THAT
PAY OFF. If your stand is extra
neat extra spotless ... if
service is extra courteous, you H
enjoy extra volume aud profits.

2 get fresh-fruit flavor

• m your orange syrup base drink
by squeezing one lemon in
each gallon. It brings em back

3 PROP°ERLY SALTED POPCORN
will increase cold drink sales.
Push these two it^Tis.

4 POP ONE KETTLE of corn be-
fore the break. Let the aroma

go through the concession house.

Then, watch your popcorn sales

5 cfoOD RICH CREAM AT

the cost is easy. Jus^ead of
buying coffee cream for coffee,
buy a quart of '^°''‘-iogenized
milk, mix in equal amount ot
condensed milk. T^pivt

- DON'T JUST TELL THEM,
SELL THEM! Don't just tell
them you have a concession
stand during intermissions, make

them hungry and i*l'rsty with a
brief description of the delicious
confections

7 CONDIMENTS AND RELISHLb
I Slimes make the difference

between one sale and two. Don t
neglect horseradish, choppea
onions, Pickles, mustar^ catsi^.

8 YOU CAN'T BEAT SAMPLING .
An attractive girl fiying out
samples of popcorn, at the right
sfdVof the car, at the gate will
rpallv D6rk UP popcom sal6s.

9 SPEEDY DRINK SERVICE is a
must! Make sure that Four drink
machine can deliver 1,500 cold
di-inks an hour as fast as two
operators can handle them.

10 YOUR HOT DOG MACHINE
' should be able to handle wrapped

sandwiches as well as ^eep hot
dogs hot and buns fresh. Keep
ing up your quality keeps your
customers coming back for more.

World-famous, big capacity,
top profit Manley popcorn
machines . . . with top-pop-
ping volume Cascade Kettle.

Designed to cook or to hold
— it's the new Manley FRANK-
BANK. Keeps buns and
wrapped sandwiches fresh.

Serves 1,500 cold drinks as
fast as two operators can
draw them — the Manley
ICE-O-BAR.

Brand new Manley Ham-
burger Grill with proved
operating features. Serves
225 hamburgers an hour.

Manley can also supply you with:

More kernels, bigger kernels,
more profit — with Manley pop-
corn; exclusive Manley salt and
seasoning that spell the differ-
ence between one sale and repeat
sales; bags; boxes; trays; wip-
ing tissues and many other drive-
in accessory items.

You get them all through
your Manley Representative!
Take advantage of this one con-
venient source for all your needs
and take advantage of Manley’s
25 years of “know-how” in the
concession field!

GUIDE BOOK TO PROFITABLE
CONCESSION OPERATION!

v'TfA

Get Your
Copy Today!

You can reap the benefits of 25 years
experience in the concession field, when
you own this new Manley book, “Design
and Operation of Your Drive-in Conces-
sion!” It’s packed full of basic informa-
tion, merchandising tips, dozens of
pictures and diagrams, all you need to
know about planning, operating, choosing
equipment and items to sell, profit to
expect, how to plan your stand layout . . .
all proved in use! It’s a real opportunity
and it doesn’t cost you a cent. Get your
FREE copy now!

TEAR OUT AND MAIL COUPON NOW — WE LL RUSH YOU YOUR COPY

MANLEY, INC.

Dept. MPH454, 1920 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo.

n Please send me my free copy of "DESIGN AND OPERATION OF
YOUR DRIVE-IN CONCESSION."

I I Please have a Manley representative contact me with additional
information on more profitable drive-in concession operation,
n Please send me additional information about the following
Manley items:

Name

Compony

Address

City

Zone

State

NOVI. . . the LOWEST- PRICED

quauty stereophonic souno

IN THE INDUSTRY

. . . from RCA

— the most famous name in sound

Now . . . from RCA, the leader in all phases of sound . . . comes
this important announcement of QUALITY STEREOPHONIC
SOUND PRICED TO MEET EVERY BUDGET REQUIREMENT.

1 Famous, All-New
Audio-Sync Amplifier
System. The latest in
operator convenience. The
finest in 4-channel sound.

To the small-theatre operator, this announcement presents —
for the first time — the opportunity to buy from the leader in
the field at a price he can well afford. Here is the same basic
sound system already installed in the projection rooms of the
nation's finest theatres — made available through RCA's back-
ground in electronics and vast manufacturing facilities. Here
are the quality components of this low-cost package:

M Universally Accepted,
Soft- Loop System,
Button-On Soundhead.

Now, get ready to cash in on the bigger grosses the
new film techniques offer. Check your RCA Theatre
Supply Dealer for details and for information on
RCA's liberal financing plan. FOR EARLY DELIVERY.
WRITE. WIRE, OR PHONE YOUR RCA DEALER

THEATRC EQUtRMEMT

RA DIO CORPORA TIOM of A ME RICA

EHeiHEERIM6 RRODUCTS CAEIOEM.N.J.

® In Canada: RCA VICTOR Company Limited, Montreal ^

Better theatres section

NOW.

New, Proved-Design,
Reflex-Baffle. Extended-
Range Speakers specially-
designed for theatres up to
1 ,200 seats.

STEADY STREAM OF

RY-FOX.

tations IN THE

NOW!

THE ROBE • Cinemascope • Color by Tecbnicolor
starring RICHARD BURTON • JEAN SIMMONS
VICTOR MATURE • MICHAEL RENNIE

HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE

Cinemascope • Color by Technicolor • starring
MARILYN MONROE • BEHY GRABLE • LAUREN
BACALL • WILLIAM POWELL

BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF •

Cinemascope • Color by Technicolor • starring
ROBERT WAGNER • TERRY MOORE • GILBERT

INemaScoPE at

HE Cinemascope L

WONDER OF STEREOPHONIC SOUND

KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES • CinemaScope
Color liy TeclinicoIor-DeLuxe • starring TYRONE POWER •
TERRY MOORE

HELL AND HIGH WATER * CinemaScope - Color by
Technicolor-DeLuxe • starring RICHARD WIDMARK •

BELLA DARVI

Leonard Sillman’s NEW FACES • CinemaScope
in Glorious Color • starring RONNY GRAHAM •

' EARTHA KITT • ROBERT CLARY • ALICE GHOSTLEY

NIGHT PEOPLE • CinemaScope • Color by Technicolor
starring GREGORY PECK •

ANITA BIORK • RITA GAM

PRINCE VALIANT • CinemaScope * Color by
Technicolor-DeLuxe • starring lAMES MASON •

JANET LEIGH • ROBERT WAGNER • DEBRA PAGET

RIVER OF NO RETURN • CinemaScope * Color by
Technicolor • starring ROBERT MITCHOM • MARILYN MONROE

THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN •

CinemaScope • Color by Technicolor • starring
CLIFTON WEBB • DOROTHY McGUIRE • JEAN PETERS •

LOOIS JOORDAN • MAGGIE McNAMARA

GARDEN OF EVIL * CinemaScope * Color by Technicolor-DeLuxe
starring GARY COOPER • SOSAN HAYWARD • RICHARD WIDMARK

Demetrius and THE GLADIATORS * CinemaScope * Color by
Technicolor DeLuxe • starring VICTOR MATORE • SUSAN HAYWARD

many more
outstanding boxoff/ce
attractions are on the way

C|NemaScoP£

the Hallmark of Quality in
motion picture entertainment!

THE EGYPTIAN • A Darryl F. Zanuck Production
CinemaScope • Color by Technicolor-Deluxe •
starring VICTOR MATURE • JEAN SIMMONS • GENE TIERNEY •
BELLA DARVI • PETER USTINOV • EDMUND PURDOM

IN THE

Cine

K*" - ^

Scope

MADE ITS BOW, FOUR

NAnONAL

EXCEUTE”135

PROJECTION ARC LAMPS

are operating seven days a week

on a daily work schedule of fourteen and a half hours*

DISTRIBUTED BY

NATIONAL

HERE’S A BRANCH NEAR YOU’

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

■

pcysvnc

SrNCHBONOUS
ytf 6y««^ fllM BECOBOtB

A COMPLETE STEREOPHONIC

SOUND INSTALLATION PACKAGE

SOUND SYSTEM

'e PH-1435 REPRODUCER

COMPLETE PACKAGE INCLUDES:

• Two penthouse reproducers.

• Plug-in equalized playback preamplifiers.

• Gang fader.

• Changeover switch.

• Horn switch. . .

• Remote linkage for changeover switch.

• Preamplifier power supply.

• Power amplifiers in enclosed rack cabinet.

• Stage horns.

• Complete cabling for interconnecting penthouse
reproducers, preamplifiers, power supply and power
amplifier for easy installation.

• Comprehensive, simplified installation handbook.

WCSTCRN ILSCTRIC LICCNSCD

WC-435 PREAMPLIFIER
WALL CABINET

MS-1435
HORN SWITCH

MS-435

MONITOR AMPLIFIER
WITH COMPLETE
EMERGENCY SWITCHING

PA-30 POWER AMPLIFIER
IN ENCLOSED CABINET

SP-435 STAGE SPEAKER SYSTEM

SEE YOUR DEALER TODAY TO ASSURE EARLY DELIVERY!

STERLING SALES & SERVICE, INC.
2019 Jackson Street, Dallas, Texas

MOVIE SUPPLY COMPANY
1318 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago, III.

CINEMATIC CORPORATION
122 Washington St., Bloomfield, New Jersey

EL PASO THEATRE EQUIPMENT COMPANY
7522 Monterey Drive, El Paso, Texas

Many other Dealers throughout the United States

HARRIS THEATRE SALES, INCORPORATED
321 S. Church St., Charlotte, North Carolina

THEATRE EQUIPMENT COMPANY WESTERN SERVICE & SUPPLY, INC.

1206 Cherry St., Toledo, Ohio 2120 Broadway, Denver 2, Colorado

THEATRE EQUIPMENT & SUPPLY CO.

1009 North 7th Street, Milwaukee 3, Wisconsin

AMERICA’S LEADING MANUFACTURER OF MAGNETIC FILM RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DEVICES

THEATRE

SOUWl

EQUIPMENT

MICROPHONE MIXERS

POiBTAItt

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REPRODUCERS

3-CHANIIEl MULTI CHANNEL STUDIO DUBBERS

REPRODUCtRS INTERLOCKED DUBBERS And RECORDERS

QUALin AMPLIFIERS for
MAGNETIC RECORDING and REPRDPUCTION

MAGNASYNC MANUFACTURING CO., LTD., P. 0. Box 707, North Hollywood, California

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Sharpest image,
edge-to-edge . . .
most uniform light
distribution . . .
on any screen !

• NORMAL 2D-3D

• EXPANDED 2D-3D

• CINEMASCOPE

Recommended by 20th Century-Fox for clearest,
sharpest, brightest CinemaScope screen images.
Complete range of focal lengths, for finest image
quality of any film, on any screen.

Bausch & Lomb

f/is

Projection Lenses

WRITE for new catalog
E-123. Bausch & Lomb Opti-
cal Co., 67928 St. Paul St.,
Rochester 2, N. Y.

BAUSCH 6- LOMB

SINCE WW18S3

people
0^ the Ykeatte

AUD OF BUSINESSES SERVING THEM

•

A number of appointments and promotions
have been announced recently in various
divisions of the Ampex Corporation, Redwood
City, Calif., manufacturers of magnetic record-
ing and sound equipment. Thomas L. Taggart,
comptroller for Ampex since 1951, has been
elected to the office of treasurer by the com-
pany board of directors, according to Board
Chairman T. Kevin Mallen. Mr. Taggart will
make his headquarters in Redwood City but
will continue as executive vice-president and
general manager of the Ampex Loud Speaker
Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary which
he has managed since its establishment last
year. (The subsidiary manufactures speakers
for the theatre sound systems of the parent
company.) Succeeding Mr. Taggart as comp-
troller is James E. Brown, chief accountant and
budget director, who acted as comptroller for

Thomas L. Taggart James E. Brown

several months. Mr. Brown joined Ampex
early in 1953 and prior to that time he served
in comptrolling and financial analysis capacities
with such organizations as the Pacific Coast
Borax Company, Public Utilities Commission
of Texas, the Texas Fund, Firestone Tire and
Rubber Company, etc. The appointment of
George A. Brettell as chief loudspeaker engi-
neer for the Ampex Loud Speaker Corporation
has been announced by Mr. Taggart. Mr. Bret-
tell took active part in the engineering projects
at Ampex Corporation which resulted in the
firm’s line of stereophonic sound systems for
the theatre. Prior to joining Ampex in 1953
he was in the sound engineering department of
20th Century-Fox Film Corporation and during
World War Two was with the U. S. Navy
Radio and Sound Laboratory at San Diego. A
native of Newark, N. J., Mr. Brettell holds
degrees from Lehigh University and the Cali-
fornia Institute of Technology. Two other ap-
pointments have been announced by Harrison
Johnston, general sales manager for Ampex
Corporation. John B. (Jack) Lang, formerly
with the Frank Edwards Company of San Fran-
cisco, has been named Ampex sales engineer
in the Ampex sound equipment division. Mr.
Lang has a background in manufacturing and
engineering as well as sales work at the factory,
jobber and retail level. Prior to joining Ed-
wards, he was sales manager for Wesley Ed-
mondson, Inc., retail appliance dealers in Hous-
ton, and product sales manager of the O. A.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

11'$ HERE

PlRMiLiiii

SCREEN

American and Canadian Patents Applied For

AFTER l'/2 YEARS OF TRIAL 6- ERROR
RESEARCH - - - PERMALUM SCREEN FOR
DRIVE-INS IS NOW ON THE MARKET

• • •

^04AJL AocUlaJde. are these

• PERMALUM will project flat, 3-D, Technicolor and Cinemascope pictures on flat or
curved screen towers.

^ There is a gain of three In light over your newly painted screen, designed to cover
the entire drive-ln viewing area, allowing shows to start earlier.

9 No painting — - manufactured of a non-corrosive, special alloy, extruded aluminum,
with a specially anodized finish.

No visible seams beyond the 1st ramp.

^ Fasten PERMALUM to existing screen facing, and on new drive-ins save buying the
solid facing needed for a painted screen and Install 2x4 lumber - 24 in. on center
as a fastening background.

PERMALUM costs only $1.70 per sq. ft. F.O.B. Milwaukee, Los Angeles, Philadelphia
or Toronto, Canada, and erection cost to date is 25c per sq. ft. It can be purchased
on a convenient time payment plan.

PERMALUM Is not a competitive product.

irs THE BEST ! ! ! ! Made by a company who has been successfully manufacturing for
theatres for 30 years.

May we suggest you ivrite us for an appointment to see pictures on Permalum at a Milwaukee Drive-In. If you should de-
cide to purchase a screen, we will pay your travel expenses incurred in coming to and from Milwaukee --

Distributed by: NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY or write direct to:

A?fv so?rs

PHONE SHERIDAN 4-6655
2159 S. KINNICKINNIC AVE.
MILWAUKEE 7, WISCONSIN

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Sutton Corporation, manufacturer of Vornado
products. He is a graduate of Notre Dame
University in electrical engineering. Bob Paul-
son has joined the New York district office of
Ampex as manager of audio sales. Previously
he was associated with the Tele Q Corporation
and Special Effects and Equipment, Inc., pro-

John B. Lang Bob Paulson

ducers and distributors of television and film
production equipment. Before that he served
as a division manager of Audio and Video
Products Corporation and as associate pro-
ducer-director for the Ered Waring Enterprises.
Mr. Paulson is a graduate of Dartmouth.

fV. C. DeVry and E. B. DeVry, who were
president and vice-president respectively of the
DeVry Corporation, Chicago, whose line of
35mm motion picture projection equipment has
been taken over by the Paromel Company,
Chicago, have announced an expansion in the
operations of their DeV'ry Technical Institute,
a television training center. The DeVrys re-
cently acquired a building for the Institute at
4141 West Belmont Avenue in Chicago which
has twice the space of the two buildings previ-
ously occupied. The DeVrys plan to make their
headquarters after April 15th at the Paromel
Company’s offices at 2048 West North Avenue.
They revealed previously that they have a
financial interest in Paromel. Jack Miller, who
formerly was associated with the DeVry Cor-
poration in sales and engineering, heads
Paromel.

Modernization of the Capitol theatre, St.
John, N. B., which was called the Imperial
when it opened in 1913, was recently completed
by the Eamous Players Corporation, Ltd.,
Toronto. Improvements included complete re-
seating with 1,629 auditorium chairs, new
entrance doors, a new box-office, a new refresh-
ment stand, relighting throughout and replace-
ment of equipment in the rest rooms.

The Valentine theatre. Defiance, Ohio, an
operation of the Mailers Brothers, Port Wayne,
Ind., was recently equipped for CinemaScope
by the Theatre Equipment Company, Toledo,
under the direction oi Al Boudouris, president.
The installation included 10 auditorium speakers
and was completed in three days.

Alex Mills has purchased the Dixie theatre
in Sylvania, Ga., from the Dixie Amusement
Company of Swaineshoro, Ga.

C. IV. Couick is the new owner of the Rex
theatre, Huntersville, N. C. He was formerly
with Stewart & Everett Theatres, Inc., Char-
lotte, N. C.

New marquees are now being installed at the
Oriental and Roosevelt theatres, Chicago.

Two new drive-ins are nearing completion in
the Denver area for opening this month — the
1,275-car Centennial, on the grounds of the
Centennial race track, Littleton, Colo., and the

Wadsworth walk-in drive-in with a capacity of
1,000 cars and 500 seats.

Mert Martin, formerly assistant city manager
at Salida, Colo., for the Atlas Theatre Corpora-
tion, Denver, has been promoted to be manager
of the Unique theatre, Gunnison, Colo., where
he succeeds Fay Body, who moves to the
Golden in Golden, Colo., replacing Harry
Ashton, who has resigned.

James Dowell of Davis City, Iowa, has pur-
chased the Earl theatre at Earlham, Iowa, and
plans to reopen it.

Lou Green has been named assistant manager
of Loew’s Poli College theatre. New Haven,
Conn.

Remodeling of the Murr theatre in Osceola,
Ark., including equipping for CinemaScope, is
reported by owner Moses Sliman.

David Kay has been named assistant manager
of the Paramount theatre, Miami, Fla., under
Charlie Whitaker. Mr. Kay replaces Jim
Martin, who resigned.

J. Robert Hoff, vice-president of the Ballan-
tyne Company, Omaha, has purchased the Air-
port drive-in there from Oscar C. Johnson of
Falls City, Neb.

Earl Smith, formerly manager of the Queen
theatre, Wilmington, Del., has been named gen-
eral manager in that city for the Harold S.
Eskin Amusement Enterprises, Inc., New York.

Ralph Brett, chief electrician at Loew’s State
theatre. Providence, R. L, since the house
opened in 1928, has retired.

O. G. Roaden of Loyall, Ky., has acquired the
Corlee theatre and Auburn drive-in in Cumber-
land, Ky., from the previous operator, M. K.
Murphy, who will hereafter devote his activities
to his theatre in Stone Gap, Va.

Recent remodeling of the Capitol theatre in
Des Moines, Iowa, included equipping for
CinemaScope and installation of new floors.

The Wapello at Wapello, Iowa, has been com-
pletely redecorated and reopened under the
management of Mrs. Mary Potter.

E. J. Kramer of Burlington, Iowa, recently
purchased the Winfield theatre at Winfield,
Iowa, from Mr. and Mrs. Dayle Allen.

Two new drive-in theatre projects have been
announced in Connecticut. They include a 650-
car unit in New London by the Groton Open
Air Theatres, Inc., of which J . Lawrence Peters
is president. An opening is planned for late
May. Also, Anthony and John Perri of New
Haven have received a permit to build a
drive-in theatre at Branford.

The Strand theatre in LePanto, Ark., has
been sold to W. C. Sumpter by Strand Enter-
prises.

George H. Goodwin has reopened the Swan
theatre in Bastrop, La.

Benjamin Seligman has resigned as assistant
manager of the Stanley Warner Grand theatre
in Wilmington, Del., with house manager Vin-
cent Olanin transferred to the circuit’s Warner
in West Chester, Pa.

Stanley Warner’s Metropolitan theatre in
Washington, D. C., is to be remodeled, includ-

"Wkete Sutf Jft"

M0TI06RAPH DEALERS

CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES; B. F. Shearer Company

1964 S. Vermont Ave.

SAN FRANCISCO: B. F. Shearer Company

243 Golden Gate Ave.

COLORADO

DENVER; Service Theatre Supply Co.

20M Broadway

GEORGIA

ATLANTA: Wil-Kin Theatre Supply, Ine.

150 Walton St., N. W.

ILLINOIS

CHICAGO: Gardner Theatre Service, Inc.

1235 S. Wabash Ave.

INDIANA

INDIANAPOLIS; Ger-Bar, Inc.

443 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 OUve 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 Paime 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 Mlltenberger St.

FORTY FORT: Vincent M. Tate

1620 Wyoming Ave.

TENNESSEE

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 PhlUlps Place
TORONTO, ONT.: General Theatre Supply Cou

861 Bay SI

VANCOUVER, B.C.: Dominion Theatre Equip.

847 Davie St.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

I?.

CAH NOW AFFORD

CinemaScoP^

INSTALLATION!

Leo T. Jones, New Star Theatre, 540 seats. Upper Sandusky, Ohio, who has installed Motio-
graph AAA Projectors and Motiograph Stereophonic Sound, says:

“My Motiograph Stereophonic Equipment is better than any I've
heard within miles of here, and I was able to run ‘THE ROBE’ to
better visual and audio results because of it.”

NOTE: FIRST WEEK’S GROSS WAS 515% ABOVE NORMAL.

Motiograph offers six models of Stereophonic Sound Equipment:

1 for theatres of 500 seats or less
I for theatres of 800 seats or less
1 for theatres of 800 to 1300 seats

1 for theatres of 1300 to 1900 seats
1 for theatres from 1 500 to 2200 seats
Another for theatres of 2200 to 5000 seats

Each model contains identical Motiograph AAA magnetic penthouse reproducers, a 4-channel preamplifier, a change-over switch and equalization
panel, a power supply horn switching panel, a system selector switch and a 4-channel monitor speaker, plus amplifier racks and other mounting
and connecting apparatus.

Each model has three power amplifiers which vary only in ampliher power output. Each power amplifier in the smaller systems has a power
output of 20 watts at less than two per cent harmonic distortion. The intermediate systems have three 35 watt and the largest systems three 70
watt power amplifiers.

All models employ three Altec Lansing “Voice of the Theatre” loud speaker systems. The size of the loud speaker systems furnished depends
upon the size of the theatre in which the equipment is to be employed.

Two sizes of auditorium speakers are furnished. The size and number of such speakers again depend upon the individual requirements of
the theatre in which the speakers are to be installed.

Motiograph stereophonic sound systems can be matched to any presently installed
regular theatre sound system. The Motiograph AAA Penthouse Reproducer may be used
with any modern projector mechanism.

J IrtV S"

rthcr jnoney-

MOTIOGRAPH. INC

MOTIOGRAPH
STEREOPHONIC
SOUND

FOR THE

DRIVE-IN

Let our experts explain how Motio-
graph cbn equip your Drive-In
Theatre to show "THE ROBE"
and other great Cinema-
scope productions.

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PROJECTORS . STEREOPHONIC SOUND EQUIPMENT

For List of Authorized Dealers See Opposite Page

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

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Easy assembly possible due to
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included with instructions. Lacing hooks instantly adjust-
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tension all around. Can be erected by non-skilled help
in 1 hour or less.

ADJUSTABLE. .Aluminum screens are highly reflective and
usually reciuirc some tilting for better liglit distribution to
balcony. Degree of tilt is dictated by refiectance factor of
screen surface. Our frame is immediately adjusted after
lacing and can be (hanged to meet (uiy future recjuireiueuts.

ing installation of a new marquee, seats, car-
peting and lights and renovation of the lobby.

A. B. Duke has announced plans for renovat-
ing the New theatre in Leonardtown, Md.
While this work is being done he will reopen
the St. Mary’s theatre there.

Paul Kesller, formerly manager of Rifkin's
Suffolk theatre, Holyoke, Mass., has been trans-
ferred to the circuit’s Meadow Glen drive-in,
Medford, Mass.

Sam Reickblttm is completely remodeling his
Columbia theatre, in East Liverpool, Ohio.

David Flexer of Flexer Theatres, Inc., Mem-
phis, Tenn., has announced the start of con-
struction of his new drive-in at New Albany,
Miss.

Gilbert Rounsaville has resigned as manager
of the Grand, Dixie and Buckskin theatres in
Holdenville, Okla.

Lee C. McFerrin has replaced Harry Buck
as assistant manager of the Fulton theatre in
Pittsburgh, Mr. Buck having been promoted to
manager of the State and Ohio theatres, in
Conneaut, Ohio. Mr. McFerrin was formerly
at the Paramount in Youngstown.

Robert Broad bent has been appointed city
manager in San Francisco for North Coast
Theatres, Seattle, by Sherrill Corwin, president.

Ed Lacliman, president of Lorraine Carbons,
Inc., of Boonton, N. J., recently made an ex-
tended trip covering Dallas, Tex., and the Mid-
west, calling on dealers and exhibitors with his
new, improved large-cored Lorraine “Orlux
Super-Charged” carbons, developed for Cinema-
Scope and 3-D projection and all wide-screen
systems.

•

NAMED TO GOVERNMENT POST

• LIGHT BUT RIGID. Once assembled, it maintains perfect

shape. Moves on casters or can be easily flown. 3.5' frame
weighs 750 lbs. Strong enough to extend in front of pro-
scenium without bracing to any wall. Used by most Holly-
w'ood studios.

OPTICALLY TRUE. Radius of curvature set at factory.

It never changes due to warp when tilted, therefore distor-
tion cannot be introduced. The curve is true and the screen
laces perfectly without stress or wrinkling.

RAYTONE SCREEN CORP.

165 CLERMONT AVENUE
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4635 WEST LAKE ST. CH 1C AGO 44, I LL.

George H. Roderick, formerly vice-president in
charge of operations tor the American Seating
Company, Grands Rapids, Mich., is congratulated
by John Slezak, Under-Secretary of the Army, upon
the former's appointment as Assistant Secretary of
the Army by President Eisenhower. Looking on is
Mrs. Roderick. Associated tor 33 years with
American Seating, Mr. Roderick is a graduate
of the University of Michigan with a degree in
mechanical engineering. He served in various engi-
neering positions until 1939 when he was assigned
to special defense projects. In 1943 he became
manager of war products and in this capacity
had charge of all war contracts for the company.
He headed the company's reconversion planning
committee in 1944 and in 1947 was made manager
of research and development and elected to a
vice-presidency and to membership on the board
of directors.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

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Meet Ray Crews, Vice President of
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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

for APRIL 1954

More Devices
To Establish
Wide-Screen

GEORGE SCHUTZ, Editor

EDITORIAL INDEX:

Page

STERiOPHONIC SOUND IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNIQUES, by

G/o Gagliardi 16

MAKING GROWTH OF THE ART COMPLETE WITH STEREOPHONIC SOUND.

by George Sehufi 17

ON THE HOUSE department:

WIDE-SCREEN'S NEW ADAPTABILITY 21

VISTAViSION: THE NEW PARAMOUNT SYSTEM, by Loren L. Ryder 22

AUDITORIUM REMODELING FOR THE WIDE PICTURE, by Ben Schlanger 26

THREE-CHANNEL SOUND FROM ONE OPTICAL TRACK 23

BETTER PROjECTION department:

THREE-CHANNEL SOUND FOR CINEMASCOPE AT DRIVE-INS 31

DRIVE-IN EQUIPPED FOR CINEMASCOPE: THE MOTOR-VU. SALT LAKE CITY... 36

ABOUT PRODUCTS 39

DRIVE-IN department:

WIDE-SCREEN VALUES AT DRIVE-INS: by Wilfred P. Smith 46

METHOD IN MANAGEMENT department:

A DICTIONARY OF MAINTENANCE IParf Three), by Curtis Mees, Fourteenth

Article of a Series on Motion Picture Theatre Management 49

CHARLIE JONES SAYS: What Theatres Need Most Is More Laughter and Tears 52

ABOUT PEOPLE OF THE THEATRE 8

is published the first week of each month, with the regular
monthly Issues, and an annual edition, the Market Guide Number, 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; HOllywood 7-2145.
MIDWEST: Urben Farley & Company, 120 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago; Financial 6-3074.

THE TECHNICAL movement
started last year grows and grows, con-
tinuing a coinage of process names which
keeps us mindful of the fact that the objec-
tive of it all is exploitable merchandise.

After several years of conditions which
made many exhibitors half-believe that
theatrical motion picture exhibition was
doomed to extinction by a medium which
could reproduce films in the home, theatre
operators were heartened by a surge of in-
dustrial energy directed toward advance-
ment of the art itself, so that it could
continue to require the facilities and en-
vironment of a public theatre.

The technical movement thus generated
has been astoundingly productive of ma-
terial progress in devices and applicable
know-how. In a matter of months, it
brought to the screen dramatic productions
in stereoscopy and laid the groundwork
for greater competence in that medium;
and concurrently it supplanted the original
shape of the picture and concepts of its
size with techniques which have given both
picture and sound increased conviction.

Now, following triumphs of Cinema-
Scope, come the Superscope method of
Joseph and Irving Tushinsky, to extend use
of the anamorphotic technique; and Vista-
Vision for adjustment of wide-screen to a
variety of conditions; plus Perspecta, which
does much the same for sound.

Announced in recent weeks for im-
mediate application, the latter group brings
the movement to grips with realities of the
business with which it could not be ma-
terially concerned at the outset. It a trend
toward standardization has not yet been
shaped, at any rate the practical conditions
are now being further developed for de-
termination of the faculties that standard-
ization should give the screen — whether,
indeed, there ought to be standardization
in the familiar terms of identical practice
for all.

In writing a piece about the problem
presented by obsolete and shabby theatres,
for the March issue of BETTER THEATRES,
we referred — on our typewriter — to the in-
dustry's "Great Depression" of 1948-53.
But the gremlins of printing changed the
eight to a zero. We here note the error for
the record. — G. S.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Stereophonic Sound
in the Development
of New Techniques

An evaluation of the new tech-
nical ni€»venient, and the place
of stereophonic niethi^ds in it

NE OF the principal rea-
sons lor an industry’s continued success is
the absorption and incorporation of all new
modern manufacturing techniques and the
continuous improvements of its product s
performance. When such products become
retarded in progress and static in quality,
the inevitable result is a diminishing of
public acceptance and consequently a de-
crease in their sales value.

The motion picture industry is no ex-
ception to this rule. Let us lock back at
its history. Motion pictures grew from
infancy in the first two decades of this cen-
tury, to at least adolescence in the early
1920’s. They were a new art in entertain-
ment, and this entertainment was available
to everyone, regardless of means and re-
gardless of location.

Little progress was made in this period
in the development of equipment for pre-
senting better performances. Plots and
productions were improved, projectors were
changed from hand to motor operation, hut
by and large technical improvement was
slow and meagre. The industry had a com-
plete monopoly of the cheap entertainment
field ; no efforts were necessary, hence tech-
nical progress was not encouraged.

Then came the radio invasion. This new
form of free and novel entertainment be-
came quickly available to the general pub-
lic. A competitor had arisen in the amuse-
ment field and box-offices across the land
quickly began to feel the effects. The in-
dustry strove by means of more richly fur-
nished theatres, some improvements in pic-
ture size and brightness, and more lavish
productions to woo back its public. These
efforts, in themselves, were not found suffi-

cient. But the very research that had pro-
duced radio gave the motion picture its
greatest advance. The “talkies” were born.

The success of the sound picture is an
historical fact. Great fortunes were made
in the newly energized motion picture in-
dustry. Little by little improvements were
made in the techniques of recording and re-
production, and the motion picture regained
its supremacy and its practical monopoly of
the entertainment field.

We all remember those beginnings. P'or
several years many die-hards questioned
whether the “talkies” were here to stay.
They spoke of the inferiority of “canned”
music and speech. Many exhibitors refused
to install the new sound equipment, denied
their necessity. They claimed that the pub-
lic was not satisfied with the mechanical
voice of the screen and would shortly reject
it in favor of the familiar, more “intimate”
silent technique. Among engineers, con-
troversies raged about sound-on-disk, sound-
film, horn type and cone type speakers, vari-
able area and variable density recording.

COMPLACENCY— THEN TV!

As time progressed certain major im-
provements were developed and suggested
by the technical departments of the various
motion picture companies. From the late
1920s and through the 1930s wide film
projection was attempted, stereophonic
sound was demonstrated, and stereoscopic
motion pictures were promisingly presented
in the laboratories.

I'hese spectacular developments, how-
ever, were not brought to the public. The
necessity was not apparent. The motion

By CIO CACLIARDI

picture industry was prosperous, so why
bother with such disturbing innovations?

Then, after World War II, came tele-
vision !

History repeated itself. Television, with
its free home entertainment, challenged the
motion picture theatre with both screen and
speaker. Within a couple of years, box-
office receipts fell to alarming lows, and the
entertainment pattern and customs of the
American public began to change radically.
Something quite drastic had to be done to
the motion picture so that it m.ight meet
this new opposition successfully.

d'he industry has been extremely for-
tunate that the engineering facilities and
know-how at its disposal are many times
greater than those of the 1920’s. Harness-
ing this reservoir of knowledge, the motion
picture producers have been able to develop,
with astounding response to a desperate sit-
uation, stereoscopic pictures, wide-screen
techniques and stereophonic sound. These
already have regenerated the business.

THE MOVEMENT BEGINS

Stereoscopic pictures started this great
new large scale crusade for motion picture
renovation. Certain technical deficiencies
have prevented this form from receiving
continuous acclaim, but these deficiencies
are being remedied. Synchronization of the
two pictures will he positively registered
when both pictures are printed on the same
film. Sufficient brightness for very large
3D pictures will be obtained when the Vec-
tographic process is perfected. Polarizing
view'ers already have been markedly im-
proved.

The wide-screen movement was sparked
by Cinerama. It was suggested that pic-
tures could be widened by reducing the
height of the film gate aperture; then 20tb
Century-Fox announced adoption of the
anamorphotic method, using compression
and expansion lenses to obtain a screen
image approximately two and a half times
wider than it is high.

It takes only a few visits to theatres pre-
senting the wider picture properly to make
one dissatisfied with the older methods of
projection. The point has been raised that
many theatres are too small, or otherwise
{Continued on page 34)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

By GEORGE SCHUTZ

Editor of BETTER THEATRES

1i)

Making Growth of
the Art Complete with
Stereophonic Sonnd

How multiple-track technique enters inevitably
into considerations of technical progress
submitted to the industry by wide-screen.

E WOULD like to believe
that resistance to stereophonic sound is a
natural reaction setting in after the first
fever of “new techniques.” What seized
the industry last year was much too sudden
and violent to avoid a relapse. Great ex-
pectations were bound to give way to dis-
may when projects were resolved into dol-
lars. Perhaps the issue is no more than one
of time to absorb this new pressure of tech-
nical progress.

Quickly indeed has the industry accepted
the larger, wider picture, and that alone is
calling for expenditures large enough to
trouble many exhibitors after some five or
six years of box-office drought. It is easily
understandable that they should be in a
mood to settle for less than the w'hole hog.

We don’t see that attitude, however, as
one to discourage consistent pursuit of the
objectives sketched out last year. Half-
measures, temporary substitutes may be
warranted' by immediate conditions. The
only unfortunate outcome of that would be
to let them pull the business into the same
kind of rut it has just climbed out of.

You can reasonably say that you cannot
find or risk the money necessary to equip
for stereophonic sound but one is distorting
the facts to suit one’s convenience if it is
added, “Besides, stereophonic sound doesn’t
mean anything anyway.” Who said so, the
public? We don’t think the public has
separated it for specific appraisal. Besides
the industry has but recently entered upon
its use, experimenting, sometimes resorting
to new and tentative tricks of pseudo-
stereopbonic, limiting its possibilities by
sticking cautiously to familiar formats of
cinematography. Give the creative fellows
time and experience!

And give the public time for condition-
ing. Some of the most memorable motion
pictures ever made were silents. We doubt
the theatre has ever thrilled an audience
more than millions were thrilled by “The
Birth of a Nation.” Would that same pro-
duction be as effective today? We doubt it.
Even with other things equal, lack of
sound would render the action too absurd
for conviction. Yet you cannot exploit the
mere fact of sound today, as “talkies” were
advertised a quarter of a century ago. It

is now an inherent quality of a motion pic-
ture performance. Accepting it as such, the
public has become conditioned to the man-
ner of its use and to its qualities.

The movie public doesn’t know what it
likes. It only knows luhen it likes. An
industry protects its market by making its
product better. It introduces improvements
to replenish demand — demand that comes
only after tasting. A symbol of Henry
Ford’s genius is the Model T. But Fords
today have automatic transmission — plus
power-steering and push-button windows.

STEREOPHONIC FUNCTION

The simple commercial fact of stereo-
phonic sound is that it is better than one-
channel sound.

That fact can’t be ignored. It could be
rejected, but if it were, we are convinced
that it would always be around to haunt
the business.

Stereophonic methods have, indeed, been
nagging the industry for years. Many
sound engineers and creative minds of mo-
tion picture production long have thought
that it must come one day. Simply because
it is better.

Its possibilities were fascinating enough
to produce a “Fantasia,” without wide-
screen cinematography to suggest it. When
“Cinerama” came, stereophonic sound was
part and parcel of it. Regardless of lateral
“directionalism,” wide - screen technique
provides stereophonic sound at last with the

possibility of pictorial volume, the range of
movement, the differentiation of material
which stereophonic (as distinct from bin-
aural) sound requires to realize its fullest
impact.

Because it is the function most readily
identified, lateral localization of sound —
so-called “directionalism” — tends to be the
only value generally attributed to stereo-
phonic sound ; and because a motion picture,
as typically produced under the persistent
influence of practices established to meet
limitations of screen size, precautiously uses
sight to ensure such localization regardless
of the distance of pictorial source from a
reproducer at the middle of the screen,
stereophonic sound is often regarded as of
no value unless the picture is of relatively
tremendous dimensions, therefore meaning-
less to the average theatre, and ridiculous
in a small one.

One couldn’t ask for a better demonstra-
tion of the fallacy in that appraisal than
what has been done recently at drive-ins.
A few weeks ago at Brunswick, N. J., for
example, sound by two speakers in a car
was compared with that of the usual one.
Mind you, these were speakers of relatively
small frequency range of the regular in-car
type. And of course the sound came from
only a few away from the listener, while
the action was a couple of hundred feet or
more in the distance. Yet the sound seemed
more realistic. More than one person at
the demonstration testified to that. Why?

Greater fidelity, for one thing. The

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

Stereophonic Recording as a Source of Greater Realism

[Appraising stereophonic sound, partieuiariy when it is given
the fullest practicable application in recording, a paper read at
the April 1953 convention of the Society of Motion Picture
and Television Engineers, by Lorin D. Grignon, 20th Century-Fox
recording engineer, is excerpted below as a footnote to Mr.
Gagliardi's adjoining discussion from the point of view of a
projection engineer. — ED.]

Greatly improved sound quality can be obtained by the use
of stereophonic methods. It is easily demonstrable that
recordings made in sets which give unnaturally "boomy" or
otherwise poor results monaurally, result in records which more
nearly reproduce the true conditions in that set when recorded
stereophonically. This is still true when disregarding subject
sound placement.

•

Many more illusions can be created by sound alone, open-
ing new dramatic, effective avenues for motion picture story
presentation.

With sufficient experience and certain desirable auxiliary
equipment, production cost need not be greatly increased. . . .
Very little difficulty has been experienced in lighting, even

though three or more microphones might be used. There are
times when the sound engineer has considerable latitude and
can ease the lighting problem of the cameraman. There are
other times when very little latitude exists and the sound
engineer can then give away very little to the cameraman.
Good co-operation and understanding by both parties is
demanded.

•

Re-recording, technically, is no more difficult than at
present, but having introduced one additional degree of
freedom, more manipulation will be required. Many stock
library monaural tracks may be used, provided equipment is
available for controlling placement of the desired sound. . . .
Greatly increased showmanship can sometimes be achieved
if specific effects are stereophonically recorded for the scene.

It is concluded that stereophonic recording can be used for
motion pictures and will provide a superior sound presentation
which is one step closer to technical perfection and realism
on the screen. Unfortunately, stereophonic sound cannot be
introduced overnight, but it can be made available to the
industry if wanted.

two-speaker sound came from magnetic
tracks (the set-up used CinemaScope
prints), 'rhe single speaker reproduced
one optical track.

Pertinent also, however, is presence of
two sources of sound, with sufficient dis-
placement to strengthen differences in the
hearing of one ear compared with that of
the other. With two normal ears we are
accustomed to hearing two sets of sounds.
That is how we locate the source of sounds
(doing so only approximately — for exact-
ness at some distance, sight too is needed) ;
and two-point hearing, combining varia-
tions of identical original tones, is natural
to us.

Thus it is reasonable that two speakers
reproducing identical signals, but from two
directions, with the possibility of differences
in arrival time and of different teverberant
influences imposed by different locations
with respect to the listener and surround-
ing surfaces, could produce conditions of
hearing more like those to which we are
habituated than a single set of those same
tones, from one source, could do ; hence the
brain interprets the composite sounds as
realistic.

It is the business of stereophonic record-
ing, of course, to reinforce the function of
multiple-point reproduction by giving each
speaker system its own track, with varia-
tion of tones created naturalistically
through microphone placement, or by ma-
nipulation of the recording equipment (ad-
justment of volume or introduction of time
lag by signal displacement on the tracks).

In this way stereophonic recording

(which of course is meaningless without
corresponding reproduction) can readily
affect sound localization without absolute
dependence on pictorial manipulation to in-
sure participation of sight. Thus action is
liberated. And sound itself, alone, can be
used narrationally as dramatic material may
indicate, extending the power of suggestion
which has made the screen the greatest of
all story tellers.

FURTHER AIDS TO REALISM

Furthermore, with respect to “direction-
alism,” sound needs to be localized on the
screen not only across the width, but in
depth, and this requires stereophonic tech-
nique to make it more than an obvious
“theatrical” trick disturbing to the illusion.

Worth noting, too, is the fact that stereo-
phonic technique allows volume to be in-
creased without the harshness that has
caused some people to complain that the
sound is too loud. Giving the hearing
mechanism conditions simulating those to
which it is habituated probably bears upon
that. Another factor may be the cancella-
tion in one channel of defects in another.

In any case, it has been demonstrated,
through careful experimentation, that most
people can enjoy music reproduced by at
least two speaker systems at a higher volume
level than the same music reproduced on a
single channel. Directors can use that re-
action occasionally to get extraordinary
impact.

In considering all of the devices by which
the motion picture achieves its conviction,

it is to be borne in mind that each operates
with all the others to create an illusion.
Let one thing be off key and the others lose
some of their effect. Give the mind con-
sistent stimulation without pronounced in-
vasion of extraneous data and it will do a
swell job of believing what you want it to.
That is why a motion picture that pretty
well fills the effective field of vision pro-
duces a sharper sense of perspective — three
dimensions — than the postage-stamp variety
sharing perception with a lot of architec-
tural gimcracks. Any gain in the natural-
ism of sound helps to make the whole per-
formance convincingly realistic.

What can be lost sight of, at a time of
decision under urgent economic compulsion,
is applications of a new technique which
may not even be anticipated on the basis of
established practice. By what are some of
us judging the value of stereophonic sound?
By its application to motion picture mate-
rial and technique as we have had them.
Give creators of motion pictures the larger
performance area and deny them compar-
able scope in sound technique and they will
of course gear their methods to those con-
ditions. But what might they be able to
produce if they were released from the old
limitations in both directions? Stereo-
phonic recording adds to the chores of pro-
duction, naturally, but to no comparable
degree that simple sound did in the first
place.

At the theatre end, the only material
difficulty is injected by the cost of equip-
ment. Stereophonic sound calls for multiple
{Continued on page 34)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

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On the Mom

editorial reports aod commeot on events, trends, people and npinion

WIDE-SCREEK’S NEW ADAPTABILITY

THE MOST recent develop-
ments in wide-screen technique offer some
further satisfaction to veteran advocates of
tlie Big Picture, without, however, helping
much, if at all, to resolve their arguments
as to what it eventually will, or should,
become. The gusty month of March brought
in, not altogether freshly but with new
authority :

1. Anamorphotic systems that start with
printing, not shooting, to make the advan-
tages of compression-expansion available in
various aspect ratios.

2. A method of distributing single optical
track sound to three speaker channels with
automatic control of volume in each for di-
rectional emphasis according to a pattern
prescribed in production.

3. Paramount’s VistaVision, which al-
lows the exhibitor to choose whether he
wants either or both of the techniques noted
above, or to rely merely on height masking
at the aperture, adding nothing to his
equipment (except to install, of course, pro-
jection lenses for his new picture width,
perhaps also lamps to provide additional
light that the new picture may require.)

The manner in which VistaVision prints
are produced to provide this flexibility of
application is described by Loren L. Ryder,
head of Paramount Pictures’ Engineering
and Sound Department, on page 22.

The Perspecta sound system, by which
an optical track can be given three-channel
reproduction, is explained on page 28.

Of the tw'o new anamorphotic methods
demonstrated recently in New York, that
developed by Joseph and Irving Tushinsky,
technologists at the RKO Radio studio,
who call it Superscope, will be the subject
of an article by Joseph Tushinsky in the
May issue of Better Theatres.

Similar in application is the Super Panatar
lens of Robert E. Gottschalk, which has
been placed in production by Panavision,
Inc., with distribution by the Radiant
Manufacturing Company of Chicago (“As-
trolite” screens). Like the Tushinsky opti-

cal system, the Super Panatar uses an ar-
rangement of prisms (as opposed to the
cylindrical lenses of CinemaScope) to com-
press the photographic material and to
expand it in projection.

Such a method allows wide-screen tech-
nique to take advantage of the anamorphic
photograph with considerable flexibility and
widened area of application. The Tushin-
sky system, for example, can produce an
anamorphic release print from any master
print of suitable photographic quality re-
gardless of how it was shot, by blowing it
up to make a new master, then compressing
the material in a new release print. Thus
reissues of productions made conventionally
can be printed anamorphically for wide-
screen presentation, though with possible
inferiority to pictures shot for the purpose
because they would not have the advantage
of wide-angle lenses for large-volume scenes.

SCREEN LIGHT ADVANTAGE

The significance of the method to pic-
tures produced for wide-screen presentation
is indicated by the use Paramount is making
of it to give its VistaVision complete adapt-
ability. Paramount is shooting all produc-
tions with camera allowance for aspect
ratios greater than that of the Academy
standard frame (1.33/1). Prints made by
the Tushinsky process will be supplied,
however, so as to allow theatres equipped
with Tushinsky projection lenses to project
in a higher ratio with use of all, or substan-
tially all, of the light at the aperture.

In short, the Tushinsky system takes ad-
vantage of the efficiency of anamorphotic
compression and expansion with adapt-
ability to a variety of aspect ratios readily
contrived through printing rather than
cinematography. It is to be appreciated
that a prime virtue of anamorphotic prints
is their relatively efficient use of available
light in projection. Much, and potentially
all, of the increased width of the picture is
realized purely optically. Aperture masking

can change picture proportions, but just as
much lamp output is required as would be
needed to put the entire frame on the screen.

Another advantage relative to light sub-
mitted in favor of applying the anamor-
photic method only at the print stage, is
that anamorphic cinematography requires
a higher level of set illumination. So long
as there was enough light, without distor-
tion, that of course would be a matter of
production cost or convenience.

While proportions of the projected pic-
ture may be changed in the theatre through
mechanical adjustment of the prismatic sys-
tem, the anamorphic print is of course ex-
panded in the same ratio as it was com-
pressed. Or substantially so — Messrs. Tush-
insky say that you can cheat on the original
ratio to the extent of about 10% before
the audience becomes aware of distortion.

All of these more recent developments
supply affirmation of the larger, wider pic-
ture as a basic change in motion picture
technique. Production is committed to
wide-screen ; theatres not yet equipped for
it will have to do so or become steadily
different from the norm. In time, when
production technique may proceed without
reference to any other conditions of exhibi-
bition, a good presentation of all but old
product may be otherwise impossible.

That still could leave considerable room,
however, for variation in wide-screen tech-
nique. The Todd-AO project in 70mm
film is still to be heard from. The Tushin-
sky’s of Superscope are working on a cam-
era of MGM sponsorship which would
vary the approach of Paramount and
Todd-AO by stretching the negative image
entirely across the film strip, eliminating
some sprocket holes to do so.

As for sound, will it be optical or mag-
netic, one-track or stereophonic with one
channel or more? Or will it be at least
two combinations of these, with theatres
taking their pick according to their needs?

This year is starting out as if it were to
bring us close to an answer.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Visia Vision

The New Paramount !§»Tstem

The method of wide-screen photography
and printing employing a horizontal nega-
tive, adopted for all production by Para-
mount Pictures, described in the first of
three articles —

By LOREN L. RYDER

Head of Paramount Engineering & Recording

istaVision is a new
simple, compatible and flexible overall sys-
tem of producing, release-printing, and ex-
hibiting motion pictures. It will give to
every theatre the world over the finest
possible quality on the largest possible
screen at the lowest possible cost.

In introducing VistaVision, Paramount
has introduced the technique of optical re-
duction from a large negative image to the
standard release print image. 1 his is the
most important and distinctive feature of
VistaVision. It is VistaVision. It is the
feature which we believe others must follow
if they are to reduce grain, eliminate fuzzi-
ness and gain bigger, brighter and better
pictures.

Larger screens and larger pictures, such
as the old Magnascope, have always been
possible. The limiting factors have been
picture quality and adequate screen illumi-
nation. The metalized screens (which were

introduced for 3D) and new

projector lamp houses have
helped screen illumination.

VistaVision is the first pro-
cess to make a noteworthy
and immediately apparent
improvement in picture qual-
ity. VistaVision improves the
front and side seat viewing,
whereas all other processes
diminish the value of these
seats.

In balancing the overall
system to this new level of
quality, we are making sev-
eral changes. Most of these
changes simplify the proce-

dures, and most of these changes are made
during production and release printing,
not at the theatres. VistaVision release
prints will play in any theatre any-
where in the world with an improvement
in picture quality. Some improvement will
be apparent even on the old “postage
stamp” screens in theatres where not one
cent has been spent to improve the presenta-
tion. Theatres that have large seamless
screens and good projection equipment will
gain full advantage of VistaVision without
further change or expenditure.

Paramount makes no demand on any
theatre, but there is one thing on which
there is complete agreement among all
studios and all exhibitors : big screens are
here to stay. They have brought a new
look to motion pictures, a permanent new
look. Paramount earnestly urges that every
exhibitor who has not already done so
install the largest feasible seamless screen

both as to height and width. Our objective
is to fill this screen with a clear, sharp and
bright picture. Paramount urges that
every exhibitor have good standard projec-
tion equipment, good standard type lenses,
and adequate screen illumination.

VistaVision is a flexible system and it is a
compatible system. The picture can play
in any aspect ratio from 1.33/1, through
1.66/1, 1.85/1, up to 2/1. It plays best
in ratios close to 1.85/1.

For the exhibitors who wish complete
flexibility. Paramount suggests the purchase
of variable prismatic expander lenses, such
as those manufactured by the Tushinsky
Brothers.

For those exhibitors who wish a stereo-
phonic sound effect. Paramount suggests
the purchase of dimensional sound control
units and supplementary loudspeakers if
they are not already installed. The pur-
chase of such equipment is not required for
VistaVision and is optional rvith the ex-
hibitor.

There is one point on which Paramount
is emphatic. Paramount pictures are not to
be played in an aspect ratio greater than
2/1. Paramount pictures are photographed
with height which gives them stature and
an artistic proportion that is lost by reduc-
ing screen height.

Briefly, the VistaVision process includes
new wider angle lenses to give greater
scope on the big screens ; new cameras
through which the 35mm negative travels
horizontally, eight sprocket holes per frame
(instead of four), giving a negative image

I t • •

I ■ ■ • • I J • • ■ • ■ I

A strip of VistaVision negative (above, full-siie) showing
placement horizontally on film. At right the same material is
shown in a full-size reproduction of the 35mm. release print.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10, 1954

WHY STRONG LAMPS

are used with most

CinemaScOPE

presentations

Strong Lamps are Different Becanse—

ONLY STRONG HAS A LIGHTRONIC

CRATER-POSITIONING SYSTEM

A sincere effort has been expended to the end of attaining
near perfection in the presentation of this new projection
technique. Best possible screen lighting has been a major
objective — the most light, evenly distributed, of constant
intensity and unchanging color value.

These exacting high standards have been realized with the
development of Strong's exclusive Lightronic crater-position-
ing system which automatically maintains the position of the

positive arc crater at the EXACT focal point of the reflector.
Manual adjustments, which at best lead to uncertain results,
have been made entirely unnecessary.

The positive and negative carbons are advanced by sep-
arate motors, the speeds of which are governed by the Bi-
metal Lightronic Tube. Once the arc has been struck, the
crater position and gap length are maintained automatically.

THAT’S WHY ONLY STRONG LAMPS
ARE USED ON MOST

CiNemaScoPE

INSTALLATIONS

Send today for full details on the
Strong Super “135” and Mighty “90”
projection arc lamps.

THE STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION

“The World's Largest Manufacturer of Projection Arc Lamps”

1 City Park Avenue Toledo 2, Ohio

Please send free literature on Strong Super "135" and Mighty "90" projection
lamps.

NAME

THEATRE

STREET

CITY & STATE

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

EMULSION

SIDE UP TRAVEL

fnnnnnnnnn □ o n n n n ri)

0‘

L472 X ,997 INCHES

(□□□□□□ u u QTJO U U U U/

FIGURE I — VistaVision horizontal large image negative. See text.

with an area over two-and-one-half times
the area of the standard negative image.
The picture negative is Eastman Mazda
color-taking stock. It is processed by
Technicolor and optically reduced directly
from the negative to the Technicolor mat-
rix, which in turn is used to stamp out the
release print by the imbibition process.

There will be two types of release prints
— (1) the VistaVision standard release
prints which will play in all theatres ; and
(2) the Vistaf'ision squeezed release prints,
which can be used in theatres that are
equipped with variable prismatic expander
lenses.

All release prints will have a single
photographic sound track that will play on
any standard sound reproducer the world
over. These same prints will also carry a
directional control signal in the sound track
area which will in turn be picked up in
those theatres that are equipped for dimen-
sional sound. The control unit will then
direct the sound to the proper loudspeakers
in the proper volume ratio, giving the new
dimensional sound effectiveness to the pic-
ture.

The squeeze ratio in tlie Paramount
squeezed release prints is different than the
squeeze ratio used by CinemaScope, there-
fore these prints will not play on Cinema-
Scope lenses. Paramount does not con-

template the release of any pictures with
stereophonic sound, either with separate
magnetic him, or by the four-track method.
Further, Paramount does not contemplate
releasing any prints having the Fox-East-
man narrow sprocket holes.

PRODUCTION TECHNIQUE

The technique of picture shooting with
the VistaVision camera is the same as with
any standard camera. The light level used
on interior sets is between 350 and 600
foot-candles ; with most shots running be-
tween 400 and 500 foot-candles. This is
the same light level that has been in use at
the Paramount studio for nearly a year.
The lenses are stopped to f ;2.8 and f :3.2.

At the present time Paramount is using
cameras which were made by William P.
Stein in 1926 for a two-frame color system.
The motor drive and many features of
these cameras have been modernized so as
to gain good registration and film move-
ment. The cameras are rotated on their
sides and the aperture plate has been
opened up for the double frame negative
image. A new wide angle view finder has
been adapted to the camera and operates
with vertical rather than horizontal
parallax.

Paramount has four of these cameras

which have been used as an expedient in the
shooting of “White Christmas,” “The Big
Top,” “Strategic Air Command” and sub-
sequent pictures, until other cameras are
available. Technicolor Is modifying a
number of their three-strip cameras for
VdstaVision double-frame horizontal ex-
posure of a single negative. These cameras
will be available shortly as a further ex-
pedient to gain immediate production by the
VistaVision process.

Complete camera specifications on a pro-
posed new camera were mailed last October
to all camera manufacturers. We are ad-
vised that Mitchell, Bell and Howell and
the Producers Service Company will be
making cameras available for Paramount
and others in the Industry. An effort is
being made to relieve the present critical
camera shortage by working out modifica-
tions for the standard NC and BNC
cameras so as to have double-frame film
movements.

Persons outside of Paramount who are
Interested In the purchase of cameras should
make their inquiries directly to the camera
companies, and any orders for cameras
should be placed with these companies.
Paramount wishes to encourage others in
the use of VistaVision cameras and will
supply copies of the new specifications to
any person or company having a bona fide
interest m camera design.

CAMERA LENSES

With respect to camera lenses. Para-
mount has found that standard motion pic-
ture lenses of 75mm and up have adequate
field coverage for use on the double-frame
camera. High quality Eelca type lenses
are used for all of the shorter focal lengths.
This includes lenses down to 24mm, which
will give a photographic angle of coverage
slightly above 75 degrees.

Improved lenses are being designed which
will Include lenses of still shorter focal
length. It is the rvriter’s opinion, however,
that we are gaining an adequate angle of
coverage. The 75-degree angle is wider
than that used in any other motion picture
process, except Cinerama and Todd-AO.
The area of negative film exposure is shown
in Figure 1. The film is standard 35mm
negative exposed horizontally.

As indicated earlier in this article, the
most important feature of VistaVision is
the large negative and its optical reduction
to the standard print. In the V^istaVision
process the large negative can either be
accomplished by using a special wide film
negative with the subsequent photographic
reduction, or by the horizontal eight-
sprocket-hole film movement as herein ex-
plained.

Paramount has selected the eight-
sprocket-hole method. Tests indicate that
as we increase the size of the negative, we

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

The Paramount VistaVision camera (pictured from
the cameraman's viewpoint) which is presently in
use. See text for details.

improve picture resolution in the plane of
focus and grain size reduction, but beyond
a certain point we tend to lose depth of
field. We believe that in our use of the
VistaVision process we have selected the
best ratio of negative area to positive area
for motion picture making.

We have established the negative width
for optimum results, taking into account
the image reduction factor and wide-angle
photography. At this width we have gained
slightly in depth of field. The VistaVision
system has a large gain in depth of field if
the image height is maintained the same as

in standard photography. The finders on
the VistaVision cameras carry a hairline
framing marking in the aspect ratio of
1.66/1. There will also be a frame line
marking for the 1.33/1 aspect ratio.

The cameramen are instructed to com-
pose for a loose (meaning adequate head-
room) 1.66/1 picture. A picture composed
in this way will play equally well at
1.85/1 ; it will play very satisfactorily at
2/1 and it can be played at the old standard
of 1.33/1.

'File VistaVision cameras will be used
for all future Paramount black-and-white
pictures as well as color pictures. It is
contemplated that we shall derive the same
benefit on black and white pictures that we
are now gaining in color photography.

Paramount has already photographed
background projection, inserts, special ef-
fects, miniatures, etc., with the VistaVision
camera. We also expect to make matte
shots, and we see no reason why we should
not gain the same improvement in all types
of special effects photography.

The production picture dailies are op-
tically printed directly from the large color
negative to the standard 35mm image size.
The reduction ratio is 1.63/1. Eastman
color stock is now being used for all daily
prints. (See Figure 2 for size of print
image.) The editorial and studio handling
of these prints is exactly the same as the
previous handling of daily, except that
special negative numbers are placed on both
print and negative for future negative cut-
ting. The special numbering may be
eliminated when we have time to modify
a printer so as to print-through the negative
numbers.

In our work with stereophonic sound we
have found that it is overbearing and gives
too much effect of movement for front seat
{Continued on page 48)

That our four-track
stereophonic sound system
would receive acclaim from
theatre showmen like
Wolf, Reade, Dipson, Rembusch

and Shor.

And we’re still
running around
with a warm feeling
since companies like
20th-Century Fox approved it
for their Cinemascope.

We had hoped that people would
find out how good it was
and that they would say that
it met all their requirements
for superb sound systems.

Maybe the price helped to
warm them up, too,
because when folks check up,
they’re immediately flabergasted
that it begins at $3195.

That’s why we’re making our
whole sales story
just this simple.

Look ’em all over, then
check Ballantyne before
you buy.

The BALLANTYNE Company

1 71 2 Jackson Street Omaha, Nebrasko

Experimental and provisional types ot cameras under development for possible application to the Vista-
Vision production. The conventional type is shown at left, the cartridge loader type is at right above;
the butterfly type at right below. See text for details.

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

By BEN SCHLANCER

Theatre Architect and Consultant

Auditorium Remodeling
for the Wide Picture

Presenting a screen setting readily adaptable as a first step in essential modernization.

CUeiAlN FOR.
masking CHAN6F-S

MAIM

CURTAIN

.;^tsiAMOR.PH!C PlCTUl^e--
rgxAUpAR.D PlCTUR.e.

Bin Section orawinGt- ^

N&w Platform

FLAN

The setting (sketched in perspective in top drawing) has been devised to integrate the new performance
area into the auditorium under structural conditions commonly encountered, with surrounding surfaces to
cover existing architectural features which invade perception of the picture. Elements A and B are such
surfaces at sides and top; they can be made of asbestos board on metal furring. The side pieces also
provide slots tor both a main curtain and a masking curtain (C) for variation of picture width (track
location at T). The top border can be supported by angle irons (D) suspended from the ceiling.

WITH THE new motion
picture techniques having first claim upon
available money, the problem of outmoded,
shabby theatres is likely to compel a highly
selective treatment. Last month we sub-
mitted some devices of immediate and ob-
vious effect in renovating entrance and
foyer areas. In the auditorium the new
picture scheme commands first attention.

In the auditorium the minimum of work
that can be done in most instances is to
create a fresh atmosphere and a suitable
setting for the enlarged picture. Such work
rvould be to revise the room lighting, re-
paint as necessary, and provide a new archi-
tectural setting for the large screen presen-
tation. A setting for the screen is shown
in the accompanying drawings. Construc-
tion is of lightweight steel framing and in-
combustible asbestos board facing.

The frame consists of two flanking py-
lons at either side of the screen, and an
angular top framing piece. This top mem-
ber will require some intermediate sup-
ports to keep it level, and for this purpose
steel cable supported from overhead con-
struction can be used, and it will not be
visible to the audience. The asbestos board
surfacing will require painting.

Because of the increased screen size and
the added area of the framework of this
design, the total screen-and-setting in-
stallation would be large enough to dom-
inate the visual field of the audience, and
it is this prominence which makes it pos-
sible to minimize the amount of work to
be done to the rest of the auditorium sur-
face. The enlarged picture of course
changes the sightlines radically, hence calls
for revision of the seating plan if and when
new chairs are to be installed.

Repainting of remaining auditorium
surfaces should be done in a monotone
effect in order to strengthen attention on
the screen area. All lighting fixtures ex-
posed on wall and ceiling surfaces should
be eliminated, and concealed lighting de-
vices should be used which will keep all
secondary light from falling on existing
decoration. The larger screens, with bright-
er picture illumination, give a dim and
evenly diffused glow to the surfaces of the
auditorium, thereby eliminating the need
for exposed wall and ceiling fixtures.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

We were at breakfast when the mailman brought a letter
from Homer Tegtmeier of the B. F. Shearer Company telhng
me they were sending me a sample of Heywood-Wakefield’s
finest contribution to theatre seating luxury — a rocking
lounge chair. I didn’t even stop to wipe the egg off my chin
before unzippering that crate. There ’twas, some 50 pounds
of rare physical comfort encased in foam rubber and covered
with chartreuse upholstery. One sit and I saw how a seat
like this was capable of converting the most carping movie
critic into an enthusiastic and blatant encomiast. No picture
could be other than praiseworthy when seen from a chair
hke this. I reclined and relaxed while my vertebra twisted
and squirmed in search of faults. There were none. Here
was the ideal spot to plant my assumings and develop my
asser tings for chronicling in this column. This was as nice a
Christmas present as anybody could possibly hope for.

picture could be
other than praiseworthy
when seen from
a chair like this’’

Excel])! from Jack Jackson's '■^Show Sense"
column as it appeared in Shoicmen'’s Trade
Revietv, November 14, 1953.

Hey wood -Wakefield’s spacious TC 7 06
AIRFLO Chair allows
your patron to lean back,
relax and enjoy
uninterrupted entertainment.

This AIRFLO with its coil spring seat and
back offers comfort comparable to the
finest easy chair at home. The reclining
“rocking chair” action of the exclusive
Hey wood -Wakefield base mechanism re-
tains a scientifically correct pitch of back-
to-seat regardless of how the occupant
shifts his weight. Yes, any show seems
better when viewed from AIRFLO comfort.

For further information, contact your
Hey wood -Wakefield representative or
write for the fully illustrated catalogue
on Hey wood -Wakefield Theatre Chairs.

HEYWOOD-

WAKEFIELD

HEYWOOD -WAKEFIELD Theatre Seating Division, Menominee, Michigan • Sales Offices: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, New York

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Three-Channel Sound
From One Optical Track

Adaptation of a single optical track to
three-channel reproduction in the theatre
has been made available to motion picture
producers generally in the “Perspecta” sys-
tem which the Fairchild Recording Equip-
ment Company has placed in production at
the Whitestone, L. I. (New York City)

plant of the company’s new motion picture
sound division. Use of the technique for all
release prints except those of its Cinema-
Scope productions has been announced by
Loew’s, Inc., and by Paramount (it is the
method referred to by Loren L. Ryder as
“dimensional sound” in his article on Para-

How the Perspecta sound
system adapts the conven-
tional film recording to use
of three screen speakers.

mount’s VistaVision technique elsewliere in
this issue of Better Theatres).

“Perspecta” equipment permits an optical
recording primarily like that of standard
practice to be distributed through three re-
production channels, with a screen speaker
installation as in a stereophonic system. For
this purpose, the signal has an added fre-
quency characteristic by which the volume
of each of the channels is controlled.

This characteristic is sufficiently low in
frequency — 25 to 40 cycles — to produce no
sound that would be audible to an audience.
Conventional optical sound equipment has
no means of responding to those control fre-
quencies, hence the track can be reproduced
on regular one-channel systems just as it
has been.

THE “INTEGRATOR ”

Fhe “Perspecta” system introduces a spe-
cial unit, called an “Integrator,” to pro-
vide response to the volume control char-
acteristics {see accompanying drawings and
photos). Connected between the soundhead

Interior view of the "Integrator" of the Perspecta
sound system. Inserted between soundhead and
main amplifiers, it contains three sets of electronic
tubes for modulation of volume, and a band pass
filter transmitting to each set its specific control
frequencies.

output and the main amplifiers of the three
channels, this unit consists of three sets of
electronic tubes in association with a band
pass filter accepting frequencies within a
range specified for each ; and each of these
sections has an output to one of the main
amplifiers, corresponding to a left, a central,
and right speaker system behind the screen.

Thus the recording can be given greater

PROJECTOR

WITH STANDARD SINGLE
OPTICAL SOUND HEAD

FAIRCHILD

PERSPECTA

STEREOPHONIC SOUND
INTEGRATOR

Block diagrams of the Perspecta sound system, above as added to a theatre previously
equipped only tor conventional optical sound; and below as introduced into an
installation providing also tor multiple-track (magnetic) stereophonic sound. In each case
the existing equipment (prior to installation of Perspecta) is indicated in black areas.

FOUR

PREAMPLIFIERS

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

ROBIN-ARC’

3-Pha$e Selenium

RECTIFIER

Engineered
^ WIDE SCREEN

3"D

PROJECTION
SYSTEMS

A dependable, effi-
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Model K 150
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Model K 100X40
60 & 100 Amps.

•

Model K 100
135 Amps.

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MOTOR GENERATORS

A quality product built especially for wide
screen service and is available in 60 volts —
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units may be operated on
a continuous basis at these
ratings.

Write, wire or phone for
details

Sold through

independent supply dealers

J. E. ROBIN, INC.

Motion Picture Equipment Specialists
267 Rhode Island Avenue
EAST ORANGE, N. J.

Manufacturers of

RECTIFIERS • MOTOR-GENERATORS
SCREENS • PROJECTION LENSES

or less volume in any one or any pair or
all three of the speakers electronically. This
is determined in a later stage of recording
for release print purposes — that is, the pic-
ture is “cued” at the studio for the sound
effect desired, and the control character-
istic is added to the sound signal according
to the effect pattern thus established.

No sound material is excluded from any
one of the channels as in multiple-track
technique; all of the record is reproduced
by each of the speakers. But the volume of
any of the channels is automatically brought
i:p or reduced, thus employing degrees of
loudness and softness to make the sound
more prominent in one area of the picture
than another, as the effect desired in pro-
duction may call for.

"Fhe Perspecta system was developed un-
der the immediate direction of C. Robert
Fine, president of Fine Sound, Inc., in a
project sponsored by Arthur M. Loew,
president of Loew’s International, to pro-
duce means of making the conventional
optical track available for three-channel
reproduction. The Fairchild Recording
Equipment Company, manufacturers of
I magnetic tape recording equipment, became
[ associated with Mr. Fine in this effort and
is now the manufacturing organization.
Distribution is by theatre supply dealers,

1 including \Vestrex, RCA, and National
! Theatre Supply in foreign countries,
j Distribution of Perspecta equipment has
] already begun, particularly abroad. The sys-
j tern, which was given its first press demon-
1 stration in the United States in New York
1 late in Alarch, had been demonstrated at
the Cannes Film Festival last year,
j It has been announced by Fairchild that
I other manufacturers will be able to pro-
duce the equipment under license.

Ray Crews, general manager of the Fairchild Rec-
ording Equipment Company and head of its new
Motion Picture Sound Division (shown above with
the Perspecta "Integrator") is credited with de-
veloping the band pass filter which makes possible
the Perspecta principle of imposed sub-audible
sound signals being used to control the volume of
speakers. Mr. Crews was formerly Supervisor of
Sound Recording under Loren L. Ryder at Para-
mount Pictures and has also been manager of the
Western Electric Company of India, directing
sound installations for one of the largest overseas
theatre circuits.

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to keep such material all together in one
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Fits in correspondence drawer file, stands on
bookshelf or lies on desk.

Any theatre owner, manager or circuit exec-
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letterhead, or write asking for
"THEATRE OWNER’S MANUAL’’.
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position. Address your request
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1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo.

IDEAL FOR ALL TYPES
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WILLIAMS
SOLID PLASTIC
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SCREENS

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TECHNIQUES and 3-D

• Assures the brightest pictures because it returns the most

light energy. Unusually high refleotive efficiencies (better
than 3.1 to I as compared to a flat white screen).

• Superior light distribution permits perfect viewing through-

out the theatre. Exceptionally wide viewing angles.

• Imperceptible electronically-welded seams.

• Perfect polarization. No streaks or ‘‘patterns.”

• True color reproduction. Clearly defined black and white.

• Extremely strong and tough. Permanently flexible.

• Unaffected by moisture.

• Guaranteed fire-resistant. Beware of unsupported fire-proof

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(|675 SUMMIT LAKE BLVD., AKRON 7, 0^

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

J^etter Projeetion

A Department on PROJECTION & SOUND

Three-Channel Sound for
CinemaScope at Drive-Ins

How two separate in-car speakers, and three speakers
in one housing have effected approved adaptation
of drive-in sound systems to the requirements of
CinemaScope presentation.

A DATE OF note in the in-
teresting and sometimes amazing annals of
the drive-in theatre tvas marked in March,
when on the 19th the CinemaScope produc-
tion of “The Robe’’ was publicly exhibited
with three sound tracks reproduced by two
speakers in each car. This took place at
Eric and Carl Peterson’s Motor-Vu drive-
in at Salt Lake City, Utah, with a screen
102x48 feet. {This installation is pictured
and described on page 36.)

March also brought to the market in-car
speakers made specifically for this purpose,
with three coil and cone units in a single
housing, corresponding to the number of
horn systems of a stereophonic system in an
indoor theatre. And on March 26th, at
Claude Ezell Theatres’ Buckner Boulevard
drive-in at Dallas, Tex., the CinemaScope
picture “Prince Valiant” was presented
with an installation of triple-unit speakers
developed through the Ezell organization.

Still earlier in the month than either of
these events. National Theatre Supply dem-
onstrated, at the Brunswick, N. J., drive-in,
a two-speaker arrangement for three-track
reproduction, employing a CinemaScope
print. Conducted for an invited group of
exhibitors, engineers and members of the
trade press, the demonstration included re-
production of optical track sound by a
single in-car speaker, with results that
favored, for . many of those present, the
triple-speaker reproduction of three mag-
netic tracks. This type of installation has
the approval of 20th Century-Fox for Cin-
emaScope productions. It is, in fact, com-

parable to the scheme employing Motio-
graph speakers of regular in-car type for
exhibition of “The Robe” at the Motor-Vu
drive-in at Salt Lake City.

The system demonstrated by National

Claude Ezell Theatres' composite speaker tor drive-
in stereophonic sound has three speakers housed
in a fiberglas case (above) with the units mounted
in a curve to face the interior, centered on the
width of the windshield (below). The case may also
be suspended from the rear view mirror or panel
ledge by a thin cable.

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CARBONS, Inc.

Boonton, N. J.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

aNEW HERTNER POWER UNIT

for

DRIVE-IN and LARGE
INDOOR TNEATERS ^

for 135 ampere

rhe HT 135

•L^l

Type HT 1551270 TransVerterfor 115 to 155 am-
peres, 63 to 70 volt high-intensity and spot arcs,
and the new 155 lamps.

The tiew HT \^5l210 Trans Verter answers the need for 115 to 135
ampere arcs for all types of wide screen and 3D pictures requiring
more light over a larger area. This latest Hertner TransVerter
rounds out our line of dependable power units designed espe-
cially for arc lamps. Complete installation includes our Control
Panel Type G and the new Dual-type HD 100/140 Rheostat.

MOTORS •

For all the details of the many fine features of the new HT 135
TransVerter write for 6u//ef/n No. 3076.

Distributed by National Theatre Supply
In Canada: General Theatre Supply Company

THE HERTNER ELECTRIC COMPANY

12690 ELMWOOD AVENUE . . . CLEVELAND 11, OHIO

A General Precision Equipment Corporation Subsidiary

MOTOR GENERATORS • GENERATOR SETS

*UtAp ?mt^/

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

m EIGHTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 11, N. Y.

HOllYWOOD DIVISION: 6601 ROMAINE STREET, HOLLYWOOD 38, CAL.

Research, Distribution and Service for the Motion Picture Industry

Theatre Supply, as described by John
Currie, manager of the NTS drive-in de-
partment, mounts one speaker, labeled
“right,” on the right window ledge in the
usual manner, the other, labeled “left,”
next to the driver. With the extra speaker
suspended from the post with its mate, both
are brought through the same car window,
from left to right according to ramp posi-
tion. The cable of the speaker on the farther
side is passed over the lap or behind the
intervening person.

The extra speaker of course requires a
second line to be trenched or otherwise pro-
vided ; if the posts have dome or ramp
lights, the circuit serving them may be
converted to feed the additional speaker.

In such a combination of two separate
speakers, volume is matched by manipulat-
ing the control of each. Mr. Currie points
out that patrons should be told, by trailer
or mike announcement, to set speakers at
the same volume for best effect. An extra
arm is provided for the speaker post to hold
the additional unit.

“The National two-speaker system,” ex-
plains Mr. Currie, “operates the speakers
off the three tracks which feed the screen
speakers for stereophonic sound in indoor
theatres. The three tracks are channeled
to the proper speaker by a control unit
which automatically diverts all sound of
the center channel to both in-car speakers.

The Ballantyne Company's "Doub'l-Cone" Trio
Speaker for stereophonic sound at drive-in theatres
has one outlet in front (above) and two turned to
the opposite side (below). Each unit has an anchor
which can be attached in the automobile either to
the rear view mirror or to the windshield frame.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

that of the right-channel track to the right-
hand speaker, that of the left track to the
left-hand speaker.

TRIPLE UNIT SPEAKERS

Besides the Ezell composite speaker, the
double-cone type of The Ballantyne Com-
pany is now available in a triple unit, whicli
has one outlet in front, and two turned to
the opposite side {see photos on facing
page) ; while the Ampex Corporation of
New York and Redwood City, Calif., has
brought out a unit of similar grouping.

Trapezoidal in shape, the Ampex case is
designed for setting on the ledge above the
instruments, if that surface is broad enough.

The Ampex three-unit speaker (see text). It is
shown below as placed in car.

or to be hung from the rear view mirror.
Of three 3-inch speaker units, one faces
the interior of the car, the other two face
the windshield at slight angles toward the
sides. The housing measures 6 inches wide,
7 inches deep and 3 inches high, and it
weighs 12 ounces. Volume of the three
speakers is equalized through one volume
control.

In the Ezell combination, three 4-inch
speakers are housed in a fiberglas case with
the units mounted in a curve to face the
interior, centered on the width of the wind-
shield. The case may be suspended from the
rear view mirror or panel ledge by a thin
cable — it is pointed out that this position
places it at approximately the location of
the car radio.

The complete unit weighs 2^ pounds,
and is 15 inches wide, 6 inches deep and 5
inches high. Volume of the three speakers
is controlled uniformly by a single control.

Clear

Crisp Pictures
with

SUPER SNAPLITE
PROJECTION LENSES

Your patrons will
notice the difference!
Super Snaplites give
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More Illumination,
Greater Contrast and
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Projection use Super
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BEHER THEATRES SECTION

STEREOPHONIC SOUND IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNIQUES

{Continued from page 16)

architecturally unsuited, for wide pictures.
In practically every instance, however, ways
and means have been found to adopt this
technique to existing auditoriums with great
enhancement of the performance. It has
been demonstrated that in theatres with
800 to 1,600 seats, pictures 32 to 40 feet
wide have increased realism and more strik-
ing beauty.

The problem of sufficient projection
light, which troubled the development of
wide-screen technique at the beginning, has
been reduced to a practical vanishing point
by carbon, lamp, screen and lens equipment
produced in quick and resourceful response
to the new requirements.

The anamorphic method is of course the
most efficient means of expanding the pic-
ture from the point of view of light. But
by whatever method of production and pro-
jection that the wider picture is achieved,
the greater area covered by the image calls
for more than the single set of speakers at
the middle of the screen with which the
industry has got along under the original
conditions of aspect ratio and relatively
small screen sizes.

Stereophonic sound was first demon-
strated by the Bell Laboratories in the early
1930s. It was used rather experimentally
in Disney’s “Fantasia.” Then stereophonic
sound lay dormant until Cinerama proved
its magnificent possibilities with seven chan-
nels. Several tracks were used for effects
in “The House of Wax.” It was the first
CinemaScope production, however, which
employed stereophonic sound integrally
with the action in a dramatic production.
Today upwards of 2,000 theatres are
equipped to reproduce stereophonic sound.

The cost of installing such equipment
has precipitated controversy over the com-
mercial value of stereophonic sound, the
main question being whether the expenses
of installation are worthwhile when related
to the effect produced on the public, an
effect translatable into box-office response.

NO TIME FOR SECOND BEST

We have advanced a tremendous dis-
tance, of course, from the piano-playing
nickelodeon days, and it is my belief that
the motion picture theatre, in order to be
a foremost contender for the amusement
dollar, must try to excel the dramatic stage,
the concert hall, the operatic performance,
and the exotic and scenic travelogue dis-
plays. The motion picture theatre can

bring all of these things and more besides
to every person in every corner of America
and much of the rest of the world, and it
must do it with the greatest possible artis-
try and realism.

It has been authoritatively said that the
conventional type of one-channel reproduc-
tion has the effect of reducing everyone in
the audience to a one-eared person listening
to one point source of sound. On the other
hand, a true stereophonic system transports
the original performance to the location of
the ultimate audience and permits the audi-
ence to integrate it with both ears. In
other words, stereophonic recording is an
instrument to bring to the motion picture
screen a closer and closer approach to the
real thing.

When an orchestra plays in an audi-
torium, vibrations continually changing in
form, intensity and phase relation are set
up in the air of the auditorium. An ideal
stereophonic system is one which will record
and reproduce these vibrations so as to
create at every position in the theatres the
same changes and sequences of wave motion
as were produced originally.

TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES

In order to do this, an infinite number of
points for pick-up and similar points for
reproduction would be theoretically re-
quired. Cinerama uses five microphones in
recording, and five speakers behind the
screen, plus two more sets in the audi-
torium to accomplish this condition of hear-
ing. It has been found simpler and sub-
stantially as effective for most purposes to
limit the number of channels to three.

With three channels it is possible to re-
produce a full orchestra faithfully and to
trace and locate motion accurately on the
screen. Because there are three separate
points of sound “pickup” (eithei actually

tracks in both recording and reproduction.
Three are authoritatively regarded as suf-
ficient for motion pictures generally, at any
rate for screens under 60 feet or so (Cine-
rama uses five tracks and corresponding
channels for its prctUTe speakers alone).

or nominally) the position of the sound
source can be located very easily not only
in lateral motion but in depth. The
changes in intensity and in phase difference
at each point of “pickup” serve to create
this illusion.

A sound source which moves to the rear
decreases in intensity and increases in its
reverberation content. Both of these effects
are preserved in the reproduced sound.
Thus the illustration of the sound source
moving right, left, forward and back can
be created.

Greatly improYed sound quality also
can be obtained by the use of stereophonic
methods. This applies to the reduction of
unnatural boominess, the increase in high-
frequency smoothness, and the general ac-
ceptance of higher level of sound reproduc-
tion. All these new attributes make stereo-
phonic reproduction clearer, well balanced,
and much more pleasing and life-like to the
ear.

Coupled with these new qualities is the
use of magnetic recording. With magnetic
recording it is possible to reproduce a
greater range of frequencies — from 40 to
12,000 cycles. It is possible, too, to have
volume changes of over 60 decibels, which
can produce tremendous dynamic sound
ranges. Magnetic sound recording and re-
production therefore are further aids in
bringing to the theatre that realism and
high-fidelity sound for which we are con-
tinually striving.

The motion picture industry has come
again to a critical juncture in its history.
Are we to crawl ahead grudgingly , be-
latedly making only such changes as our
television opponents force us to do? Or
will we go steadily forward along new ave-
nues of progress that engineering opens
to us?

There still is a wide horizon for the
motion picture theatre. It is not too absurd
to envision pictures on our screens always
in color and changing in size and shape
automatically to fit the subject matter.
Those pictures might well be stereoscopic
at any time, and use stereophonic sound
with auditorium sound effects for extra
impacts. The industry would be risking its
vast investments to put imagination in a
technical straitjacket.

To supply the additional channels costs a
very sizable sum of money; magnetic
tracks mean further expenditure for two
soundheads. In both cases, however, the
cost is the price of progress.

Use of optical recording, especially with

Making Growth of the Art
Complete with Stereophonic Sound

{Continued from page 18)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

Call RCA for SERVICE

STEREOPHO®^^^ sound

one track, as in the Perspecta system, saves
principally on soundheads, and as we have
pointed out before, every dollar can count
in the calculations which recent years have
imposed on a lot of operations. But even
aside from its present stereophonic implica-
tions, the magnetic track offers the impor-
tant advantage of a greater usable fre-
quency range. It has its own requirements
for avoidance of track effacement, as Mr.
Gagliardi pointed out in the March issue
of “Better Theatres”; but so far, at least,
these have not amounted to enough to can-
cel out the advantage of greater dynamic
range, which means sound of higher fidel-
ity, more realistic sound, music more life-
like and beautiful from the screen when the
screen must compete in the field of mechan-
ical sound with hi-fi and FM in millions of
homes.

The industry of course has to be flexible
during the period of technical transition to
maintain a flow of product to all of its
theatres, from small to large, abroad as well
as at home. Regardless of the role of mag-
netic recording in the ultimate technical
scheme, the industry needs equipment which
allows use of optical soundheads with a
choice of one or more speaker channels. At
the least, this eases the urgency of critical
decision, provides time needed to develop
and refine “big picture” production tech-
niques, and to equip theatres generally for
their most effective exploitation.

Those techniques can never be as force-
ful, as responsive to dramatic mood and
material, or as well measured to the scope
of the large picture as they can be when
they include stereophonic sound.

' •

EXPORT COMPANY MOVES

New and larger business quarters in
New York City have been acquired by
Streuber & LaChicotte, Inc., export dis-
tributors for manufacturers of theatre
equipment, according to W. B. LaChicotte,
president. The company is now located in
the Fisk Building at 250 West 57th
Street. Its previous headquarters at 1819
Broadway are to be demolished for a new
Coliseum by the City of New York .

RCA SERVICE SIGNS THREE

The RCA Service Company recently
signed three more major theatre circuits
to service and maintenance contracts. They
included the Inter-Mountain Theatres,
Inc., Salt Lake City; the Central States
Theatre Corporation; and the Tri-State
Theatre Corporation, both of Des Moines,
Iowa. Negotiating the Inter-Mountain con-
tract was H. M. Madison, West Coast
district manager for RCA, while E. D.
Van Duyne, Kansas City district manager,
handled the other two contracts.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

More than 25 years of knowledge and
experience in the installation and main-
tenance of all kinds of theatre sound
systems assures you top standards of

performance in Stereophonic Sound.

In addition, thoroughly dependable,
prompt and courteous service are yours
when you call in RCA Theatre Service.

RCA Service Company, Inc.

A Radio Corporation of America Subsidiary
Camden, N. J.

CTION I

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195'' ■

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DAVTAilE CTDEEil TADD les clermont avenue
l%MI IwRE 9VliEER Vwlir* Brooklyn s.newyork

A Drive -In Equipped for CinemaScope

The 105-foot screen of the Motor-Vu drive-in. Note also twin sets of in-car speakers.

THE FIRST drive-in thea-
tre to be equipped for CinemaScope pro-
ductions, the Motor-Vu drive-in at Salt
Lake City, Utah, owned and operated by
Eric and Carl Peterson, presented “The
Robe’’ on March 19 with a two-speaker
system in which 6-inch Utah in-car repro-
ducers were placed at each side of the front
seat, the left one reproducing the left screen
track, the right one reproducing the right
track, and both reproducing the middle
track. Despite extraordinarily cold weather,
the 900-car drive-in was filled to capacity.

The screen of the Motor-Vu measures
105 feet wide; made of Transite, it is
painted with Raytone “white” drive-in
screen paint.

Ashcraft “Super-High” lamps were in-
stalled for the CinemaScope inaugural,
burning 11mm. positives at 120 amperes
for projection of “The Robe.” The sound
amplification system and the projectors are
Motiograph. The distance of the throw
from the projector to the screen is 210 feet.

The Utah in-car speakers were supplie<^
the drive-in by the Service Theatre Supply
Company of Salt Lake City. The cord for
the speaker to be placed on the far side of
the car is 10 feet long; the other is 7 feet.

No new ramp wiring was installed with
the old pair being split, one wire fed to the
left speaker and the other fed to the
right speaker. The circuits were grounded
through copper stakes in the ramps. The
entire installation was supervised by engi-
neers from Service Supply, Motiograph,
and Altec Service.

Among those present for the drive-in’s
first performance of “The Robe” were
C. S. Ashcraft of the C. S. Ashcraft Manu-
facturing Company, Long Island City,
N. Y. ; Frank Riffle and Charles Moore,
Motiograph engineers; Fred Leslie of 20th
Century-Fo.x ; Dave Peterson, Altec West-
ern division manager, and Bob Reagan,
Altec sound engineer; A1 Knox, John
Bugger and Harry Swanson of the Service
Supply Company.

For the inaugural of CinemaScope at the Motor-
Vu drive-in Ashcraft "Super-High" lamps were in-
stalled burning I I mm. positives at 120 amperes.
The sound amplification system and the projectors
are Motiograph. The picture presented is 105 feet
wide, and the screen is made of Transite, painted
with Raytone "white" drive-in screen paint.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

"“mart

Index to Products Advertised
6l Described In this Issue^ with

• Dealer Directory

• Convenient inquiry postcard

Firms are numbered for easy identification in using {sostcard. 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 53

Changeable letter signs: Front lighted panels for
drive-ins (lA), back-lighted panels (IB), and
changeable letters (1C). All dealers.

2 — American Seating Co 51

Drive-in stadium seating. NTS and direct.

3 — Ampex Corp 20

stereophonic sound systems. Direct.

4 — Ashcraft Mfg. Co., C. S. Third Cover

Projection arc lamps. Unaffiliated dealers.

5 — Ballantyne Co 25

stereophonic sound package. Dealers 3, 8, 10, 18,

21, 22, 23, 37, 39, 44, 57, 66, 69, 75, 79, 89,

91, 96, 98, 102, 105, 110, 113, 121, 127, 131.

6 — Bausch & Lomb Optical Co 8

Projection lonses. Direct and branches and dealers

in all major cities.

7 — Carbons, Inc 31

Projection carbons. Franchise dealers.

8 — Fairchild Recording Equipment Co 14

Sound reproducing equipment. Direct and dealers.

9 — F & Y Building Service, The 51

Architectural design and building service.

10 — First-American Products, Inc 30

General drive-in equipment. All dealers.

I I — Griggs Equipment Co 52

Auditorium- chairs. Direct.

12 — Hertner Electric Co., The 32

Motor-generator. NTS

13 — Heyer-Schultz, Inc 33

Metal projection arc reflectors. All dealers.

14 — Heywood-Wakefield Co 27

Auditorium chairs. Dealers 8, 10. 23 , 31, 54, 97,
101, 125 and branches.

Reference Adv.

Number Page

24 — Motiograph, Inc II

Stereophonic sound. Dealers 8, 10, 14, 26 , 29, 34,

36, 38. 42, 45, 52, 54, 58, 60, 69, 74, 84, 89,

98, 102, 107, 108, 112, 115, 121, 127, 128, 130.

25 — National Super Service Co 51

Vacuum cleaners. All dealers.

26 — National Theatre Supply 6, 53

Distributors.

27 — Poblocki & Sons 9

Drive-in projection screen. NTS and direct.

28 — Projection Optics Co., Inc 41

Projection lenses. Distributor: Raytone Screen Corp.

29 — Radio Corp. of America 3

Stereophonic sound. Dealers marked *.

30 — Raytone Screen Corp 12, 35

Drive-in screen paint (30A), projection screens
(SOB). Direct.

31 — RCA Service Co 35

Projection and sound equipment maintenance ser-
vice.

32 — Robin, Inc., J. E 30

Motor-generators (32A), rectifiers (32B). projection
screens (32C), projection lenses (320). Direct.

33 — S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corp 53

Distributors.

34 — Strong Electric Corp., The 23

I J A I A VM rv A I AAA I ^ 9 Jt 7 O A I A

Projection arc lamps. Dealers I, 2, 3, 4, 7. 8, 9. 10,
14, 15, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24. 26, 27. 28, 29, 30,

32, 34. 36, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42. 43, 45. 46, 48.

49, 50, 51, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60. 61. 63.

64, 66. 67, 69. 71. 74, 75. 76, 77, 78. 79. 80, 83.

84, 85. 89, 90, 91, 95. 96, 97, 99, 101, 102, 103,

104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 110, III. 112, 113, 114,

115. IIS, 120, 121, 123, 127, 128. 129, 130, 131.

35 — Theatre Seat Service Co 53

Theatre chair rehabilitation service. Direct.

36 — Theatre Specialties, Inc 19

In-car speakers. Authorized dealers.

37 — Twentieth Century-Fox Corp 4-5

Cinemascope productions.

38 — Vallen, Inc 48

Curtain tracks and controls. Direct.

39 — Wagner Sign Service. Inc 13

Attraction frames (39A), glass windows (39B),
enamel panels for drive-in signs (39C), plastic let-
ters (39D). Dealers I, 8, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19,

23, 24, 25. 26, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32 , 34, 36, 37, 38.

42, 44. 45, 46. 52, 54. 57. 58. 60. 61, 64. 66. 67.

68, 69, 71. 72, 73, 74. 77, 78. 79. 83, 85. 88, 89,

90 , 96, 98 , 99. 102, 104, 106, 107. III. 112, 115,
116, 118, 121, 123, 128, 129 and NTS Detroit
branch.

Reference Adv.

Number Page

40 — Walker Screen Corp 29

Projection screens. NTS

41 — Westrex Corp 32

Distributors.

42 — Whitney-Blake Co 43

Non -conduit speaker system cable for drlvs-ln thea-
tres. Distributors: Graybar Electric Corp.

43 — Williams Screen Co 30

Projection screens. Direct.

EDITORIALLY . . .

NEW CHAIR CUSHIONS, page 39

Two seating cushions, one foam rubber, the other
coil spring, developed for its line of theatre audi-
torium chairs by Heywood-Wakefield. Postcard
reference number I4A.

DRIVE-IN SCREEN SURFACING, page 39

New aluminum surfacing material for "all-
purpose" projection marketed by First-American
Products, Inc. Postcard reference number lOA.

NEW 3D GLASSES, page 40

Rimless polarized glasses with large lenses for
viewing 3D on wide screens from Depth Viewers,
Inc. Postcard reference number E44.

AUTOMATIC PERFUME UNIT, page 43

Perfume dispenser offering choice of four odors
at 10^ a spray, announced by Jo-Lo Perfumatic
Dispenser, Inc. Postcard reference number E45.

PLASTIC 3D GLASSES, page 43

New 3D glasses with wider lenses than previous
models from Pola-Lite Company. Postcard refer-
ence Number E46.

PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT, page 44

New models of swing sets, slides and chair rides
from Miracle Whirl Sales Company. Postcard
reference number E47.

15 — Huff Manufacturing Co 48

Hydro carbon arc coolers. All dealers.

16 — Ideal Seating Co 53

Auditorium chairs. Unaffiliated dealers.

17 — International Projector Corp Fourth Cover

Stereophonic sound systems. NTS.

For further 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.

18 — Koiled-Kords, Inc 47

Self-colling cords for in-car speakers. All dealers
and Graybar Electric Corp.

19 — Knoxville Scenic Studios, Inc 52

Wide screen frame and masking system. All dealers.

20 — Kollmorgen Optical Corp 33

Projection lenses. NTS and all dealers.

21 — LaVezzi Machine Works 12

Projector parts. All dealers.

22 — Magnasync Manufacturing Co., Ltd 7

Stereophonic sound systems. Authorized dealers.

23 — Manley, Inc. . ; Second Cover

Popcorn machines (23A), drink dispenser (23B),
frankfurter grill (230, hamburger grill (23D),
popcorn (23E), seasoning (23F), bags, boxes and
accessories (23G). Offices in principal cities.

TO BETTER THEATRES Service Department:

i Please have literature, prices, etc., sent to me according to the following
; reference numbers in the April 1954 issue —

NAME

: THEATRE or CIRCUIT

i 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

I Bamn Frature Servleg. l9l2'/2 MorrU Ave., Birmingham.

ARIZONA

2— Girard Theatre Supply, 532 W. Van Buren St., Phoenix.

ARKANSAS

S— Arkansas Theatre Supply. 1008 Main St.. Little Reek.

4 — Theatre Supply Co., 1021 Grand Ave., Fort Smith.

CALIFORNIA

Fresno:

5— Mldstate 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.

8 — 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.

12 — United Theatre Supply. 112 Golden Gate Ave.

1^— Western Theatrical Equipment, 337 Golden Gate Ave.*

COLORADO

Denver:

National Theatre Supply, 2111 Champa St.

14 — Service Theatre Supply. 2054 Broadway.

15— Western Service & Supply, 2120 Broadway.*

CONNECTICUT
New Haven:

National Theatre Supply, 122 Meadow St

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Washington)

16— Brient &. Sons, 925 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

17— Ben Lust, 1001 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

18 — R & S Theatre Supply, 920 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

FLORIDA

19 — Joe Hornstein, 329 W. Flagler St.. Miami.

20— ^utheastern Equipment, 625 W. Bay St., Jacksonville.*

21 — United Theatre Supply, 110 Franklin St., Tampa.

22 — United Theatre Supply, 329 W. Flagler St., Miami.*

GEORGIA

Albany:

23 — Dixie Theatre Service & Supply, 1014 N. Slappey Dr.

Atlanta:

24 — Capitol City Supply. 161 Walton St.. N.W.

National Theatre Supply, 187 Walton St., N.W.

25— Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 201-3 Luckle St.. N.W.*

26 — WII-KIn Theatre Supply, 301 North Ave., N.E.

ILLINOIS

Chlcogo:

27 — Abbott Theatre Supply, 1311 S. Wabash Ave.*

28 — G. C. Anders Co.. 317 S. Sangamon SL

29 — Gardner Theatre Service, 1235 8. Wabash Ave.

30— Movie Supply, 1318 S. Wabash Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 1325 S. Wabash Ave.

INDIANA

Evansville:

31 — Evansville Theatre Supply, 2900 E. Chandler Ave.

Indianapolis:

32— Ger-Bar, Inc.. 442 N. Illinois St.

33 — Mid-West Theatre Supply Company, 448 N. Illinois S4.*
National Theatre Supply, ^6 N. Illinois St.

IOWA

Oes Moines:

34 — Des Moines Theatre Supply. 1121 High St.

National Theatre Supply, 1102 High

KANSAS

Wichita:

35 — Southwest Theatre Equipment, P. 0. Box 2138.

KENTUCKY

Louisville:

36 — Falls City Theatre Equipment, 427 S. Third St.

37 — Hadden Theatre Supply, 209 8. 3rd St.

LOUISIANA
New Orleans:

38 — Hodges Theatre Supply, 1309 Cleveland Ave.

39— Johnson Theatre Service. 223 S. Liberty SL
National Thoatre Supply, 220 S. Liberty St.

40 — Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 214 S. Liberty St.*

Shreveport:

41 — Alon Boyd Theatre Equipment, P. 0. Box 362.

MARYLAND

Baltimore:

42— J. F. Dusman Co.. 12 East 25th St.

National Theatre Supply, 417 St. Paul Plaoe.

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston:

43 — Capital Theatre Supply, 28 Piedmont SL*

44 — Independent Theatre Supply, 28 Winchester St.

45— Major Theatre Equipment. 44 Winchester SL

46 — Massachusetts Theatre EquIpmenL 20 Piedmont St.
National Theatre Supply. 37 Winchester SL

47 — Standard Theatre Supply, 78 Broadway.

48 — Theatre Servlee & Supply, 30 Piedmont St.

MICHIGAN

Detroit:

49 — Amusement Supply, 208 W. Montcalm St.

50 — Ernie Forbes Theatre Supply. 214 W, Montealm St.

51 — McArthur Theatre Equipment, 454 W. Columbia St.
National Theatre Supply, 2312-14 Case Ave.

Grand Rapids:

52— Ringold Theatre EquIpmenL 198 Michigan SL, N.W.

MINNESOTA

Minneapolis:

53 — Elliott Theatre Equipment, 1110 Nieellet Ave.

54 — Frosch Theatre Supply, I III Currie Ave.*

55 — Minneapolis Theatre Supply, 76 Glenweed Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 56 Glenwood Ave.

56 — Western Theatre EquIpmenL 45 Glenwood Ave.

MISSOURI
Kansas City:

57— Missouri Theatre Supply, 115 W. leth SL*

National Theatre Supply, 2^ W. 18th SL

58 — Shreve Theatre Supply, 217 W. 18th SL

59 — Stebbins Theatre Equipment, 1804 Wyandotte St.

St. Louis:

60— McCarty Theatre Supply, 3330 Olive St.

National Theatre Supply, 32l2 Olive St.

61 — St. Louis Theatre Supply Co., 3310 Olive SL*

MONTANA

62 — Montana Theatre Supply, Missoula.

NEBRASKA

Omaha:

National Theatre Supply. 1610 Davenport St.

63 — Quality Theatre Supply. 1515 Davenport SL

64 — Western Theatre Supply, 214 N. 15th St.*

NEW MEXICO

65 — Eastern New Mexico Theatre Supply, Box 1009, Clovis.

NEW YORK
Albany:

66 — Albany Theatre Supply. 448 N. Pearl.

National Theatre Supply, 982 Broadway.

Auburn:

67 — Auburn Theatre Equipment, 5 Court SL

Buffalo;

68 — Eastern Theatre Supply. 498 Pearl SL*

National Theatre Supply, 498 Pearl St.

69 — Perkins Theatre Supply, 505 Pearl St.

70 — United Projector & Film, 228 Franklin St.

New York City:

71 — Amusement Supply, 341 W. 44th St.

72 — Capitol Motion Picture Supply. 830 Ninth Ave.

73 — Crown Motion Picture Supplies. 354 W. 44th St.

74 — Joe Hornstein, 830 Ninth Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 358 W. 44th SL

75 — Norpat Sales, Inc., 113 W. 42nd St.

76— S.O.S. Cinema Supply, 602 W. 52nd St.

77 — Star Cinema Supply. 447 W. 52nd St.

Syracuse:

75 — Central N, Y. Theatre Supply, 210 N. Salina St.

NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte:

78 — Bryant Theatre Supply, 227 S. Church St.

79 — Charlotte Theatre Supply, 227 S. Church St.

80 — Dixie Theatre Supply, 213 W. 3rd St.

National Theatre Supply, 304 S. Church St.

81 — Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 209 S. Poplar St.*

82 — Standard Theatre Supply, 219 S. Church St.

83 — Theatre Equipment Co., 220 S. Poplar St.

84 — WII-KIn Theatre Supply, 229 S. Church St.

Greensboro:

85— standard Theatre Supply, 215 E. Waehingten SL

86— Theatre Suppllera, 304 S. Davie St.

OHIO
Akron:

87 — Akron Theatre Supply, 120 E. Market St.

Cincinnati:

88 — Mid-West Theatre Supply, 1638 Central Parkway.*
National Theatre Supply, 1657 Central Parkway.

Cleveland:

National Theatre Supply, 2128 Payne Ave.

89 — Ohio Theatre Equipment, 2108 Payno Ave.

90 — Oliver Theatre Supply, E. 23rd and Payne Ave.*

Columbus:

91 — American Theatre EquipmenL 165 N. High St.

92 — Mid-West Theatre Supply, 962 W. Third Are.

Dayton:

93— Da^n Theatre Supply, 1 1 1 Volksnand SL

94— Sheldon Theatre Supply, 627 Salem Ave.

Toledo:

95— American Theatre Supply, 439 Dorr St.

96 — Theatre Equipment Co.. 1206 Cherry St.

OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City:

97 — Century Theatre Supply Co., 20 N. Lee St.

98 — Howell Theatre Supplies, 12 S. Walker Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 700 W. Grand Ave.

99— Oklahoma Theatre Supply, 628 W, Grand Ave.*

OREGON
Portland:

100— Modern Theatre Supply, 1935 N.W. Kearney SL*

101 — Portland Motion Picture Supply, 916 N.W. 19th St.

102— B. F. Shearer, 1947 N.W. Kewney SL

103 — Inter-State Theatre EquipmenL 19^ N.W. Kearney St.

PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia:

104 — Blumberg Bros., 1305-07 Vine SL*

National Theatre Supply Co., 1225 Vine SL

105 — Superior Theatre Equipment, 1315 Vine St.

Pittsburgh:

106 — Alexander Theatre Supply, 84 Van Bramm SL*

107— Atlas Theatre Supply, 402 Mlltenberger SL
National Theatre Supply, 1721 Blvd. of Allle*.

Wilkes Barre:

108 — Vincent M. Tate. 1620 Wyoming Ave.. Forty-Fort.

RHODE ISLAND

109— Rhode Island Supply, 357 Weotmlnster SL, Providence.

SOUTH DAKOTA

no— American Theatre Supply, 316 8. Main SL, Weux City.

TENNESSEE
Memphis:

1 1 1 — Monarch Theatre Supply, 492 S. Seeoad SL*

National Theatre Supply, 412 S. Second SL

112— TrI-State Theatre Supply, 320 8. Second SL

TEXAS
Dallas

113 — Hardin Theatre Supply, 714 South Hampton Rd.

114 — Herber Bros., 408 8. Harwood SL

115— Modern Theatre EquipmenL 1916 Jackson SL
National Theatre Supply. 300 S. Harwood SL

116 — Southwestern Theatre Equipment, 2010 Jaekson St.*

117— Sterling Sales & Service, 2019 Jackson SL

Houston:

118 — Southwestern Theatre EquipmenL 1622 Austin SL*

San Antonio:

1 19 — Alamo Theatre Supply, 1303 Alamotee SL

UTAH

Salt Lake City:

>' 120 — Intermountain Theatre Supply. 264 8. East First St.

121 — Service Theatre Supply, 256 8. East First SL

122 — Western Sound & Equipment, 8. East First SL*

VIRGINIA

! 123 — Norfolk Theatre Supply, 2700 Colley Ave., Norfolk.

• WASHINGTON

I Seattle:

' 124 — American Theatre Supply, 2300 First Ave., at Bell St.

125 — Inter-State Theatre Equipment Co., 2224 Second Ave.

126 — Modern Theatre Supply, 2400 Third Ave.*

National Theatre Supply, UI9 Second St.

127 — B. F. Shearer. 2316 Second Ave.

WEST VIRGINIA

128 — Charleston Theatre Supply, 508 Leo St., Charleston.

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee:

129— Manhardt Co.. 1705 W. Clyboum St.*

National Theatre Supply, 1027 N. Eighth SL

130— Ray Smith. 710 W. Stats SL

131 — Theatre Equipment A Supply, 341 N. Seventh St.

FIRST CLASS

|Sec.34,9. P.L4R.)
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 nf the market and its snnrces nf supply

New Chair Cushions for
Heywood -Wakefield Line

TWO NEW seating cush-
ions, one of foam rubber and the other of
coil spring construction, have been devel-
oped for use with its line of theatre audi-
torium chairs by the Theatre Seating Divi-
sion of the Heywood-Wakefield Company,
Menominee, Mich.

The foam rubber cushion, called the
“Contour,” is designed to conform to the
contours of the occupant’s body as he sits
down and also as he shifts his weight or
position. It has approximately 3 inches of
formed rubber over helical construction
springs, attached to an all-steel frame.

The coil spring cushion, called the “Sit-
in,” eliminates the high crown in the center
of the seat. Its flat top is designed to afford
maximum comfort by permitting the patron
to sit into the cushion deeply instead of
“floating” on top. The cushion has 16 coil
springs of varying gauge steel wire, so
placed, the manufacturer points out, to in-
sure resilient comfort over the entire seat.
The springs are permanently fastened to an
all-steel seat frame.

The “Sit-in,” cushion comes in seat

The new coll spring "Sit-in" cushion does not limit
the type of upholstery treatments possible with
auditorium chairs as demonstrated in its applica-
tion to Heywood-Wakefield's padded-back "En-
core" model above.

The flat top of Heywood-Wakefield's new coil
spring seat, called the "Sit-in," is designed to per-
mit the patron to sit into the cushion deeply
instead of "floating" on top. The cushion is avail-
able in seat widths from 19 through 22 inches.

widths from 19 through 22 inches and is
available on four of the company’s theatre
chair designs.

"All-Purpose" Surfacing
For Drive-in Theatres

A SCREEN surfacing material
of aluminum for drive-in theatres, designed
for “all-purpose” projection, including 3D
and wide-screen, has been marketed by
First-American Products, Inc., Kansas
City, Mo. The material was demonstrated
late in March at the Terrace drive-in

Heywood-Wakefield's "Encore" auditorium chair
(Model TC700) is shown above equipped with the
new "Contour" cushion of foam rubber construc-
tion. The cushion is designed to conform to the
contours of the occupant's body as he moves about.

theatre, Caldwell, Idaho, on a curved
wide-screen 72 by 36 feet. It was also
shown early in April at the Heart drive-in,
Kansas City, Mo., and further demonstra-
tions will be made for exhibitors request-
ing them.

Called “Mirra-Scope,” the screen mate-
rial is designed to provide equal distribu-
tion of light over a 90° viewing range.
Parabolic curves are rolled into the surface,
forming vertical fluting to control light dis-
tribution horizontally. The material i s
lightweight and easy to apply, the manu-
facturer states, with the large panels join-
ing to give a “seamless” effect. No paint-
ing is required, and the screen is weather-
proof.

The material can be mounted on both
existing and new screen towers, and for
the latter special methods of erection are
recommended by the company, which they
will supply.

The material was developed by Virgil
Odell for exclusive distribution by First-
American.

Magnasync Stereophonic
Equipment Redesigned

CHANGES AND improve-
ments in several features of its equipment
“packages” for stereophonic sound have
been incorporated into new models of its
“Magnaphonic” systems by the Magnasync
Manufacturing Company, North Holly-
wood, Calif.

The new button-on reproducer is desig-
nated the “Magnaphonic P-1435.” Plate
steel housing, formed to required-contour
around precision jigs, is welded and gus-
setted to develop most favorable stress
characteristics. The steel construction acts
as a shield to ward off the flux patterns
generated by the projector motor and re-
mote “dowser” solenoid. The mechanical
transport base plate is routed to contour
from 14-inch ground dural plate stock with
the bearing quills and other transport com-
ponents indexing to a critically flat surface.

Feeding into the reproducer, the film
passes over a large flanged roller with
sound-tested ball bearings to absorb the

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

excessive tensions created through the feed
magazine. Around the floating sprocket the
film is guided by “Nylatron” (Dupont
graphite impregnated nylon) rollers. The
film gates close to within .012-inch of the
sprocket on the outside edges only. The
filter arms are spring coupled with the
feed out arm spring grounded and a sili-
cone-oil dash-pot to damp and stabilize the

The "Magnaphonic P-1435" magnetic soundhead.

filter arms. Flangless filter arm rollers run
on precision ball bearings. The scanning
head is center-screw mounted on a four
point azimuth adjustment plate with lead
wires routing to a readily accessible ter-
minal strip located in the rear of the
housing.

The “Magnaphonic WC-435” preampli-
fier wall cabinet also has improvements

Rear view of the Magnasync audio system.

over prior designs. Plugging into a distri-
bution chassis, the individual preamplifiers
have both equalization and level trimmer
controls. On the distribution chassis, in the
output of each of the stage speaker channels,
balancing trimmer controls serve to com-
pensate for output differences in the scan-
ning heads on the two projector reproducers.
Constructed into the distribution chassis,
a 12 kilocycle filter network prevents the
objectionable control frequency from reach-
ing the side wall speakers. The control

track suppressor is integrated with the chan-
nel four preamplifier with tuned-circuit
frequency discrimination to peak the 12
kilocycle control signal. Output attenuation
of the preamplifier is placed after the con-
trol signal boost to prevent any change in
“trigger” sensitivity due to changes in the
required output level of the preamplifier.

A master ganged fader for the three
stage speaker channels is incorporated into
the preamplifier wall cabinet along with a
change-over switch for alternate channeling
of the “right” and “left” projector repro-
ducers.

The pre-amplifier power supply, “Mag-
naphonic PS-435,” is assembled on a 5}i
by 19 inch rack panel. This can be mounted
in the rack cabinet with the power ampli-
fiers or it may be furnished in a wall mount-
ing box. All interconnecting cabling
between the reproducers, preamplifiers and
power supply are furnished with each
“Magnaphonic” package.

Power amplifiers in output ratings rang-
ing from 15 to 70 watts are packaged in
enclosed rack cabinets in banks of three or
four as desired. Whereas four amplifiers
are recommended, some theatre owners pre-
fer to utilize their regular optical amplifier
to drive the side wall speakers (channel
four), the company points out. A system-
switching panel (MS-435) is offered to fill
the need for full emergency handling of the
power amplifiers in the event that one is
rendered inoperative during screening. The
channel four stereo or regular optical ampli-
fier may be switched in to replace any one
of those used to drive the three stage
speaker systems.

"Permalum" Surfacing
Ready for Deliveries

FOLLOWING several months
of development work to perfect its “Per-
malum” screen for drive-ins, particularly
for wide-screen presentations, Poblocki
and Sons, Milwaukee, has announced that
it is now ready for the market with de-
liveries slated to begin April 10th.

Designed for projecting pictures in all
the new techniques, including 3D and
wide-screen, “Permalum” is manufactured
of a non-corrosive, special alloy, extruded
aluminum, with an anodized finish. It can
be fastened to existing screen facings and
for new drive-ins the manufacturer points
out that the solid facing required for a
painted screen can be dispensed with by
using 2x4 lumber, 24 inches on center as
a fastening background.

“Permalum” is prefabricated for in-
stallation according to ramp measurements
and throw of each drive-in, from data sup-
plied by the purchaser. In experiments con-
ducted to develop the new screen so that
it would reflect light to extreme angles and

evenly over the entire ramp area, for drive-
ins of all sizes, the manufacturer made a
survey of hundreds of exhibitors to deter-
mine the extreme angle of each. “After
that,” he states, “the problem was to de-
velop a ‘Permalum’ screen tailored to fit
each particular e.xtreme angle.

“We considered, too, that many drive-
ins do not have enough light to give good
definition at ramps farthest away from the
screen at right angle, let alone at extreme
angle or end ramps, and that if we devel-
oped a screen to fit each drive-in, millions
of dollars could be saved in abandoning
e.xtreme angle ramps and building new
ramps. Also millions could be saved by
making the proper screen for each drive-in
so that drive-ins could show all pictures
in the same manner as could the indoor
theatre.”

The experimental “Permalum” screen
was made with hand tools, but dies now
are in the process of manufacture.

Rimless 3D Classes with
Larger Viewing Area

NEW RIMLESS polarized
glasses, designed with a larger viewing area
to provide unobstructed vision when 3D
films are shown on wide-screens, have been
placed into production by Depth Viewers,
Inc., Cincinnati.

Designated as “Model DVIO-A,” the

glasses are made of a new rigid “Polacoat-
Polarized” plastic film heavier than that
previously used. They have colored metal
temple bars both to hold the lenses in place
and the glasses to the wearer’s head. The
lenses have a curved styling, which is de-
signed to remove disturbing back reflections.

Expansion of the company’s firm into a
large modern factory to turn out the new
glasses is reported by John F. Dreyer, presi-
dent. He also states that the company will
soon put into production a 3D clip-on
model for those patrons already wearing
glasses.

•

WESTREX SOUND IN BRITAIN

Contracts to install four-track magnetic
stereophonic sound equipment in a number
of theatres in the British Isles have been
signed recently by English subsidiary of

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

Westrex Corporation, the Western Electric
Company, Ltd., London. Theatres with
the equipment already installed include the
following:

CMA circuit: the Odeon, Leeds; Odeon, Liv-
erpool; Odeon, Newcastle; Capitol, Cardiff.
Selegman circuit: Ritz, Lincoln. Black circuit:
Regal, Sunderland. Essoldo circuit: Troxy,
Portsmouth ; Essoldo, Brighton. Independent
theatres: Radway, Sidmouth; Hippodrome, Bel-
fast; Palace, Sheffield.

In process of installation are the following
theatres: Warners’ circuit: Warners, London.
Black circuit: Regal, Newcastle. Brinsley
Evans circuit: Dorchester, Hull; Criterion,
Hull; Cinema, Goole; Langham, Hull; Savoy,
Hull; Carlton, Hull; Priory, Hull; Plaza,
Hessle; National, Hull; Monica, Hull; Winter
Garden, Bridlington; West Park, Hull; Cleve-
land, Hull. Fox circuit: Carlton, London. Inde-
pendent theatres: Forum, Channel Islands;
Davenport, Stockport; Regal, Saltcoats; Prin-
cess, Huddersfield; Pioneer, Dewsbury; Aquari-
um, Gt. Yarmouth; Empire, Seehan Harbour;
Scala, Worcester; Black Prince, South Shields.

NEW WILLIAMS SCREEN PLANT

The Williams Screen Company, Akron,
Ohio, recently acquired a second manufac-
turing plant on Kenmore Boulevard, ac-
cording to an announcement by Harry C.
Williams, president. The additional pro-
duction facilities were necessitated by an
increased demand for the new Williams
“all-purpose” plastic silver screen.

Kraehler Chair Sold
To Criggs Company

THE PURCHASE of manu-
facturing rights to the Kroehler “push-
back” theatre auditorium chair from the
Kroehler Manufacturing Company, Naper-

One model of the Kroehler "push-back" chair

ville. 111., has been announced by the
Griggs Equipment Company, Belton, Tex.,
of which C. V. Griggs is president.

Although the consideration was not dis-
closed, it is understood that the sale includes
all the patents, rights, parts, tools and
equipment to enable
Griggs to proceed
immediately with
manufacture and
sale of the nation-
ally-known chair.

The Griggs com-
pany has two fac-
tories in Belton, one
with more than
75,000 square feet
of floor space and
the other with more
than 60,000. In addition it has five ware-
houses for stocking raw materials. Formed
ten years ago, the firm has sales distribution
in most states in tbe U. S. and numerous
foreign countries for its furniture line.

Huffs Hydro Carbon
Coolers Are Redesigned

IMPROVEMENTS in its
Hydro Carbon Coolers reported by the
Huff Manufacturing Company, Los An-
geles, include a new cooler nozzle and re-
designing the equipment to permit a 14-inch
mirror arc lamp to pull as much as 95 am-
peres, or 37 more than previously.

The cooler has been redesigned in re-

C. V. Griggs

THE PRINiE^lEHi
IS^STIIL THE
HEART OF YOUR

HanainaHHi

SrSTf M f

PROJECTION

J— •HJi' ^

■

• ' ”

Since the advent of CinemaScope hundreds of pro-
gressive theatre operators have equipped their projec-
tors with Hilux and Super-Lite projection lenses — for use
as prime lenses with their anamorphic attachments.

Your patrons, too, will appreciate the superior quality that over

30 years of lens craftsmanship have engineered into the Hilux //l.8 - 1^ 1 1*^^ r/1.8

and Super-Lite lenses.

1 1 i

I I I i

I I I

PROJECTION OPTICS CO., INC.

I I I I 1 I I I

I I I I I I I

330 Lyell Ave., Rochester, N. Y.

GLenwood 3993

*270*!.?

SUPERLITE MIC

$175-00 UP
Prices are per motched poir,
fhrov9h your T, S. 0,

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

sponse to the need for greater screen light
with the new film techniques. The Huff
coolers can be used with most types of arc
lamps. The manufacturer states that they
will cool the carbon within 2 inches of the
crater. Even with the greater amount of
screen light, the film is not subjected to
excessive heat, he declares, as the cooler
pulls the tail flame down and a greater
amount of the ionized carbon particles are
consumed, “leaving very little of tbe infra-
red rays which are the cause of the heat
damage to film.”

The new nozzle is fitted with a high
refractory ceramic insert designed to act as
an insulator to prevent all arcing between
tbe carbon and nozzle. It will fit all pre-
vious models of the Huff cooler, it is stated.

Woodgram Series for
Vinyl Wall Covering

THE TEXTURED effect of
natural wood is featured in a new Wood-
grain series introduced in “Bolta-Wall”
vinyl wall covering by Bolta Products
Sales, Inc., Lawrence, Mass. Available by
the yard or in 8 by 8 inch tiles, the series
comes in Prima Vera, Natural Mahogany,
Grey Mahogany and African Mahogany.

The “Bolta-Wall” Woodgrain has a
vinyl face sheet laminated to a firm rubber-
saturated backing. It can be applied to old
or new walls and can be installed around
columns or bent around sharp inside or out-
side corners. It requires no shellac, stain,
varnish, wax or finish of any type.

In application no carpentry is involved.

the material being installed by using
“Bolta-Wall” adhesive No. 571. Wall
surfaces need not be absolutely smooth,
the company points out, since the “cushion”
backing of “Bolta-Wall” helps absorb sur-
face roughness.

The material wipes clean with a damp
cloth and resists moisture, grease, steam,
alcohol and most staining agents, according
to the manufacturer.

Continuous Air Outlets
Made in Two Types

THE ADDITION of Continu-
ous air outlets to its line of “Agitair” air
diffusers has been announced by Air De-
vices, Inc., New York. Made in two dis-
tinct types, the new units are available in
unlimited run dimensions for either side-
wall or ceiling installations.

The type designated as “RC” has a sep-
arate mounting frame and an interchange-
able diffusing core. Type “R” has an in-
tegral diffusing core. Both types conform to
troffer or fluorescent lighting and other
architectural considerations, according to
the company.

Metal Stair Treads
With Safety Ribs

A NEW METAL safety stair
tread designed for new installations and for
repairing worn stairways, both exterior and
interior, has been developed by Wooster
Products, Inc., Wooster, Ohio.

Called the “Stairmaster,” the tread is
made with a permanent extruded light-
weight aluminum alloy base in a standard
9-inch depth. It is furnished in lengths as
required so that no cutting is necessary.
The tread has eleven rows of firmly em-

bedded safety ribs containing hard abrasive
grains designed to provide “anti-slip” pro-
tection. It has a Ij^-inch lip which covers
and protects the face of the tread.

The treads can be easily installed over
worn ones after the latter have been leveled
with mastic, the manufacturer points out.
They can be applied to all types of stairs,
including wood, concrete, slate and marble.
Screws or combination screw and lead
shields are used to fasten the treads securely
to the stairs. Proper length for the new
treads is determined by subtracting 6 inches
from the length of existing stair treads,
which provides 3 inches sweeping space at
each side.

New Porcelain Tile
For Covering Walls

MARYLAND DRIVE-IN'S NEW ATTRACTION PANEL

The new attraction panel of the Hillside drive-in Hillside, Md., an operation of Sidney Lust Theatres,
Washington, D. C., employs large Wagner 17-inch green plastic and 10-inch red plastic letters to
form the changeable copy. Fabricated and erected by the Whiteway Neon Sign Company, New York, the
board has two faces with openings 23 feet, I'/j inches long by 85 Inches high. Wagner glass and frames
were also employed in the installation.

A STEEL WALL tile with a
ceramic surface especially designed for the
renovation of theatre facilities has been de-
veloped by the Porcelain Enamel Products
Corporation of Rehoboth, Mass. The com-
pany points out that the material is par-
ticularly adaptable to covering wall space
in sucb areas in the theatre as rest rooms
and lobbies.

Called “Veos,” the material is porcelain
fused to steel. It is applied on a grooved
foundation board to give a smooth and uni-
form sub-surface over existing walls. Tbe
board is water-resistant and will not crack,
craze or fade, according to the company.
It can also be installed quickly.

The material is available in a full color
range in 8-inch squares. No refinishing or
maintenance of it is required, the manufac-
turer states.

SHEARER PROMOTES “ASTROLITE ”

A special sales campaign to promote
“Astrolite” theatre screens, which are man-
ufactured by tbe Radiant Screen Company
of Chicago, is now being conducted by the

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

B. F. Shearer Company, Seattle, distrib-
utors of the screen throughout the western
states. The “Astrolite” is an all-purpose
screen designed for use with 3-D and wide-
screen as well as 2-D projection.

Automatic Perfume Unit
For Women's Rest Rooms

AN AUTOMATIC perfume
dispenser designed for mounting on the
wall in the women’s rest rooms of theatres
has been marketed by the Jo-Lo Perfumatic
Dispenser, Inc., Jersey City, N. J. The
vender has already been installed at the
Radio City Music Hall in New York and
is slated to be placed in all theatres of the
Stanley-Warner and RKO circuits for an

additional source of revenue, according to
the company.

Trade-named the “Jo-Lo Perfumatic,”
the unit offers a choice of four perfumes at
10c a spray. The patron simply inserts a
coin in one of the four chutes and pushes

the plunger. With a capacity of 3,000
sprays, the vender is encased in a heavy
steel cabinet finished in rose-pink enamel, a
color designed to blend with most decors.

Having separate coin chutes enables the
theatre operator to determine the relative
popularity of the various brands of per-
fume, the manufacturer states. In addition
an automatic sealed tabulator inside the
case indicates the revenue accumulatively.

In installing the unit, hangers are
cemented to the wall surface, thereby re-
quiring no drilling, screws, tools or bolts, it
is pointed out. Also, the machine operates
mechanically with no electrical connections
necessary. Servicing is required once a
month.

Perfume brands used in the machine are
optional with the individual theatre oper-
ator, who can purchase the ones of his
choice at wholesale prices. The vender pic-
tured is stocked with “Tabu,” “Chanel
No. 5,” “20 Carats” and “Woodhue.”

Automatic Emergency
Light Unit Redesigned

A REDESIGNED automatic
emergency lighting unit designed to pro-
vide instantaneous illumination wTen regu-
lar power fails has been marketed by
General Scientific Equipment Company,
Philadelphia. The unit operates automati-
cally upon current failure, the manufac-
turer points out, without the need for
touching a switch.

The unit is powered by a storage battery
built into the portable set. It is equipped
with a trickle charger to maintain the bat-
tery charge and a built-in hydrometer to

Here’s how \o avoid

DEAD SPEAKERS

that mean
DEAD LOSSES

Use TELESEAL®

direct burial
UNDERGROUND WIRE
for reliable service

Before you buy any wire at a lower
price than TELESEAL think what cheap
wire costs to dig up and replace. It's
not the original price of the wire that
counts, it's the eventual cost to you!
With dependable TELESEAL you'll find
the cost extremely low, for once in-
stalled, TELESEAL gives long lasting,
reliable service under all conditions.

The tough neoprene jacket used on
TELESEAL is rugged enough to with-
stand even damp areas. It stands up
under conditions that cause inferior,
lower priced wires to fail and give you
banks of dead speakers that are a
complete loss. TELESEAL is made spe-
cifically for direct burial. Insist that
your motion picture supply house gives
you TELESEAL for your drive-in . . .
its the best that money can buy.

WHITNEY BLAKE CO.

Since 1 899

NEW HAVEN 14, CONN.

NEW MODELS OF POLA-LITE'S 3D GLASSES

Improvements in the polarization quality and a wider lens than used for previous models are features
of the new 3D glasses recently introduced by the Pola-Lite Company, New York. The glasses are con-
structed entirely of plastic with hinged bows except, of course, for the clip-on type (right) which has
plastic bows at the outside edges of the frame to clamp over the edges of the frames of correction
glasses. The company is offering the glasses in a "package" deal with its new projector attachment
whereby a 3D film is projected from a single strip of film.

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

indicate the state of the battery at a glance.

The unit can be plugged into any a.c.
circuit. The lights are sealed beam of 100
c.p. and are designed to provide 10 hours
of illumination.

Three New Models of
Playground Equipment

NEW MODELS of play-
ground equipment, including swing sets,
chair rides, and slides, have been marketed
by the Miracle Whirl Sales Company,
Grinnell, Iowa.

Incorporated into the “Miracle Swing
Set” is a change in the frame design with
fewer parts to handle and assemble, accord-
ing to Claude W. Ahrens, company presi-
dent. Made of all-steel, the new frames
eliminate heavy, cast-iron fittings, and erec-
tion time is much quicker than for previous
models, he pointed out. The frame is
painted in a candy stripe design over a rust-
proof primer. (See photograph.)

The swings are suspended from an all-
steel hanger, in which the latest type of
ball bearings are encased and sealed in oil.

The Miracle Swing Set.

The chain is heavy-duty No. 8 hot gal-
vanized Defiance pattern. Seats are avail-
able in seasoned hard wood, safety belts or
chairs, as designated by the purchaser. The
frame is also available in different styles
and comes in 3, 4, 6 and 8 swing sets.

Utilizing the same basic design, the com-
pany has also introduced a four unit all-
steel “Miracle Hobby Horse Swing.” The

The Miracle Animal Slide.

hobby horse units are also available for
single installation on Miracle swing sets or
conventional swing standards.

The new “Miracle Animal Slides” come

in two heights — the junior slide, which is
5 feet high and has a 10-foot bedway; the
senior slide, which is 7 feet high and has a
14-foot bedway. The elephant slide (see
photograph) is standard design but other
animals are available at additional cost.
The slide is rigidly bolted together.

The company’s third new piece of equip-
ment, the “Merry Chair Ride,” is 16 feet
in diameter and comes equipped with 8
safety chairs. It is powered by a Yz h.p.

The Miracle Merry Chair Ride.

Standard motor through a Dodge gear speed
reducer. There is no clutch mechanism,
and elasticity of movement is provided
through use of a sturdy V-belt drive.

The canvas drop is decorated with Ma-
sonite “fairy-tale” characters, designed both
to add to the attractiveness of the ride and
also keep the children from the moving
parts. These “fairy-tale” characters are also
available as separate units for mounting on
playground fences, etc.

Additional information on this new
equipment and the complete line of Miracle
may be secured by writing the manufac-
turer.

Orders Crow for RCA
Stereophonic Sound

ORDERS FOR Stereophonic
sound equipment from theatres throughout
the nation continue to be received by the
Radio Corporation of America at a rapid
rate, according to the most recent report
from the company’s Theatre Equipment
Division, which lists 200 additional the-
atres since the last report (see Better
Theatres for February).

The RCA “Stereoscope” sound systems
will be installed by service specialists of
the RCA Service Company. Following is
a list of the theatres ordering the systems
and not previously reported :

Fisher and Times, Danville, 111.; Irving,
Bloomington, 111.; Orpheum, Galesbury, 111.;
Peoples, State, Capitol, Avalon, Atlantic, Pica-
dilly, Marshall Square, and Northcenter, Chi-
cago, III.; Roxy, Ottowa, 111.; Ritz, Berwyn,
111.; Arcada, St. Charles, 111.; Olympic, Cicero,
111.; Garden, E. Chicago, Ind.; Geneva, Geneva,
111.; Irving, Carbondale, Pa.; Park, Hanover,
Pa.; Bristol, Bristol, Pa.; Esquire, Liberty,
Sedgewick, Broadway, Kent, Roosevelt, Nixon,
Palace, Strand, Midway, State, Band Box,

Girard, and Benson, Philadelphia, Pa.; Tower,
and 69th Street, Upper Darby, Pa.

Also Lansdale, Lansdale, Pa.; Media, Media,
Pa.; Glenside, Glenside, Pa.; Westmont, West-
mont, N. J.; Stanley, Walt Whitman, and Arlo,
Camden, N. J.; Landis, Vineland, N. J.; Cen-
tury, Audubon, N. J.; Sherman, Stroudsburg,
Pa.; YMCA Auditorium, Coatesville, Pa.;
Salem, Salem, Va. ; American, Roanoke, Va.;
Floral, Floral Park, L. L; Fabian-Fox, Republic,
Brevoort, and Strand, Brooklyn, N. Y.; Free-
man and Deluxe, Bronx, N. Y. ; Midland, New-
ark, Ohio; Liberty, Zanesville, Ohio; Colony,
Marietta, Ohio; Daniel Webster, Nashua,
N. H.; Colonial, Allentown, Pa.; State, Altoona,
Pa.; State, Easton, Pa.; Colonial, Richmond, Va.

Also Bijou, Morrisville, Vt. ; Norwalk, Nor-
walk, Conn.; loka, Exeter, N. H.; Paramount,
N. Adams, Mass.; Waring, Rochester, N. Y. ;
Park, Cobleskill, N. Y.; Castamba, Shelby,
Ohio; Piqua, Piqua, Ohio; Wooster, Wooster,
Ohio; Colonial, Norwich, N. Y. ; Messina,
Messina, N. Y. ; Pontiac, Saranac Lake, N. Y.;
Lafayette, Buffalo, N. Y. ; Hemet Theatre,
Hemet, Calif.; Adams and Civic, Detroit,
Mich.; Capitol, Aberdeen, S. D.; Star, James-
town, N. D.; State, Mitchell, S. D.; Highland,
St. Paul, Minn.

Also Kenosha, Kenosha, Wis. ; Bay, Green
Bay, Wis.; Raulf, Oshkosh, Wis.; Tower and
Oriental, Milwaukee, Wis.; State, Wausau,
Wis.; Huntington, Huntington, Ind.; Madison,
Covington, Ky. ; Mary Anderson, Louisville, Ky. ;
Grand, Evansville, Ind.; New Drive-In, Hen-
derson, Ky. ; Princeton, Princeton, Ind.; DaVue,
DaBel, and Dale, Dayton, Ohio; Lake, Warsaw,
Ind.; Granada, Independence, Mo.; Lake City,
Lake City, Wash.; Long View, Long View,
Wash.

Also Paramount, Portland, Ore.; Liberty,
Kalispell, Mont.; Mack, McKinnville, Ore.;
Liberty, Pasco, Wash.; Liberty, Toppenish,
Wash.; Capitol, Salem, Ore.; Strand, Jones-
boro, Ark.; Rex, Sentinel, Okla.; Max, Cher-
okee, Okla.; Weslin, Massillon, Ohio; Rivoli,
Toledo, Ohio; Vine, Willoughby, Ohio; Ohio,
Marion, Ohio; Apollo, Oberlin, Ohio; Para-
mount, Steubenville, Ohio; Colquitt, Moultrie,
Ga.; Brainerd, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Sheridan,
Calvert, Keiths, Penn, Uptown, and Turnage,
Washington, D. C. ; Florida, Tallahassee, Fla.;
Platte, Ville Platte, La.

Also Aztec, San Antonio, Tex.; New El
Rancho, Hebbronville, Tex.; Wichita, Wichita
Falls, Tex.; Majestic, Dallas, Tex.; Plaza,
Vernon, Tex.; State, Auburn, Neb.; Strand,
Hastings, Neb.; Joy, Lincoln, Neb.; Paramount,
San Francisco, Calif.; Alameda, Alameda,
Calif.; Palms and Paramount, Phoenix, Ariz. ;
Catalina, Tucson, Ariz.; Luna, Kankakee, 111.;
Orpheum, Springfield, 111.; Tamalpais, San
Anselmo, Calif.; 86th Street, New York, N. Y. ;
Keiths, Syracuse, N. Y. ; Colonial, Atlantic
City, N. J.

Also Warner, Erie, Pa.; Warner, Youngs-
town, Ohio; Warner, Reading, Pa.; Silver,
Silver Springs, Md. ; Ambler, Ambler, Pa.;
Stanley, Baltimore, Md.; Warner, Memphis,
Tenn.; Haven, Olean, N. Y. ; Latonia, Oil City,
Pa.; Huntington, Huntington Park, Calif.; Ori-
tani, Hackensack, N. J. ; Lincoln, Union City,
N. J.; Regent, Elizabeth, N. J.; Parthenon,
Hammond, Ind.; State, Lexington, Va.

Also Yorktown, Elkins Park, Pa.; Variety,
Vogue, and Colony, Cleveland, Ohio; Royal,
Bloomfield, N. J.; Penn, Titusville, Pa.; Harris,
Tarentum, Pa.; Stanley, Newark, N. J.; Ritz,
San Bernardino, Calif.; Granada, Santa Bar-
bara, Calif.; Fresno, Fresno, Calif.; Merritt
and Warner, Bridgeport, Conn.; State, Johns-
town, Pa.; Strand, Ridgeway, Pa.; Ohio, Lima,
Ohio; Warner, Morgantown, W. Va.

Also Jefferson, Punxsutawney, Pa.; Memorial,
McKeesport, Pa.; Library, Warren, Pa.;

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

Strand, Hartford, Conn.; Warner, Worcester,
Mass.; Rowland, Wilkinsburgh, Pa.; Whitehall,
Manor, Kenyon, Schenley, Arsenal and Sheri-
dan Square, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Liberty, Columbia,
Pa.; Garde, New London, Conn.; Warner,
Lynn, Mass.; State, Waterbury, Conn.; Roger
Sherman, New Haven, Conn.; Virginia, Har-
risonburg, Va. ; Palace, S. Norwalk, Conn.;
Ambridge, Ambridge, Pa.; Waverly, Drexel
Hill, Pa.; Winter Garden, Jamestown, N. Y. ;
Palace, Norwich, Conn.; Ohio, Canton, Ohio;
Capitol, Springfield, Mass.; Strand, Akron,
Ohio; Paramount, Kansas City, Mo.

Also Penn, Butler, Pa.; Cheswick, Cheswick,
Pa.; Kanawha, Buckhannon, W. Va. ; Crest and
Regal, Philadelphia; Cohoes, Cohoes, N. Y. ;
Park, Rockaway Park, L. L; Ring, Springfield,
Mass.; Calvin, Northampton, Mass.; Palace,
Pittsfield, Mass.; Garden, Greenfield, Mass.;
Strand, Holyoke, Mass.; Rivoli and Seneca,
Buffalo, N. Y.

Also Falls, Redwood Falls, Minn.; Audito-
rium, Stillwater, Minn.; Fairborne, Fairborne,
Ohio; Xenia, Xenia, Ohio; Celina, Celina, Ohio;
St. Mary’s, St. Mary’s, Ohio; Valentine, De-
fiance, Ohio; Campus, Manhattan, Kan. ; White-
side, Corvallis, Ore.; Lincoln, Port Angeles,
Wash.; Civic, Dalles, Ore.; Mt. Union, Alli-
ance, Ohio; Wellman, Girard, Ohio.

Also Ritz, Winterhaven, Fla.; Park, Houma,
La.; Pitt, Lake Charles, La.; Rex, Baton Rouge,
La.; Modjeska, Augusta, Ga.; Tower, Rosetta,
and Essex, Miami, Fla.; Sunrise, Ft. Pierce,
Fla.; Showboat, Texas City, Tex.; Showboat,
Freeport, Tex.; El Rancho, Victoria, Tex.;
Main, Pueblo, Colo.; Hiland, Albuquerque,
N. M. ; Enean, Pittsburgh, Calif.; Manor, San
Mateo, Calif.; Enean, Concord, Calif.

Also Jefferson, New York City; Lincoln, Mas-
sillon, Ohio; Ohio, Mansfield, Ohio; Palace,
Lorain, Ohio; Fresno, Fresno, Calif.; Clemen-
ton, Clementon, N. J. ; Ritz, Elizabeth, N. J.;
National and Egyptian, Milwaukee; Metropoli-
tan, Ogden, Rhodes and Highland, Chicago.

Two Wilton Carpets
For Foyer and Lounge

TWO NEW WILTON designs
for use in the foyer or lounge areas of

Karagheusian's Cranford Wilton.

theatres have been added to its 1954 line
of Gulistan carpets by A. & M. Kara-
gheusian, Inc.

The Cranford is an all-wool, two-frame

Wilton weave, of round wire construction
with the loops securely locked in. It has
a stylized design resembling an evergreen
tree outlined by darker moresque yarns in
the background. It is made in three colors,
Algerian Sand, Pacific Green and High-
land Gray, and woven in widths of 27
inches, 9, 12 and 15 feet. Designed to har-
monize with both modern and traditional
decor, the Cranford is in the popular price
bracket.

The new Westbury quality, also an all-

Karagheusian's Westbury Wilton.

wool Wilton, has an intricate pattern
named Labyrinth. It is a rich carpet, looped
on different levels, with the swirling, ab-
stract design raised above the background.
Available in four colors, Barley Beige,
Pecan, Fernmist Green and Cloud Gray,
it is woven in the same widths as the
Cranford.

In addition to the Wiltons, the company
has introduced a new cut-pile tufted cot-
ton line and an Axminster line.

TWIN-TANK MOPPING OUTFIT

A new twin-tank mopping outfit
designed to accommodate smaller size mops
from 8 to 16 ounces has been added to its
line by Geerpres Wringer, Inc., Muske-
gon, Mich. Previously available only in a
single tank outfit, the “Floor-Knight”
Model 816 Twin Tank Outfit embodies
all features of the other Geerpres twin
outfits, including a new type of side and
gear cover which completely encloses the
wringer gearing. Water in mops is
squeezed down and out by means of
pressure bars spun at both ends into the
double-staggered gears of the wringers.
Both the wringer and chassis on the new
unit have electroplated finishes. The chassis
measures 25 inches in length and 12 inches

in width. It is equipped with 2j4-inch
ball-bearing casters with soft rubber wheels
and is available with or without rubber
bumpers.

WIDE-SCREENS IN MIDWEST

The rate of wide-screen installations has
increased in the Midwest since the first
of the year, according to “Count” de
Stefano, manager of the National Theatre
Supply in Kansas City, Mo. He listed the
following theatres as among those in
which Walker seamless, all-purpose screens
have recently been installed through his
offices :

In Kansas: the Strand, Hays; Seneca, Seneca;
Blair, Osborne; Victory, Wichita; and Vogue,
Salina. In Missouri: the Dixie, Odessa; Or-
pheum, Neosho; Electric, St. Joseph; Regent,
Kansas City; and Howard, Arkansas City.

•

FIRE RETARDANT WALL PAINT

An oil-base wall paint designed to act
as a fire retardant has been announced by
the Fyr-Kote Division of the Morris Paint
and Varnish Company, Omaha. Trade-
named “Fyr-Kote” the paint, when exposed
to flame, pours out carbon dioxide and cal-
cium chloride which smothers fire and
retards the spread of flame right on the
surface by forming a “block,” according
to the company. Available in white and six
colors, the paint is designed to withstand
numerous scrubbings with strong washing
powder and boiling water, the company
points out.

NEW RAYTONE SCREEN BRUSH

The new brush for cleaning all types of screens
developed by the Raytone Screen Corporation,
Brooklyn, N. Y. (and described in the March issue
of Better Theatres) is pictured above. The brush is
made of long, soft, white bristles and is intended
for use with new screens only. The handle socket
is designed for use with any push-broom handle,
and extension handles are not recommended since
they make the brush unwieldy. A 6- or 8-foot
ladder should suffice for a person of normal
height to reach the top sections of a screen, it
is pointed out. For successful results with the
brush the manufacturer states that it must be
applied at least once each week. It must also be
kept immaculately clean and should be shaken
after each use and stored in ,a clean carton or
wrapped in a clean, white rag.

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

Zk ‘Dfwe-in

★ A Department Conducted by WILFRED P. SMITD

...for many years manager of regular fheafres, then of drive-ins, later drive-in circuit executive
in charge of construction and operation; now operator of his own drive-in at Ledgewood, N. J.

Wide-Screen Values at Drive-Ins

FOR SEVERAL wccks after
reopening the Garden Auto-Toriuni in
February, we conducted experiments with
patron reaction to two speakers in a car.
A speaker was placed on either side of
the car. Upon questioning the patrons
at intervals, we got such remarks as, “It’s
all right,” and “It’s louder.” Of course,
we were using the regular run of picture.

Upon inquiring about our new wide
screen, however, patrons are enthusiastic.
At times their praise is spontaneous. So
just as wide-screen presentation is of ex-
treme importance in the conventional

theatre, it is, in my opinion, of equal
value at a drive-in. (Incidentally, the
phone call inquiries about specific pictures
are proportionately the same at the drive-in
as they are at the conventional Denville
theatre which we also operate.)

As these columns have mentioned before,
and as Jack Braunagel of Commonwealth
Circuit in Kansas City, said to the writer
at the Allied drive-in convention in Cin-
cinnati, “Let’s not equip ourselves out of
business.” This is not to be interpreted to
mean that we should not be progressive. It
does mean, however, that whatever you do

in the direction of progress, be planned out,
not be plunged into without investigation.
Will the public respond in sufficient num-
bers to justify the expenditure?

Personally, I am a bit of a gambler in
such matters. However, the theatre has
become a sort of laboratory, whereas I
should think the manner of procedure ought
to be quite the reverse. In the confusion
of technical devices and the stampede to get
in the parade, serious and costly mistakes
have been made. That to me is not the
most intelligent way to get progress.

Those responsible for introducing new
and advanced methods of projection and
sound, in both outdoor and conventional
fields, should be able to guarantee their
methods as workable in your theatre.

COSTS OF EXPERIMENTS

There can be no question that there are
brains in this country to “build a better
mouse trap,” in sound and in projection as
well. But whoever does it should be will-
ing to demonstrate his wares in your
theatre. If it does not work in your
theatre, you should not be obligated to pay
for it. We know of exhibitors who have
invested money that will never be amor-
tized, either because the device will become
obsolete in a short period of time, or because
of inferior technical advice.

We suppose we must expect to suffer
from a certain amount of “bugs” when
techniques are new. We hear of trouble
with anamorphic prints because of distor-
tion after a print has had only a few screen-
ings. Managers raise cane with booth
operation when the picture is continually
in and out of focus. I know of two thea-
tres near my own situation where the
projectionists have demanded that the man-

The new wide-screen installed at the Garden Auto-Torium, Ledgewood, N. J., is 70 by 44 feet.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

ager stay in the booth through an entire
showing of an anamorphic print to prove
they have their hands on the lens and are
alert to this serious situation.*

Yes, we are having growing pains.
Probably one, or all, of the new mediums
will be perfected, and we hope they will.
But we guinea-pig exhibitors can’t be
blamed if we are anxious about the head-
long rush into dark alleys. This policy
could hurt more than television ever did.
The development procedure is cockeyed.
Every new technique developed should be
guinea-pigged in the laboratory.

KEY SIZE TO LIGHT

We suggest that for the drive-in oper-
ator embarking on wide-screen, a funda-
mental rule always to bear in mind is not
to sacrifice bigness for brightness.

Our first procedure was to experiment
with all sizes of lenses to ascertain the size
that we were to settle upon. With the
present projection equipment installed in a
600-car theatre, the decision was to widen
the screen to 70 feet. Beyond that width
we found we were just sucking the life out
of the film, and it became grainy. To go
to 80 feet for this size of theatre would
have destroyed the sharp definition and de-
tail of the picture.

With a 330-foot throw, using a 4-inch
lens, we have a picture size of 70x44 feet.
Here again we did not want to sacrifice
height to attain width. This gives us an
aspect ratio of about 1.60-to-l, which has
proved out to be satisfactory so far. The
screen extensions are steel, the same as the
original one, and the whole has been coated
with a high-grade white outdoor paint.
Patron reaction was excellent from the
beginning, and our own reaction to the
larger and wider picture is, “How did we
ever get along with that 54-foot picture in
the first place?”

Certainly our patrons would miss the
larger picture. How readily they took to
the wider picture is indicated by their com-
ment when 1 opened without having yet
got hold of 4-inch lenses. The opening
night projection was in the former picture
size — and there was all of that screen
around it! People asked, “What’s the
matter, your equipment broken down?”
They didn’t realize that they were looking
at the same size of picture they always had.

* There is no special characteristic of Cinema-
Scope prints which make them more susceptible to
distortions that set up causes in the gate of fluctu-
ating focus. The condition long referred to by pro-
jectionists as in-and-out-of-focus can be suffered
with any print through heat at the aperture. For
projection of CinemaScope pictures lamps of
higher amperage are frequently used. A print that
arrives already curled has probably been thus sub-
jected to more heat. The older projectors also can
contribute to fluctuating focus because of inade-
quate shoe tension. In-and-out-of-focus is of course
more noticeable with relatively large, wide screen
images. — Ed.

We got 4-inch lenses the next day, and
here is how we “overcame” the shortage in
that size. At about the same time that we
extended our drive-in screen, we put in a
33-foot screen in our Denville indoor op-
eration. It was only after the opening
night embarrassment at the drive-in that
we realized we had been using 4-inch,
//1. 9 lenses at the Denville. They went
into the drive-in projectors immediately.
Call us lucky.

If you are contemplating extending your
drive-in screen for wider pictures, we sug-
gest that you be sure to take these pre-
cautions :

( 1 ) Engage the services of a professional
engineer to make certain the new founda-
tion is tied in with the existing reinforcing
rods. At Ledgewood we welded all the
new rods to the old before pouring concrete
so that the added section would have the
same strength for wind stress.

(2) Check your sightlines from the
ramps. Those with tilted screens should
be overly cautious due to variations of
different drive-ins, with different topogra-
phy in almost all instances.

'What Are We Selling?

WHILE WE ARE Convinced
that a good picture with a good wide-screen
installation make a combination that will
keep ’em coming to our theatres, indoor
and outdoor, throughout the world, we
don’t see that higher rentals are called for
by the mere fact of wide-screen presenta-
tion.

Take such pictures as “The Long, Long
Trailer” and “The Glenn Miller Story.”
Would the grosses be greater if they had
been produced, for example, in Cinema-
Scope? Should the percentage be higher,
and higher admission prices be required,
simply in anticipation of higher grosses due
to the special wide-screen technique used
in production?

There can be no question that the
CinemaScope process has attracted atten-
tion to the movies and given the business
impetus, and the 20th Century-Fox organi-
zation is to be highly commended for ex
ploiting it so effectively to the public.

But it may be that this exploitation has
been so good that the public has come to
think of any wide-screen picture as a
CinemaScope production. I happened to he
in Dover, N. J., the other day and walked
into the Baker theatre there. “The Long,
Long Trailer” was playing, and as I
entered I overheard a fellow just ahead of
me say to the woman with him, “Look, this
picture is in CinemaScope.” Apparently the
Baker was getting CinemaScope value with-
out paying for it. Well, maybe something
ought to be done about that — but we
hope not.

KaM/Can/s' 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

BOX K, Hamden, Connecticut

*Trade Mark of Koiled Kords, Inc.

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

NO. 1 STAGE TRACKER

V ALLEN has tracked stages
all over the world

\^ALLEN all-steel curtain tracks for 37 years
’ have led the field in design and functional
efficiency. Made of cold drawn steel gauged to
meet heavy, intermediate and light duty require-
ments, they are precision engineered for noiseless,
trouble-free operation. The exclusive Vallen formed
shape increases strength, eliminates carrier jam-
ming and permits free, noiseless movement of
carriers.

Every feature of these tracks and of the famous
Vallen “plumb bob” curtain carriers has been
carefully designed to insure perfect curtain opera-
tion. Whether your stage is large or small, school,
theatre, church or lodge, there is a Vallen track and
curtain control combination to meet your specific
need, and of equal importance, your budget.

IT rite us today for a consultation
without obligation.

Vallen sets the
world's standard
for curtain con-
trols and tracks.

yConsuItVallenfor

tracks and con-
trols best suited
to your needs.

VALLEN, Inc. Akron 4, Ohio, U.S.A.

THE ORIGINAL

Hydro Carbon Cooler

Concentrates all the heat at the gas ball

When you install the Huff Hydro Positive
Carbon Cooler, you save carbons no mat-
ter what Size carbon you use. You can
draw more amperage from any type car-
non. You have less heat at the film. You
S®t a flat field of light. The new Cera-Cop
Nozzle has a high refractory ceramic in-
sert which gives longer life.

See your Dealer or write to

HAL I. HUFF MFC. CO.

3774 SELBY AVENUE
LOS ANGELES 34, CALIF.

on. n. „ EXPORT DIVISION

301 Clay Street San Francisco, Calif.

YOUR QUESTIONS ARE INVITED. If you have a
problem of design or maintenance fhe 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 BEHER THEATRES SERVICE DE-
PARTMENT, Rockefeller Center, New York.

PARAMOUNT'S VISTAVISION

{Continued from page 25)

listening, and it is of little value in the rear
of the theatre. Further, we think stereo-
phonic sound tends to punctuate cuts, and
detracts from the smooth flow of the pic-
tured story. For these reasons, and its
cost, we have not adopted it. On future
pictures, Paramount does not contemplate
a stereophonic release, either on a separate
magnetic film or by the four-track magnetic
system.

Paramount suggests dimensional sound
for the very large theatres and for use by
exhibitors who feel that they should have
a “stereophonic effect.”

All VistaVision release prints will have
standard photographic sound tracks which
will play on any existing standard optical
sound heads. These same sound tracks will
also carry low-frequency modulation at
three different frequencies which will con-
trol the volume of the center and side
loudspeakers in those theatres that are
equipped with dimensional sound control
units. These sound control units will cost
about $800 plus about $500 for installation.

In theatres that do not have auxiliary
loudspeakers, it will, of course, be neces-
sary to purchase extra loudspeakers and
amplifiers at an increased cost (estimated
at approximately $2000). All houses that
have been equipped for stereophonic repro-
duction can use dimensional sound by mere-
ly purchasing the dimensional sound control
unit.

At this time we wish to point out that
dimensional sound is being made available
as a part of the flexibility of the Vista-
Vision system. We feel that dimensional
sound Avill enhance the effectiveness of the
pictures in very large houses, but its use is
optional with the exhibitor and no demand
for its use will be made by Paramount.

The production shooting for VistaVision
sound will be handled the same as on any
monaural sound picture. At Paramount all
production recording is done on 17^2 mm.
film in the 65-pound suitcase recorders built
by Paramount. All scoring will he single
sound track magnetic with as much rever-
berant bigness as can be obtained.

On future pictures it is contemplated
that all sound editing will be with striped
magnetic 35mm. film and the magnetic
cutting print will be used as the rerecord-
ing print. All rerecording will be to a
single-sound-track magnetic master which
will have been rerecorded (dubbed) with
monaural monitoring. The single-track
magnetic composite film will then be dimen-
sionalized in the rerecording channel using
three horn systems and the necessary pan-
ning pots to gain any desired balance.

A magnetic control track recording will
be made during each review, and when a
satisfactory review is obtained, the control
track recording will be combined with the
rerecording master in the preparation of a
photographic negative for release printing.

RELEASE PRINTING
AND DISTRIBUTION

All domestic, and possibly the foreign re-
lease prints, are to be made by a new im-
bibition dye transfer method which Techni-
color has developed and which is being in-
troduced along with the release of “White
Christmas.” It will also be used on all sub-
sequent VistaVision pictures.

The negative will be handled in 2000-
foot rolls corresponding to the 1000-foot
rolls of normal film. Negative cutting of
Paramount VistaVision pictures will be by
the so-called A-and-B process, so that all
dissolves and fades will be made from the
original negative without duping.

With respect to the sub-title foreign re-
lease, it is the writer’s earnest recommen-
dation that all theatres that exhibit sub-
titled pictures use an aspect ratio of 1.66/1
or 1.33/1. Wherever possible, they should
avoid 1.85/1 and 2/1.

We should place the sub-titles just high
enough on the picture so that they are at
the very bottom of the 1.85/1 frame. These
titles will then be visible at the bottom of
the picture when framed at 1.85/1. They
will be nicely framed at 1.66/1, and, of
course, they will be quite far up in the pic-
ture at 1.33/1. They will not be visible
at 2/1.

It is the writer’s opinion that if Para-
mount places the sub-titles high enough on
the picture to be seen in the 2/1 aspect
ratio, the titles will be too high and awk-
ward in the bulk of the theatres running
at 1.85/1, 1.66/1 and 1.33/1.

The sound for all release prints rvill be
made from the same type of sound negative,
and as indicated above all release prints can
play on any standard optical sound head
in any theatre in the world. Further, these
same prints can play with dimensional
sound in theatres having such equipment.

STANDARD PRINTS

The VistaVision standard print is a
standard release print in every regard ex-
cept that the quality has been improved.
This will give a new depth perception in
exhibition.

These standard prints will carry a fram-
{Continued on page 54)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

method in

Mtiitaoement

★

staff supervision
institutional advertising
exploitation equipment
linusekeepinq & maintenance
and related activities

cohtihuih^

A DICTIONARY OF MAINTENANCE

Fourteenth Article in the Series:

MOTION PICTURE THEATRE MANAGEMENT

By CURTIS MEES

ANYONE WHO has
given thought to the
problems of training
management personnel
for theatres realizes
that there is very little
that can be classified as
“new.” But there has
been an extension and
an intensification of
managerial responsibility as the theatre has
become more and more complex physically
and as competition for the amusement dol-
lar, and the costs of operation, have made
efficiency and conservation more critical.

The material on theatre maintenance
presented at this stage of our series of arti-
cles on theatre management necessarily con-
tains instruction offered before; however,
it has most often been made available in
isolated chunks, rather than in a general
coverage of the things that make up a thea-
tre property. In this series, moreover, we
have sought to make that general coverage
more readily available for reference by pre-
senting the material in alphabetical order
according to subjects.

Following that order, this articles brings
us to —

FIREPROOFING COMPOUNDS — Com-
mercial fluids are available which can be
sprayed on drapes, curtains and similar fabrics
to make them reasonably fireproof. Before using
on valuable drapes it is recommended they be
tested on a small piece of material so as to be
positive there is no danger of streaking the dyes

or leaving a surface film of powder, as some of
these products have been known to do.

At Christmas it is particularly important to
consider application of some form of fireproof-
ing to any trees or garlands of leaves, branches,
etc., which may be used for decorative purposes.
The same applies to any elaborate decorations
which might be installed that present a fire
hazard.

•

FLATS, STAGE SETS — Many theatres still
have sets of flats lying around, some currently
in use for occasional stage shows. These
should be fireproofed and stacked in such man-
ner as to be out of the way, yet not be subject
to warping of the frames. Old sets can be
painted over (if the canvas is still reasonably
strong), thus to make an acceptable stage set
(possibly of some local background, by local
artists) at very reasonable cost. These come
in very handy for local fashion shows, athletic
events, or community forums in the theatre.

•

FLASHLIGHTS — Ushers are continually
abusing or losing their flashlights. One method
of tracing them is to scratch a number on each
flashlight and issue the lights according to the
numbers as new ushers are hired and old ones
leave. When not in use for extended periods
of time, batteries should be removed from the
casing and stored separately to prevent cor-
rosion within the flashlight.

FLOODLIGHTS — Recent years have seen
increasing use of floodlights for illumination of
exteriors, billboards, and parking areas. Be-
fore attempting to light any extensive area, it
is advisable to consult the local power company.
They are glad to supply this service to their
customers free of charge. All exterior flood-
lights should be protected with hoods of one
sort or another, to prevent water from striking
the exposed bulbs, which usually “kills” them
very quickly. These hoods also serve to confine
the light to the desired area.

Floodlights are also frequently used under
the marquee for a “flash” effect of brilliant
light on the front of a theatre. Care should be
exercised to see these lights are so anchored
as to present no danger of falling or being
pushed over on passers-by. They become ex-
tremely hot after a very short while, so should
be kept well away from any combustible mate-
rial, such as cloth valances or paper sign mate-
rial. (The same applies to floodlights used on
stage.) Temporary wiring cables for these
units should be installed in such way as to
prevent people from falling over them.

•

FLOORS

CONCRETE — Much of the theatre flooring
comes in this category. Where it is used to
any degree, such as in auditoriums and on walk-
ways, it should, at the outset, be swept down,
mopped and, when thoroughly dry, painted with

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

special cement floor paint. The most popular
floor paint for public buildings of this type is
a tile red, which doesn't show soil very much,
yet brightens up the surroundings. Battleship
grey deck paint probably follows as second
choice. Concrete floors should be mopped with
a mild disinfectant solution from time to time
to remove dust the brooms cannot pick up, and
to kill any odors left on the floor from crushed
popcorn, spilled drinks, etc.

TILE, ASPHALT — This can be laid over
concrete or wood flooring with very little diffi-
culty. It presents a neat appearance. Used
under soft drink machines, water fountains and
at refreshment stands, this eliminates carpet
where fabric may become wet and makes it
possible to damp-mop the surroundings as often
as needed. To Ipy this tile, first insure an even,
clean working surface. Put down a coat of
special cement sold wi h the tile (using a rec-
tangular trowel with serrated edges), then lay
the tiles in the pattern desired. Tile is very
brittle when cold, so should always be worked
at a reasona''ly warm temperature. There are
cutting tools available for trimming edges and
fitting around odd shapes. With a little prac-
tice, a professional job can be done by a porter
or “engineer” on the staff. In the cleaning of
asphalt tile, only mild detergents should be used
and then carefully removed. Strong cleaning
solutions, such as gasoline, terpentine, carbon
tetrachloride, etc., are solvents for the materials
making up the asphalt tile, hence if you permit
their use you will find they remove dirt, tile
and all! Should any of these strong chemicals
be spilled on the tile, they should be cleaned
up just as quickly as possible and the tile
should then be washed clean with clear water.
Unfortunately, it only takes a minute or so for
most of these strong agents to eat through a
piece of asphalt tile.

TILE, TERRAZZO, CERAMIC— These tiles
can be given fairly rough treatment in their
maintenance, as they do not react so strongly
to the more powerful cleaning solutions. They
can be mopped down at intervals with fairly
strong detergents, and spot cleaning (as for
chewing gum) can be done with any of the
strong cleaning compounds. Terrazzo flooring
should be waxed and polished from time to
time, but care must be exercised that not enough
wax be used as to make the floor a safety hazard.

LINOLEUM — This material falls in the same
general category with asphalt tile, as the lino-
leum will break down under the use of strong
cleaning compounds as will asphalt tile. It is
not as practical for inexperienced personnel to
install linoleum as asphalt tile, but it can be
done. It is better, however, to have a pro-
fessional flooring man put it down. It should
be washed with mild cleaning solutions, then
waxed and polished, taking care not to have
a floor that is slippery.

WOOD FLOORING — To get back original
appearance generally calls for sanding, followed
by a refinishing process. Floors should then be
periodically waxed (whenever becoming dull
and flat), which preserves the finish. If the
surface is painted, it should be repainted as
wear becomes evident, giving extra coats of
paint to those areas subject to greatest wear.
Gum, etc., should be carefully removed, not
“painted under.” Floors should be damp-
mopped, never soaked with water.

Stage flooring should be gone over for re-
moval of loose splinters, nails, etc., damp-
mopped and sometimes wiped down with an oil
solution to preserve the wood, keep down dust,
yet not make the surface slick (as will wax)

for acrobatics, dancing, etc. If the area of stage
flooring in front of the screen reflects too much
light, it might be stained a dark brown or
painted black, or covered with a black drop
cloth.

•

FUSES — Two general types available. The
plug type is used on smaller amperage circuits
and show through an opening in the top if the
filament has been “blown” (being strictly one-
time fuses). The cartridge type is used for
heavier circuits. These fuses come in a one-
time throw-away unit, also a renewable type
which permits removal of the casing so the
renewable links can be inserted whenever they
blow out. The renewable type cartridge fuses
are for the very heaviest circuits; complete re-
placement is expensive, new links relatively
inexpensive. Care must be exercised in remov-
ing and replacing cartridge fuses, as one is in
close proximity to heavy line charges which
could seriously endanger life. There are special
pliers (non-conductors) available to make these
changes less hazardous, though throwing the
main switch of that particular line is the safest
method. Handling of these heavier fuse jobs
is only for qualified personnel (such as an
electrician) . Keep an adequate supply of all sizes
of fuses and renewable links on hand for any
emergency. Never permit anyone to bridge over
a fuse, either by using a penny behind a plug
fuse, or with wire over the cartridge fuses. Such
an installation removes all of your protection.

•

FURNACES— (1) Coal Fired: Replace
broken grates. See that fireman keeps ashes
removed in ash pit so they never touch grates
from underside (otherwise this will burn them
out very quickly). Remove soot from chimney
cleanout regularly. Keep furnace room clean,
free of ashes and trash. If any automatic con-
trols are used, check for accuracy at all stages
of normal operation. Replace broken stoker
parts promptly; oil motor and brush off dust
from motor and housing frequently. Check
controls. Remove clinkers in firebox each
morning. Keep adequate supply of spare parts
on hand.

(2) Gas Fired: Test for gas leaks, using soapy
water brushed over suspected joints. Check con-
trols for positive action. Check safety pilot and
automatic valve cut-off when pilot goes out.
Inspect manual valves. Brush off carbon and
clean burners each season. (Leaving pilot light
burning all summer will keep furnace dry and
free of rust accumulation at very little cost).

(3) Oil Fired: Clean frequently, as oil leaves
a lot of soot. Keep burner nozzle clean and
wide open. Check controls and valves. Keep
water out of storage tank. Check pump.

•

FURNITURE — (1) Upholstered: Vacuum at
set intervals (about every 15 to 30 days). Spot
clean with fabric cleaner (carbon tetrachloride).
Sew up small rips and tears as they appear.
Slip cover for longer wear at less expense than
complete re-upholstery job. (A porter or house
engineer should be able to help on re-upholstery
jobs). Replace broken springs before they can
further damage padding and fabric.

(2) Wood: Wipe down with cloth only slightly
dampened with good furniture polish. For cuts,
scratches and burned marks, sand down and
refinish the spot. (There are preparations on
the market for covering slight scratches without
refinishing). When joints begin to work loose,
replace loose dowels with freshly glued joints,
or brace with hidden braces of wood or metal.
Refinish surface when obviously becoming
shabby.

(3) Metal: Wipe with cloth dampened slightly
with oil base furniture polish. Repaint for
freshness when becoming old, or touch up
scratches and flaking-off of paint in spots. Install
hidden metal braces when furniture becomes
“wobbly.” If rust appears, prompt steps should
be taken to remove it and prevent any further
spread by painting metal parts.

•

FREEZING: Pipes — Cut off main supply line
valve and allow pipes to thaw out gradually.
Never try to thaw with blow torch or any
strong heat at any one point. After thawing,
turn on main valve again and inspect entire
pipe line for leaks, replacing any split pipe or
cracked joints as needed.

•

FREEZING PRECAUTIONS— All exposed
pipes or tanks should be either securely wrapped
and protected from cold, or they should be
drained of all liquid until danger of freezing is
past. Interior piping in rooms or storage areas
which are unheated and subject to freezing con-
ditions must likewise be watched and protected
as circumstances dictate.

•

FRAMES, DISPLAY—

See Display (1) Frames.

FLY LOFTS (STAGE)— See that lines
(ropes) do not become fouled up. Keep catwalk
in safe condition for walking with no danger of
tripping or falling through. Remove any counter-
weights or sand bags which are not securely
fastened or in use, so there will be no danger
of their falling on anyone below on stage. Ade-
quate lighting should be provided.

•

FOOD SERVICE EQUIPMENT — Primary
problem is one of sanitation and cleanliness.
Use approved cleaning solutions with water hot
enough to do the job of cleaning required.
(Many cities require a minimum of about 180°
water for such use.) Clean soiled equipment as
soon as possible after using, never allowing food
residue to remain overnight to attract insects as
well as to become “set” or hardened and much
more difficult to remove. Steam equipment
should be checked for proper functioning, safety
in operation, and leaks. Refrigeration equip-
ment should have compressors checked, oiled,
pulleys adjusted, worn belts replaced, and re-
frigerant kept at full operating level as pre-
scribed by manufacturer. Surroundings should
always be freshly painted, preferably in im-
maculate white enamel, which can be washed
down, with floors of darker color to withstand
frequent mopping. Griddles should be kept free
of grease accumulations and soap-stoned daily
for a smooth finish. A reliable exterminating
service may be necessary to prevent the influx
of insects and mice, which are always attracted
to any food sources and present a source of
contamination as well as food leakage.

•

FOUNTAINS, SODA — Have attendants wash
down frequently, never permitting syrups or
food particles to remain where dropped. Inspect
daily for thorough cleaning of all equipment.
Have carbon dioxide bottles securely installed,
preferably in an adjacent room with copper
tubing running to the fountain. Test for leaks
by brushing soapy water over lines and connec-
tions. Carbonator should be serviced by some-
one with knowledge of its operation, which can
be learned from manufacturers service manual.
It is relatively simple, so a house engineer
shoul dbe capable of making minor adjustments

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10. 1954

and repairs. Freezer boxes should be tested for
leaks and proper temperature, and the refriger-
ating equipment be periodically inspected for
proper operation, at which time motors, belts
and pulleys should be tightened and brought in
alignment. If ammonia is used as a refrigerant,
care must be exercised that it is not permitted
to leak out and offend patrons with its strong
odor. Counter should be securely anchored, as
well as stools for patrons, if they are provided.
Surfaces should be wiped clean and dry after
each service. Water should not be permitted to
stand either on counter or on floors in front
of or behind the fountain. Attendants should be
made responsible for promptly mopping up any
spilled liquids or foods. Check with local health
inspector for ordinances pertaining to your par-
ticular operation, striving always for a top rating
with his bureau. {See also Drinking Fountains.)

•

FOG GENERATORS — Used at drive-ins,
these machines develop a heavy fog of insecti-
cide which will tend to minimize the presence
of mosquitoes and other insect pests. These
of course are used at times which allow the air
to clear before patrons enter the parking area.
(In some localities a fogging service may be
engaged on contract.)

GELATIN SHEETS: Storage — Gelatin sheets
will dry out and crack very easily if not prop-
erly handled (they’ll dry out, anyway, as time
goes on, so don’t buy too much at a time). Best
method of storing is to construct a series of
shelves which are slightly larger than the gela-
tin sheets, with dividers between shelves not
over I inch between layers. Beaver board
shelves are adequate. Labeling each shelf for
the color of the particular gelatin sheets placed
thereon aids in handling sheets as needed.

A Better Job For Less Money
With Super Cleaning

Because Super Specialized Theatre Cleaners are built and tool-
equipped to do a complete theatre cleaning job with less labor
in less time, Super cleaning gives you the most for your clean-
ing dollar.

One operator and a Super with Super specially
designed tools can clean screen, sound equip-
ment, box fronts, upholstery, air ducts, over-
head pipes, floors, floor coverings. Wet pick-
up models provide inexpensive, con-
venient "on location” shampooing of
carpets and floor coverings. Four
models to choose from. Ask
Model M — your supplies dealer or write.

For all general cleaning and NATIONAL SUPER SERVICE CO., INC.

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Model JS —

Quiet, compact,
lowpriced. Same
power, pick-up,
performance as
all Supers.

In Canada:
Plant Maintenance
Equipment Co.,
Toronto, Montreal,
Vancouver

WALK-INS mean extra profit for

DRIVE-INS

AMERICAN SEATING WALK-IN CH AIKS — Comfortable, Convenient, durable

•

GERMICIDAL LAMPS — These are electric
lamps which produce ultraviolet light rays, also
oxidize the air to produce ozone, in both ways
acting to kill bacteria. Installation of such
lamps is desirable where there is danger of
contamination of food products. Consult manu-
facturer or dealer for proper sizing.

•

GENERATORS — Commutator brushes fre-
quently need replacing as they wear down.
Check to see that they wear evenly so that
spring tension can be adjusted if out of line or
not uniform in pressure for all brushes. The
commutator itself should be removed and
ground down when channels become evident and
efficiency is impaired. Bearings should be oiled
or greased as regularly as prescribed by manu-
facturers service manual. Generators should be
firmly mounted on a base which will minimize
vibration, such as cork. Electrical contacts
should be firm and properly made to prevent
short-circuits or offer a danger to personnel. A
cut-off switch, properly fused, should be located
near generators to facilitate servicing and re-
pairs. Check controls and dial readings for
proper operation.

•

GLASS, CLEANING — Paint may be scraped
from glass surface with a good single-edge razor
blade before cleaning with turpentine, taking
care none gets on adjacent woodwork. Liquid
glass cleaning agents are available, to be
sprayed or wiped on glass, then wiped off with
a soft cloth for daily cleaning. These are better
than powder cleaners which leave dust behind.

about your seating area and let us
recommend a profitable installation.

Invite pedestrian traffic with American Seat-
ing Walk-in Chairs! Steam-bent, solid- wood
slats provide genuine comfort in cradleform
seats and deep-curved backs, full 21 inches
wide, and treated with wood-sealing preserva-
tive. Metal parts are protected with a special
rust-inhibitor.

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What Theatres Need Most
Is More Laughter and Tears

says

. . . owner-manager of the Dawn theatre in Elma, la.

ELMA, lA.

IT HAS BEEN an accepted
axiom among the uninitiated ever since
some contractor had union trouble con-
structing the first Greek amphitheatre, that
show people are “different.” Of late this
adjective seems inadequate.

In consequence of current antics in the
industry, I have been calling a number of
board meetings with myself to see if there
might be a reason for this seeming demen-
tia, and a vaccine to prevent its further
spread. Most of my profound thoughts in
the past few years have always struck with
bolt force about the time I was mowing
around the peony bush during the weekly
clipping of the front lawn. Since this is not
the season for that where I am, it has taken
quite an effort to arrive at the weighty
opinions impending in this essay. For once
these banalities are not meant for the Barn-
yard Barnums. This is aimed at the top-
bracket boys (and you TBB’s should pay
me well for bringing them to light).

From a false philosophy of “two cars in
every garage and two chickens in every
pot,” back in 1928, we’ve been trying to
make that into a dictum of “ten speakers in
every auditorium and two in every car.”
Now this is not a blast at any particular
group, nor is it meant to be a slap at Prog-
ress. It’s the way we do it. If we aren’t
rapidly becoming top man on that crazy
totem pole, as far as the public is concerned,
then I’ll go back to my lawn mower.

We’re not looking for another re-hash
of the “yes-you-will, no-I-won’t” equip-
ment argument. That has been amply cov-
ered, and it has been demonstrated that,
industry-wise, we’re on the move. But we
have not yet arrived, and for quite some
time we will go on kicking and being
kicked at.

It is not particularly strange that among
the host of men of vision in all branches
of this industry, some of them should be
suffering from astigmatism. The corrective
lenses of time undoubtedly will straighten
this condition out. That doesn’t mean that
those lenses will necessarily be anamorphic
or polarized. Nor does It mean that they

won’t. I just don’t know much about that.
But there is something I flatter myself I
do know something about, and I’m coming
to it now.

When I was a callow youth riding a
troop train between Pittsburgh and Fort
Dix, before becoming part of the first troop
convoy to Europe in January 1942, I must
have been wearing that same befuddled,
fearful and lost look on my face that most
of us in this Industry wear today. There
was an older Major in our car, a veteran
of WWI ; he said, “Jonesie, don’t look so
damn worried. Everything is going to get
more confusing and terrifying every day
now until you get back. Just remember
this: Don’t lose your sense of humor —
laugh it off.”

He proved right. We might all do a little
more laughing at ourselves and not hurt a
thing in this industry. However, you can’t
giggle your way all through life anymore
than you can guffaw your way into pros-
perity. Even the funniest things can cease
to seem funny.

The Major’s advice was more than just
a quip to buck up a rookie. He was playing
around with the two basic emotions of
mankind — fear and happiness. They can
be called sorrow and joy, tears and laugh-
ter, or any number of different names, but
they are still the basic emotions In all our
lives. Everything else, and I mean every-
thing, is in-between — even love. (I may go
into the white jacket and couch business
if I can just keep going.) This leaves a
lot of “in-between’s.” Spectacle, splendour,
adventure, lust, romance, patriotism — to
name just a few.

So what has that to do with motion pic-
tures? I’m probably the only guy in the
world who thinks this way — that makes
me an individualist and a non-conformist
— but I think it’s got a lot to do with pic-
tures. If you stand at the exit and bid
them good-night year in and year out and
keep track of the times they leave the thea-
tre with a tear in their eye or a flushed face
from laughing, you’ll start to arrive at
what I’m getting at.

It has been said by older showmen than

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 10, 1954

THEATRE SUPPLY

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EVERYTHING FOR WIDE SCREEN

At Lowest Prices

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Dept. A, 602 W. 52 St.. N. Y. 19— Cable: SOSOUND

and

Some advertisements offer literature on
the product advertised, and often a coupon
is included as a convenient means of pro-
curing it. Moreover, The Theatre Supply
Mart (insert at page 37) provides a post-
card for this purpose. . . . Or, if you do
not see what you want advertised in this
particular issue, you may write the BETTER
THEATRES SERVICE DEPARTMENT,
Rockefeller Center, New York 20.

I, that you boys making pictures have lost
the touch to make people laugh and cry.
Oh, sure, you give ’em a few guffaws judi-
ciously spaced through an occasional pic-
ture, and a couple of times a season you stir
them up a bit, but where are the really
side-splitting, rafter-raising pictures we
used to get from the Marx brothers, Har-
old Lloyd, Will Rogers, Charlie Chaplin,
to name only a few? Is it because sound
isn’t as funny as pantomime? The Kettles
captured it in a film or two, but they’re
not what they used to be.

And where are tear-jerkers like “East
Lynn” and “Over the Hill to the Poor-
house,” the Jackie Coogan and the Shirley
Temple types that used to gently stroke,
then tug at the heartstrings and finally
send an audience out weeping and vowing
that there never was a greater picture than
that one which had broken through usual
restraints and let them give vent to their
basic human emotions.

Somewhere along the line somebody has
lost the touch to make people laugh and cry.
We seem to have got all fouled up in a
maze of spectacle, message, action, adven-
ture and smart-Alec trivia.

•

This is not meant to imply that spec-
tacles and adventure and such do not make
good and sometimes great pictures. But in
my book they are in-betweeners which
barely scratch the surface of the basic emo-
tions that itch every time the yen hits to
attend the theatre. Maybe the in-between-
ers entertain, maybe they teach, maybe they
perform some social or political purpose,
but they don’t quite hit the mark of what
most people go to the movies for. That is
made up of joy and sorrow.

There are tragic moments in everyone’s
life. And the funniest joke you ever heard
is reminiscent of your happiest hours. The
in-between events are ordinary and you
don’t remember them to the extent of the
two extremes in the emotional scale.

Are the production boys going to remem-
ber this? Or are we going to have to go
right on with our tongues hanging out,
hoping for human pictures while they keep
trying to get money out of us exhibitors
for something less? Let’s get some sad pic-
tures so our public can weep instead of us.
Let’s get the proper perspective of things
and do a little more smiling ourselves so we
can get back to the business of rolling ’em
in the aisles.

Some of you top-bracket guys have been
telling me how to run my theatre. Okay,
now I’m telling you how to make pictures.
Why don’t we both mind our own business ?

But if you really want to contribute any-
thing for all this advice, just send me a
pound of bluegrass seed so I can keep the
lawn growing out around that peony bush
I was talking about.

no end to

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new life comes into your
entire seating set-up
Ask for our quote.

Manufacturers
Foam rubber &
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BETTER THEATRES SECTION

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

103 — 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 1 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
61 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

1 003 — 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 0 1 9 — 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

1 035 — Rewinders

1036 — Rheostats

1037 — Safety devices, projector

1038 — Screens

1039 — Screen frames

1040 — Speakers and horns

1 041 — Splicers

1042 — Splicing cement

1043 — Soundheads, optical

1044 — Soundheads, magnetic

1 045 — Stereopticons

1046 — Tables, rewind

SEATING

I 101 — Chairs

1102 — Expansion bolts

I 103 — Fastening cement

I 104 — Foam rubber cushions

1105 — Upholstering fabrics

SERVICE and TRAFFIC

1201 — Crowd control equip't

1202 — Directional signs

1203 — Drinking fountains

1204 — Lockers, checking

1 205 — Uniforms

1206 — Water coolers

STAGE

1301 — Curtains and drapes

1302 — Curtain controls & track

1303 — Lighting equipment

1304 — Rigging and hardware

1 305 — 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

1 502 — 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)

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ im ■'■■'■muniiiiiiiinBHmiinrvuviiTiniiniiimgmienmiiniiii

GENERAL INQUIRY COUPON

fTO BE MAILED IN SIGNER'S BUSINESS ENVELOPE)

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

Address

VISTAVISION

{Continued from page 48)

ing index (upper right-hand corner of the
frame — Figure 2) at the start of each
2000-foot reel as a guide to the projec-
tionist.

If the picture is being projected in the
old 1.33/1 aspect ratio, the projectionist
will frame with the top frame line just
above the top of the projected picture as
in the past.

If the picture is to be played in an aspect
ratio of 1.66/1, the projectionist will frame
at the little dot in the upper right-hand
corner of the picture (the dot below the
top frame line and above the dashed line).

If the picture is being projected in the
aspect ratio of 1.85/1, the projectionist
will frame on the dashed line; and if the
picture is to be projected in the aspect ratio
of 2/1, framing should be on the little dot
below the dashed line. These framing in-
dices will be placed so as to give adequate
head-room and the best composition for the
aspect ratio selected.

SQUEEZED PRINTS

VistaVision squeezed prints will be made
in the same manner and from the same
negative as the standard prints, except that
in optical reduction the picture area will be
taken from the area of the negative that
supplies the portion of the picture normally
used in a 2/1 aspect ratio projection from
the standard print {dashed lines — Figure
1). For compressed print see Figure 3.

If a circle is photographed it will appear
on the negative as shown in Figure 1. In
the standard release print the circle will
still be round, as in Figure 2. In the
squeezed print it will be oval as shown in
Figure 3. The oval will then be expanded
to a circle in projection by tbe variable
prismatic expander lens.

In addition to gaining about 40% in
light on the 2/1 picture, this squeezed
print has the possibility of having slightly
better color saturation and possibly slightly
better picture definition for wide-screen.

The squeezed ratio of this picture {Fig-
ure 3) is 1^/1. In the opinion of the
writer the optics for z.\y2l't ratio will give
better picture quality than a higher ratio.
This is not hindsight. It was pointed out
in a letter to the Motion Picture Research
Council dated February 11, 1953.

Up to this point we have shown the need
for developing a better quality picture and
the means whereby such a picture can be
produced ; also the result of a new type of
photography and its possibilities. In a later
article we will cover related subjects about
VistaVision, including regular theatre and
drive-in presentation.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 10, 1954

102 FEET

of Brilliant, Beautiful, Blazing

Cinemascope

Projected with

THE FIRST DRIVE-IN PRESENTATION IN CINEMASCOPE
AT THE MOTOR VU, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH

(PICTURE SIZE 102 X 40 FEET)

Mr. ERIC C. PETERSON (owner) reports:

‘*The picture on the screen is the very best I have ever seen in any
theatre, indoor or outdoor. . . . People enthralled with beautiful picture.”

EVEN WIDER SCREENS ARE COMING . . .WE ARE READY!
Installed by Service Theatre Supply, Inc., Salt Lake City, Utah

C. S. ASHCRAFT MANUFAQURING CO., INC.

36-32 THIRTY-EIGHTH ST., LONG ISLAND CITY 1, N. Y.

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Manufactured by
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■■ ■ APRIL 17. m

MOjTiIOSI

yy.

sou

ANNOUNCES

N. Y. imnsorship Bill Becomes

Latv ^fmer Industry Protests

'- , ' j.!n Product Dig^) :

January
a year]

f:-v' '

.sssp-v,

12.

riTNESS TO MURDER, LUCKY ME, SOUTHWEST PASSAGE, DIARY OF A

.j Post Office, at New York City, U. S. A., under the aft ’af ^farck .1, A879, -Pub-
To Sis^ Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N, Y. Subscription prices : ,$c -00
cofc'. 25 cents. All contents copyrighted 1954 vy Quigley Publishing . Company, Inc,

III

SPRiMG
IS

HERE/

and you

friend ly
Leo is

full of

OH BOY!

Those M-G-M Springtime Star Hits:
"FLAME AND THE FLESH” (Technicolor)

Lana Tamer, Pier Angeli, Carlos Thompson

"BETRAYED” (Coior)

Clark Gable, Lana Turner, Victor Mature, Louis Calhern

FLASH! From Boxoffice Magazine :
”M-G-M has 2 out of the TOP 3 money
hits of the Winter Quarter; 'KNIGHTS
OF THE ROUND TABLE’ (269%),
'JULIUS CAESAR’ (22 7%).”

And The Big Musical

"THE STUDENT PRINCE” (Cinemascope — Color)

Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, and the singing voice oj Mario Lanza

“And Many Morel

WHEE!

WOW!

That thunderous Preview acclaim

at Fox Village Theatre, Westwood,

Cal. for M-G-M’s rousing musical

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN
BROTHERS.”

(CinemaScope — Color)

Jane Powell, Howard Keel

SOCK!

Thaf’ROSE MARIE” business at
Radio City Music Hall Ttops
"Knights of the Round Table").
M-G-M’s romantic musical in color
is a springtime tonic everywhere!

(CinemaScope — Color)

Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas

That ever-growing acclaim for
M-G-M’s "EXECUTIVE SUITE ”!
Critics at advance screenings
state that they’ve already set it
in among their ”10 -Best of the
Year.”

William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck,
Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters,
Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern, Deanjagger, Nina Foch

HOORAY!

That exploitation job done in
4 test spots for M-G-M’s
'PRISONER OF WAR" playing
"A” time proves that showman-
ship pays off!

Ronald Reagan, Steve Forrest,

Dewey Martin, Oscar Homolka

PERFECT 3 Dimension in the Hitchcock manner, and 1

starring

RAY MILLAND - GRACE KELLY- ROBERT C

WITH ^

JOHN WILLIAMS • ANTHONY DAWSON w'^tenby FREDERICK KNOTT who wrote the International Stage Success

IF A WOMAN ANSWERS

IVarnerColor

UMMINGS

DIRECTED BY

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

dial Warners and plan right
now for the biggest mystery
mop-up in years and years!

20, h thanks

Caravan of Iowa and Nebraska

for saying

*'This writer had the pleasure to
witness a showing of The Rohe’
in Allied member Arlo Thompson’s
beautiful Lake IVlills, la., theatre/''

”Mr. Thompson’s installation should
be seen and heard by all exhibitors,
for movies are on the march.

^^Quality of Stereophonic Sound is
good. To deny it is ridiculous. Mag-
netic sound reproduction is superior
to optic and gives more latitude.”

^From Organization Bulletin article

by Charles Jones

as reproduced in FILM BULLETIN y

April 5, 1954

Capacity: 427 seats; screen size 24'

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 3

MARTIN QUIGLEY, ]R., Editor

April 17, 1954

Exhibitor Film Underwriters

ALLIED’S project to underwrite a dozen feature
/A pictures by Hal R. Makelim Productions has

-A. attracted wide industry attention. Not only are
exhibitors seeking more details on how additional prod-
uct can be assured but also a number of producers are
reported to be inquiring how they too can obtain an
advance guarantee of 2,500 playdates.

The plan which is to be presented to Allied members
at regional conventions next month is the first specific
proposal for exhibitor intervention to increase the pace
of production in Hollywood since the one made by the
abortive National Exhibitors Film Company five years
ago. The latter group started out with a minimum goal
of $2,000,000 to be obtained by pledges of $50,000 and
upwards from a number of major circuit operators. A
revolving fund was to be set up with bank cooperation
so that a number of pictures could be financed simul-
taneously. The NEFC group collapsed for a variety of
reasons, including the fact that under the anti-trust laws,
contributing circuit members could not be guaranteed
first-run franchises in their territories.

Allied’s members, not having been affiliated with the
major companies, are not bound by the consent decrees.
Presumably they are free to make franchise deals. Also
they may “buy blind” and “block book” without any
cancellation clause. Under the plan outlined by Abram
F. Myers, participating exhibitors do not have to advance
money but merely guarantee rentals for the Makelim
group of films. It is reported that on the basis of the
2,500 guaranteed playdates adequate bank financing can
be arranged. Profit to the producer would have to come
principally from additional bookings; 2,500 is too low a
figure to permit production of any but moderate budget
attractions. Assuming an average rental of perhaps $150
per engagement, the total guarantee per film amounts to
only some $375,000. Less costs of distribution, prints
and advertising, that would leave less than $150,000 for
production of each feature.

Budgets, however, are no test of prospective entertain-
ment quality. If Allied’s venture results in a reasonable
proportion of pictures that stack up well in their own
classification, all exhibitors will be pleased. There never'
are enough good pictures on the market.

Another indication of the resurgence of motion pic-
tures in areas of television “saturation” is the increasing
emphasis in advertising for television receivers on
“theatre quality.” Zenith’s new receiver tube is called
Cinebeam and is plugged with the headline — “Zenith
went to the movies to get a better TV picture.” Emer-
son’s set is now called Cinevision which “Brings you

pictures so clear, so sharp, you’ll think you’re at the
movies!” Now, all the motion picture industry must do
is to maintain entertainment superiority so that patrons
will not think they are home seeing television I

Italian Self-Regulation Plan

CRITICS of the American motion picture industry’s
system of self-regulation under a production code
must have been put in a state of consternation by
the recent announcement that the Italian industry plans
to adopt a somewhat similar system. In the years since
World War II Italian pictures have made notable prog-
ress in the world market. Some allege this was because
certain of their films flaunted generally accepted moral
standards. In reality objectionable Italian films from
the point of view of decency have been a handicap to the
forward march of the Italian industry both at home and
abroad.

It could not be said that the Italian producers have
rushed into any self-regulation system with headlong
haste. The idea of a code — and indeed a definite docu-
ment— was accepted by the producer-distributor organ-
ization ANICA nine years ago. Freed from the yoke of
Fascist government film rule, the Italian industry then
was urged to keep the government from controlling pic-
ture content.

That time of opportunity was allowed to pass. Year-
by-year the Italian government has loomed larger as an
important influence on the motion picture industry of
that country. Now, taking what may be the last chance,
the industry has turned to self-regulation in the hope of
warding off complete government domination, including
control of production.

However, whatever be the motives for recent announce-
ment of a five-man board to guide producer members of
ANICA, if the work is carried out with intelligence, com-
petence and full understanding of the film medium, sig-
nificant help will be given the Italian motion picture in-
dustry in enhancing the potential market for its product
at home and abroad.

It is to be regretted that the announcement of the
voluntary self-regulation system came at the conclusion
of an ANICA proclamation which made the assertion that
“foreign industries” (implying American) had stirred up
attacks on Italian motion pictures because they were
enjoying success throughout the world. Any cleaning
up the Italian films may need on moral or Communist
infiltration grounds should be attended to promptly by
the Italian industry for its own welfare, regardless of
any real or imagined criticism which may come from
other countries.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

April 17, 1954

Impact

To THE Editor:

Recently I twice sat through the impres-
sive showing of Cinerama and along with
the visual wonders, listened to the beautiful
music of the opera “Aida,” the Boys Choir,
the Long Island Choral Society, as well as
the general impact of the stereophonic sound
that at times came from all over the theatre.

I came home and stated to numerous per-
sons that I was convinced that Spyros P.
Skouras is right in his fight to keep stereo-
phonic sound with CinemaScope. A few
days ago I viewed the latest CinemaScope
picture in a downtown show. I noticed a few
speakers on the sides and knew this show
had been advertised as full stereophonic
sound. It was an Indian picture of covered
wagon type with much shooting from start
to finish. Frankly, the dialogue for a whole
reel at a time would be garbled. The side
speakers hardly showed up with exception of
the last scenes in the pictures and in all
truthfulness I do not think that the stereo-
phonic sound added much if anything to this
picture. In a small picture theatre it is
doubtful what improvement would have been
made.

The operators of the little shows can but
sit and wait until something is done to bring
improved movies to the outlying provinces.
A very good report of installation of Cinema-
Scope comes from Neosho, Missouri, where
Fox showed “How to Marry a Millionaire.”
We regret our inability to attend the pre-
miere opening and our thanks to Manager
Harris for his kind invitation. — SHIRLEY
BOOTH, Booth Theatre, Rich Hill,
Missouri.

Wants Quality

To THE Editor :

The old never-worn-out expression, “A
new broom sweeps clean” seems to have
worked itself into the field of motion picture
distribution. Sound brought the people
back to the theatres — Technicolor helped it
again — 3-D pictures created another spurt
but the greatest evil in this business — none
other than a continual run of poor pictures —
always left its mark with the declining
grosses.

Now we have the so-called Skouras dream
and rightfully it can be called his dream be-
cause he — and he alone — is the only
determined person with the conviction that
Stereophonic on the marquee will line them
up at the box office. It is true that he tem-
porarily proved himself with “The Robe”
and it did the business predicted of such a
fine production.

Yet what about “From Here to Eternity,”
“The Long Long Trailer,” “Mogambo,”
“Hondo” and the show of shows, “The
Glenn Miller Story”? Any of these shows

can be shown on a postage stamp with
viewers and the business will be there. Why ?
Quite simple — Mr. Stereophonic Skouras —
Barnum was right when he said “You can’t
fool the people all the time.”

You must have movies that the people
want and not what you want to cram down
their throats. Your great production, which
your managers are sheepishly asking 50 per
cent, “New Faces” opened at the Lee theatre
in Fairmont, W. Va., Thursday, March 18.
The doorman stated that you didn’t have
more than forty people all afternoon and
when the house lights came on at closing
time — not one person was in the theatre. I
caught the show Friday afternoon and a
more boring picture I have never seen.
People left the theatre before the show was
more than half over.

Honestly, Mr. Skouras, did you see this
picture? Is this the type of production that
we will get for our investment of $10,000?
Your “King of the Khyber Rifles” should
have been a double bill picture in most
situations — your “Hell and High Water”
will prove itself to be in the same class —
and if you would have released “Beneath
the 12-Mile Reef” now, it would be pulled
from any intended long run.

Mr. Skouras, maybe I owe you an apology
for hasty judgment or maybe you owe many
exhibitors an apology for investing what few
dollars they did save to carry them through
any emergency — but your company has let
us down. No human can change the de-
sires of the people permanently — you tried
it with the false front of stereophonic sound
as a cure all — but you have been and will be
fooled time and time again by “the little man
of the street.”

He cannot and wdl not be coerced — but
he will always accept a good motion pic-
ture. So why not get back to show business
and try to win these people back again —
with the only cure known — good pictures,
with the customary good production of good
stories. These will never fail. — DONALD
D. MUNGELLO Mary Ann Theatre, Bur-
gettstown. Pa.

READE of TOA urges producers to make
more films Page 12

KALMENSON of Warners sees new era
here for screen Page 12

PERSPECTA sound system finds fertile film
fields Page 13

MYERS of Allied says other producers in-
terested in deal Page 16

KEOUGH cites value of Production Code
to films Page 16

DEWEY signs New York State censor meas-
ure into law Page 18

JOHNSTON says industry needs aid on
overseas taxation Page 18

ZUKOR, in interview, finds industry moving
steadily ahead Page 18

WISCONSIN Allied attacks rental terms of
distributors Page 19

REPUBLIC embarking on material for TV,
Yates reports Page 19

BRITISH industry facing squabble over re-
duction in taxes Page 22

COMEDY is surprise hit, breaking British
gross records Page 22

COMPO ad stresses value of theatre's local
stature Page 24

RKO relieved of need for reports under
sole Hughes ownership Page 24

ARTHUR hits at price rises for use of new
techniques Page 24

FAMOUS Players Canadian has year net of
$3,611,005 Page 30

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 27

CANADIAN theatre interests continue ac-
tively building Page 31

BERENSON scores distributors for shortage
of prints Page 31

Subsequent Run

To THE Editor:

The little theatres have to wait until all
the big theatres drain all the business out
of a picture, then the little fellow can have
the picture at a BIG PRICE. — Illinois Ex-
hibitor.

Down-tO’Earth

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Film Buyers' Rating

3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene

Page

Managers' Round Table

Page

People in the News

Page

Refreshment Merchandising

Page

To THE Editor:

More down-to-earth humor and no more
“continental-type” musicals. Bring back
“Lum ’n’ Abner” in color by Technicolor.
Film everything in a 2-to-l ratio. Wide
screen is O. K. — Virginia Exhibitor.

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews
Short Subjects Chart
The Release Chart

Page 2261
Page 2262
Page 2264

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17. 1954

PROBLEMS concerning exhibi-
tion and distribution, ranging
from a new approach to adver-
tising to the need for color in the
newsreels were discussed at a meet-
ing in New York Tuesday of TO A
leaders and members of the sales
managers’ committee of the Motion
Picture Association. Described as
exploratory in nature, the meeting
may lead to a series of such sessions.
Attending for TOA were Walter
Reade, Jr., Leonard Goldenson and
Myron Blank.

► Ralph E. Stolkin, described in
the New York papers as a Chicago
industrialist, president of the Na-
tional Video Corp., and an officer of
several radio and television stations,
met this week with Dr. Edwin S.
Burdell, president of Cooper Union,
to discuss the establishment of the
R. E. Stolkin School of Graphic Arts.
Mr. Stolkin last year headed the
syndicate which for a brief period
owned Howard Hughes’ RKO Radio
Pictures stock.

► Cinerama next week moves into
the area between the Mississippi and
the Rockies. Monday night the pic-
ture and the system open at the
Century theatre, Minneapolis, its
eleventh engagement since it first
was shown in New York a year and
a half ago. The premiere will be the
occasion for a state-wide celebration.

► “No other period in the past sev-
eral years has been so conducive to
optimism for the motion picture in-
dustry as the present twelve-month
period.” That is the opinion of the
current “Market and Business Fore-
cast,” published by the Fitch Sur-
vey. The survey continues: “After
experiencing a sharp setback in
operations during television’s height
of popularity, increased motion pic-
ture attendance is now evident, with
cost reductions and a generally
better profit position resulting there-
from, the producers are expected to
better their earnings as well.”

► The re-release of “Gone with the
Wind” b;^ MGM, its fifth time
around, will be marked by a reprint
of the book itself in two editions,
paper-covered and hard-bound, by
Permabooks and Garden City, both
divisions of Doubleday and Co.

On tLe Ort

orizon

CINEMASCOPE AT
TEXAS DRIVE-INS

CinemaScope and stereophonic
sound will be introduced to Texas
drive-in patrons this Sunday by
Claude feell and Associates with
a two-theatre premiere of 20th
Century-Fox's "The Robe." The
picture will be shown at the Jacks-
boro drive-in, Fort Worth, and the
Gulf drive-in. Corpus Christi. The
Jacksboro is a 500-car drive-in and
the Gulf accommodates 750. Both
have been equipped with the single
unit stereophonic sound speaker
demonstrated several weeks ago
for exhibitors and the press at the
Buckner drive-in, Dallas. The twin
opening was backed this week by a
strong promotion and advertising
campaign.

► Darryl Zanuck announced this
week that Marilyn Monroe has
signed a new seven-year contract
with 20th Century-Fox. Her first
picture under the new deal will be
Irving Berlin’s “There’s No Busi-
ness Like Show Business,” which
went into production this week.

► The Army and Air Force Motion
Picture Service will have about 150
of its theatres equipped with large
screens and anamorphic lenses with-
in three months, according to Fred
Bund, director of the Service. No
arrangements are being made for
stereophonic or other special sound
equipment, Mr. Bund said.

► The outlook is poor for House
approval this year of legislation to
bring U.S. participation in a new
international copyright convention.
Witnesses warned that failure of the
legislation might hurt film com-
panies and other copyright users do-
ing a heavy export business.

► Film industry attorneys are watch-
ing what the Supreme Court will
do with the Government’s appeal

in the anti-trust case against the
Shubert legitimate theatre opera-
tion. If the High Court took the
case, the final decision would have
some important things to say about
the extent to which all entertain-
ment industries are subject to the
anti-trust laws.

► The Man in the Mask — Igor
Gouzenko, Russian code clerk, who
disclosed the extent of Soviet spy-
ing in North America — will appear
in a major motion picture which
United Artists will distribute. The
picture will be “Igor, the Spy,” and
Mr. Gouzenko, in his mask, will ap-
pear in the epilogue. It now is being
made in Canada by producer Fred
Feldkamp and director Jack Alex-
ander, of some renown in the
“March of Time” series. The film
will tell of Mr. Gouzenko’s strange,
secluded life since his defection from
Russian service.

► The European nations which can’t
cooperate in trade or other efforts
which require good will and faith,
may do so in television. A con-
ference at Cannes, France, of engi-
neers and program organizers from
Italy, France, Switzerland, Ger-
many, Belgium, Holland, Denmark,
and Great Britain, envisions a
permanent network of television sta-
tions. They will pool some of their
programs. One of their required
relay links will be on the Jungfrau,
one of Switzerland’s highest peaks.
There are expected to be 80 relay
stations and 44 transmitters. The
British hope to supply most of the
equipment.

► The Motion Picture Association’s
plea to the Senate Finance Com-
mittee for better tax treatment for
film company earnings overseas has
been getting strong support from
bar groups and other witnesses who
say they cannot understand why the
House-passed tax bill gave this
treatment to some firms and not to
others. For testimony on the bill
this week, see page 18.

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, Martin Starr, manager, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone
Hollywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative, Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Often, National Press Club; London,
Hope Williams Burnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents In principal capitals. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley
Publications: Better Theatres, published 13 times a year as Section Two of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac, Fame.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 17, 1954

20TH-FOX made its bid for New York's Easter holiday business last week with a
klleg-llt opening at the Roxy theatre for "Prince Valiant," Its newest In CInemaScope.
At left, attending the opening, shown in panorama above, are Wilbur Snaper, presi-
dent of Allied and Waiter Reade, Jr., president of TOA.

RAY CONNOR, manager of the
Ambassador, St. Louis, welcomes
the 100,000th customer for "This
Is Cinerama" with free tickets and
an invitation to cocktails and
dinner.

GUESTS, right, at the
annual dinner of the
Allied Jewish Appeal
sponsored by Variety
Club Tent 1 3, Phila-
delphia, are: Melvin
Fox, appeal chairman;
Ted Schlanger, Stanley
Warner zone manager;
Sam Rosen, Stanley
Warner executive vice-
president and principal
speaker; Arthur Rosen,
and Jack Beresin.

MOTION PIOTURES held the spotlight in Boston last week as
the Boston Public Library celebrated its centennial. Above at
a "Salute to the Motion Picture Industry" dinner are, seated:
Oharles Brackett, principal speaker; Nina Foch, MGM star;
Patrick F. McDonald, president of the Library board of trustees;
standing, Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Sumner Whittier;
Oharles Kurtzman; Ralph M. Binney, centennial chairman, and
Arthur Lockwood, chairman of the invitation committee.

weeR in

P-

ictuveS

AL STERN, right, this
week was named pub-
licity manager for RKO
Radio Pictu res by
Mervin Houser, eastern
ad-publlcity director.

OANADA’S ambassador to the
United States, Arnold D. Heeney,
visiting Hollywood last week, was
a guest at the Warner studio.
Below are Doris Day, the Ambassa-
dor, Virginia Mayo, Jack L. Warner
and Jeanne Oraln.

L. H. KEEN, manager of the Capitol In Winchester,
Va., receives a print of MGM's "Executive Suite"
from star Nina Foch, at a rally heralding Winchester's
27th annual Apple Blossom Festival.

LOOKING at the competition, below. Executives of 20th Century-Fox
watch a demonstration of Paramount's VIstaVisIon In Hollywood. Reading
from right to left: Spyros Skouras, Al LIchtman, Joseph Moskowitz, with
Loren Ryder, head of Paramount studio engineering. In the background,
also from right to left, are Earl I. Sponable and Sol Halprin of 20th-Fox,
and Frank Caffey, Paramount production manager.

MURRAY SILVERSTONE, president of 20th-Fox
Infernatlonal, presents his company's case tor
CinemaScope, stressing the records made so far
by the releases beginning with "The Robe," to
an audience of British exhibitors In London.
Flanking him are Robert Smith, Albert Cornfield,
Basil Litchfield and John Ware of 20th-Fox's
British and European organization.

BARNEY BALABAN, presi-
dent of Paramount, right. Is
honored for "meritorious
service to the community" at
the opening dinner of the
Joint Defense Appeal cam-
paign. With him are Henry
E. Schultz, Anti-Defamation
chairman, and Harry Brandt.

MAX E. YOUNGSTEIN, U.A. vice-president. Is greeted In
Mexico City by Sarita Montlel, of the cast of Harold Hecht's
"Vera Cruz," now In production there, and by Ed Sullivan,
whose TV show last week 'honored U.A.'s 35th Anniversary.

RIGHT. Major Albert Warner Is host to Phil
Silvers, George Hoover, newly elected Variety
International chief barker; and stars Nancy
Walker and Robert Cummings, at the Miami
opening of Warners' "Lucky Me."

IMetv Era Is
Here^ Says
Kalmeasan

MAKE MORE FILMS, READE
PLEA TO THE PRODUCERS

by MARTIN STARR

The man who feels that messages should
be left to Western Union, gave us a three-
word message to deliver to the producers
of Hollywood.

"Make more pictures," said Walter
Reade, Jr., president of the Theatre Own-
ers of America.

The situation now facing the exhibitors
of the nation of waiting and wondering
about the quantity of films, is harmful not
alone to the man running a theatre, "it is
costly to the whole industry," he said.

"It's up to the men out in Hollywood
whose business it is to make motion pic-
tures and create the product that keeps the
screens of the theatre occupied the year
'round, to get busy and make these films.

Make more of them," said Mr. Reade.

"The strange policy of just waiting tor
something to happen is not good for the
industry," Mr. Reade pointed out. "It is
costly no matter which way you look at it."

As if puzzled by this policy of slowing up
on the number of films being produced,

Mr. Reade wanted to know, "What are
they waiting for?" The "they," of course,
meant the Hollywood producers.

Producers Need Courage

He said he would like to see more
courageous experimentation on the part of
producers. "Stories that have unique twists
and different plot-structure," said Mr.

Reade. "The unusual type of story is im-
portant," said Mr. Reade, and he cited
"Snake Pit" and "Gentleman's Agree-
ment," pointing out their box office draw-
ing power. "Before these unusual stories
went before the cameras, there was a lot
of headshaking even by those who make
the big decisions."

He was holding a piece of advertising
copy on "The Glenn Miller Story," high-
lighting the holdover run of the Universal-
International picture. "Before this finally
went before the cameras, 'The Glenn Miller
Story' was kicking around tor nearly three
years," Mr. Reade said.

The one thing that he would like to see
between production and exhibition is an
end to the barriers that now exist. "There

WALTER READE, Jr.

is a lot of misunderstanding," he said. For
this state of confusion Mr. Reade blamed
the distributor. He felt that the distributor
for all his efforts, has not rendered an in-
telligent service to the exhibitor. On the
other hand, production wasn't to be blamed
for any of that misunderstanding because
in the opinion of Mr. Reade, the exhibitor
wasn't channelling enough important infor-
mation to production.

According to Mr. Reade, this year should
be a good one for theatres. He feels quite
optimistic about business at the box office.
He based his optimism on several factors.
The quality of pictures continues to show
steady improvement. From the lineup, there
should be expected even more of the good
films. The tax reduction to 10 per cent
should be of great help to the exhibitor.
He will be able to use this money tor badly
needed improvements to his theatre. "All
this should redound to the good of the
exhibitor," said Mr. Reads. With the Intro-
duction of new film-making and presentation
techniques, with their greater perfection
evidenced with each succeeding release,
these advances will make their contribution
to business improvement, he said.

Distribution and exhibition both face new
opportunities unparalleled in the history of
the industry, Ben Kalmenson, Warner vice-
president in charge
of distribution, told
a meeting of district
sales managers this
week in New York.

On the distribu-
tion side, Mr. Kal-
menson said, War-
ners is doing its part
with a heavy sched-
ule of top quality
product. Citing the
imposing list of titles
he added, “Our com-
pany is fully geared
to handle this prod-
uct in a manner calculated to bring the
best marketing and merchandising results
possible.

“But the exhibitor must also carry his
responsibility," he continued, “to see to it
that each and every picture is fullv exploited
where it counts most — the attraction of
patrons at his box office.

“This, as I see it, is the big job to be
done — the grass roots job in the community
that only the exhibitor can do. Only in
that way, by working together, can we take
advantage of the opportunity for growth
and prosperity that lies ahead for our
business.”

Referring to the technical changes the
industry has undergone in the last year,
Mr. Kalmenson stressed that the most im-
portant task now is one of stabilization and
progress. “Now,” he said, “we can least
afford to sit back. This is a dynamic busi-
ness that can leave you behind the minute
you sit still. And Warners is not sitting
still.”

Emphasizing that “we are not
married to any particular technique,
Mr. Kalmenson said, “The main ob-
jective of our studio is to buy and
produce stories that will make great
entertainment. The main objective
of our distribution force is to mar-
ket that entertainment in the most
successful manner possible.”

The product, which Mr. Kalmenson out-
lined in detail as “the biggest and best lineup
of top quality product anywhere,” is headed
by the soon to be released “A Star Is
Born,” musical starring Judy Garland,
James Mason, Jack Carson and Charles
Bickford. George Cukor directed from a
script by Moss Hart and the score was writ-
ten by Harold Arlen and Ira Gershwin.

Others are: Alfred Hitchcock’s “Dial M
for Murder”; “Mr. Roberts,” to be directed
by John Ford; “Battle Cry”; the Henry
Ginsberg-George Stevens production of

Edna Ferber’s “Giant” ; John Steinbeck’s
“East of Eden”; a Wayne-Fellows produc-
tion, “The High and the Mighty”; “Gown
of Glory” to star Jane Wyman; Thomas B.
Costain’s “The Silver Chalice” ; “The Sea
Chase” to be directed by John Farrow and
starring John Wayne.

Also: “Helen of Troy,” now being made
in Italy; “King Richard and the Crusaders”
(“The Talisman”) ; Lindbergh’s “The
Spirit of St. Louis”; Howard Hawks’
“Land of the Pharoahs”; John Huston’s

“Moby Dick”; “Them,” “Ring of Fear”;
Jack Webb’s “Dragnet”; and Mervyn
Leroy’s “Strange Lady in Town.”

Canadian Film Exports Off

OTTAWA: Canadian exports of films
amounted to only $217,000 during January
this year compared with $424,000 during
December; $415,000 during November and
$373,000 during January last year, the Cana-
dian Government has reported.

Ben Kalmenson

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 17. 1954

PERSPECTA SOEND FIIVDS
FERTILE FILM FIELDS

Warners Join Companies
Using System; Others
Considering Its Use

This week there were growing indications
that the industry was inching toward some
sort of standardization on the new sound
techniques. The indications were three, all
contained in an announcement by Arthur
M. Loew, president of Loew’s Interna-
tional, made in New York on his return
from the coast. Said Mr. Loew :

^ Negotiations have been com-
pleted whereby Warner Brothers
will join MGM and Paramount in
using the Perspecta Stereophonic
Sound system in all of its produc-
tions ;

^ Discussions are currently un-
der way with RKO, Universal
and Columbia, for their use of
Perspecta Sound; and

^ By the end of the year, more
than 4,500 theatres throughout
the United States will be equipped
for the new sound system.

Perspecta Sound, announced originally
some weeks ago for use with all MGM
CinemaScope prints for release abroad, is
a single optical sound track equipped with
a control so that it can be played through
the conventional single speaker or, in con-
junction with a Perspecta sound integrator
unit, through two 'or more horns for “direc-
tional” effects. Prints equipped with the
Perspecta sound are in effect compatible.

Mr. Loew announced two weeks ago that
all MGM films beginning with “Betrayed,”
set for July release, will have Perspecta
sound tracks, and that the same would be
true for all Paramount films beginning with
the first VistaVision production, “White
Christmas.” The first public demonstration
of Perspecta sound in the east was sched-
uled to be held at Loew’s State in New
York Thursday morning.

There is still, of course, a long way to go
before there is standardization on sound even
among those companies which have indicated
interest in the single optical track system.

The situation currently stands at
this point : all Paramount’s films will
be equipped with Perspecta sound
and can be played as the exhibitor so
chooses. All standard films from MGM
will have Perspecta sound tracks, to
be played as the exhibitor chooses,
while all MGM CinemaScope produc-
tions for domestic release will con-
tinue to be released with four-track,
magnetic stereophonic sound similar
to that used with 20th Century-Fox
CinemaScope product.

FOX ANNOUNCES
CINEMASCOPE LIST

Titles and release dates of the
20th-Fox CinemaScope productions
which will round out the year's release
schedule were announced in New
York this week by Spyros Skouras,
president. Mr. Skouras also revealed
that the company would release Wal-
ter Wanger's first CinemaScope pro-
duction, "The Adventures of Hajji
Baba," in October. Other Cinema-
Scope productions will be "River of
No Return," May; "Three Coins in
the Fountain," June; "Broken Lance,"
August; "The Egyptian," September;
"A Woman's World," October; Irv-
ing Berlin's "There's No Business Like
Show Business," November, and in
December "Desiree" and "Untamed."

Nevertheless, MGM CinemaScope product
for release abroad is equipped with Per-
specta sound and the company is making it
mandatory that the exhibitor play these
prints “stereophonically,” that is, with the
Perspecta integrator and the multi-horn
system.

So far, there is no indication as to just
what Warner Brothers will insist upon in
connection with Perspecta sound. Prints with
four-track magnetic WarnerPhonic sound
have been offered to exhibitors on an op-
tional basis with various Warner standard
and 3-D films and with the company’s first
CinemaScope feature, “The Command.”
Warners’ somewhat less-than-adamant posi-
tion in regard to stereophony was clearly
indicated in the stereo vs. single track tests
it voluntarily held in London two weeks
ago.

Further Demonstrations
Are Now Scheduled

The announcement that Warners had
adopted Perspecta sound would seem to be
in line with its previous policy. Some con-
fusion, however, still remains. Its second
CinemaScope production, “Lucky Me,”
opens key engagements all across the coun-
try this weekend and all these engagements
presumably are being filled by prints
equipped with four-track magnetic sound.
The home office has not yet announced
whether “Lucky Me,” like “The Command,”
also will be made available in single track
form. The delay in this announcement may
await the availability of “Lucky Me” prints
in Perspecta sound. That, of course, is only
the opinion of trade observers.

General exhibitor reaction to the quality
of Perspecta sound stands on further dem-

onstrations around the country. Mr. Loew
already has gone on record to the effect that
it “compares favorably” with multi-track
stereophonic sound. Officials of 20th-Fox,
however, at the big CinemaScope press con-
ference in New York two weeks ago, stated
unequivocally that three magnetic tracks
were necessary for the best stereophonic re-
sults. One 20th-Fox man said that money
savings in any single optical track system
went principally to the producer and to the
film laboratory, rather than the exhibitor.

The pro-Perspecta sound people answer
this by pointing out that if an exhibitor al-
ready has a multi-horn system installed, all
he has to do to play Perspecta sound prints
stereophonically is to install a Perspecta in-
tegrator unit, which costs between $800 and
$900, and which they argue is much simpler
to operate than any other stereo system.

Loew’s Subsidiary and
Perspect-A Share System

Ownership of Perspecta is shared by
MGM International Films, a Loew subsidi-
ary, and by Perspect-A-Sound, Inc., of
which Robert Fine, its inventor, is president.
It is being made available to all studios on a
license basis. According to Mr. Loew’s state-
ment this week, two integrators and standard
accessories, costing less than $2,000, will
handle the entire production capacity of any
major studio.

While the Fairchild Recording Equipment
Company is the first company licensed to
manufacture the equipment, negotiations re-
portedly also are taking place with RCA and
Westrex of New York, Altec-Lansing of
Hollywood, Phillips Co. of Holland, Micro-
Tecnica of Italy, La Precision Cinemato-
graphique of France, and the Rank Organi-
sation of England, as well as other organi-
zations.

Sees No 16mm Trust Trial
Before Next December

HOLLYWOOD : The Government’s 16mm
anti-trust case against 12 distributor de-
fendants probably will not come to trial
before December at the earliest, James Mc-
Grath, Government attorney in charge of
the case, said here this week. Mr. McGrath
Istated that between now and December,
attorneys of the Justice Department will take
numerous depositions in New York and
elsewhere. Attorneys for all defendants have
been notified to appear before Eederal
Judge Harry C. Westover here next Wed-
nesday for general discussions on the present
status of their respective preparations. That
day has been set aside by Judge Westover
for the industry suit and 19 others, which
were transferred from eight other judges,
for conferences with all litigants for the
purpose of establishing precedence.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

^‘‘yTBCHNICOLOR

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color by TECHNICOLOR-DELUXE

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Color by TECHNICOLOR

MYERS OF ALLIED SAYS:

FIVE MORE SEEK
TO JOIX TEAM

Sees Other Independent
Producers Interested
in Production Plan

Since the announcement last week of its
deal with Hal R. Makelim Productions for
the underwriting of 12 motion pictures,
Allied States Association has been ap-
proached by five other independent pro-
ducers who are interested in making similar
arrangements with the exhibitor organiza-
tion, according to Abram F. Myers, Allied
general counsel.

Under the Allied-Makelim plan, 2,500
Allied theatres are to guarantee playdates
at fixed rentals for fixed runs for 12 pictures
over a 12-month period. Contract theatres
are to pay only their share of the production
costs, with profits coming from sales to
other theatres. Mr. Myers said that five
more independent producers — one in New
York and four in Hollywood — would like to
make the same arrangement with Allied.

The general counsel also re-
vealed that the first Allied unit
to consider the Makelim plan had
oversubscribed its contract quota.
The plan was discussed at a
board meeting of Allied of In-
diana last week, Mr. Myers said,
and board members present
signed up for all the contracts
allotted to Indiana. In Hollywood
in the week, Mr. Makelim an-
nounced that Frank Borzage had
been appointed vice-president of
Makelim Productions and would
probably direct at least two of
the 12 pictures to be made for
Allied.

Meanwhile in New York attorneys for
the major distribution companies watched
the developments with interest.

One attorney pointed out that if the same
arrangement were made with a major dis-
tributor the independent exhibitor customers
would have the privilege of a 20 per cent
cancellation. If the Makelim contracts are
consummated with individual exhibitors at
the series of regional meetings to be held in
exchange cities starting next month, the
Allied members will be engaged in blind
buying and block booking, two practices
they fought to outlaw over an extended
period of years, the attorney said.

Cancellation Not Required

In the Government anti-trust suit against
the industry, the court ruled that companies
subject to the final decree — all of the major
companies — would have to offer a 20 per
cent cancellation if they sold features in

SOME TOA MEMBERS
WEIGH PRODUCTION

Members of Theatre Owners of
America, as individuals and not as an
organization, are probing the produc-
tion field along the lines in which
Allied States Association is partici-
pating, Myron Blank, president of
Central States Theatres, said in New
York this week. He said TOA mem-
bers in general were favorable to the
Allied plan but that no project was
being initiated to parallel it. How-
ever, he said some TOA men were
becoming active in production units,
personally and financially, and that
the movement probably will grow as
the current product shortage be-
comes more serious. He indicated
that Fred Schwartz, Century Circuit
executive, was the most active in pro-
moting production, but that other
TOA leaders were "at least thinking"
about forming production units.

groups. The provision does not apply to
non-decree companies and hence, Mr.
Makelim is not required to include a can-
cellation privilege as part of his contracts.

Some exhibitors insist that cancellations
would be unlikely in any event, since the
whole idea of the Makelim tieup is to in-
crease the amount of product available.

However, attorneys in New York said
there is nothing to prevent an independent
exhibitor unable to buy Makelim product in
a competing situation from instituting an
action against his competitor and the pro-
ducer-distributor on the grounds that he
has been illegally discriminated against in
being deprived of the Makelim product.
Such a case, if brought to trial, would be
watched with interest by large distributors
who have been hailed into court often by
independent exhibitors on similar charges.

These considerations notwithstanding, the
Allied plan was hailed by Leonard Golden-
son, president of American Broadcasting-
Paramount Theatres, who said this week
that “anything that helps to stimulate pro-
duction is a step in the right direction.” It
was Mr. Goldenson, speaking at last No-
vember’s convention of Theatre Owners of
America, who sounded the call for exhibi-
tion to enter production to relieve the prod-
uct shortage.

Allied of New Jersey this week approved
in principle the production deal, and set a
meeting of eastern exhibitors with Mr.
Makelim May 20.

Codecs Value
Is hauded
By Keauyh

Speaking at the Communion Breakfast of
the Communications Anchor Club in New
York, April 4, Austin C. Keough, vice-
president and gen-
eral counsel of Para-
mount Pictures
Corp., lauded the
Motion Picture Pro-
duction Code and
cited the benefits it
has brought.

Mr. Keough, in
his talk, went back
to the early days of
the industry, traced
the formulation and
history of the Code,
and discussed the re-
cent demand for
“modernization.” “What Hollywood thinks
of the Code and Mr. Breen's administration
of it is demonstrated by the special Academy
Award it voted him this year,” Mr. Keough
said.

The Paramount executive pointed out
that “not a single motion picture for which
the Production Code Seal has been issued
has been condemned by the Legion.”

He said we “must be eternally vigilant.
Some motion picture producers, usually so-
>_alled ‘independents,’ and some critics have
from time to time sought the revision of
the Code, even its complete abandonment.”

“In these days when atheistic Communism
is recognized as a great moral and political
danger throughout the world, we must all
be aware that moral laxity and indecency
is an aid to the Communist causey” he
asserted.

Arias Quality Gets Film

Josef von Sternberg’s “Ana-Ta-Han”
will be distributed in the United States by
Arias Quality Films, newly organized re-
leasing company consisting of Henry R.
Arias, Lee Abrams and Myer P. Beck. The
film, made entirely in Japan, is the story of
a group of shipwrecked Japanese and the
time they spent on a desert island for six
years after the war.

Technicolor Dividend

Technicolor, Inc., board of directors have
declared a dividend of 25 cents a share on
the new $1 par common stock and 50 cents
a share on the old no-par common stock,
not exchanged, payable April 27, 1954 to
stockholders of record on April 16.

COPA in Columbia Deal

HOLLYWOOD: COPA Productions, inde-
pendent company formed by Tyrone Power
and Ted Richmond, has signed a multiple-
picture producing and releasing deal with
Columbia Pictures, the studio has disclosed.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 17. 1954

CAPACITY: 280 SEATS

W. spyroo P.

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DEWEY SIGNS
CENSOR LAW

ALBANY : Governor Thomas E. Dewey
April 12 si.^ned the New York State film
censorship Ijill. The measure redefined ‘‘im-
moral" in regard to the pre-censorship of
motion pictures in New York State. The
new legislation grew out of the recent U. S.
Supreme Court decisions, hitting at the
“vagueness” of the term “immoral.”

The Motion Picture Associa-
tion of America, commenting on
Governor Dewey’s action in sign-
ing the bill, expressed its regrets.
The move, declared the MPAA,
“sets back the cause of freedom
of expression.” The bill, continued
the MPAA, “is a restraining,
repressive” measure.

In a memorandum accompanying the
signature Gov. Dewey said: “Recent Su-
preme Court decisions have indicated that
the term ‘immoral’ may not be sufficiently
definite for constitutional purposes. The

Seek Tax AlM
Far Trade
Overseas

]W-iSHINGTON Eric Johnston, president
of the Motion Picture Association of Amer-
ica, told the Senate Finance Committee this
week the film industry is “justly entitled”
to the tax incentives on overseas earnings
given other industries under the House-
passed technical tax bill.

If it should be given these incentives as
now requested, Mr. Johnston said, “our in-
dustry will be able to increase its invest-
ments abroad — particularly in underdevel-
oped countries. The American film industry
would furnish additional employment and
would make sizable contributions to the eco-
nomic progress of the free world.”

Committee Chairman Millikin (R., Col.)
urged Mr. Johnston to discuss his recom-
mendations with Colin Stam, chief of the
Congressional tax staff. Mr. Johnston said
he and his aides had been trying to get in
touch with Mr. Stam but had found him “a
very busy man.” Under the House-passed
bill, certain income earned overseas by U.S.
companies would be taxed 14 percentage
points lower than other corporate income.
Moreover, U.S. firms operating through
branches would not be taxed on this income
until it is actually remitted, rather than
when it is earned, as at present.

However, the House Ways and Means
Committee specifically excluded royalty in-
come from the types of income eligible for
these breaks, and films earn royalties.

primary purpose of this hill is to define ‘im-
moral and 'tend to corrupt morals’ in con-
formance with the apparent requirements of
these cases. It does so by defining them in
terms of ‘sexual immorality.’ ”

The Governor said the new section would
make the law conform to the “tenor of re-
cent court decisions” and proscribe the ex-
ploitation of “filth for the sake of filth.”

The new definitions specify that an “im-
moral ’ film is one “the dominant purpose or
effect of which is erotic or pornographic ;
or which portrays acts.of sexual immorality,
perversion of lewdness, or which expressly
or impliedly presents such acts as desirable,
acceptable, or proper patterns of behavior.”

The new law classes as a film that tends
to “incite to crime” one “the dominant pur-
pose and effect of which is to suggest that
the commission of criminal acts or contempt
of law is profital)le, desirable, acceptable
or respectable behavior ; or which advocates
or teaches the use of narcotics or habit-
forming drugs.”

Firms Had $176,200,000
From Abroad in 1953

II ASH INGTON : United States film com-
panies received $176,200,000 in 1953 from
royalties on foreign showings of their films,
the Commerce Department estimated last
week. This was a considerable increase from
an estimated $167,000,000 of receipts in
1952 and $160,400,000 in 1951. At the same
time the Commerce Department said U. S.
payments on royalties for foreign films
shown in the United States amounted to
$5,200,000 in 1953. This was an increase
over the $4,000,000 estimated for 1952 but
still well below an estimated $11,000,000 in
1951. The figures were presented by Deputy
Assistant Secretary Carl F. Oechs'le in tes-
timony before Congressional committees in
support of the proposed universal copyright
convention and in support of legislation to
implement U. S. participation in the new
convention. The hearings were before a
joint subcommittete of the Senate Foreign
Relations and Judiciary Committees.

Avon Theatre Suit Is
Settled Out of Court

CHICAGO : The Avon theatre, South
Bend. Ind., anti-trust suit against Balaban
and Katz and the eight major film com-
panies, filed here three years ago in U. S.
District Court, was settled out of court this
week for an undisclosed sum. The suit, ask-
ing $750,000 treble damages, alleged that
prior to 1949, Balaban and Katz and the
film companies conspired to prevent the
Avon, operated by the South Bend Theatre
Corp., from obtaining first run product,
forcing the 1,000-seat house to operate in a
repeat policy.

Taker Sees
Industry
On Move

Speaking in the language of Wall Street.
Adolph Zukor, chairman of the board of
Paramount Pictures who last year had the
aid of the entire industry in celebrating his
50 years in motion pictures, said this week
that he was “very definitely bullish” about
Paramount specifically and the industry gen-
erally.

At a press conference at the New York
home office. Mr. Zukor said that a recently
concluded three-month stay at the studio had
convinced him the industry never again will
stand still in respect to new techniciues of
sight and sound. He said he found the
quality of upcoming Paramount pictures
higher than ever before and predicted gen-
eral acclaim for Paramount’s VistaVision
process, which is to be demonstrated at the
Radio City Music Hall April 27.

VistaVision, he said, was far ahead of
any new process yet seen, adding that the
method of photography attained a new de-
gree in clarity and definition. He stressed
the fact that it maintained the proper pro-
portion of height to width and was suitable
to the smallest as well as to largest screens
in the world. He declined to predict Vista-
Vision’s acceptance by the industry as a
whole, saying it was still too early for such
predictions, although the industry was bound
to agree eventually on a dimension suitable
for all.

Mr. Zukor opened the press conference
with detailed remarks on individual Para-
mount films which, collectively, had “over-
whelmed” him with their quality. Men-
tioned by him as being particularly promis-
ing were “Elephant Walk,” “Knock on
Wood,” “Sabrina Fair,” “White Christmas,”
“Living It Up,” “Rear Window,” “The
Country Girl” and “Strategic Air Com-
mand.”

Yorke to Do Series on
Ball Players for TV

Emerson Yorke, producer and director, is
filming the life stories of 26 of baseball’s
leading players to be released nationally on
television as a 26-week series in 1955. John
McCallum, sports director of the Pearson
Advertising Agency, which has exclusive
sale rights to the series, said several adver-
tisers have already shown interest in spon-
soring the program. Baseball Commissioner
Ford Frick is said to be sanctioning the
series.

Big Booking on Disney

RKO Radio has set a deal whereby four
Walt Disney productions will play the entire
Famous Players Circuit of Canada, Charles
Boasberg, general sales manager, has re-
ported. The pictures are “The Living
Desert,” ‘ Ben and Me,” “Pinocchio” and
“Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

Cites Moves
Of Repubiie
In TV Field

ALLIED UNIT HITS RENTAL
TERMS OF DISTRIBUTORS

NEW OFFICERS and directors of Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin:
Seated, Oliver Trampe, treasurer; Sig Goldberg, president; Angelo Provinzano, vice-
president, and Edward Johnson, secretary. Standing, the board of directors: William
Charboneau, Vic Wilson, Martin Hoizman, Floyd Albert, Ben Marcus, F. J. McWilliams,
Harry Melcher, Russell Leddy, Fred Minor and Eugene Goderskie.

Highlighting Republic’s expansion in the
television field, Herbert J. Yates, president,
reported ,it the annual stockholders meeting
in New York last Friday the company has
spent $1,500,000 for television equipment,
planning to furnish shows to home television
as well as to theatres. Republic, he con-
tinqed, is the “only” film company “to go
into television” and is preparing its Tru-
Color process for eventual use in the broad-
casting of color television.

Bruce Newbery, sales manager, withdrew
as a director nominee following the objec-
tions of stockholders that he did not own any
stock. Bernard H. Smith, Jr., owner of
100,000 shares, was nominated and elected,
with Mr. Yates, Richard W. Altschuler,
Albert W. Lind and Franklin A. McCarthy,
all for three-year terms.

To Increase Holdings

Mr. Yates, underscoring his confidence in
Republic, told the meeting he is placing an
order to increase his common stock holdings,
ordering the purchase of 50,000 shares at a
price up to $3 per share. The stock market
quotation early this week was about $3.25
per share. Mr. Yates forecast the company’s
foreign business this year would double that
of last year.

He estimated that the resale to television
rights of old Roy Rogers and Gene Autry
pictures is worth from $3,000,000 to $4,000,-
000. He said the rights are now the subject
of litigation, with hearings scheduled in
court for next month.

Mr. Yates, countering expressions of
gloom by some ^stockholders, said that the
box office dip ih the past few years “has
been a blessing in disguise,” forcing the ac-
cent on the need for better pictures, the re-
quirement to cut overhead costs, and the
opening up for Republic of the whole tele-
vision market.

At one point the Republic president said
the motion picture business is a “very risky”
one. He said that of all the pictures made,
50 per cent lose money, 20 per cent break
even, 20 per cent make a little profit, while
10 per ceiit are profitable.

Officers Are Elected

Subsequently at a meeting of the board,
the following officers were elected : Mr.
Yates, president; Vvffilter L. Titus, Jr., Rich-
ard W. Altschuler, John J. O’Connell and
Arthur . J. Miller, vice-presidents; John
Petrauskas, Jr., treasurer; Joseph E. Mc-
Mahon, secretary; Richard S. Rodgers and
Harold Lange, assistant treasurers ; Albert
E. Schiller and Ira M. Johnson, assistant
secretary-treasurers.

Mr. Altschuler was added to the exec-
utive committee, which includes Mr. Yates,
Arthur J. Miller, John Petrauskas, Jr., and
Douglas T. Yates.

MILWAUKEE: Sig Goldberg was reelected
president of Wisconsin Allied at the annual
convention here April 6-8. Other officers
are A. Provinzano, vice-president; Ed John-
son, secretary; Oliver Trampe, treasurer;
Mr. Goldberg, national director; Ben
Marcus, director-at-large.

The convention closed with a blast at
distributors for current film terms. In a
resolution the unit condemned the com-
panies "for the exorbitant percentage film
terms being asked of the independent ex-
hibitors in the state of Wisconsin."

The Allied unit also urged that the indus-
try, through the facilities of the Council of
Motion Picture Organizations, retain the
services of Sindlinger & Co. on a perma-
nent basis for the purpose of continuing its
scientific research for the information and
benefit of the industry.

Mr. Marcus, president of national Allied,
was presented a plaque at the annual ban-
quet, commending him for his service to
the state's independent exhibitors in the
years of his activity.

Named to the board of directors are
Eugene Goderskie Mr. Johnson, Mr. Provin-
zano, Mr. Trampe, Floyd Albert, William

Chromatic Forecasts
Color Tube at $ 1 00

Pilot plant production at Chromatic Labo-
ratories, a Paramount Pictures subsidiary,
indicates it should be possible to mass-
produce 24-inch Lawrence color television
tubes at a cost of less than $100 each, it is
reported. Certain characteristics inherent in
the single-gun Chromatron, as the Lawrence
color TV tube is known, indicates receiver
cost may be kept down. Television industry
spokesmen have pointed out the main deter-
rent to wide-scale use of color television

Charboneau, Martin Hoizman, Vic Wilson,
Harry Melcher, Russell Leddy, Mr. Gold-
berg, J. P. Adler, and Fred Minor.

Abram F. Myers, general counsel of
Allied States Association, in talking about
the tax reduction, stated "it's a great thing,
if we can keep it." He told of the possi-
bility of more local taxation and urged
exhibitors to try and stop it.

Mr. Myers attacked 20th Century-Fox
and MGM for insisting upon the installa-
tion of stereophonic sound which he said
is beyond the reach, financially, of most
small theatres. He told of Allied's plan for
production in Hollywood. The quality pic-
ture can be made today, he said, without
a big budget. Mike Simons, MGM exhibi-
tor relations head, suggested the organiza-
tion of youth groups to be active in the
theatre.

Mr. Johnson urged a changeover to
large screens but suggested a "wait-and-
see" policy on sound. Large towns, he said,
are much in favor of CinemaScope. Re-
garding the expense of installation, how-
ever, he stated that an adjustment should
be made to permit amortization of the
investment.

has been the cost and development of a prac-
tical TV tube. Chromatic believes a solution
has been found in the Chromatron and that
its general adoption by the industry would
bring color television into homes quickly
and at relatively moderate cost.

Trans-Lux Buys in Philadelphia

The Trans-Lux Corp. has leased for a
long term the 800-seat World theatre on
IMarket Street, Philadelphia. The property
is owned by the Faith Theatre Corp., Sam-
uel Cummins, president.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

The Industry's Most Important Event

PARAM

East Coast Dem

Radio city

8:30 A. M^Tues

Vista Vision will fill the mammoth Music Hall screen
as it will fill the screen of every theatre, large and
small, throughout the world. Its compatibility with
existing theatre equipment and flexibility in providing
maximum screen height, width and definition, have

Doors open 8 a.m. Demonstration
Radio City Music Hall to meet

At The World^s Largest Theatre

OUNT’S

MUSIC HALL

April 27th

already amazed six thousand exhibitors, technicians
and members of the press at a score of Paramount
Studio screenings. Paramount's industrywide service
in making Vista Vision available to all studios blazes
the way for a new era in production and exhibition.

starts 8:30 a.m. promptly to enable
its established opening time.

BRITISH FACE
TAX SQUABBLE

Producers Demand Share
of Tax Remission Under
New Budget Schedule

by PETER BURNUP

LOND(TN : Tlie film trade — the exhibition
side in particular, the only beneficiary to
any substantial degree under Chancellor
Butler's “stand-still" Budget, has resumed
its more accustomed mood of cautious real-
ism after greeting the opening of the budget
with hallelujahs.

Some exhibitors, not content
with the size of the slice of cake,
demanded the tax fight be con-
tinued in Commons until the whole
of their £7 million demand is con-
ceded. Others, with memories of
embittered debates last Autumn,
knew they’d be faced quickly with
demands from others — namely, the
producers — for a share. BFPA’s
Sir Henry French engineered it
forthwith. Sir Henry’s executive
had assembled the very morning
after the opening of the Budget to
stake its claim.

Exhibitors always have been disposed to
resent the levies they’ve been called upon to
pay to the Eady Fund. The Government,
on the other hand, has maintained its belief
that, without Eady sustenance, production
here will perish. Producers, moreover, with
that Governmental assurance behind them,
have never ceased their insistence that a
minimum of an annual Eady £3 million is
necessary to keep their studios ticking. It
was only by force of circumstance that they
reluctantly agreed last October to a revision
in the Eady scale which it was estimated
would produce £2.250,000 in a year instead
of £3 million.

Faced with falling box office receipts and
the staggering tax burden, exhibitors agreed
to the new scale. It was indeed touch-and-
go to the last moment whether or not CEA
would continue with Eady at all. Producers,
however, had a proviso added :

Seek Implementation

“The four Associations will come to an
agreement that the benefit to the industry
resulting from Entertainment Tax relief
made in the Finance Act next year ( 1954)
will be shared between exhibitors and the
British Film Production Fund in propor-
tions to be determined by the Four Associa-
tions or, failing agreement, by the Govern-
ment.”

It is by immediate implementation of that
agreement that the producers now demand
their share of the tax cake. The next meet-
ing of the Four Trade Associations is sche-
duled for April 21. The producers will
endeavour to have a new and acceptable levy

scale agreed by exhibitors then in order that
it may come into operation May 30, the day
the tax concessions became effective.

Despite all of this, the industry is united
in paying tribute to famed Scottish exhibitor
Sir Alexander King, who presided over
CEA’s Tax Committee and led the whole
campaign. The 66-year-old Sir Alexander
taught professional practitioners in political
lobbying a lesson. Under his own steam he
formed a formidable all-party committee of
MP's pledged to tax remission, including a
former Chancellor of the Exchequer ( Hugh
Gaitskell ) and President of the Board of
Trade (Harold Wilson). It was a notable
achievement.

Sir Alexander has been the recipient of
congratulatory messages from American and
British executives. This week he was to
lie presented by MGM in his native Glas-
gow a plaque commemorating his services
to the industry.

Await Lab Report

The report is awaited of the three-men
committee appointed by the Labour Minister
to enquire into the causes and circumstances
of the Laboratories’ dispute.

Both parties in the dispute, the Labora-
tories Association and the Association of
Cine and Allied Technicians, gave lengthy
evidence before the committee which has
since been considering_.its recommendations.
It was understood that- evidence was to be
called for this Alonday and that the report
was to be in the Minister’s hands before the
Easter holidays.

The committee is not a mandatory body:
it can make recommendations only. There
is a general hope, nevertheless, that the com-
mittee’s detached and impartial review of
the exceedingly bitter wrangle may afford
a basis for a long term settlement.

Amend TV Bill ^

The Government’s Copmiercial Television
Bill continues to have an uneasy passage in
the House of Commons. No fewer than
64 amendments to the Bill of a delaying or
fettering nature have been put down by the
Opposition. Prospects of the new setup op-
erating by the end of this year grow in-
creasingly dim. In any event, the new
Authority will be an exceedingly watered-
down affair compared with the Govern-
ment’s original proposals.

Meanwhile, film producers have taken
steps to stake out a claim in the TV field.
A producers’ deputation was to see the
Government’s Television Advisory Commit-
tee this week with a technical memorandum
discussing the possibility of transmitting
TV programmes into suitably equipped
cinemas.

20th-Fox recently released some figures
to tbe effect that to date 2,800,000 people

have paid for admissions to "The Kobe” in
34 cinemas in the United Kingdom. There’ll
be eight more openings of Cinema.Scope in-
stallations in the near future bringing tbe
total to 76.

Of the J. Arthur Rank committal of 75
theatres, 46 have opened with CinemaScope.*
It is understood that a temporary bottle-neck
occurred in G.B.-Kalee supply of the equip-
ment but that this has now been remedied.
The remainder of the 75 Rank committed
theatres will open with CinemaScope during
May.

IVetv Comedy
'Tops Gross
In Britain

LONDON : Confirming officially a circum-
stance of which watchful exhibitors were
already aware, the Rank Organisation last
week came out with the announcement that
a comparatively modest comedy made by the
Organization — "Doctor In the House” — has
in its opening weeks at the Leicester Square
Odeon taken more money than any other
picture in an equivalent period there over
the last 18 months.

In other words, the picture has beaten the
spectacular grosses chalked up by the phe-
nomenal "A Queen Is Crowned” and “The
Robe.” “Doctor In the House,” although
it was given no great ballyhoo treatment, is
not a chance “sleeper” in the current Rank
program, organisation officials say, but
rather it is strictly in line with “The Cruel
Sea” and another box office phenomenon,
last year’s “Genevieve.” With the excep-
tion of “Road to Bali,” they beat all Holly-
wood’s offering in The Herald’s Box Office
Survey in January last.

The Rank announcement adds, moreover,
that another of its modest comedies.
“Trouble in Store,” currently is breaking
all motion picture theatre records through-
out the country.

SAG Wage Rates Will
Remain Until 1955

HOLLYWOOD : Terms of the Screen
Actors Guild contract with the major stu-
dios will continue unchanged for another
year, it was announced this week following
extended discussions which resulted in an
agreement that the next reopening date for
negotiations will be April 1, 1955. The
agreement reached means that motion pic-
ture actors have by-passed this year’s op-
portunity to re-negotiate rates for wages.

Cagney in "Mr. Roberts"

HOLLYWOOD : James Cagney will play
the captain in the CinemaScope, Warner-
Color production “Mr. Roberts,” it has been
announced by Jack L. Warner. This will
be the fir.st time Cagney has appeared in a
second starring position. Henry Fonda
has the lead, the role which he originated in
the Broadway play.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

UA’S GREAT JULY 4th RELEASE
BURT LANCASTER as the

'« TECHNICOLOR

BURT LANCASTER • JEAN PETERS in “APACHE” • color by technicolor • with john

MclNTlRE • Produced by HAROLD HECHT • Directed by ROBERT ALDRICH • Written for the screen
by JAMES R. WEBB • A HECHT-LANCASTER PRESENTATION

CITE FILMS' LOCAL STATURE

The seventh ad in the current series being run in "Editor & Publisher" by the
Council of Motion Picture Organizations emphasizes the local importance of the
motion picture industry.

The ad, which appeared last Saturday, is headed "Here's the Local Angle"
and stresses the fact that most of the money spent by theatres is expended locally
and that through empoyment of local residents and in other ways the theatre is an
important factor in the economy of every community.

"In 1953," the advertisement says, "expenses of all theatres in the United
States were $1,172,579,000, of which 51.6 per cent, or $605,400,000, represented
outlays in local communities." The ad's conclusion: "A healthy movie business
is good for the economic health of any town."

RKO Freed
Of Reports in
Rughes Rent

Completion of the Howard Hughes deal,
under which sole ownership of RKO Radio
Pictures passes to him, will relieve the com-
pany of many corporate obligations. Among
them are the preparation of financial re-
ports ; submission of reports to stockholders ;
the filing of corporate documents with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, in-
cluding employment contracts with execu-
tives, salary reports, stock ownership re-
ports of officers and directors and securities
reports of all kinds ; the holding of public
annual or special meetings, and the answer-
ing of stockholders’ questions.

The company’s last public report presum-
ably will be that of RKO Pictures Corp. for
the year 1953. Its last annual public meet-
ing of stockholders has been held.

Tenders of the outstanding stock in ac-
cordance with Mr. Hughes’ offer of $6 per
share are scheduled to be completed by
May 17. However, speculation rose when
last Friday on the New York Stock Ex-
change in trading of large blocks, aggregat-
ing 10,860 shares for the day, the issue
closed at the premium price of $6.12}4. It
was the third time in recent trading that
buyers have paid the premium price for the
stock.

Goldman's Extra Damage
Award Not Taxable

PHILADELPHIA : The U. S. Circuit
Court of Appeals here has ruled William
Goldman Theatres, Inc., need not pay in-
come taxes on $250,000 it was awarded in
1946. The ruling, which upholds an earlier
finding of the U. S. Tax Court, grew out
of an anti-trust decision eight years ago
awarding Goldman triple damages of $375,-
000 against Warner Brothers and 10 other
motion picture producers and distributors.
Mr. Goldman charged the Erlanger theatre
was not allowed to show first run films.
U. S. District Judge William H. Kirkpat-
rick awarded $125,000 damages, to be

trebled under anti-trust laws. Mr. Goldman
paid income taxes on the $125,000 but not
on the remaining $250,000, charging puni-
tive damages were not income. The Gov-
ernment sued, then appealed. The decision,
by Chief Judge John Biggs, Jr., said that
punitive damages could not be regarded as
regular taxable income. He added the
Supreme Court might finally have to decide
the issue.

Liberty Chicago Suit Is
Settled Out of Court

CHICAGO : The Liberty theatre suit, ask-
ing an injunction to prevent Loew’s, Inc.,
from putting their pictures up for bidding
in Michigan City, Ind., where the Liberty
had been splitting Metro product, and the
product of several other companies, with
two Indiana-Illinois circuit houses, has been
settled out of court, it was disclosed last
week. Metro product will continue to be
split by the theatres involved. Attorneys
in the suit were Seymour Simon and Shel-
don Collen, representing the Liberty, Bry-
son Burnham for Loew’s and Aaron Stein
for Indiana-Illinois.

UA Sets Regional Sales
Sessions on Anniversary

United Artists will hold a series of re-
gional sales meetings in connection with its
35th Anniversary which will bring together
all division and district leaders, as well as
key personnel from each of the company’s
branches throughout the United States, it
has been announced by William J. Heine-
man, vice-president in charge of distribu-
tion. Sessions will be held in San Francisco
April 21-23, in Chicago April 26-28 and in
Philadelphia May 3-5, and will be presided
over jointly by Mr. Heineman, Max E.
Youngstein, vice-president, and B. G.
Kranze, general sales manager.

Reelect Leon Back

BALTIMORE : The Allied Motion Picture
Theatre Owners of Maryland reelected Leon
Back to a second term as president at a
meeting of the new board of directors. Jack
Whittle was named vice-president and C.
Elmer Nolte, Jr., was renamed treasurer.
Mrs. Helen Diering is secretary by appoint-
ment.

Arthur Rits
JAetr System
Price Rises

The motion picture industry lost the pub-
lic relations opportunity of a lifetime by in-
sisting on advanced admission prices when
initially presenting such new screen tech-
niques as Cinemascope, stereophonic sound.
Cinerama and 3-D, according to Harry C.
Arthur, Jr., chairman of the Southern Cali-
fornia Theatre Owners Association.

This observation was made in a letter,
released this week, which Mr. Arthur sent
to Spyros Skouras, president of 20th-Fox,
in which the exhibitor leader attacked the
advanced admission price practice generally
and 2(}th-Fox insistence upon stereophonic
sound with CinemaScope specifically.

"We have too many pictures for which
the producers attempt to raise our admis-
sion prices,’’ wrote Mr. Arthur. “Our fluc-
tuating admission scales have become an
almost certain guide to the public whether
or not the picture promises to be any good.
They have been taught that a regular price
picture is a certain sign that the theatre
management does not regard the picture as
very good. The increased price, they have
come to feel, is no certain guide that the
picture is worth the price, but at least the
public feels that it runs less risk in attend-
ing only when the price is raised.”

Mr. Arthur added that regular price pic-
tures “substantially outgross almost all ad-
vanced price pictures,” and enclosed a chart
showing such results at a first run St. Louis
theatre. He reminded Mr. Skouras that the
greater gross on a regular price film means
more people have attended the picture "and
the more persons who see motion pictures,
the closer we are to bringing back the so-
called ‘lost audience.’ ”

The exhibitor leader said he didn’t believe
that stereophonic sound would either make
or break either the theatre or the producer,
but that a producer who does not insist upon
it will get increased returns, both from the
pictures themselves and the survival of many
theatres which “otherwise may go out of
business.”

RKO Circuit Board
Up for Reelection

The reelection of the seven-man board of
directors of RKO Theatres was urged on
stockholders in a management proxy state-
ment. The statement, announcing the annual
meeting of stockholders will be held in
Wilmington, Del., May 6, listed the salaries
of RKO officers. Sol A. Schwartz, president,
received $79,900 in 1953, while William W.
Howard, vice-president, received $38,926
and Thomas F. O’Connor, vice-president
and treasurer, $31,825. Up for reelection
were the following directors: Theodore R.
Colborn, David J. Greene, Dudley G. Lay-
man, Albert A. List, A. Louis Oresman,
Edward C. Raftery and Mr. Schwartz.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

WALTER WINCHELL said it...

and soon every boxoffice from coast to coast
will echo it: ""New Yorkers are talking about -
and so will the nation soon... CARNIVAL STORYI
A King Bros, production for RKO^ it opens coast
to coast Easter Week — Anne Baxter's finest
performance in her long Hollywood career!"

CARNIVAL STORV

starring

ANNE BAXTER'STEVE COCHRAN'LYLE BEHCER-GEORGE NADER

WIDE SCREEN

Print by

TECHNICOLOR

with

JAY C. FLIPPEN ' HELENE STANLEY • Directed by KURT NEUMANN • Screenplay by HANS lACOBY and KURT NEUMANN • A KING BROS. Production

Distnbuledby

R K o
RADIO

'if

J Sc

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollyu'ood Editor

LAST WEEK Frank Gruber deiivered the
manuscript of “The Limping Goose” to his
publisher. It is the 13th novel in his glo-
bally-poinilar Johnny Fletcher mystery
series. About 12,000,000 copies of his John-
ny Fletcher novels have been sold. They
are published in 19 languages. Writing
that many novels for that many people in
that many countries sounds like occupation
enough for 'most anybody, but not for
Johnny Fletcher’s prolific pen-parent. No.
He writes Johnny Fletcher for fun — profit-
able fun. of course — and by way of taking
a breather, so to speak, between writing
pictures, his main, hut by no means exclusive,
profession since back in the upper ’Thirties,

Gruber Pictures Are of
Two Principal Kinds

The Gruber pictures, of which there are
dozens, are of two principal kinds, plus in-
evitable exceptions. In the beginning he
specialized in suspense melodramas (Ex-
ample, “Alask of Dimitrois”) and in that
happy box office era when Westerns were
a little better than gold he swung over
to saddle and gun, most recently winding
up a stint of seven scripts in this category
for that impassioned impressario of the
plains, Nat Holt. (Gruber Westerns : “Hur-
ricane Smith,” “Pony Express,” “Great
Missouri Raid,” “Caribou Trail,” scores
more.) “Bitter Sage,” sold to Sam Weisen-
tahl’s Olympic Productions within the
month, is his latest known Western crea-
tion, althoug'h, at the rate he works, others
may have issued from his steaming L. C.
Smith by publication time,

"Steaming L, C. Smith” is not just con-
venient slang. Asked how he maintains his
prodigious pace, he says, “Write it all my-
self— beat it out on my own machine, and
send it out to be typed up — never keep a
steno ; tried it once ; slowed me down —
can’t dictate, either; tried that, too; it was
no go — tape-recording ditto ; you can’t tell
how a piece of writing’s going to read just
from hearing it spoken; different medium;
see what I mean ?”

Came from the Brash
Chicago of Yesterday

Writer Frank Gruber was born in 190-1
in the brisk, brash Chicago of Ben Hecht,
Carl Sandburg, Theodore Dreiser and many
another fruitful practitioner of the written
word, and he honed his talent razor keen
during a seven-year sentence ( 1927-34) to
the hard school of trade journalism (a tur-
key-breeder’s weekly launched during that
stretch is still a ihriving success) in that
melodramatic metropolis. Oddly, none of
the all but innumerable Grul)er works of
fiction have dramatized that place and time,
which bracketed Capone, O'Banion, Insull,

a World’s Fair prospering in the teeth of
The Depression, Jack Lingle, Big Bill
Thompson. Maybe that’s the big one —
his GWTW’ he’s saving for his climax.

FRANK BORZAGE got back from South
America last weekend full of pride in his
profession. He’d gone down to attend the
International Cinematografico Festival in
Argentina and stayed over to visit most of
the capitals of the continent. He got back
on the day when Hal R. Makelim announced
his appointment as vice-president of Hal
R. IMakelim Productions, which firm is to
produce a dozen pictures in a dozen months
under terms of an agreement with Allied
States Association.

Mr. Makelim said Mr. Borzage will direct
at least two of them. The long list of
Borzage credits, stretching on down from
1913 and including such titles as “Farewell
to Arms,” makes mighty good reading for
the 2,500 exhibitors who, as parties to the
Allied-Makelim agreement, have block-
booked the dozen pictures sight unseen.

Homecoming quotes from the veteran
director include :

“Hollywood motion pictures are still the
world’s greatest weapon in the war against
international Communism. The high stand-
ards of living, the sacred heritage of free-
dom and the happiness and high spirits of
people living under a democratic rule, which
our movies reflect, are doing a remarkable
job in turning misguided masses away from
the brain-washing tactics of Soviet foreign
agents.”

“Hollywood film product is the major ac-
cepted entertainment medium of the people
of South America, not only because of its
high standards of quality but also because
American films reflect the tenets of a free
people.”

FOPtR pictures went into photography
stage during the week, and three others
were completed, lifting the over-all shoot-
ing level to 30.

MGM’s “Green Fire,” getting under way
in Colombia, appears to be the standout
among the new undertakings, with Stewart
Granger, Grace Kelly, Paul Douglas, John
Ericson and Murvyn Vye in the cast. Ar-
mand Deutch is the producer and Andrew
Marton is directing. It goes in Eastman
color.

Robert Bassler Productions, making its
bow as an independent company headed
Ijy the long-time 20th-Fox producer, started
shooting “.Suddenly,” for United Artists
release, with Lewis Allen directing a cast
headed by Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden,
Nancy Gates and James Gleason.

Producer W’alter Wanger, whose “Riot
in Cell Block 11” is currently racking up

pyrotechnical grosses across the country,
started a quite different kind of picture
for Allied Artists this time. It is called
“Adventures of Hajji Baba” and goes in
color by Technicolor, with Don Weis di-
recting. (Remember that long chain of
Technicolor fable-features he made for
U-I and its happy exhibitor-customers a
few years back?) It has Elaine Stewart,
John Derek, Thomas Gomez, Paul Picerni
and Amanda Blake as leading players in
the cast.

U-I’s William Alland launched “Shadow
Valley,” another Technicolor project, with
Rory Calhoun. Colleen Miller, Walter Bren-
nan and Nestor Paiva in principal roles
performing under the direction of Richard
Carlson.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIinill

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (4)

A.A.

Adventures Hajji
Baba (Technicolor)

MGM

Green Fire

(Eastman Color)

COMPLETED (3)

COLUMBIA

Bat Masterson, Bad Man
(Technicolor)

SHOOTING (26)

A.A.

Sons of the Navy

COLUMBIA

Bandits (CinemaScope;

Technicolor)

Long Gray Line
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Joseph and His

Brethren (Cinema-
Scope: Technicolor)
Three for the Show
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Bandit (Shaftel; Super-
Scope; Eastman)

Night Music (Dowling:

Eastman color)

Turmoil (Haas)

Case File F. B. I.

( Eclipse)

LIPPERT

Race for Life
( Hammer)

Big Chase

MGM

Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
(VistaVision;

U.A.

Suddenly

U-I

Shadow Valley
(Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Big Top (Wallis; Vista-
Vision; Technicolor)
Country Girl

Technicolor)

Mambo (Ponti-De
Laurentia )

RKO

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

Untamed (Cinema-
Scope: Technicolor)
Broken Lance (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)
Egyptian (Cinema-
Scope)

U.A.

Vera Cruz

( Hecht-Lancaster;
Technicolor)

U-I

Three Gobs in Paris
(Technicolor)

Nevada Gold
(Technicolor)

Francis Joins the Wacs
Battle Cry (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)
Helen of Troy
(CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

Land of the Pharoahs
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

lllMDIIIIIillllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

ALBANY

Price increases, despite the tax retention
saving, were planned by several drive-ins.
Don Gilson, operating outdoors in Canton,
Massena and Alexandria Bay, had earlier
decided to advance to 70 cents and said he
was going ahead regardless. A 70-cent rate
was "needed” to stay in the black, Mr. Gil-
son explained. . . . Jules Perhnntter, who
had on hand new tickets upping the price
at the Richmondville drive-in to 60 cents,
was debating continuing this scale, desjjite
the cut. . . . Frank Wieting’s indoor Park,
in nearby Cobleskill, increased the admission
to 60 cents some months ago and reportedly
met no opposition. . . .‘‘Night People,” which
played the Strand at $1 top before the levy
lowering, was screened in the Troy, Troy,
and the Paramount, Glens Falls, at 80 cents
top ; and the Olympic, Utica, at 75 cents.
. . . Exhibitor visitors included: Boh Flock ^
hart, Phil Baroudi, Sylvan Leff, Vincent
Hayes and F. Chase Hathaway.

ATLANTA

J. E. Martin, Sr., owner of theatre and
drive-in at Montezuma, Ga., has given a
memorial to his son J. E. Martin, Jr. (who
died in the war) to the high school. It is
a complete projector outfit and screen. . . .
Mrs. Shirley Baker has been appointed sec-
retary at A.B.C. Booking Service. . . . The
stork passed over the home of Mr. and Mrs.
Mack Grimes ( he is general manager" of
Bailey theatres in the south ) and left a baby
girl. . . . Jim Stansel has been appointed
manager of the Ranch drive-in theatre,
Hartselle, Ala. He was formerly with the
Independent Theatres, Chattanooga, Tenn.
. . . The Sundown cTrive-in, Columbia, Tenn.,
has been purchased by R. P. Davis, from
S. S. Fleming, Sidney Johnson and Jack
Chappell. . . . H. P. Vinson, formerlv with
Mid-Tennessee Amusement Corp., McMinn-
ville, Tenn. was appointed manager. . . .
Mrs. Ruth Milton, sister of Mrs. Sara
Smith, accounting department. Allied Art-
ists Southern Exchanges, has returned to
New York after visiting her.

BALTIMORE

C. Elmer Nolte, Sr., Durkee Circuit ex-
ecutive has returned from Florida. . . . J.
Lawrence Schanberger, Keith’s theatre, had
Basil Rathbone in town to campaign for
“Casanova’s Big Night.” . . . Harry "Oster-
hout, night superintendent at Loew’s Cen-
tury theatre, was seriously burned when his
home caught fire. He’s in Johns Hopkins
Hospital on the critical list. . . . Jack Beresin
was in from Philadelphia. . . . Helen Leon-
ard, secretary to I. M. Rappaport, is re-
cuperating at home from surgery. . . . Jack
Whittle, Avenue theatre is having new mu-
rals painted in that theatre. . . . Ira Sichel-
man, 20th Century-Fox branch manager, in
town visiting accounts.

BOSTON

Irving Mendelson, sales manager at the
UA exchange, has been promoted to branch

manager in the New Haven office for the
same compan}-. He replaces Sidney Cooper
who was transferred to Washington. No
replacement has been announced for Men-
delson, who assumed his new duties on
iMonday. . . . During Easter week, eight
CinemaScope productions were playing in
downtown theatres. Two of these are "du-
plicates” playing at twin houses, Init the
listing does not include the CinemaScope
features playing neighborhood or adjacent
theatres. ... At the annual election of offi-
cers of the Greater Boston Council of B’nai
B’rith, representing 36 lodges in that area,
George Roberts of the Rifkin circuit was
elected second vice-president. He is also
president for a second term of the Sentry
Lodge of B'nai B'rith, the Theatrical Lodge.

BUFFALO

The Buffalo U-I exchange is in first place
at the end of the 13th week in the Charles
J. Feldman annual sales drive and manager
Dave Miller is one happy guy. . . . Frank
Lindcamp, manager of the RKO Palace in
Rochester, has won the $100 prize for the
best promotion campaign on "The Glenn
Miller Story.” The prize was competed for
by RKO theatre managers outside New
York City. . . . Will R. Corris, manager of
the old Lyceum theatre in Rochester, cele-
brated his 76th birthday last week and spent
the afternoon reminiscing with Frank Smith,
manager of the Eastman theatre. . . .When
the Presbyterian church underwent repairs
in Lima, N. Y., Sunday morning church
services were transferred to the auditorium

WHEN AND WHERE

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 lO-ll: Annual convention, North-
Central Allied Independent Theatres
Owners, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis.

June 8-10: Annual convention, Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 15-16: Annual spring meeting. Allied
Theatre Owners of Indiana, Soufh Shore
Hofei, Lake Wewasee, Ind.

of the theatre in the same western N. Y.
town. . . . The Niagara Frontier Amuse-
ment Corp. of Buffalo has been authorized
by the FCC to build a TV station on Chan-
nel 2 in Buffalo and president George F.
Goodyear. . . . Earl Hubbard, former Cen-
tury ad-pub chief, is running his own public
relations office. He will hamlle i)ublicity this
summer for Crystal Beach and the Fort Erie
races. . . .The Buffalo Center will be the
locale of the special Warner Bros, screening
party on April 26. . . . Buffalo drive-ins,
after several delays on account of had
weather, finally opened for the season last
Friday.

CHICAGO

T. E. Tally has sold the Pontiac drive-in,
Pontiac, Ilk, to L. Hewitt of Manito, Ilk,
because of illness. . . . Carroll Morton of
Republic has joined the Allied Artists
branch sales staff. His territory will be
taken over by Dan Goldman, while Bob
Lewis, formerly with Warner Brothers here,
will fill Goldman’s old job. . . . Ralph Ket-
tering is back at the United Artists for the
summer and will return to his job as man-
ager of “The Caine Mutiny Court Martial”
road company in the fall. . . . James and
Ed Jovan of the Monroe theatre and Globe
Films are vacationing in Florida. . . .The
Alger Circuit has opened a new TOOrcar
drive-in at Princeton, 111. . . . United Film
Carriers have moved their office from 1255
S. Wabash to 1306 S. Wabash, both on
Film Row. . . . The Oriental has joined the
Clark and Roosevelt, becoming the third
Loop theatre to remodel its attraction boards
in the past few months. . . . Howard Lub-
liner of the Clark theatre is vacationing in
Hot Springs with his wife.

CINCINNATI

There has been no further change in the
local admission price structure since the
Federal reduction in the excise tax and, ac-
cording to authentic sources, no additional
cuts will he made. An area survey shows
that, as far as is known, the Lyric theatre,
at Bcckley, W. A^a., had made the biggest
reduction among the independent houses,
dropping from 60 cents to 50 cents. Legiti-
mate houses have reduced prices equivalent
to the tax cut. . . . Considerable public in-
terest prevails here in connection with War-
ner’s “Dial M for Murder,” which will have
a special screening at the suburban Holly-
wood theatre April 26. It appeared here as
a stage play at the Cox theatre, with Mau-
rice Evans as the star, a few weeks ago,
and patrons have expressed themselves as
anxious to make comparisons. . . .Theatre
business locally and throughout the area is
feeling the effects of the Lenten season and
Holy Week, but exhibitors appear optimistic
for the future.

CLEVELAND

Every theatre in this area, so far as can
be learned, is keeping the full amount of the
(Continued on follozving page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

{Continued from preceding page)
Federal tax and maintaining admission
scales except where advisable to drop five
cents, as in the 55c price and one cent in
the 85c price. To date, there have been cus-
tomer complaints allegedly because of a
general lack of uniform price due to price
changes for CinemaScope and other indi-
vidual pictures. . . . Max Mink, RKO Palace
manager, is following up his recent one-
night variety stage show headed by Tony
Bennett and the Percy Faith orchestra, with
another on April 29 when a ‘‘Mamba-Rumba
Festival” will be presented. . . .Walter Lasti-
tion. Skyway drive-in, Warren, and his bride
of six weeks, were Film Row visitors. . . .
Drema Hoisington, former Warner booking
clerk, welcomed a daughter this past week.
. . . Henry Greenberger, head of Cleveland’s
Community Circuit and Joe Robins, Warren
circuit owner, are back from Florida. . . .
Frank Masek, National Theatre Supply
branch manager, flew to Norfolk, Va. over
the weekend to participate in the ceremonies
and launching of a new airplane carrier to
which his son-in-law. Commander John G.
Williams, has been assigned.

COLUMBUS

Children 13 to 18 without adults would
be required to be off the streets and out of
public amusements from 11 p.m. to 4:30
a.m. under provisions of a new curfew law
proposed to City Council by Assistant Safety
Director Leo Phillips. Children 12 or
younger would not be allowed on the streets
between dark and dawn. This proposal
would supersede the present curfew law
which has been termed inadequate. . . .
Freddie Bartholomew, former child star here
for the Institute for Radio and Television,
told delegates that “if producers, directors
and actors in educational TV are not at
heart showmen, they don’t belong in the
medium.” Bartholomew is director of “The
Living Blackboard” educational program on
WPIX, New York City. . . .WLW-C will
increase its audio power April 25 to 50,000
kilowatts and visual power to 100,000 kilo-
watts. . . . Local theatres expect strong
competition the week of May 11 when Sonja
Henie makes her first ice show appearance
here at the Coliseum. The show is, of course,
a very strong attraction, as has been demon-
strated by the attendance it attracted in
other cities.

DENVER

John Telia, city manager for Fox Inter-
Mountain Theatres, Durango, Colo., is
father to a new daughter, his second. . . .
Two more Fox Inter-Mountain houses
have opened with new CinemaScope installa-
tions. They are the Ogden, Denver, and the
Kiva, Durango, Colo. . . . Mr. and Mrs.
Emmett Warner are on an extended Euro-
pean and African trip. Warner was for-
merly on film row, and later owned a thea-
tre in Albuquerque, N. M. . . . The Realart
force, aided by members of their families,
have redecorated their new exchange. . . .
M. R. Austin, United Artists branch man-
ager, heads for San Erancisco April 21 for
a sales meeting. . . . “Pinocchio” is setting
a long-time record at the Orpheum, where
it is beating the gross set at the first run
several years ago. . . . Joe Vleck, city man-
ager for Pox Inter-Mountain Theatres, La
Junta, Colo., is father to a new daughter,
Mary Elizabeth.

DES MOINES

Both Tri-States Theatre Corp. and Cen-
tral States Theatre Corp., which operate
houses in Des Moines, Iowa and adjoining
states, have indicated prices will not be
lowered in their theatres despite the recent
excise tax reduction. A spokesman said “the
industry needs this tax cut to survive ; it
wasn’t requested to benefit specific con-
sumers or to pass on to them.”. . . Some
houses in the state have towered prices,
however. They include the Varsity in Ames;
the Avon in Dysart and the Dows in Dows.
William Guthrie, owner of the Dows thea-
tre, sliced children’s admissions in half — to
10 cents. He said he hoped now that “more
children in the community could enjoy the-
atre entertainment without working a hard-
ship on the parents of the community.”. . .
Frank S. Humphrey, 84, pioneer Mason City
theatreman, is dead. He operated the old
Star theatre in Mason City. It is now the
Band Box. . . . Local 332 of the I.A.T.S.E.
Movie Operators in Clinton, will mark its
40th anniversary with a party Apr. 19. . . .
The Elite theatre at Laurens is being re-
modeled by manager E. H. Luchsinger. . . .
Bob Hutte, manager of the Lyric at Osceola,
has announced his candidacy for the Demo-
cratic nomination for state representative.
Since he is the only candidate, he is certain
to represent his party in the fall elections.

DETROIT

Two reopenings brighten the horizon.
Long-looked for Cinema reopening will be
on Easter Sunday with manager Art Les-
senbie showing his $40,000 refurnishing.
Stage-wide screen and latest sound equip-
ment are top features. . . .The Palmer Park
will also see light again with re-releases.
Sales pitch includes Sunday-through-Tues-
day gift nights for the ladies and free ad-
mission to children under 12. . . . Art Her-
zog was in the 20th Century Pox offices
the past week. . . . United Detroit’s Bir-
mingham will be turned over to the Bir-
mingham Uniformed Firemen’s Association
for a benefit show. Proceeds will be used
by the firemen for family welfare and re-
creation funds. . . . The Detroit Society for
Crippled Children has as its VP, Dave
Idzai, managing director of the Fox. . . .
Harold Pingree is the new booker at Uni-
versal. . . . Henry Carley is out of the Blod-
gett Hospital in Grand Rapids after being
laid up by a hip injury.

HARTFORD

The Connecticut Secretary of State’s of-
fice here reports filing of certificate of in-
corporation by Consolidated Theatres, Inc.,
Stamford. . . . George H. Wilkinson, Jr.,
president of the MPTO of Connecticut, and
owner of the Wilkinson and Strand theatres,
Wallingford, Conn., has sold the Strand
building and land to Wallingford business-
men Charles Thomas and Harold Granucci,
who plan to tear down the structure. . . .
Martin H. Kelleher of the Princess theatre,
Hartford, has been ailing with a broken
shoulder. . . . Joseph Dolgin of the Pine
drive-in, Waterbury, Conn., and Mrs. Dol-
gin have returned to Hartford from New
York. . . . William Horgan, assistant man-
ager at the Stanley Warner Strand, Hart-
ford, has resigned. . . .William Brown,
Manchester, Conn., city manager for Stanley
Warner Theatres, has resigned. He was

with the Loew’s Poli-New England Thea-
tres prior to joining S-W.

INDIANAPOLIS

The Fountain Square, first neighborhood
theatre here to have CinemaScope, will un-
veil it with “The Robe” opening April 16.

. . . Y & W Management Corp. now is oper-
ating the Hi-Way drive-in at Plymouth. . . .
Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are booked
for a one-nighter with their show at the
Butler fieldhouse May 19. . . . Dean Brown,
manager of the Lyric, is dropping his hill-
billy stage show, which has been replacing
the second feature on Sundays only, after
this week. . . . Herman Halberg, 20th Fox
salesman injured in a traffic accident March
24, has returned to work. ... A majority
of state exhibitors have retained most or
all of the tax cut without criticism from
the public, members attending the Allied
board meeting here Tuesday reported. . . .
Howard Rutherford, manager of Loew’s, has
set a scale of 70c-95c for the showing of
“Julius Caesar” Easter week.

JACKSONVILLE

Louis J. Finske, Elorida State Theatres
vice-president, was in Miami conferring
with Harry Botwick, recently shifted from
Jacksonville to supervise the circuit’s Lower
East Coast district. . . . Maurice Shaaber
finally took his 1953 vacation period after
spending many busy months supervising
CinemaScope installations in numerous cities
of Florida for Wil-Kin Theatre Supply. . . .
Buford Styles has added Jean Pettengill to
Universal’s office staff. . . . Allen Armstrong
moved from the management of the Howell
theatre, Palatka, to the San Marco, local
art house. Mabel Leventhal, who success-
fully directed the San Marco’s art policy
for many years, has retired. . . . H. A. “Red”
Tedder left the Victoria theatre. New
Smyrna Beach, to manage the Howell, Pal-
atka. . . . Robert Williamson is the new
manager of the Dade theatre, Miami, re--
placing George West. . . . Lois Guilford is
a new staff member at MGM. . . . H. J.
Wells was in from Kingsland, Ga. ... A
Florida sales tax of three per cent will go
on all theatre admissions beginning May 1.
Before the Federal tax cut, only theatre
admissions above 40 cents were affected.

KANSAS CITY

The First Run Theatre Managers’ Asso-
ciation of Kansas City, inactive for the past
year or so, had a meeting April 5, and
elected Harold Lyon, manager of Paramount
theatre, chairman. No immediate problem
was presented for study. . . .“The Naked
Jungle,” which did extra well at the Para-
mount, was held over two days. The new
bill, which started Sunday, was “Dark City.”

. . .The Leawood drive-in had “Riders to
the Stars,” Wednesday through Saturday,
first run in Kansas City. The drive-in is
near the southwest corner of Kansas City,
Mo. . . .The Lakeside drive-in had this week
three academy-award pictures, two features
“Shane” and “Stalag 17,” and “Bear Coun-
try.” The same bill was at the Avenue,
downtown conventional theatre. . . . An un-
usual run at a neighborhood theatre is that
of “From Here to Eternity” and “Roman
Holiday,” in its third week at the Rockhill.

{Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

LOS ANGELES

In town for a visit were Bob McCracken,
booker, and George Aurilius, manager of the
Arizona Paramount Theatres in Phoenix.
. . . Morris Smith, who operates the Play-
house theatre here, took off for Phoenix to
visit his relatives. . . . Bob Berretta has
been retired with a pension by National
Theatre Supply, after more than twenty
years with the company as a salesman. . . .
John Wolfberg has taken over the opera-
tion of the Newsview theatre in Hollywood
in addition to piloting the Marcal and Im-
perial. . . . Visiting here from Tokio, where
he is a film distributor, was S. Maurice
Livingston. While in Los Angeles he was
the guest of Robert Kronenberg, who has
the Manhattan Films exchange. . . . Joe
Hartman, former salesman for National
Screen, is now sales representative for Walt
Disney Productions in Salt Lake and Den-
ver. . . . Henry Balk, Allied Artists sales-
man, is ill at home. Also on the sick-list
was Henry Herbel, Warner Bros, district
manager, who was bedded with pneumonia.
. . . Harice York, formerly of Warners, is
expecting another blessed event. . . . Co-
franchise holder Charles Kranz, of Realart
Pictures, and his wife, celebrated their 31st
wedding anniversary.

MEMPHIS

Loew’s Palace was doing three times nor-
mal business with MGM’s “Julius Caesar.”
. . . C. N. Sumner, Memphis; S. M. Berry,
Dallas; A. R. Croskey, Charlotte; W. C.
Earle Jr., and H. H. Hoff, St. Louis, were
announced by National Theatre Supply
Company’s district office in Memphis as
winners of trips to New York in a sales
performance contest. Expenses of each sales-
man and his wife were paid by the com-
pany for the holiday. . . . Mrs. M. R. Steiner,
who owns Palace theatre, Tunica, Miss.,
underwent surgery at Baptist Hospital in
Memphis. . . . Ira and Calude May bought
Airway theatre, Little Rock. . . . J. L.
Welsh, owner, has opened his new Star
theatre, El Dorado, Ark. . . . W. G. Pullon
is the new owner of Richmond theatre at
Cardwell, Mo. . . . Sale of Temple theatre
at Eort Smith, Ark., to Tenarken Para-
mount Corporation, which operates a chain
of theatres from Memphis headquarters, is
announced.

MIAMI

Tom Rayfield of the Carib, Miami Beach,
in cooperation with the Miami Beach Jay-
cees and a neighboring golf range, is plan-
ning a gala Easter egg hunt for Easter
Saturday, but cautions kiddies that old golf
balls don’t count. . . . Jimmy Barnett, man-
ager of the Olympia, observed the theatre’s
annual birthday — its 28th — recently, with a
huge birthday cake. City Commissioner
Randall Christmas took part in the gala
ceremonies. . . . Del Russo, star of WTVJ,
was make-up artist for Paramount’s “Stra-
tegic Air Command” starring Jimmy Stew-
art, June Allyson and Frank Lovejoy, while
the group was shooting scenes at Elgin and
McDill Air Eield, near Tampa. . . . Miami
was fleeting host to Stewart Granger, Paul
Douglas and Grace Kelly recently, when
these stars changed to planes for Barran-
quilla, Colombia, where Andrew Marten it
to direct “Green Eire.”

MILWAUKEE

A large and interested number of conven-
tioniers of Wisconsin Allied, attended the
single track 3-D demonstration of Pola-Lite
at the Eox-Strand theatre April 7, during
Wisconsin unit’s state convention. . . . Mrs.
L. V. Bergtold, Westby theatre, Westby,
while attending the convention, revealed that
her son-in-law, Robert Drew, is appearing
on TV in New York over NBC. His wife,
Joann Bergtold, is also active — playing
Snow White in the children’s play in New
York. . . . Richard Kelly, manager of the
Badger theatre, Reedsburg, and owner of
the No. 33 drive-in there, has planted some
2,000 pine trees at his drive-in. He is also
putting up a new attraction board which he
designed himself. . . . Charles Niles, Iowa,
former theatre owner there, came up to at-
tend the convention.

MINNEAPOLIS

Now that admission taxes have been cut,
some exhibitors are looking forward to mak-
ing improvements including reseating. The
rush to install CinemaScope equipment is
just about over, equipment supply houses
say. However, they report that they are still
making some installations of wide screens.
. . . A remodeling job that will eliminate
505 seats is under way at the Century in
preparation for the opening of “This Is
Cinerama” April 19. . . .The new Lake the-
atre at Powers Lake, N. D., operated by a
group of local businessmen, opened April 7.
House is equipped with CinemaScope. . . .
S. J. Backer, operator of the Avon at Han-
kinson, N. D., is recovering from a recent
operation. . . . Harry Weiss, RKO Theatres
district manager, was in Cedar Rapids and
Des Moines, Iowa, Omaha and Kansas City
visiting situations. . . . New assistant shipper
at Warner is W. O. Niska. . . . Minnesota
Amusement Co is asking approximately
$180,000 in a counter-suit against the Twin
City Theatre Co. in a trial now being heard
in Ramsey county district court, St. Paul.

NEW ORLEANS

Theatres closed Saturday, April 11 in ob-
servance of Holy Week were Nabor, Ober-
lin. La. and the Liz, Paincourtville, La.
Both resume operations April 17. . . .The
Utica, Utica, Miss, after several months of
weekend operations only is back on full
week schedule with 3 changes a week, report-
ed owner Prank Glick. . . . The WOMPI’s
garnered a net profit of $278.45 at their
recent benefit dance. The proceeds will go
to the organization’s charitable activities. . . .
A. J. Rosenthal has assumed ownership of
the Joy, Alexandria, La., one of Joy Thea-
tre, circuit’s houses. Rosenthal already owns
and operates the Silver City there and is
associated with Joy N. Houck in Alexandria
drive-ins and the Midway, Opelousas, La.
. . . R. J. Barnes, Atlanta, Ga., associate
owner of Rebel drive-in. Baton Rouge, La.,
notified that his stock in Bayou Theatres,
Inc. is up for sale. The Rebel is the only
one of four drive-ins in that vicinity inside
the city limits.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Calvin Brown is the new manager of the
Sooner theatre here. . . .The Harber the-
atre is now showing “Roman Holiday” with
Academy Award winner Audrey Hepburn,

plus “Stalag 17” with Academy Award win-
ner William Holden on the same program.

. . .The Oklahoma City Council of Churches
observed Holy Week services at the Harber
this week, Monday through Friday. . . .The
Capitol theatre here held Marilyn Monroe
Week last week, showing three of her best
pictures : “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes,”
“Clash By Night” and “Niagara.”. . . Mr.
and Mrs. Glenco Millirons, who have been
managing the Franroy and Alamo theatres
at Snyder, Okla., have taken over the man-
agement of the Florida theatre, Daytona
Beach, Fla.

OMAHA

The first drive-in with CinemaScope in
the Omaha territory is the Airport, opening
April 14. It is owned by J. Robert Hoff,
who this year purchased the nearly com-
pleted layout which was started last year.

. . .The Royal at O’Neill owned by Georgia
Rasley has brought CinemaScope to the
north-central Nebraska territory. . . . Mrs.
Jack Renfro of Theatre Booking Service
went to Kansas City to be with her sister,
who was operated on last week. . . . Para-
mount reported booming business for “Ro-
man Holiday” and “Stalag 17,” which were
held for an extra day at the downtown
Omaha and had 25 bookings in the territory.
“Shane” requests were piling up. . . . Vir-
ginia DeMauro replaced stenographer Betty
Morris at Warners, Ruby Houlihan replaced
contract clerk Marian Pirruccello and Fran-
cis Thomas was added in other changes. . . .
Adolph Rozanek, Crete exhibitor, is a can-
didate for mayor. . . . Jerry Maloney, 20th-
Fox stenographer, announced her engage-
ment to Dan Shannon, a blind date at the
office Christmas party.

PHILADELPHIA

Stanley Warner Theatres reaching the
supermarket shoppers in using a spot an-
nouncement schedule over the supermarket
FM radio system of the Storecast Corpora-
tion here. . . . David Milgram, independent
circuit head, became a grandfather with a
daughter born to his daughter, Mrs. Erwin
Bloom. Also joining the grandfather ranks
are Joe Engel, manager of Screen Guild,
with a daughter born to his daughter, Mrs.
Harold Shapiro, whose husband operates the
Alden ; Benny Glatz, in charge of censor-
ship at MGM, with the birth of a daughter
to Mrs. William Glatz; and Jack Greenberg,
veteran exhibitor. . . . Harry Spiegel, of the
Comerford Theatres advertising department,
was reelected secretary-treasurer of Con-
gregation of B’Nai Israel in Scranton, Pa.
. . . The Crosskeys drive-in, New Oxford,
Pa., is having the buying and booking han-
dled by the Midway Drive-In Corporation.
. . . Stanley Smithers, formerly with the
Stanley Warner Theatres, is now connected
with Tri-States Buying and Booking Ser-
vice, succeeding Abe Franks, returning to
theatre management. . . . Leon Cohen’s Vine
{Continued on following page)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

( Continued from preceding page)
Street Screening Room is now complete with
2-D and 3-0 equipment. . . . Bob Adleman,
son ol i\l_\er Adelman. head of the New
Jersey Messenger, film delivery service, and
Marjory Lincoln, were married in the city
last week.

PITTSBURGH

Columbia I’ictures set a new record in
mass saturation bookings by liooking “The
Mad Magician” in 2-D and “Massacre
Canyon” into 125 local and district theatres
first run. . . . Loew’s Penn which had set
“Tennessee Champ" as the picture to run
with its Easter stage show, and then
switched to “Rhapsody” has changed its
mind again, booking “Tennessee Champ,”
definitely this time. . . . "Night People” has
replaced “New Faces” as the Easter Cine-
maScope booking in the h'ulton. . . . “Cease
Fire” has been set for the Ritz following
the run of “Julius Caesar." . . . The re-issues
of “Shane” and “Roman Holiday,” Academy
Award nominees are cleaning up in the
neighborhood spots. . . . “The Living
Desert” heading for new Squirrel Hill
records with the second week practically
matching the first week’s huge receipts. . . .
The Harris has been advertising “The Caine
Mutiny” for months now in its lobby de-
spite the fact that the Columbia Picture
won’t go into release until some time in
August.

PROVIDENCE

E. M. Loew’s drive-in, at the Providence-
Pawtucket city line, was the last of the open-
air theatres in this section to inaugurate the
1954 season. To get off to a l)lazing start,
the North iMain street ozoner presented a
special stage attraction, along with “Hon-
do,” and “Tarzan And The Slave Girl.” . . .
The Palace, Washington Park neighbor-
hood house, recently presented an ‘All-Elec-
tric Cooking School,’ in conjunction with
its regular film fare. . . . The Glenn Miller
Story” held for a fourth week at the RKO
Albee. . . . Robert F. Aiken has been pro-
moted to Chief-Of-Service at the Albee. . . .
“Jubilee Trail” opened auspiciously at the
Strand. . . . The Avon Cinema, East Side
art house, presented the Rhode Island
premiere of “The Great Gilbert and Sulli-
van.”

TORONTO

1 he Canadian regional meeting of the
International Popcorn Association, in its
third annual session of its kind in this coun-
try, has been scheduled for May 28 in the
King Edward Hotel, Toronto. Jack Fitzgib-
bons of Theatre Confections Ltd. is Inter-
national president, and he and Syd Spiegel
of Su{)er Pufft Popcorn Ltd., Toronto, a
member of the International board, will act
as co-chairmen. . . . Paramount and MGM
taxation experts were here talking over tax
prol)lems with local film executives at a
luncheon. British Columbia’s desire to apply
a sales tax to movie money has them wor-
ried. . . . Peter S. Myers, general manager
of Twentieth Century-Fox Corp. Ltd., of
Canada, was elected president of the Cana-
dian Motion Picture Distributors Associa-
tion. He succeeded Frank H. Fisher, general
manager of J. Arthur Rank Distributors
(Canada) Ltd. Vice-president is Charles S.
Chaplin, United Artists, and Clare J. Appel
remains executive secretary.

VANCOUVER

400 Southlands ratepayers protested a
proposed, drive-in theatre on Musqueam In-
flian Reserve on Marine Drive West of
Camosun in the exclusive University district
and within the Vancouver city limits, al-
though on Federal government property. . . .
Bill Forward, manager of General Theatre
Supply Co., has left Vancouver General
Hospital following surgery. . . . Mike Stev-
enson, office manager of Paramount, who
was reported moving over to Famous Player
district office as Lou Karp’s assistant, is
staying with the film company. No succes-
sor to Karp has been named to date. . . .
Mary Bossio, International-Cinema cashier,
hospitalized for a mastoid operation.

WASHINGTON

Sidney Cooper is the new branch manager
at United Artists, replacing Arthur H. Levy.

. . . 2()th Century Fox booker, Sara S.
Young, went to Boston over the April 10
weekend to visit her father, who is ailing.

. . . Air. and Airs. Sidney Lust were again
hosts at a luncheon April 13 in honor of the
opening baseball game at Griffith Stadium.
This is the 17th year they have had these
luncheons for several hundred Washington-
ians. . . . Alarjorie Dawson, associate direc-
tor, community relations dept., Alotion Pic-
ture Association of America, was one of the
speakers at the Alotion Picture and Televi-
sion Council of the District of Columbia
meeting on April 9. . . . Hirsh de La Viez,
chairman of the Variety Club’s Entertain-
ment Committee, has arranged a series of
twice-monthly variety shows at Walter Reed
Hospital. . . . J. Edward Fontaine, salesman
at United Artists, and one of the eleven
original founders of the Variety Club in
Pittsburgh, w'as honored April 9.

Legion Approves Six of
Seven New Productions

The National Legion of Decency this
week reviewed seven films, putting four in
Class A, Section 1. morally unobjectionable
for general patronage; two in Class A,
Section H, morally unobjectionable for
adults, and one in (Tlass B, morally objec-
tionable in part for all. In Section I are
“Lucky Ale,” “Alan - With a Alillion,”
“Prince AMliant” and “A Queen’s World
Tour.” In Section H are “A'ellow Toma-
hawk” and “Diary of a Country Priest.”
In connection with the latter, the Legion
notes that “this film presents certain con-
cepts of Catholic theology and clerical life
which in the light of traditional teaching
and practice can be misleading to the un-
informed.” In Class B is “Playgirl,” because
it has “suggestive costuming and dialogue;
reflects the acceptability of divorce.”

In a separate release, the Legion placed
“Carnival Story,” produced by the King
Brothers and released by RKO, in Class B
because: “This film while not deemed as
wholly condemnable contains substantially
material that seriously offends Christian and
traditional standards of morality and de-
cency. Despite earnest efforts of this office
to effect an elimination or a lessening of
the moral off'ensiveness the producer refused
cooperation and has retained in the picture
various scenes of gross suggestiveness in
situations, costume and dialogue.”

FP Canadian
Year JVei Ms
$3.61U005

TORONTO : The amount earned per share
of Famous Players Guardian Corp. stock is
up eight cents to $2.08, and the net profit is
up slightly as compared with 1952, accord-
ing to the annual report of the company,
issued this week.

John J. Fitzgibbons, president and man-
aging director, points out in a statement to
the stockholders, “On a comparable basis,
gross bo.x office receipts were higher than
in the previous year. The increase in re-
ceipts. however, was more than offset by an
increase in film rental for advanced admis-
sioii price pictures, wages and operating ex-
penses, the net effect being a slight decrease
in operating profits as compared with the
previous year.”

Assets Increase

The statement shows consolidated net
profits of $3,611,005 for 1953 as compared
with $3,480,126 for 1952. The profit before
income taxes this year was $6,468,261 as
compared with $6,605,823 in 1952. Dis-
cussing the financial position of the com-
pany, Air. Fitzgibbons notes at the year end,
the net current assets, which include $8,671,-
000 in cash, securities and call loans,
amounted to $9,474,238, an improvement
during the year of $1,279,143.

During the year, the company paid four
quarterly dividends of 35 cents each and an
extra of 20 cents on its common shares.
And “in view of the excellent financial posi-
tion” and “the expectation of continued
good business over the foreseeable future,”
common shares will draw a quarterly divi-
dend of 37j4 cents commencing with the
first quarter of 1954.

Air. Fitzgibbons announces the formation
of Remington Air Conditioning Co. (Can-
ada), Ltd., for the marketing and servicing
of Remington air conditioners for homes
and offices. This is a subsidiary of Gen-
eral Theatre Supply Co., Ltd.

Expands Drive-in Interest

Famous Players is continuing to expand
its interests in drive-in theatres and at the
present time, either alone or in association
with others, has new drive-in theatres under
way in Dartmouth, N. S., Charlottetown,
P. E. L, Campbellton, N. B., and an addi-
tional one to serve the Toronto area.

The quality of the product shown in
Famous Players theatres was said to have
improved during the past year, according
to Air. Fitzgibbons, and “the schedules of
the producers of motion pictures in the
United States, England and Europe indi-
cate that all of them are making a serious
effort to maintain and improve that quality.”

Famous Players has a 50 per cent inter-
est in two TV stations, one under construc-
tion in Quebec City, and the other at Kitch-
ener, now in operation.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

j^eopie in ^Le ^ews

Hits 3€ajors
On Shortage
Of Prints

NEJf ORLEANS : Some of the major dis-
tributors “are guilty of creating illegal
clearances and calling it print-shortage,”
Abe Berenson, independent theatre operator
and president of Allied Theatre Owners of
Gulf States, charged here last week.

Mr. Berenson complained the companies
are cutting down on prints and juggling
them for choice accounts. He cited several
examples of exhibitors waiting for clerance,
and then being told that the prints have
been pulled back because of the shortage.
He declared that as a result, exhibitors have
been forced to play second run and reissues
to keep their houses open. He maintained
that if someone added up all the costs of
pulling prints back and forth, long-distance
phone calls, and wires, it would prove wiser
and economical for the distributors to have
more prints available.

Mr. Berenson said he favored “all new
techniques” but added that he felt "stereo-
phonic sound added nothing to the pictures
in small houses.” He asserted that “to
deny pictures to theatres that can’t afford
the installation of stereophonic sound is to
create a false shortage of product. He hit
the “hard-headed policy of Spyros Skouras.”

Mr. Berenson also voiced disagreement
with the recent remarks of Samuel Goldwyn
to the effect that the public should be will-
ing to pay advanced admissions for pre-
mium pictures.

Declared Mr. Berenson : “The public is
subjected to enough pictures they don't en-
joy so that when a good one comes along
they ought to see it ■at the same price.” He
said that is the showmanship that brings
them back.

Pola-Lite in Deal for 3-D
In Britain, Canada

The Pola-Lite Co., manufacturers of 3-D
glasses and the new single-track projection
system, has concluded negotiations for the
manufacture and distribution of the Pola-
Lite 3-D System in both the United King-
dom and Canada, A1 O’Keefe, vice-presi-
dent in charge of Pola-Lite distribution,
has announced.

G. B. Kalee, Ltd., a subsidiary of the
J. Arthur Rank Organization, will manu-
facture the single-track 3-D units for dis-
tribution throughout the United Kingdom
and British possessions, Europe, Latin and
South America, In Canada, Pola-Lite 3-D
projection equipment will be distributed by
General Theatres, a division of Famous
Players Canadian Corp.

The system will be installed in theatres, for
15 additional playdates on U-I’s “The Crea-
ture from the Black Lagoon,” Mr. O’Keefe
announced. All playdates are scheduled be-
fore the end of April. They follow similar
engagements in a number of cities.

Robert Weesner has been named vice-presi-
dent and general manager of Wayne-Fel-
lows Productions, Inc.

M.\jor Leslie E. Thompson was tendered
a luncheon at “21” in New York Thurs-
day hy his RKO Theatres’ associates.
He leaves the company this week.

Irving Mendelson has heen promoted to
branch manager of United Artists’ New
Haven exchange, moving up from city
salesman in the Boston exchange.

Norman Freeman has joined Sol Lesser
Productions, Inc. as vice-president and
general manager. He was associated with
Lesser temporarily during 1953.

A. M. Ellis, head of A. M. Ellis Theatres,
has established the A. M. Ellis chair of,
Hebrew and Semitic Languages at the
University of Pennsylvania.

Name Pictures Unit for
Cardinal's Committee

Officers and members of a committee on
motion pictures of the Cardinal’s Committee
of the Laity in the 1954 Appeal of New
York Catholic Charities have been an-
nounced by John A. Coleman, executive
chairman. John S. Burke is chairman of
the Cardinal’s Committee, which seeks funds
for the support of the welfare programs of
New' York Catholic Charities. The goal of
the 1954 Appeal is $2,515,000 of which the
Cardinal’s Committee has accepted a quota
of $1,000,000.

John J. O’Connor is chairman of the mo-
tion pictures committee, with L. Douglas
Netter, Jr., as vice-chairman.

The membership of the committee is: Frank
J. Alford, Charles A. Alicoate, John W. Ali-
enate, William E. Barry, Frank E. Cahill, Jr.,
Francis X. Carroll, Patrick Casey, Thomas J.
Connors, Robert W. Coyne, Thomas Crehan,
William Cronin, John Dervin. Also: Russell
V. Downing, A1 Uuryea, Joseph Eagan, S. H.
Fabian, James M. Franey, William J. German,
Joseph M. Geoghan, Edmund C. Grainger,
James R. Grainger, William J. Heineman, Wal-
ter F. J. Higgins. Also: William W. Howard,
John Hughes, John J. Kane, Sherwin Kane,
Austin C. Keough, Frank J. Kiernan, Fred
Lynch, Thomas J. Martin, Paul C. Mooney, Sr.,
Peter J. Mooney, James Mulvey, John F. Mur-
phy, Joseph A. McConville, Joseph E. Mc-
Mahon, William J. MeShea, Paul D. O’Brien,
Robert H. O’Brien, Thomas F. O’Connor,
Charles L. O’Reilly, Edward K. O’Shea, Martin
Quigley, Charles M. Reagan, Phil Reisman,
Herman Robbins, George J. Schaefer, C. J.
Scollard, George Skouras, Spyros Skouras,
Edwin J. Smith, Jr., Nick Tronolone, Frank C.
Walker, Richard 1'. Walsh and William A.
White.

Redstone Plans Drive-in

BOSTON : Michael Redstone, president of
Redstone Drive-in Theatres, has announced
plans for a new drive-in in Fairfax County,
Arlington, Va., for 900 cars.

Herbert L. Golden, a memher of the
Amusement Industries group of Bankers
Trust Co. since 1952, has been elected an
assistant vice-president of the liank.

Herb Steinberg, national exploitation di-
rector of Paramount Pictures Corp., will
speak at a luncheon meeting of the New
York chapter of the American Publica-
tions Association Tuesday April 20, at the
Vanderhilt Hotel in New York.

Mrs. Archibald Silverman, wife of the
managing director of the Strand Realty
Co., Providence, was recently named
“Rhode Island Mother of the Year.”

Leo.n j. B.vmberger, of the RKO Pictures
sales department, has been elected to
membership on the Commission on Mass
Communications of the National Confer-
ence of Christians and Jews.

Building of
Theatres Up
In Canada

TORONTO : Although this year will see
the operation of a number of TV stations
in this country, 17 to be exact, construction
of 35mm auditorium theatres continues
apace, with the score in 1954 closely match-
ing that of last year, when there were 52
constructed. Thus far, this year, 10 houses
have been opened where there are also 19
under construction.

There were 61 constructed and opened in
1951 : it would seem the number of theatres
to he constructed is on the decline. Of
course, there is another side to the picture,
for there were 78 drive-ins opened in 1953,
and indications are, according to a survey by
the “Canadian Film Weekly,” that another
score will he added when this season opens.

Most of this country’s new theatres are in
small towns, with comparatively few in
cities. Canada’s expansion has been nation-
wide and many a community which had no
theatre but relied on the next town or a
16mm itinerant exhibitor grew large enough
to support a 35mm house. Some communities
which had one now have two.

A contrasting picture is offered in the
cities where theatres continue to close under
the onslaught of TV and the advance of new
techniques to be used only in the larger
houses. In Toronto, six of the neighborhoods
have closed this year so far and there were
several last year. Indications are that there
have been 20 closed since the start of 1953,
some of which are in small towns and most
of which are in non-TV areas.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

.^1

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box number and address. Minimum insertion $1.50. Four
insertions tor the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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)

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

USED EQUIPMENT

PROJECTORS BY DeVRY REBUILT LIKE NEW
by S. O. S. from $895. Send for bulletin. Time deals
available. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W.
52nd St., New York 19.

WANTED 750 SPEAKERS, SELLING MALTI-
multimlxer, hot -dog machines, 14" aluminum let-
ters, screen frame. BOX 2783, MOTION PICTURE
HERALD.

BIG SAVINGS ON BIG SCREENS AT STAR!
Write us! RCA rotary stabilizer Soundheads, rebuilt,
$395 pair; DeVry XDC Projectors, heavy bases,
Suprex Liimphouses, Rectifiers, rebuilt, $1495 pair;
pair Strong Ikw. Lamphouses and Rectifiers, excel-
lent condition, $425; Ashcraft 70 ampere Lamphouses,
rebuilt, $489.50 pair; Motiograph Mirrophonic Sound
System, dual amplifier, latest type, rebuilt, $1150.
What do you need? ST.\R CINEMA SUPPLY, 447
West 52nd St., New York 19.

NEW EQUIPMENT

SAVE ON H. I. CARBONS 1 9, 10, 11mm MOTOR-
ized Carbon Savers for angle trim arc lamps (Mighty
90, etc.), $59.50. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP.,
602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

BIGGER, BETTER PICTURE IS YOURS WITH
Mirro-Claric all purpose Screen, only $1 sq. ft.
Seams absolutely invisible! Kollmorgen wide angle
lenses, special apertures; immediately available!
S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.,
New York 19.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CX>..
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-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 B(X>K-
SHOP, 1270 Sixth Ave., New York 20, N. Y.

RTCTHARDSON’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 PKTTURE 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.

THEATRES

MODERN 600 SEAT IN VIRGINIA— ONLY THEA-
tre — absentee ownership — sacrifice — excellent proposi-
tion- BOX 2784, MOTION PICTLTKE HERALD.

POSITIONS WANTED

RETIRED MARINE MASTER SERGEANT DE-
sires position or working partnership in conventional
or drive-in theatre in California. Has 15 years experi-
ence in all phases of theatre operations. Write E. M.
BAIER, 1902 South Tremont St., Oceanside, Cal.

SECRETARY, VERY RAPID SKILLS. EXPERI-
enced film, TV, splendid background, highest refer-
ences. BOX 2785, MOTION PKTTURE HERALD.

SEATING

VALUE UNSURPASSED! 500 FULL UPHOL-
stered back, box-spring cushion, excellent condition,
only $4.95. Many more. Send for chair bulletin.
S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St..
New York 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

PRICES START AT $1595. COMPLETE DeVRY,
Simplex, Century outfits rebuilt like new. (Send for
lists.) Time deals arranged. Wide angle Lenses.
Immediately available. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY
CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.. New York 19.

HELP WANTED

WEST COAST CIRCUIT LOOKING FOR
aggressive, imaginative dynamic advertising and pro-
motional specialist. Opportuiiity for right party to
progress with rapidly expanding part^ of the country.
Send the details of your qualifications, experience,
age, marital and family status, etc., in a letter to
BOX 2780, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

CONVENTIONAL AND DRIVE-IN THEATRE
managers wanted by West Coast Independent Circuit.
Immediate openings, with ample opportunities for
advancement, in permanent positions. Send descrip-
tion of past experience, age, farnily status, with sum-
mary of accomplishments and abilities, and photograph
to MOTION PICTURE HERALD, BOX 2782. All
replies confidential.

Or. Lumiere
Oies at 92

PARIS: Dr. August Lumiere, 92, distin-
tinguished French scientist and, with his
late brother Louis, one of the pioneers in the
development of the motion picture camera,
died April 10 at his home in Lyon.

Although known throughout the world
for his activities in the motion picture field.
Dr. Lumiere also w'as highly respected as
a physician, physicist, chemist and botanist.
He was a member of the French Medical
Academy and conducted considerable re-
search on tuberculosis, cancer and X-ray
techniques and developed many new phar-
maceuticals. He was born in Besancon in
1862, the son of pioneer photographer An-
toine Lumiere.

Dr. Lumiere, with his brother, for many
years has been the center of the controversy
centering around the inventor of the motion
picture camera. The Lumiere brothers first

showed kinetoscope publicly in 1895 and re-
ceived a French patent in February, 1895.
Thomas A. Edison, however, had taken out
a patent on such a device in 1891.

In “A Million and One Nights,” Terry
Ramsaye, consulting editor of Quigley Pub-
lications, states that Mr, Edison was project-
ing motion pictures as early as 1888 and
1889. After quoting a letter written to him
in 1924 by the late Mr. Edison, Mr. Ram-
saye writes : “It is thus certain that the Edi-
son plant had some sort of projection inside
of the six years before the motion picture
went on the screen for the public. . . . The
date of the Edison projection, as between
1889 and 1891, does not matter. It was the
first in the world anyway, no matter how
imperfect or unsatisfactory it may have
been.”

Jack Delmar

Jack Delmar, 78, industry pioneer, died
March 28 in Philadelphia. He had been
manager of the Park and Jefferson and
also a booker for the Stanley Booking Co.
A son and two daughters survive.

Atlas Corporation Reports
$8,487,813 Net for 1953

The Atlas Corporation, which holds secur-
ities of P.aramount Pictures, RKO Pictures,
RKO Theatres and Walt Disney Produc-
tions in its portfolio, earned a net profit of
$8,487,813 or approximately $5.40 a share,
for the year ended December 31, 1953, Floyd
B. Odium, president, announced in New
York last week in the company’s annual re-
port. Dec. 31 asset value was $37.82 per
share. The year-end asset value compares
with $39.38 per share at the end of 1952.
Atlas holds 25,000 shares of Paramount,
76,000 shares of RKO Pictures, 10,000
shares of RKO Theatres and 101,000 shares
of Walt Disney Productions.

Fred W. Newcomb

Fred W. Newcomb, secretary-treasurer
of District No. 3, lATSE, died at his home
in Providence, R. L, April 7. He was sec-
retary for many years of Stage Employees,
Local 23, and the lATSE Resolutions Com-
mittee.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17. 1954

An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks^ Director

7he ^heatte tf/laHa^ef HaA

VISITING with one small town theatre
manager in particular, recently, and
calling on some others while on vaca-
tion, we were impressed by the number of
visitors and friendly callers that the man-
ager has, when he is installed in a typical
small community. Not that we didn’t know
this from experience — but it was refreshing
to discover that this qualification of small
town life hasn’t changed in forty years or
so, across the country.

In the first place, your typical small town
theatre manager knows everybody in his
own community, and everybody knows him.
In the town we refer to, there’s no postal
delivery, so everybody goes to the Post
Office for their mail, several times a day.
It’s a routine that makes life more interest-
ing, and there’s a lot of personal pleasure
and profit in it. And when our friend ap-
peared on Main Street for his mail, he was
greeted by so many first name callers — it
was like a Round Table meeting.

And then there are the visitors from out of
town. First of all, the film salesmen. There
must be an average of one every day, half-
a-dozen a week, and sometimes they come in
pairs. Nice guys, too, full of good humor
and good ideas. Selling films, of course —
and sometimes they play their customers
against each other — but that’s a human
characteristic. We think this industry would
have been more kind to some who are in it,
if they had decided long years ago to ap-
preciate film salesmen.

One day, there came another kind of
film salesman that we hadn’t seen before.
He was selling screen advertising, for the
theatre, and for his national screen adver-
tising service. He made the calls on the
local prospects, obtained the signed con-
tracts, made up the advertising trailers on
special order, and then sat down in the man-
ager’s office to settle up, paying cash for the
screen time he has been selling locally. It’s
like finding money, for the small town thea-
tre man to have a salesman on Main Street.
And there was the man who replenished the
soft drink machine, putting in the syrup and
cups, emptied the cash box and divided the
take with the manager, who had nothing to

3,000,000 NEW FAMILIES

The Census Bureau reports this week that
from March, 1950, to April, 1953, the num-
ber of households in the United States in-
creased by about 3,000,000 units, indicat-
ing that family life is becoming more
popular or that there are just that many
more of us. The Bureau officially declares
that the rapid growth is due primarily to
high marriage rates and lower age limits for
those establishing families of their own.
And that fewer older persons now have
relatives sharing their homes.

Theatre managers recognize in this sta-
tistical information the fact that they have
more customers — of the kind that have al-
ways been our mainstay. It is the family
trade that makes movies the world's best
entertainment, and that's why we fight to
keep it that way, by means of the Produc-
tion Code within our industry, and restraints
to prevent greedy persons found capitaliz-
ing Mother and her family circle.

Also, it is our greatest loss, for here is
where the loss really counts. Much has been
said about 6,000 theatres having been
closed in ten years, but actually, an equiva-
lent number of outmoded and worn-out
theatres have been replaced in any ten year
period of our industry history, except in
war time. Let's be realistic, and realize that
the audience has been growing, while we've
been falling behind. And it isn't altogether
the excise tax, nor television, nor any out-
side force that hurts us most. It's the fact
that management wears out, too.

do but accept his share, while the visitor did
all the work.

There aren’t enough home office field men
to visit all the theatres in the country, to
perform miracles of showmanship with all
the pressure and practice that they can put
into it, but we do know that some key-city
advertising and publicity directors for im-
portant circuits have almost as many visitors
as they do in small towns.

q EVAN THOMPSON, manager of
Skouras’ Fox theatre, Hackensack, N. J.,
dropped in with good news — something
we’ve never known ’till now. He says that
Spyros Skouras, Jr., president of the
Skouras Theatres Corporation in New
York, has given $25 savings bonds to each
of fourteen managers who were listed re-
cently as Quigley Awards contenders. That’s
really good news, and much appreciated at
this Round Table meeting, as encourage-
ment for showmen. Skouras has closed two
theatres, both of them old houses where
leaseholds were expiring — and this is also
news, both of the managers are retained on
payroll, to act as relief managers until they
can be restored to houses of their own.
Things are surely different than in the old,
old days. And it must be new management
ideas, in this year of CinemaScope, 1954.

^ ARMOUR’S “sales tested’’ intermis-
sion short films, which are advertised in
Better Refreshment Merchandising, are
good business for drive-in theatre man-
agers. Our old friend “Doc” Cook reports
from Maryville, Missouri, that he has been
using these one minute films since last June,
and business jumped 25% from the first day
that he put them on the screen. The series
of trailers can be had for the asking from
Armour and Company — all you have to do
is prepay the return postage when you’ve
had the free use of each one.

Such advertising films would materially
help refreshment business, if used with dis-
cretion on the part of the theatre manager.
And the better the manager, the greater the
discretion. But intermission time at a drive-
in theatre is the pause that refreshes, to
quote a famous slogan, made popular around
the world by Coca-Cola. It’s the signal to
get out of the car and relax for a few
minutes, and refresh yourself with food and
drink and candy, and friendly greetings.
These trailers will sell theatre merchandise,
at the point where advertising counts the
most — the point of sale.

— Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION. APRIL 17, 1954

CHARLIE DOCTOR, manager
of the Capitol theatre, in Van-
couver, held a nev/spaper contest
to pick a youngster who would be
manager for a day, with privileges.
Above, you see the winner with
Charlie, and she is demonstrating
the duties of a theatre manager,
answering two phones at once,
signing passes and looking at auto-
graphed photos of movie stars. In
the other pictures, she fills in for
the staff — with the projectionist,
the doorman, the cashier — con-
ducting their business tor them,
and of course she really shines at
the candy counter.

^JManager^ Takes
Oeer""F or a Day

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 17, 1954

SHOWMEN IN ACTION

3Man ”
fVinners A.s
Con tenders

Roberta Daniel, director of advertising
and publicity for Republic Rictures Inter-
national Corporation, has submitted for
their contenders in an overseas competition
on “The Quiet Man” all the winning cam-
paigns, which are now in turn entered for
the Quigley Awards in the first quarter of
1954, and have been so notified. We con-
sider it a cooperative benefit for showman-
ship and the good film represented, to wel-
come as new members to the Round Table
the good showmen who have created these
fine campaigns around the world.

Winners announced by Republic Inter-
national president Richard W. Altschuler,
are Mrs. Celia B. Triscuizzi, publicity di-
rector for Republic Pictures in Brazil; and
Henning Nowack, of the International Pic-
tures, Ltd. of Denmark. The completed
campaigns will be seen among a group of
overseas entries by the Quigley Awards
judges for the first (|uarter, sitting in New
N'ork on April 23rd. The entries in the
Republic contest are far-llung, and include
the top elfort in many countries, who were
allowed a period of fourteen months in
which to permit the John Ford picture to
play their territories.

The display of initiative and ex])loitation
“know how” reflected in these line cam-
paigns from the four corners of the earth
will be impressive as a stimulant to show-
manship both here and abroad. And we
are glad to have the exhibit to prompt
domestic sliowmen in the coinbction that
the overseas effort sttinds high in compari-
son, and give them both incentive and a
challenge to meet or match these high
stamlards.

John Di llenedctto, manager of Loew’s
I’oli theatre, V\’orcester, klass., Irnl a front-
I age story with a big ]);cture, and a head-
line reading “Movie .Stunt Makes 3 People
1 iapj)y” when he arranged for the Rev.
W. S. Smith, cliaplain of Rutland V'eterans
.Vdministration, to talk with his nephew in
Luxemburg, as a promotion for “Act of
Love.” 'Ihird partv must have been the
theatre manager.

▼

Leo X. Mickey, manager of the Victor
theatre, McKeesport. I’a., sends a sample of
a “costless herald” — done with an oversized
pressbook mat, and the sponsorship of a
local merchant, which had door-to-door dis-
tribution, and did well for both parties.

Ed Lord, playing “Jubilee Trail” at the
Lord theatre, Norwich, Conn., took cogni-
zance of the fact that the Republic picture
was the only current popular price film in
downtown Norwich, with all other first-runs
playing at advanced prices.

Merl F. Halford gave away another
12,000 sticks of Beech-Nut gum, and used
special handling for both “Take to High
Ground” and “From Here to Eternity” at
the Martin theatres in Thompson, Georgia.

▼

Matt Saumlers had fine window displays
for “The Glenn Miller Story” — such good
ones and so numerous that we could easily
run a section of pages to illustrate the
coverage.

Jack Fink, manager of the Park theatre,
Tampa, Florida, had a military street bally-
hoo complete with tank and drum-majorette
to lead the band, for the run of “Beach
Head.”

Harry Rose, division manager for Loew’s
theatres in Bridgeport, found Mrs. Alice
Odice in tiie audience for “Night People” —
when she discovered her brother, an Army
sergeant whom she hasn’t seen in 12 years,
on the screen with Gregory Peck, in scenes
photographed in Munich, Germany. It all
resulted in a nc^\•s stoiw- with art, in the
Bridgeport papers.

T ■

A1 Franke, publicist for First National
Theatres in Yakima, Wash., had wonderful
'-jronsorship through local tieups for “Long
Long Trailer” which enjoyed a long, long
rim at the Cajjitol theatre. Angelus trailers.
Mercury dealers and Phillip Morris cigar-
ettes cooperated with presshook suggestions.

Murray kleinberg, manager of the Inter-
boro Main Street theatre in Flushing, re-
ports Easter promotions, in which he sold
out the Saturday morning show-" on March
27th to a local supermarket, and he is set-
ting up a Youth Center idea with other
sponsers.

Ray McNamara, manager of the Allyn
theatre, Hartford, had Trumbell Street,
|)roniinent thoroughfare, renamed “Jubilee
Trail” for the premiere of the Republic
(licture.

Frank McQueeney, manager of the Pine
Drive-In, Waterbury, puts his refreshment
counter on a par with the finest sound, the
biggest picture, the most modern drive-in in
Connecticut.

▼

Ernie Emcrling is sending out stock cer-
tificates in the mythical Tredway Corpora-
tion of MiHliurgh, Pa., ])ivotal company in
MGM's “Executive Suite” — to gentlemen
of the press, making them shareholders in
the enter])rise, with dividends exjjected — in
luiblicity for the picture.

l.ou Cohen and Norm Levinson, Loew’s
Poli theatre, Hartford, screen “Julius
Caeser” for an invited audience of educators,
press and radio commentators, and other
oinnion makers, at the Bushnell Memorial
Auditorium, thus catching- them on their own
[iremises, for audience comments ;ind quotes.

This is a funny fake, and there's a story behind if. When "Julius Caesar" was booked
info Anchorage, Alaska, recently, the MGM field men immediately imagined customers
coming to the theatre in dog sleds. So, they conjured up this exploitation — only the dog
team was brought in by truck, as there is very little snow in Anchorage. Finally, they
found Eskimos to pose for the picture. The sight of Eskimos and a dog sled on
Fourth Avenue attracted an immense crowd, and so they had standing room only for
"Julius Caesar." Anything else you'd like to know? There was more snow in Buffalo and
Rochester for the "Julius Caesar" premieres than there was in Alaska!

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 17, 1954

"VALIANT" INTRODUCES NEW
MOVIE MERCHANDISE LINE

The action 24-sheet for "Prince Valiant" which sells the juveniles on the idea of King
Arthur and His Knights, and below a view of the Round Table which appears in the pic-
ture. We'd like to have one like it for our meetings. The opening above is where you
come in, as a showman.

“Prince Valiant” — 20th Century-Fox
Easter release in CinemaScope — l)rings
something new to the crowded field of
accessory merchandise, manufactured and
sold by licensees in conjunction with films.
For a long time we’ve been hoping that
something would come along to take the
place of the typical cowboy accessories that
have grown up with the movies and have
now gone over to television, with nothing
new or different to replace this interest. The
western accessories have outlived their use-
fulness to motion pictures.

Swords For Six-Guns

The new CinemaScope film, following
“Ivanhoe” and MGM’s “Knights of the
Round Table,” now offers the first supply
of accessories based on “knighthood” — be-
ginning with a jeweled sword, scabbard and
shield, attractively boxed and available at
retail at a package price of $3.00 per set,
with 40% off to theatres, which makes the
wholesale cost $1.80 per set. It could be the
start of many local promotions — and there
will be other films in the “Prince Valiant”
series, and more pictures in the class with
“Ivanhoe” and “Knights of the Round
Table” which had no accessories. “Prince
Valiant” is based on the King Features
Syndicate color cartoon, appearing Sun-
days in the comic section of many news-
papers, and it will build rapidly in juvenile
interest because they can read the story and
understand it. Fifty years ago, before west-
erns, youngsters of another generation did
just that, and it was a source of delight to
many boys and girls.

Twenty New Products

The syndicate has licensed twenty manu-
facturers to develop things which have the
colorful appeal of “King Arthur and His
Knights,” including many costume devices,
jewelry, games, crossl)Ows, armor play suits,
archery sets, puzzles and puppets, all in the
character of “Prince Valiant” — and there
are many books, school tieups and educa-
tional materials, for you must remember that
the followers of King Arthur are good chil-
dren, with high ideals, and their study of
“Prince Valiant” and the Round Table is

based substantially in history and legend,
dating back five hundred years. Maybe
we’ve had too many westerns and too many
space-ships, so it will be better to go back
a ways for our juvenile audience appeal.
It’s always been a question whether the
movies supported the merchandise or vice
versa.

Newspaper support for the new feature
comes without urging, for many papers al-
ready carry the comic page and more will
have it, as the film takes hold. The age
limits are broad, from the small-fry into the
teens, and one exploitation idea suggested in
the pressbook is a “Date With a Prince”
contest which is an ideal disc-jockey tieup.
Robert Wagner, in the role of “Prince
Valiant” is a popular lad, and his Viking-
costume and make-up can be copied readily
in various promotions. Take advantage of
the newspapers’ open door policy and try

for sponsorship in ways that the local paper
can share with you and with cooperative ad-
vertisers for a three-way benefit. News-
paper carriers, being usually in this age
bracket, will go for “Prince Valiant” stunts.

Managers should make a special effort to
place the publicity mats and layouts which
are found in the pressbook with friendly
newspapers, for the mutual advantage that
will follow. There are good magazine-type
stories and many illustrations to show off
the Age of Chivalry as it existed in the 15th
Century. History won’t be dry nor dull
when the young Knights get the full under-
standing of these adventures, which outdo
all the westerns in movie history. Some
cowboy stars, notably Roy Rogers, have
made much of the character-building “cow-
boy’s prayer” which opens his Riders Club
sessions. Your youngsters will find all this
{Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 17. 1954

Setting Appraaeh

’’PRINCE VALIANT"

[Continwd from opposite page)

aiul more in the stories of "When Knight-
hood Was in Flower.”

In addition to the advance promotion
which King Features Syndicate has given
"Prince Valiant” with 1200 newspapers,
there has l)een a strong interest developed
with tlie 51st Annual Toy Fair, held in New
York in March, which attracted 12,000 buy-
ers who will stock "Prince Valiant” mer-
chandise for the Fall season. 20th Century-
Fox are going deeply into radio and TV
advertising on a spot basis, in line with
their policy for direct approach in line with
playdates, and this will follow especially
with stations that are jointly owned by local
newspapers. The magazines, with some-
thing new to picture for their readers, have
gone all out to illustrate the Knights of the
Round Table in action, and it makes action
— the kind of moving pictures that draw the
kids. Parents’ Magasiine gives the picture
its coveted Gold Medal Award, while Red-
hook, Seventeen, Family Weekly and other
magazines reaching the youngsters and
young adults, have named the film as their
picture of the month.

The picture opens Easter Sunday in more
than 250 theatres, in 36 states. A recorded
radio interview with Robert Wagner and
Debra Paget will be heard over more than
240 stations, across the country, on April
18th, introducing “Prince Valiant” to the
listening public. — JV. B.

ACT OF LOVE — United Artists. Not since
'The Big Parade” and "A Farewell To
Arms” has the screen been so bold! An
adult picture, tor adults who know what
the war years did to love — and romance.
Every generation has its own 'Greatest
Love Story' — this is ours. Filmed amid all
the magic and mystery of Paris, by Ana-
tole Litvak. The posters, including the 24
sheet, have made-to-order cut-out art ma-
terials for lobby and marquee display. The
herald, strongly suggestive of the plot,
keys the campaign. Newspaper ads, start-
ing with some teasers that aim to be
shocking, vary through all the sizes from
very large to small sizes and slugs. You
can get the big economy mat for 35c at
National Screen which has seven display
ad mats and two publicity mats, for the
price of one. It's not a picture for the tiny
tots, but many in your audience have been
service men in Paris in wartimes. So, use
your good sense in presenting a good pic-
fure for a good audience that doesn't like
a juvenile program every time. Try the
Veteran's organizations for their approval.

IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU— Colum-
bia Pictures. That crazy-mlxed-up cutie
from "Born Yesterday.” This happened
overnight — and what a night! It's smart,
tart and terrific. ”1 should worry, I should
care, 1 should marry a millionaire!” That's
Judy's theme song, and she sings it. She
makes up her mind from the bottom of her
heart! One of the most enjoyable come-
dies of the season, for young adults. 24-
sheet and other posters have the makings
of good lobby and marquee display. Four-
page herald keys the campaign in a lot
of situations. Newspaper ad mats in very
large sizes for theatres where the distribu-
tor shares the advertising cost, but you'll
find sufficient in smaller sizes where you
pay for your own. The composite, economy
mat, at National Screen, gives you seven
ad mats and slugs and two publicity mats,
all for 35c, which is the best bargain you'll
ever find on Film Row. Teaser campaign
should include many "quotes” from "the
beautiful bird-brain^ who went from board
bills to billboards because she was bored
with being a nobody.” Her comical career
and carryings-on will delight mature audi-
ences and you can get a lot of the laughs
into your advertising and via the disc
jockeys and TV spots. Study the press-
book, and watch the picture for lines that
will amuse patrons who are looking for
something unusual in entertainment. The
set of four 2-column teasers in the press-
book supplement are just right to attract
attention to the clever dialogue and situa-
tions in this film.

JIVARO — 20th Century-Fox. In color by
Technicolor. Headhunters of the Amazon,
photographed on a mighty 1000-mile trek
into the world's most dangerous jungle.
Four men, lusting for gold and fighting
for the flame-haired woman, deep in the
deadly Jivaro country. Fernando Lamas,
Rhonda Fleming in eye-filling excitement.
Teaser ads sell this idea with plenty of
Rhonda showing. 24-sheet and all posters

carry out tiie same effect for lobby and
marquee display. Newspaper advertising is
varied and adequate for all showmanship
purposes. The special campaign mat, priced
at 35c at National Screen, has eleven ad
mats and slugs, plus two publicity mats, for
small situations. You should have this econ-
omy mat on standing order. Special folder
herald keys the campaign for small theatres,
and contains all the best selling approach,
with a back-page blank that can be sold to
a cooperative advertiser to pay the cost.

•

LUCKY ME — Warner Brothers, Cinema-
Scope and WarnerColor. The ultra-new
look in movie musicals. Walter Winchell
says ' 'Lucky Me' is lucky to have Doris
Day” — and you can say that again. The new
proportions of the stage opening give a
new aspect to the oldest of movie plots,
the back-stage story of the search for suc-
cess behind the footlights. 24-sheet is
really a darb, for making your own lobby
and marquee display with perfect cut-out
art materials. Other posters are equally
as flattering of Doris Day In action. A set
of Color-Glo stills sells color with color and
accents the new dimensions. Newspaper
ad mats are varied, and good, from teaser
ads up through the larger sizes, which sell
CinemaScope. The big economy mat, sell-
ing for 35c at National Screen Service,
contains six ad mats, including one 3-col-
umn, two 2-column and two I -column
width, plus two publicity mats, all for the
price of one ordinary mat. It's a bargain,
and there are other good buys among the
special accessories. A deal to buy 250
numbered "Lucky Me” celluloid buttons,
with pins, lets you post the number that
will win on a lobby frame while the kids
walk all over town wearing the title on
display. Good music tieups for Columbia
records of hit tunes, with disc jockeys and
for music store displays. A special 5-col-
umn top head for a cooperative page ac-
cents "Lucky Me” for big store bargains,
and will pay for itself with the sponsorship
of local shops.

Ed Bonner, popular disc /ockey at radio station KXOK, St. Louis, looks very pleased to
receive his check for $60 from MGM pictures for getting the most responses during the
recent showing of "Kiss Me Kate" at Loew's State theatre. Looking on are Bernie Evens,
MGM field man, and Frank Hanson, who succeeds Russ Bovim, as city manager in St. Louis.
At right, Gypsy, the black stallion in "Gypsy Colt," visits Loew's State theatre in Los
Angeles, and takes a bow from sidewalk admirers.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 17, 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menting the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

D1!§;PLAY TO B00!§;T POPCORN

The "IPA Mobile," new point-of-sale display material developed to boost popcorn sales in theatres by
the International Popcorn Association, Chicago, is hung from the ceiling at the refreshment stand of the
Oriental theatre in Chicago. The lightweight material is kept in constant motion by natural air currents.
The counter manager is Mae Robinson.

Stand Material Exploits
Idea That ^'Popcorn and
Movies Go Together''

Exploiting the theme "Fopconi and
Moz'ics (/() T oijclhcr," the International
L’c.iljcorn /Association, C'hicag'(.), has come up
with a new mohile disjilay piece especiall}'
for theatre refreshment stands. Tire Asso-
ciation reports that the display lias alreatly
been tested h_\' se\'eral leading theatre cir-
cuits, resulting in increased popcorn sales.

Called the "II'A Eojicorn Mohile," the
di>plav consists ol four elements, all in full-
coior, presenting- these selling- messages:
"Popcorn and ^toTics Go Together" ; "It's
Pel icioiis" ; "POPCORN" : and "Served
Hot." dTie m.'iterial is eipujiped with a hoox
so that it may he (piickiy and easil\- hung
from a fixture or light over the stand, 'fhe
lightweight disjilays are kept in constant
motion by natural air currents, air tlow from
the entr;ince and exit doors, tlie air condi-
tioning s}st^m, and heat waves rising from
the popcorn stand.

As a part of the [irom otion, handout cards
boosting popcorn to iie distributed to patrons
as they emer the theatre are provided by
the Association. Copy on the cards reads :
"STOP at the popcorn stand. Popcorn
and Movies go together !"

It is pointed out that the overhead mohile
doesn't require "one inch of premium coun-
ter or lloor space and delivers continuous
motion without the use of costly motors.”

The mobile represents concentrated work
of the IPA’s concession merchandising- com-
mittee in its efforts to develop "a real pop-
corn sales builder," according- to J. J. Fitz-
gibbons, Jr., of Theatre Confections, Ltd.,
Toronto, Ontario, and IPA president. "VVe
sought the counsel of one of the country’s
leading design and point-of-purchase display
organizations, Berger-Amour,” he said,
"and the idea for an IPA Mobile was born.”

"The mobile is more than just another
display,” in the opinion of IPA vice-presi-
dent Bert Nathan, of the Theatre Popcorn
Vending Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y. "It’s

the newest, most successful display in use at
point-of-purchase today, created to help
showinen merchandise iiopcorn in the same
aggressive w-ay most other food products
are merchandised . . . with a strong, per-
suasive selling theme, a sales gimmick and
disiilay at the snack stand,’’ he said.

The new’ material constitutes a "dramatic,
low-cost merchandising- program comhining
all the necessary ingredients to help theatre
operators sell more popcorn,” according to
Lee Koken, RKO Theatres’ concession
chief. New' A'ork City. Those ingredients,
he explained are "a sound selling theme, a
tried and proven display, an overhead mo-
bile that’s kept in constant motion by nat-

ural air currents: and an intriguing sales
ginimick . . . colorful handout cards to draw
your patron’s attention to the concession
stai-ids as they enter the theatre.”

To e.xtcnd the effectiveness of the coo;-
(linated program IPA has arranged with
Irving Alack of Fihnack Trailer Compan\-,
Chicago a’.id New’ York, to make available
a. full-color refreshmeut trailer featuring- the
mobile display and the selling- theme, "Pop-
corn and Movies Go Together,” if there is
a sufficient demand.

Exhibitors desiring more details and
prices of the mobiles and handout cards
should write the Association at 110 North
h'ranklin .Street, Chicago 0, 111.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 17, 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 123 attractions, 5,5 92 playdatcs.

Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en-
gagements on each attraction reported. The tabulation is ciunula-
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; AY — Average;
BA — Below Average; PR — Poor.

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB)

Little Boy Lost (Para.)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)..

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

fLiving Desert, The (Disney) ...
Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)

fAlaska Seas (Para.)

All-American (Univ.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)
Appointment in Honduras (RKO)

Back to God's Country (Univ.)

Bad tor Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil ( U A)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th. Fox)..
(Best Year of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

Big Heat (Col.)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Blowing Wild (WB)

*Blueprint for Murder, A (20th-Fox)

Border River (Univ.)

Botany Bay (Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

'•‘Caddy, The (Para.) . .

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Cease Fire! (Para.)

’•'City of Bad Men (20th-Fox)

Command, The (WB)

Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (Univ.)
Crime Wave (WB)

Decameron Nights (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

East of Sumatra (Univ.)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein ( Col.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

Flioht to Tangier (Para.)

Forbidden (Univ.)

Forever Female (Para.)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glass Web, The (Univ.)

Glenn Miller Story (Univ.)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

’•'Half a Hero (MGM)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox).

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

’•‘Joe Louis Story, The (UA)

Jubilee Trail (Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

1 1

I 1

fMa and Pa Kettle at Home (Univ.)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

Marry Me Again (RKO)

Martin Luther (de Rochemont)
fMiss Robin Crusoe (20th-Fox)

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)

Mogambo (MGM)

Money from Home (Para.)
’•‘Moonlighter, The (WB)

Nebraskan, The (Col.)
fNew Faces (20th-Fox)

*99 River Street (UA)

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

fPhantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)
Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.) .

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

Red Garters (Para.)

(Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (Univ.)

Riders to the Stars (UA)

Riot in Cell Block I I (AA)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Roman Holiday (Para.)

(Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Sabre Jet ( UA)

Saskatchewan (Univ.)

Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.)

Shane (Para.)

Shark River (UA)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)

Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) .

Sky Command (Col.)

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

So Big (WB)

’•‘Steel Lady, The (UA)

Take the High Ground (MGM)

Taza, Son of Cochise (Univ.)

Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)

Thunder over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana (UA)

Torch Song (MGM)

Tumbleweed (Univ.)

Veils of Bagdad (Univ.)

Vicki (20th-Fox)

Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.)

War Arrow (Univ.)

War of the Worlds (Para.)

Wild One (Col.)

’•‘Wings of the Hawk (Univ.)

EX AA AV

I I

1
1

14
69
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2
4
I

9
2
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7
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19
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7
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WM ■

NEW HERALD SERVICE

Page 15

■";. ••'•1

UEVMBWS (In Product Digest): RlVfjll OF NO RETURN, PLAYGIRL, ARROW IN THE DUST, OUT OF THIS

VyORtO, UNTAMED HEIRESS. ftREMAN SAV Y., CHILD. BLACKOUT, INDISCRETION OF AN AMERICAN WIFE,

MELODY OF LOVE

iccpsd-ctati 12, 1931,

Ifeiv by Qitigl^ Pvittshing Ca^ Ziic., d
Trie Americas, ^tOJOi a^jaer Foreign. 5;

teci ai New York City, U. S. At-, tender the act of

Hockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y. Subscripiton^Jtricest fS.OO
All contents copyrighted 1954 by Qingtey P abUshUig ^^pmpmy, Inc.

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IN THE
HITCHCOCK
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WarnerColor

STARRING

GRACE

ROBERT

/MoHfiU

WITH

JOHN WILLIAMS

ANTHONV DAWSON

WRITTEN BY

FREDERICK KNOH
-f who wrote the
International
Stage Success

DIRECTED BY

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

MUSIC COMPOSED
AND CONDUCTED
BY Dl MITRI TiOMKI N

WARNER BROS. forMemorial Do^sKouAianjo!

your 20th exchange. GCT the presi
OATB n NOW BOR TOP GROSSES ,N

color by

TECHNICOLOR

Cameron MITCHELL- Anne BAN CROFT- Lee J.Cobb

Raymond Burr • Charlotte Austin • Peter Whitney • Lee Marvin • Warren Stevens • John G. Kellogg
Producea b, ROBERT L JACKS • D.f.cied b, HARMON JONES . wmitn b> LEONARD PRASKINS and BARNEY SUTER
A PANORAMIC PRODUCTION Released by 20lh CENTURY FOX

For audiences that want REAL

He s in the aisles!
He’s in the balcony!
He’s EVERYWHERE

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in -Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 4

MARTIN QUIGLEY, ]R., Editor

April 24, 1954

The Human Touch

Hollywood, which for a quarter of a century
relegated researchers and scientists to obscure
back rooms and took little interest in their work,
has for eighteen months now been obsessed with things
technical. Attention to the technological side of motion
pictures was long overdue, as has been repeatedly pointed
out in The HERALD and elsewhere. At the present time,
however, there are signs that the pendulum may have
swung too far. The basic craftsmen of the motion picture
art — writers, directors and performers — do not seem to
be receiving sufficient encouragment to do their best.

While the new techniques have represented a freeing
of the screen from its traditional limitations, that liber-
ation has been in the physical order. Screens, lenses,
sound horns and related appurtenances have been too
much on the mind of all, from producer to distributor
to exhibitor.

The human touch is of fundamental importance. The
industry must not be carried away by the beam of light,
the electron or some gadget or other.

The techniques are tools; not ends in themselves. Pa-
trons may come once or twice to see a technique — the
example of 3-D showed that — but lasting patronage can
only be built on solid entertainment. That means, in the
final analysis, story values. Production can do just so
much. Without a good story the best acting and direct-
ing are quite wasted.

It would seem that in the current technological evo-
lution in Holl5rwood the screen writer has become the
forgotten man. Perhaps it was partly his fault. Yet the
blame rests on both the studios and the writers ... on
the one for being entranced with systems; on the other
for not being qualified to use fully the new techniques
in the art of storytelling. After all, the motion picture
is a narrative art. It can tell a romantic, historical, comic,
or musical story — but a worthwhile story is always
needed.

Since the screen has become so much larger and multi-
voiced, there has been a tendency to seek bigness for its
own sake. That surely is all right for a certain propor-
tion of Hollywood output. The spectacle of one kind or
another has always been a box office attraction. A steady
diet of big spectacles might turn out to be satiating.

A glance at a list of the box office champion pictures
of the past decade and at the names of the Money Mak-
ing Stars of the same period shows that there should be
a balance between “big pictures” and other types of fea-
tures. Size alone sometimes makes “the light touch”
difficult or impossible to attain.

The very considerable assets — of themselves and for
promotional purposes — in all the new screen techniques
need to be harnessed and put to work more effectively

in the cause of screen entertainment than has been the
case up to now. Let them be slaves ; not masters of pro-
duction policy. The guiding hand should be the writer’s,
the director’s, the actor’s and not the slide rule, the light
meter or the electrical gauge. Let’s keep the human
touch.

■ ■ ■

Disney’s Two Masters

By far the most important “marriage” to date between
I motion picture and television interests is the alli-
ance announced recently by Walt Disney Pro-
ductions and the American Broadcasting Company. This
means that henceforth Walt Disney will be serving two
masters: motion picture theatres and home television.
If any one can do the job successfully, he is the one.
Up to now efforts of important film producers to make
TV programs have not been conspicuously successful.
TV series films made by Paramount and Universal have
been released to theatres for want of broadcast sponsors
willing to pay a sufficient price.

It is certain that the extensive Disney TV programs —
a minimum of 26 hour-long shows — will be planned with
full knowledge of television’s competitive position with
respect to theatres. After all, the Disney company is at
work on a big program of features for theatres in addi-
tion to the usual number of cartoon shorts. Disney has
in production the three highest budget films in the
studio’s history, one a live-action subject and the other
two feature cartoons. Altogether Disney plans to make
26 features within the next five years. That certainly is
an expression of faith in the future of exhibition.

Television, and theatres, will await with keen anticipa-
tion Walt Disney’s debut as a regular TV producer next
October,

■ ■ ■

Q Well-deserved tribute will be paid William J. German
at the First Annual Heart Award Dinner of the Variety
Club of New York on May 6. Mr. German, a former chief
barker, is the president of the Variety Club Foundation
to Combat Epilepsy. He has had much to do with the
establishment of the club in New York and has been a
leader in its charity undertakings. Variety Club sponsor-
ship of the campaign against epilepsy has helped gain
support not only within the industry but by making the
work better known to the public. Bill German is as essen-
tial to the New York Variety Club and its Foundation as
the film he distributes is to the industry. His drive and
energy and consideration of others belie his forty-eight
years of service. It is to be hoped that he will be active
as an inspiration to others for many more years.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

Proper Product

To THE Editor:

3-D ! CinemaScope ! Stereophonic Sound !
Vista-Vision! Ratios! Anamorphic lenses!
Miracle Mirror screens! etc! etc! All nice
things to have around, but give us movies
women will enjoy and we’ll do business in
any medium. “The Glenn Miller Story”
proves this.

Help us, please, Mr. Producer, get our
lost audiences back, our women patrons who
used to trade with us on the matinees, bring
their husbands to the movies at night.

You’re not going to do it with soldiers
and Indians, the clash of swords, the sight
of blood, brutality, scientific travels, murder,
regardless of the medium these themes are
filmed in.

TV or no TV the exhibitors of this coun-
try can get folks back to the movies, in small
towns and big provided we have the pictures
that are appealing to the women.

We want to progress. We want new
mediums, better sound, better projection.
Movie fans are entitled to these things, but
with all these unless we have the proper
product to back them, the whole business is
whipped.

It’s up to you, Mr. Producer. Is the
American motion picture industry to fall or
go forward? — Georgia Exhibitor.

Don’t *^Let George do it”

To the Editor:

I note your editorial in The Herald,
April 10th, which you have headed “Keep
COMPO Alive”.

I am all in favor of your headline but I
have some criticism of the contents of your
editorial. I have been noting this kind of
material not only in The Herald but in
quite a number of publications which appear
to take the position that COMPO, which
as you state, has done a fine job on the na-
tional tax campaign should undertake the
job of (quoting from your own editorial)
“Discriminatory taxation at the national,
state and community levels.” Do you realize
what that job might entail and how much
money it might cost? There are forty-eight
states in these United States and there are
probably several thousand municipalities. I
dread to think of poor Bob Coyne getting
on his white charger and riding off in all
directions to take care of this kind of
trouble in every one of them.

I am getting very tired of exhibitors,
exhibitor leaders and exhibitor organiza-
tions who constantly come u,'p with the
attitude of “Let George do it.” The job
within a state is the job of the exhibitors
within that state and if they are not properly
organized and properly financed to do it,
let them get organized and financed! From
the national viewpoint, the national COMPO

office should be prepared to advise and fur-
nish material for use in each state because
the job is the same in each state, more or
less; but, otherwise, I should object strenu-
ously to having national COMPO undertake
(for example) the imminent job in Missis-
sippi where I see a legislator has come out
with a statement that he is going to re-
introduce the 10% state tax. We have done
that job here in Texas ourselves; spending
our own money and our own efforts without
running to national COMPO to attend to it
and I do not see why other states and
municipalities cannot do the same thing.

I am going to get myself damned un-
popular in exhibitor circles by preaching
that doctrine and by preaching the doctrine
of “money” ! For years and years and years
the exhibitors have been spoiled by volun-
teer leaders who have done a fine job per-
sonally but have failed, for the most part,
in bringing home to the exhibitors that it is
their job to finance and man the necessary
work which has been handed to them on a
silver platter. I must confess that I am rabid
along these lines and the rank and file of
exhibitors, in my opinion, will dislike me
intensely if I live long enough to preach
this gospel.

By the way, down here in Texas we have
had a state COMPO for the past two or
three years. That organization, without
getting a nickel in either money or in-
dividual assistance from national COMPO,
undertook the job a year ago of getting
off our state tax books a provision taxing
theatres 10 per cent on all admissions over
50 cents. While the national campaign was
on, our state unit tackled the state tax
legislation and got the exemption raised to
80 cents. We try to take care of our own
and refuse to lean on any national group
for Texas problems.- — COLONEL H. A.
COLE, Allied Theatre Ozvners of Texas,
Dallas, Texas.

f Editor’s Note: The Herald editorial re-
ferred to by Col. Cole did not imply that
COMPO should assume the entire burden of
fighting taxes on all fronts. The present and
threatened state and local taxes on theatre
admissions, however, are so many that some
assistance from a national organization is
imperative. COMPO is the logical organiza-
tion to help wherever help is needed.']

Personal Appearance

To THE Editor :

Recently, I had the great pleasure of hav-
ing one of Hollywood’s best western stars
in person. If other stars would take lessons
from this cowboy star, they would go far.
The star is Tim Holt. He is certainly
Hollywood’s ambassador of good will. —
JAMES BALKCOM , Gray Theatre, Gray,
Ga.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

April 24, 1954

WARNERS close deal to make feature film
in Cinerama Page 14

ALLIED of Michigan holds annual meeting
in Detroit Page 14

ARBITRATION meeting is scheduled in
New York for May 17 Page 14

GROSSES, like flowers, are a-blooming this
Easter-tide Page 15

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— The box score
on box office leaders Page 15

NEW Denver theatre marks faith in future
of the industry Page 18

CINEMASCOPE likes the fresh air of the
drive-in theatre Page 19

PERSPECTA sound is well received at
demonstration in the East Page 19

CEA lauds Warners for conducting sound
tests in England Page 22

20TH-FOX and Allied Artists in deal on
film distribution Page 22

REMBUSCH asks all-out aid for sponsored
production plan Page 23

EXHIBITOR on coast attacks decrees as a
heavy "burden" Page 23

CINEMASCOPE reported going very well
in Australian houses Page 26

SUBSCRIBER TV called boon to medium by
Zenith official Page 27

AB-PARAMOUNT reports net for first
quarter of $ I , I 1 0,000 Page 27

FAME awards for 1953 are presented to
winners in Hollywood Page 32

PARAMOUNT plans sixty one-reelers for
season Page 34

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus-

try personnel across country

Page 35

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising

Page 46

Film Buyers' Rating

Page 39

Hollywood Scene

Page 30

Managers' Round Table

Page 41

People in the News

Page 34

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews

Page 2269

Advance Synopses

Page 2270

Short Subjects

Page 2271

The Release Chart

Page 2272

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

On tLe Ori

onzon

An increase of more than
50 per cent in its net profit for
■ the first quarter of 1954 is re-
ported by Loew’s, Inc. The net for
the 28 weeks ended March 18, 1954,
subject to year end audit, is reported
by the company to be $3,199,166
after all charges and taxes. This is
the equivalent of 62 cents per share
on the outstanding stock, compared
with $2,171,729, or 42 cents per share,
for the corresponding period of 1953.

► Mrs. F. Allen Burt, chairman of
the motion picture committee of the
Daughters of the American Revolu-
tion, told delegates to the annual
DAR convention in Washington this
week that “through the years the
Production Code has proved a much
more important contribution to high
standards of entertainment than any
political censorship.”

► Motion picture equipment is in-
cluded on a list of “non-essential”
imports banned by the Government
of Chile this week.

^ Edward Lachman, president of
Lorraine Carbons, Inc., after a trip
through the south and west reports
that many exhibitors are setting
aside the money saved by the tax
cut to purchase new equipment.

► Small theatres use CinemaScope,
20th-Fox has been insisting; and it
now has some impressive figures to
prove it, -For instance, the com-
pany said this week there now are
more than 500 installations in the-
atres of 750 or fewer seats. Some of
these are : the Lake Theatre, Powers
Lake, North Dakota, 150 seats; El
Rancho, Ringling, Oklahoma, 208
seats ; Bandbox, Philadelphia, 220
seats; Strand, Angola, Indiana, 208
seats; and the KarOlyn, New
London, Ohio, 280 seats.

► Congress is getting, ready to
swing at the “filth” business, which
exists not only in pornographic
literature, but in films. Three Re-
publican Senators, led by Robert D.
Hendrickson, New Jersey, are spon-
soring legislation which would pro-
vide jail for at least one year on the
second offense; and authorize courts
to permit the publi? prosecutor to
, confiscate cameras, presses and
other equipment.

REPORT FEATURES
CODE DECLARATION

The annual financial report of Twen-
tieth Century-Fox, sent this week to
stockholders, features a full page de-
voted to a reprint of the declaration by
the members of the Motion Picture
Association reaffirming their adherence to
the Production Code as "a living instru-
ment for our guidance." The declaration,
issued three months ago, is headed
"Decent Entertainment Is the Best Enter-
tainment," and affirms that "the funda-
mental principles of the Code are not
subject to change with the passage of
time."

►Not only were national legislators
so impressed by the industry’s pleas
and plight, that they voted to reduce
its taxes; local legislators seem also
impressed. In Martinsville, and
Harrisonburg, Va., local taxes have
been reduced from ten to five per
cent. At Newport News, in the
same state, the City Council last
week lowered license taxes $14,000
worth. In Philadelphia, Councilman
Thomas Guerin is pressing for ex-
emption from th^ 10 per cent city
amusement tax, of tickets of 50 cents
or less. In Canada, the province of
Manitoba reduced its ticket excise
from 1754 to 15 per cent.

► A Hollywood union got tough last
week with a television producer.
The Screen Actors Guild cancelled
its contract with Tableau Television,
Ltd., producers of the “China Smith”
series, allegedly because of failure
to pay royalties to performers who
were in some 20 of the films. The
union forbade its members to deal
with the television producer.

► Leaders of the Council of Motion
Picture Organizations are expected
to confer in New York next week
the first time since the conclusion of
the tax fight, the successful outcome

of which the industry generally con-
cedes to them. The men are Sam
Pinanski, New England circuit
owner; A1 Lichtman, 20th-Fox dis-
tribution director; Wilbur Snaper,
National Allied leader; and Robert
Coyne, COMPO special counsel.

► The industry will get its oppor-
tunity in June to try fiberglass con-
tainers. So said Harry Greenman, a
director of U.S. Fiberglass and In-
dustrial Plastics, Inc., manufacturers
of the new product. Speaking in
New York, he said a testing com-
pany now is putting the containers
through their paces. The three-reel
containers weigh five and one-half
pounds. The metal ones weigh 16.
The new containers also are buoy-
ant, and resist heat, cold, and fire;
and they will not stretch, shrink, or
absorb moisture. They also are
weatherproof, shatterproof, and rust-
proof and waterproof. Mr. Green-
man also promised his company
would make advertising letters,
marquee signs, and concession carts.

► The free competition is spreading..
Prints of the kinescope recording
of Maurice Evans’ production of
Shakespeare’s “King Richard II”
will be made available for showing
in schools starting next month, ac-
cording to a release from Carl Byoir
for Hallmark Cards. Hallmark spon-
sored the original two-hour show
over the NBC television network
early this year and is now financing
the processing and distribution of
16mm prints at no cost to schools
and colleges.

► Theatres have obtained another
exclusive sports telecast. It’s the
Rocky Marciano-Ezzard Charles
bout June 17 at the Yankee Stadium,
New York. The deal is between
Theatre Network Television and the
International Boxing Club. New
England and New York areas, from
which the “live” patrons are ex-
pected to attend the bout, will not
have the telecasts.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Coble oddress,
"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, Martin Starr, manager, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone
Hollywood 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 principal capitals. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley
Publications: Better Theatres, published 13 times a year os Section Two of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture ond Television Almanac, Fame.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 24. 1954

ON THE SET of "Mambo", in
Rome, Paramount executive Jacob
Karp, second from right, and Ed-
ward Meltzer, right, visit star Sil-
vana Mangano, director Robert
Rossen, and star Vittorio Gassman,
left.

i6 weeR in

ictur

JOSEPH GINS has been pro-
moted from Universal Wash-
ington manager to district man-
ager, with headquarters at
Boston. Harold Saltz of New
Haven succeeds Mr. Gins.

AS LOEWS INTERNA-
TIONAL demonstrated
Perspecta Sound to New
York exhibitors last week:
at the right, Perspecta
president and inventor C.
Robert Fine briefs Jesse
Zunser of "Cue" maga-
zine. See page 19.

AT THE OPENING, in the Odeon
circuit's Marble Arch Theatre, Lon-
don, of 20th-Fox's "King of the
Khyber Rifles", in CinemaScope: Al-
bert Cornfield, the company's manag-
ing director for Europe; Sam Harris;
Murray Silverstone, 20th-Fox Inter-
national president; and F. L. Thomas.

RICHARD W. ALT-
SCHULER is Repub-
lic's world-wide direc-
tor of sales, a new
position.

WARNER home office executives met
with district managers in New York
last week. The scene above shows, in
left to right order, Howard Levinson,
legal; Robert Smeltzer, Washington;
Norman Ayers, eastern district;
Henry Herbel, west coast; Roy
Haines, western sales; Ed Hinchy,
playdates; Benjamin Kalmenson, vice-
president in charge of distribution;
John Kirby, southern sales; Jules
Lapidus, eastern and Canadian sales;
Haskell Masters, Canadian district;
William Mansell, central district; Ben
Abner, New York; and Art Anderson,
north prairie district.

GEORGE BOW-
SER, National Thea-
tres vice-president,
center, at the right,
goes to Europe
shortly on leave of
absence. His suc-
cessor as general
manager is Edwin
Zabel, left, shown
receiving congratu-
lations from Charles
Skouras, president of
the circuit.

AT RIGHT, In Glasgow, Sir Alex-
ander King, circuit owner and in-
dustry tax campaign leader, re-
ceives a plaque for his services to
the Industry, from MGM. In or-
der: Thomas Kerr, Glasgow Lord
Provost; Charles Goldsmith,
MGM; Sir Alexander; and Edward
Hancock, MGM.

SOL HUROK, seated, left, signs
the agreement, in New York,
whereby he will sponsor "Aida"
in association with IFE Releasing.
With him is E. R. Zorgniotti, IFE
vice-president.

BELOW, Norman Elson, owner of
the Guild, New York, stands with
a Tibetan medicine horn being
blown by Gene Nicks. The tieup:
opening of "Out of This World",
color film made by Lowell Thomas.

IN BOSTON, Lester Isaac, right, Stanley
Warner Cinerama exhibition director, re-
ceives from Motion Picture Operators
Union Local 182 president Joseph Nuzzolo
a gold honorary membership card.

397-SEAT GREENFIELD, GREENFIELD, CALIF
PARAMOUNT, FAIRFIELD, ME., HAS GONE
PERRY, MICH., HAS GONE CinemaScopE
CinemaScopE 410-seat KANAWHA, BU
Scope 500-SE at PIX, ONTARIO, ORE., HA
OLATHE,KANS.,HAS GONE CinemaScoP
GONE CinemaScopE 430-SEAT MARTIN
500-SEAT LUEZ, BOLIVAR, TENN., HAS GO
RINGLING, OKLA., HAS GONE CinemaSc
HAS GONE CinemaScopE 498 -SEAT SP
Scope 278 - SEAT STRAND, ANGOLA, IN

KAROLYN, NEW LONDON, O., HAS GONE
PLATTE, LA., HAS GONE CinemaScopE 3
GONE CinemaScopE 350 -seat HENRY,
Scope 350-seat PALACE, PENACOOK, N
ROSE, AUDUBON, lA., HAS GONE Cinem
S.D.,HAS GONE CinemaScopE 374-SEAT
CinemaScopE 273 - SEAT COLON I AL, TA
430 -SEAT CAROLINA, SUMTER, S.C., HAS
MORRISVILLE, VT., HAS GONE CinemaSc
TEX., HAS GONE CinemaScopE 50
CinemaScopE 378 - SEAT JOYO, HA

HAS GONE CinemaScopE 400 - SEAT
Cinemascope 400 - SEAT SILHOUETTE,
410-SEAT GLEN, QUINCY, ILL, HAS GONE
CKHANNON, W.VA., HAS GONE Cinema-
S GONE CINemaScopE 428-seat TRAIL,
E 429-SEAT ACME, RIVERTON, WYO., HAS
, MARTIN, KY., HAS GONE CinemaScopE
NE CinemaScopE 208-seat EL RANCHO,
opE 250-seat grand, HALLOCH, MINN.,
ARTA, SPARTA, N. J., HAS GONE Cinema-
D., HAS GONE CinemaScopE 280-SEAT
CinemaScopE 300 - seat PLATTE, VILLE
00-SEAT NORWOOD, PHILLIPS, WISC., HAS
HAGERSTOWN, MD., HAS GONE Cinema-
.H.,HAS GONE CinbmaScopE 350-SEAT
aScopE 370 - seat plaza, WATERTOWN,
PRINCESS, BOONEVILLE, MISS., HAS GONE
RBORO, N. C., HAS GONE CinemaScopE
GONE CinemaScopE 432 -SEAT BIJOU,
opE 454 -seat majestic, BROWNSVILLE,
0-SEAT NAPLES, NAPLES, FLA., HAS GONE
VELOCK, NEB., HAS GONE CinemaScopE

WARNERS PLAN
CINERAMA FILM

(S. H, Fabian, Jack Warner
Announce Production of
'‘Lewis and Clark'*

W^arner Brothers this week became the
first major studio to enter Cinerama pro-
duction, with the announcement that the
studio has concluded a deal with Stanley
Warner Cinerama for shooting “Lewis and
Clark,” a Warner story property in the hig
screen, three-projector medium, all rights
to which are controlled by the Stanley
W'arner Corporation.

Call It “Milestone’’

In a joint statement issued in New York
Monday, S. H. Fabian, president of Stanley
Warner and its Cinerama subsidiary, and
Jack L. Warner, Warner Brothers vice-
president, the deal was hailed as “a mile-
stone.” The story, said Mr. Fabian and
Mr. Warner, “was selected after a long
search by our companies for a major prop-
erty which would match the magnitude of
the Cinerama process and which would, at
the same time, contain the elements of high
adventure, personal drama and audience
participation.”

The acquisition of the “Lewis and Clark”
property represents the third announced
Cinerama production. The second one, now
in production under the direction of Louis
de Rochemont, “Cinerama Holiday,” is due
to be completed sometime in June. The first
production, “This Is Cinerama,” is still
playing around the nation and this week
opened in Minneapolis.

The closing of the Warner Brotliers deal
came after months of negotiations with
Stanley \Varner, the company which last
August took over exclusive exhibition and
distribution rights to the process. Stanley
Warner was known to have been conduct-
ing negotiations with other studios in ad-
dition to Warner Brothers. The deal also
puts Warner Brothers in the unique po-
sition among major studios as far as the
new techniques are concerned. Warners,
one of the first champions of 3-D, also is
producing a wide range of CinemaScope
and conventional productions.

Number of Films Limited

Whether “Lewis and Clark” will be con-
sidered strictly a Warner Brothers feature
or a Stanley Warner Cinerama feature
could not be ascertained this week. Under
the court approved amendment to the War-
ner Brothers consent decree, Stanley War-
ner Cinerama is limited to producing a total
of 15 films in Cinerama until December 31,
1958, when Stanley Warner’s exclusive
licensing arrangement with Cinerama, Inc.,
expires.

The consent decree amendment allows

Stanley Warner to make conventional ver-
sions of its Cinerama features, if it so de-
sires, but enjoins the company from dis-
tribution of these versions. No such re-
strictions apply to the Cinerama versions.

The joint Fabian-Warner announcement
this week said that “ ‘Lewis and Clark’ will
be budgeted as the greatest production ever
conceived by the studio.” It covers the
exploration of the northwest during the
presidency of Thomas Jefferson.

“This Is Cinerama,” the initial produc-
tion, is now in its 83rd week in New York;
its 54th week in Detroit; 50th week, Los
Angeles; 30th week, Philadelphia; 24th
week, Washington; 16th week, Boston;
36th week, Chicago; 18th week, Pittsburgh;
17th week, San Francisco, and 10th week,
St. Louis.

A. rbiiraiion
3Meet Set
Few* May 17

Initial steps toward the establishment of
an industry arbitration system took form in
New York last week when a sub-committee
of the sales managers’ committee of the Mo-
tion Picture Association of America met to
discuss an agenda for an arbitration session
tentatively set for May 17 at the Hotel As-
ton Eric Johnston, MPAA president, is ex-
pected to preside at the meeting.

The arbitration subcommittee consists of
William Gehring, executive assistant gen-
eral sales manager of 20th Century-Fox, rep-
resenting A1 Lichtman; A. Montague, Col-
umbia; Charles Feldman, Universal, and
A. W. Schwalberg, Paramount Pictures.

Last week a spokesman said that special
arrangements were being made for hotel ac-
commodations for the large delegations of
exhibitors who are expected to attend. In
addition, a detailed agenda necessarily must
be worked out for the guidance of both the
distributors and the exhibitors, it was stated
by a committee spokesman.

In commenting on the desirability of hav-
ing Allied States Association representatives
attend the meeting, the spokesman said, “We
shall be glad to have them, although there
is no point in extending another invitation.”
The subcommittee will be holding a series
of meetings between now and May 17 to
work out details of the meeting.

Stanley Warners' Dividend

Stanley Warner Theatres directors last
week in New York, declared a 25 cents per
share dividend on common stock, payable
May 10 to stockholders of record April 26.

Vptarww Keys
Allied Meet
In Detroit

DETROIT : A pronounced improvement in
business during the past six months was
noted by Ernest T. Conlon, executive vice-
president of Allied Theatres of Michigan,
as he welcomed 400 members Monday to
the opening of the three-day convention. Im-
proved sound and screens and most impor-
tant better pictures, he said, have done the
trick. “Actually the industry doesn’t need
gimmicks,” he added, “just give us good
films. Our business is as good as the prod-
uct we offer. Many persons will leave their
television sets to see a good interesting pic-
ture.”

Pat McGee of the Council of Motion Pic-
tures Organizations tax committee, declared
he “violently” disagreed with some senti-
ment that COMPO is through now that the
tax fight has been resolved. “This is ac-
tually the beginning of COMPO,” he said.
Mr. McGee outlined the history of the tax
struggle at the convention.

Equipment and supplies was the main
topic of discussion the second day. More in-
formation concerning equipment necessary
for the new media is needed and wanted, it
was stressed. Some voiced a fear of obso-
lescence of various types of sound, screens
and lens. The principal addresses on equip-
ment were given by Clarence Williamson of
National Theatre Supply, and Ernie Forbes
of the equipment organization bearing his
name. Also during the morning session Rube
Shor of National Allied spoke on “Guarding
Against State and City Admission Taxes.”

Principal speaker of the evening was
Thomas E. Martin, Congressman from
Iowa.

The meeting ended Wednesday after gen-
eral discussion sessions in the day and eve-
ning festivities at the Elmwood Casino.

Universal District Managers
Meet Next Week in New York

District sales managers and home office
executives of Universal Pictures will con-
vene at the home office in New York Mon-
day, for one week of discussions. Charles J.
Feldman, vice-president and general sales
manager, will preside. One of the meetings
will cover promotion, and in this advertising
and publicity executives of the home office
will sit in. The whole group will attend the
invitational showing Monday night at the
Loew’s 72nd Street Theatre in that city, of
the company’s “The Magnificent Obsession.”

Pittsburgh "Telethon"

A “telethon” from Syria Mosque, Pitts-
burgh, Saturday night was to be sponsored
by the Variety Club, Tent One. On the talent
roster were Perry Como, The Three Suns,
Captain Video, and others. Proceeds were
to go to a new wing for the Club’s Roselia
Foundling and Maternity Hospital.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 24, 1954

GROSSES, LIKE POSIES,
A-BLOOM THIS EASTER

RECORD-BREAKING business was recorded last weekend
with “Rose Marie” and “Knock on Wood” leading the Easter
parade of grosses in New York. Grosses out of town also
registered substantial spurts.

In New York holiday business in most first run situations
was hit by the rain on Saturday, but when the skies cleared
Sunday and Monday, the bo.x office rolled ahead. At Radio
City Music Hall, “Rose Marie” in CinemaScope plus the
Hall’s Easter stage show, was due for a figure between
$195,000 and $200,000 in its third week, an all-time record for
any picture at the Hall. At the Capitol “Knock on Wood”
broke every Easter record in the history of the house. A

$100,000 gross was expected for the week at the big Broad-
way showcase.

Julius La Rosa on the stage and “Yankee Pasha” on the
screen of Loew’s State packed the customers in. On the
basis of weekend business the house was expected to hit a
resounding $95,000 for the first week. A neat $62,000 was
seen at the Roxy for the second week of “Prince Valiant.”

Among the other features doing well along Broadway were
“Lucky Me,” at the Paramount; “Carnival Story,” at the
Criterion; “Beachhead,” at the Globe; “This Is Cinerama,”
at the Warner; “Casanova’s Big Night,” at the Victoria, and
“Naked Jungle,” at the Mayfair. Holding up strong
among the off-Broadway houses were “Lili,” “The
Captain Paradise,” “Genevieve” and “Pickwick Papers.”

In Chicago first run business soared during Easter week.
“Pinocchio” did outstanding business at the Loop theatre,
heading for an excellent second week of $26,000. At the
Oriental, “Prince Valiant” registered a good $45,000.

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

THE BOX SCORE ON BOX OFFICE LEADERS

Pictures doing above average busi-
ness at first runs in the key cities for
the week ending April 17 were:

ATLANTA: Rhapsody (MGM).

BALTIMORE: Lucky Me (WB), Prince
Valiant (20th-Fox), Rhapsody (MGM).

BOSTON: Rhapsody (MGM).

BUFFALO: Casanova's Big Night (Par.),
It Could Happen to You (Columbia), Lucky
Me (WB), Pinocchio (reissue, Disney-RKO),
Prince Valiant (20th-Fox).

CHICAGO: Genevieve (U-l) 5th week,
Pinocchio (reissue, Disney-RKO).

CINCINNATI: Naked Jungle (Par.) 2nd
week. Night People (20th-Fox).

COLUMBUS: Prince Valiant (20th-Fox).

DENVER: Act of Love (UA), Genevieve
(U-l), Heidi (UA) 2nd week. Ride Clear of
Diablo (U-l), Riding Shotgun (WB) (with re-
issue Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream
House, 20th-Fox).

DETROIT: Glenn Miller Story (U-l) 9th
week. Night People (20th-Fox) 2nd week.
Rose Marie (MGM) 3rd week.

HARTFORD: Casanova's Big Night
(Par.), Prince Valiant (20th-Fox).

INDIANAPOLIS: Julius Caesar (MGM),
Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l), Pinoc-
chio (reissue, Disney-RKO) 2nd week. Prince
Valiant (20th-Fox).

JACKSONVILLE: Casanova's Big Night
(Par.), Heidi (UA), How to Marry a Mil-
lionaire (20th-Fox), Naked Jungle (Par.),
Rob Roy (Disney-RKO) 2nd week.

KANSAS CITY: Living Desert (Disney-
Buena Vista) 4th week. Moon Is Blue (UA)
6th week.

MEMPHIS: Beachhead (UA), Hell's Halt
Acre (Rep.), Saskatchewan (U-l).

MILWAUKEE: New Faces (20th-Fox),
Riot in Cell Block I I (AA), Rose Marie
(MGM) 4th week, Yankee Pasha (U-l).

MIAMI: Rhapsody (MGM) 2nd week.

MINNEAPOLIS: Beachhead (UA), Pinoc-
chio (Disney-RKO, reissue), Stalag 17 and
Roman Holiday (Par., double bill) 2nd
week.

NEW ORLEANS: French Line (RKO) 5th
week.

OKLAHOMA CITY: Elephant Walk
(Par.), Casanova's Big Night (Par.) hold-
over, Living Desert (Disney-Buena Vista)
holdover. The Glenn Miller Story (U-l)
holdover. How to Marry a Millionaire
(20th-Fox) three theatres. The Long Long
Trailer (MGM) holdover. The Naked
Jungle (Par.).

PITTSBURGH: Act of Love (UA).

SAN FRANCISCO: Jubilee Trail (Rep.),
Julius Caesar (MGM) 16th week. Knock
on Wood (Par.), Prince Valiant (20th-Fox),
Rose Marie (MGM) 4th week.

VANCOUVER: Beggar's Opera (WB),
Little Caesar and Public Enemy (WB, reis-
sues), Naked Jungle (Par.), Quo Vadis
(MGM), Stalag 17 and Roman Holiday
(Par., double bill).

WASHINGTON: Beat the Devil (UA),
Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-lj,
Rhapsody (MGM), Saskatchewan (U-l) 2nd
week.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

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DENVER'S NEW THEATRE THE /„„„re
MARK OF FAITH IN FUTURE

DENVER: One of the most elaborate
premieres in the history of the city was
anticipated this week as last minute plans
were set for the opening Thursday,
April 29, of the 1,247-seat Centre theatre,
the only house to be built in Denver in
20 years.

Called “the most modern theatre in the
world,” and constructed at a reported
cost of more than $1,000,000, it was built
by Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres, of
which Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., is presi-
dent. He said, “The Centre will stand as
a symbol of the exhibitor’s renewed faith
in the future of the film industry.”

The premiere, replete with Hollywood
stars and industry executives, kleig lights,
red carpets, etc., will get under way at
6 P.M. with the presentation of four
hours of entertainment. Bleacher seats
to accommodate 2,000 spectators will be
thrown up during the day.

The Centre has a stadium type audi-
torium and is built of reinforced concrete
and steel, and is completely fireproof.
The auditorium is 81 feet wide and 162
feet long and has 1,247 plush loge seats.
Although the Centre is not as large as
several other Denver houses, it will boast
one of the largest CinemaScope screens
in the country, 24x60 feet. The house is
completely equipped with improved and
refined stereophonic sound system.

While it was too ear!3^ to be sure what

Schine, Lux and Others
Cited tor Contempt

BUFFALO : Federal Judge John Knight
last week ordered J. Meyer Schine, president
of Schine Theatres ; Elmer F. Lux, president
of Elmart Theatres and a former officer of
Darnell Theatres — both described as Schine
subsidiaries, and four other persons to ap-
pear in court May 24 to enter pleas to crim-
inal contempt charges. The contempt charges
were lodged by the Government March 10.
The defendants are accused of violating a
decree handed down by Judge Knight in
1949 in an antitrust action against the Schine
interests. The decree ordered the Schine or-
ganization to dispose of 39 theatres in three
years. According to the Government, Schine
has sold only 16 theatres covered by the
decree.

Pola-Lite Increases
Production Schedule

With exhibitor requests for the Pola-Lite
3-D single-track projection system received
from all sections of the country, the Pola-
Lite Company has increased its production
schedule for the attachment to more than
150 units a week, Miran Aprehamian, direc-
tor of production, announced. The com-

The front of the new Centre theatre, Den-
ver, as it appears on the architecFs draw-
ing board.

stars would be present for the opening,
Hollywood studios said they would co-
operate fully. Those who accepted invi-
tations were Charles Skouras, National
Theatres president; Spyros Skouras, 20th
Century-Fox president, and Charles
Brackett, president of the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

pany’s factory in East Orange, N. J., is
now equipped so that production can im-
mediately be increased to turn out more
than 250 units a week. Dr. Leon W. Wells,
inventor of the Pola-Lite 3-D System, has
improved the new unit which now offers
complete flexibility for exhibitors in show-
ing both 3-D and 2-D programs with the
unit remaining on their projection machine
in both cases.

Defense Dept, and COMPO
To Cite Bookers of Short

The 10 film company branch managers
in the exchange territory where the most
bookings are obtained for “The Price oi
Liberty” in proportion to the number of
conventional theatres and drive-ins operat-
ing in the area, will be honored by the U.S.
Department of Defense and the Council of
Motion Picture Organizations. The awards,
which will be signed by Defense Secretary
Wilson, will be presented about October 1
and will be based on bookings from now
until September 15, Charles Boasberg,
chairman of the general sales managers’
committee, said in New York this week.
“The Price of Liberty” is a salute to the
women in the armed services and the roles
they play in our national defense.

Jl’ASHINGTON : Film distributors Mon-
day asked the Supreme Court to rule that
the consent decrees in the Paramount case
are not admissible as evidence against them
in private anti-trust suits.

They said such a High Court ruling
would bring an end to many “untenable”
exhibitor suits now pending in lower courts.

The request was made by Loew's and
Twentieth Century-Fox in appealing to the'
High Court a decision of the Tenth Circuit
Court of Appeals. The Appeals Court de-
cision upheld a $300,000 damage award
against Loew’s, Fox and RKO and in favor
of Cinema Amusements, Inc., a Denver ex-
hibitor.

RKO also appealed the case to the high
court, but did not make the point on the
Paramount case since the lower courts had
not permitted the Paramount decrees to be
used as evidence against RKO. The lower
courts did permit the decrees to be intro-
duced as prinia facie evidence against
Loew’s and Fox. Cinema Amusements had
charged all three distributors with conspir-
ing with each other and with other dis-
tributors to deny first-run to its Broadway.

Loew’s and Fox argued that the Para-
mount case decrees involved a general con-
spiracy and had nothing to do with a specific
conspiracy in Denver and therefore should
not have been admitted in the Denver case.
It pointed out that this was a jury case, and
that admission of the Paramount decrees
prejudiced the jury to think of the distrib-
utors as convicted anti-trust law violators.

“There is a literal welter of private anti-
trust cases involving the motion picture in-
dustry now pending in and clogging the
calendars of the Federal Courts in every
section of the country,” the court was told.
“The number of such pending cases is in
excess of 200, and the total amount of dam-
ages sought is hundreds of millions of dol-
lars. In substantially all of those cases the
complaints indicate that plaintiffs intend to
rely upon the Paramount decree to convince
a jury that a conspiracy has been estab-
lished. An adjudication by this Court with
respect to the inadmissibility of the Para-
mount decree would bring to an end much
of this litigation which is bottomed upon this
untenable premise.”

The film companies said the High Court
had not reached this issue in the recent
Crest case, and that the issue was now
squarely before it in the Denver case.

National Theatres Elect May

The board of directors of National The-
atres this week elected Alan May treasurer,
Charles Skouras, president, announced in
Hollywood. Mr. May, formerly associated
with the Chase National Bank, joined the
circuit in 1934 and became assistant to the
late Henry C. Cox, whom he now succeeds.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 24, 1954

CINEMASCOPE LIKES THE
FRESH AIR OF DRIVE-INS

DESPITE EARLIER indications that the
nation’s drive-in patrons might have to get
along without CinemaScope this summer,
reports this week indicate that in at least
four areas of the country the vehicular trade
is offered CinemaScope with stereophonic
sound and, even more importantly, that
they are buying the idea with ready cash.

The reports are from Texas, Salt Lake
City, Chicago and Denver, and they are
happy news to Spyros Skouras, 20th-Fox
president, who has been unflinching in
carrying out the company’s policy with re-
spect to stereophony, indoors and out. Mr.
Skouras, in the annual report to stockhold-
ers, also was happy to announce this week
that CinemaScope pictures now are gross-
ing roughly 95 per cent higher than com-
parable conventional films.

Drive-in Debut Reported
Very Well Received

The news on CinemaScope’s debut at
Texas drive-ins came from exhibitor Claude
Ezell, who last week opened “The Robe”
at his 500-car Jacksboro drive-in. Fort
Worth, and his 750-car Gulf drive-in. Cor-
pus Christi. Both openings were said to
have been “enthusiastically’’ received by
press, pu’olic and other theatre folk. Util-
ized in both instances were a new in-car
stereophonic speaker unit, containing three
horns, developed by Mr. Ezell. The unit is
encased in a lightweiglrt plastic enclosure
attached to the dashboard or mirror.

Preceding both openings were strong ad-
vertising, publicity and exploitation cam-
paigns. Response was such that the Ezell

MCM CINEMASCOPE
SHORT DUE MAY 25

MGM announced this week it will
release May 25 its third Cinema-
Scope musical short, titled "The
MGM Jubilee Overture," and to be
available for exhibition with the com-
pany's third CinemaScope film, "The
Student Prince." Previously MGM
produced "Poet and Peasant" with
"Rose Marie" and "Merry Wives of
Windsor" with "Knights of the Round
Table." The "Jubilee Overture," di-
rected by Johnny Green, will contain
I I selections from top MGM musical
films of the past.

circuit is going ahead with CinemaScope
installations in its other drive-ins.

The Salt Lake City report was filed by
Erick C. Peterson, operator of the Motor
Vue drive-in, who announced that his third
week gross for “The Robe” rose to $9,000,
exceeding the take for the second week.
The three-week run also broke the previous
playing time record by 11 days.

CinemaScope’s Omaha debut was at the
750-car Airport drive-in, owned by J.
Robert Hoff, who also is general manager
of the Ballantyne Equipment Company. Mr.
Hoff reported that despite “near-freezing
weather” he had a full “house” for the open-
ing of “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” and that
all comments had been extremely favorable.

Two speakers per car are being used in
Mr. Hoff’s situation. Four speakers, two
gray and two blue, are on one post, with
customers instructed to put two speakers of
the same color in their cars. Said Mr.
Hoff ; “Patrons thrilled with giant screen
pictures and stereophonic effect. Many
patrons commented that drive-in stereo-
phonic sound gives an even better illusion
than the conventional indoor theatre.” The
business was such that Mr. Hoff added,
“We discovered that we’ll need two cashiers
for the concessions in the future.”

Two in CinemaScope
For Chicago Area

The Chicago area drive-in to show
CinemaScope was the Twin Open-Air
drive-in on the city’s south side, where 20th-
Fox’s “The Robe” was shown on the south
screen and Warnei Brothers’ “The Com-
mand” on the north screen. Cars were
equipped with two speakers, one attached to
each side of the car.

In Denver, the new 1,250-car Centennial
drive-in opened with “The Robe.” The
operation, a twin-screen affair, was built by
Television Theatres, Inc., and is said to be
the first to be equipped with Simplex stereo-
phonic sound.

In his remarks to 20th-Fox stockholders,
Mr. Skouras also pointed out that approxi-
mately 75 pictures in CinemaScope are in
release or about to be released in the near
future. With the availability of this prod-
uct, he said, “it is believed that installations
will be made at a greatly accelerated rate
during the forthcoming year.”

Perspecta Is Well Received in East

Perspecta Stereophonic Sound, the single optical track system
■which is sponsored by Loew's and has been adopted as well by
Paramount and Warner Brothers, was given its first public dem-
onstration in New York at Loew's State theatre last week before
an enthusiastic audience of exhibitors and other industry folk.

The show, which utilized three speakers behind the screen,
consisted of a Perspecta demonstration reel, two MGM sym-
phonic shorts — "Capriccio Italian" and, in CinemaScope, "The
Merry Wives of Windsor," and clips from MGM's "Julius
Caesar" and the company's first CinemaScope feature, "Knights
of the Round Table."

The demonstration reel, which introduced the program, em-
phasized what is heralded as Perspecta's strongest selling point:
that is, it is a "compatible" sound system in that prints equipped
with Perspecta tracks can be played conventionally through a
single horn or, in conjunction with a Perspecta integrator unit,
through two or more horns for directional effects. At the press
conference following the theatre showing, Arthur M. Loew, presi-
dent of Loew's International, said that the price for a Perspecta
Installation is considerably lower than for magnetic sound, since
the Perspecta integrator unit costs between $800 and $900, as
compared to the cost of the Penthouse installation for magnetic
stereophonic sound.

Mr. Loew said also that within the next two months all Loew
theatres abroad will be equipped with Perspecta sound, since
MGM has made it manda'iory that all its CinemaScope prints
for release abroad (which are equipped with Perspecta tracks)
must be played "stereophonically".

Asked why Loew's in the domestic market continues to release
its CinemaScope pictures only in magnetic stereophonic sound,
Mr. Loew answered that there are about 3,200 theatres in the
U. S. equipped for magnetic sound with only Loew's State
equipped for Perspecta. In response to another question, he
said that once there are 3,200 U. S. theatres equipped for
Perspecta, he would think it "wise" for MGM to switch to Per-
specta for its CinemaScope pictures domestically too.

As announced previously, all MGM pictures, other than its
CinemaScope productions, will be released with Perspecta sound
both in the U. S. and abroad. The same policy holds true of
Paramount and Warner Brothers, although the latter's specific
policy in regard to CinemaScope has not as yet been clearly
defined.

Also attending last week's press conference was C. Robert
Fine, president of Fine Sound, Inc., licensor of the system, and
Sherman Fairchild, president of Fairchild Recording Equipment
Company, the first manufacturer of Perspecta equipment.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

Across the nation, engagements in
New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San
Francisco, Philadelphia and Washing-
ton, have without exception, topped
all previous Paramount grosses or
played dollar for dollar with The
Greatest Show On Earth.” Word-of-
mouth is sweeping the country as these
cities add raves to the National maga-
zine and syndicate acclaim that this is
Danny’s funniest and best— the picture
that makes him one of the industry’s
top mass -appeal stars . . .

SOME OF THE

NATIONWIDE

KNOCK-OUT

NOTICES THAT

ARE BUILDING

BOXOFFICE

EXCITEMENT...

SONGS:

"KNOCK ON WOOD
"ALL ABOUT YOU"
"MONOHAN O’HAN

‘‘Highest rating. Only once in a
blue moon does a picture as funny
come our way. The laughter it
provokes is tonic to body and soul.
Bound to be another Capitol film
hit.” —N.Y. Daily News

‘Best Kaye ever had.”

—Look Magazine

“Orchidemy Award to Kaye.”

— Walter Winchell

“One of the funniest!”

—Life Magazine

“Hilarious!” —Louella Parsons, INS

“Funniest Kaye ever made.”

—Parents' Magazine

“Funniest comedy in years.”

—Los Angeles Herald Express

“Danny at his madcap best.”

—San Francisco News

“Funniest of the year— Kaye’s
best!” —Boston Post

“Boxoffice bonanza.”

—Hollywood Reporter

“Top grosser in mass market.”

—Film Bulletin

Boxoffice Opportunity
Knocks With All These
Paramount Big Ones:

ELEPHANT WALK

(Technicolor)

CASANOVA’S
BIG NIGHT

(Technicolor)

THE NAKED JUNGLE

(Technicolor)

CEA LAVDS WB
SOEAD TESTS

Resolution Voices Thanks
for Recent Experiment;
Caution Still Urged

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : The General Council of the
Cinematograph Exhibitors Association meet-
ing here last week adopted a resolution
recording the Association’s appreciation of
the recent tests here, sponsored by Warners,
of single optical track versus four magnetic
track stereophonic sound.

This came as surprise was evinced here
at cable advices from New York that the
Rank Organisation had gone in with
Warner Brothers, Paramount and MGM for
the adoption of Perspecta sound track in
the making of future films.

Talks About License

It is understood that the Rank interest
in the process to date is that of equipment
makers only and not that of film producers.
It is known that Thomas A. Law, managing
director of Rank’s British Optical and
Precision Engineers’ Ltd., has been dis-
cussing with MGM the issue of a license to
his company for the manufacture of Per-
specta equipment.

The sound process was heard in Europe
for the first time at a festival screening
of “Knights of the Round Table’’ at Cannes.
Pligh praise was there accorded the sound
value of the system.

Leslie Knopp, C.E.A.’s technical adviser,
has made a further report to the Associa-
tion in the light of recent American an-
nouncements of new stereophonic or ana-
morphic systems. Dr. Knopp continues to
counsel caution among exhibitors until
some measure of standardisation or inter-
changeability is achieved.

Cites General Opinion

He deals also with the recent Warner
test and says, in part : “The consensus of
opinion seems to be (a) The stereophonic
sound was superior in quality and had a
greater “fullness” of tone, (b) The single-
track optical sound with a single speaker
was adequate both in respect of legibility
of speech and general quality of music re-
production. The view has been widely ex-
pressed that as far as speech is concerned,
there is practically no difference in the two
systems between legibility or quality of the
sound.

“It was generally thought the improved
quality of music reproduction would not be
widely appreciated by the public, and that
the qualitative superiority of the stereo-
phonic sound system was not commensurate
with its high installation and maintenance
costs.”

Dr. Knopp records that the test was

carried out on a strictly fair and impartial
basis. Western Electric, he reports, was
responsible for the installation, alignment
and adjustment of the entire sound equip-
ment.

Reluctance Increasing

In view of the Knopp report and the cur-
rent confusion of systems in America re-
luctance grows among exhibitors to install
either stereophonic or anamorphic systems.

Some of the Rank Odeons in the London
suburban areas will shortly be playing “The
Robe.” These will be included in the 75
houses which Mr. Rank originally under-
took to equip with CinemaScope. No fur-
ther installations are contemplated by the
Rank group.

C.E.A.’s General Council this week for-
mally noted Chancellor Richard Austen
Butler’s Entertainment Tax concessions and
decided to write thanking him for the re-
mission which he has made and “which are
accepted in the hopeful expectation of con-
cessions to follow in future years.”

General felicitation being the order of the
day, the council also recorded its gratitude
to Sir Alexander King who had led the tax
campaign and to several other allies in the
fight, and Robert Clark, president of the
producers’ association, who had helped.
“Realist” exhibitors then got down to con-
sideration of their strategy in the immedi-
ate future, particularly on the question of
Who Takes What — and How Much — out of
the tax windfall.

Meet on Allocations

The standing committee of the Four
Trade Associations had a meeting this
Wednesday which afforded a convenient
and early occasion for decisions in regard
to the division of the spoils. The debate
was to be a three-cornered affair with pro-
ducers seeking the assurance of that mini-
mum of £3 millions which they demand from
the Eady Pool and distributors (notably
the Americans, be it said) hanging on des-
perately to whatever the ta.x remissions
bring them.

Following their tax triumph, exhibitors
are in a peculiarly militant mood. On the
face of it, they are in a strong tactical
position for at least they — unlike either pro-
ducers or distributors — have consistently
had all their cards face up in their talks
with Whitehall.

The report of the committee of investiga-
tion into the laboratories’ dispute here is
now in the hands of the Labour Minister.
After his consideration of the committee’s
recommendations copies of the document
will be handed to the parties in the dispute.
It was anticipated that the recommenda-

tions would be made public at the end of
this week.

A representative gathering of trade and
local notabilities saw Lord Provost of Glas-
gow Thomas A. Kerr present Sir Alexander
King with the Arthur M. Loew plaque at a
luncheon in Glasgow.

Among those present were Charles Gold-
smith, MGM’s assistant managing director ;
Mr. Tom Johnston, former Secretary of
State for Scotland; Dr. Honeyman, Lord
Rector of Glasgow University, and a large
number of exhibitors headed by George
Singleton, chairman of the Scottish Branch
of the C.E.A.

A.llied A-wtists

In JPilm Deal

A joint production and distribution deal
between 20th Century-Fox and Allied
Artists involving two pictures in Cinema-
Scope, “The Adventures of Hajji Baba”
and “The Black Prince,” was announced
last week.

Under the partnership arrangement both
pictures will be made by Allied Artists.
Allied Artists will have sole distribution
rights to “The Black Prince” in the West-
ern Hemisphere and 20th-Fox will have the
Western Llemisphere rights to “The Adven-
tures of Hajji Baba.” Both pictures will
be distributed by 20th-Fox in the Eastern
Hemisphere.

“Hajji Baba” was scheduled to start pro-
duction on the coast last week. It is a
Walter Wanger picture in color by Techni-
color with Elaine Stewart and John Derek
heading the cast. “The Black Prince,” also
Technicolor, will be produced by Walter
Mirisch, with filming slated to start in Lon-
don June 15.

Participating in the contract discussions
for 20th-Fox were Spyros Skouras, presi-
dent, and A1 Lichtman, director of distribu-
tion ; for Allied Artists, Steve Broidy, presi-
dent, Mr. hlirisch and Mr. Wanger.

Allied Artists Shifts
Canadian Distribution

Allied Artists has changed its distribution
arrangements in Canada. International Film
Distributors, Ltd., will handle its pictures
under the name. Allied Artists Productions,
Ltd. The firm’s products have been handled
by J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors, Ltd.,
using a special sales force headed by Frank
Vaughan. The arrangement with Interna-
tional is for five years. It includes 16mm
film. The firm’s president is Nat Taylor.
Other officers are D. V. Rosen, general man-
ager ; H. F. Mandell, secretary-treasurer.
Negotiators for Allied Artists were George
D. Burrows, executive vice-president and
treasurer ; Ed Morey, vice-president ; and
Oscar Hanson, representative for the com-
pany in Canada.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 24, 1954

REMBIJSCH ASKS ALL-OVT
AID FOR PRODFCT PLAX

COAST EXHIBITOR ATTACKS
DECREES AS "IMPOSITIONS"

Writes TOA*s Reade Any
Other Plan Will Get the
Support of Exhibitors

INDIANAPOLIS : A call for joint ex-
hibition support of Allied States’ or the
Theatre Owners of America plans to boost
motion picture production was sounded in
an open letter by Trueman T. Rembusch,
president of Allied Theatre Owners of In-
diana, last weekend.

Mr. Rembusch’s open letter, addressed to
Walter Reade, Jr., TOA president, ex-
pressed appreciation of the latter’s support
of the Allied-Makelim plan. “If TOA,” the
letter declared, “comes out with a plan that
will increase production there will be sub-
stantial and tangible Allied support for the
plan by playoff of the pictures.”

Sees “Substantial Support"

Of Plan by TOA Members

“I believe too,” Mr. Rembusch added,
“that due to the emergency created by the
product shortage, and due to your example,
there will be substantial and tangible sup-
port of the Allied-Makelim plan by TOA
members.” Mr. Rembusch prefaced these re-
marks by stating that he could not speak
officially for National Allied, but could
speak for Indiana Allied, adding that he
also could “echo the sentiments of many
Allied exhibitors across the land.”

Copies of the letter, dated April 16, were
addressed to Leonard Goldenson, president
of American Broadcasting - Paramount
Theatres; Abram F. Myers, Allied general
counsel, and Ben Marcus, Allied president,
among others. Copies also went to the
trade press. Mr. Rembusch expressed
thanks in his letter for Mr. Goldenson’s
laudatory comments regarding the Makelim
plan. He opened his letter with comments
on a story in a trade publication, indicating
that TOA plans to vie with Allied in pro-
duction projects.

Calling the article “distributor inspired,”
Mr. Rembusch declared, “Families fight,
yes, but when the house is burning down
all join in to carry water to put the fire
out. I believe,” he continued, “the exhib-
itors in Allied and TOA realize that their
house is burning down due to the artificial
product shortage.”

Hits “Inflated" Costs and
“Pork Barrel" Technique

The Indiana Allied president then hit
what he called “pork barrel” techniques of
the majors, referring to “inflated” costs of
pictures, “freezing out” of independent pro-
ducers by the majors, and the control by
the major companies of the distribution out-
lets. He also expressed his conviction that
not nearly enough pictures are being pro-
duced in Hollywood.

A strongly-worded letter to Andrew
F. Schoeppel, chairman of the Monop-
oly Sub-Committee of the Senate Se-
lect Committee on Small Business, has
been sent to Albert Hanson, chairman
of the Trade Relations Committee of
the Southern California Theatre Own-
ers Association, seeking relief “from
the burdens and impositions thrust
upon us by the so-called Paramount
decrees negotiated by the Department
of Justice.”

In his letter Mr. Hanson pointed out
that he was in favor of self-regulation
in business. However, he declared,
“when the entertainment of 160,000,000
people is turned over to eight compa-
nies by the courts, with the approval
of the Justice Department, and 12,000
or 15,000 small business men are put
at the mercy of that group, I feel that
the Justice Department should take
some action and if they are remiss then
the Senate Select Committee on Small
Business should recommend to the
Congress that a Government commis-
sion be placed over this business to
regulate same.”

The letter, mailed March 23 and re-
leased this week, was prompted by a
letter forwarded to Sen. Schoeppel by
Assistant Attorney General Stanley
N. Barnes, dated March 5, which was
in answer to a previous letter to the
Senator from Mr. Hanson.

Stating that he has read many pages
of opinions handed down by the Anti-

Mr. Rembusch then referred to TOA’s
projected board meeting this June. “Please
convey to your board,” he told Mr. Reade,
“my expression of deep interest in any plan
that they may formulate to increase produc-
tion of motion pictures. For with the ex-
hibitor’s house burning down, unless all ex-
hibitors join together to carry ‘buckets of
production water’ the exhibitor’s house and
exhibitor will be consumed,” Mr. Rembusch
said in conclusion.

Ad Cites Film Benefits
To Retail Businesses

The power of the film theatre to lure peo-
ple out of their homes and into shopping
neighborhoods is linked to the newspapers’
advertising power in the ninth ad of the
Council of Motion Picture Organizations to

Trust Division of the Justice Depart-
ment, Mr. Hanson declared, “Every-
thing I have read goes to prove that
the Paramount consent decree took
care of the major distributors and, with
the exception of a few independent
theatre operators who were able to
obtain first run pictures by threats of
suit, the decrees have worked out to
the disadvantage of the small circuit
and independent theatre owners. We
are the victims of a market of scarcity
and the creation of a monopoly by
these decrees through which the buy-
ing power, which we formerly had, has
been taken away from us and we are
now in a position where we cannot
trade in the ordinary business sense
on a buyer and seller basis which is
fair to us.”

He said it was true, “as stated in
Mr. Barnes’ letter, that television is
competitive to the industry.” However,
he said, “it is not the answer to the
closing of all the theatres that have
been forced to close, A great propor-
tion lies with the distributors,” he as-
serted.

Mr. Hanson, concluding his letter,
suggested that the Senate Small Busi-
ness Committee and Justice Depart-
ment observers sit in at the arbitration
meeting called for May in New York
by the Motion Picture Association of
America “so they will be able to get
the feel of what is actually transpiring
in our business.”

be published in Editor and Publisher this
week. Headed by “Movies Get ’Em Out of
the House,” the ad states that every time the
family goes to its favorite movie theatre the
other retail establishments in the area bene-
fit— if not from direct purchases then from
the display of goods and their names. For
the movie theatre, it adds, shares its custom-
ers; indeed, after luring the family out of
the house, the film theatre probably gets for
itself less of the shopping dollar than the
family spends elsewhere.

Donohue Quits Paramount

James J. Donohue, Paramount central
division sales manager, has resigned, effec-
tive May 15, it was announced in New York
Wednesday. At that time, no successor had
yet been named.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

THE "MAGNIFICENr^ CAMPAIGN IS LAUNCHED
HOLLYWOOD PRESS PREVIEW APRIL 20
NEW YORK PRESS AND EXHIBITOR PREVIEW APRIL 26

SCHEDULED FOR RELEASE IN AUGUST

From the company that gave you
"The Glenn Miller Story" comes a dramatic achievement

that reaches new heights of greatness...
The Universal-International production

of Lloyd C. Douglas’
MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION^'
superb in color by TECHNICOLOR

starring JANE WYMAN * ROCK HUDSON

BARBARA RUSH with Ag nes Moorehead, Otto Kruger an-d Gregg Palmer

Directed by Douglas Sirk • Screenplay by Robert Blees • Produced by Ross Hunter

FOX SCOPE BIG
m AUSTRALIA

by FRANK O'CONNELL

in Sydney

CinemaScope has definitely clicked in
Australia.

“The Robe” has run upward of 11 weeks
in Sydney, 10 in Melbourne and eight each
in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. These fig-
ures, particularly for Brisbane, Adelaide and
Perth, are almost unbelievable. There have
been no runs to approach these in the post-
war period. More than 1,000,000 people in
Australia have now seen “The Robe.” This
is approximately one person out of every
nine.

Neither 3-D nor any kind of so-called
wide-screen presentations received a re-
sponse comparable to that for “The Robe.”
Nevertheless, outside of the Hoyts organi-
zation, there appears to be no great hurry
among the exhibitors to install the new
medium.

While CinemaScope pictures (“The
Robe,” “How to Marry a Millionaire” and
“Beneath the 12-Mile Reef”) continue to
get the lion’s share of the box office, there
are some standard dimension films doing re-
markable business, the most outstanding by
far being “The Moon Is Blue” with up-
wards of 10 weeks at the Sydney Century.
An interesting point about this picture is
that the advertising campaign has been noth-
ing unusual, and there has been no outcry
by any moralist group against the picture.

Another picture which has astounded cir-
cuit chiefs is “The Malta Story,” which
went into the Sydney Capitol on a new pol-
icy. The Capitol previously had been a
weekly change house, showing mostly re-
vivals and second runs. “The Malta Story,”
however, was booked to coincide with the
Royal visit and advertised for a long run.
Little hope was felt that it would last more
than a couple of weeks, but response was
such that a six-week run was indicated.

Australia’s first drive-in theatre opened
recently in Melbourne. This is the operation
in which Hoyt has substantial interest. Re-
ports are that it is an unequalified success.
Operators of conventional cinemas are
watching the experiment closely and with a
certain amount of trepidation, wondering
just what kind of competition the open-air
theatre will offer.

Victoria has decided to reimpose price
controls on theatre admissions. It has been
announced officially that a new scale of
charges and the date of operation will be
fixed after a conference between Government
officials. Labor Premier Cain said that re-
control would lead to lower charges at some
theatres. He also reported that all but one
of the theatre owners had answered the Gov-
ernment request as to why admission prices
had been raised after the abolition of the en-

tertainment tax, but, he added, these replies
were considered unsatisfactory.

Jack Graham, secretary of the Cinemato-
graph Exhibitors’ Association, has said that
reimposition of controls is unjustified. Since
1939, he said, admission prices have risen
an average of 68 per cent, against Mel-
bourne’s cost-of-living increase of 201 per
cent. It is believed that top level industry
representation may be made at the last min-
ute to halt recontrol.

Nearly a quarter of a million dollars
worth of valuble film property was destroyed
when the Film Centre in Stanley Street,
Brisbane, was gutted by fire recently. Dam-
age was conservatively estimated at £100,-
000, and among the loss was theatre equip-
ment, films, records and cash. The Centre
was the old Cremorne theatre, recently reno-
vated and converted into offices and occupied
by most of Brisbane’s film exchanges.

SWEDEN

by LARS ERIC SVENSSON

in Stockholm

Twentieth Century-Fox’s second Cinema-
Scope production, “How to Marry a Mil-
lionaire,’’played a number of weeks at the
Rigoletto here, the same theatre where “The
Robe” opened a few days before Christmas.
Public response has been somewhat better in
both instances than the critical reception.
Outside of Stockholm, exhibitors are going
very slowly in equipping for CinemaScope,
remembering as they do some unhappy ex-
periences with 3-D. It is reported, however,
that Stockholm’s second run Park theatre
soon will equip for the anamorphic process
and become a first run house. The Rival
will show “The Robe” second run.

MEXICO

by LUIS BECERRA CELIS

in Mexico City

Life insurance for patrons, similar to that
in force for transportation companies’ pas-
sengers, but to be paid for by the exhibitors,
is advocated for theatres throughout Mexico
by the powerful National Cinematographic
Industry Workers Union (STIC). The
action, STIC explains, was prompted by the
recent" fire that destroyed the 1,600-seat Cine
Granat, local subsequent run theatre, and,
though nobody was hurt, did spell a close
brush with disaster. Exhibitors say that
there must be some other way than having
them bear all the cost of providing the in-
surance.

Sale for a reported $700,000 of their leases
to the Cines Florida, Opera, Ermita, Colo-
nial and Coloso, local subsequent run thea-
tres with a total seatage of 25,000, was maae
by the brothers Samuel and Oscar Granat

to Manuel and Ernesto Espinosa Iglesias,
Gabriel Alarcon and Luis Castro Vazquez,
important exhibitors here. Sale of the thea-
tres, which have an estimated value of
$3,000,000, was the most important deal of
its kind here in recent years.

The Florida and Ermita will be run by
Messrs. Espinosa Iglesias and Castro Vaz-
quez along with their Operadora de Teatros
circuit. Mr. Alarcon will run the Opera,
Colonial and Coloso with his Cadena de Oro
circuit. The Granats have said that the sale
does not mean that they are retiring from
exhibition and intimate that they have plans
afoot to build one or more new theatres here.

V _

Manuel Espinosa Iglesias, a top distribu-
tor and exhibitor, has been refused an offi-
cial permit to organize a company to dis-
tribute 40 films in the United States. In
denying the permission, the Ministry of the
Interior indicated that Exportmex is capable
of all Mexican film distribution abroad.

The local Exhibitors Union has asked the
City Government and President Adolfo Ruiz
Cortines to reject all permits for the build-
ing of new cinemas. The Union contends
that there already are too many cinemas in
Mexico City, 150, and that although the
local population is more than 3,500,000, the
theatre-going public makes competition be-
tween theatres too difficult for the good of
all. Theatre operating costs have increased
400 per cent in recent years ; business is
not good for all exhibitors, and the admis-
sion price ceiling of 34 and 46 cents make
things tough for most, the Union said.

“Limelight” was the top grossing picture
here in 1953, bringing in $232,000 in a six-
week run at the select Cine Roble at a 46-
cent top and in the eight-week move-over at
the Cine Palacio at a 34-cent top. Cinema-
Scope’s debut here continues to be most
lucrative. 20th-Fox’s “The Robe” still is
doing fine business at the Cine Mexico
after grossing a record $86,255 in 28 days
at 46-cent top.

ITALY

by DR. ARGEO SANTUCCI

in Rome

The Levant Film Company has been estab-
lished here for the dubbing of Italian pic-
tures into Greek, Turkish, Arabian and
Egyptian versions, the bulletin of Italian
Films Export announces. The move is de-
signed to aid Italian films to penetrate Near
Eastern countries where showings in orig-
inal-language versions or with subtitles have
been rather less than satisfactory.

About 1,500 permits for export of Italian
films were granted by the State Department
for Foreign Trade during 1953, it has been
announced. Portugal was first on the list,
having imported 75 features in the year, fol-
lowed by Egypt with 67, Switzerland 55,
Venezuela 51, Uruguay 45, France 43 and
West Germany 39. The United States was
15th on the list with 28 films and Britain
20th with 17 films. Profits from the exports
last year are estimated at $6,500,000, an in-
crease of 70 per cent over 1952.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 24. 1954

Subscriber
TV Culled
3€ediu Been

Subscription television will tabe nothing
away from present TV and will increase the
number of stations as well as the usefulness
of the media as an advertising medium,
Dr. Millard C. Faught, economic consultant
to the Zenith Radio Corp., stated in New
York Monday before the New York Society
of Security Analysts.

Characterizing subscription TV as an
"electronic distribution service for the de-
livery of a product such as pictures, legiti-
mate shows, sports events, etc., from a seller
to a buyer for a fee,” Mr. Faught declared
that the public has clearly shown that it
would like such a service permanently.

The pay-as-you-see-it television will cre-
ate new bonanzas for the motion picture in-
dustry that would tax the industry’s own
superlatives, Dr. Faught asserted. Phone-
vision, which has been studied since 1931
by Zenith engineers, would become the basis
for a whole new industry, he said.

Dr. Faught declared he was certain ap-
proval would be given by the FCC to Zenith
and WOR-TV, New York, to conduct
field tests beginning May 31. Authoriza-
tion was applied for last Friday. Dr.
Alexander Ellett, Zenith research vice-
president, said if authorization is granted
the Phonevision system would be operated
in New York without the use of telephone
lines and the decoding signal would be
broadcast over the air instead of conducted
to the television receiver by wire.

Conduct COMPO Study
Of Group Insurance

Sam Pinanski, a member of the Council
of Motion Picture Organizations triumvi-
rate, who also is a director of the John Han-
cock Life Insurance Company, is conduct-
ing for COMPO a study of group and
liability insurance for industry members.
He is expected to report the results of his
study at the next COMPO triumvirate
meeting shortly. Robert W. Coyne,
COMPO special counsel, explained the
study was undertaken in response to nu-
merous requests COMPO had received for
information on the subject.

Myers, Makelim to Address
Rocky Mountain Allied Unit

Abram F. Myers, National Allied general
counsel, and Hal R. Makelim, independent
producer, will be two of the speakers at the
annual convention. May 3, of the Allied
Rocky Mountain Independent Theatres. The
meeting will be at the Park Hill Country
Club. Ben Marcus, National Allied presi-
dent, and Benny Berger, of Minneapolis, also
may attend. Mr. Makelim is expected to ex-
plain further the plan for Allied-sponsored
features.

LOBBY DISPLAY FOR
WILL ROGERS HOSPITAL

SWEET MUSIC for the industry’s own
charity, the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital.
Tlx lobby display is at the Kentucky Tfyea-
tre, Louisville, owned by Sam Sivitow, a
member of the hospital’s board of directors.
It features a juke box donated by the South-
ern Automatic Music Company and records
contributed by the Variety Record Shop. It
went into action for the Kentucky’s run of
Universal’s ”Glenn Miller Story.”

Canadian Exhibitors Ask
Inquiry Into Shortage

TORONTO : The product shortage result-
ing from the advent of new screen tech-
nicpies such as CinemaScope has prompted
the Alberta Theatres Association to ask its
regional members to have the matter
brought to the attention of the Motion Pic-
ture Industry Council of Canada. In its
letter to member exhibitors, the Association
points out that many independent theatres
"in this province have been playing product
from some of the major companies for 25
years and over and now are in the position
of not being able to secure product from
them on account of not having the necessary
equipment.”

Philadelphia Tent Honors
U.A. and Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford, one of the founders and
co-owner of Lhiited Artists, will be guest
of honor at the gala United Artists 35th
anniversary testimonial dinner to be spon-
sored by the Variety Club, Tent 13, in
Philadelphia May 5, it was announced in
Philadelphia this week by Jay Emanuel,
chairman of the dinner committee. Honor-
ing Miss Pickford and UA at the Bellevue-
Stratford Hotel dinner will be distribution,
production and exhibition leaders. Miss
Pickford, now a member of the company’s
board of trustees, formed the company in
1919 with Douglas Eairbanks, Charles
Chaplin and D. W. Griffith.

AB^Buru.JVet
10.000 in
ist Quurter

In a report mailed this week to stock-
holders of American Broadcasting-Para-
mount Theatres, Inc., Leonard H. Golden-
son, president, announced that estimated
consolidated earnings for the first quarter
of 1954 amounted to $1,119,000, including
$1,039,000 from operations, and $71,000
from capital gains. Earnings per share
after preferred dividends of $^33,393 were
23 cents Jrom operations and 25 cents in-
cluding operations and capital gains.

These earnings compare with the 1953
first quarter earnings of $5,732,000 includ-
ing $1,480,000 from operations and $4,-

252.000 from capital gains. Earnings per
share, after preferred dividends, were 35
cents from operations and $1.42 including
operations and capital gains.

The 1953 figures include the earnings
through February 9, 1953, of station

WBKB in the amount of $103,000 (after
taxes). This station was sold at the time
of the merger and the 1953 capital gains
arose principally from this sale.

Mr. Goldenson reported that theatre
grosses for the first quarter were close to
1953 levels for the same period. He said
that theatre earnings, however, were off
due to continued high firm rental costs, an
increase of $325,000 in depreciation charges
over the first quarter of 1953 and the effects
of television for the first time in many of
the smaller towns, particularly in the south
and midwest.

Stockholders Support Rackmil
Decca Records Management

Milton R. Rackmil, president of Decca
Records as well as of Universal Pictures, last
week won support for his policies in the
first named company, from its stockholders.
Mr. Rack-mil’s management had been under
heavy and well publicized fire for several
previous weeks. The vote was 937,000 to
147,850. Mr. Rackmil commented; "Our
stockholders seemed cognizant of the char-
acter of the opposition and the weakness of
their charges. We would like to assure them
that their confidence will be rewarded.” The
group opposing Mr. Rackmil was led by
ousted director George Lloyd. Elected di-
rectors in addition to Mr. Rackmil were
Leonard W. Schneider, executive vice-presi-
dent of Decca ; Robert W. Leo, Harold L.
Thorple, and Samuel 11. Vallance. Stock-
holders approved management’s proposal to
increase authorized caiutal stock from

1.500.000 shares to 2,500,000.

Reade Opens in Trenton

Walter Reade Theatres opened its second
drive-in theatre in the Trenton area Satur-
day evening. It is the Trenton Drive-In, one-
half mile south of Robbinsville. It holds 800
cars, has a 40 by 60-foot screen.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

as Steve... a gangster killer,
more deadly because he can
be charming.

as Chris. ..beautiful, fear-
ridden, in a mental fog, ter-
rified by 0 man out of her post.

os Sheriff Lafe...last of the
old Western breed.

as Randy. ..lovable, whole-
some, in love with love and a
wonderful world.

as Josh... a young archaeol-
ogist, his love for Chris has
come too late to help her.

^ RON HAGERTHY

f as Hack... an engaging young
I Westerner, overwhelmingly in
[ love with Randy.

* EDGAR BUCHANAN

Screen Play by WARREN DUFF * Based on the Novel by THE GORDONS

Associate Producer- Director WILLIAM SEITER
A REPUBLIC PICTURE

i ^

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

JL'LES LEVY, Arthur Gardner and Arnold
Laven, currently engaged in making “Case
File F. B. I.” for Edward Small, produced
“Whthout Warning" for $85,000 liack in
1951, a feat of economic magic even then,
and sold a half-interest in it to the seasoned
and successful Sol Lesser for $150,000, a
feat of still greater stature l;)y most stand-
ards.

That was their first picture. Their sec-
ond, "Vice Squad,” produccnl on an un-
disclosed hut assuredly not seven-figure
budget, is expected to gross about $1,700,-
000, worldwide, at the rate it’s going now.

Latest Undertaking Also
Has Important Names

It’s much too early to hazard guesses
about the present undertaking, but it’s to be
noted that this one has names as well as
a title to lull with. These include Brode-
rick Crawford, Ruth Roman, Martha Hyer,
Casey Adams, Ken Tobey and Marisa
Pavan. The Messrs. Levy, Gardner and
Lavan are moving ahead in their chosen
careers.

These are young men. They are young-
veterans, continuing in civilian life the
intimate association they experienced in
World War 11. They got along well to-
gether then. They are getting along well
now. They decided while in service, as so
many do, on the work they would do and
the way they would do it when the war
would be over ; and they are activating, as
so many do not, their decision. It was
not an overnight matter. They spent five
years, separately, preparing for the joint
venture that turned out to be “Without
Warning.”

Young Levy prepared himself for the re-
sponsibilities of producing by hiring out as
assistant to Edward L. Alperson, one of
the few truly all-around motion picture men
( distribution, exhibition, production — see p.
4, Quigley Publications’ Motion Picture and
Television Almanac, 1953-54) in this great
and difficult industry. Anybody who wouldn’t
have learned Show Business in that job
couldn’t have been listening. Young Levy
listened, looked, learned.

Gardner Learned Technique
In the Realism School

Young Gardner studied in a different
scbool. His mentors were the Brothers
King — Maurice, Franklin and Herman, in
chronological order- — who came to pictures
from the vending machine business in con-
sequence of that flurry of interest in slot-
machine cinema back there around 1940
or so ( they manufactured the mechanisms,
known as Talkitone Soundie Projectors) and
whose special forte adowu their production

years has been the melodrama of realism:
“Dillinger,” “Suspense,” "The Gangster,”
etc. The melodrama of realism was and is
the Levy-Gardner-Laven forte also. The
Kings were and are its past masters.

Young Laven was tp be thte director of the
organization’s films. You learn directing by
working with and for as many of the great
directors (their roster changes but slightly
over the decades) as intimately and earnestly
as you may. A way to do this is by working-
on scripts, which young Laven did in the
beginning, and by serving as dialogue di-
rector, which he did anon.

Separately the three young veterans of
their country’s service learned a great many
things, not all of them coming into their
joint operation with precisely identical con-
victions about each ai-id all of the policies
and procedures they were to observe when
they began using their own money or
equivalent in production, but in solid agree-
ment, nevertheless, on certain fundamentals.

Agreed on Value of Using
Handy Locales for Films

They held in common the opinion that
there’s no point in dashing off to a far
place to shoot a background, or in building
a costly set to fit a persnikity script, if the
scene can be shot as well in Los Angeles
(as their’s are) and a standing building can
be used (as the Subway Terminal Building,
Orbach’s Department Store and the Bank
of America, for quick instance, have been
used). It is due to this kind of reasoning
on the part of these and other young men,
such as Jack Webb and Stanley Meyer of
“Dragnet,” that Los Angeles lately has
displaced New York, Chicago, London and
other older metropoli as the setting favored
by melodramatists the world around.
( Chamber of Commerce approves heartily of
the whole thing, too.)

These young men may or may not be first
to reach the market with a film based on
the F. B. L, which has become a most
popular topic for fictionists these days for
reasons of headline prominence, but they
will be trying their best. On the basis of
their past performances, their chances of
making- it, and of making it pay off, for
e.xhibitors as well as for themselves, look
bright.

PRODUCTION companies started four
pictures .and finished five others to wind up
the week with 29 facing the lenses.

Harry Joe Brown began producing “Vio-
lent Men,” starring- Top Ten-er Randolph
Scott, for Columbia release. It’s in color by
Technicolor, under direction of Bruce Hum-
berstoue, and has Jocelyn Brando, Richard
Boone, Leo Gordon and others in the sup-
porting cast.

Nicholas Nayiack began shooting “Rogue

Cop,” MGM, which has Robert Taylor,
Janet Leigh, Anne Francis, Steve Forrest
Olive Carey and others in the cast directed
by reliable Roy Rowland.

Benedict Bogeaus started "Where the
Wind Dies,” independent, for RKO release,
with Allan Dwan directing Cornel Wilde,
Yvonne DeCarlo, John Dierkes and a large
cast. It is in production in SuperScope and
color by Technicolor.

William F. Broidy went to work on
"Wanted by the F. B. I.,” for Allied Art-
ists, with Dorothy Malone and Keith Larsen
topping a cast which is directed by Harold
Schuster.

iiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiii

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (4)

A.A.

Wanted by the F.B.I.
COLUMBIA

Violent Men (Techni-
color)

MGM
Rogue Cop

RKO

Where the Wind Dies
(Bogeaus; Super-
Scope; Technicolor)

COMPLETED (5)

A.A.

Sons of the Navy

LIPPERT

Big Chase

20TH-FOX

Broken Lance (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)

U-l

Nevada Gold (Techni-
color)

Francis Joins the Wacs

SHOOTING (25)

A.A.

Adventures of Haaji
Baba (CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

COLUMBIA

Bandits (CinemaScope;

Technicolor)

Long Gray Line

(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

Joseph and His Brethren
(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

Three for the Show
(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

independent

Bandit (Shaftel; Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)
Night Music (Dowling;

Eastman color)

Turmoil (Haas)

Case File F.B.I. (Eclipse)

LIPPERT

Race for Life (Hammer)
MGM

Green Fire (Eastman
color)

Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT
Strategic Air Command
( VistaVision; Techni-
color)

Mambo (Ponti-De
Laurentis)

RKO

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

20TH-FOX

Untamed (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)

Egyptian (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)

U.A.

Suddenly

Vera Cruz (Hecht-Lan-
caster; SuperScope;
Technicolor)

U-i

Shadow Valley (Techni-
color)

So This Is Paris (Techni-
color)

WARNER

Battle Cry (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

Helen of Troy (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

Land of the Pharoahs
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

lllllllllllllllllllllllllillilltlllllllllllllllilllllllllllll

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

BEN SHARPSTEEN,
below, who produces
Walt Disney's True Life
Adventures, Money
Making Short Subjects.

GORDON DOUG-
LAS, a Champion
Director.

Fame A wards
In Hollywood

HERALDING each Spring, the creative men and women of
screen, radio and television received formal notification of
their elevation to a particular measure of fame. It is their
recognition, by exhibitors and also by radio and television
editors, as best in their fields. The HERALD, in association
with "Fame," the annual, and the "Motion Picture Daily",
which polls the editors, are responsible. To each individual
goes an AWARD OF ACHIEVEMENT. Some of the winners
are seen here.

EDWARD SELZER, Warner
Cartoons head, with his
awards for Bugs Bunny,
Merrie Melodies, and
Looney Tunes.

JAMES STEWART,
Money Making Star.

HENRY KOSTER, a Cham-
pion Director.

CHARLES BRACK-
ETT, a Money Mak-
ing Producer, holds
his award, above.
At the left, another
Champion Pro-
ducer, TED RICH-
MOND. And, at
the right, GALE
STORM, whom
critics in "Fame's"
poll chose the most
promising female
star on radio.

FIBBER McGEE AND
MOLLY, also named in
the annual poll of tele-
vision and radio editors,
hold their award tor be-
ing the best radio com-
edy team. At right,
MICHAEL CURTIZ, a
Champion of Champion
Producers. Below, left.
Top Money Making Star
GARY COOPER, Cham-
pion Director NORMAN
TAUROG; and, right.
Champion Director AN-
THONY MANN.

f^eopie in ^lie ^ew6

Eric Johnston and Kenneth W. Clark,
president and vice-president of Motion
Picture Association of America, respec-
tively, left Washington for Hollywood
last week. They were expected to return
this weekend.

Leonard Erikson has resigned effective
April 30 as head of the Government’s
“Voice of America” overseas radio pro-
gram. He will rejoin McCann-Erickson,
advertising agency.

Sam Shain, a member of the staff of the
Council of Motion Picture Organizations
since September, 1952, has resigned to de-
vote his time to “Space and Time,” a trade
information service.

Ned Clarke, Walt Disney Productions for-

Hold Eas+er Services
At Midwest Drive-Ins

KANSAS CITY: The Highway 40 Drive-
in at Kansas City, where C. O. Kirby, man-
ager, initiated the idea of Easter sunrise
services nine years ago, under the spon-
sorship of the Lutheran Mission Associa-

eign sales manager, sailed from New York
Wednesday for a tour of the company’s
European office and RKO branches in
England and on the Continent.

Gus A. Metzger was tendered a luncheon in
his honor in Hollywood Tuesday by the
Southern California Theatre Owners As-
sociation in recognition of his 10 years of
service as board chairman and in tribute
to his 40-year record in exhibition.

Harry K. McWilliams, advertising and
public relations director for Screen Gems,
Inc., has announced his resignation.

Leo Weiss has tendered his resignation as
secretary of Cinema Stamp Collectors and
Seymour Glassner has been elected to
fill the unexpired term.

tion, was the place for the ninth sunrise
service at that drive-in April 18. More than
1,500 persons attended, including several
score walk-ins seated in the breezeway.
Sunrise Easter services also were held this
year at two other drive-ins in Johnson
County, Kansas, and one in the new Claco
Drive-in near Liberty, Mo.

Paratnount
Year Shorts
To Total 60

Sixty one-reel short subjects will be re-
leased by Paramount during the year be-
ginning October 1, Oscar A. Morgan, short
subjects and newsreel sales manager, an-
nounced this week This same number is
being released during the current 12-month
period. The 1954-55 period will bring
release also of the usual 104 semi-weekly
issues of Paramount News, he said.

All Paramount shorts are produced in
the 1.66 to 1 aspect ratio which suits them
to projection in aspect ratios ranging from
1.33 to 1.85-1 Mr. Morgan said. Mean-
while, he added. Paramount is making an
exhaustive study with a view to producing
short subjects in VistaVision to accompany
showings of features produced in the
company’s new photographic process.

The 1954-55 lineup includes these Tech-
nicolor cartoons: eight Popeyes, six Novel-
toons, six Cartoon Champions, four Herman
and Katnip, six Casper the Friendly Ghost.
The series in black-and-white will be : six
Headliner Champions, six Paramount
Pacemakers, 12 Grantland Rice Sportlights,
six Paramount Toppers.

Mr. Morgan cited the increased favor
shorts and newsreels are enjoying.

EPISODE ADVENTURE COMES INTO ITS OWN!

The Serial You’ve Been Waiting For!

Story and Screen Play by ARTHUR HOErCrOYAL COLE and GEORGE H. PLYMPTON
Produced by SAM KATZMAN • Directed by SPENCER G. BENNET

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

ALBANY

Drive-in operators hoped that the Easter
season marked the start of better business.
Inclement weather made the early spring
financially dubious for them. . . . The

Rustic, West Sand Lake, was the latest of
the immediate area outdoor theatres to re-
open. . . . Fabian’s Plaza, Albany; Fabian’s
Plaza, Schenectady, and Stanley Warner’s
Stanley, Utica, increased the children’s
price from 25 to 35 cents for “Pinocchio.”
. . . The Variety Club presented honorary
memberships in Variety Internatioinal to
Ben M. Becker and Charles W. Ryan, who
staged a two-night amateur boxing tourna-
ment in January for Camp Thatcher. Chief
Barker Jules Perlmutter made the awards
at a dinner, toastmastered by Crewman
Lewis A. Sumberg. . . . Tent 9 has two
other benefit events in the works : a sponsor-
ship of a carnival for a week in July, and
of an all-star wrestling show at Hawkins
Stadium in early September, for Camp
Thatcher. . . . Harold Strassman spot-
lighted a scale of 40 cents for adults and 16
cents for kids at the Eagle, Albany subse-
quent-run.

ATLANTA

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dockery, 10th Street
theatre. West Point, Ga., were in buying
and booking. . . . J. F. Frew, U-I southern
district manager, back at his Atlanta office
from Florida. . . . Miss Hilda Knight,
accounting department. Allied Artists South-
ern Exchanges, is back home after a spell
at the hospital. . . . Don Coursey, manager
of 20th Century-Fox, is back at his office
after a trip to Tennessee. . , . Leo Adler,
special representative, U.A., has left At-
lanta for Dallas after spending several weeks
here. . . . Joe Dumas, office manager. Re-
public Pictures, is back in his office after a
spell of illness. . . . Harvey Garland has
been appointed buyer and head booker for
Florida State Theatres in Jacksonville.

The Largo, Largo, Fla., will install Cinema-
Scope equipment soon. . . . Mack Jackson is
the new owner of the Baiha theatre, Alex-
ander City, Ala.

BALTIMORE

Thomas H. Burke, 86, pioneer exhibitor
in Cumberland passed away after a lengthy
illness. . . . Abel Caplan, operator of the
Westway, has taken over the closed Astor
theatre and is re-opening as a Negro theatre.

. . . . Jack Fruchtman, chief barker of the
Washington Variety Club, was a recent
visitor. . . . Sam Galanty, Columbia district
manager, is visiting local exhibitors. . . .
MGM screened “Julius Caesar” for the Eng-
lish teachers of the Board of Education.

Fred Perry, Cameo theatre, is screening
“The Secret Conclave” for the nuns and
priests* of Baltimore and has the full co-
operation of tire parochial schools. . . . Joe
Brecheen, RKO branch manager, in town
visiting accounts. . . . Sam Mellits is instal-
ling Cinemascope in his Dentonio, Denton,
Md. . . . Clark Connellee, New Theatre,
Aberdeen, on a motor trip to Maine.

BOSTON

A1 Glaubinger has been brought in from
Cincinnati to be the city salesman of United
Artists, replacing Irving Mendelson, who
was promoted to branch manager in the
New Haven exchange. Glaubinger has been
with Universal but more recently with Eagle
Lion in the Ohio city. . . . Leonard Fran-
coeur of Fall River, a former projectionist
and manager in the Yamins circuit, has
taken over the lease on the Island theatre,
Portsmouth, R. 1. ... At the annual elec-
tion of officers of Middlesex Amusement
Company, Lloyd Clark was named president
and Winthrop Knox, Jr., vice-president.
Irving Green was re-elected treasurer and
his brother Maurice Green was re-elected
clerk. . . . Bill Cuddy, RKO, was elected
president of the Cinema Club of Boston at
the annual meeting, with George Roberts,
first vice-president; Dick Owens, second
vice-president ; Bill Romanoff, treasurer, and
Cyril McGerigle, secretary. These men and
Charles Wilson and Harry Smith make up
the executive committee. . . . Max Selver,
former district manager for Smith Manage-
nient Company, has opened a new gift shop
in Winchester Square.

BUFFALO

Menno Dykstra put on several special
shows Easter week in his Glen theatre in
Williamsville and “packed the house.” . . .
Charlie McKernan at the Seneca and Bill
Colson at the Niagara both offered special
Kiddie Holiday Matinees Wednesday of this
week. ... In connection with his annual
Easter Cartoon show at Loew’s in Roches-
ter, Lester Pollock put on the stage pupils
of the Beatrice Krievans Dancing School in
an “Easter Parade” ballet. . . . Buffalo’s

WHEN AND WHERE

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 Theatre
Owners, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis.

June 8-10: Annual convention, Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 15-16: Annual spring meeting. Allied
Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore
Hotel, Lake Wewasee. Ind.

own Ted O’Shea, vice-president of Para-
mount Film Distributing Corp., has become
a grandfather for the fourth time with the
birth of a daughter to his son and daughter-
in-law, Mr. and Mrs. E. K. O’Shea, Jr. . . .
East Aurora’s 26th annual Good Friday
noonday service of Lutherans was held in
the Aurora theatre in the late Fra Elbertus’
town. . . . The Old Vienna theatre re-
opened last Friday night with its new
“Weekend Jubilee” vaudeville policy.

CHICAGO

Albert Dezel reports that the Coronet
theatre, Detroit, has just completed a prece-
dent-shattering run for a neighborhood
theatre in that city, running “Lili” for ten
weeks. . . . The government of India has
granted exclusive distribution rights for its
documentary films to Ideal Pictures, a sub-
sidiary of “Coronet Magazine.” . . . At-
torney Thomas C. McConnell, well known
in the industry for his successful anti-trust
suits on behalf of the Jackson Park, Chicago,
and the Towne, Milwaukee, is one of the
leading candidates for the job of legal coun-
sel to the Big Nine, official group investigat-
ing crime in Chicago. . . . William Fried
has been appointed manager of the newly
reopened Bugg theatre, which is being oper-
ated by a group of business men with stores
in the vicinity of the theatre. . . . Kay
Simmons, formerly night manager of the
Astor theatre, has been appointed manager
of the Gold Coast by owner Jerry Gottleib.

CINCINNATI

The Twin Drive-in, unit of the local
S & S Amusement Co., only outdoor theatre
in the city, normally committed to subse-
quent runs, currently is playing two first run
releases, Columbia’s “Battle of Rouge
River” and “Walk a Crooked Road.” . . .
The suburban Guild theatre was closed to
regular patrons for one day recently to
permit the local Fine Arts organization to
use the house for a special meeting. . . .
On the vacation list are William Onie, cir-
cuit operator, in Hot Springs, Ark., and
William Blum, Columbus, Ohio, salesman
for Universal-International, is in Florida.

. . . Mrs. Mary Semmelroth, who operates
the Federation theatre, in Dayton, Ohio,
among other houses there, has switched from
a weekend to a full week policy following
the installation of wide screen equipment.

. . . Vandals, firing shots, caused consider-
able damage to the screen, speakers, junction
boxes and other property at the Melody
Cruise-in, near Springfield, Ohio, resulting
in some delay in opening for the season. . . .
Springfield theatres, for the fifth consecutive
year, again helped sponsor the Easter egg
hunt, in which suitable prizes were awarded
to children finding eggs hidden in various
places in the city park.

CLEVELAND

“Pinocchio” was the big box office attrac-
tion of the week, aided by public school
{Continued on following page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. APRIL 24. 1954

(Continued from preceding page)
vacation period. . . . S. P. Gorrel of

General Films circuit, and Mrs. Gorrel are
enjoying- a spring vacation in Florida. . . .
Joe Rembrandt is installing- new air-con-
ditioning system in his Center-Mayfield
theatre. . . . Horace Adams, president of
the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio,
held a meeting of a committee appointed to
study the Allied-Makelim co-operative pro-
duction program. The committee, consist-
ing of Henry Greenberger, Jack Shuhnan,
Milton A. Mooney and Bernard Rubin, dis-
cussed skeleton plans in anticipation of a
general territorial meeting to be held in
Columbus May 17. . . . Elmer DeWitt,
city manager of the Mailers theatres in De-
fiance, O., in recognition of his public and
community work, was elected president of
the Lions Cluli of Defiance.

COLUMBUS

Milton Yassenoff turned over to Courage
Inc., the Junior Chamher of Commerce and
the Young Protestant Churchmen, facilities
of the National Auto theatre for an Easter
morning service for invalids and shut-ins,
first of its kind held here. . . . WTVN
television station, owned by the Taft family
of Cincinnati, has purchased for $300,000
radio station WHKC. . . . Southeast cor-
ner of Town and Third streets was recom-
n-iended as site for the city’s second parking
garage by James N. Dixon, parking super-
intei-ident. Site is within a Iilock of the
Hartman, Grand and Ohio theatres. Bids
for construction of the city's first i)arking
garage on E. Long Street will be opened
April 30. . . . RKO Palace will play host
to the annual Dispatch Cooking School
May 6, 7 and 8. . . . Mayor M. E. Sensen-
brenner has dropped a proposal to institute
daylight saving time here. He said the
majority of those citizens who answered his
public appeal several weeks ago opposed the
switch to daylight time.

DENVER

Mrs. Irene Fitzgerald, 64, mother of Win.
Fitzgerald, publicity director of the Denham,
died last week. , . . The mother of Pauline
Hall, manager’s secretary at Paramount, was
operated on three times in Phoenix, Ariz,,
as the result of a fall in which she broke a
hip. . . . Chilton (Kilt ) Robinett, formerly
a salesman for 20th-Fox here, was in town
last week as a s{)ecial representative for
J. Arthur Rank. Robinett covers the terri-
tory from Chicago west to the coast. . . .
Mr. and Mrs. Sam Langwith are moving
hack to Denver after living for several years
in Idaho Springs, 40 miles out. Langwith
is president of Western Service and Supply.

. . . Mrs. Ruth McNeill, inspectress at
Allied Artists, died last week. She is sur-
vived by her husband and a daughter. . . .
Service clubs at Yuma, Colo., filled the
Yuma, Yuma, Colo., managed by Lyle
Myers, twice in one evening at $1 a seat for
the benefit of the hospital. . , . Mr. and
jMrs. Gene Gerbase went to Albuquerque,
N. :\L, to spend Easter. He is Republic
branch manager. . . . Wm. Jones has been
added as bookkeeper at Knox Theatres.

DES MOINES

For the first time in many years, Charles
City will have only one theatre during the
summer. The Gem theatre, operated by
Royce Winkelman, has closed until fall.

Meanwhile, the Highway 218 drive-in will
serve as host to Charles City theatre fans.
. . . Paul Strennen of Cedar Rapids has
taken over the management of the drive-in
theatre near Oskaloosa on Pella road. . . .
The Cozy at Morning Sun has increased its
show time to six nights a week. . . .

Merle Sorum has purchased the Thompson
Memorial theatre at Thompson from Robert
Johnson and Wayne Bravick. . . . Central
States Theatre Corp. of Des Moines has
sold the Cresco theatre at Cresco to M.
Keith Milnar and Joseph Milnar. The new
owners plan an extensive remodeling pro-
gram. ... A number of drive-in theatre
owners have announced they now are open
for the season. These include the Clarinda
drive-in ; the Oehwein ; the Skylark at Cres-
ton ; the Starlite at Algona; the Airport at
Ottumwa and the Chief at Estherville. . . .
Extensive remodeling is being carried out
at the L^niversal exchange under the direc-
tion of manager Lou Levy. . . . Jim

Ricketss, Columbia booker and office n-ian-
ager, has returned from a vacation in In-
dianapolis, Ind., while IMilt Feinberg, NSS
manager, spent a “golfing” vacation in Dal-
las and Houston, Tex.

DETROIT

An Associated Press survey of the theatre
situation on Michigan shows an encouraging
upswing. First rui-i houses all over the
state report that TV, rather than bucking
movie attendance, is encouraging it. . . .
LTnited Detroit’s Michigan theatre will
award $100 to the local girl who sends in
the best recording of her voice. Tie-in is
with the new Doris Day “Lucky Me” book-
ing. . . . The Madison will close out “The
Glenn Miller Story” and world premiere
“Indiscretion of an American Wife.” . . .
Conversion to wide screen, CinemaScope or
otherwise, is virtually complete all around
the town. . . . The Police Censorship

Bureau has finally passed “The Moon Is
Blue” for Detroit showing without dialog
cuts. Bookings have not been arranged yet.
Meanwhile it showed at the Huron in Pon-
tiac for the third three-day stay, and is
scheduled for the Waterford drive-in.

HARTFORD

Testimonial dinner honoring Barney Pit-
kin. Connecticut exchange manager for
RKO-Radio Pictures, has been postponed
from April 27 to May 4 at Waverly Inn,
Cheshire, Conn. Pitkin, who has resumed
his duties, recently underwent surgery for
cancer in New York. . . . William

McGrath, assistant city manager in Man-
chester, Conn., for Stanley Warner Thea-
tres, has been promoted to city manager,
replacing William Brown, resigned. . . .
Harry Finger has been named manager of
the Mansfield (Conn.) drive-in. . . . Roy
Wilcox has been appointed manager of the
Lockwood & Gordon Webb Playhouse,
Wethersfield, Conn., replacing William
Daugherty, shifted to the East Windsor
( Conn. ) drive-in theatre. . . . Sol Karp,
formerly with independent interests in Con-
necticut, has joined the Manchester Drive-In
Theatre Corp., Hartford, as manager of the
company’s Manchester Drive-In Theatre,
Bolton Notch, Conn.

INDIANAPOLIS

“The Robe” opened its first subsequent
run engagements here simultaneously at the

Fountain Square and Arlington, Saturday.
. . . Rex Carr, operator of the Ritz, north-
side neighborhood, experimented with a
first run of “Genevieve” starting April 21.
. . . William A. Carroll, ATOI secretary,
will represent the state unit at the national
Allied board meeting in Minneapolis May
8-9. . . . The ATOI hoard will meet at
the Hotel Lincoln here May 4. . . . Marc
Wolf, chairman of the entertainment com-
mittee for the ATOI spring convention at
Lake Wawasee, June 15-16, announces that
a dance will cap festivities the second night.
. . . Glenn Morris, western sales manager,
and Tommy McCleaster, district manager of
20th-Fox, visited the branch here last week.

JACKSONVILLE

The large new Southside drive-in, owned
by Joe Ripley and leased to Fred Kent, is
expected to open in May under the super-
vision of Bob Anderson, manager of the
Main Street drive-in. . . . J. F. Kirby,
Warner’s Southern divisional manager from
New' York, and Ollie Williamson, Atlanta
district manager, were here for a conference
w'ith Harvey Garland, hooking chief of
Florida State Theatres. . . . Harry Bot-
wick, FST’s South Florida supervisor, was
up from Miami making post-Easter plans
for his string of theatres along with home
office executives. . . . Gil Norton, Para-
mount executive, left here for his Boston
office. ... A solid month of fine w’eather
has boomed patronage at North Florida
drive-ins. . . . Bill Beck, manager of the
Five Points, did so well w'ith Disney’s “Rob
Roy” and “Pecos Bill” that he held them
over for Easter. . . . George Krevo, Palace
manager, made use of theatre dark time by
presenting, under sponsorship of the Chil-
dren’s Museum, a Saturday morning stage
show;, “Sleeping Princess,” acted by the
Clare Tree Major plavers of Pleasant-
ville, N. Y.

KANSAS CITY

CinemaScope pictures have done substan-
tially above average in recent neighborhood
runs, at regular prices, and usually on a
double bill. . . . J. D. King, recently made
western division manager for Common-
wealth Theatres, previously was manager at
Lawrence, Kas., for several years, and just
at the time of his promotion, was named
“Man of the Year” by the Lawrence Junior
Chamber of Commerce. . . . Recent in-
formation from the exchange area is that
most theatres have kept admission prices as
before. . . . Many exhibitors and man-

agers are preparing to put on series of
“vacation movies” for children. . . . Ken-
neth Winkelmeyer is preparing to reopen,
in May, his theatre at Boonville, Mo., dam-
aged by fire several months ago.

LOS ANGELES

After vacationing in Mexico, Mel Brown,
of Tw'in Vue drive-ins, is back at w'ork. . . .
The Fillmore theatre, Fillmore, operated by
Gordon West, is in the process of face-lift-
ing. ... A gala re-opening of the long-
shuttered Century theatre was attended by
Rochester, Louise Beavers and many others.
Tim Tate is the new' operator of the house.

. . . Off for a business jaunt through his
territory w'as Francis Bateman, Republic’s
w'estern sales manager. . . . Former Para-
mount exchange booker Larry Bristol is
(Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

(Continited from opposite page)
pinch-hitting for ailing salesman Heniy
Balk of Allied Artists. . . . The Puente
theatre, Puente, has been equipped with a
new wide screen and a larger stage, the
latter for the purpose of handling “youth
talent” shows, which owner Steve Chorak
is introducing in the town. . . . Officers
and stewards of the Film Row Club met at
the Variety Club rooms to draft final plans
for the big dance to be held at the Holly-
wood Athletic Club June 4. . . . Bob Beii-
ton, Sero Enterprises, is back from a busi-
ness trip to Salt Lake City.

MEMPHIS

A new drive-in, the Ark-Air, opened this
week at Clarksville, Ark., booked out of
Memphis. . . . Another film, banned in
Memphis by the board of censors, is doing
a fine business at Sunset drive-in. West
Memphis, Ark., just across the Mississippi
River. It is “Moon Is Blue.” . . . Man-
ager Arthur Groom of Loew’s State in
Memphis reported twice normal business
with United Artists picture, “Beachhead,”
which led the first run attendance parade.

. . . John Goodenough, formerly with Kay
Films, has gone with National Screen Serv-
ice as a salesman. . . . Edith Merritt,
clerk, Warner Bros., and Harry Creech of
the U.S. Navy were married in Memjihis.

. . . D. J. Edele, branch manager. United
Artists, St. Louis, was a Memphis visitor.

. . . Starvue drive-in, Stuttgart, Ark., has
under construction a screened-in patio — with
a glass front — and it will be opened within
the next few weeks. . . . Nathan Reiss,
who operates a chain of theatres from his
Memphis headquarters, was named a Ken-
tucky colonel.

MIAMI

Tom Ra3ffield, manager of the Carib, was
very pleased with the enthusiastic turnout
for the Easter Saturday egg hunt which
brought out more than 500 youngsters. . . .
The area will miss Bill Watt, manager of
the Coral, who has resigned to return to his
native Canada. . . . Sonny Shepherd, Wo-
metco executive, and his family spent Easter
week at the Charles Bethels, in Nassau. . . .
While Mark Chartrand is on a six-week
vacation in New England, some of his pub-
lic relations work will fall on Harry Krone-
witz’ shoulders. . . . WTVJ’s credit manager
Ed Rainey handed out cigars recently when
his wife, Vivienne, gave birth to their sec-
ond child, Janet. . . . Another visited by the
stork was Dick Gersley, concession man-
ager of the 27th Avenue drive-in, who wel-
comed a daughter. . . . Wometco again co-
operated with the Greater Miami Minis-
terial Association and allowed the Boulevard
and 27th Avenue drive-ins to be used for
Easter Sunrise services.

MILWAUKEE

The Cancer Fund Campaign will get a
big send off when the Cancer Fund show
is presented on the stage of the Fox-Wis-
consin theatre here April 27. Bob Hope
will be one of the stars. . . . Mr. Bates,
office manager at the Republic exchange,
was in the hospital for observation recently.
. . . The new secretary to Jack Kalmenson,
branch manager at the Warner office here,
is Jean Reise. . . . Dick Sachel, part owner
in the Globe Trotters, was in the Wisconsin
Allied office visiting. . . . The Bluemound

drive-in here, managed by Dick Grede, will
be the first outdoor theatre here to enlarge
its screen. Construction will start shortly.

MINNEAPOLIS

Speakers announced for the annual con-
vention of North Central Allied May 10-11
at the Nicollet hotel include Mike Simons,
William C. Gehring, Wilbu’- Snaper, Col.
H. A. Cole and Ben Marcus. . . . Drive-in
theatres operated by Minnesota Entertain-
ment Enterprises and A1 Aved’s Navarre
Amphi-theatre at Lake Minnetonka have
opened for the season. . . . Robert Titus
is the new assistant manager of the Gopher.

. . . Sandra Daskovsky is the new contract
clerk at Allied Artists. . . . Marge Jensen,
who left 20th-Fox to work for WDAY-TV
in Fargo, N. D., is back at the exchange
as bookers’ stenographer. . . . “From Here
to Eternity” is doing sensational business at
suburban and neighborhood houses. . . .

J. Sletter has taken over operation of the
IMondovi at Mondovi, Wis. He has in-
stalled a new screen and snack bar in the
house and renovated the exterior. . . .
Dick Dynes, RKO city salesman, was in
South Dakota on a special assignment.

NEW ORLEANS

Felix Hebert reopened the Grand, Hayes,
La., after 40 days closing in observance of
Lent. . . . Jack Saunders advised that he has
shuttered the Princess, Tullos, La. . . . L. E.
Watson scheduled April 21 for the opening
of the Carol, Denham Springs, La. . . .
Buford Strange, through his buying and
booking representative, J. G. Broggi, an-
nounced that he has shuttered the Victory,
Mansfield, La. His other theatre, the Mans-
field, will continue regular operation. . . .
The Tivoli, Baton Rouge, La., after tempo-
rary closing, was reopened Easter Sunday.

. . . Cliff Kiefer, assistant sales manager for
Orange Crush, and regional representative
Tom McDonald visited with George Y.
Harrell and Lin Barker at Manley’s. . . .
Luke Fontana, co-orvner of Arcade, Slidell,
La., is back home after several weeks stay
at local Mercy hospital because of injuries
sustained in an automobile accident. His
daughter riding with him came out un-
scathed.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Pat McGee, Denver, general manager of
Cooper Foundation Theatres, spent the
weekend in Oklahoma City. . . . First run
pictures in Oklahoma City continue on the
same price basis as before tax reductions.
. . . Oklahoma Tax Commission report for
theatres for February, 1954, shows 312 re-
turns and $25,739.01 tax, compared with 295
returns and $28,066.49 tax for February,
1953. Gov. Murray called a meeting of citi-
zens to consider action and public policy
regarding the crime problem The meeting
was held at the Criterion theatre. . . .

The theatre at Colbert, Okla., was com-
pletely destroyed by fire April 8. Its owner
is B. M. Leecraft. Roy Morgan of Detroit,
Okla., was manager. . . . Gilbert Rounsa-
ville, manager of Holdenville’s theatres, re-
signed last month. He is now associated
with Ed. Shields in the Shields Sign Serv-
ice in Holdenville. . . . The Blackwell,
Okla., chamber of commerce sponsored Holy
Week services each morning at the Rivoli
theatre. On Saturday, Gus Hoenscheidt,
manager of the Palace and Rivoli, led the
service.

OMAHA

The Paramount theatre will be the scene
of a telethon, "On Stage for Cerebral
Palsy,” April 24-25. ... Jay Higgms
present e.xhibitor at Ansley, has purchased
the Rialto at Arnold from Ulysses A.
Brown. He plans to move to Arnold and
open May 15. . . . Walt Bradley, owner of
the New Moon at Neligh, was elected to
another term as mayor. _ Also re-elected
mayor was Millard Rethwisch, who has the
Victory at Tdden. . . . Howaid Huz,

Plattsmouth Councilman and manager of
the Cass, was the only member of the coun-
cil renamed in the municipal election. . . .
Don Cross has been added to the Co-op
Theatre Service staff, owner Bill BaiTer
announced. . . . Max McCoy, dUth-t'o.x
salesman, got back into harness after being
down with a serious virus infection. . . .
Tristates’ Omaha theatre was the scene of
Holy Week services under direction of Dr.
Douglas Horton of New York. . . . David
Wallace of Bellevue is now with the Film
Depot.

PHILADELPHIA

The center-city World reentered the first-
run ranks with “The Naked Jungle” and
changed its name to the Trans-Lux World
as part of the Brandt chain. . . . Frank
Pease, former manager of the W orld, is
now managing the New Broadway. . . •
Dave Weinstein returned to manage the At-
lantic drive-in, Walter Reade operation at
Pleasantville, N. J. . . . Extensive damages
estimated at $25,000 resulted from a two-
alarm fire at the Walton just as the neigh-
liorhood house was being made ready for
the evening’s double feature offering. . . .
The Walker, Mayfield, Pa., was closed. . . .
J. Engel, who heads the Engel Theatres in
the upstate area, relinquished operation of
the Park, Scranton, Pa, , . . Sieg Horo-
witz, Columbia salesman, resigned from the
company. . . . Charles Baron, who has

been representing stage and screen produc-
tions that have played here for many years,
is the new manager of the Boyd Cinerama.
. . . Meyer Adelman, head of New’ Jersey
Messenger, film delivery service, announced
the appointment of Joseph Farrow as office
manager, and the promotion of Joe Red-
enauer to the post of sales manager. . . .
Charles Cohen, manager of the Fairmount,
l)ecame a grandfather with the birth of a
son to his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Joe Cohen.

PITTSBURGH

Ironically, the last feature picture in the
Ritz theatre before it is torn down at the
end of this month, will probably be “Cease
Fire.” . . . New product in most of the
houses plus the Easter impetus is helping
the downtown houses appreciably, especially
“Prince Valiant” in the Harris and “Night
People” at the Fulton. . . . “Genevieve”
has replaced “The Living Desert” at the
{Continued on foUoiviug page)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

(Continued from preceding page)
Squirrel Hill, with the Disney Oscar winner
giving that art house its most lucrative run
in years. . . . “Elephant Walk” has been
added to the Penn booking chart, following
“Executive Suite” which is penciled in for
a May 1 opening. . . . The end of Lent
found “This Is Cinerama” now in its 20th
week at the Warner, picking up momentum.
. . . “The Man Between” was rushed into
the Art Cinema for Easter, replacing the
previously scheduled “Forbidden Games”
which will now follow the Carol Reed melo-
drama. . . . Film Row is mourning the
passing of Samuel Richman, owner of the
Northside Century theatre.

PORTLAND

Lines for first run house admissions have
been fairly well drawn. Regular pictures
remain at 90c, CinemaScope $1.25, and 3-D
$1.00 plus 15c for viewers. . . . George
Jessel was here as guest speaker for the
Jewish Welfare Fund Drive kickoff. . . .
George Montgomery had three days of p.a.’s
for premiere of “Battle of the Rogue
River.” . . . Mrs. J. J. Parker, Portland’s
foremost lady exhibitor, returned from a
speedy trip to the film capital where she
saw “The Came Mutiny” at a special show-
ing. . . . Herbert Rosener and Walter
Neubauer, representing a foreign film book-
ing house in San Francisco, are working
here with Guild theatre manager, Marty
Foster. He just returned from Gotham.
. . . Russell McCullough, Walter Bantau
and Carl Moeller, CinemaScope engineer,
electrical engineer, and architect for Na-
tional Theatres, respectively, flew up from
L.A. to check Fox theatre plans with local
builders and Oregon district Evergreen man-
ager, Russ Brown.

PROVIDENCE

The Metropolitan, which after several
month’s darkness opened for a two-week
engagement of the “The Moon Is Blue” last
month, has announced that the Broadway
version (stage style) of “The Moon Is
Blue” will presented for 3 days, April 29-30
and May 1. ... A wave of ‘chiller-dillers’

has hit this town recently. The Majestic
offered “Crime Wave,” and “Duffy of San
Quentin” ; while “Creature from The Black
Lagoon” was at the RKO Albee. Not to
be outdone, the Strand offered “Appoint-
ment with Danger,” and “Dark City.” . . ,
On the lighter side, “Rhapsody” held over
at Loew’s State; with Martin and Lewis in
“Money From Home” simultaneously hitting
seven neighborhood houses. ... A brief
spell of real summer weather hiked atten-
dance at surrounding open-air theatres, but
the ever-changeable New England weather
brought a 37-degree drop in the temperature
within six short hours, cutting the near
mid-season capacity audiences down to a
minimum.

SAN FRANCISCO

Charles AI. Pincus, Blumenfeld district
manager, Stockton, is the "spark plug” for
the United Crusade campaign there. Other
community activity for Pincus consists of
being a member of the Chamber of Com-
merce publicity staff and heading the Stock-
ton Safety Drive for the month of April. . . .
Clyde Barnett, formerly assistant Downtown
Paramount, Los Angeles, is now assistant
manager of the local Paramount theatre, re-
placing John Trigonis, resigned. . . . R. A.
Feliziani, for the past 22 years with the
Golden State Theatres circuit, currently
manager, the Strand, was named “manager
of the year” by fellow managers of the cir-
cuit. . . . Duane DeWitt, manager, Stockton
Motor Movies, announced the drive-in went
on full-time operation April 9. . . . Edward
Canti, office manager. Paramount Pictures,
resigned to work for United-California The-
atres. . . . Edward Mix, salesman for MGM
for the past 25 years, retired. . . . C. J. Rem-
ington took back the Fair Oaks, Fair Oaks.
. . . C. N. Spivey has taken over the Porter-
ville drive-in, Porterville ; the Palo Alto
drive-in, Palo Alto, and the Studio drive-in,
San Alateo. . . . A. R. Michael took over
the Mariposa at Mariposa, from R. G. Allen.

TORONTO

James Beveridge, who has been London
representative for the National Film Board,

was here before proceeding to Canada’s
west coast on holiday. He is going to India
to organize a film production unit there,
and will be taking a two-year-leave-of-
absence from the NFB. . . . The March
“Bonanza” winners of the Ontario district
exploitation contest conducted by Dan
Krendel of Famous Players were Art
Cauley and Bob Harvey, in the A section
while Jack Bridges and Eddie Lands-
borough picked up the prizes in Group B.

. . . The first week of the Odeon showman-
ship drive was taken by Jacques Martin of
the Mercior, Montreal. Close on Martin’s
heels was Sam Binder of the Rialto,
Edmonton; Nicky Langston of the Odeon,
London; Lin Martin, Capitol, Niagara
Falls, and Ralph Bartlett, Odeon, Sarnia.
Jim Hardiman, contest director, reports one
hundred per cent theatre participation and
46 theatres across Canada obtaining more
than 50 per cent of the possible maximum
showmanship points. . . . Columbia Pictures
has purchased for world distribution (other
than Canada) two Canadian Cameo short
subjects, “Push Back the Edge,” in color,
and “Canine Crimebusters.”

VANCOUVER

Lethbridge City Council is looking over
plans, advanced by theatre interests, to
build a $250,000 theatre in downtown Leth-
bridge, Alta. . . . Frank Goddard, of the
Vogue, Canada’s oldest doorman and a
veteran of the South African War, is on
the sick list. . . . Pheme Fraser is the new
assistant to Cathie Burdick, office manager
of Trans-Canada-Films. ... A second drive-
in is being built in the Kootney section of
B.C. at Trail by J. Horlick. It will accom-
modate 250 cars. . . . The old-time Roxy, a
local landmark, closed down permanently
April 17. It’s the second house here to close
in the last month. ... Two Saskatchewan
drive-in theatres — the Valley drive-in at
Fort Qu ’Appelle and Webb’s drive-in, near
Prince Albert — will not open this season.
. . . Jack Watson, Famous Player supervisor
at Regina, Sask., and his wife are here on
vacation. . . . Famous Players oldest part-
ner, Alex Entwistle of Edmonton, passed
away in his 90th year. He operated the
Entwistle circuit.

WASHINGTON

Tony Muto, Washington representative
for 20th Century-Fox Film Corp., has been
elected vice-president of the White House
News Photographers Association. . . .
George A. Crouch, Stanley Warner general
zone manager, was presented a citation by
the Washington Board of Trade, for stimu-
lating business in the Metropolitan theatre
neighborhood. . . . Hirsh de La Viez,
Variety Club chairman of the entertainment
committee, is directing a series of Variety
shows for patients at Walter Reed Hospital.

. . . Sidney Lust Theatres and the Kiwanis
Club of Prince Georges County again spon-
sored an Easter egg rolling contest at
Magruder Park, Hyattsville April 19. This
is the 19th year that this has been sponsored
by the Lust chain. . . . CinemaScope has
been installed at the Westover theatre,
Richmond; the Williamsburg theatre, Wil-
liamsburg, Va. ; the Lee theatre in Roanoke,
Va., and the Broadway theatre, in Balti-
more, Md. . . . 20th Century-Fox branch
manager Ira Sichelman, and exhibition man
Hal Marshall spoke before the Denton, Md.,
Kiwanis Club on CinemaScope and other
related matters.

M-G-M TRADE SHOW-MAY 7th

MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY

ALBANY
ATLANTA
BOSTON
BUFFALO
CHARLOTTE
CHICAGO
CINCINNATI
CLEVELANO
DALLAS
DENVER
OES MOINES
DETROIT
INDIANAPOLIS
JACKSONVILLE
KANSAS CITY
LOS ANGELES
MEMPHIS
MILWAUKEE
MINNEAPOLIS
NEW HAVEN
NEW ORLEANS
NEW YORK

20th-Fox Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
M-G-M Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
20th- Fox Screen Room
Warner Screen Room
RKO Palace Theatre Bldg.
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

1 052 Broadway

5/7

2 P.M.

197 Walton St., N. W.

46 Church Street

5/7

2 P.M.

5/7

2 P.M.

290 Franklin Street

5/7

2 P.M.

308 S. Church Street

5/7

1 ;30 P.M.

1307 S. Wabash Ave.

5/7

2:15 P.M.

16 East Sixth St.

5/7

8 P.M.

2219 Payne Avenue

5/7

1 P.M.

1803 Wood Street

5/7

2:30 P.M.

2100 Stout Street

5/7

2 P.M.

1300 High Street

5/7

1 P.M.

231 0 Cass Avenue

5/7

1 ;30 P.M.

236 No. Illinois St.

5/7

1 P.M.

128 East Forsyth Street

5/7

2 P.M.

1720 Wyandotte St.

5/7

1 ;30 P.M.

1851 S. Westmoreland

5/7

2 P.M.

151 Vance Avenue

5/7

12 Noon

212 W. Wisconsin Ave.

5/7

1 :30 P.M.

1015 Currie Avenue

5/7

2 P.M.

40 Whiting Street

5/7

2 P.M.

200 S. Liberty St.

5/7

1 :30 P.M.

630 Ninth Avenue

5/7

2:30 P M.

10 North Lee Street

5/7

1 P.M.

1502 Davenport St.

5/7

F P.M.

1233 Summer Street

5/7

2 P.M.

1623 Blvd. of Allies

5/7

2 P.M.

1947 N. W. Kearney St.

5/7

2 P.M.

2949 Olive Street

5/7

1 P.M.

216 E. First St., So.

5/7

1 P.M.

245 Hyde Street

5/7

1 :30 l».M.

2318 Second Avenue

5/7

1 P.M.

932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W,

5/7

5/11

2 P.M.
10 A.M.

OKLAHOMA CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room
OMAHA 20th- Fox Screen Room

PHILADELPHIA M-G-M Screen Room
PITTSBURGH M-G-M Screen Room
PORTLAND B. F. Shearer Screen Rm.

ST. LOUIS Paramount Screen Room

SALT LAKE CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room
SAN FRANCISCO 20th- Fox Screen Room
SEATTLE Jewel Box Preview Thea.

WASHINGTON RKO Screen Room
"LAFAYETTE, LA. Nona Theatre
"Excepf lafayelte, la, which is May Jl

M-G-M presents "MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY" starring Van Johnson • Walter Pidgeon • Louis Calhern • Dewey Martin
Keenan Wynn • FranR Lovejoy • Screen Play by Art Cohn • Based on James A. Michener's "Forgotten Heroes of Korea"
and Comdr. Harry A. Burns' "Case of the Blind Pilot • "Photographed in Ansco Color • Print by Technicolor • Directed by
Andrew Marton • Produced by Henry Berman

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

tOe Can the jfnJuMni J yV PfpfMtn

OUTBID Oldsmobile, that’s one way to
do it. But remember that NBC has
an option on the Academy Awards
program for 1955 and has already given that
option to Oldsmobile, who are well pleased
with their investment. So, we’ll have to
wait until 1956. And also, please remember
that the Academy Awards will then have
l)een industry property for just about thirty
)-ears. If we sold the program, it was be-
cause there was no buyers in our own field.

There’s another little feature that is im-
portant in the idea of acquiring the
Academy Awards program for our own
purposes. It is a practice known in the trade
as “Getting- the Money Up’’ — and in all the
correspondence from various and sundry,
as printed in the trade press, on the subject
of why we should have the Academy
Awards program for our very own, we’ve
never yet noticed that important phrase,
'■ Please find enclosed check ...” A lot of
Very Important People have written letters
with their views, but none with any en-
closure.

d'he Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences, founded in Hollywood in 1927,
has had a very tough time paying their
bills and lias had to depend on a form of
industry charity to exist. We certainly
can’t blame them for welcoming the windfall
of $250,000 in cash for the recent “Oscar”
program and feeling pleased and happy to
know that they are no longer in the red.
But where were all the well-wishers and
givers of gratuitous advice in all the years
the Academy struggled along for funds ?

Trueman Rembusch suggests a “Picture
of the Month” as a TV feature, which, of
course,' would cost that much per month
instead of annually. We don’t particularly
like the “Picture of the Month” idea because
the industry has better than that quantity
of quality product, and the magazines can’t
agree on any half dozen pictures for the
same classification. But there should be
industry programs on TV, and there should
be industry-relations films in theatres, and
that’s where we think the two ideas overlap.

SELL COLOR WITH COLOR

Color television is just around the corner,
but you'll have a little leeway before it
strikes with any impact on your public.
Color sets now cost upwards of $1,000, and
there are fewer than 250 in use. Five years
from now it will be a different story.

In the meantime, sell your color — the
wonderful color of motion pictures in the
new dimensions — and hammer it home,
for it will be a long time before- they see
color of theatre quality on any home tele-
vision receiver. The new color sets have
121/2-inch screens, which go all the way
back to where television began. You can
see why we stand to gain ground, and keep
it, with our CinemaScope and other wide-
screen devices, and the finest color the
public has ever seen, or is apt to find in
the foreseeable future.

Most of the major companies are sup-
plying sets of color stills for special lobby
display — notably MGM and Universal, so
if you will play up these color stills, and
accent color in your ads — use color to sell
color — you'll find the benefit at the box
offi ce. It isn't difficult to point out some-
thing which is superior to all others. And
we have so much of it to offer, right at this
time. You can also get transparencies in
color, such as the one illustrated on this
week's Round Table picture page, with the
ingenuity of Erv dumb to dress it up, at
the Riverside theatre, in Milwaukee.

Let’s have an industry relations film per
month for theatres, and on TV, that tells
aiul sells the story of our new-dimension
motion pictures, in color and ’Scope that
nobody, but nobody else can match. There
may be a tremendous mass eft'ect in the
annual Academy Awards program, which
won its honors the hard way, but there can
also be a series of institutional TV films for
joint use.

^ A LETTER to the Editor of The Herald,
in the issue of April 3rd, contains this
quote : “There are around 30 million tele-
vision set owners who are looking at a
picture of 3 x 4 aspect ratio. Not one of
these sets could receive a picture of differ-
ent shape or altered in any one of the
many other precise standards which have
l)een set for their transmission. The U. S.
Government has frozen these standards, and
rightly so, for the protection of both re-
ceiver owners and station operators all over
the country.”

This is offered as an argument in favor of
the standard ’ aspect ratio in motion pic-
tures, in opposition to Cinema.Scope or the
other wide screen ratios now gaining so
rapidly in public favor. As a matter of fact,
the 3x4 aspect ratio in television is not
any stipulation of Government nor an
official standard by any authority. It is a
limitation of the television tube, which is
actually round and thus projects an image
in the ratio of 4 x 4, but this has been
masked to arrive at the more agreeable pro-
portions of 3 X 4. That’s why the picture
screen on a television set has round ends —
it has been squared off across the top and
l)ottom. Some sets have been made to pro-
ject a round picture, believe it or not.

What we should be thankful for is the im-
mutable fact that TV cannot escape the
limitation of its tubes, and that motion
pictures have a tremendous advantage,
which will never be overcome, by Govern-
ment decree or otherwise. Right now, we
can offer something on the theatre screen
that can’t he had in television.

Curious thing-, the old Opera Houses were
built with three balconies, so the proscenium
was usually very high, to reach the ceiling.
But they never raised the curtain more
than half-way, so generations of those who
sat in the “peanut gallery” learned to recog-
nize the famous actors of their day by
watching their feet. You could never see
full stage from that elevation, with the
curtain cutting the aspect ratio down to
stage dimensions. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 24, 1954

JVhai^s New
Out Frant?

E. J. dumb, at the Riverside theatre, Milwaukee,
used this clever idea for the display of color stills.

Sol Sorkin decorated his cashier's booth at the RKO
Keith's theatre, Syracuse, to get the patrons IN.

Dale Schuler, manager of the Circle theatre, Indianapolis, and Dave
Friedman, Paramount field man, enjoy the performance of the Fred
Astaire Dancers, as ballyhoo for the opening of "Red Garters."

Jim Cameron, Famous Players Lakehead supervisor at the Capitol
theatre. Fort William, Ontario, had a "Salute to Education" exhibit In
the Interest of community-school relations.

Evan Thompson, manager of Skouras Fox theatre, F^ackensack, N. J.,
had dancing to juke-box tunes for "New Faces" in the lobby, with a
sub-junior couple jitterbugging In the foreground.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24. 1954

SHOWMEN IN ACTION

It*s OdeowE*s
^^Big Shaw ”
In Canada

David Griesdorf, general manager for
Odeon Theatres (Canada) Limited, has
launched the annual Odeon Showmanship
Contest across the Dominion for 1954, with
a circus motif and the slogan — “The Great-
est Showmanship on Earth.” The drive in-
cludes a concentrated 13-week effort, from
March 29th to June 26th, with $3,300.00 in
cash prizes, for competing managers, to-
gether with extra vacations with pay, plus
trophies and certificates. Jim Hardiman,
assistant director of advertising in the To-
ronto headquarters, has been appointed
“Circus Boss” by Wannie Tyers, director
of advertising and publicity for the circuit.
An added feature is the inclusion of refresh-
ment merchandising as a factor in winning
major prizes and acquiring points. Another
novelty has been added in the form of mer-
chandise prizes for wives and mothers which
can be won by Odeon managers.

Over the past several years Odeon has
conducted other drives that have been ac-
claimed in the Round Table, and which have
brought glory to many who are well known
in our showmanship meetings, including the
Messrs. Tyers and Hardiman, and eighty-
one other Odeon managers who are members
of the Round Table and frequent contenders
for the Quigley Awards. The current con-
test is so new that we can only report the
first week’s standings, with Jacques Martin,
manager of the Mercier theatre, Montreal,
leading (he won last year’s David Griesdorf
race) — and with Sam Binder, Rialto, Ed-
monton; Nicky Langston, Odeon, London;
Lin Martyn, Capitol, Niagara Falls; Ralph
Bartlett, Odeon, Sarnia; A1 Miner, Crema-
zie, Montreal; John McKim, Odeon, Lady-
smith; Marcel Desjardins, Rex, St. Jerome;
Joseph Gaboury, Villeray, Montreal and Roy
McLeod, Hastings, Vancouver, runners-up.

Mel Jolley Has Radio
Working for Theatre

Mel Jolley, manager of the Century the-
atre, Hamilton, Ontario, sends in a cam-
paign book on Bob Hope in “Here Come
the Girls” which is unique in that it was
prepared by the radio station for Jello, as
a cooperative deal, with all parties interested
in the transaction. We like the notion of
getting the radio station to cooperate to the
extent that they contend for the Quigley
Awards in the name of the theatre manager.
It’s a twist, and after all these years, we’re
looking for something new and different.
Mel knows that it’s twice as effective to get
somebody else so very much interested that
they will go out and sell your stuff. Most
good salesmen know that the sale is com-
pleted when the customer starts selling your
own deal back to you. There are some
photos in this book that wilt appear on the
Round Table picture page.

(jcorge M. Lander^, Hartford divisinn
manager for E. M. Loew’s tlieatres, antici-
pated the full force of the Academy Awards
for “From Here to Eternity” — making his
prediction that the picture would win, aiui
capitalizing the fact.

George Krevo, manager of the Palace
theatre, Jacksonville, made good use of
Florida jungle plants for the opening of
“Naked Jungle” which was filmed on loca-
tion only fifty miles south of the city. He
brought in a ton of moss and foliage tir
create a complete jungle front.

Erv dumb, who always works with
Milwaukee newspapers along cooperative
lines, had a wonderful full-page for
“Pinocchio” at the Riverside theatre, spon-
sored by eight local merchants and featuring
a cartoon character 15 inches high.

For “The Glenn Miller Story” manag'd"
Jack Mitchell of Schine’s Auburn theatre.
Auburn, Ind., obtained fifty free plugs from
the local radio station, 20 from a cooperative
music store and five from the Air Force
Recruiting Office, a grand total of 75 free
radio plugs, all disc jockeys cooperating.

New drive-in ads in Connecticut news-
papers include the Mansfield, designed by
Morris Keppner and Lou Lipman, of West
Hartford, and the Plainville, designed by
Sperie Perakos, general manager, of New
Britain.

▼

Joe McCann, manager of Schine’s
Wicomico theatre, Salisbury, Md., got an
interesting yarn planted in his local paper,
and it made darn good reading. Joe has a
nice personal friendship with Jimmy Stew-
art, and printed the star’s favorite recipe
for barbecued spareribs.

Jack Bridges, manager of the Victory
theatre, Timmins, Ont., posted signs printed
in lipstick in ladies’ rest rooms all around
town, to advertise 'Alan Crazy” to an in-
terested audience.

Irving Hillman, manager of the Stanley-
Warner Roger Sherman theatre, downtown
first run in New Haven, played “Top
Banana” and “Wicked Woman” on a care-
fully matched double bill.

Bob Sampson and Len Spodick gave them
another double dose at the first-run Empress
theatre in Norwalk, Conn., offering “When
Worlds Collide” and “War of the Worlds”
for those who can take science fiction in
both quantity and quality.

▼

Lewis Thompson, manager of Schine’s
Holland theatre, Bellfontaine, Ohio, had the
permission of local news dealers to paste
advertising stickers on all magazines which
carried stories about “The Glenn Miller
Story” while it was playing locally.

▼

Ray McNamara, manager of the Allyn
theatre, Hartford, arranged a number of
important downtown book store and record
shop windows for “Jubilee Trail” — accenting
the popular book and the music tieups for
the Republic picture.

Jack S.inson, manager of the Stanley-
Warner Strand theatre, Hartford, had A1
Bertino, Walt Disney staff artist, in town
for two days, doing typical Disney sketches
and drawings in schools for the re-release of
“Pinocchio.”

▼

Morris Rosenthal cut a colossal cake in
the lobby of Loew’s Poll theatre. New
Haven, to celebrate MGM’s 30th Anni-
versary, and patrons got a piece of cake with
their coupons.

Cooking schools are also showmanship, combined with promotion, and here's one
of the best pictures we've ever seen of what happens, on stage, at the RKO Golden
Gate theatre, San Francisco, for sponsored audiences, every morning at 9 o'clock, under
the guiding hand of Mark Ailing, manager, and Bill Blake, publicist.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 24, 1954

Mgwn Indians Mnt^ade
Disc Jachey Catnps

You've heard of fhe Utes and the Cherokees? Well, this last week, a tribe of MGM
Indians invaded the disc jockey camps in New York, accompanied by troopers — since they
were off the reservation — and sold the songs from "Rose Marie" as they are often sold
in the music trades by MGM Records, under the publicity treatment given film material by
Sol Handwerger, who dreams up these stunts in New York. Above, "Rose Marie" visits
with Bob Haymes, at CBS, and Ted Husing really gives her a greeting at station WMGM.

It's That Gal from
The North Again

And welcome to Olga Sliarabura, man-
ager of Famons-Players Orpheum theatre in
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, one of Dan
Krendel’s best ballyhoo-ers. Olga is the kind
that are showmen first and ladies after-
wards, if that’s not an awkward statement.
Not that Olga isn’t a lady, hut that she is a
showman. Makes us wish the Round Table
had a Ladies Auxiliary, like the American
Legion. For Education Week, she cele-
brated "Career Day” on behalf of the
Catholic Youth Organization, and there
could lie no better public relations for Saulte
■Ste. Marie or for the film indu>try. Guest
speakers included Father Lavery, of St.
Michael’s College, Toronto, who made a
])icture and news story in the Daily Star.

Bernie Depa, manager of Schine’s Strand
theatre, in Lexington,''- Kv., is. bni! who re-
establishes the sale of tlS'eatfe ticket-’' gitt
hooks, popular on holidays, for a special
drive at Easter time, when the long, hot
'-imimer lies just idiead.

Early Bird prices, jiopular trend during
wartime, have been resumed by Nathan
( ioldstein at the downtown Arcade theatre,
S])ringfield, Mass. Some Broadway thea-
tres are now following suit, (ai Times
.bcjuare, in New York Cit\'.

▼

Bob Y'alker, manager of the Uintah thea-
tre, Fruita, Colorado, used "It Happened
Every Thursday” as a benefit for the Junior
Class of the Fruita High .School, with the
Pniita Times cooperating, and students con-
gregating at newspaper office and theatre to
conduct their campaign.

Scoreboard on
Lucky Numbers

Mark Ailing, manager and Bill Blake,
publicist for the RKO Golden Gate theatre.
San Francisco, printed a herald for
“Phantom of the Rue Morgue’’ in which the
hand of the Phantom contained a printed
number. 20,000 of the number were blanks;
500 were good for free admission. 92 turned
up at the box office.

APPLICATION FOR
MEMBERSHIP

MANAGERS'

ROUND TABLE

1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y.

Name

Posilion

T heatre

Addreii

City

•ilate

Circuit

Absolutely No Dues or Fees

imooit NeuAs in
Kansas Touyn

Ted Irwin, manager of the Electric
theatre. Lamed, Kansas, sends a tear sheet
of the most interesting small-city newspaper
we’ve seen lately, ‘‘The Tiller and Toiler”
of Lamed, Kans. — but no relative of ‘‘The
Daily Worker.” This is the real grass-roots,
and something might be done on these
grounds that would make newspaper copy
for COMPO, throughout the industry. It s
an 18-page paper, and apparently a weekly,
published on Thursday, which really repre-
sents America. The Electric Theatre dates
back to the early days and they hold their
place in community relations.

Ted is a good showman, well known in
these meetings and for his contributions
to "W’hat the Picture Did For Me.” He has
a car giveaway at his Saturdav midnight
show (a 1941 Plymouth worth $75) spon-
sored by .six merchants and it gets the
teen-agers. Tlien he gave away a diamond
ring, worth $50, for the same potential
patronage. He wants us to know that his
recent campaign on “All the Brothers Were
Valiant” isn’t the only string to his bow.
Earned has a population of 4,475 and isn’t
far from Hutchinson, Kansas, where Willis
Shaffer is a two-time Quigley Grand Award
winner.

The Clooneys Were
From Kentucky

The RCA “Glenn Miller” Album was used
as a prize in a radio contest which Ben
Tureman, manager of Schine’s Russel
theatre, Maysville, Ky., used for promotion
of the picture, but with Nick Clooney,
Rosemary’s brother as disc jockey, and in
Maysville, Rosemary’s home town, it
couldn’t fail. No need to suggest that the
movies are better than ever in this Ken-
tucky city! And Colonel Bob Cox, a Ken-
tucky Colonel that is, and confederate of
ours, came down from Lexington and did
a twosome for Rosemary Clooney current
movies, record albums and stuff with Nick
Clooney acting as commentator.

John Loew, manager of the Garden
theatre, Greenfield, Mass., sends in a “gim-
mick” which he says worked wonders as a
throwaway. It offered a pass to any who
could remember when there had been so
many really fine pictures in any one month.

SPECIRL

TRAILERS

rThat Get You Best Results)
\ And The Speed You Need.

NIW YORK

630 Ninth Ave ^

FILMACK

1327 S. Wabash Ave. CHICAGO 5, ILIINOIS

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

Stranger In
*Best Years*

While we were on vacation, somebody
around here used the headline "No
Stranger to Showmanship” and they meant
Mike Stranger, manager of the Plymouth
theatre, Worcester, Mass. We won’t admit
plagiarism, but around these parts, it is the
prerogative of the Director of the Round
Table to think up all such heads. In the
mail comes a campaign from Mike to show
his good work with the reissue of "The
P)est Years of Our Lives” — and the best we
can do is above, which isn’t nearly as good
as the previous effort.

As a matter of fact, Mike is pretty nearly
among- strang'ers in submitting this cam-
l>aign, for we've been looking for entries,
since Mr. Goldwyn is waiting to hand out
some special prizes at the end of the second
<|uarter June 30th, and there aren’t enough
in hand to make a good showing. IMike will
win, unless some more of you come in with
better stuff, and pronto. Mike’s idea of a
“Young Reviewer’s Group” was good pro-
motion practice, in line with ])ressbook pro-
cedure, and his “Mother’s Club” group was
just as natural. Lots of excellent radio and
TV tieups, with local organizations plug-
ging both the idea of the picture and the
playdates. His list of clubs and organiza-
tions runs the gamut through all religions,
aims and purposes, for one objective.

THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES— Sam-
uel Goldwyn-RKO. special advertising bul-
letin for the reissue of this most popular
picture of our times. The ads shown In
the regular pressbook have been with-
drawn and you must have the advertising
supplement to properly handle the return
date. By theatre test in dozens of situa-
tions thorughout the country, these ads
have pulled wonderful business and are now
the only advertising mats available. You'll
find both large and small ads In this supple-
ment, but no economy mat for small situa-
tions. The assortment does contain both
small mats and slugs, and a composite mat
could have been provided.

Max Cooper Wins
Another Prize

Sid Newman, in the executive offices of
the Skouras Theatres in New York, sends
us copies of correspondence which passed
between Max Cooper, manager of the
Skouras Cove theatre, Glen Cove, Long-
Island, and Armour and Company, Chi-
cago, when the packing firm awarded a
$100 prize to IMax for the best theatre
lobby display in their recent “Name the
Star’’ contest, as sales promotion on I’antrv
Shelf Meals. M’e have a photograph of the
prize-winning display for an upcoming
Round Table picture page, and we echo
the compliments we see in the Glen Cove
papers, to “Uncle Max” for his good efforts.

Setting Approach

BEACHHEAD — United Artists. In color by
Technicolor. The most thrilling story of the
U. S. Marines ever filmed! Tony Curtis
makes the jungle steam. In his hottest ad-
venture! Frank Lovejoy in an Academy
Award calibre performance. Mary Murphy
is an untamed, captive beauty in a jungle
setting. No posters larger than the 6-sheet,
and these are ordinary in the necessities
for showmanship. Herald keys the cam-
paign, and with all accessories, has the
same fixed pose and style. Newspaper ad
mats are similar but with two kinds of pic-
torial art, for a choice. The advertising
department weren't very inspired when
they turned out this pressbook. But the ex-
ploitation of the picture recently at Miami
Beach, almost sets a record for originality
(see Round Table picture page for March
27th). The composite ad mat, offering a
complete campaign for small situations,
and Including eight single and double
column ad mats and two publicity mats, is
especially well selected, and a great bar-
gain at 35c, on standing order from Na-
tional Screen. There's more variety in this
35c bargain than in the rest of the press-
book, so that should prove how much you
need this big economy mat.

ROSE MARIE— MGM. Ci nemaScope, the
first great musical in new dimensions and
wonderful Eastman Color. Ann Blyth, How-
ard Keel, Fernando Lamas, Bert Lahr, Mar-
jorie Main and star cast, with famous songs
to thrill you by Otto Harbach, Rudolf
FrImI and Oscar Hammersteln. Actually
filmed In the Oanadlan Northwest, as big
and beautiful as all outdoors. 24-sheet and
all posters, crowded with credits, but con-
taining art materials for lobby and mar-
quee display. Special set of six door panels,
and 8x 10 color prints to sell color with
color In a special lobby frame. Full line of
flourescent satin accessories for lobby and
front display. Nine special trailers for every
possible use, direct from your MGM ex-
change. Special jumbo herald that is really
a jumbo, in two colors, with every sales ap-

proach. Newspaper ad mats In large and
generous assortment, from teasers up to
oversize. Including some thoughtful little
things to tie In with your advertising sched-
ule. The complete campaign mat, origi-
nated by MGM and now standard for most
theatres on standing order at National
Screen, gives you ten ad mats in one and
two-column width, two publicity mats, and
some linotype border, all for 35c — the
biggest bargain on Film Row. Music tieups,
with MGM Records, for such songs as "In-
dian Love Call," etc. are made to order
for your convenience and benefit with local
sponsors. A special group of three mats
sells Bert Lahr in a laugh contest, and you'll
like the way It works out, as shown In the
pressbook. An 8-column story mat, with pic-
tures, across the width of a newspaper
page, but not very deep, is an attractive
piece of showmanship merchandise. Color-
ing contest mats, and extra good publicity
mats will help sell this famous musical.

TENNESEE CHAMP — MGM. In exciting
Ansco Color. If you liked MGM's "Stars
In My Crown" — you'll like this off-beat
drama of a champ with dynamite In his
fists and fervor In his heart. Shelley Win-
ters, Keenan Wynn and Dewey Martin, In
a new film based on "The Lord In His
Corner" and other stories by Eustace Cock-
rell. Six sheet Is made to order to provide
cut-out materials for lobby and marquee
display, but sells Shelley In a sweater rather
than the fighter with faith In his fists. This
picture packs a Sunday punch and you
should make that tact known. Newspaper
ad mats for all purposes, but the special
MGM complete campaign mat, at 35c,
contains everything needed In small situa-
tions, Including ten ad mats and slugs,
two publicity mats and a yard of linotype
border. Where else can you get a better
value along Film Row? A set of 8 x 10 color
prints will help you sell color with color,
and there's a 2-color herald from Cato
Show Print.

From Palm frees fo Palm trees — gala openings of Werner’s "Lucky Me" at the Beach
theatre, Miami Beach, Florida, and Paramount's "Knock on Wood" at the Warner theatre
in Hollywood, California — reciprocal and in keeping with the climate on both coasts.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, APRIL 24, 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menting the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

AIMING FOR MAXIMUM SALES

Florida CircuWs Bulletin For
Managers Spurs Spirit of
Competition

In the scheme o'' theatre operation today
the refresliment department occupies a vital
place and a great many circuit executives
expect from their managers the same kind
of merchandising ingenuity they expend in
film exploitation. One such circuit is Flor-
ida State Theatre?, operators of some 80
theatres in that state from headquarters in
Jacksonville. Under the direction of Harry
Botwick, who is assisted by Bob Harris, the
Confection Sales Department is aggressive
and enterprising in its etforts to reach the
maximum in refreshment stand sales and
profits.

To keel) Oiat aim continually in each man-
ager’s view, the department issues a weekly
“Confection Sales Bulletin,’’ devoted to all
phases of snack stand operation. Its pur-
poses are as follows: “to give unity to the
merchandising program ; to provide under-
standing to each manager regarding the
achievements of himself as compared with
his fellow managers; to point up the need
for the maximum profits consistent with
efficient management; to increase the com-
petitive spirit; and to destroy fuzzy think-
ing on the subject of the place of conces-
sions in theatre management by showing
that the circuit’s executives consider it
equally as important as good hooking, good
ho.x-office attendance, good maintenance and
good exploitation.’’

The subjects covered in the bulletins are
varied and many. For one thing, managers
are advised of the latest developments in the
manufacture, shipment display and selling
of candy, popcorn, etc. Merchandising
schemes that have proved particularly suc-
cessful for one manager are relayed to the
others in the bulletin’s pages. Special cam-
paigns planned by the circuit to boost sales
are described in detail, and the results of
completed campaigns are j)uhlished. In ad-
dition, managers who have displayed exce])-
tional selling ability and hard work in in-
creasing snack sales are praised for their
efforts.

The imi)ortance of cleanliness at the snack
stand and a courteous attitude on the part
of attendants are emphasized again and again
in the pages of the bulletins. In a recent
issue the main editorial section was devoted
to the latter subject which read, in part, as
follows :

“Courtesy is so elemental that we can
think of it only in terms of the Golden Rule
. . . ‘Do tiitto others as yon zvoiild have them
do unto you.’ It seems odd, doesn’t it, that
it would be necessary for you to constantly
remind your attendants to be courteous to
])<'itrons ?

“One of the power and light companies
in our state is now engaged in a campaign
to promote courtesy among its employees.
This power company thinks so much of the
idea that it is spending thousands of dollars
advertising this simple slogan . . . ‘Smile!
Courtesy wins friends for Florida and you!’

“Sometimes we get so enmeshed in every-
day life that we forget to smile, to be enthu-
siastic or even to be courteous. In his book,
‘How to Win Friends and Influence People,’
Dale Carnegie has used all of these basic
principles of getting along with people.
Each and everyone of us knows these prin-
ciples; however, Carnegie has made a great
success by simply putting them down in
book form.

“Why not adopt this slogan for you and
your attendants . . . ‘Smile ! Courtesy wins
friends for your theatre . . . and you !’ ”

The circuit’s Confection Sales Depart-
ment is housed in a Jacksonville warehouse.
It has offices ; a central popping department
which pops and ships corn to nearly half the
creuit (the remainder pop their own) ; ware-
house space for equipment, popcorn boxes,
salt, seasoning, etc.; and large refrigerated
rooms for candy and raw corn.

EASTER SPIRIT FOR THE SNACK STAND

Dolls in ballet costume twirl among spinning globes above the Loew's Rochester, N. Y., refreshment stand
while rabbits and brightly-colored eggs convey the Easter spirit. The decorations were devised by man-
ager Lester Pollock. A concealed motor animates the dolls and globes.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 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 120 attractions, 5,317 playdates.

Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the number of en-
gagements on each attraction reported. T he 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; AY — Average;
BA — Below Average; PR — Poor.

Alaska Seas (Para.)

All-American (Univ.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)
Appointment in Honduras (RKO) ....

I Reissue]

Back to Sod's Country (Univ.).

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th
Best Years of Our Lives (RKO)

Big Heat (Col.)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers) .

Blowing Wild (WB)

Border River (Univ.)

Botany Bay (Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB) ...

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Cease Fire! (Para.)

Command, The (WB)

Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (Univ.)
Crime Wave (WB)

fDangerous Mission (RKO) .
Decameron Nights (RKO)
Diamond Queen, The (WB)
fDragonfly Squadron (AA)

*East of Sumatra (U niv.) ...

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

Flight to Tangier (Para.) . .

Forbidden (Univ.)

Forever Female (Para.)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM) . .

Glass Web, The (Univ.)

Glenn Miller Story (Univ.)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)
Sun Fury (Col.)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox) .
Here Come the Girls (Para.) ....

It Should Happen to You (Col.

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.

Jivaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail (Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

1 1

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table

MGM)

"Lion Is in the Streets, A (WB)

Little Boy Lost (Para.)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue).

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Living Desert, The (Disney) ...
Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM'

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (Univ

Man Between, The (UA)

(Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

Marry Me Again (RKO)

Martin Luther (de Rochemont)
Miss Robin Crusoe (20th-Fox) . .
Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.) .

Mogambo (MGM)

Money from Home (Para.)

Nebraskan, The (Col.)

New Faces (20th-Fox)

(Night People (20th-Fox)

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB).

Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.)

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue).

Red Garters ( Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (Univ.) ...

Riders to the Stars (UA)

(Riding Shotgun (WB)

Riot in Cell Block 1 1 (AA)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Roman Holiday (Para.)

Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

*Sabre Jet ( UA)

Saskatchewan (Univ.)

Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.) ...

Shane (Para.)

Shark River ( UA)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)
(Siege of Red River (20th-Fox)
Sins of Jezebel (Lippert) ...

*Sky Commando (Col.)

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

So Big (WB)

Take the High Ground (MGM)

Taza, Son of Cochise (Univ.)

Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)

Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( U A)

*Torch Song (MGM)

Tumbleweed (Univ.)

Veils of Bagdad
*Vicki (20th-Fox)

Univ.

Walking My Baby Back Home

War Arrow ( U niv.)

War of the Worlds (Para.) . . .
Wild One (Col.)

' Uni

1 1

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, l?54

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

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United Nations Names Kaye
"Ambassador" for Fund

Before taking off for London this week
on the first leg of a 'round-the-world tour,
Danny Kaye, star of Paramount’s "Knock-
on Wood,” was named Ambassador-at-
Large of the L’nited Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) liy Maurice Pate, execu-
tive director of the Fund. Wdiile in Asia
on behalf of the Fund, Mr. Kaye will make
a short film on UNICEF’s aid to children
which he wdll personally etlit and narrate on
liis return to the Lhiited States in July.

DeBra Urges Clevelanders
To Support Voluntary Code

Elimination of political film censorship
should not lower standards of the present
Code Administration, Arthur DeBra, Mo-
tion Picture Association of America public
relations head, told the IMotion Picture
Council of Greater Cleveland, last week. He
urged the members to build strong pulilic
opinion for a voluntary system of regulation.
He stressed its advantages over rigid state

censorship, and in outlining its provisions
jiaid tribute to publisher Martin CJuigley for
his part in formulating and making success-
ful the Production Code.

Ohio Editorial Lauds
N. Y. Censorship Law

COLUMBUS, 0.: A revised Ohio film
censor law "might well follow the lead taken
l)y New York” in its new cen-'or legisla-
tion, said the Columbus "Dispatch.”

".Since state film review still is the law
here,” continued the editorial, "and has
ilemonstra'nly substantial public support, the
law might as w'ell have all the enforcement
teeth necessary to make it effective against
what Gov. Dewey rightly classes as ” ‘filth.’ "

“As readers of these columns know, we
regard censorship of any kind, on principle,
with skepticism, and feel it should he in-
voked, if at all, only in the most sjjecial of
special cases. The regulation of patentl)-
obscene, vulgar, sometimes hlasi)hcmon'
films imported from countries where there
are no restraints of proclncer-resiionsihility
or good taste, and of American-made pic-

tures issued by quick-buck operators to
exploit sex and sensation seems to us to
be exactly that sort of special case."

Legion Reviews Five New
Productions in Week

The National Legion of Decency this
w'eek reviewed five new films, putting four
in Class A, Section I, morally unobjection-
able for general patronage, and one in
Class A, Section II, morally unobjection-
able for adults. In Section I are “Arrow in
the Dust,” “Fireman Save My Child,” "Rid-
ing Shotgun” and “Tales from Whileaway.”
In Section II is “Hell Below Zero.”

Urges Decency Legion Need

“Continued staunch snpjiort of the Legion
of Decency by Catholics is imperative,” writ-
er John McCarthy warns in the May issue
of the “Catholic Digest.” Mr. McCarthy ex-
plains the decrease of major company puni-
tive power against violators of the Code, and
recent court decisions weakening state cen-
sorship; and outlines Legion activities.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 24, 1954

A simple statement of fact . . .

THE ALMANAC is referred to far more often, by tar more
people in the motion picture and television industries — and also
by more writers for the public press — than any other reference
book. There are obvious reasons for that:

The data in the most-often-used parts of the ALMANAC is
not to be found in any other reference book.

THE ALMANAC is the only finger-tip reference volume of
its kind — the only thumb-indexed book in these fields. It is
correctly described as being "like a library of fifteen volumes
in one." No other reference book in these fields can genuinely
make that claim.

THE ALMANAC is not given in combination with any other
publication. It is purchased for itself alone. Its unique
features make it indispensable — worth many times its price —
to thousands in the motion picture and television industries.

It is the only accepted "Who's Who and What's What" for the
entire field. There just isn't anything like it!

New York 20, N. Y.

A QUIGLEY PUBLICATION

Motion Picture
and Television

ALMANAC

SHOW BUSINESS is a GO business... and the
showman who is going to lure patrons to his Box
Office... has to be on the GO... every minute of
every day... with high-octane SHOWMANSHIP
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U. S. A., under the act of March I, 1S79. Fitb-
Center, Mew York 20, N. F. Subscripti<ni prices: $5.00
is copyrighted 1954 by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc.

TALK

BoO
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SWEET \
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sweet-/"

SWEETS TO THE “SUITE ” !
EVERY DATE IS GREAT!

M-G-M presents The Picture of the Year With The Cast of the Year!

EXECUTIVE SUITE

Starring

WILLIAM HOLDEN • JUNE ALLYSON - BARBARA STANWYCK • FREDRIC MARCH
WALTER PIOGEON • SHELLEY WINTERS • PAUL DOUGLAS - LOUIS CALHERN

«nh DEAN JAGGER • NINA FOCH ■ TIM CONSIDINE

Screen Play by ERNEST LEHMAN * Based on the Novel by Cameron Hcjwley * Directed by ROBERT WISE * Produced by JOHN HOUSEMAN

THE NEW BOX-OFFICE "SUITE'-IHEART. JUST THE START !

LOS ANGELES!

Top grosser in more than 2 years of all Day-and-Date engagements!

CLEVELANPi

Tops everything except TKnights of the Round Table’’ and
''Mogambo.”

OKLAHOMA CITY!

Second only to ''Knights” in last 2 years!

DAYTONA!

Tops "Mogambo”!

FORT LAUDERDALE!

Tops '"Mogambo”! Record biz!

MIAMI !

Record business !

CORAL GABLES!

Second only to "Knights”!

MIAMI BEACH!

Tops "Mogambo”! Record biz!

HOUSTON !

Tops everything except "Knights of the Round Table” and
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STARRING

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DIRECTED BY

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WRITTEN BY FREDERICK KNOTT who wrote the International Stage Success Conducted

Music Composed and

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Wonderful CiNemaScOPE picture ...
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Start plugging your "Three Coins in the
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MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 5

MARTIN QUIGLEY, }R., Editor

May I, 1954

Slander by Hecht

The talented Ben Hecht as a story writer has pros-
pered in and through Hollywood. The bitten hand
of Hollywood is again in evidence as the result of
a particularly outrageous article which Mr. Hecht has
had published in the current issue of “Esquire” magazine.

The Hecht article is a shocking example of a ruthless
fouling of one’s own nest. The appearance of such an
article in an American magazine is an equally shocking
example of the standards of ethics and decency which
currently color the editorial policies of various magazine
publishers.

In this article Mr. Hecht returns to a discussion of the
subject of sexual delinquency in its ugliest and most re-
volting aspects™ a subject which has had a long and
curious fascination for Mr. Hecht. In the “Esquire”
article he purports to offer a report on Hollywood con-
ditions. Actually he turns out a fictional piece which
portrays the author’s daydreaming rather than any typi-
cal condition that exists anywhere except among diseased
persons for whom the insane asylum is beckoning.

The Hecht article in “Esquire” magazine is an arro-
gant and cruel affront to Hollywood and the many thou-
sands of decent Americans who comprise the production
colony. The hatchetmen of the Kremlin will be delighted
with it as it fits nicely into their design of villifying the
American film and its production colony throughout the
world.

Mr. Hecht in this article seems to solicit a social and
professional ostracism in Hollywood. Hollywood ought
not disappoint him.

■ ■ ■

Rights of Film Reviewers

SOME newspaper and magazine film reviewers, and
their editors, lately have been forgetting that mo-
tion pictures belong to their makers. The producer-
distributor has the right to select the time at which its
films may be seen for review and also to stipulate that
reviews be published on or after a particular date. The
courtesy of an invitation to a screening, of course, carries
with it no control whatsoever over the review’s content.

Nearly fifteen years ago a problem arose in Hollywood
because newspaper reviews were published following
“sneak previews” without regard to review release dates.
Exhibitors pointed out that such pre-judging weeks and
months before a picture was released hurt attendance.
It was noted that reviews in advance of theatre openings
should appear only in the trade press.

The situation became critical in 1941. The late Ed
Kuykendall, president of the Motion Picture Theatre
Owners of America, demanded that Hollywood previews
for the lay press be abolished. The annual convention

of the MPTOA that year also passed a resolution con-
demning general press reviews before pictures were ready
to be shown to the public.

Terry Ramsay e commented on those developments on
this page as follows :

“The trade press audience, the exhibitor, needs to
know all that he can get about the product as early as
it can be had. It pertains to his plans, decisions,
budgets, policies, and his retail selling.

“The lay press audience begins to have its larger
proper interest zvhen the product becomes available for
inspection on the retailer’s screens.

“The tzvo junctions are as jar apart as buying time
and playdate.”

For many years Hollywood studios have had a rule
that lay critics and columnists are invited to advance
screenings on the condition that no reviews be published
before release. It was also agreed that syndicated
columnists would either not review pictures at all or
arrange to have their review break following the opening
of the film in the area served by each subscribing news-
paper. Columnists are confined generally to saying that
they have “heard” reports about such and such a picture.

Recently two pictures have been reviewed in
Los Angeles newspapers in violation of the ex-
hibitor-studio-press pact. It is to be hoped that
both breaches of the rule were unintentional and were
made through misunderstanding or ignorance. However,
the studios have an obligation to their exhibitor cus-
tomers everywhere to make sure that box office values
are not dissipated by newspaper reviews printed in ad-
vance of theatre openings. If necessary, the studios
should bar offending reviewers from advance screenings.
This is entirely within their legal rights.

Unlike toothpaste, cigarettes and other packaged
goods, motion pictures are only available at local out-
lets— the theatres — on specific dates. Advance newspaper
reviews at best make the public believe that certain films
are dated before their key runs; at worst certain films
are unfairly damned. It is easier for a columnist to be
“smart” when condemning than when approving.

Let the exhibitor be served by trade press reviews as
early as pictures are ready for selling. Let pictures be
reviewed for the public when the public can pay to see
them, not before.

■ ■ ■

Quotable Quotes: “A town without a theatre dies
at nightfall,” Charles Jones, Elma, Iowa. COMPO’s
seventh advertisement in its series in “Editor & Pub-
lisher” summed up the financial contributions of a
theatre to its community in the words : “A healthy movie
business is good for the economic health of any town.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

rjCettet'S to tlie ^J^eraid

Public Relotions

To THE Editor:

Take a look at an article by Ben Hecht
entitled “Sex in Hollywood,” appearing in
the current issue of “Esquire” magazine.
The bright red wrapper makes this issue of
“Esquire” stand out like a sore thumb on all
newsstands.

Frankly, the entire article is rather re-
volting, and I’m no prude. I’m writing you
for some help.

I’ve talked to several civic groups locally
combatting the very poor press that we have
been getting. As you know the masses
think that Hollywood is an evd den of
iniquity — brought about by the many dis-
tasteful releases from Hollywood, similar to
Hecht’s article. I, and my theatre friends,
have tried to put the emphasis on the good
things that are happening and trying to
teach the people that Hollywood is a fine
place . . . that the folks are fine folks. Now,
here comes “loud-mouth” Hecht.

What’s the score ? What are the facts ?
Are we to believe these statements ? What’s
the rebuttal to this type of article ? If I
have been wrong in thinking that Holly-
wood people were just average, then I’d like
to know the true facts. So, how about some
help ! — Virginia Theatre Manager.

editorial, "‘Slander by Hecht,” Page 7.]

Less Indians

To the Editor:

We are an action house and have been
for years, but the recent rise in Indian pic-
tures made have even disgusted my patrons.
They love Westerns but not these Indian
pictures ! Give us more “super-westerns” as
we choose to call them, not Indian against
Indian, white against Indian, Cavalry fight-
ing Indian and Cavalry fighting for Indian.
Just plain old cowboy pictures in color with
a star or two is all we ask. — JAMES J.
HOEFNER, Manager, Shell Theatre,
Tacoma, Wash.

Value of Shorts

To THE Editor:

In the issue of the Herald of April 10th,
there appeared an article from an exhibitor
in Texas, saying that more diversified short
subjects are needed to avoid more than one
feature on a program.

We don’t know who this exhibitor is, but
he is probably on our list. We direct your
attention to the fact that over the years we
have taken various steps to let exhibitors
like our friend in Texas know that we have
a library of over two hundred and fifty
diversified shorts available running any-
where from eight minutes up to forty min-
utes, all of them selected with a careful eye
to satisfy discriminate audiences, where
single features are used. Announcements

To the Editor:

We have been using your
magazine for years and find it
very beneficial. We especially
find useful your Film Buyers
Ratings. — WARREN PIRTLE,
Pirtle Circuit of Theatres,
Jerseyville, III.

appear in the World Market Section. We
wonder how our exhibitor friend in Texas
could have ever overlooked us.

It seems that many exhibitors are too
much sold on the idea that all the good pro-
gram fillers belong to major companies and
they often overlook the fact that some of
us independents come up with unusual and
interesting items and short subjects which
the major companies don’t handle. The
trouble with most exhibitors is that they
place a very low value on shorts. Their
argument is that people cannot be induced
to come in to see shorts so they fill up their
programs with anything on celluloid. We
have had some amazing experiences with
exploitable shorts and in many cases we
have had unusual shorts running ii.' a theatre
for as long as eighteen weeks. — J. H.
HOFFBERG, President, Hoffberg Produc-
tions, Inc., Nezv York City.

Thanking the Stars

To THE Editor:

In this day and age, it is really great to
see a star that will go out of his way to help
the exhibitor. Many stars visit Palm Beach
but they prefer not to appear, even with
their own pictures.

However, Robert Cummings, while visit-
ing in Palm Beach was most cordial and
gladly appeared on the stage of the Para-
mount Theatre without a big buildup while
we were showing his latest hit production,
“Lucky Me.”

I just wanted to publicly express my ap-
preciation to Mr. Cummings, a real star in
public relations. — BILL DUGGAN, Florida
Theatre, West Palm Beach, Fla.

Use TV

To THE Editor:

After seeing the business that “The Long,
Long Trailer” has done in theatres, I am
of the firm opinion that, if the industry
would join hands in a television program
during regular off nights for theatres, it
would be very beneficial to exhibitors in
general because people would be generally
better acquainted with stars and the new
motion pictures. I think that a program of
this sort once a week would give the motion
picture industry a shot in the arm that is
badly needed. — M. M. GRIMES , Bailey
Theatres, Atlanta, Ga.

May I, 1954

VISTAVISION has impressive introduction
to the east P^qe 12

ALLIED States committee finds VistaVision
to its liking Page 12

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— The box office
leaders of the week Page 14

PARAMOUNT reports net profit for the
year of $6,779,563 Page 14

JACK WARNER details plans in trailer,
and has plenty to tell Page 16

CINEMASCOPE finds new field in drive-in
installations Page 18

ADDITIONAL drive-in operations are utiliz-
ing CinemaScope Page 18

ARTHUR urges trade paper ads to cite
need for more product Page 2 1

PERSPECTA policy in theatres abroad
enunciated by Loew official Page 21

GOLDSTEIN and United Artists in deal for

ten films a year Page 21

SMPTE ready to open 75th semi-annual
technical convention Page 22

INQUIRY group scores ACT, British union,
in laboratory dispute Page 22

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 23

TEEN-AGERS like movies, and TV appear-
ances found to help Page 25

OHIO censor faces legal test of its right
to existence Page 26

UNITED ARTISTS program is outlined at

sales meeting Page 27

GUARANTEES are lowered for coming the-
atre telecast of fight Page 27

20TH-FOX plans total of 62 short subjects
for current year Page 27

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising Page 34

Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene Page 20

Managers' Round Table Page 29

People in the News Page 27

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews Page 2277

Short Subjects Page 2778

What the Picture Did for Me Page 2279

The Release Chart Page 2280

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

On tLe Ort

orizon

The Federal Communications
Commission has granted WOR-
TV, New York, permission to
make a 90-day private experimental
test of Zenith’s Phonevision sys-
tem of subscriber television begin-
ning May 15. The test is “to make
final determination of Phonevision’s
operating characteristics from a
high-powered transmitter.” No tele-
phone lines will be used. Gordon
Gray, WOR-TV general manager,
said the program material would
consist of test patterns, films and
some live pick-ups.

► Col. H. A. Cole, co-chairman of
the COMPO tax repeal committee,
will be presented with gold keys to
a 1954 coupe-de-ville Cadillac at a
testimonial to be tendered him May
11 by Texas exhibitors. The car
will bear a gold plate on its instru-
ment panel inscribed “Presented to
Colonel H. A. Cole by loyal and
devoted Texas theatre owners,” a
coat of arms bearing his name will
be on the door, and a chauffeur at-
tired in a powder blue uniform, the
shade of the car, will be at Col,
Cole’s service for a year. In addi-
tion an interior decorator has been
commissioned to completely re-
decorate his office.

► The familiar Paramount trade-
mark, a mountain peak with a halo
of stars, has a new look. On the
cover of the annual report mailed
this week to stockholders the em-
blem has been embellished by a
symbolic lightning flash. The report
points out that the flash “sym-
bolizes the new electronic era , . .
and Paramount’s expansion into
television and other electronic
fields.”

► First quarter preliminary con-
solidated sales of $131,800,000 were
reported this week by the Eastman
Kodak Company. The sales figure
for the 12 weeks ending March 21,
1954, compares with sales of $133,-
800,000 in the corresponding period
of last year, but is about 9^ per
cent above first quarter sales in 1952
and 1951.

► House-approved cuts in funds for
the U. S. Information Agency would
bear hardest on the overseas film

program, according to figures sub-
mitted by the agency to the Senate
Appropriations Committee this
week. Dierctor Theodore C. Strei-
bert urged the Senate group to give
USIA the $89,000,000 it asked for
the coming fiscal year rather than
the $75,814,000 voted by the House.
The cut made by the Representa-
tives would mean the film program
would get only $2,931,000 as com-
pared with the $6,964,000 requested.

► Directors of Allied States Associ-
ation meeting in Minneapolis next
month will study reports on “ex-
ploratory discussions” with seven
additional independent film pro-
ducers interested in guaranteed
product deals similar to the deal
with Hal R. Makelim, Abram F.
Myers, Allied general counsel, said
this week in Washington that none
of the new discussions had reached
the negotiating stage.

► A commemorative postage stamp
honoring George Eastman on the
centennial of his birth will be issued
in July by the United States Post
Office.

Observers at the Radio City Music Hall
New York demonstration of Paramount's
VistaVision screen process on April 27
were well impressed. The advance claims
for the brightest and sharpest pictures
ever projected on a large screen from
35mm film were substantiated. It was
shown that on the large screen a notice-
able improvement in definition was
achieved with VistaVision in contrast to
standard photography. The demonstra-
tion also showed how VistaVision prints,
by exhibitor choice, may be projected in
any aspect ratio from 1.33 to I up to 2 to
I. The advantages of the Paramount-
recommended ratio of 1,85 to I were
illustrated with different scenes.

► A sharp increase in pro-Com-
munist motion pictures in southeast
Asia is reported by the U. S. In-
formation Agency which says that
such films are being produced in
Red China and distributed in grow-
ing numbers. In addition Russian-
made films with Chinese sub-titles
are getting wider distribution in
southeast Asia.

► “Newsweek” magazine devotes its
May 3 cover and a four-page feature
story to MGM’s “Executive Suite.”
The story is headed “Hollywood
Discovers the U. S. Business
Drama.”

► Charles Boasberg, RKO general
sales manager, said this week that
Walt Disney’s “Pinocchio” in its
first 100 re-release dates in metro-
politan New York grossed $126,000,
exceeding “Snow White,” re-released
two years ago, by 30 per cent.

► Motion picture theatre directory
advertising in the Chicago “Tribune”
on Friday April 16 reached a new
all time peak total of approximately
20 columns.

In addition to regular VistaVision
prints. Paramount also plans to make
available "squeezed" prints in the 1.85
aspect ratio for projection through ad-
justable prismatic anamorphic lenses. This
is expected to result in a further in-
crease in sharpness of images on screens
55 feet and wider.

Paramount is to be congratulated for
the progress it has made with Vista-
Vision. Especially in larger theatres and
drive-ins the entertainment quality of
pictures will be enhanced by the sharper
VistaVision prints. — M.Q., Jr.

Sfory and pichires of the New York
VistaVision demonstration on pages 12
and 13.

Assets of VistaVision

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable oddress,
"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
PubltcatIons:i Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year os Section II of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame,

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY I, 1954

IVATi£|£^SJ^VIEW

JMTECHNICQLO

Milton R. Rackmil, company
president; co-star Barbara
Rush; executive vice-presi-
dent Alfred DafF; vice-
president Charles J. Feld-
man.

Wilbur Snaper, exhibitor:
Rita Gam; Ray Moon, Uni-
versal.

THE MARQUEE tells the story.
Some 2,500 from New York's
industry, and the press, at-
tended Universal's "Magnifi-
cent Obsession" Monday night.
Also, Universal district sales
managers, in town for a week-
long meeting.

THE SCENE, left, in Rome, as
Arthur Krim, United Artists
president, at the left, receives
from Nicola De Pirro the deco-
ration of Knight of the Italian
Republic. The ceremony co-
incided with UA's 35th anni-
versary celebration in Rome.

JACK L. WARNER,
executive producer
at Warners, inspects
a miniature to be
used in "The Silver
Chalice" as producer
Victor Saville, set
designer Rolf Girard,
and Steve Trilling
look on.

MAXWELL CUM-
MINGS of Montreal
has been elected
president of Asso-
ciated Screen News,
of that city and
Toronto. He repre-
sents control and
new management.

LUNCHING, at the
Michigan Allied De-
troit convention: at
the head table,
Inspector Herbert
Case, police censor;
Secretary of State
Owen Cleary; E. T.
Conlon, vice - presi-
dent; Pat McGee,
representing
C O M P O ; Alden
Smith; John Vlachos,
president; Reuben
Shor.

WALTER BRANSON, RKO
general manager for for-
eign operations, predicts
company earnings abroad
this year will be almost 12
per cent higher. He re-
turned to New York head-
quarters after five weeks
on the Continent and in
England. Motion pictures
and their stars are still
glamorous abroad, he com-
mented.

INSTALLING the New
York Cinema Lodge,
B'nai B'rith officers.
At the luncheon Tues-
day: Irving Green-
field, Harry Brandt,
Martin Levine, A. W.
Schwalberg, Burton
Robbins, reelected
president; Robert
Weitman, and Sam
Rinzier. Behind Mr.
Robbins is Louis
Novins, luncheon
guest speaker.

HAROLD HECHT, producer
with Burt Lancaster, spoke
in United Artists' New
York office last week for
"Apache."

THE ANTILLANA TROPHY and
scroll, awarded by the Cuban
Federation of Critics to Walt
Disney's "Nature's Half Acre," is
displayed in New York by foreign
sales manager Ned Clarke, and
world sales manager Leo
Samuels.

by the Herald

All photos by the Herald

and New York’s Industry
Finds Bow Impressive

PAT ON BACK FROM
ALLIED COMMITTEE

Allied States' Watchdog Commit-
tee went, saw and was conquered.
Just a matter of hours after Para-
mount's VistaVision demonstration at
Radio City Music Hall Monday, the
committee issued a statement saying,
"We are agreed that this morning we
enjoyed the finest wide screen presen-
tion of motion pictures from the
standpoint of definition and clarity
that we have thus far seen." The com-
mittee also was impressed by "the
compatibility of VistaVision with
standard projection equipment" and
Paramount's lack of insistence on
special sound equipment. The com-
mittee, consisting of Wilbur Snaper,
Sidney Samuelson and Irving Del-
linger, attended the showing in the
company of Ben Marcus, national
president, Abram Myers, general
counsel, and Edward W. Lider of
Boston.

This Week, as it must to all new
screen techniques, the east coast
debut came for VistaVision.

Paramount’s newly developed photo-
graphic and release printing process was
unveiled in New York early Montlay morn-
ing in an impressive show, staged appro-
priately at Radio City Music Hall and hosted
hy top Paramount executives led by Barney
Balaban, president ; Adolph Zukor, chair-
man of the board; Y. Frank Freeman, vice-
president in charge of the studio operations,
and Loren L. Ryder, head of research at the
studio. \dstaVision will be shown in Wash-
ington at the Capitol theatre Wednesday.

In the audience were hundreds of exhibit-
ors, who applauded Paramount policy as
well as picture, distributors and other inter-
ested folk. The latter included such diverse
personalities as George Jessel, sometime pro-
ducer and master of ceremonies extraordi-
nar ; actor Charlton Heston, who will star
in C. B. DeMille’s VistaVision production
of “The Ten Commandments”; Sloan Simp-
son O’Dwyer, wife of a former New York
Citv official and a radio commentator, and
Lowell Thomas, also of radio and who has

an immediate interest in any possible com-
petition to his Cinerama.

Emphasized throughout the demonstration
and in the subsequent press conference were
the following points :

Paramount in adopting Vista-. .
Vision has implemented its policy
of “compatibility and flexibility” ;

VistaVision requires no new
expenditures on the part of the
exhibitor but, by its nature,
“brings to motion pictures a
quality and scope never before
achieved” for the smallest as well
as largest theatre; and that

Films in VistaVision are photo-
graphed with the intention of
their being screened in the 1 :85
to 1 aspect ratio, with cropping
at the projector, and that they
also can be screened in ratios
ranging from 1 :33 to 1 up to 2
to 1, with no loss of pertinent
action.

Speaking before the demonstration, which
included scenes from such coming Vista-

Vision productions as “Wdiite Christmas,”
“Strategic Air Command” and “Three Ring
Circus,” Mr. Freeman acknowledged Para-
mount’s and the industry’s debt to all who
have pioneered in the development of new
screen techniques, and specifically he cited
20th Century-Fox for CinemaScope.

Paramount, however, said Mr. Freeman,
was not to be satisfied with a technique not
suitable to all theatres, small, big and out-
door, and thus has finally developed the
VistaVision camera, through which the film
passes horizontally, exposing the equivalent
of two frames at once. This enlarged picture
area, when reduced and printed in the con-
ventional manner, affords a degree of defini-
tion never before seen, said the production
chief. Mr. Ryder even went on record as
saying the picture so obtained was better
than one on 65mm stock.

Mr. Freeman, as well as the Messrs. Bala-
ban, Zukor and Ryder, urged the retention
of the height of the screen as well as the
width — “the biggest screen possible for the
particular theatre” is the way Mr. Freeman
put it. He added, too, that Paramount has
{Continued on opposite page)

Paramount's Henry Rondel escorts cir-
cuit owner Louis Scbine.

Warners' Frank Cahill with Texas Con-
solidated's Bill O'Donnell.

R. J. O'Donnell greets Paramount's Y.
Frank Freeman.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

(Continued from opposite page)

no sympathy for the exhibitor who doesn’t
“do his best to get the best equipment avail-
able’’ especially a seamless screen and proper
lenses.

Paramount, said Mr. Freeman, recom-
mends a lens such as the variable anamor-
phic lens developed by the Tushinsky broth-
ers, with which it is possible to project
conventional product as well as any ana-
morphic prints which might be made of
VistaVision product. As announced pre-
viously, Paramount intends to make avail-
able to exhibitors anamorphic prints, in the
ratio of 1 :8S-to-l, as well as conventional
prints.

Says VistaVision Camera
Details Available to All

At the press conference following the
demonstration, Mr. Ryder said in his opin-
ion the light saving by use of the anamor-
phic prints, as opposed to the projector crop-
ping of conventional prints to achieve the
1 :85-to-l ratio, would only be appreciable in
very large theatres, or theatres having
screens which measure more than 55 to 60
feet wide.

The question of the availability of Vista-
Vision cameras was handled by Mr. Free-
man, who said that contrary to reports from
some quarters, any camera manufacturer can
get the plans and specifications to build a
VistaVision camera. Paramount, he said,
will have eight by July and 10 or 12 by
August. The name VistaVision, he con-
tinued, can be used by any producer “as
long as it is VistaVision and as long as the
production measures up to the standards set
by Paramount.”

New Technicolor Process
Complements VistaVision

He added, however, that Paramount does
not intend to sell the process to the public in
a loud or flamboyant manner. The company
is primarily interested in telling the exhibi-
tor exactly what he will have in VistaVision
and let him do the selling. The quality of
the photographic method, coupled with a new
Technicolor dye printing process, he said,
will do the trick. Despite earlier reports that
all VistaVision films would be in color, Mr.
Freeman announced that Paramount would

From ouf-of~New York: Moe Horwitz and Bill
Skirball of Cleveland Bank Moe Silver of
Piffsburgh and Harry Feinstein, New Haven.

start shooting its first black-and-white film
in VistaVision this month.

All the Paramount executives were united
in their praise of Perspecta sound, the “com-
patible” single optical sound track equipped
with a control so that it can be played
through one, two or three horns as the ex-
hibitor desires. It was Mr. Zukor’s opinion
that some pictures, such as musicals, need
“the body” which three horns behind the
screen give to sound, whereas other “more
intimate dramas” don’t gain particularly by
directional effects. Most important of all,
Mr. Zukor added as an afterthought, is
proper volume control and “good theatre
operation,” no matter what the system.

Mr. Ryder, who has been credited with
introducing magnettic sound to Hollywood
and who now is backing Paramount’s adop-
tion of Perspecta sound, said that if one-
quarter of the amount of money had been
spent recently on optical sound as on mag-
netic, optical would now be even better. He
predicted great advances in optical sound
and cited difficulty in proper maintenance as
magnetic sound’s biggest disadvantage.

The cost of equipping for Perspecta sound,
which also has been adopted by Warner
Brothers and MGM, was estimated at ap-
proximately $800 for the integrator unit.

Answering fhe questions of the press. The
Paramount array of executive talent includes
studio technical chief Loren Ryder; studio
chief Y. Frank Freeman; board chairman
Adolph Zukor; president Barney Balaban.
speaking; research director Paul Raibourn;
and studio technical expert Charles Daily.

plus about $500 for installation for theatres
already equipped with a three-horn system
behind the screen. An additional estimated
$2,000 in expenditures was seen for theatres
not now equipped with three horns.

Also revealed in the course of the post-
demonstration talk was the fact that the
conventional screen version of “Oklahoma,”
to be shot “deluxe” in the Todd-AO 65mm
process, will be made in VistaVision. The
results will be interesting in light of Mr.
Ryder’s faith in the Paramount process. Mr.
Ryder also told the press the company’s
first VistaVision cameras were developed
from two Stein cameras, built in 1926.

The Music Hall demonstration was car-
ried out on a Vocalite “Hi-Lite” diffusive
screen measuring 70 feet by 39 feet. In the
booth were Peerless condenser lamps pulling
200 amps.

An Allied delegation, below: Wilbur Snaper,
Abram F. Myers; Paramount's Charlton Hes-
ton, A. W. Schwalberg and Hugh Owen; and
Ben Marcus and Sydney Samuelson.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY !, 1954

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Picture doing above average business at first runs in the key cities for the week ending
April 24 were:

Albany: Lucky Me (WB), Prince Val-
iant (20th-Fox), Heidi (UA) 2nd week,
Red Garters (Para.) and War Arrow
(U-I) double bill, Pinocchio (Disney-
RKO, reissue).

Atlanta: Lucky Me (WB), Southwest
Passage (UA), Phantom of the Rue
Morgue (WB).

Boston: Knock on Wood (Para.), Gene-
vieve (U-I), Prince Valiant (20th-
Fox, Night People (20th-Fox), Rose
Marie (MGM).

Cincinnati: Prince Valiant (20th-Fox),
Night People (20th-Fox) 2nd week,
Pinocchio (Disney-RKO, reissue).

Cleveland: Executive Suite (MGM),
Prince Valiant (20th-Fox), Lucky
Me (WB), From Here to Eternity
(Col.) repeat run, Pinocchio (Disney-
RKO, reissue) 2nd week.

Denver: Rhapsody (MGM), Casanova’s
Big Night (Para.), Prince Valiant
(20th-Fox), Lucky Me (WB), Gene-
vieve (U-I) 3rd week.

Detroit: Beat the Devil (UA), Night
People (20th-Pox) 3rd week, Glenn
Miller Story (U-I) 10th week. Lucky
Me (WB), Prince Valiant (20th-
Eox).

Hartford: Rose Marie (MGM).

Indianapolis: Executive Suite (MGM)
and Charge of the Lancers (Col.)
double bill. Creature from the Black
Lagoon (Univ.) and Project M-7 (U-I)
double bill. Lucky Me (WB), Ma and
Pa Kettle at Home (U-I) 2nd week
moveover, and Loophole (AA) double
bill.

Kansas City: Lucky Me (WB) holdover.
The Robe (20th-Pox) repeat run, Pinoc-
chio (Disney-RKO, reissue).

Memphis: The Naked Jungle (Para.),
Rhapsody (MGM), Prince Valiant
(20th-Fox), Lucky AIe (WB).

Miami: Executive Suite (MGM).

Milwaukee: Erench Line (RKO), Rob
Roy (Disney-RKO), Pinocchio (Dis-
ney-RKO, reissue). Creature from the
Black Lagoon (U-I).

New Orleans: Julius Caesar (MGM)
holdover. The Erench Line (RKO)
moveover, 6th week. Lucky Me (WB),
Glenn AIiller Story (U-I) holdover.

Oklahoma City: Executive Suite
(MGM) holdover. The Living Desert
(Disney) 3rd week. Elephant Walk
(Para.) holdover. Botany Bay (Para.).

Omaha: Prince Valiant (20th-Fox),
Pinocchio (Disney-RKO, reissue). The
Robe (20th-Eox) repeat run.

Philadelphia: Prince Valiant (20th-
Fox), Carnival Story (RKO).

Portland: Lucky Me (WB), Prince Val-
iant (20th-Fox), It Should Happen
TO You (Col.), Casanova’s Big Night
(Para.), Ma and Pa Kettle at Home
(U-I), The Living Desert (RKO) 6th
week. Night People (20th-Fox) 4th
week.

Providence: Rose Marie (MGM), Prince
Valiant (20th-Fox), Heidi (UA).

San Francisco: Knock on Wood (Para.)
2nd week.

Vancouver: Night People (20th-Fox),
King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-
Fox), Eddie Cantor Story (WB), The
Long, Long Trailer (MGM), Yankee
Pasha (U-I).

Washington: Lucky Me (WB), Prince
Valiant (20th-Fox), Beachhead
(UA), Pinocchio (Disney-RKO, reis-
sue), Beat the Devil (UA) 2nd week.
Knock on Wood (Para.), Yankee
Pasha (U-I), Julius Caesar (MGM)
11th week, Tennessee Champ (MGM)
plus Betty Hutton stage show, Will Any
Gentleman (Brit.) (Stratford).

Universal Sales Heads
At Meeting in New York

Universal Pictures’ district sales mana-
gers began their week long series of meet-
ings with the company’s home office execu-
tives in New York Monday, with Charles
J. Feldman, sales vice-president, presiding.
A review of general sales policies and dis-
tribution plans were on the agenda. One
meeting was devoted to promotion plans on
forthcoming product. District managers
participating were Joseph Gins, from Bos-
ton; P. F. Rosian, Cleveland; Mamie M.
Gottlieb, Chicago; Lester Zucker, Kansas
City; James V. Frew, Atlanta; Henry H.
Martin, Dallas; Barney Rose, San Fran-
cisco; David A. Levy, New York.

Sell Chicago House

CHICAGO : Charles Golan has given up the
Deluxe theatre here after operating it since
1930, and the theatre has been taken over
by Van Nomikos and Duke Shumow, who
are closing it for a month to install a wide
screen and to make other improvements. The
1,000-seat house, first opened in 1912, was
built and managed by the Cuneo family, who
still own the building.

Columbia Dividend Set

Columbia Pictures’ board of directors
last week declared a quarterly dividend of
$1.06)4 per share on the $4.25 cumulative
preferred stock, payable May 15, 1954, to
stockholders of record April 30.

^iMragnount
Mteports Net

$6,779,563

Paramount Pictures Corporation reported
consolidated earnings after taxes in the
amount of $6,779,563 for the 52 weeks ended
January 2, 1954. This compares with $5,-
340,584 for the 53 weeks ended January 3,
1953, before including a non-recurring profit
of $559,287 from the sale of real property
in that year, and $5,899,871 including such
non-recurring profit.

Consolidated earnings for 1953 represented
$3.06 per share on 2,217,051 shares outstand-
ing at the end of 1953 as compared with
$2.28 per share for 1952, not including the
non-recurring profit, on 2,339,479 shares
outstanding at the end of 1952. Including
such non-recurring profit, consolidated earn-
ings for 1952 were equivalent to $2.52.

Barney Balaban, president of the company,
referred in his annual report to 1953 as “a
year that strengthened our financial posi-
tion.” He pointed out that 1953 had resulted
in greater revenues in almost all areas of
the foreign market, and added that this im-
provement had continued and had been
maintained during the first months of 1954.

Famous Players Canadian Corporation,
Limited, in which Paramount holds an inter-
est of 67)4%, had “enjoyed another good
year during 1953,” Mr. Balaban said, “and
is currently expanding its interests in the
television field in Canada.

He also revealed rapid progress scored by
the color television tube developed by Chro-
matic Television Laboratories, Inc., in which
Paramount holds a 50 per cent interest. Mr.
Balaban declared that the position of the
Chromatron — commonly known as the Law-
rence tube — had been tremendously strength-
ened as the only practical and economical
answer to the problem of getting popular
sized color receivers to the public soon.

Discussing the International Telemeter
Corporation, in which Paramount holds a
majority interest, Mr. Balaban stated that
the results of Telemeter’s “pay-as-you-see”
television experiment in Palm Springs “have
exceeded our expectations.” He disclosed
new areas of research and development in
which Telemeter’s staff of engineers and
scientists are currently engaged, including a
system of proof and sorting of bank checks,
and photographic and magnetic-core tech-
niques of electronic memories.

A considerable section of the report was
devoted to explaining the merits of Vista-
Vision, the wide screen process which the
company demonstrated in New York this
week. See pages 12 and 13.

Jessel NTFC Guest

George Jessel was to be the honored guest
of the National Television Film Council
luncheon meeting in New York Thursday
April 29, it was announced by Melvin L.
Gold, NTFC president.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

A BIG SERIAL WITH BIG PICTURE PRODUCTION!

The Serial You’ve Been Waiting Fori

TERRIFIC ACTION THAT
THRILLS 'EM WEEK AFTER
WEEK AFTER WEEK!

Terrifying Indian Attacks!

A Mighty Mountain Avalanche!
Hot Lead vs. High Explosives!
Running The Tomahawk Gantlet!
...and More! More! More!

starring

JACK MAHONEY

w„K Clayton MOORE Phyllis COATES Don HARVEY

; Story and Screen Play by ARTHUR HOERL, ROYAL COLE and GEORGE H. PLYMPTON • Produced by SAM KATZMAN • Directed by SPENCER G. BENNET

ism'- ’.-mf ^ COLUMBIA SUPER-SERIAL

...AND A TERRIFIC CAMPAIGN BOOK TO BRING ACTION AT THE BOX-OFFICE!

by the Herald

Warner Details Plans:
There’s Plenty to Tell

WARNER Brothers pridefully unveiled for
exhibitors and the industry this week its
catalogue of product for the immediate
future. An estimated 7,500 exhibitors, cir-
cuit buyers, bookers and members of the
press in 3 I exchange cities attended show-
ings Monday of a specially made two-reel
picture in which Jack L. Warner, executive
producer, detailed the product and intro-
duced sequences from productions com-
pleted or now in work.

Based on Best-Sellers

And an impressive catalogue it is. Stress-
ing pre-sold value, the productions largely
are based on best selling novels, long run
plays or widely known classics.

Among the properties tor which Mr.
Warner outlined producer and directorial
credits, and in some cases cast names,
were: John Steinbeck's "East of Eden";
Agnes Sligh Turnbull's "Gown of Glory' ;
"Helen of Troy"; Edna Ferber's "Giant";
Andrew Geer's "The Sea Chase ; Herman
Melville's "Moby Dick"; the Thomas Heg-
gen stage success "Mister Roberts' ;
Thomas B. Costain's "The Silver Chalice^ ;
William Faulkner's "Land of the Pharaohs ;
"Daniel Boone"; Tennessee Williams' "Mis-
sissippi Woman"; "Daniel and the Woman
of Babylon"; "The Last Train West ;
"Strange Lady in Town"; and the current
star of the book world, Charles Lindbergh's
"Spiirt of St. Louis."

Shows Completed Sequences

The trailer, made in CinemaScope but
with optical, single track sound, then
moved into sequences from these produc-
tions: "The Command," "Lucky Me," "Ring
of Fear," "A Star Is Born," "The High and
the Mighty," "King Richard and the Cru-
saders " and "Battle Cry."

Concluding the impressive film report,
Mr. Warner characterized it as a "blue-
print of our thinking and planning — the
shape of things to come from our studio.
He reiterated the theme that great books,
great plays and great stories make great
motion pictures."

"The scenes you have just witnessed
from forthcoming productions, as well as

the impressive list of story properties we
have purchased for immediate production,
are an indication of the continuous flow
of motion pictures which you will receive
from Warner Brothers. We have shown you
only glimpses of this program. Soon you will
see these pictures in the full glory of color
and CinemaScope.

"We have confidence in the future of
motion pictures. Our program consists
of the greatest effort we have ever under-
taken. Yes, we have confidence, or we
would not at this time be making the most
important and the highest budgeted pro-
ductions in the history of our company.
It takes vision, experience, and huge invest-
ments to make a program like this come
true. With these ambitious plans already
underway, we here at the studios are look-
ing forward to the brightest future that
lies before all of us. And I don't mind tell-
ing you that we are excited about the fu-
ture. I hope that our excitement is con-
tagious, and that it has been conveyed to
you in some degree.

Voices Faith in Screen

"We have shown you a glimpse of our
future because it is your future, too. I
know that you share with us our faith in
motion pictures as the world's greatest en-
tertainment. We shall continue to demon-
strate this faith to you, to our industry,
and to the public."

The trailer was followed in all cities by a
screening of Alfred Hitchcock's "Dial M
for Murder," reviewed on page 2277 of
the Product Digest in this issue of The
HERALD.

All the sequences shown in the trailer
were from CinemaScope pictures, photo-
graphed in WarnerColor, as was the trailer
itself, but Mr. Warner emphasized that the
company will make full use of all media.
"Dial M for Murder," for instance, is in
3-D. Nor did the studio executive make
any reference to what sound system is to
be employed.

Many of the pictures are being made,
or are to be made, abroad on locations
ranging from Egypt and Rome to the South
Pacific and the Azores.

ON SCREEN: Jack Warner,
left, in words of greeting and
announcement; above, noting
purchase of Lindbergh story.

Benjamin Kalmenson, Warner
sales vice-president, with
Samuel Rosen, Stanley Warner
vice-president.

Jules Lapidus, Warners east-
ern and Canadian manager,
with Bob Shapiro, right, Para-
mount theatre director.

H. Stuckey and M. F. Gow-
thorpe, of the Butterfield
Circuit, Michigan, with Roy
Haines, western sales man-
ager.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

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DRIVE-IX IISES
CINEMASCOPE

Omaha Theatre Opens with
Crowds as Big Screen
and Stereo Attract

OMAHA : The new Airport Drive-In the-
atre in East Omaha last week had a jam-
packed opening. One of the few outdoor
theatres in the nation with CinemaScope
equipment, its first picture was 20th-Fox’s
“Beneatli the 12-Mile Reef.” The first two
nights were cold but every stall was filled.
Saturday and Sunday nights many cars
were turned away, according to J. Robert
Hoff, the owner.

Customers Pleased

Customers appeared to be pleased with the
stereophonic sound and tremendous picture
on the 70-foot-wide screen, which is formed
by the curved surface of one side of a cement
block building which reaches five stories
into the air. The screen is covered with
Rayton screen paint which turned out better
than expectations on the cement surface,
Mr. Hoff said.

There are two speakers to a car. Four
speakers are placed on one outlet post. Two
are blue and white for the car on one side,
two gray for the car on the other side. Cus-
tomers are instructed to take two of the
same color. Foiled Cords, Inc., made the
cords, with the one for the far-side speaker
having an extra length of straight cord.

All installations are by Ballantyne Com-
pany, of which Mr. Hoff" is executive vice-
president. Mr. Hoff bought the theatre from
Oscar Johnson, Falls City exhibitor who
started it last year and had it approximately
80 per cent completed.

Garage in Building

The screen tower building has a garage
and room for equipment on the first floor,
manager’s apartment on the second and
storage space on the third, fourth and fifth
floors. There is a concession stand, children’s
playground on the opposite side of the build-
ing from the screen.

The Airport Drive-In is within walking
distance of the downtown district and has
conventional seats for those without cars.

Among the features of the projection
equipment is a special sound head and pre-
amplifier which has attachments for easy
changeover to an optical sound system. The
preamplifier channels tracks one and two
into the left speakers in the cars, two and
three into the right speakers and four into
both speakers. In case of an emergency, a
switchover is provided to channel all four
into one speaker or the other until ampli-
fier trouble can be corrected.

The opening program included Twentieth-
Fox’s “Beneath the 12-Mile Reef” and
“Tournament of Roses.”

AT THE AIRPORT DRIVE-IN. owner J. Robert
Hoff, executive vice-president of the Ballan-
tyne Company, left, with Ed Morgan, radio
and television announcer.

Administrators of Code
For Italy Are Named

ROME: Panfilo Gentile, Italian journalist
and political commentator, has been named
president of the administration committee
for the Italian production industry’s 1945
system of self-regulation. Others named t(j
the committee are: Francesco Carnelutti, a
law professor; Emilio Cecchi, writer; Silvio
D’Amico, stage critic, and Vincenzo Carda-
relli, poet.

The industry’s self-regulatory system will
become operative June 1. The ANICA seal
will he granted only to pictures which meet
the minimum technical requirements and do
not offend recognized moral standards or
legal restrictions.

At its first meeting the administrative
committee decided to avoid rigid regulations,
choosing instead to regard the new produc-
tion code as a reference framework for the
guidance of producers, says ANICA.

'RIVER" PREMIERE MARKS
DENVER CENTRE OPENING

DENVER: The world premiere of 20+h
Century-Fox's "River of No Return,"
in CinemaScope was held here Thurs-
day at Fox Intermountain's first-run
Centre Theatre, the occasion also
marking the opening of the house.
Statewide activities marked the open-
ing and Colorado Governor Dan
Thornton sent telegrams to film per-
sonalities and columnists inviting them
to the premiere.

Three More
Mfrire-ins Get
CinemaScope

Three additional outdoor theatres, two in
Texas and one in North Carolina opened
with 20th Century-Fox’s “The Robe” last
weekend as the drive-in installation pace
of CinemaScope and stereophonic sound
mounted.

The Texas theatres were the Trail Drive-
in, San Antonio and the Winkler Drive-in,
Houston. Both are part of the Claude Ezell
circuit, and their respective capacities are
650 and 628 cars. “The Robe” was to bow
in next in Texas at the Buckner Boulevard
Drive-in, Dallas on May 1.

Mr. Ezell, in a wire to A1 Lichtman, 20th-
Fox distribution director, cited the tremen-
dous business achieved by “The Robe” in its
initial drive-in engagements at the Jacks-
boro. Forth Worth, and the Gulf, Corpus
Christi. tie reported “We turned away sev-
eral hundred cars in each instance and were
unable to hold them for the second show.”
Both engagements started April 18 utilizing
a new single-unit stereophonic sound speak-
er perfected by the Ezell organization.

The North Carolina drive-in theatre de-
but took place Monday at the Badin Road
Drive-in, Albemarle. Leading exhibitors
from the state, civic officials and newspaper
representatives were in attendance.

CinemaScope installation at the Twin
Drive-in, Oak Lawn, 111., April 16, has re-
sulted in the largest Easter week’s business
in the history of the house, management has
reported.

Use Pola-Life System
For Three New Films

Arrangements have been completed
whereby additional forthcoming 3-D prod-
uct from both 20th Century-Fox and United
Artists will be specially printed and avail-
able to all exhibitors using the new Pola-
Lite single-track 3-D projection system, it
was announced by A1 O’Keefe, distribution
vice-president of the Pola-Lite Co. First
attraction from 20th-Fox will be the 3-D
film, “Gorilla at Large.’ United Artists will
make two forthcoming releases available to
exhibitors using the Pola-Lite single-track
system, “Southwest Passage” and “Gog.”

Four New Drive-ins to
Open in Canada in June

TORONTO : Four new Canadian drive-ins
will open for business in June. Heading the
list is the 400 drive-in, near Toronto, which
will have Canada’s largest steel constructed
screen tower, measuring 80 feet high and
110 feet wide. Others include a project by
Belmont Drive-in Ltd., near Edmonton,
Alta.; the 17th Avenue drive-in, Calgary,
of Foothills Drive-in Ltd., and the Twi-lite
drive-in, Wolsley, Sask., being built by Stan-
ley and Joseph Zaba.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

The comedy hit of the Year

DOCTOR IN

THE HOUSE

took MORE MONEY

in its first 21 days at London’s
leading theatre — the ODEON
LEICESTER SQUARE than ANY
other film shown there in
the past 18 months.

DISTRIBUTION

CANADA

Arthur Rank Film Distributors
(Canada) Ltd.,

277, Victoria Street,
Toronto, Ontario.

The J. Arthur Rank Organisation presents

DIRK BOGARDE • MURIEL PAVLOW
KENNETH MORE • DONALD SINDEN

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

Colour by TECHNICOLOR

Also Starring KAY KENDALL • JAMES ROBERTSON JUSTICE
• DONALD HOUSTON • Adapted from his own novel by
Richard Gordon • Screenplay by Nicholas Phipps •
Directed by Ralph Thomas • Produced by Betty E. Box

IIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIillllllllllllllllllllll

cene

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

LAST WEEK the film-reviewing rules
adopted by the industry and the press in
June of 1941 were violated again — the sec-
ond time within a month — in the very home
town of the motion picture. This second
violation differed from the first in one vital
respect, and it is not beyond reasonable ex-
pectation that this important difference
could bring about the tightening of long-
standing regulations that the first one did
not.

No Protests on First
Infraction of Rule

The first violation of importance in many
years, reported in this space in the March
27th edition of this publication, occurred
when unauthorized meml)ers of the lay press
published reviews of “Knock On Wood” in
off-hand disregard of a 13-year-old agree-
ment. The reviews were all-out paeans of
praise for the picture. It was not to be ex-
pected that the producers or the distributor
of the picture, nor even the exhibitors who
would play the picture later on when it
should come their way, would do much com-
plaining, formal or otherwise, about this
cascade of enconiums; untimely and unethical
or not. None did.

The second violation was committed on
Wednesday of last week (April 21) in the
Hollywood “Citizen-News,” the production
community’s reputable and respected home-
town newspaper, by Lowell E. Redelings, its
motion picture editor, a defender of all rules
of common practice and unquestionably, if
inexplicably, unaware that he was breaking
one on this ocassion. On the preceding eve-
ning he had attended the formal press pre-
miere of a major feature by a major studio
in adjacent Westwood. So had all the resi-
dent representatives of all the lay and trade
press in the nation, inclusive of radio and
television, plus the Hollywood correspon-
dents of all the publications and periodicals
in all the civilized nations of the world.

Reviews Not to Run
Until August Opening

'I'he trade-press review date of the picture
that Reviewer Redelings reviewed on April
21st is May 11th. ( It is not reviewed in

this edition, therefore; it will be in the May
l.Hh.) The picture is not going into re-
lease until August. There may be one pre-
release run somewhere in the nation before
then ; this is not yet decided definitely ; it
will not be a Los Angeles run. The film-
reviewing rules require of lay newspapers
that they do not review a motion picture
until it opens in their respective cities.

The “one vital respect” mentioned earlier
in this report as distinguishing this second
violation of the reviewing rules from the
first is the nature of the Reddings re-

view. Whereas the unauthorized reviews of
“Knock On Wood” were unanimously
ecstatic in its behalf, the Redelings review
of this second picture (which cannot be
named in this connection until after May
11th, since to name it would be to duplicate
the Redelings violation) was not ecstatic.
It was, to be sure, more favorable than un-
favorable, but it was decidedly short of en-
thusiastic, in whole, and it had the espe-
cially unhappy aspect — so far as box office
is concerned — of packing the negative punch
in the opening sentence !

Review’s Opening Line
States: “Misses Greatness”

The Redelings review opened with “The
film misses greatness on several counts, but
it can be classified as exceptionally fine, and
in some scenes a genuine tear-jerker, for the
basic plot of the novel has been faithfully
adhered to by the film’s creators.” It closed,
after several paragraphs of synopses and
of comment on the performances of individ-
ual players, with "Feminine audiences in
particular will find the new version of
‘ ’ of gratifying appeal.”

The picture given this untimely discounting
four months in advance of its opening in the
city where this occurred is one of the com-
pany’s biggest of the release year. It is
being advertised in commensurate manner,
with the biggest of the national magazines
carrying a campaign of mounting magnifi-
cence climaxing in Au.gust to coincide with
nationwide release. In all the other towns
and cities (unless the Redelings infraction
is duplicated elsewhere) it will open on
level terms with all the pictures arrayed
against it ; but in Hollywool it will open to
a populace which has had four months to
digest the Redelings assurance that it
“misses greatness on several counts.”

Incident May Possibly
Lead to Restatement

The situation in which the Hollywood
exhibitor is to find himself when he opens
this picture next August illustrates one of
the reasons (there are many others) why
Exhibition, as represented by the MPTOA
in June of 1941, Distribution, as represented
by the Association of Motion Picture Pro-
ducers, and the press at large, lay and trade,
entered into the film-reviewing agreement
which is being hacked away at these lively
Spring days by young folks who, it would
appear, have come of workng age at some
time since the agreement attained such
smooth and noiseless working order that its
purposes — indeed, even its presence — have
escaped their notice. Possibly the Redel-
ings discounting of the picture in question
will lead to a general restatement by the
appropriate persons of the basic principles
concerned. Maybe it will require a com-
plete blasting by another, more cantanker-
ous critic, of another unauthorized picture.

STARTED (I)

COLUMBIA

Phlfft

COMPLETED (2)

INDEPENDENT

Turmoil (Haas)

SHOOTING (27)

A.A.

Adventures of Haaji
Baba ( CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Wanted by the FBI

COLUMBIA

Violent Men
(Technicolor)

Rough Company
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)
formerly "The Bandit"
Long Gray Line
(CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

Joseph and His
Brethren (Cinema-
Scope: Technicolor)
Three for the Show
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Bandit (Shaftel:
CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

This Is My Love
(Dowling; Eastman
color; formerly
"Night Music")

Case File F. B. I.

( Eclipse )

LIPPERT

Race for Life
( Hammer)

MGM

Green Fire

(Eastman color)
Rogue Cop

Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Mambo (Ponti-
De Laurentis)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
(VisfaVision;
Technicolor)

RKO

Where the Wind Dies
( Bogeaus;
SuperScope;
Technicolor)

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

Untamed

(CinemaScope

Technicolor)

Egyptian

( CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

U.A.

Suddenly (Bassler)

Vera Cruz (Hecht-
Lancaster; Super-
Scope; Technicolor)

U-l

Shadow Valley
(Technicolor)

So This Is Paris
(Technicolor)

WARNER

Battle Cry

( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

Helen of Troy
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

Land of the Pharaohs
(CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinMiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

to induce a restatement. The trade can ill
afford to lose a picture to needless viola-
tions.

ONE NEW picture got started, and two
others were taken from camera to cutter, to
bring the over-all count of features in
shooting stage to 28 at the weekend.

The new undertaking is “Phffft,” a Co-
lumbia picture starring Judy Holliday, with
Jack Lemmon, Jack Carson and Luella
Gear. Fred Kohlmar is producing it, with
Mark Robson directing.

“Mambo,” produced abroad for Paramount
release, and “Turmoil,” an independent pro-
duction venture by the triple-talented Hugo
Haas, were completed as to shooting.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

ARTHUR ASKS TRADE ADS TO
POINT UP NEED Of PRODUCT

Goldstein in
JDenl for Ten
Throngh tJ.A..

Leonard Goldstein, president of the newly-
formed Leonard Goldstein Productions, and
Robert S. Benjamin, chairman of the board
of United Artists,
this week jointly an-
nounced completion
of an agreement for
a program of 10 pic-
tures to be released
through U.A. with-
in the next year.

The deal, which
was negotiated by
Mr. Goldstein and
Gordon Y oungman,
attorney for Gold-
stein Productions,
and Mr. Benjamin
for U.A., represents
an estimated negative cost of more than
$10,000,000, it was stated.

Joining Mr. Goldstein, who has made 70
pictures in the past six years, will be Robert
Jacks, vice-president of Panoramic Produc-
tions, and Robert Goldstein, who is currently
in Europe producing a picture. They will
be production associates in the independent
company.

Eight of the planned pictures will be in
color ; all will utilize important stars, direc-
tors and writers. The new company is sched-
uled to start operations about May 15 when
“Hawk of the Desert,” the last of the Pano-
ramic Productions, is completed for 20th
Century-Fox.

In a separate statement, Mr. Benjamin
said : “In behalf of U.A. I am delighted to
welcome Leonard Goldstein and his associ-
ates to the ranks of the outstanding creators
now joined under the U.A. banner. His as-
sociation with us underlines once again our
determination to provide the best available
for the screens of the world.”

Reade Sues on Drive-in

Walter Reade, Jr., this week filed suit in
U. S. District Court in Philadelphia against
Melvin J. Fox, to restrain him from his
alleged operation of the Roosevelt drive-in
near Trenton, N. J., and asking damages for
alleged violation of an agreement not to
engage in drive-in operation in competition
with Reade’s Lawrence drive-in, Trenton.
Mr. Reade and Mr. Fox were partners in
the Lawrence theatre until 1950, when Mr.
Fox sold his interests to the Reade circuit.

Famous Players in Chromatic

Canada’s Famous Players Canadian circuit
will license for Canada the inventions of
Chromatic Television Laboratories, which
makes a color tube for television, FPC presi-
dent J. J. Fitzgibbons stated last week. FPC
has interests in television stations at Kitch-
ener, Ontario, and Quebec City, Quebec.

by MARTIN STARR

HOLLYWOOD : The need for a greater
flow of product is so grave and so vital to
the exhibitor, according to Harry Arthur,
Jr., president of the
Southern California
Theatre Owners,
that last weekend he
recommended to the
unit’s board of di-
rectors that they
raise a fund to pay
for a series of trade
paper advertisements
on the subject.

The ads, Mr. Ar-
thur said, would be
for the purpose of
“telling the whole in-
dustry what’s going
on. Everybody in the picture business must
be told of the things we exhibitors would
like to see done, and by whom, to improve
the conditions that now exist. The situation
is not good for us, the exhibitors. And, if it
is not good for us here in Southern Cali-
fornia, then it must be equally as bad for
exhibitors throughout the country.”

“More films,” he said, “will give us more
frequent turnover of patronage, meaning it
will also give us bigger audiences. Every

Interstate TV Unit
Gets Dougfair Series

G. Ralph Branton, president of Interstate
Television Corporation, a subsidiary of
Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, this
week announced his company has concluded
negotiations with H. Alexander MacDonald,
president of the Dougfair Corporation to
distribute a new series of 39 “Douglas
Fairbanks Presents” half-hour shows on a
syndication basis. Discussions are under
way regarding several other half-hour show
packages to be handled by the company in a
greatly expanded program which Interstate
is launching.

Discuss Plans for Annual
Canadian Film Show

TORONTO : Plans for the second annual
film-business show here next November
were discussed at a mid-year executive
meeting of the Motion Picture Industry
Council of Canada with chairman A. J.
Mason of Springhill, N. S., presiding. The
first trade show, staged last fall, was spon-
sored by the Motion Picture Theatres Asso-
ciation of Ontario, but it is now planned to
place the fair on a national basis. Officers
attending the meeting here were Dave
Griesdorf, R. W. Bolstad, Arch H. Jolley
and Chairman Mason.

theatre owner still has a steady ‘must see’
following that turns out with almost every
new film that comes to their favorite theatre.

“This is the thinning-meat-and-potato
business that still continues to be ours. It’s
still quite a steady, if slowly dwindling pa-
tronage. It will take a lot more television
than they’ve been seeing to keep this accus-
tomed percentage of steady patronage away
from their neighborhood theatre,” Mr. Ar-
thur pointed out.

The president of the Southern California
Theatres Owners Association emphasized
that he is not criticizing any one studio or
distributor. “It’s a deplorable condition in
general confronting the whole motion pic-
ture industry. And nothing is being done
about it by those who are in a position to
do so,” he said.

Mr. Arthur said that the organized the-
atre owner today is faced with great chal-
lenges. “But he will meet these new chal-
lenges. Of that there can be no doubt,” he
emphasized. “It will take a lot of battling,
considerable explaining. It will have to
be done out in the open. That’s a ‘must’
we’ve come to recognize,” he said.

Toward those goals he is setting his
sights. The series of trade paper ads he is
asking the SCTOA board to consider will
be directed toward bringing the whole prob-
lem out into the open.

Cites M^olicg
Of Perspectn

Morton A. Spring, first vice-president in
charge of sales for Loew’s International
Corporation, announced in New York this
week that the company will require the ex-
hibition with Perspecta stereophonic sound
of all of its important pictures in all im-
portant theatres overseas. Other foreign
theatres will be permitted to play the Pre-
specta sound tracks of all MGM films as
they see fit.

Theatres equipped for stereophonic re-
production, said Mr. Spring, will be pro
tected with proper clearance. “’We are of
the firm opinion,” the executive said, “that
Perspecta stereophonic sound enhances the
entertainment value of films and we feel
certain that before long practically all the-
atres, regardless of size, will equip for multi-
channel sound.”

Mr. Spring reported that audience reac-
tion to Perspecta stereophonic sound has
been “amazing” in Melbourne, Australia,
where “Knights of the Round Table” now is
playing, and that demonstrations of the sys-
tem soon will be held in other principal
cities of the world. "Warners and Paramount
also have adopted Perspecta sound.

Leonard Goldstein

Harry Arthur

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

SMPTE SET TO
MEET MONDAY

Convention in Washington
Is Organization's 75th
Semi-Annual Event

WASHINGTON : The 75th semi-annual
convention of the Society of Motion Pic-
ture and Television Engineers will get un-
der way Monday, May 3, at the Hotel Stat-
ler and continue through May 7. Twenty-six
pioneer engineers who have been active in
the work of SMPTE for more than 30 years
will be guests of honor at a dinner Tuesday
evening in recognition of their years of
service.

Wives of SMPTE members have been ex-
tended an invitation by Mrs. Eisenhower to
attend a White House reception the after-
noon of May 4.

Mees Among Speakers

After registration Sunday and Monday
morning the convention will start with a
luncheon Monday, followed by a talk on the
background of the 35mm professional cam-
era in the afternoon by C. E. Phillimore,
Bell and Howell Company.

Other speakers on the first day include
Admiral Harold Bower and Paul Busse,
Thomas Alva Edison Foundation; and T.
H. Miller and R. C. McClelland, Eastman
Kodak Co. Night black-and-white photo-
graphic effects will be subjects of talks by
C. E. K. Mees, Eastman Kodak, and Ray
Kellogg and L. B. Abbott, 20th Century-
Fox, and Joseph Wertheimer, Consolidated
Film Industries.

The following day papers on the develop-
ment of the 35mm projector and studio light-
ing and color will be delivered by Willy
Borberg, General Precision Laboratory,
Inc., and Charles W. Handley, National Car-
bon Division, Union Carbide and Carbon
Corp., Gerald F. Rackett, Columbia Pictures ;
K. M. Carey, National Film Board of Can-
ada ; R. C. Lovick and R. L. White, East-
man Kodak; H. F. Ott, and R. C. Lovick,
Eastman Kodak, and D. E. Grant, Eastman
Kodak.

TV to Be Discussed

Wednesday through Friday various mo-
tion picture and television topics will be
discussed by industry technical men. They
will include E. W. Kellogg, retired, formerly
RCA; Daniel J. Bloomberg, John E. Pond,
Republic; and Alichael Rettinger, RCA;
John G. Frayne, Westrex Corp., and B. N.
Locanthi, consultant ; G. W. Read and E. W.
Templin, Westrex; Kurt Singer and Robert
V. McKie, RCA ; Malcolm G. Townsley,
Bell and Plowed; W. T. Anderson, Jr.,
Hanovia Chemical Mfg. Co. ; Ellis W.
D’Arcy, DeVry Corp.; James Card, George
Eastman House; Warren R. Isom, RCA
Victor; Josephine Cobb, National Archives;

John I. Crabtree, Eastman Kodak ; Glenn
E. Matthews and R. G. Tarkington, East-
man Kodak; James W. Kaylor and A. V.
Pesek, Color Corp. of America.

Also C. E. Beachell, National Film Board
of Canada; Harry P. Brueggemann, Color
Corp. of America ; Morton Sultanoff, Ballis-
tic Research Laboratories ; John Waddell,
Wollensak Optical Co. ; Harry L. Parker,
American Speedlight Corp. ; C. C. Rockwood
and Richard M. Kuniyuki, W. Harvey, Chi-
cago Midway Laboratories; J. V. L. Hogan,
consultant; Richard S. O’Brien, CBS, H.
M. Gurin, NBC; E. T. Percy, T. G. Veal,
Eastman Kodak ; James L. Lahey, Dage
Electronics ; F. Cecil Grace, DuMont Labo-
ratories; N. W. Rodelius, R. W. Thickens,
Armour Research Foundation ; Allen M.
Erickson, Naval Ordnance Lab., White Oak,
Md. ; David Grossman, Army Chemical
Center, Md. ; Charles C. Everett, Interna-
tional Harvester; George E. Merritt, U. S.
Naval Proving Ground, Dahlgren, Va. ;
Axel. G. Jensen, Bell Telephone; H. C.
Oppenheimer, U. S. Army Signal Corps. ;
S. Atwood and W. C. Phillips, NBC; R. O.
Drew and J. M. Brumbaugh, RCA; E. D.
Goodale, NBC; Otto Wittel, Eastman Ko-
dak; Ralph V. Little, Jr., RCA.

Engineers Honored

The 26 engineers receiving certificates of
service will be; Don M. Alexander, G. J.
Badgley, Edmund A. Bertram, Harry Blum-
berg, Robert S. Burnap, James R. Cameron,
John G. Capstaff, Arthur W. Carpenter,
John 1. Crabtree, C. A. Dentelbeck, Oscar

B. DePue, John R. Freuler, Arthur J. Hol-
man, L. A. Jones, William C. Kunzmann,
Mervin W. LaRue, Sr., William F. Little,

C. E. K. Mees, George A. Mitchell, John
A. Norling, B. E. Norrish, Norman F. Oak-
ley, M. W. Palmer, S. G. Rose, John L.
Spence, Jr., and Fred Waller.

Griesdorf in Post for
U. A. Anniversary

David Griesdorf, general manager of
Odeon Theatres, Ltd., of Canada, has ac-
cepted a post on the honorary committee for
the United Artists 35th Anniversary testi-
monial dinner, to be held in Philadelphia
May 5 under the sponsorship of the local
Variety Club, it is announced by Jay Eman-
uel, chairman of the dinner committee. Other
industry veterans joining the honorary com-
mittee include : A1 Boyd, president of A. R.
Boyd Theatre Enterprises, Pennsylvania ;
Sidney E. Samuelson, president of Allied
Theatre Owners of Eastern Pennsylvania ;
Ted Schlanger, Philadelphia zone manager
of Stanley-Warner Theatres; Moe A. Silver,
Pittsburgh zone manager of Stanley-Warner
Theatres, and Nathan Yamins, owner of Na-
than Yamins Theatrical Enterprises, Boston.

Scare ACT
In British
Tab Bispute

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : The Labour Ministry’s Com-
mittee of Investigation has found the Asso-
ciation of Cinematograph and Allied Tech-
nicians in the wrong on all major counts in
the laboratories’ dispute. The committee,
according to its report issued this week,
were unable to accept the union’s view that
negotiations did not take place and they are
of the opinion that the union should have
accepted the employers’ repeated offer to
have its claim referred to arbitration.

The committee also found that the action
of the union in introducing a ban on over-
time and in instructing its members to
“work to rule” constituted a breach of the
existing agreement.

ACT is vouchsafed one crumb of comfort
in the finding of the committee that they
consider there is a prhna facie case for con-
solidating at least some part of the present
cost of living bonus, which, in their opinion,
forms too large a proportion of the remuner-
ation fund for a normal week’s work. But
even this concession is tinctured with criti-
cism.

The committee expresses the view that
at the earliest possible date discussions be-
tween the parties should be resumed and that
in the event of failure to reach an agreed
settlement the entire claim should be re-
ferred to arbitration. With this in mind,
the Laboratories’ Association has written to
ACT saying they are prepared to engage in
discussions as soon as possible. The union,
however, continues with its delaying tactics.
It called a meeting of its laboratory com-
mittee to prepare a report for discussion at
the union’s annual meeting in London this
weekend.

Pathe Industries Suit
To Trial Monday

Pathe Industries’ multi-million dollar
anti-trust suit, charging that Eagle Lion
Classics was thwarted from the New York
market, will go to trial in New York next
Monday in Federal District Court before
Judge Augustus Hand. Pathe Industries
was the parent company of ELC before ELC
was sold to United Artists. Named as
defendants in the suit were Loew’s and
RKO Theatres, which, with other co-
defendants, were charged with stifling book-
ings of ELC pictures in the New York
market.

Open Film on Ireland

“The Spell of Ireland,” produced in color
hy Celtic Films, Inc., starts a world premiere
engagement at the Baronet theatre. New
York, on May 10. Produced by Danny
Devlin and Harry Dugan, “The Spell of
Ireland” covers the Emerald Isle from
South to North with a roving camera.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

ALBANY

Children’s trade was solicited during
Easter Week by many theatres. “Pinocchio,”
'“Heidi” and “Peter Pan” were among the
favorite pictures booked for regular runs.

. . . Norman Ayers, Warner district man-
ager, and Edward L. Fabian, executive of
that circuit, were included in the visitors.

. . . Decision of Paramount Distributing
Corporation to move from Film Row to a
downtown location, at 545 Broadway, and
to turn over its print shipments to Clark
Distributors — on or before July 1 — is not
likely to set a pattern, according to many
trade observers. . . . Drive-ins gave Metro’s
“Mogambo” saturation bookings during
April. . . .“Prince Valiant,” which got off
winging in several situations, played the
Palace at regular adult prices, but at a 10-
cent advance for kids.

ATLANTA

C. E. Blevins has started work on his new
350-seat house in Barkersville, N. C. . . .
CinemaScope equipment has been installed
in the Elm theatre, Bladenboro, N. C., by
owner Frank Elmore. . . . R. L. Bailey,
theatre owner in Blountstown, Fla., has cut
admission prices in his two theatres. . . .
Wilby-Kincey has shut the doors of its Dan
theatre, Danville, Va. . . . AI Fourmet has
been appointed manager of the Starlite
drive-in theatre, Wauchula, Fla., owned by
Floyd Theatres. . . . The Florida theatre
Hollywood, Fla., has installed CinemaScope
equipment. . . . The Apex theatre. Apex,
N. C., was destroyed by fire. . . . Joe Phil-
lips has been appointed city manager for the
Turner and Joy theatres (Stein circuit) in
Ashburn, Ga. . . . Wallace Smith, formerly
manager of the Brookhaven theatre. Brook-
haven, Ga., was on the row visiting.

BOSTON

For the fifth consecutive year, Hy Fine
has accepted the chairmanship of the theatre
division of the United Cerebral Palsy Drive
for New England. ... A mid-June opening
for the Hill-Top drive-in. East Greenwich,
is set for the new theatre under construc-
tion for the Erinakes brothers, George and
Harry. . . . Benn Rosenwald, MGM’s re-
sident manager has accepted the chairman-
ship of the 1954 Jimmy Fund Drive for
distributors. . . . Robert M. Sternburg’s
daughter, Sylvia, is engaged to marry
George Spoil of Mt. Vernon, N. Y. . . .
Fred Shohet’s daughter, Carol, was married
recently to David Sweig of Winthrop, where
the young couple is living. . . . The Para-
mount theatre, Salem has enlarged its pro-
jection booth in order to install Cinema-
Scope equipment.

BUFFALO

Elmer F. Lux, Elmart Theatres general
manager and Buffalo Common Council pres-
ident, has been named chairman of the Gov-
ernmental Division for the Buffalo 1954

Cancer Crusade, now under way here. . . .
Rury Bach has been appointed sales repre-
sentative in Albany for Lieser Distributing
Corp., Inc., of Buffalo, by Lewis J. Leiser,
head of the company. . . . Sylvan Leff has
re-opened the Black River drive-in up in
the Watertown district. . . . Tony Martin in
town for personal appearances at the Town
Casino also entertained the kiddies at the
Crippled Children’s Guild in Delaware and
the boys in the Veterans Hospital in Bailey
avenue. . . . Elizabeth Drzewiecka, 64
Loepere street, won the trip to Switzerland,
first prize in the Evening News-Cinema
theatre “Heidi” coloring contest. . . . Eddie
Balser, veteran Paramount shipper, cele-
brated his birthday last week, but refused
to tell which one. . . . Saundra Unger, Para-
mount biller, is engaged to Ray Silbar of
Cleveland.

CHICAGO

L. E. Goldhammer, Allied Artists eastern
division manager, was here during the week,
visiting the local Allied Artists exchange.
. . . Alice Dubin, city booker for Capital
Pictures, is vacationing in Florida. . . .
Manie Gottleib, U-I central division man-
ager, went to New York for a district man-
agers’ meeting. . . . James Coston, head of
Coston Enterprises and president of Indiana-
Illinois Theatres, returned from a 12-week
trip abroad with Mrs. Coston. . . . Grace
Westerdahl and Mary O’Connor have joined
the office staff at Allied Artists. . . . Dan
Goldman, formerly office manager of Repub-
lic here, has taken over the southern Illinois
sales territory for the company. . . . Betty
Brueggeman has been appointed country
booker for Warner Brothers. . . . Ralph

WHEN AND WHERE

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 Theatre
Owners, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis.

June 8-10: Annual convention Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 15-16: Annual spring meeting. Allied
Theatre Owners of Indiana, South Shore
Hotel, Lake Wewasee, Ind.

Mooney has been named by the operators’
union to fill the unexpired term of James
Gorman, who died recently, as president of
the union.

CINCINNATI

Naturama is the name given a new single-
strip 3-D system, which has been developed
and is being marketed by the Synthetic
Vision Corporation, Dayton, Ohio, it was
announced by Lt. Colonel Robert V. Ber-
nier, vice-president of the company. . . .
Marc Cummins, local circuit operator, who
recently opened his Acme drive-in, between
here and Hamilton, Ohio, was compelled to
close the theatre almost immediately because
of highway improvements which necessitated
the rerouting of vehicular traffic. . . . Cur-
rent vacationists include William Bien, Na-
tional Screen Service division manager, who
is in Florida, accompanied by his wife, and
James E. Watson, MGM exploiteer, and
wife, who are in the west. . . . The Variety
Wives, new auxiliary of Cincinnati Variety
Club, Tent No. 3, gave a tea in the club’s
quarters April 28 in the interest of the donor
luncheon scheduled for May 5 at the Beverly
Hills Country Club.

CLEVELAND

Henry Greenberger, official of the Com-
munity circuit, was unanimously elected
president of the Cleveland Motion Picture
Exhibitors Association to succeed the late
Ernest Schwartz who headed the organiza-
tion for 20 years until his death last Jan-
uary. Joe Rembrandt, owner of the Center-
Mayfield theatre was named vice-president
and Ted Vermes continues as treasurer. . . .
First territorial Pola-Lite 3-D system on a
single film strip, will be installed in M. B.
Horwitz’ 1,200-seat Astor theatre. . . .
Danny Rosenthal and Jules Livingston were
elected to the Variety Club board of gov-
ernors to succeed Jerry Wechsler and Irwin
Pollard who are now in other territories.

. . .“Duke” Hickey, U-I promotion repre-
sentative is a patient in St. Luke’s Hospital.
.. . . Edward Ramsey, following a previous
policy, closed his Plymouth theatre, Ply-
mouth when he opened his Playmouth drive-
in. .. . Meyer S. Fine, Associated Circuit
president, was named to the board of direc-
tors of the D & C Transportation Co.

COLUMBUS

Three of the four downtown first run
theatres have returned to their pre-tax cut
price scale after several weeks of partially-
reduced scales. The Palace, Ohio and Broad
are now charging 50 cents on Monday-
through-Friday matinees, 70 cents week-
nights. Saturday, Sunday and holiday ma-
tinees are 50 cents and weekend evening
prices are 75 cents. Only the Grand is re-
taining the admission cuts. . . . Regular ad-
mission rates prevailed in nine indoor and
drive-ins here for the first run showing of
“The Golden Mask” and “Personal Affair.”

{Continued, on following page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

(Contiluied from preceding page)

, . .“Prince Valiant” held for a second week
at Loew’s Broad after a big Easter week.
. . . Teresa Nowakowski, 18-year-old East
High School senior, won the “Rose Marie”
contest conducted by Loew’s Ohio, the Sher-
aton hotels and the Columbus Citizen. . . .
Ohio meeting to discuss the Makelim plan
will be held May 17 in the Deshler-Wallick
Hotel.

DENVER

Robert Sweeten, city manager for Fox
Inter-Mountain Theatres, Pocatello, Idaho,
has been promoted to be manager of the
newly-opened Centre, Denver. . . . During
the week of May 31 the Denver will add
a stage production running an hour and 45
minutes, “Annie Get Your Gun,” to film
fare. The stage productions open in this
area in Missoula, Mont., and will play in
numerous Fox houses in the territory. . . .
The Lakewood has installed 23x28-foot
screen, and can now accommodate all of the
new projection processes. . . . R. J. Wadley,
owner of Southwestern Film Delivery Ser-
vice, has sold his other trucking interests
and has moved back to the Denver Inspec-
tion and Shipping Bureau. . . . John Leo,
special representative for Lippert Pictures,
was in conferring with Tom Bailey, fran-
chise owner.

DES MOINES

Two long-dark Iowa theatres have been
reopened. They are the Lido at Manly and
the Sun at Woodward. The Lido reopened
Apr. 25 under the management of H. S.
(Doc) Twedt, a former owner. Twedt, who
also operates a house at Britt where he
now resides, has installed a new wide screen
at the Lido. The Sun, owned by Fred Bul-
len, reopened on Easter Sunday. . . . Bob
Hensley has been named assistant shipper
at Columbia, replacing Mike McConaghie,
resigned. . . . Myron Blank, president of
Central States Theatre Corp., has been
named to a committee to advise the Des
Moines school board on a long-range ath-
letic program. . . . Elsie Helmke, former
employee of the theatre at Algona, is dead.
She had been associated with the theatre
when N. C. Rice owned it and was well-
known by all its patrons. . . . Lou Levy,
Universal branch manager, is planning a
big “re-opening” when remodeling of the
office is concluded about May 10. . . .Thelma
Washburn, RKO booker and office man-
ager, was hostess to a recent Zonta club
dinner-theatre party.

DETROIT

Sugar Ray Rolfinson opens at the Broad-
way Capitol in what should be top dollar
business. Ray has a ready made audience
here. . . . Harold Brown, United Detroit
Theatres president, has been selected to head
the Cerebral Palsy Association of Michigan.
Brown’s predecessor at UDT, Earl Hudson,
is now a national leader in the association.

. . . The Michigan lobby has a large map
display showing the travels of camera and
crew for the filming of “Elephant Walk.”

. . . United Detroit sold three of their sub-
sequent run houses to A&W Theatres. The
three, Rosedale, Regent and Alger, bring
the number of houses in the A&W chain
up to a dozen. Arthur Weisberg is organ-

izing two corporations. Sterling Theatres,
Inc. and Wood Amusement Co. which will
operate the Regent and Rosewood.

HARTFORD

A sizable Connecticut trade delegation at-
tended the Apr. 23 premiere of the Perakos
Theatre Circuit’s first drive-in unit, the
1,000-car capacity, $250,000 Plainville drive-
in, on Route 72, Plainville. Serving as man-
ager is John Perakos, assistant to his
brother, Sperie, general manager of the
Perakos theatre interests in Connecticut.
. . . Joseph Ruggerio, manager of the Lyric
theatre, Hartford, part of the Hartford
Theatre Circuit, has resigned, after an affil-
iation of 27 years with the theatre. He is
replaced by P. J. Buchieri, formerly at the
circuit’s Art, Hartford. . . . Davenport
Amusement Corp., 210 Davenport Ave.,
New Haven, has filed a certificate of incor-
poration. . . . E. M. Loew’s 850'-car Milford
(Conn.) drive-in is to be remodeled.

INDIANAPOLIS

Indianapolis and most Indiana towns
switched to Daylight Saving Time Sunday.
The only major city remaining on standard
time is Evansville. . . . The Ritz and Up-
tov/n, north side neighborhood theatres on
a regular split week policy, are holding
“The Glenn Miller Story” for a second
full week. . . .“The Robe,” playing its first
subsequent run engagements here, stayed 7
days at the Fountain Square, 8 days at the
Arlington. . . .William A. Carroll, secretary
of the Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana,
will attend the Kentucky Allied meeting at
Lexington Tuesday and Wednesday. . . .
The ATOI board of directors approved the
Makelim agreement unanimously at the
April meeting. An exhibitor meeting on de-
tails of the proposal will be held at the
Hotel Lincoln May 27.

JACKSONVILLE

Florida State Theatres district supervisors
here for a seasonal meeting with home of-
fice executives were Harry Botwick, South
Florida; Jim Cartwright, Daytona Beach;
Frank Bell, St. Petersburg; Alfred Weiss,
Miami; and Robert Heekin, this city. . . .
North Florida exhibitors attended a demon-
stration, conducted by Dr. Leon Wells at
the Murray Hill theatre, of the single pro-
jector 3-D filming process being marketed
by Pola-Lite. ... It is expected that Avalon
Pictures will be ready to open a new quar-
ter-million dollar TV film studio at Winter
Park early in May. . . . H. A. Dale, owner
of the Lake theatre. Lake Butler, was re-
cuperating from an eye operation in a local
hospital. . . . J. Glenco Millirons, former
Snyder, Okla., exhibitor, has purchased the
Florida theatre, Daytona Beach. . . . Marc
Bar re, FST accounting department head,
was here from his Atlanta office. . . . Ex-
Navy man Robert Layne is Bob Skaggs’
new assistant manager at the Florida, re-
placing Jim Sauls, who moved into the as-
sistant post at the Palace.

KANSAS CITY

The Roxy, downtown theatre of Durwood
circuit, went on first run policy this week,
with “The French Line.” A sign announces
“No children’s tickets sold during tliis- en-

gagement” and the newspaper advertise-
ments say “Adult entertainment.”. . . Stanley
Durwood, general manager of Durwood
Theatres, announces that Richard M. Dur-
wood, who has been managing the Roxy,
has been transferred to the headquarters
office, and will have supervision of theatre
operations for the circuit. Gene Walden,
who has been assistant manager at the
Roxy, becomes manager there. ... A din-
ner-dance is to be held by the Motion Pic-
ture Association of Greater Kansas City at
Blue Hills Club. The board of directors and
committees of the Association will meet
shortly to review plans for the party, and
discuss the program for the year.

LOS ANGELES

Spence Wyatt, manager of the Gilmore
drive-in, L. A., became the proud father
of a baby girl weighing six pounds. . . .
Eddie Zabel, new general manager of Na-
tional Theatres, was honored at a banquet
at the Ambassador. . . . Wally Wolf, son
of Rube Wolf, Fanchon & Marco executive,
has joined the staff of F & M’s Hollywood
Paramount theatre as assistant to manager
John Gageby. ... A CinemaScope screen
has been installed in A1 Olander’s Garniar
theatre in Montebello. . . . Bob Cuzan has
been transferred from the El Rey . in Al-
hambra to the Maywood, with Karl Swan-
strom assuming the piloting of the Alhambra
house. . . . Terry McDaniel and his wife
were slugged by a bandit who robbed owner
McDaniel of $1,000 of the Colorado thea-
tre’s receipts. . . . Earl Pierce has reopened
his Yuciapa theatre, Yuciapa. . . . Herb
Turpie, the Manley popcorn representative,
has returned from a business trip to Seattle.

MEMPHIS

Lloyd T. Binford, chairman of the Mem-
phis Board of Censors, has warned that
First Unitarian Church will “violate the
law” if it shows a Charlie Chaplin film as
planned. The church announced in its film
treasure chest one of his old “classics,” his
burlesque of “Carmen.” Four years ago
Memphis censors banned all Chaplin films
in Memphis. . . . M. A. Lightman, Sr., presi-
dent of Malco Theatres, Inc., is in New
Orleans on business. . . . Grover Wray,
partner in Exhibitors Services, has returned
from a vacation trip to California. . . . Eli
(Slim) Arkin, who has been with the War-
ner organization for 20 years and in the
theatre business for 30 years, has arrived
and taken over the job as manager of War-
ner theatre in Memphis. He succeeds J. H.
McCarhy, for eight years Memphis man-
ager, who has been transferred to Madison,
Wis. . . . M. A. Lightman, Jr., executive
at Malco Theatres, Inc., and Joe Keifer,
Malco purchasing agent, have been in Stutt-
gart and McGee, Ark., on company business.

MIAMI

John Calio, manager of the Flamingo
where “Executive Suite” broke all records
for date and week, reports a new assistant,
Westley Pinkerton. Also a two-week visit
from his brother, Salvatore, of Hartford,
Conn., who was in town for the insurance
executives convention. ... A transfer of
managers now puts the Embassy in the'

(Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I. 1954

{Continued from opposite page)

hands of Louis Costanzo and the Trail with
Peter Seaborn at its helm. . . . Mitchell
Wolfson, president of WTVJ, sent invita-
tions recently for an “open house” viewing
of the new 1,000 feet transmitter tower just
completed. Final tests are in process and
switching over to the new facilities, which
will step up power to 100,000 watts, should
take place early in May. . . . Edward and
Lillian Claughton recently sold the down-
town property on which their Royal and
Embassy theatres stand, but deal gives them
long term leases on both theatres, which
they will continue to operate.

MILWAUKEE

A host of stars were scheduled to be
here to attend the Bob Hope Cancer Show
at the Wisconsin theatre April 27. Bob
Hope was to be the head-liner. . . . Other
stars to appear were Pat O’Brien, Marie
McDonald and Cy Howard, Milwaukee
born producer-writer. . . . The Milwaukee
Division of the Cancer Society sponsored
the big show. . . . Many Milwaukeeans
attended Good Friday service at the War-
ner theatre. The downtown service was
sponsored by the Milwaukee County Coun-
cil of Churches. ... In town recently to
do his booking and buying was Don Deakin
of the Dells theatre, Wisconsin Dells.

NEW ORLEANS

The New Orleans motion picture industry
is fairly well represented in Europe these
days. There on tours are Paramount Gulf’s
president, Gaston J. Dureau and his wife,
Dixie; Delta Theatres, Inc. president, L. C.
Montgomery and Mrs. Montgomery ; Dr.
and Mrs. J. Boulet, associates with Mont-
gomery in Joy, LaRose, La.; Paramount
Gulf’s past president N. L. Carter and Mrs.
Carter, and Mrs. Henry Lazarus, head of
Lazarus Theatres. . . . L. P. Head, man-
ager of Co-Pia drive-in, Hazelhurst, Miss.,
advised that April 30 was the date for the
ozoner’s re-opening. . . . Leroy McIntosh
resumes handling the buying and booking
for his Regina, Mize, Miss, and the Melroy,
Taylorsville, Miss, after a year during which
time it was handled by Sammy Wright.
. . . Theatre Service Company will do the
buying and booking for the Palace, Yazoo
City, Miss., which Dixie Theatres Corpora-
tion recently acquired from N. Solomon
Theatre Company through an operating-
agreement. . . . Cecil Howard, who recently
resigned after 15 years with Joy’s Thea-
tres, Inc. Booking Service, has opened his
ovrn buying and booking exchange, which
he is operating from his home at 2624 S.
Carrollton.

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Criterion theatre, Oklahoma City’s
No. 1 Main street theatre, will be closed
May 4 for a general overhaul and renova-
tion that will involve expenditures of about
$90,000, Pat McGee, general manager of
Cooper Foundation Theatres, announced. It
will be closed about six weeks. . . . The
Starlite drive-in, Shawnee, reopened April
23. . . . The Tivoli, Ardmere, has closed
for redecoratipn. . . . Lake Air drive-in
theatre had its grand spring opening April
16. The drive-in had been closed for the
winter months.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I. 1954

TEEN AGERS LIKE MOVIES
AND TV APPEARANCES HELP

PROVIDENCE: The first teen-age forum
ever held In this city took place recently
in a conference room of the "Providence
Journal," under the supervision of Lucille
Elfenbein, V/oman's Editor of the "Evening
Bulletin," and noted interviewer of visiting
screen, stage, radio and TV celebrities. The
youngsters all let their hair down and al-
lowed themselves to be polled.

For all of the complaints by exhibitors
about audiences falling off due to television,
teen agers claim they are very loyal to the
movies. As the saying goes, while they
might not, said they, walk across the street
to see a TV celebrity, but a movie star . . .
that's different. They, the students, do not
think of TV as movie competition. "Things
that come into the home are not very
glamorous. TV stars give commercials and
everything, but movie stars don't", was the
agreed verdict of the majority questioned.

Nevertheless, many of the personalities
on TV supply the backbone of teen age
heroes and heroines, particularly Dean
Martin and Jerry Lewis. Girls present em-
phasized their liking for Jerry Lewis, in no
uncertain terms. Other outstanding choices
were Jack Palance, Jackie Gleason and
Richard WIdmark.

V^ithout realizing it, TV has been creat-
ing patronage for motion picture theatres.
When such shining stars of the air-waves
as Martin and Lewis hit local screens teen-
agers hit the box offices In goodly numbers.

The forum, comprising representatives
from every leading high school In the area,
polled Burt Lancaster, Alan Ladd, Scott
Brady, Rock Hudson, and Montgomery
Clift high up among the list of favorite film
personalities.

Of course, local exhibitors were heart-
ened by the forum's reports.

OMAHA

Mrs. Esther Green, owner of FEPCO,
again participated in the annual show put
on by the Omaha Figure Skating Club at
Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum to wind up the sea-
son. Mrs. Green was in several numbers.
. . . The Town theatre was forced to clear
the auditorium and shut down when fire
swept the four-story State Furniture Store
across the alley and behind the theatre build-
ing. Part of the store collapsed, damaging
the rear exit and the heating system. . . .
Eddie Rostermundt, retired United Artists
salesman who was seriously ill for many
months, recently had a setback. . . . Judy
Cannon, daughter of MGM office manager
Evelyn Cannon, was a flower girl at the
wedding of Mrs. Cannon’s niece, Dianne
Elseman, to J. C. Haney at First Lutheran
Church.

PHILADELPHIA

Herb Elliott resumes operation of the
Fern Rock on May 1 when the Stanley
Warner lease expires. House will be mod-
ernized and have CineniaScope equipment
installed. . . . Paul Resnick is now managing
Milgram’s Howard. ... A new drive-in is
being built at suburban Andalusia, near the
closed Holme. ... In Wilmington, Del., the
daily newspapers, “Morning News” and
“Journal-Every Evening,” announced an in-
crease effective June 1 on advertising rates
for theatres. . . . National Theatre Supply
here is installing stereophonic sound equip-
ment at Mrs. Catherine McFadden’s Rialto,
Renova, Pa., and at Luke Fredericks’ Gar-
den, Lock Haven, Pa. . . . With Sieg Horo-
witz, former Columbia salesman, becoming
sales manager for Universal-International
here, the realigned sales staff has James
Coyne handling Harrisburg, Pa. ; Edward
Potash, Philadelphia; Richard Melvin, New
Jersey and Delaware, and Harold Coltun

for the upstate Wilkes-Barre and Scranton
territory. . . . Reassignment of Columbia
sales personnel has Walter Potamkin taking
Philadelphia and suburbs ; Si Perlsweig,
New Jersey and the upstate Wilkes-Barre
and Scranton area; Ed Feinhlatt, Delaware
and the upstate Allentown-Harrisburg terri-
tory.

PITTSBURGH

Pittsburgh’s most elaborate telethon, a 16-
hour Catherine Variety Fund promotion to
raise funds for a new wing for the Roselia
Foundling and Maternity Hospital, was a
colossal success in Syria Mosque., . . . Film
Row mourning the passing of veteran thea-
tre man Ike Browarski, 58, active in the
theatre business here for 30 years. He
owned the Bellevue theatre, Bellevue and
the Hippodrome theatre on the North Side.
. . . Harris officials were amazed by the
number of adults patronizing “Prince Vali-
ant” which was considered essentially a
teenagers delight. The CineniaScope thriller
held up well in its second week after a smash
$20,000 session in its first seven days.

PORTLAND

Jesse Jones’ general manager, Keith Pet-
zold, has installed CineniaScope and stereo-
phonic sound in the Roseway theatre. . . .
This makes five neighborhood houses with

{Continued, on foUoiviug page)

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the equipment. . . . A1 Meyers has tem-
porarily shuttered his Granada. . . . Ted
Francis, owner of theatres in Newberg,
Ore., was in town getting last minute sup-
plies for his drive-in opening. . . . Oregonian
drama editor. Herb Larsen, and family are
vacationing in the southwest by trailer. . . .
Nancy Welch, assistant manager of the
Guild and Century theatres, is vacationing
in Hollywood for two weeks. . . . Ike Geller,
vet showman, has dropped the art film policy
at his Alladin theatre. House manager Sol
Maizel has gone back to regular run of
product with budget night midweek.

PROVIDENCE

The end of the Lenten season in this
predominately-Catholic city saw local ex-
hibitors taking full advantage of the resump-
tion of attendance at motion pictures by
amusement-abstaining citizens. . . .“Rose
Marie” opened at Loew’s State, while the
RKO Albee featured “Prince Valiant” ; the
Majestic screened "Lucky Me” ; “Casanova’s
Big Night” opened auspiciously at the
Strand, and the Avon Cinema had nearly
a record-breaking opening with the greatly-
exploited “Heidi.”. . . Not to be outdone
by the big downtown first-runs, many neigh-
borhood houses extended themselves in their
efforts to bid for post-Lenten patronage.
The Uptown offered “The Miracle of Our
Lady of Fatima,” other houses that upped
attendance with excellent film fare, included
the Park, with “King Solomon’s Mines”;
Hollywood, with “Salome”; Castle, “Stalag
17”; Gilbert Stuart, “Money From Home”;
Hope, “An American in Paris,” and Palace
with “Three Young Texans.”. . . Even the
open-air theatres did exceptionally good
business.

SAN FRANCISCO

Carl Scott, salesman, Columbia Pictures,
for the past 20 years has retired. . . . Paul
Aglietti who owns the Rio, Richmond, is
readying the old American on Fillmore
(closed several years ago by Nasser Bros.)
for a May 7 reopening. . . . Issy Wolf,
National Screen Service salesman, is still
in Mt. Zion Hospital. . . William Wein-
stein, Columbia San Joaquin Valley sales-
man, is recuperating from surgery at the
French Hospital. . . . The Oakland Tele-
news was renamed the Globe, April 20, in
line with the theatre’s first run feature policy
which has replaced the newsreel program-
ing. Universal’s “Genevieve” is the inau-
gural attraction at the newly named Globe.

. . . Margaret Bronfeld, new industryite,
replaced Mary Mora, secretary. Golden State
Theatres. . . .William Panning, head booker,
Columbia, was upped to salesman and is
now on his first trip in the San Joaquin
Valley territory. . . . Fire broke out and
gutted Angels Camp theatre, owned by Rob-
ert Patton, April 14, with damages totaling
$175,000.

TORONTO

Ken Johnson, film columnist of “The
Telegram,” was elected chairman of the
Telegram unit of the American Newspaper
Guild. . . . Dr. Renato Gualino, head of the
Italian Film Export, was here in conference
with executives of Cardinal Films. . . . Syd
Spiegel of Super Pufft is co-chairman of the
service and entertainment division of the

UJA in Toronto. . . . Seville, Montreal may
become a United Amusements house with a
film-only policy instead of its vaude-picture
policy presently operative. . . . Samuel Dia-
mond of Vancouver has purchased the old
Lonsdale and will reopen after renovation.
. . . New members of the Motion Picture
Theatres Association of Ontario are the
Aron, Campbellford ; Regah, Hagersville ;
and Norgan, Palmerston. . . . Jules Levey
was in the city for conferences and visits
with his family.

VANCOUVER

Boosting of Canadian postage rates will
further put up the overhead of the theatres,
distributors and suppliers. The abnormally
high living and business costs have also
been reflected in a reduction in theatre pa-
tronage in British Columbia, whose cost
of living is the highest in the Dominion.

. . . George Brewerton, manager of the
cast-side Rex, is presenting a “Search for
Talent” show on the stage each Wednesday.
It is increasing his grosses. . . . Bob Cruck-
shank has resigned as assistant manager at
the Odeon- Vogue and is taking over an
automobile agency at Haney, B. C. His re-
placement is Warick Johnson, formerly with
MGM films at Melbourne, Australia. . . .
A local real estate company reports that
they have several suburban theatres in Van-
couver and in the Fraser Valley district
listed for sale. . . . Ruby Westvold, in charge
of Famous Players concessions, at Regina,
Sask., is holidaying on the Pacific coast.

. . . Work is under way on the Belmont
drive-in, near Edmonton, Alberta, and the
Twi-Lite near Wolsley, Sask.

WASHINGTON

Fred S. Kogod, K-B Theatres, was named
chairman of the advance gifts dinner of the
United Jewish Appeal Drive. . . . The Vari-
ety Club of Washington, Tent No. 11 will
sponsor a testimonial stag dinner in honor
of C. Glenn Norris, eastern sales manager
of 20th Century-Fox, May 17. . . . Joseph
Gins, Universal-International branch man-
ager, has been promoted to the post of dis-
trict manager of Universal, with headquar-
ters in Boston. . . . Arnold Fine, Variety
Club barker, has been given the post of
public relations director of the Hecht Co.,
large department store in Washington. . . .
The York theatre was robbed of $2,333 by
three masked and armed bandits. . . . Equity
Eilm Exchange moves May 1 to 922 New
Jersey Ave., N.W.

Mississippi Theatre Unit
Sets June 27-29 Meet

The Mississippi Theatre Owners Associa-
tion will hold its 1954 convention June 27-29
at the Edgewater Gulf Hotel, Edgewater
Park, Miss., it was announced by Lloyd
Royal, president. Talks are to be given by
industry leaders. It was at the convention
last year that the announcement was made
that a group of Missouri exhibitors had
formed Panorama Pictures Corp. to produce
films in the state. Since then the first fea-
ture has been completed in color by Tech-
nicolor with Peggie Castle and Jack Beutel.
Distribution is currently being negotiated.
A mammouth 150-theatre day-and-date pre-
miere is planned with theatres throughout
Mississippi.

Oilio Censor
Faces Court
On Liegalitty

COLUMBUS : Judge Ralph Bartlett of the
Eranklin County Common Pleas Court was
to have held a hearing Friday on a petition
for an injunction restraining the Ohio Cen-
sor Board from further operation within the
state.

The petition was brought by RKO Radio
Pictures, Horace Adams, Cleveland, presi-
dent of Independent Theatre Owners . of
Ohio; Martin Smith, Toledo, former ITOO
president, and the Independent Theatre
Owners of Ohio. Mr. Smith and Mr. Adams
acted in their individual capacities as theatre
owners.

The petition says the U. S. Supreme
Court’s recent decision makes the Ohio cen-
sor law unconstitutional, therefore the Ohio
board is without authority to censor, ban
or order eliminations from films. The peti-
tion further claims the censor board has
usurped the legislative power of the state by
creating standards other than those estab-
lished by Ohio law.

The petition claims the administrative
costs of the board are being paid illegally
from funds obtained by a levy of $3 per
reel censor fees, which the petitioners de-
clare is in fact a tax. The petition states the
Ohio censor law constitutes a prior restraint
repugnant to the First and Fourteenth
amendments to the Constitution. The peti-
tion asks “temporary restraining order from
further levying, collecting or disbursing of
the tax until the legal right to do so is es-
tablished, and that upon trial of injunction
it be made permanent.”

Baltimore Council Favors
"Effective" Censor Law

BALTIMORE : By a vote of 17 to two the
Baltimore City Council favors a resolution
calling for “stronger and more effective
laws for the censorship of movies in Mary-
land.” The action came after the Council’s
ways and means committee returned a fa-
vorable report on the resolution following
an open hearing Monday afternoon.

The council’s position will now be made
known to the legislative council where the
matter will be given further study.

Chairman Sydney R. Traub of the Mary-
land State Board of Motion Picture Cen-
sors attended the hearing and said he would
make every effort to have a new film censor-
ship bill introduced at the next legislative
session to spell out the meaning of “im-
moral” and “indecent” as they apply to
moving pictures. These grounds are the only
two on which the courts following recent
decisions will permit motion pictures to be
banned.

Mr. Traub further indicated that a provi-
sion should be written into the law whereby
pictures could be banned for “tending to in-
cite to crime.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY I, 1954

fZ4 Pragram
OuiliMBed at
Sates Meet

SAN FRANCISCO : A sales program
backing a record slate of United Artists re-
leases was unveiled here Wednesday, April
21, under the slogan of “54 in ’54” by Wil-
liam J. Heineman and Max E. Youngstein,
vice-presidents, at the initial session of the
three-day 35th anniversary regional sales
meet.

Citing the program of pictures the com-
pany will release at a one-a-week rate, Mr.
Heineman said the company is accepting its
responsibility in the face of exhibitor de-
mands for alleviating any “product short-
age.” Mr. Youngstein outlined a record
promotion program which will provide max-
imum support for the schedule.

The meeting was presided over by both
vice-presidents and B. G. Kranze, general
sales manager.

Western division manager James E. Velde
and west coast district manager Ralph Clark
headed the list of sales personnel attending
the sessions.

Branch managers present were Bud Au-
stin, Denver ; Richard Carnegie, Los An-
geles ; W. W. McKendrick, Salt Lake City ;
and A. J. Sullivan, Seattle; C. Frank Har-
ris, San Francisco. Subsequent meetings in
Chicago were, April 26-28 and in Philadel-
phia is set for May 3-5.

Guaraatee
Ijaa?er an
Fight" Cast

A lower guarantee marks the selling terms
for the Rocky Marciano-Ezzard Charles
fight telecast to theatres, it was learned in
New York this week. The lower guarantee
figure was ascribed, in part, to the “risk”
involved in the radio rights sold separately
for the coming bout.

Theatre Network Television, which has
booked the June 17 event, is offering the
following alternate terms to theatres : a
guarantee of 50 cents per seat against $1.30
for every ticket sold, whichever is higher ;
or a guarantee of 10 cents per seat against
$1.40 for every ticket sold.

The current selling terms compare with
the 90 cents guarantee and the $1.30 tops of
the previous heavyweight title bout last
September. It is understood that TNT low-
ered its guarantee sought from theatres,
agreeing to absorb a greater share of the
“risks” because of the radio broadcasting
factor. Unlike the previous fight telecasts,
all booked by TNT, the theatre telecast
agency did not procure exclusive radio
rights, in addition to the telecast rights,
from the International Boxing Club.

C. Bruce Newbery, Republic’s domestic
sales manager until the merging of the
foreign and domestic sales departments
into one, will concentrate on the com-
pany’s television enterprises, working
closely with Earl Collins, head of the
company’s TV subsidiary. Meanwhile
Paul Webster, midwest division man-
ager; James O’Gara, metropolitan man-
ager, and Frank Soule, e.xecutive assist-
ant domestic sales manager, are leaving
the company under the realignment pro-
gram.

Bernard Birnbaum has been elected as-
sistant secretary of Columbia Pictures. He
has been with the company 25 years.

Harris Dudelson has joined the sales staff
of Buena Vista Film Distributing Co. Inc.

U.A. Names 4 Films
For Release in May

Four productions — “The Long Wait,”
“Witness to Murder,” “The Yellow Toma-
hawk” and “Captain Kidd and the Slave
Girl” — will be released by United Artists
during May, it is announced by William J.
Heineman, vice-president in charge of dis-
tribution. “The Yellow Tomahawk” and
“Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl” are in
color by Color Corp. of America. “The
Long Wait” is the second Mickey Spillane
story to be brought to the screen by Victor
Saville, and stars Anthony Quinn, Charles
Coburn, Gene Evans and Peggie Castle.

“Witness to Murder” stars Barbara Stan-
wyck, George Sanders and Gary Merrill.
Roy Rowland directed. “The Yellow Toma-
hawk,” a Schenck-Koch Production in color,
stars Rory Calhoun and Peggie Castle.
“Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl” stars
Anthony Dexter and Eva Gabor.

Nominate 10 to Board
Of 20th Century-Fox

Ten nominees have been designated for
election as directors of 20th Century-Fox
at a stockholders’ meeting to be held May
18 at the New York offices of the corpora-
tion. Nominated for election as directors
are : L. Sherman Adams, retired trustee of
Massachusetts Investors Trust; Colby M.
Chester, honorary chairman and director of
General Foods Corp. ; Robert L. Clarkson,
chairman of the board of American Express
Co. ; Daniel O. Hastings, attorney associated
with Hastings, Lynch and Taylor ; Robert
Lehman, partner in Lehman Brothers;
Kevin C. McCann, president of Defiance
College. Also William C. Michel, executive
vice-president of 20th Century-Fox; B. Earl
Bucket!, chairman of the board of Allied
Stores Corp. ; Spyros P. Skouras, president
of 20th Century-Fox, and Gen. James A.
Van Fleet, U. S. Army, Retired.

A veteran of more than 30 years experi-
ence, he was formerly midwest division
manager for Lippert Pictures.

Ralph Mooney has been named president
by the executive board of the Chicago
Moving Picture Machine Operators Un-
ion, to fill the unexpired term of James
Gorman, who died recently.

Alan May has been elected treasurer of
National Theatres, succeeding the late
Henry C. Cox.

Douglas A. C. Ewin, manager of the
Savoy theatre, Stourbridge, England, and
a winner of the Associated British Cine-
mas, Ltd. champion manager’s contest, is
visiting the U.S.

20th"Fax ta
Miave Fatal at
02 Sharts

Twentieth Century-Fox has increased its
short subjects releases this year from 45 to
62, Lem Jones, shorts subjects sales man-
ager, has announced. In addition to the
62 shorts, 104 issues of Movietone news-
reels will be offered.

The increased program of shorts will in-
clude 20 diversified subjects filmed in Cine-
maScope and color by Technicolor. Terry-
toon shorts also play a major part in the
company’s lineup, with 30 Technicolor sub-
jects available.

Six Movietone sport shorts featuring Mel
Allen will be released, and six Movietone
See It Happen films, recreating spectacular
events of the last 50 years. It is announced
that camera crews are being dispatched to
all parts of the world to film outstanding
events in CinemaScope. The CinemaScope
shorts program is directed at the company’s
Hollywood studios by Otto Lang and by
Movietone in New York.

Republic Had IS-Week
Net Profit of $260,937

For the 13 weeks ended January 30, 1954,
Republic Pictures Corporation and its sub-
sidiaries have reported a net profit of
$560,937 before Federal tax provision, esti-
mated Federal normal and surtaxes of $300,-
000, or a net after taxes of $260,937, For
the 13 weeks ended January 24, 1953,
Republic and subsidiaries reported a net
profit of $725,423 before Federal tax provi-
sion, estimated Federal normal and surtaxes
of $380,000, or a net after taxes of $345,423.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY I. 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

NEW EQUIPMENT

SAVE ON H. I. CARBONS! 9, 10, limm MOTOR-
ized Carbon Savers for angle trim arc lamps (Mighty
90, etc.), $59.50. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CO«P..
602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

BIGGER, BETTER PICTURE IS YOURS WITH
Mirro-Claric all purpose Screen, only $1 sq. ft.
Seams absolutely invisible! Kollmorgen wide angle
lenses, special apertures: immediately available!
S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St.,
New York 19. ,,

SAVE TIME, SAVE MONEY! PAINT YOUR
own attractive advertising signs. Experience not
needed. Write for information today. TIMES SQUARE
DISTRIBUTING' CO., 225 W. 34th St., New York
City.

BARGAIN— 8c EACH, BRAND NEW MAGIC-
Viewers and Polalite 3D glasses, limited supply.
First ccme, first served. MALCO THEATRES, INC.,
Purchasing Department, F. O. Box 2853, Memphis 2,
Tenn.

USED EQUIPMENT

PROJECTORS BY DeVRY REBUILT LIKE NEW
by S. O. S. from $895. Send for bulletin. Time deals
available. S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W.
52nd St., New York 19.

KIDDIE MERRY-GO-ROUND, AUTOS, FIRE
truck. Very clean. Will deliver. F. SHAFER, Mesker
Park, c/o Ferris Wheel, Evansville, Ind.

TWO REGULAR SIMPLEX HEADS JUST RE-
cently rebuilt with new rear shutters and D. B.
intermittents; new pair of Weaver changeovers; brand
new set of Kollmorgen Super Snaplite coated lenses,
size f/4.25. Will sell all or part of this equipment to
first comer. NEW GLARUS THEATRES, New
Glarus, Wise.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO.,
CatOr 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-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-

MOTION PICTTURE 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.

POSITIONS WANTED

CAPABLE THEATRE EXECUTIVE, WELL REC-
ommended, seeks manager’s position or will consider
operating theatres for absentee owners. BOX 2786,
MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

THOROUGHLY EXPERIENCED, ENERGETIC
manager. Promotional, exploitation minded, desires
solid connection offering opportunity to show ability.
BOX 2787, MO'TION PICTURE HERALD.

THEATRE MANAGER: EXPERIENCED IN ALL
phases, interested in first-run situation. New York
City or New England area preferred. BOX 2789,
MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

HELP WANTED

ARE YOU THE MA.N WE WANT? MANAG-
gerial jobs open in growing drive-in circuit. Positions
available in East Coast and Mid-West. 52-week deal
with extras. The right men showing ambition and
pride in their work can make a fine career with us.
Write and we will arrange appointments. SMITH
MANAGEMENT CO., Attention Arnold Berger, 82
Newbury St., Boston, Mass.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

SELL DURING YOUR SPARE TIME— ADVER-
tising specialties, calendars, etc. Top commissions.
Write L. H. HORTON ADVERTISING SPECIALTY
CO., Lansing, Michigan.

THEATRES

THEATRE SOUTH JERSEY, POPULATION 8,500.
436 seats, best equipment. Netting better $150 weekly.
Ideal husband-wife operation. $1,000 cash plus $12,500
mortgage. BOX 2788, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

SEATING

VALUE UNSURPASSED! 500 FULL UPHOL-
stered back, box-spring cushion, excellent condition,
only $4.95. Many more. Send for chair bulletin.
S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORP., 602 W. 52nd St..
New York 19.

Seven Planned by Roach
For Theatres in 1954

HOLLYWOOD : .Seven features for thea-
trical distribution, budgeted at an aggregate
of $2,6(K),00;) will be produced by Hal
Roach, Jr., during 1954, Mr. Roach has dis-
closed in outlining his total program budget
of $8,850,000 for the year. The remainder
of the total budget will be spent on tele-
films.

Legion Approves Five of Six
New Productions in Week

The National Legion of Decency this
week reviewed six films, putting two in
Class A, Section I, morally unobjectionable
in part for all; three in Class A, Section II,
morally unobjectionable for adults, and one
in Class B, moraily objectionable in part

for all. In Section I are “The Cowboy’’
and “Paris Playboys.” In Section II are
“The Forty-Niners,” “Southwest Passage”
and “Witness to Murder.’’ In Class B is
“Gorilla at Large,” because of “suggestive
situations.” At the same time, the Legion
announced it had changed the rating of
“La Lupa” from Class C, condemned, to
Class B, because “revisions made in this pic-
ture are deemed sufficient to warrant a
change in classification. This classification,
however, is applicable only to prints shown
in Continental, U.S.A.”

Florida Exhibitors Line up
For Legislative Efforts

Horace Denning, president of the Mo-
tion Picture Exhibitors of Florida, has an-
nounced in Jacksonville a new membership
drive designed to muster strength “in trying

to get our occupational licenses more in line
with the other merchants on Main Street”
during the 1955 session of the Florida legis-
lature. Fees are 10 cents per seat for con-
ventional theatres and 15 cents per car for
drive-ins.

Stephen Ames Dies

MALIBU , Calif.: Film producer Stephen
Ames, 54, died at his home here of a heart
ailment. He was a member of the New
York Stock Exchange and became interested
in motion pictures as a stockholder in Tech-
nicolor, Inc., entering the Hollywood pro-
ducing ranks in 1945.

Oscar Bloom

Oscar Bloom, 60, Columbia Pictures Chi-
cago sales manager, died April 25 in that
city and was buried Tuesday in Indianapolis.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 19^4

An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks, Director

WpA4 Challenge 7c Out Klaticuai ^kctatnmskijji

WITH the quarterly judging com-
pleted, and the annual judging in the
Quigley Awards Competition com-
ing up next week, we are forcibly reminded
of a basic fact of continuing change, over
the past several years. Overseas showman-
ship is notably better, and examples to prove
it are more numerous than ever before, in
this oldest and most honored of contests.

It is, in fact, noticeable that we lack
numerical examples to offset the trend from
overseas, to say nothing of better examples
of showmen’s skills. In more than fifty
countries, around the world, where the
Motion Picture Herald is the foremost trade
authority, where the Managers’ Round Table
is the oldest and largest international asso-
ciation of motion picture showmen, and
where the Quigley Awards provide a stand-
ard in competition for contenders from every
country, there is a distinct gain abroad, and
a loss, at home, in the quantity and quality
of showmanship campaigns.

Currently, our judges in the first quarter
were impressed with the number of fine ex-
hibits from the fotrr corners of the earth,
and a corresponding decline, numerically, in
the high proportion of domestic entries
which have always been in the majority.
Now the proportion of entries is approach-
ing the percentage of gross income from
abroad which is presently true in film in-
dustry. A shade better than half of all the
revenue .earned by the major companies
conies from overseas.

We believe that the new dimensions have
much to do with the current lag in domestic
showmanship. Too many working managers
are waiting for something to happen, and
there are too few in the top brackets who
are turning in the better examples of show-
manship that formerly came from keen com-
petition, rather than from new devices.
Now, the emphasis is on the new equipment
and the new aspect ratio, which you can’t
offer for sale with the variety and ingenuity
that goes with natural showmanship at the
point of sale. We can’t break records for
individual skills while we are building an
appreciation for a process that is sold with

READ THE ROUND TABLE

And be ahead of the news! In October,
1952, we predicted, on this page, in a mo-
ment of wishful thinking, that the first big
production for Cinerama would be, or
should be, an "epic" picture comparable
to "Cimarron" or "Covered Wagon" — or
"Bend of the River" — which was then cur-
rent. We thought it could be photographed
two ways, during the original filming, for
Cinerama, and as a regular release to fol-
low, with the cameras set up to accom-
plish both, for about 50% additional nega-
five cost. Imagine one of these great films,
on the panoramic screen!

Now, It is revealed that the first new
production made for Cinerama by Warner
Brothers will be "Lewis and Clarke" — and
it will be made two ways. Cinerama will
have the pre-release first runs at advanced
prices (legitimate theatre scale) in a dozen
situations. Then, houses equipped with
CinemaScope will get the second play In
motion picture theatres (about 3,000 situa-
tions). Cinerama has grossed more than
$6,500,000 with its first attraction in only
ten theatres: CinemaScope has broken all
records with its original releases in the new
dimension. There's no competitive area in
the new processes.

an underline, or an advertising phrase, with-
out other effort. The wonderful campaigns
on "The Quiet Man’’ which resulted from
Republic’s contest overseas, in this quarter’s
judging; such examples as the Esther Wil-
liams campaign submitted by Edward Alva
from the Metro theatre, Bombay ; the excel-
lent exhibit from Roy Raistrick, of the Gau-
mont cinema, Sheffield, England, and the
sustained showmanship from Canada —
where business is good because they make
it good — continue to surpass the local and
domestic efforts submitted across the board.
It’s time to concentrate on a Greater Movie
Season, in our forty-eight States.

^ WINNERS in the 'Quigley Awards
for the first quarter of 1954, announced in
this issue, pose somewhat of a problem in
establishing differences between “large” and
"small” situations. We think we’re right,
but you can judge for yourself.

Hugh S. BorlanrI, manager of the friendly
Louis theatre — “last run in Chicago, in the
heart of the Negro district” is surely in a
big city, but he certainly has a “small” situ-
ation, in trade parlance. He stands ©ut as -
one of the most consistent in commupity
relations, and most ingenious in obtaifiing
showmanship results with little nioney (but
lots of effort!). We’re glad to see him win.

Paul Brown, manager of Warner’s Eresno '
theatre, Fresno, California, has the largest
theatre in this thriving Valley city of less
than 100,000 population, but it’s obvious that
he runs it with plenty of neighborhood
spirit, and that he leads with the instincts of
a manager who knows his community re-,
sponsibilities.

^ TELEVISION manufacturers com-
plain they didn’t get the substantial tax re-
duction given to motion picture theatres, and
they want the 10% excise tax taken off
TV sets. It seems to us that automobiles
and home accessories are less taxable.

For years, the theatre manager has paid
more kinds of taxes than any other busi-
ness man along Main street. He has paid
a city license, a county tax, a state tax or
license, a Federal excise tax on gross ad-
missions, a corporate tax and a personal
income tax. It’s time he obtained a well
deserved relief.

On the ether hand, television misses most
of these licenses and taxes “because the air
is free” — and they don’t even have to pay a
fee to get their license from the Federal
Communications Commission, although the
operation of that Government agency costs
the rest of us many millions of dollars a
year. And TV studios run free shows, for
patrons who don’t pay either admission or
tax, in competition with theatres that are
burdened. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 1. 1954

JVenv Films
]\e§v Idem

Below, a life-size, cut-out figure of Ann Baxter, in the role
of a high-diver she portrays in King Brothers' "Carnival
Story" atop the marquee of the Woods theatre, Chicago.

Ernest A. McKenna,
manager of the Joy
theatre. New Orleans,
used an amusing street
ballyhoo for "Creature
of the Black Lagoon" —
with this man placard-
ing "It scared the pants
off me."

At right, above. Jack
Sanson, manager of the
Strand theatre, Hart-
ford, poses with an
effective "Creature" for
lobby display. And A.
Mike Vogel conjured up
this display opposite for
"Creature of the Black
Lagoon" at the Para-
mount theatre, San Fran-
cisco.

Below, John Burke, ad-
vertising manager for
Fabian's Fox theatre,
Brookiyn, shows his ac-
tion front dispiay for
"Riot in Ceil Block 11."

At right. Cliff Buechel,
manager of the Mary
Anderson theatre, Louis-
ville, poses with the
winner in his "Fearless
Woman Contest" — she
was not afraid to pre-
view "Phantom of the
Rue Morgue" all by her-
self in an empty thea-
tre, at midnight.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I, 1954

HUGH BORLAND, PAUL BROWN
0 WIN IN THE FIRST QUARTER

We don’t know when we’ve been more
pleased, and proud, of the top-winners in a
quarterly judging. Hugh S. Borland, man-
ager of the friendly Louis theatre — “last run
in Chicago” in the heart of the Negro dis-
trict— has been a contender in practically
every quarter since we’ve sat at this desk,
and he has dozens of citations. Because his
was a small situation in a big city, he never
quite achieved the top honors he so richly
deserves, and we are elated to announce in
this Round Table meeting that he is a
national winner.

Paul Brown, manager of Warner’s Fresno
theatre, Fresno, California, is indisputably
the other winner, for a campaign book to
show his and staff activity in the interest of
showmanship which we know to be a result
that Warner Theatres, Pacific Coast divi-
sion, are equally proud of, because it is one
theatre manager’s effort, not the combination
of home office, field men or added pressures.
His work shows the energy and ability that
he puts into the proposition of making busi-
ness good at the box office, by sustained
showmanship.

Among the runners-up who win the seven
designations for Scrolls of Honor, always
immeasurably close to the top honors and
representing the best ten campaigns in the
quarterly judging, are some who are well
known to the Round Table, and some who
are new. Deciding their place among the
contenders is a matter of points in their
favor, but the listing here, as usual, is al-
phabetical. You may be sure that one of
these is third, and so on, up to tenth in line,
with forty citation winners following in the
adjoining column.

Edward Alva, Metro theatre, Bombay, India.
Jerry Baker, RKO Keith's theatre, Washing-
ton, D. C.

Charles Dilley, Paramount theatre. Port
Arthur, Ont., Canada.

Bob Harvey, Capitol theatre. North Bay,
Ont., Canada.

Frank LIndkamp, RKO Palace theatre,
Rochester, N. Y.

Ray Raistrick, Gaumont cinema, Sheffield,
England.

Jack Sidney, Century theatre, Baltimore, Md.

Marcel Paleazzi, publicist for Republic
Pictures in Rome, Italy, is the overseas
winner in this quarter, in the face of terrific
competition. We have more, and better,
examples of good showmanship from over-
seas than ever before in the history of the
Quigley Awards competition. In this judg-
ing, there were so many of top-bracket qual-
ity that it became only a matter of points to
choose the winner, picked on merit because
his name appeared higher in the scale, on
all three ballots submitted by our industry
judges, who know their international show-
manship.

Compatible with each other, and complimentary to the Round Table — we call our
judges in this quarter. Good showmen all, and fudges of good showmanship, wherever
they find it, from three different points of view. Above you see Jim Hardiman, of Odeon
Theatres (Canada) advertising department, gesturing to illustrate how show business is
up there; Lige Brien, special events manager of United Artists in New York and president
pf AMPA, and Albert Deane, of the advertising department of Paramount International,

1st Quarter Citation Winners

MARK AILING
Golden Gate
San Francisco, Cal.

L. H. BERRY
Regal, London, Eng.

H. G. BOESEL
Palace, Milwaukee, Wis.

FERNAND BOURLAND
RKO Films
Brussels, Belgium

JACK BRIDGES
Victory, Timmins, Can.

H. STUART CODDE
20th Century-Fox
Sydney, Australia

DANIEL A. COHEN
Boro Park
Brooklyn, N. Y.

MAX A. COOPER
Cove, Glen Cove, N. Y.

V. HUGH DEACON
Gaumont
Coventry, Eng.

J. Dl BENEDETTO
Poll, Worcester, Mass.

BEN DOMINGO
Memorial, Boston, Mass.

JOHN EBERHARD
Franklin Saginaw, Mich.

DOUGLAS EWIN
Savoy

Stourbridge, Eng.
JAMES FLAVIN

Orpheum
Champaign, III.

GEORGE FORHAN
Belle, Belleville, Can.

WILLIAM HAVER

Paramount

Des Moines, Iowa

A. HEATON
Regal, Beverley, Eng.

VERN HUDSON
Capitol

St. Catharines, Can.

TED IRWIN
Electric, Lamed, Kans.

SUNTORN JUBANDHU
Republic Pictures
Bangkok

DAVE LEVIN
Albee

Providence, R. I.

MOREY MARCUS
Republic Pictures
Hongkong

EDWARD MECK

Hillstreet

Los Angeles, Cal.

MAX MINK
Palace, Cleveland, O.

K. NAIRN
Republic Pictures
Bombay, India

HENNING NOACK
Republic Pictures
Copenhagen, Denmark

FRED PAULUS
Republic Pictures
Manila, P. I.

GEORGE PETERS
Loew's, Richmond, Va.

RALPH L. PUCKHABER
Florida, Miami, Fla.

JOE REAL
Midwest

Oklahoma City, Okla.

SAM ROTH
Silver Springs
Washington, D. C.

ROGER SARDOU
Columbia Pictures
Paris, France

J. A. SHARP
Capitol, Singapore

D. SMILEY
Del Paso

N. Sacramento, Cal.

D. CYRIL STEIN
20th Century-Fox
Johannesburg, S. Africa

A. F. SWAIN E
Savoy, Newark, Eng.

A. H. TALBOT
Iowa

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

MRS. C. B. TRISCIUZZl
Republic Pictures
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

MILT TROEHLER
Orpheum, Davenport, la.

D. J. VAN LEEN
Centrafilm

The Hague, Holland

EDUARDO V. VIDAL
Republic Pictures
Mexico City, Mexico

BOB WALKER
Uintah, Fruita, Colo.

LILY WATT
Odeon

Coatbridge, Scot.

ANSEL WINSTON
Keith's Dayton, Ohio

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY I, 1954

**€rlenn 3Mitier Story**
Inlays RKO Theatres

Gaes

For **ttuman
Mtetations

Prominent among entries in tlie first
quarter of the Quigley Awards competition
were several originating with RKO theatres
out of town and devoted to their handling
of “The Glenn Miller Story’’ as a showman’s
attraction. There’s no denying that this
Universal picture has clicked in both large
and small situations to the satisfaction of
audiences and managers alike. This is a
demonstration of the handling of a good pic-
ture in the top brackets.

Round Table Members
Frequent Contenders

Jerry Baker, manager of the RKO
Keith’s theatre in Washington, had a cam-
paign which represents “all out’’ for the
District with top-bracket people in Govern-
ment, business and the newspaper field, all
participating. Jimmy Stewart was in town
for a personal appearance, and his popular-
ity with the press is sufficient to swing any
amount of favorable publicity. A cocktail
party for all radio and TV people resulted in
terrific plugging for the picture. A private
screening in the MPA Theatre brought out
the top-brass. When we saw Jerry recently
in Washington, he was still talking of the
results turned in during this campaign.

Ben Domingo, manager of the RKO
Keith Memorial theatre in Boston, had an-
other big campaign, and we mean “big” in
results achieved. He says “Jimmy Stewart
came to town and they talked and talked and
talked” — meaning with the press, for it
shows in the publicity and newspaper re-
sponse generally. Columnists and by-line
writers went off their rockers for the popu-
lar guy. Frank Lindkamp, manager of the
RKO Palace theatre, Rochester, had another
grand campaign and is among the Scroll of
Honor winners in this quarter. Newspaper
and radio cooperation, and a tribute to Glenn
Miller by Rochester musicians, created un-
usual opportunities for promotion and pub-
licity. The Rochester Music Union pro-
vided a separate band in the lobby for first
seven nigbts of the run. Of course, this
brought plenty of radio and TV cooperation,
with news pictures for the press. Window
displays and commercial tieups galore to
augment the audience interest in advance.
Frank was the winner of the $100 prize
given by Universal for the best campaign
among managers of RKO theatres.

Good Variations of
The Teen-Age Theme

Max Mink, another good Round Table
member and frequent Quigley Awards con-
tender, had a comprehensive campaign for
the picture at the RKO Palace theatre,
Cleveland, and with a lot of good photos of
his lobbv activities, notably radio tieups
direct from tbe theatre, and an enthusiastic
group of “High-Teeners” enjoying a per-

sonal interview by Cleveland’s leading disc
jockey on their memory of Glenn Miller
and his music, prior to a preview of the
picture. Mark Ailing and Bill Blake, re-
ported from the RKO Golden Gate theatre,
San Francisco, with a complete campaign,
and Ed Meek had a similar exhibit from the
RKO Hillstreet and Pantages theatres in
Los Angeles, with something like 1,300
inches of newspaper space that would cost
$15,600 if it were paid for at scale.

Ansel Winston, manager of the RKO
Keith’s theatre, Dayton, had a dance studio
tieup locally, and a dance contest at the Bilt-
inore Hotel as a build-up for tne picture.
Lobby dancing and music tieups were added
promotions. A. H. Talbot, manager of the
RKO Iowa theatre. Cedar Rapids; Dave
Levin, manager of the RKO Albee theatre.
Providence; Milt Troehler, manager of the
RKO Orpheum theatre, Davenport, Iowa,
and James Flavin, manager of the RKO
Orpheum theatre, Champaign, Ilk, were also
representeil.

Youngsters Dress Up
To Ballyhoo "Shane"

Lee Mickey, manager of the Victor thea-
tre, McKeesport, Pa., had local boys in
western hats, holsters and cap guns, whoop-
ing it up as street ballyhoo for “Shane”
and they thoroughly enjoyed the assign-
ment, which was successful as a convinc-
ing demonstration of the old west, with
new hands working the range. The west-
ern yells and gun-fire attracted lots of at-
tention to the placards they were carrying
in the most important sections of town.
Lee also sends a costless herald, which is
devoted to a one-third sponsorship who
paid all the bills.

All the talk about public relations, etc.,
but we like the policy of Jeff Jefferis, and
his wife, Maude, who publish a “person to
person” talk to their patrons on the back
of their monthly program calendar. The
calendar is printed, but the letter is mimeo-
graphed on the back, after the copies are
printed, thus using valuable space.

What we like about Jeff’s style is that he
writes to his public in their own language.
He says “it’s censored by Maude — and
how !” — but that we can’t believe. The
showmans’nip-couple are now operating the
Pine Hill Drive-In at Piedmont, Mo., while
their Jefferis theatre is closed for the sum-
mer, for remodeling.

The informal “movie chatter” is a lot of
fun, for us, and for their customers. They
have very good pictures coming and can
afford to say so. They ask folks to drive
carefully account of the kids. They urge
patrons to put the speakers back on the
post, “but if you forget, and drive away,
tearing off the speaker, don’t be alarmed.
We’ll do the worrying, if you return it to
the snack bar.” They ask patrons to notice
that speaker posts are painted different
colors for each ramp, “to help you locate
your car easier.” Jeff says those striped
posts on the Snack Bar are not striped
this year, because he tried to mix a striped
paint, and it turned out a beautiful helio-
trope. Which reminds him of Dr. Hinkle’s
Pink Pills for Pale People, but since it’s
dark in the drive-in, you won’t m.ind it too
much if you face towards the counter.

A slightly gruesome note, “Hester, our
Black Angus, is peacefully at rest in deep
freeze, ready to deliver the most super juicy
burgers this side of Heaven” — but we sup-
pose, that’s the way it is, with juicy-burgers
of the best quality.

Active Diispla^ at Loew’is Rochester

Lester Pollock, manager of Loew's theatre, Rochester, shows his lobby display idea for
color stills from "Rose Marie" — which will sell color with color — and a cut-out of Marlon
Brando and girl-friend on a motorcycle, posed with an actual motorcycle to prove the
realistic quality of poster cut-outs for display use.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY I. 1954

RULiS OF THE

British Baund Tahte

QUIGLEY

AWARDS

TWO Grand Award plaques will be
• awarded annually to the two theatre
managers or theatre publicity men whose
exploitation and promotion campaigns are
adjudged best throughout the year, one in
smaller situations, where the manager is
"on his own" — the other in larger cities,
where there may be circuit cooperation.

Every three months a committee of
judges will appraise the campaigns sub-
mitted by contestants during the preced-
ing quarter period and select two show-
men to receive the Quarterly Awards for
outstanding achievement. The next seven
best will receive Scrolls of Honor. Cita-
tions of Merit will be awarded to forty
theatre men whose work is outstanding.

Consistency of efFort is of paramount
^Tiportance. Single submissions are less
likely to win awards, which are made on
the premise of sustained effort, but these
may have news value in the Round Table.

No fancy entries are necessary. Costly
and time-wasting "gingerbread" decora-
tion are not encouraged.

In addition to exploitation on feature
pictures, entries may be made on short
subjects, serials, stage shows, or institu-
tional and civic promotions.

Evidence proving authenticity of each
entry should be submitted, such as photos,
tear sheets, programs, heralds, etc.

The Round Table cannot undertake to
prepare campaign books for submission to
the judges from materia! sent in without
assembly at the source.

The Quigley Awards make no distinc-
tion for size of theatre or community except
the two classifications above. The judges
make full allowance for individual show-
manship displayed by comparing budgets,
newspaper facilities and assistance from
distributing companies.

In addition to the awards mentioned,
special Certificates of Merit will be
awarded quarterly and annually to show-
men from outside the United States and
Canada. The campaigns submitted by the-
atre men abroad which are deemed of
special merit shall be included in the annua!
competition.

Address all entries to;

QUIGLEY AWARDS COMMITTEE
MANAGERS^ ROUND TABLE
1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y

■T Harold Shampan, manager of the
A Odeon, Woolwich, will be well repre-
sented in the Quigley Awards competition —
story this week — with his campaigns on good
public relations and recent pictures. . . . V.
Sims, relief manager at the Regal cinema, Bi-
cester, held a model aircraft contest in advance
of his playdate for “The Malta Story,” with
models displayed in the theatre, and a hand-
writing contest for “The Sword and the Rose”
— “The pen is mightier than the sword.”. . .
John L. Smith, manager of the Palace cinema,
Arbroath, Scotland, promoted swimming races
in the local pool to tie in with his playdate
of “Dangerous When Wet.”. . . Douglas Ewin,
manager of the Savoy cinema, Stourbridge, had
the most comprehensive campaign he ever car-
ried out for “The Conquest of Mt. Everest,”
with excellent business at the box office — a fine
entry for the coming judging. . . . J. E. Ward,
assistant manager at the Savoy cinema, North-
ampton, tied up with the local Road Safety
Committee who put up signs lettered “All roads
are DANGEROUS WHEN WET” which
helped the box office for “Dangerous When
Wet.”. . . D. H. Western, assistant manager
of the Regal cinema, Torquay, had a “Band
Wagon” girl tour the town between certain
hours handing out gift vouchers to those who
recognized her. Leaflets with her description
were distributed. . . . G. C. Williams used
posters on buses to advertise playdate of “The
Charge at Feather River” at his Regent cinema,
Chatham. ... I. Richman, relief manager at
the Tower Picture House, Leeds, promoted a
window display in a pet shop for “Mogambo.”
A still showing Ava Gardner feeding a baby
elephant was used with a card worded, “We
can’t supply a baby elephant, but we do have
dogs, cats, etc.”. . . D. E. Lacey, assistant man-
ager of the Savoy cinema. South Shields, tied
up with a cycle shop who paid for 3,000 throw-
aways advertising “Isn’t Life Wonderful?” in
which cycles play a part. . . . C. F. Erodie,
manager of the Regal cinema, Barrow-in-Fur-
ness, tied up with local travel agents to ad-
vertise “Dream Wife” with a wife’s dream
of a trip.

T ▼

N. Scott-Buccleuch, manager of the

Regent, Norwich, arranged to have auto-
graphed portraits of the star in “Band Wagon”
given to the first SO stocking customers at a
local store. . . . Jack Stewart, manager of
the Picture Palace in Parkhead, Scotland, had
local hairdressers cooperate by advertising hair
styles from “Quo Vadis,” as one angle of his
colossal campaign on the picture which resulted
in colossal business. . . . J. W. Turner con-
tacted heads of local schools who sent .groups
of pupils during school hours to see “Julius
Caesar” at the Savoy cinema in Sale, and much
word-of-mouth advertising was gained. . . .
Douglas Wallis, [manager of the Astoria
Picture House, Paisley promoted attractive
resort folders with credits for “Cruisin’ Down
the River” and theatre name. He encloses one,
and we’d like to take the next boat. . . .
Assistant manager L. P. Ward of the Savoy
cinema, Swindon, directed his whole campaign
on “The Charge at Feather River” to the chil-
dren, with the local newspaper giving good
space to the painting contest. The queues were
so huge, the police were concerned ! . . . R.
White sends us a good photo of his display
for “The Charge at Feather River” at his
Globe theatre in Stockton, which emphasizes
that the film is 3-D. . . . F. B. Page, manager
of the Rex cinema, Islington, tied up with road
safety officials to have notices at strategic
points reading, “More ‘Dangerous When Wet,’
Drive Carefully,” with date of playing and
theatre. . . . R. E. Horsley of the Scala cinema,
Gateshead emphasized the “escape” angle when
he played “Houdini” by offering prizes for
the best narrow escapes experienced by patrons.

€D. M. Campbell, manager of the Regal
cinema, Stirling, Scotland, feels that his
campaign on “The Man Between” has been his
best for some time. Ten-foot banners advertised
the pictures on buses which toured the vicinity
for six days. . . . J. G. Campbell, another
manager from Scotland, held a swim contest
in connection with his showing of “Dangerous
When Wet” at his Regal cinema in Coatbridge,
and sends pictures showing the Esther Williams
i rophy being presented to a fourteen-year-old
boy. . . . R. L. Cook, manager of the Savoy
cinema, Swindon, realized the educational tieup
possibilities of “The Conquest of Everest” and
arranged special matinees for children with the
cooperation of school authorities. . . . R. J.
Crabb, manager of the Lyric, Wellingborough,
sent out 1,000 postcard type throwaways with
thumbnail pictures of the five stars in “From
Here to Eternity.” . . . For “Moulin Rouge,”
manager Len Crate of the Union cinema, Dun-
stable, surprised his patrons with a troupe of
can-can girls on stage as a live trailer for the
coming picture. . . . R. N. Douglas, assistant
manager at the Waverley cinema, Shawlands,
applied that old guessing game to golf balls
in his lobby for “The Caddy,” with other golf
equipment promoted to complete the display.

. . . A. J. Evans, manager of the Savoy cinema.
South Shields, had a lobby display of police
equipment — old and new — in his lobby, pro-
moted from the local Police Department. . . .
George Fawcett’s “Happy Family” contest
gained a fantastic amount of newspaper space
with pictures of the winning family of eight,
and helped the box office when he played
“Scandal at Scourie.” . . . J. B. Fenner, man-
ager of Queen’s Hall, Newcastle, used teaser
ads picturing days to remember, such as VJ
Day, etc., fc'r “A Day to Remember.” Good
newspaper space was given to his “A Day to
Remember” contest. . . . P. H. Gaston, assis-
tant manager of the Savoy cinema. Sale, used
his two year service in Malay to good ad-
vantage when he played “Operation Malaya”
by showing souvenirs and answering questions
about Malaya in the lobby.

▼ T

J I T. F. Grazier, manager of the Arcade
«l theatre, Darlington has completed re-
decoration of his theatre and raising the stand-
ard of operation and maintenance. The improve-
ment is so great that the local newspaper gave
the story a composite half page with photo-
graph of theatre interior. . . . Brenda R. Green,
relief manageress at the Regal cineina, Bi-
cester, sent invitations to civic dignitaries for
the premiere of “The Story of Gilbert & Sulli-
van” with refreshments served before the pic-
ture went on. Word-of-mouth advertising re-
sulted from this idea which hadn’t been tried
here before. ... A. D. Hainge arranged a
Deborah Kerr swimsuit contest for his showing
of “From Here to Eternity” at the Odeon
theatre in Birmingham. . . . N. J. Hartle,
assistant manager at the Capitol cinema, Bolton,
persuaded the editor of the local newspaper
to print 10,000 throwaways free of cost, -one
side advertising “Mogambo” and the other the
newspaper. — W. T.

SPECIAL TRAILERS

GOOD! I
ON

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 1, 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menting the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

NEW SNACK BAR AT BONY, N.Y.

IN A MOVE to provide greater con-
venience and service for refreshment
patrons at the Roxy theatre in New York
City, Executive Director Dick Dickson
recently had installed a considerably en-
larged stand in the inner lobby. He is
shown at the left before a section of the
counter, which is 33 feet long. The stand
is constructed of stainless metal, highly
polished fireproofed wood and plate glass,
and is built on a curve to blend with the
architecture of fhe theatre. The location
is a strategic one, since it attracts the at-
tention of all patrons, whether they be on
their way to the loges, orchestra or balcony.
Spotlights are used to enhance the beauty
of the stand and to draw attention to the
products on sale, which include candy, soft
drinks, popcorn and chewing gum. The
stand is refrigerated throughout so that
all commodities can be kept at the proper
temperature. Beverages are dispensed from
counter-model machines, while popcorn is
sold from a warmer built right into the
stand. Mr. Dickson reports that the new
installation has resulted in a substantial in-
crease in refreshment revenue. The stand
was first unveiled to the public at the recent
evening premier of "Prince Valiant."

Candy Firm's Ads Plug
Theatre Attendance

AN ESTABLISHED policy of
the Quaker City Chocolate & Confection-
ery Company, Inc., Philadelphia, of in-
corporating references to the pleasures of-
fered by motion pictures in its advertising
is now being extended further in the firm’s
new television series, ‘‘Ramar of the
Jungle.” The company manufactures
Good and Plenty, a licorice-flavored candy.

In the commercials for the program,
which stars Jon Hall, the idea is promoted

that “it’s a treat to go to the movies” and
the “way to make the treat complete is
to have Good and Plenty candy.”

For one of the commercials two photos
are shown, one of children lined up at
the box-office, followed by a theatre in-
terior. The spoken copy is as follows:
“When you go to the movies, you need
two things to enjoy the show . . . first, a
ticket, next a big box of Good and Plenty.
It’s the perfect movie candy, because there’s
enough to last through the whole show.”

In the past the company has also ex-
ploited the idea of integrating candy with
motion pictures in the television show

“Lucky Pup” and in its newspaper adver-
tising. On “Lucky Pup” in 1951 a film
trailer from Columbia’s “Born Yesterday”
was shown and in the commercial listeners
were urged to see the film at their neigh-
borhood theatres and at the same time
enjoy Good and Plenty.

The newspaper ads publicized new pic-
tures and featured photographs of stars
from the films. These ads were run in con-
junction with the opening of the films in
individual markets. Theatres stocking the
company’s product were provided with re-
prints of the ads on poster boards with
easels for display at the snack stands.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY I, 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 118 attractions, 5,232 playdates.

Titles run alphabetically. Ntimerals 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.

Alaska Seas (Para.)

*AII-American (Univ.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) ...

Appointment in Honduras (RKO)

1 1

Back to God's Country (Univ.)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox)

. 26

Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

Big Heat (Col.)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

*Blowing Wild (WB)

Border River (Univ.)

1 1

Botany Bay (Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Cease Fire! (Para.)

Command, The (WB)

1 1

Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (Univ.)

Crime Wave (WB)

“

Dangerous Mission (RKO)

Decameron Nights (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

1 1

Dragonfly Squadron (AA)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

Flight to Tangier (Para.)

Forbidden (Univ.)

Forever Female (Para.)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

(Genevieve (Univ.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glass Web, The (Univ.)

Glenn Miller Story (Univ.)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox) . . .

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail (Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

*Little Boy Lost (Para.)

Little Caesar (VVB) (Reissue)

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Living Desert, The (Disney)

Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (Univ.)

1 1

Man Between, The (UA)

. . .

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

. . .

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

. . .

“

*Marry Me Again (RKO)

. . .

Martin Luther(de Rochemont)

Miss Robin Crusoe (20th-Fox)

. . .

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)

Mogambo (MGM)

. . 43

Money from Home (Para.)

(Naked Jungle, The (Para.)

Nebraskan, The (Col.)

. . .

New Faces (20th-Fox)

Night People (20th-Fox)

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)

Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.)

. . .

Private Eyes (AA)

. . .

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

“

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

Red Garters (Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (Univ.)

1 1

Riders to the Stars (UA)

Riding Shotgun (WB)

. . .

Riot in Cell Block 1 1 (AA)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

. . .

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Roman Holiday (Para.)

Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (Univ.)

Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.)

. . .

Shane (Para.)

Shark River (UA)

. . .

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)

. . .

1 1

Siege of Red River (20th-Fox)

*Sins of Jezebel (Liopert)

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

. . .

So Big (WB)

Take the High Ground (MGM)

1 1

Taza, Son of Cochise (Univ.)

(Tennessee Champ (MGM)

. . .

Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.)

. . .

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)

. . .

1 1

Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana (UA)

. . .

Tumbleweed (Univ.)

Veils of Bagdad (Univ.)

. - .

Walking My Baby Back Home (Univ.) ....

War Arrow (Univ.)

1 1

*War of the Worlds (Para.)

Wild One (Col.)

. .

(Yankee Pasha (Univ.)

30 YEARS YOUNG!

-And time out to say "Thank You
to all Exhibitors From The
Bottom of Our Hearts!

The party’s not over by any means. There are lots of
fine M-G-M Anniversary Attractions to come. But
your friendly Lion, on behalf of all the lads and lasses
in every M-G-M Exchange in the U. S. and Canada,
pauses now to express heartfelt thanks for the
wonderful cooperation of Showmen everywhere.

{continued)

(continued)

Thanks, gentlemen, for the way you said "Happy
Birthday” with playdates.

Thanks for your assistance in spreading the message
of M-G-M’s Gala Jubilee among your patrons.

Thank you, Mr. Exhibitor, one and all, from the heart
of Leo the Lion for helping to make our Anniversary
the most successful of its kind in movie history.

Paving the way to your box-office were many gracious friends of M-G-M. We are deeply appreciative
of the wonderful cooperation of the nationwide press; of Ed Sullivan’s “Toast of the Town” hour-
long salute on 142 coast -to -coast stations of CBS-TV; of special 16-page sections in M. P. Herald
and Boxoffice; of special photo - section of The Exhibitor, special pages in Showmen’s Trade
Review, Film Bulletin, Greater Amusements; special editorials, news stories, photos in all trade
publications; of N. B. C. network salute to “Rose Meirie”; of top treatment on other TV and Radio
shows; of the 15 fan magazine covers on M-G-M stars and their additional editorial generosity.

(Signed)

M-G-M’s AMNIVERSARY HIT PARADE CONTINUES!

"ROSE MARIE”

New box-office records at Radio City Music
Hall — big everywhere!

(CinemaScope — Color)

Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando Lamas

"EXECUTIVE SUITE”

Now a Radio City Music Hall sensation !
The cast of the year in the picture of the
year! "10 Best” nominee!

Starring Academy Award-winning William Holden,
June Allyson, Barbara Stantvyck, Fredric March,
Walter Pidgeon, Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas,
Louis Calhern, Dean Jagger, Nina Foch

★

"PRISONER OF WAR”

Successful test engagements demonstrate
solid exploitation potential !

"RHAPSODY”

Another Music Hall triumph and a musical
love drama delighting millions!

(Technicolor)

Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, John Ericson

★

"THE STUDENT PRINCE”

M-G-M’s youthful, beautiful musical of
riotous, royal romancing and music of
Sigmund Romberg !

(CinemaScope — Color)

Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom,
and the singing voice of Mario Lanza

★

"FLAME AND THE FLESH”

Star-studded drama filmed in the pleasure
haunts of Europe. Lana and Carlos are
dynamic lovers!

Ronald Reagan, Steve Forrest, Dewey Martin,
Oscar Homolka

(Technicolor)

Lana Turner, Pier Angeli, Carlos Thompson

]

MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY” (Color)

Exploitation natural! Thrill adventures of the Navy’s jet pilots! Big cast!

Van Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Louis Calhern, Dewey Martin, Keenan Wynn, Frank Love joy

PERFECT 3 Dimension in the hitchcock manner.andWarnerColor

m MILWND -GRACE KELLY- ROBERT CUMMINGS

“Gives new stature NS

to Hitchcock! 1

Will have audiences on
the edge of their seats and
be as big a hit as the
play! All performances so
great none could be singled
out for special praise!” A

^ Boxomce

‘‘Rating
excellent! The
showman has a
property of reall
outstanding box<
office value!”

motion picture HERAUi^^

“The attention
of the audience
will be glued to
the screen
all the way!’’

I. EILM DAILY

"Finest
mystery
to reach
the screen
in years!”

INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL

'"Guaranteed to hold ^
audiences excitedly glued t
to their seats! Should he
lusty grosser! A smash play
on Broadway and should be
even bigger os a picture ! J
k This is a pleasure !"

iaMIW HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"SHOULD BRING 1

EXCEPTIONAL

RETURNS!

EXCELLENT MYSTERY
IN THE BEST
HITCHCOCK MANNERS

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW

And

Exhibitors are ^
burning the wires
with enthusiasm.
Thank you Showmen,
one and ah- WeVe got
so many raves we've
got to take another
L ad - watch ^
for it.

^^This will register
strongly! Taut
suspense in the
truest Hitchcock
. fradiffon/" a

FILM BULLETIN!

*Pace is swift^^
and suspense
constant! Will
register in the
better grosses!
This is Top
Grade!'* a

^MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR

DIRECTED BY

WRITTEN BY

ANTHONY DAWSON * FREDERICK KNOTT who wrote the International Stage Success • ALFRED HITCHCOCK ^bTo7m,tr.

soon from 20th Century-Fox...

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY , Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 6

MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor

May 8, 1954

Plight of Small Exhibitor

There is an understandable unwillingness on the
part of some in all branches of the industry to
recognize that exhibition no longer may be viewed
as a whole. From the founding of the industry through
the boom of World War II motion pictures were pre-
sented under more or less similar circumstances in all
theatres. The differences between the big first run and
the last run were measured by time and admission
prices. Long engagements, apart from a few roadshows,
were uncommon. There was ample product to enable
first runs to change bills weekly and other theatres as
frequently as three or four times a week.

The trend of economic conditions affecting the in-
dustry and the introduction of new and expensive screen
techniques have brought about some sharp cleavages in
the exhibition structure. Some may be healed in time;
others may persist indefinitely. It was not to be expected
that exhibition should have forever the same pattern of
uniformity that prevailed for nearly fifty years.

Cinerama, which started the technical revolution, is
designed for a small number of selected theatres where
runs are measured in months rather than weeks or days.
The Magna process in which “Oklahoma” is being pro-
duced is expected to be first exhibited with a policy
akin to that of Cinerama. The other techniques, such
as 3-D, CinemaScope and any form of stereophonic or
directional sound, are so costly that at least several
thousand theatres in the United States do not gross
enough to make their installation economically feasible.
Half the theatres of the country sell considerably less
than ten per cent of the tickets. Nearly five thousand
theatres are in communities of under 2,500 population
where the grossing potential is strictly limited.

The small exhibitor proportionately has enjoyed a
greater measure of relief from the admission tax burden
than the big operator — and he needed it! However, so
many theatres were operating deeply in the red that
the tax relief of itself is not enough to assure their finan-
cial wellbeing. The industry must continue to give seri-
ous attention to the problems of the small exhibitor.

The motion picture industry cannot survive in its pres-
ent scope without keeping in operation the small town
theatre. It is there that a very considerable part of the
population of the country become acquainted, in their
growing years, with motion picture entertainment. It
these millions of customers are cut off from their local
theatres, a chain reaction will set in and eventually do
great harm to all theatres. The industry must not cut
itself off from any segment of its audience, thereby turn-
ing them over wholly to television.

The one-theatre towns require special attention. Oper-
ations in many of those locations are likely to be difficult
for the foreseeable future. Despite recent attempts by

exhibitor groups to stimulate production, it is unlikely
that there will be enough product available to satisfy the
wishes of the theatre that has frequent changes.

The small exhibitor, for his sake and the industry’s, is
entitled to special consideration at the studios and in
the offices of the distributors. For his own part he must
integrate his theatre more with his community, quicken
the pulse of showmanship, be energetic in finding and
holding patrons and imaginative in his booking.

The fight to save the small exhibitor is well worth win-
ning. The fight can be won by determined, cooperative
effort.

Top Honors for Showmen

Fifty experts in advertising and promotion from
distributors, circuit and independent theatres this
week selected the top showmen to be honored in
the twentieth annual judging of the Quigley Awards
sponsored by the Managers Round Table department of
The HERALD. The enthusiastic response and interest
of the judges is matched only by the continuing atten-
tions to the contest of the five thousand active mem-
bers of the Round Table.

Walter Reade, Jr., president of the Walter Reade cir-
cuit and of the Theatre Owners of America, this year’s
guest speaker at the lunch following the judging, said
that the Round Table showmanship awards had accom-
plished more in stimulating showmanship on the part of
theatre managers than any other factor in the industry
during the past twenty years. The need for more and
better showmanship — and fuller recognition of the re-
sponsibility of the individual theatre manager — were
never greater than today. Under the stimulus of broader
public interest generated by the new screen techniques,
the entire industry has an opportunity to make excel-
lent progress. All the old ways and many new ways of
showmanship are essential.

Congratulations are in order to this year’s winners —
no strangers to these honors: Willis Shaffer, Fox Thea-
tre, Hutchinson, Kansas, and Charles Doctor, Capitol
Theatre, Vancouver. In the overseas category the judges’
choice was Jack Plunkett, Films Paramount, Paris.

15 Kind words for Hollywood films from overseas critics
are rare enough to make appropriate the recording of
the opinion of Derek J. Davies, editor of “The Film
Teacher,” who recently told an educational conference in
London that American motion pictures teach British
children more about family loyalties and patriotism than
British films do.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

Reaction to CinemaScope

To THE Editor :

I liave followed with a great deal of in-
terest conunents pro and con anent Cinema-
scope for the past year, as well as wit-
nessed numerous exhibitions of this sup-
posedly potent business reviver. I have
always been very reluctant to break forth
into print ever my name into controversial
topics regarding the sick motion picture
industry.

I have been an exhibitor for the past 17
years, so it may be said with some justifica-
tion that I am now dry behind the ears in
the business. I will further add that at least
in my own case, I am moderately successful,
and operate two very fine drive-in theatres,
and have at present, due to the admission
tax, a closed indoor house, which will stay
closed until the tax comes off.

The drive-ins afford me an excellent liv-
ing, and business is good. This may surprise
some, as whoever heard of an exhibitor that
admits business is good? All this as a
preface to explain that I am not griping.

Tt is a well known fact that any business
has its saturation point, and the motion pic-
ture business has a quicker saturation point
than any other that I know of. The main
trouble with the business today is that there
are just too many drive-ins and theatres to
guarantee a fair return on the investment
necessary to have a first class house, either
indoor or outdoor.

Too many farmers and electricians, etc.,
have been trying to get on the socalled gravy
train, and notwithstanding the lack of need
for theatres, or impossible locations, plus a
general ignorance of the business, rush
stupidly and blindly into what is generally
considered the most trying and exacting of
all businesses, i.e., that of trying to entertain
the public. The net result is that these mis-
informed and dollar-happy fools are not only
paving the path to their own financial de-
struction, but at tbe same time are making
it increasingly harder for those well-estab-
lished houses to function and to maintain a
favorable cash balance.

I agree with a few simple souls that all
this industry needs is good product, plus
casts that know their stuff, in plain 2-D
color, and the result always has been and
always will be, good box office returns.
Neither 3-D, 4-D, or 5-D will make an iota
of difference if the picture is a stinkeroo.

We have watched in our locality other
exhibitors rush pell mell into ill-advised and
premature outlays for 3-D and CinemaScope
apparatus, to their eventual and certain dis-
gust, not to say financial loss. Because a
CinemaScope picture draws a million on
Broadway, the simple souls in exhibition
think it will do likewise in a town of 20,000

II I ill Wl WI I 'I—— WWiWI—

TO KEEP ABREAST
AND GET IDEAS

To the Editor;

I enjoy your publication very much
and look forward to it every week to
keep abreast with what Is going on
In our business and also get ideas on
how to improve my own particular
situation. — FERN MARLEAU, Park
Theatre, Chatham, Ontario.

or less. Curiosity alone will guarantee a
tremendous gate on Broadway and the list
of suckers never gives out, but in the small
towns the situation is different, and it takes
quality, not novelty, to keep the customers
coming.

In the opinion of literally thousands to
whom I have talked in recent months anent
this new medium of film presentation, they
are at one in their opinion as regards the
way this new medium has been presented in
the advertising. Their first impression was
that they would see a screen that wrapped it-
self completely around them in the theatre,
and this expectation was engendered by the
type of advertising employed, that actually
showed the screen folding way back around
the sides of the theatre..

When will Hollywood and its highly over-
paid advertising men, get wise to the fact
that the public are not fools and that they
expect to see on the screen what is adver-
tised in the papers ? Another was the so-
called “illusion” of depth. Illusion is right.

If some of the socalled big shots in this
industry would get oft' the seats of their
pants a bit and get around the country
wherein are located the backbone of their
industry in the shape of the forgotten little
men in the exhibition field, they might get
it through their heads that good pictures
are all they need, television notwithstanding.
The television novelty is already wearing
off, and the public is crying for good pic-
tures, in plain color, 2-D, and to blazes with
gadgets.

The only thing that amazes me is that
the exhibitor has the most marvelous and
long-enduring capacity to absorb punish-
ment, and the fault really lies in their readi-
ness to become panicky, and to fall for a
smooth line of sales talk, without thinking
things through. The exhibitors have always
lieen their own worst enemies, and the pro-
ducers as a consequence have had, and prob-
ably always will have, a pushover to sell to.

W'hen exhibitors grow up and realize that
they cannot have million-dollar gates every
day, and that they should be satisfied with
good average business, and that each ex-

hibitor cannot get all the business away from
their competitors, to live and let live, and to
stick together instead of trying to cut each
other’s throats, the industry will be far
healthier. Then will the practice of cutthroat
bidding cease, and peace may descend on
them, but not before. And this goes for
triple and quadruple feature stunts, too. But
my money says that exhibitors will never
learn, either.

I take a very objective view in all this
CinemaScope nonsense, and have never even
considered installing 3-D, CinemaScope, or
what have you, and I operate in a very com-
petitive situation. Three competitors have
installed both types of equipment, and I
think are unhappy, although that is my per-
sonal opinion, and not sour grapes on my
part, as I could install either type if desired.
But I have proved, at least to my own satis-
faction and that of my customers, that good
pictures are all that is needed, and they
patronize me instead of the gadgets. —
/. DORSEY CONKLIN , Soiitinvest Antuse-
iiiciif Enterprises, Radford., Va.

CinemaScope Exciting

To THE Editor:

I approached CinemaScope with a jaun-
diced eye. The first peep of it has radically
altered my ideas. I can see it calls for com-
pletely new film technique but it is tremen-
dously exciting in its possibilities.

It is early to make a final judgment but
I feel that the magnetic sound tracks give
wonderful results and that this is going to
be part of CinemaScope’s strong appeal.

Maybe I am talking through my hat but
I feel that the day of visual sound tracks
is limited and that at some time magnetic
sound will take over on all ratios. The
purity rather than the stereophonic property
is the one which impresses me most.

Having seen “Vesuvius Express” trave-
logue, I feel that the greatest boost Irish
tourism could ever get would be a Cinema-
Scope travelogue. A subject which might
have possibilities would be an Irish point-
to-point meeting or possibly a repeat per-
formance of the re-enactment of the original
“steeple chase” which gave the world the
name, a race across country from Buttevant
steeple to Doneraile steeple. — T. J. M.
Sheehy, Dublin, Ireland.

VistaVision and Perspecta

To THE Editor:

I predict that VistaVision and Perspecta
Sound will take the picture business by
storm. Exhibitors will cooperate with pro-
gressive developments where they are sold
on merits free from dictatorial methods and
at fair prices. — Vernon M. Elliott, Clay-
ton Theatre, Clay City, III.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

May 8, 1954

QUIGLEY AWARDS winners named in
twentieth annual judging Page 12

PRODUCT shortage, big problem of day,
brings some answers Page 16

RODGERS forms production company, plan-
ning "top quality" product Page 18

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— the box office
score on box office leaders Page 20

STANLEY Warner buys controlling interest
in International Latex Page 20

COLOR TV film system described at semi-
annual SMPTE meeting Page 22

STARR, TOA head, finds TV competition
temporary, at Arkansas meet Page 22

MGM lifts "must" requirement on four-
track CinemaScope Page 23

CINEMASCOPE is weighed at exhibitor
forum called by 20th-Fox Page 23

THERE'S a box office gleam in that U-l pro-
duction line eye Page 24

CHESAPEAKE anti-trust action in New
York is dismissed Page 25

BRITISH Government decides no British
material quota on TV Page 25

PARAMOUNT to sell part of Famous
Players stock to public Page 27

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus-

try personnel across country Page 29

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising Page 37

Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene Page 26

Managers' Round Table Page 33

People in the News Page 28

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews Page 2285

What the Picture Did for Me Page 2287
The Release Chart Page 2288

Mike TODD said in Holly-
wood Tuesday that “Okla-
homa,” in the Todd- AO proc-
ess would have its world premiere
in New York City, in April, 1955,
probably at the Rivoli Theatre. He
added: “We go into production in
about five weeks, and we should
have no trouble winding up the
shooting not later than October.”
The picture will be roadshown.
“We’ll play film theatres where we
can, and legitimate playhouses
where we must.” Mr. Todd also
predicted “astronomical revenues.”

► The date for the all-industry
arbitration meeting is May 24, at
the Astor Hotel, New York. Eric
A. Johnston, Motion Picture Asso-
ciation of America president, is to
invite exhibitor organization leaders,
including, the report goes. Allied.
The latter rejected an invitation
some time ago. Meanwhile, a gen-
eral sales managers’ subcommittee
is drawing up recommendations for
an arbitration system. These go to
the full committee, which will sub-
mit them to the meeting.

► The Committee on Federal Tax
Policy, reporting Tuesday in Wash-
ington on its study of a revised tax
policy, advised the Federal Govern-
ment to withdraw from admission
taxes completely. It further recom-
mended that this form of tax become

ofizon

“a significant contributor” to state
and local revenues. It also noted
that in 26 states there now are local
admissions taxes. This Committee
is the one which has been urging a
general manufacturer’s excise tax.

► It is conjecture at the moment
whether Congress this year will
permit a business and manufactur-
ing census. Such a census would
disclose comprehensive information
on the industry, its production, dis-
tribution, and exhibition facets. It
was rejected last year. Monday, the
House sent to the Senate a bill
authorizing such a survey, for next
year, which would be based on this
year’s business.

► The industry’s newsreels have
been cited again for aiding the
country’s welfare. Their represen-
tatives Tuesday in Washington re-
ceived specially engraved scrolls
from Earl O. Shreve, national
director of the Treasury’s U. S.
Savings Bonds Division, for efforts
to help the Bond selling program.

► The industry’s top executives
again will be let in on some of the
Defense Department’s secret infor-
mation. Some 50 of them will be
“briefed” at the Pentagon in Wash-
ington, May 13. They then will be
shown the Army’s film, “This is
Your Army”.

In ‘‘‘’Better Theatres^’

Of four feature articles dealing with wide-screen, three consider it in the light of
recent developments. Loren Ryder, head of Paramount recording and engineering,
discusses the requirements and recommendations for the presentation of pictures
produced by that process. N. H. Crowhurst, engineer associated with the develop-
ment of Perspecta sound equipment, explains that system for adapting a single optical
track to the wide picture. Gio Gagliardi makes a comparative examination of the two
basic wide-screen techniques — aperature cropping and use of anamorphotic lenses.

Being the 1954 Spring Buyers Number, "Better Theatres" for May also features a
revised Buyers Index, reviewing the current market and listing leading sources of theatre
equipment and supplies.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Coble address,
"Qulgpubco, 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. VVeaver, 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
Bvrnup, 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. MAY 8. 1954

A LITTLE JUNKET, the other day, in Texas.
Paramount took some of the state's leading
exhibitors to Carswell Air Force Base, near
Fort Worth, where Sam Briskin is making
"Strategic Air Command". Posed in the
group above are John Rowley, of Rowley
United Theatres; Raymond Willie, of the
Interstate Circuit; Mr. Briskin; Frank Starz,
advertising chief, Interstate Circuit; James
Stewart, the star of the picture; Anthony
Mann, director; and Heywood Simmons,
Booking Service.

FOR LEADERSHIP, particularly in
labor relations, Loew's president
Nicholas M. Schenck, left, receives
from MPAA president Eric A. John-
ston a silver bowl inscribed with sig-
natures of company presidents and
executives. The ceremony was at the
board meeting in New York last
week.

weeR in

pic

taped

DON HARTMAN, below, told of European interest
in VistaVision at his New York interview Tuesday.
He is Paramount production head. Mr. Hartman
also said Paramount will make a minimum of 22
films this year, stressing quality over quantity.

by the Herald

VISITORS, at the Warner "report to
the exhibitor" screening in Albany.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Abeles, center,
were guests of Charles Smakwiti,
right, Stanley Warner zone manager.
With them is Ray Smith, Warner Al-
bany manager. Mr. Abeles is Warner
sales manager in Great Britain.

HIGH TENSION is +o
be seen at the right, in
Republic's big budget
"Johnny Guitar". The
men are Scott Brady
and Sterling Hayden;
and the girl in the
breeches is none other
than Joan Crawford.
The picture was given
a world premiere this
week in 10 West Coast
situations. It is review-
ed on page 2285 of this
week's Product Digest.

TABLE CONVERSATION, below,
is by publisher William Hearst
and Robert Francis, left, star of
Columbia's "The Caine Mutiny".
They are seen at "The American
Weekly's" scree ning-and-reception
in New York, for leading editors
and publishers.

OPENING THE CENTRE THEATRE, Denver:
Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., Fox Inter-Mountain
president; Ethel Merman; Charles Skouras,
National Theatres president.

THE SUBJECT, this year's 35th Anniversary release schedule; and the slogan, "54 for
'54". The men above presided at United Artists' three day regional sales meeting in
the Blackstone Hotel, Chicago. They are, in left to right order, Charles S. Chaplin,
Canadian district manager; B. G. Kranze, general sales manager; William J. Heine-
man, vice-president in charge of distribution; Max E. Youngstein, vice-president in
charge of advertising; James Velde, western division manager; and F. J. Lee, Midwest
district manager.

A BUSINESS CHAT. Harold F. Wendt and Frank Kuehnie,
of the Wendt Advertising Agency, Cleveland, are seen in
the New York offices of Quigley Publications. At right,
Martin Quigley, Jr., editor of The HERALD.

by the Herald

QUIGLEY AWARD
WIXAERS IVAMED
AT 20th JUDGING

WILLIS SHAFFER

CHARLES DOCTOR

JACK PLUNKETT

The winners were:

CHARLES DOCTOR, manager of the
Famous Players Canadian Capitol Theatre,
Vancouver, B. C. — the Grand Award for
large situations.

WILLIS SHAFFER, manager of the Fox
Midwest Fox Theatre, Hutchinson, Kansas —
the Grand Award for small situations.

JACK PLUNKETT, director of publicity
for Films Paramount, Paris — the Overseas
Grand Award.

A PANEL of 50 advertising, publicity and exploitation executives from distribution and
circuit home office organizations this week examined a record number of entries by
Managers' Round Table members and selected the winners in the 20th annual Quigley
Awards competition. At the luncheon following the judging they heard Walter Reade,
Jr., president of the Theatre Owners of America praise the Quigley Awards as "the
greatest single factor in the advancement of showmanship" and call for "a resurgence of
old-fashioned showmanship."

theatre, Hempstead, N. Y., for small situa-
tions ;

To Benno Erb, Metro theatre, Santiago,
Chile; Miss Lily Watt, Odeon Cinema,
Coatbridge, Scotland; Edward Alva, Metro
theatre, Bombay, India; and Douglas Ewin,
Savoy Cinema, Stourbridge, England, for
the Overseas competition.

Urging all branches of the industry, but
particularly exhibition to "Think and think
hard what else can be done along the pattern
set by the Quigley Awards” to advance the

Honorable mentions were awarded also :
To Sam Gillman, State theatre, Syra-
cuse, and Al Jenkins, Odeon theatre, Van-
couver, for large situations ;

To Bob Harvey, Capitol theatre. North
Bay, Out., and John M. Enders, Calderone

AT RIGHT; Bernard Lewis, Mori Krushen. Be-
low, right, William German, Ernest Emerling.

FEATURED SPEAKER, below: Walter Reade.
With him on the dais, Russell Downing, Her-
man Robbins.

ANNOUNCE AWARD FOR
REFRESHMENT SELLING

A new Grand Award for "skill and
success in refreshment merchandising"
will be given in connection with the
newly expanded Better Refreshment
Merchandising service of Quigley
Publications, it was announced by
Martin Quigley at the Awards judg-
ing Tuesday. First Award will be
made next year for entries submitted
during 1954.

art and science of selling motion pictures,
Mr. Reade said, "We have a tremendous
story to tell but we have done little to tell it.”

The new media and techniques have given
the industry enormous advertising and show-
manship potentials, he continued, but little
actually has been done to exploit them.
"Today,” he added, “we have succeeded in
making movies in the public mind the thing
to talk about. But talk is not enough.
Action is needed.”

On this point the TOA president admon-
ished both distribution and exhibition that
the greatest mistake they could make is to
cut advertising budgets, a point that he re-
iterated again and again. “If we don’t keep
selling it, and selling it big,” he said, “we
don’t have a chance for survival. The one
way, the only way we can increase grosses
is to increase our advertising.

“This goes,” he added, “for trade adver-

(Coiitinued on page 35)

Jerry Pickman, of
Paramount, and Mer-
vin Houser, of RKO,
above.

Dais Guests, right: Mr.
German, with David Gries-
dorf, of Odeon Theatres of
Canada, and Douglas Ewin,
British prize winning man-
ager.

Mr. Robbins, with Mr, Quig-
ley, below, is greeted by
Raymond Levy and Steve
Edwards.

Charles Hacker, Russell Down
ing, and Edgar Goth, right.

Emil Bernstecker, of Wilby-
Kincey Theatres, and Rich-
ard Pitts, of the TOA, at
the right.

AT THE JUDGING, below: Mr.
Griesdorf, with Herb Steinberg
and Sid Blumenstock of Para-
mount; and theatre manager
Montague Salmon.

M-G-M’s POLICY ON
CINEMASCOPE PICTURES
AND STEREOPHONIC
SOUND...

A Statement by Charles Ni, Reagan^
General Manager of Sales

In response to the demands of many motion picture exhibitors,
M-G-M announces that it will release its CinemaScope pictures to all
theatres capable of presenting them on a wide screen and with anamor-
phic projection.

Up to this time M-G-M CinemaScope productions have been
available solely to those theatres which had installed stereophonic equip-
ment suitable for magnetic sound tracks.

The new policy is designed to service theatres which present the
single channel track as well as those equipped for magnetic sound and
the new Perspecta sound.

Many theatres have voiced the opinion that motion picture dis-
tributing companies should furnish their CinemaScope productions to
the many thousands of theatres which are not yet prepared to expand
their sound facilities.

M-G-M has released only two CinemaScope productions. They are
^’KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE” and ^^ROSE MARIE.”
These productions will be made available to all theatres equipped with a
screen wide enough to encompass the projection via the anamorphic lens.

Other M-G-M pictures announced for CinemaScope are^'THE
STUDENT PRINCE,” ^’SEVEN B RI DES,” BRIG ADOON,”
^'ATHENA,” ^'GREEN FIRE” and ^UUPITER’S DARLING.”

In connection with this announcement it is important for exhibi-
tors to realize that all M-G-M pictures, in whatever dimension, will be
released with Perspecta sound tracks permitting exhibitors to employ
either stereophonic sound or single channel sound.

Exhibitors would be short-sighted if they did not take full advan-
tage of this opportunity for improved presentation.

The exhibition without stereophonic sound of CinemaScope or
other M-G-M pictures would eliminate an effect essential to their full
enjoyment.

We cannot urge exhibitors strongly enough to install stereophonic
devices.

To ignore the advantages of new sound techniques is a disservice
to the public and an obstruction to the great future development of
motion pictures. We are on the threshold of tremendous achievement
and an improvement in presentation techniques. The failure of exhibitors
to cooperate fully in the new advances would be to retard and discour-
age the great future which has already been revealed and is only in its
early stages of development.

It would be sad indeed if exhibitors were induced into a lethargy
and not inspired to take advantage of the wonderful opportunities pre-
sented by the inventions and achievements of great technicians working
in the Studios.

Furthermore, we believe that the theatres which are equipped with
stereophonic sound devices will have a great box-office advantage over
those theatres not so equipped, and that the movie-going public, which
has already put its stamp of approval on CinemaScope with stereophonic
sound will further demonstrate its acceptance by preferring to attend
those theatres properly equipped for the new type of presentation.

An exhibitor who does not wish to see motion pictures presented
under the best possible circumstances is not keeping faith with his public
and we sincerely hope and strongly recommend that those theatres play-
ing M-G-M pictures will install stereophonic sound devices if they have
not already done so.

Photo by the Herald

WILBUR SNAPER and WALTER READE, JR.

Product Shortage, Big
Problem of the Day,
Brings New Questions
And Some Answers

THE SHORTAGE of product, mentioned most often in recent months
in secondary if direct relation to the introduction of new screen tech-
niques, this week came into its own as a primary topic of great urgency,
d'he developments came from both the east and west coasts. They com-
prised exhibitor demands for more product — especially in May and June,
in-omises of cooperation from distribution heads, and announcements of
the formation and development of new production units by individuals
not primarily connected with the production branch of the industry. The
following were the highlights;

^ A joint plea by Theatre Owners
of America and Allied States Associa-
tion, in the form of a telegram to
Paramount, Loew’s, Warner Brothers,
Columbia and RKO Pictures, for more
product in May and June. The tele-
gram, which cited “the paucity of
product during May and June, said
the crisis “threatens the very existence
of a large segment of the market that
you and other distributors need for the
future distribution of your product.”

^ Answers from Loew’s, Columbia,
Warner Brothers and Paramount to
the effect that they were making great
and sincere efforts to put big product
in release in May and June. Loew’s
cited the release of “Executive Suite,’’
“Prisoner of W^ar,” “Flame and the
Flesh,” “Men of the Fighting Lady”
and “The Student Prince” on its May-
June schedule. Warners said it was
putting “Dial M for Murder” in re-
lease in late May and Columbia said it
will have “Indiscretion of an American
Wife” and will “push up” either “Hell
Below Zero” or “Waterfront” for May-
June. Paramount answered that it was
pushing up both “Elephant Walk and
“Secret of the Incas.”

^ Announcement by Fred J.
Schwartz, Century Theatres executive,
that he and 25 other individuals have
organized a company to finance the
production of three $1,000,000 pictures
for the first three or four years and 10
per year thereafter. The pictures will
have budgets ranging from $750,000 to
$1,000,000. Further details will be an-
nounced in July.

^ Announcement by William F.
Rodgers, former vice-president of
Loew’s, that in partnership with Sam
Dembow, Jack Skirball and Cliff Work,
he had formed a new production com-
pany to be known as Amalgamated
Productions, Inc.

^ Three plans suggested by Pat
McGee, co-chairman of the Council of
Motion Picture Organizations and
general manager of Cooper Foundation
Theatres, for the solution of the prod-
uct shortage. At an Oklahoma City
exhibitor meeting, Mr. McGee sug-
gested a credit pool of approximately
5,000 exhibitors to finance the produc-
tion of perhaps 50 films, the encourage-
ment of franchise agreements, and the
entrance into the exhibition field of
individual producers “to whet their in-
terest into making more films.” Mr.
McGee’s credit pool envisions 5,000
exhibitors putting up $1,000 each to
make a production fund of $5,000,000.

^ Announcement that producer Hal
R. Makelim this week began his cross
country tour for conferences with re-
gional units of Allied States Associa-
tion to explain his production plans
and to permit exhibitors to sign up for
the plan. This week Mr. Makelim was
in Denver, Omaha and Kansas City.
The producer has agreed to make 12
films, to be released at rate of one a
month, if 2,500 exhibitors sign up.

The original TOA-Allied plea to distrib-
utors was announced at a joint press confer-
ence in New York held by Walter Reade,
Jr., TOA president, and Wilbur Snaper,

former Allied head and now a member of
the association’s national board of directors.
The exhibitor leaders called the product
“drought” a national problem and asked for
corrective measures in terms of “an orderly,
systematic” schedule of releases without re-
gard to seasons. Good pictures are always
in season, they said.

Both leaders charged the distribution com-
panies with withholding important pictures
from May and June for release in July and
later. The current product “famine,” said
Mr. Snaper, comes just at a time when the-
atre owners have been granted some relief
from the Federal ticket tax and thus “levels
off” the tax benefits. He warned that when
there is a long lull between good pictures,
the “momentum of patronage” is lost.

The situation, as Mr. Reade saw it, was
one of making the distributors aware of the
fact that an orderly flow of top pictures
actually works to their benefit. “Eventually,
he said, “economics will make them realize
it,” adding that distribution gains nothing
when many important pictures are released
at one time to vie with one another.

The TOA head said his organization still
was exploring the product field and seeking
a way to increase production, and that the
subject would highlight the TOA board
meeting in Los Angeles June 17-19.

Another attempt to answer the product
shortage was seen in MGM’s announcement
at the beginning of this week that it was
lifting its stereophonic sound requirements
for MGM Cinemascope product.

Schary Defence Is
On Basis of Quality

by MARTIN STARR

HOLLYWOOD: The plea of Walter
Reade, Jr., president of the Theatre Owners
of America, to the producers here that they
“make more pictures” was met with .con-
flicting opinion and heated reaction by the
production and studio heads since the ap-
pearance of the Reade story in The Herald
April 17.

From Dore Schary, vice-president in
{Contained on page 18)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8, 1954

The big power-house attraction you need for
a record- a- day over the big four-day holiday
weekend... the perfect crowd-puller for all top
playing time during the late spring and early
summer! A startling story of violent love and
violent adventure! Backgrounds never before
seen on the screen— filmed by Paramount on
the breathtaking summits of the wild Andes!

■eete

FILM SHORTAGE

{Continued from page 16)

charge of production for Metro-Goldwyn-
Mayer ; to Darryl F. Zanuck, 20th Century-
Fox production head; to Herbert Yates,
president of Republic Pictures, and Steve
Broidy, president of Allied Artists Produc-
tions, the exhibitor gauntlet was picked up
with strong counter statements, mixed re-
actions and frank agreement.

It was Dore Schary who came through
with the first reaction to the Reade plea.
“Increasing the quantity of pictures to be
made on any lot,” said i)Ir. Schary, “must
not be done at the expense of that most im-
portant requirement — quality. Quality can
be made to suffer, if film making is merely
to serve the so-called demands of quantity.
In which case the studio must take a loss.
Meaning, that the exhibitor for whom the
output was increased, cannot profit by it.
He too will suffer revenue-wise, if quantity
alone is served.”

Mr. Schary explained that if some of the
major lots can’t see themselves making the
smaller budgeted pictures in quantity satis-
factory to the demands of the theatre owner,
it may be due to an economic hazard. “The
studio isn't getting its just return on such in-
vestment." He continued with this reminder ;
“The expenditure of a lot of money on a
big film — the current trend of most of the
major lots — is no guarantee that the rev-
enue returns will be big. Or, that the block-
buster budget picture is going to go out
and entertain the public. Entertainment is
the one thing we’re all selling.”

The MGM production head said that the
exhibitors’ plea to “make more pictures”
was well taken. But Mr. .Schary wanted to
remind those who are fighting for more pic-
tures to be fed their screens, that, “No mat-
ter the quantity of films turned out by a
studio, there must be these factors always
to bear in mind : the story has got to be as
right as rain. The story must be of great
star value. It must have heavyweight power
and able to hold up the number of stars cast
for the film. Above all else there must be
a good reason for us at MGM to be doing
the kind of stories we’re getting ready for

FOX BUYS OURSLER'S
"GREATEST STORY"

Twentieth Century-Fox announced
this week the purchase of "The
Greatest Story Ever Told," the late
Fulton Ousler's best-selling Biblical
work. The cumulative price may reach
$2,000,000, largest amount ever paid
for a motion picture property. The
picture, to be made in Cinema-
Scope and color by Technicolor, will
go before the cameras next year as
a personal production of Darryl F.
Zanuck. More than 3,250,000 copies
of the book have been sold in the
United States, and it has been trans-
lated into 12 different languages.

RODGERS FORMS PRODUCING
COMPANY FOR TOP" FILMS

William F. Rodgers, former sales chief
for MGM, is going into production. He an-
nounced to the trade press at Hotel Astor
in New York Tues-
day that in associa-
tion with Sam Dem-
bow. Jack Skirball
and Cliff Work he is
forming a company
to be known as
Amalgamated Pro-
ductions, Inc.

The new company
will aim at the pro-
duction of a mini-
mum of three pic-
tures a year, to be
W. F. RODGERS selected from what

Mr. Rodgers charac-
terized as "a million dollar inventory" of
story properties, most of them accumulated
by Mr. Skirball and Mr. Work and turned
over by them to the new company.

According to Mr. Rodgers the pictures
will have name stars and directors with rec-
ords of success. He said the group was not
ready as yet to announce titles or exact
production plans, and that these would de-
pend on distribution arrangements.

On this point, Mr. Rodgers was em-

phatic that every effort would be made to
keep the product on the highest level of
quality, because, he said, they will have to
get the widest possible distribution. "We
think," he said, "that there is a strong
need for more pictures. But the current
market will not support small pictures. We
have no intention of attempting to meet
any 'acute shortage' of product but we be-
lieve that there is a good field for strong
pictures, independently produced."

Referring again to the need for wide
distribution of the new company's product,
Mr. Rodgers said that none of the four in-
corporators would draw any salary but
would depend entirely on the profits of the
pictures. To this end, too, he said, he would
apply his knowledge and experience in dis-
tribution toward getting the best possible
circulation tor the product. "We want and
intend to be known as 'a very friendly' or-
ganization," he said. "We will market the
pictures on terms that every theatre can
afford to pay."

Mr. Rodgers will be president of the
company but no other officers have as yet
been named. Mr. Skirball and Mr. Work
will be in active charge of production. It
is planned to keep the overhead of the
company to an absolute minimum.

the exhibitors’ theatres,” Mr. Schary pointed
out.

To highlight what he meant by “star
value” the studio head cited “Executive
Suite.’’ Mr. Schary said, “Even big names,
of topflight star value, found themselves not
being called upon to do the usual amount
of work before the cameras. But, ‘Execu-
tive Suite’ proved to be that kind of an
unusual story. It lent itself for such kind of
big names and so many of them in one film.
We put them in, regardless of cost, because
the story had to be served.” He said the
forthcoming “Last Time I Saw Paris”
would have a similar all-star cast.

That was the story from Mr. Schary as he
held the copy of The Herald in front of
him. wherein the exhibitor head, Walter
Reade, Jr., aimed his plea at a Hollywood
that stood accused, by the theatre owners of
the nation, of allegedly slowing up on pro-
duction, and just “Waiting for something to
happen.”

Quota in Exhibitor Unit
Backs Makelim Plan

DENVER : The kickoff here this week of
the Makelim plan to make a dozen films for
the independent theatre owner was well ac-
cepted at the annual convention of Allied
Rocky Mountain Theatres, with more than
the quota signing up before the convention
came to an end.

The plan is for producer Hal R. Makelim

to make the 12 films on a reasonable budget
basis, to be financed by Mr. Makelim and
the theatres who sign up with him. The
films will sell on a flat rental basis. At the
convention here Mr. Makelim presented the
plan while his assistant, Sam Nathanson,
told of the selling plans.

According to Mr. Makelim, Allied mem-
bers will be taken care of first, then other
independent theatres. Clearances would be
made equitable in all situations. The pro-
ducer said his plan would make it possible
for small theatres to make a profit and that
if the plan worked as he hoped, many thea-
tres would get the films for practically
nothing. He estimated that a film would
gross nearly $1,000,000 in the domestic mar-
ket and another $1,000,000 in the foreign
market. Profits would be returned to ex-
hibitors as dividends.

Also addressing the convention were
Abram F. Myers, Allied general counsel,
and Neil Beezley, president of the unit, both
of whom scored the selling policies in con-
nection with CinemaScope. The convention
adjourned by naming the following new di-
rectors: Fred Anderson, Lloyd Greve, C. L.
McLaughlin, Don Monson, James Peterson,
J. K. Powell, John Roberts, W. A. Wimon,
J. Smith and Tom Smiley, Colorado; Marie
Goodhand, Robert Kehr, Dr. F. E. Rider
and Dorrance Schmidt, Nebraska; Burl
Lingle and John Wood, New Mexico; Rich-
ard Bennett and Lloyd Kerby, Wyoming.
They elect officers in January.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

e have just concluded the most successful sales drive in the

history of Universal-International.

Naturally we are very proud of our organization — all those people
in production, distribution and promotion who made this record-shattering
feat possible.

But we are especially proud of the exhibitor relationship which, more
than anything else, contributed to this great success.

We thank you, Mr. Exhibitor, for your confidence and cooperation.

And the best way we know to say “thank you” is to keep on delivering
the pictures that make big profits for all. To this we dedicate ourselves during
the coming year.

FahiiMn Buys
CuMBirui of
Futex Corp.

In a move outside the entertainment field
Stanley Warner Corp. has acquired the In-
ternational Latex Corp., it was disclosed
this week m a joint announcement by S. H.
Fabian, president of Stanley Warner, and
A. N. Spanel, board chairman of Inter-
national Latex. The company, founded in
1932, manufactures Platex products and pro-
duces girdles, infants’ wear, home hair-cut-
ters and branded foam pillows. Through
the acquisition Stanley Warner becomes a
$100,000,000 company, the announcement
said.

International Latex has had an exceptional
growth record with its sales volume increas-
ing from under $4,000,000 in 1946 to over
$30,000,000 in 1953.

Stanley Warner paid $15,000,000 in cash
for 100 per cent of the preferred and com-
mon stock of International Latex. No stock
of Stanley Warner Corp. was involved in
the deal. Stanley Warner financed this
acquisition by means of a six-year term
bank loan with a group of banks headed by
the First National Bank of Boston. The
other banks are the New York Trust Co.,
Guaranty Trust Co. of New York, Bankers
Trust Co., The First National Bank of the
City of New York and the Fidelity-Phila-
delphia Trust Co. of Philadelphia. The loan
established a $20,000,000 credit of which
$15,000,000 has been borrowed with interest
payable at the rate of 3^ per cent per
annum.

The combined resources augment the
financial strength of Stanley Warner and
will be used to facilitate the growth and ex-
pansion programs of both Stanley Warner
and International Latex, it was said.

“In January,” said Mr. Fabian, “the Stan-
ley Warner stockholders approved an amend-
ment to our charter permitting diversifica-
tion of the company’s activities into other
fields. The acquisition of International
Latex Corp. is part of a constructive, far-
reaching program of expansion in all de-
partments. On the motion picture side, the
outlook for new product is the best in years.”

Station WTRI-TV of Schenectady is al-
ready in operation and is the beginning of
an expansion in that phase of visual show-
manship television, he said.

Stanley Warner 26-Weel(

Profit Is $1,191,000

Stanley Warner Corporation and subsid-
iary companies report for the 26 weeks end-
ing February 27, 1954, a profit of $2,051,000
after deducting depreciation amounting to
$1,479,000 but before deducting provisions
for Federal income taxes and contingencies.
After deducting $785,000 for Federal income
taxes and $75,000 for contingencies the net
profit was $1,191,000. The net profit is
tlie equivalent to 50 cents per share on the

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities for the week ending
May I were:

Albany: Rose Marie (MGM), Casanova’s
Big Night (Para.), Saskatchewan
(U-I), The Conquest of Everest (UA).

Atlanta: The French Line (RKO),
Lucky Me (WB).

Boston: Knock on Wood (Para.) 2nd
week, Genevieve (U-I) 2nd week. Night
People (20th-Fox) 2nd week.

Buffalo: The French Line (RKO), Ele-
phant Walk (Para.).

Chicago: Genevieve (U-I), Pinocchio
(Disney-RKO, reissue), Heidi (UA).

Cincinnati: Lucky Me (WB).

Cleveland: Night People (20th-Fox),
Prince Valiant (20th-Fox) 2nd week.
Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd week.
From Here to Eternity (Col.) 2nd
week.

Detroit: The Conquest of Everest (UA)
and Lili (MGM) double bill. Jubilee
Trail (Rep.) plus stage show featuring
Sugar Ray Robinson, Lucky Me (WB)
2nd week. Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)
2nd week. Beat the Devil (UA) 2nd
week.

Hartford: Rose Marie (MGM) 2nd week.
The Miami Story (Col.) holdover.

Indianapolis: Casanova’s Big Night
(Para.), Best Years of Our Lives
(RKO, reissue).

Jacksonville: Julius Caesar (MGM),
The French Line (RKO).

Kansas City: French Line (RKO), Ex-
ecutive Suite (MGM).

Memphis: Executive Suite (MGM),
The Naked Jungle (Para.).

Miami: Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd
week, French Line (RKO).

Milwaukee: French Line (RKO),

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox) 3rd week.
The Naked Jungle (Para.) 2nd week.
Rhapsody (MGM) 2nd week.

Minneapolis: Julius Caesar (MGM)
holdover.

New Orleans: Julius Caesar (MGM)
2nd week, Martin Luther (de Roche-
mont ) .

Oklahoma City: Elephant Walk (Para.)
2nd week. Prince Valiant (20th-Fox),
The Little Fugitive (Burstyn), Hell
AND High Water (20th-Fox), Execu-
tive Suite (MGM) 2nd week, French
Line (RKO).

Philadelphia: Knock on Wood (Para.).

Pittsburgh: Lucky Me (WB).

Portland: Yankee Pasha (U-I), Lucky
Me (WB) 2nd week. Prince Valiant
(20th-Fox) 2nd week, Casanova’s Big
Night (Para.) 2nd week. It Should
Happen to You (Col.) 2nd week. The
Living Desert (RKO) 7th week.

Providence: Casanova’s Big Night

(Para.), Lucky Me (WB) 2nd week.
Prince Valiant (20th-Fox) 2nd week.
Rose Marie (MGM) 2nd week.

San Francisco: Executive Suite (MGM),
Knock on Wood (Para.) 3rd week. Red
Garters (Para.).

Vancouver: Saadia (MGM).

Washington: Prince Valiant (20th-
Fox) 2nd week, Rose Marie (MGM),
Pinocchio (Disney-RKO, reissue) 2nd
week. Beat the Devil (UA) 3nd week.
Knock on Wood (Para.) 2nd week.

2,367,696 shares of common stock outstand-
ing after deducting the stock held in the
treasury. Theatre admissions and miscel-
laneous income for the 26-week period
amounted to $26,781,000. The profit on sale
of properties, net, amounted to $20,000, ac-
cording to the report.

Kansas-Missouri Allied
Unit Hears Col. Cole

KANSAS CITY : The annual convention of
the Allied Independent Theatre Owners of
Kansas and Missouri heard Wednesday talks
by Colonel H. A. Cole on the tax relief
campaign, and various items of equipment
by supply representatives. Louis Patz dis-
cussed the Tushinsky lens, and Bob Smith
the Gottschalk device. The subject of the
Makelim-Borzage film plan was not pre-
sented Wednesday, because of the non-arrival
of Hal R. Makelim and John Wolfberg who
were detained in Omaha longer than ex-
pected because of the great interest there in
the plan.

Vistu Vision
Tests Set

Further demonstrations of VistaVision in
key cities throughout the country are sched-
uled by Paramount Pictures, Barney Bala-
ban, president, said in New York this week.
Specific dates will be announced shortly.

VistaVision’s third showing was held
Wednesday at the Capitol theatre in Wash-
ington. It will next be presented to south-
western exhibitors at a demonstration at the
Majestic theatre in Dallas, May 14. The
new photographic process was seen in New
at the Radio City Music Hall last week and
on the coast last month.

Participating in the Dallas showing will
be Y. Frank Freeman, vice-president in
charge of Paramount studios, and Loren L.
Ryder, head of research for the company,
under whose supervision VistaVision was
developed and perfected.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8. 1954

...front page NEWS
from St. Louis

ON THE AMAZING
BOX-OFFICE RECORD .f

LOUIS de ROCHEMONrS

Variety estimates that MAR-
TIN LUTHER’S U. S. and
Canada gross will reach
$3,500,000.” — xiaaE Magazine

EXAMINE

And remember . . . the
St. Louis run was
matched hy long, smash
box-office runs in Minneapolis,
New York, Chicago, Detroit, Birming-
ham, Boston, Washington, D. C.,
Houston, New Orleans, Denver, Phila-
delphia — and many more, big and
small, from coast to coast!

THE PICTURE THAT IS
EQUALING AND BEATING
SOME OF THE CHAMPION GROSSERS OF ALL TIME!

Now. .. important NEWS for every exhibitor:

JVLa.r1:irL

WILL DEFINITELY BE WITHDRAWN

FROM DISTRIBUTION ON

JULY 31, 1954

fOMTATT loin's de Rochemont Associates , Cresson E. Smith,
n I MV I 35 w. 45th St., N. Y. 36, N. Y. Gen'l Soles Mgr.

NO GIMMICKS!

NO N^AiiVM^E Si!VT^Ai!VR^S

NO WIDE SCREEN!

NO SUPER SOUND!

JUST A GOOD PICTURE!

BOOK IT NOW!

The money-making sensation of the
year is pre~sold to an organized audi-
ence of 62y2 million. You get your
regular audience . . . the“lost audience”
— and a new audience that’s never been
in your theatre before !

BETTER GET YOUR SHARE !

of great good will and many good
dollars — while it’s available. July 31st
is the absolute withdrawal date for
“MARTIN LUTHER’^!

OR SALES REPRESENTATIVES IN MOST EXCHANGE AREAS:

ALBANY: William Rosenow, Theatre Service Org. of BufFalo, 170 Franklin St., Buffalo 2, N. Y. ATLANTA: John W. Monghom, Monghom Enter-
prises, 193 Walton St., N.W., Atlanta, Georgia. BOSTON: Albert Swerdlove, Screen Guild Prods, of N.E., Inc., 56 Piedmont St., Boston 16, Moss. BUFFALO: William Rosenow Theatre Service Org.
of Buffalo, 170 Franklin St., Buffalo 2, N. Y. CHARLOTTE: R. F. Pinson, Astor Pictures Exch., 300 West 3rd St., Charlotte, N. C. CHICAGO: Charles lindau. Max Roth, Capitol Film Exch., 1301 S.
Wabash Ave., Chicago, Illinois. CLEVELAND: M. A. Mooney, Academy Films, 2142 Payne Ave., Cleveland, Ohio. DALLAS: Harold Schwarz, Tower Pictures, 31 0 S. Harwood St., Dallas, Texas. DENVER:
Tom Bailey, Bailey Distributing Co., 2071 Broadway, Denver, Colo. DETROIT: Albert Dezel, 2310 Cass Ave., Detroit, Mich. INDIANAPOLIS: Charles Cooper, Charles Cooper Enterprises, 441 Illinois St.,
Indianapolis, Ind. KANSAS CITY: W. H. Gaffney, Dixie Enterprises, 118 W. 18th St., Kansas City 8, Mo. LOS ANGELES: Joseph Kennedy, Astor Pictures, 1928 S. Vermont, los Angeles 7, Colif.
MEMPHIS: Clifford E. Wallace, Colonial Pictures of Tenn., 361 So. Second St., Memphis, Tenn. MILWAUKEE: William Beniamin, Lippert Pictures, 706 W. State St., Milwaukee, Wise. MINNEAPOLIS;
Frank Montzke, Bill Soper, Northwest Theatre Service, 41 1 Plymouth Bldg., Minneapolis 3, Minn. NEW YORK CITY: George Woldmon, 630 Ninth Ave., New York, N. Y. OKLAHOMA CITY: Harold
Schwarz, Tower Pictures, 310 S. Harwood St., Dallas, Texas. PHILADELPHIA: Joseph Engel, Screen Guild Prod, of Philadelphia, 1315 Vine St., Philadelphia, Pa. PITTSBURGH: F. D. Moore, Com-
plete Theatre Service, 402 Miltenberger St., Pittsburgh 19, Pa. PORTLAND: Jock J. Engermon, Zollie Volchok, Northwest Releasing Corp., 1806 N.W. Keorney St., Portland, Ore. SALT LAKE CITY:
Tom Bailey, Bailey Distributing Co., 260 E. 1st St. S., Salt lake City, Utah. SAN FRANCISCO; Fred 1. "Pat" Patterson, 250 Golden Gate Ave., Son Francisco, Colif. SEATTLE: Jock J. Engermon,
Zollie Volchok, Northwest Releasing Corp., 241 4 Second Ave., Seattle, Wash. WASHINGTON, D. C.: Myron Mills, Equity Film Exchanges, 1 001 New Jersey Ave., N.W., Washington, D. C.

COLOR TV FILM
SYSTEM CITED

RCA Executive Describes
Device at Convention of
SMPTE in Washington

IVASHINGTON: RCA late this year will
have ready a new color television film sys-
tem which will he of “major significance
to motion picture producers and exhibitors
as well as TV broadcasters,” W. Walter
Wyatts, RCA executive vice-president, de-
clared Monday. He spoke at the opening
get-together luncheon for the 75th ' semi-
annual convention of the Society of Motion
Picture and Television Engineers.

Registration at 500

It was estimated that registration for the
five-day conference at the Hotel Statler
would reach 500. Holding the spotlight
were new screen and sound techniques in-
cluding VistaVision and Perspecta Sound,
in addition to CinemaScope. Loren L.
Ryder, head of research at the Paramount
Studio, was slated to explain VistaVision,
while Earl I. Sponahle, 20th Century-Eox
research head, was scheduled to address the
gathering on CinemaScope.

Mr. Watts described the new “3-V” (3-
Vidicon) system as “providing a means for
high-quality television reproduction” and
said it will contribute toward the establish-
ment of an important outlet for color film
productions. He declared that exhibitors
would find “an unbeatable form of exploita-
tion” in using the system to bring color
trailers in the home.

The broadcaster will also find benefit from
the new system, Mr. Watts went on, since
it will make available “what we think is
the best ancj most efficient method of han-
dling film subjects which wdll constitute a
very substantial part of color program
schedules.”

The RCA vice-president substituted for
Spyros Skouras, the scheduled luncheon
speaker, who had been called to Europe.
Mr. Watts stated that the use of the new
system required only the modification of
the standard 16mm television film projector
already in use in television stations, and
didn’t require the purchase of special color
projectors.

Sees Color TV Speed

Mr Watts estimated that by the end of
this year more than 140 cities will be inter-
connected for color television transmission,
with roughly 125 stations in those cities
equipped with color terminal apparatus.
Based on this estimate, he predicted that
by the end of the year color television pro-
grams will he available to nearly 75 per
cent of the homes in the country.

The Monday afternoon technical session
opened with an early vintage film, as will
all other sessions during this commemora-

tive 75th meeting. Following this, members
heard papers on the historical background
of the 35mm professional camera; Thomas
Alva Edison’s early motion picture experi-
ments, and the effective use of color slides
in technical lectures.

The evening session was devoted to black
and white cinematography, with papers on
the history of professional black and white
motion pictures and special photographic
effects that can be obtained with black and
white films.

The convention centered around new
techniques Tuesday. The Wednesday through
Friday schedule included various motion
picture and television topics.

Starr Sees
TV Effect as
Temporary

LITTLE ROCK: Television’s adverse effect
on the motion picture business is only tem-
porary, the board chairman of Theatre Own-
ers of America said here this week. “There’s
no basic conflict between TV and movies,”
said Alfred Starr at the convention of the
Independent Theatre Owners of Arkansas.

Television may hurt at first, Mr. Stan-
said, “but when a family gets its TV set paid
for, then they can spend a couple dollars a
week going to the movies — and they will.”

Mr. Starr’s optimism, however, was not
shared by all of the 350 Arkansas theatre
owners who gathered here for the 35th an-
nual convention. TV has become an impor-
tant factor in Arkansas only in the past year,
and most theatre owners seemed ready to
blame the new medium for their declining
receipts.

Speaking Wednesday Pat McGee, co-
chairman of the Council of Motion Picture
Organizations, urged exhibitors to maintain
present admission price levels. “If all the
tax saving should be passed on to the public,
then the Treasury was right in saying we
didn’t need relief.” He also asked unstinted
financial support for COMPO which, he
said, can do the job of reeducating the pub-
lic into the movie-going habit.

The organization called on distributors to
formulate plans for a weekly national tele-
vision show to promote their up and coming
product.

K. K. King, of Searcy, was re-elected
president for his second term. Jim Carbery
of Little Rock, was re-elected for his third
term as secretary-treasurer. Six vice-presi-
dents were elected to cover the six Con-
gressional districts in Arkansas. A board of
directors was also elected.

Mfearer *s Big
Bouse Opeas
Bespite Snoay

DENVER: The new $1,000,000 deluxe,
1,247-seat first run Centre, only first run to
be built here in 20 years, opened here last
week, and a heavy wet snow failed to put a
damper on spectators, hundreds of which
stood for three hours to see the large Holly-
wood contingent arrive. Bleachers had
been built for a four-hour show but this had
to he called off, since the bleacher seats were
occupied with five inches of snow.

Following short talks by Charles P.
Skouras, president of National Theatres;
Frank H. Ricketson, president of Fox Inter-
Mountain Theatres; Mayor Quigg Newton,
and Charles Brackett, president of the Acad-
emy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
the stars were presented. Ethel Merman
(Mrs. Robert Six of Denver) was mistress
of ceremonies. “River of No Return’’ was
the opening film.

The house is on a schedule of 60 cents to
$1, against the usual first run prices here of
50 to 85 cents. The house will specialize in
CinemaScope productions, but is so equipped
that it can handle any type film. There is a
CinemaScope screen 24x60 feet in the 81x
162-foot stadium-type auditorium, in which
greens and ivories predominate, trimmed in
gold and silver leaf. The loge-type seats are
wider than usual.

The booth is bqilt for four projection ma-
chines, and provision has been made to in-
stall Ediphor large screen theatre television
as soon as available. The marquee is the
largest between Chicago and the west coast,
using 80 killowatts of power, and is 60 feet
wider than usual.

Here from the studios were Walter Abel,
Charles Brackett, Charles Coburn, Steve
Cochran, Dan Dailey, Barbara Darrow,
Marjorie Dean, Joanne Gilbert, Gloria Gray,
Joan Haig, Ethel Merman, Rita Moreno,
Mary Murphy, Mary Pickford, Tex Ritter,
Dale Robertson, Buddy Rogers, Tony Ro-
mano, Alice Thomas, Forrest Tucker, Rob-
ert Wagner and Patricia Wilcox.

Eight Lippert Pictures
Slated for May-June

Eight Lippert pictures for May and June
have been announced by Arthur Greenblatt,
general sales manager. May releases are
“The Cowboy,” in Eastman color; Alex
Nlcol and Hillary Brooke in “Heat Wave”;
Phyllis Kirk in “River Beat”; “Monster
from the Ocean Floor,” science-fiction
feature. Set for June are Dane Clark in
“Paid to Kill”; William Lundigan in “Ter-
ror Ship”; Glenn Langan and Adele Jergens
in “The Big Chase”; “The Siege,” historical
spectacle. The features will go out at the
rate of one per week during the two months,
finishing present Lippert product and pav-
ing way for distribution under the, new
Screen Art label starting in July.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

MGM LIFTS “MFST’' ON
4-TICACK CINEMASCOPE

Shifts Policy *'in Response
to Demand'* of Theatres,
But Urges Stereo Use

MGM, whose CinemaScope requirements
anent four-track, magnetic stereophonic
sound heretofore have been identical with
those of 20th Century-Fox, this week an-
nounced that henceforth it will release its
CinemaScope product to theatres equipped
with only single track optical sound.

The company thus removes the
stipulation which has been re-
sponsible for the major portion
of exhibitor objection to Cinema-
Scope. Remaining requirements
for MGM CinemaScope pictures
are the wide screen and anamor-
phic lenses, without which, of
course, it is practically impossible
to show a CinemaScope film.

The new sound policy was announced by
Charles M. Reagan, Loew’s vice-president
in charge of distribution, who in an ad in
this issue of The Herald, explained that
MGM changed its policy “in response to
demands of many motion picture exhibitors.”

“The new policy,” he continued, “is de-
signed to service theatres which present the
single channel track as well as those
equipped for magnetic sound and the new
Perspecta sound.” “Knights of the Round
Table” and “Rose Marie,” the only two
MGM CinemaScope releases thus far, Mr.
Reagan said, will be made available to all

theatres equipped “with a screen wide
enough to encompass the projection via
anamorphic lenses.”

Concurrent with the change in policy, Mr.
Reagan urged exhibitors to equip for stereo-
phonic sound, which he called “an oppor-
tunity for improved presentation.”

“We cannot urge exhibitors strongly
enough,” he went on, “to install stereo-
phonic devices. To ignore the advantages
of the new sound techniques is a disservice
to the public and an obstruction to the great
future development of motion pictures.

“Furthermore, we believe that the thea-
tres which are equipped with stereophonic
sound devices will have a great box office
advantage over those theatres not so
equipped, and that the move-going public,
which has already put its stamp of approval
on CinemaScope with stereophonic sound
will further demonstrate its acceptance by
preferring to attend those theatres properly
equipped for the new type of presentation.”

Mr. Reagan emphasized that all MGM
pictures, in whatever dimension, will be
released with Perspecta sound tracks, per-
mitting exhibitors to employ either stereo-
phonic sound or single channel sound. Per-
specta is the optical directional sound sys-
tem adopted by Loew’s, Paramount and to
an undefined degree by Warner Brothers.

The MGM policy announcement was
warmly greeted by Walter Reade, Jr., presi-
dent of Theatre Owners of America, and
by spokesmen for Allied States Association,
who pointed out that from the start Allied
had been against companies’ making it man-

datory to employ stereophonic sound with
CinemaScope.

There was, however, one strong voice
raised on the exhibition side in favor of
stereophonic sound. This was Harry Brandt,
president of the Independent Theatre Own-
ers Association of New York, who com-
mented, “Regardless of what MGM does,
stereophonic sound is here to stay.” Mr.
Brandt held that competitive conditions will
necessitate stereophonic sound installations
because “anything less than the best is go-
ing to suffer in comparison.” It’s just a
question of time, he added, before stereo-
phonic equipment becomes standard equip-
ment.

Mr. Reade Is “Gratified”

With Product Availability

Mr. Reade, in a congratulatory message
to MGM’s Mr. Reagan, said “it was grati-
fying to note in today’s trade press that
the fine product of your company now is
available to the maximum number of thea-
tres possible. This decision, following nu-
merous and strong requests by our organ-
ization, is appreciated.”

Meanwhile, in Washington, officials of
the Department of Justice refused to com-
ment on reports that they had warned
Loew’s and 20th-Fox to discontinue stereo-
phonic sound policies in connection with
their CinemaScope releases.

The officials, however, confirmed the fact
that they had received many exhibitor com-
plaints on the matter and had been investi-
gating the entire situation.

WEIGH CINEMASCOPE A T FOX FORUM

RESULTS, questions and problems concerning virtually every
aspect of CinemaScope were scheduled for full discussion in
New York Thursday at a unique, day-long meeting of approxi-
mately 1,000 exhibitors, called by 20th Century-Fox.

Invitations to the meeting, described by Spyros Skouras, pres-
ident, as "a free and unprejudiced round table," were sent out
by the company last week to exhibitor leaders throughout the
United States and Canada.

Said Mr. Skouras in his invitations: "We feel confident the
discussion will be of benefit to all exhibitors operating theatres
of every size and type, including drive-ins. Our sole purpose in
having this face-to-face discussion is to serve the interests of
our customers, the American public and the industry."

Indications at midweek were that there would be a huge
turnout tor the affair, with particularly large delegations repre-
senting Theatre Owners of America, Allied States Association
and the Independent Theatre Owners Association of New York.
Although none of the exhibition side was about to predict what
— if any — revelations on 20th-Fox CinemaScope policy might
be forthcoming, many pointed out that announcement of the
affair coincided with the announcement from MGM that it had
relaxed its stereophonic requirements for its CinemaScope prod-

uct. It was generally agreed the subject of stereophony would
dominate the proceedings.

Mr. Skouras will be joined at the meeting by A1 Lichtman,
director of distribution, as well as other company executives,
including W. C. Michel, executive vice-president; Charles
Einfeld, vice-president; Otto Koegel, general counsel; Donald
Henderson, treasurer; W. C. Gehring, executive assistant gen-
eral sales manager; Earl Sponable, research director, and Her-
bert Bragg, Mr. Sponable's assistant.

The company also called in its division and branch managers
from its 38 domestic and Canadian exchanges for the meeting.
Division sales managers attending were to be Herman Webber,
western division, and assistant division head Bryan D. Stoner;
Harry Ballance, southern and assistant division manager Paul S.
Wilson; Martin Moskowitz, Empire State; T. O. McCleaster, cen-
tral; M. A. Levy, midwest, and Peter Myers, the Canadian divi-
sion manager.

At midweek it was understood complete understanding
between exhibition and 20th Century-Fox as to the future of
CinemaScope was the goal of the meeting, and the presence
of spokesmen for every facet of exhibition was counted upon
to help resolve a great many issues.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

U-/'s first Cinemascope will be "Black Shield of Falworfh," with Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh,

Rock Hudson, Otto Kruger in "Magnificent
Obsession."

On safari in "Tanganyika."

THERE'S A
GLEAM IN

ALERT to exhibitor requirements for all
types of pictures, for every fype of theafre
and all fypes of screens, Universal-Interna-
tional has set eight films for release from
June through September, Charles J. Feld-
man, vice-president and general sales man-
ager, has announced. A ninth release In the
four-month period will be the national re-
release of "The Egg and I," fhe biggest
domestic grossing film fo dafe' In the his-
tory of Universal Picfures Company.

All releases are designed to produce one
type of result — top box office returns. The
period also will mark the release of the
company's first CinemaScope production,
"The Black Shield of Falworth," and the
new production based on the Lloyd C.
Douglas novel, "Magnificent Obsession."
The latter film. In color by Technicolor,
starring Jane Wyman, Rock Hudson and
Barbara Rush, Is currently receiving the
same advance promotion buildup as the
successful "The Glenn Miller Story."

Each of the nine pictures during the
four-month period Is to be receive a spe-
cially adapted promotional campaign de-
signed to take advantage of fhe season of

BOX OFFICE
THE U-l EYE

the year and to provide the greatest pos-
sible Impact on the local level where the
public makes Its final entertainment selec-
tions. Use of television and national maga-
zine advertising will be stepped up.

A full scale series of meetings In New
York of the company's field and home
office publlcify and exploltaflon staff will be
held May 10-12 to map promotional plans
on the pictures. Charles Simonelll, eastern
advertising and publicity department man-
ager, will preside. David A. LIpton, vice-
president, was due In New York from the
coast this week to participate. The meet-
ings are scheduled to be addressed by Mr.
Feldman and other executives.

Detailing the month-to-month releasing
plans, Mr. Feldman disclosed that the June
pictures will be "Drums Across the River,"
a western In color by Technicolor, starring
Audie Murphy and Lisa Gaye, and "Black
Horse Canyon," a second action film in
color by Technicolor, starring Joe McCrea.

"The Egg and I" is set for national re-
release In July following several ferritorial
saturation openings In late May.

"Johnny Dark," In color by Technicolor,

Discussing the summer product at a home office sales meeting are:
Phil Gerard, Clark Ramsay, Charles Simonelli, Ray Moon and Charles
J. Feldman.

Also at the meeting: front row. Bob Gillham, Henry A. Linet, Jefferson
Livingston; back row, Henry H. Martin, 2d, J, A. McCarthy, James
J. Jordan.

B B

H B ra ■

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Before the race in ''Johnny Dark."

"Drums Jlcross the River."

Piper Laurie, David Brian in "Dawn at
Socorro."

starring Tony Curtis, Piper Laurie and Don
Taylor, will be released in July.

"Tanganyika," an adventure drama In
color by Technicolor, starring Van Heflin,
Ruth Roman and Howard Duff, with a back-
ground of the African veldt, is the third
July release.

Highlighting the August releases will be
"Magnificent Obsession." "Francis Joins
the Wacs," starring Donald O'Connor, will
be the second August release.

"The Black Shield of Falworth," In
CinemaScope and color, starring Tony
Curtis, Janet Leigh, David Farrar, and
Barbara Rush, heads the September re-
leases. "Dawn at Socorro," in color by
Technicolor, starring Rory Calhoun ana
Piper Laurie, is the second picture set for
September.

Republic 1954-55 Slate
To Rival That of 1953

HOLLYWOOD : Republic is currently pre-
paring the way for a program of features
for 1954-55 comparable to last year’s $15,-
000,000 program, it was disclosed this week
by Herbert J. Yates, president. Among the
new season’s product are “Atomic Kid,’’
starring Mickey Rooney; “Brother Vann,’’
Trucolor, directed by Joseph Kane; Homer
Croy’s “Jesus Was My Neighbor’’; “Al-
amo,” which Frank Lloyd will direct;
“Rebel Island,” produced by Edward Lud-
wig; “Timber Jack,” with Mr. Kane direct-
ing; “Peg Leg Admiral,” by producer-direc-
tor John A. Auer, and two properties
directed by William A. Seiter.

Chesapeake
Trust Suit
dismissed

New York Federal District Court Judge
Augustus N. Hand Monday dismissed the
$15,000,000 anti-trust suit of Chesapeake
Industries against Loew’s and RKO Thea-
tres. The plaintiffs announced immediately
they would appeal.

Justice Hand, sitting as jurist, ruled that
the release agreement between Chesapeake
Industries and United Artists of December,
1953, applied to all defendants and alleged
co-conspirators. Named as co-conspirators
were the major film firms.

The releasing agreement referred to by
the court was between Chesapeake Indus-
tries and U.A., under which Chesapeake re-
leased U.A. from any claims arising from
the purchase of Eagle Lion Classics assets
by U.A. in 1951. It was held as a matter
of law, that the release of U.A., named as
a co-conspirator in the present trial, released
all others.

The trial, which lasted about two-and-a-
half hours, capped a long period of pre-trial
negotiations and conferences. The suit,
which was filed by Chesapeake Industries
as the owner of the now-dissolved ELC,
charged that ELC had been denied access
to the New York market because of an
alleged split by Loew’s and RKO theatres
of film product.

Editor in Brazil Paper

The “Jornal Do Brasil,” leading Rio de
Janeiro newspaper, in its 15th anniversary
edition included an article by Martin Quig-
ley, Jr., editor of The Herald. The article,
written during Mr. Quigley’s visit to the
recent Brazilian Eilm Festival, was titled
“Aspects of the Motion Picture in the
United States.”

Roxy Sets Dividend

Roxy Theatre, Inc., a subsidiary of Na-
tional Theatres, Inc., has declared a divi-
dend of 37 cents per share of outstanding
preferred stock, payable June 1, 1954, to
stockholders of record May 17, 1954.

iV(f» Quota Set
Far British
TV Shows

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : The British Government has
decided against a quota of British material
in the programmes of the forthcoming Inde-
pendent Television Authority, Earl De La
Warr, Postmaster-General, told the Associa-
tion of Specialized Film Producers here
last week at a luncheon following the annual
general meeting.

The official said the Government was
looking to documentary producers in par-
ticular for assistance in the new pro-
grammes. He said, too, that he appreciated
the peril of what he described as “wholesale
dumping of American programmes on the
new channel” but he felt it would be a great
mistake to attempt .to solve the problem by
imposing on the new Authority the shackles
of a system devised for an entirely different
medium. '

He added that should such wholesale
dumping come to pass, the Government
would be quite prepared at a later stage to
consider separate legislation.

The announced results of the election of
officers of the Association of Cinematograph
and Allied Technicians is heartening news
to the film business at large. Over the last
few years the union’s general council has
had a predominently Red majority with — as
most claim — a disastrous impact on the in-
dustry’s affairs. As a result of an anti-Red
campaign among ACT members, 12 candi-
dates were nominated and duly elected — as
people who “can be relied upon to put pic-
tures before politics.”

The change in the union’s political com-
plexion is expected to lead to a different ap-
proach to problems such as the current lab-
oratories dispute. A scheduled conference
between the two groups, it now is hoped, will
bring about an early reference to arbitration.

MGM announces that Perspecta sound
will be demonstrated for the first time here
May 12, at the company’s Leicester Square
Empire theatre. On the evening of that day,
“Knights of the Round Table” will open at
the Empire.

Warners’ “The Command” will open
shortly at 19 key A.B.C. situations with
single optical tracks. The circuit’s policy
continues that stereophonic sound will not
be installed in its theatres although authori-
tative spokesmen agree that the policy is
always under examination. At the 19 thea-
tres in question, “The Command” will be
retained for as long as the picture stands up
at the box office.

At the just concluded three-day meeting
in Paris of the International Union of Cine-
matograph Exhibitors, a resolution was
adopted fixing a standard screen ratio of 1 :8
to 1. It was agreed also that exhibitors in
all member countries should insist on single
optical tracks being made available to them.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

HoUyivood Editor

LAST week Life Magazine added its bulky
weight to the growing lineup of pai)ers pur-
suing a poiicy violative of the long-standing
agreement between the motion picture in-
dustry and the lay press concerning the
reviewing of pictures.

The long-standing agreement was re-
stated a week ago, together with the cir-
cumstances of its origin and the underlying
reasons for its ohservance, by Editor Martin
Quigley, Jr., of The Herald.

Reviewed “Caine Mutiny”

In an Open Violation

Life reviewed “The Caine Mutiny” in its
May 3 issue in open and complete violation
of the agreement.

“The Caine Mutiny” is scheduled to open
first and exclusively at the Capitol theatre
in New York City late in June. A few
similar key-city runs are contemplated for
July and August. It is scheduled to be
screened for the trade press late this month.
General release date is yet to he set.

In the concluding paragraph of his edi-
torial on the subject in last week's edition
of this publication Mr. Quigley summed up
in two simple sentences the whole net of the
long-standing agreement violated by Life in
reviewing “The Caine Mutiny.” The editor
of The Herald wrote, “Let the exhibitor
be served by trade press reviews as early
as pictures are ready for selling. Let pic-
tures be reviewed for the public when the
public can pay to see them, and not before.”

Life’s violation is the most damaging of
the three that have focused attention on the
agreement in recent weeks. It is the most
damaging of the three because ( 1 ) it
reached the most people, (2) it was the most
derogatory, and (3) it ran counter to the
informed and highly beneficial report cur-
rent in professional circles here, which have
been warming chilled ambitions on the
brightly shining local word-of-mouth to the
effect that “The Caine Mutiny” is destined
to out-gross (and possibly out-Oscar) the
same studio’s “From Here to Eternity.”
Life’s rule-breaking critic threw cold water
on the hottest constructive rumor the town’s
had going for it in years.

Large Circulation of
Magazine Is Cited

In a paid advertisement in The New
Yorker of April 17 (and possibly else-
where) Life Magazine listed itself atop
what it called “The ten leading U. S. maga-
zines’’ as having a circulation of 5,472,580.
In the saine advertisement it listed itself as
first among the top four magazines, in
point of “Single-issue magazine audi-
ences,” as having a total reader audience of
26,450,000. In or out of paid-advertising
space, that is tantamount to a claimed read-

ership of approximately one of each half-
dozen persons in these United States (unless
Life’s totals include, as is not claimed for
them, foreign circulation as well as do-
mestic).

To that hypothetical one-person-out-of-
every-six. Life’s critic said of “The Caine
Mutiny,” at the beginning of a layout con-
sisting of eight stills from the film, “Stick-
ing closely to the book, the film is slowed
by a dull love story and needless scenes
ashore. . . . But in a terrifying typhoon
sequence and the famous court martial cli-
max ‘The Caine Mutiny’ becomes the excit-
ing and highly moral tale that (the author)
intended it to be.”

That’s not the way Hollywood’s been
hearing it. “Dull love story” is about as
deadly a condemnation of a property, in
Hollywood thinking, as could be committed
in three plain words. And “highly moral
tale” is as far from what is generally re-
garded as stimulating sales copy as a critic
could get. But that’s the impression an
exclusive L//e-reader ( if such there be) is
left to dwell under until the day, months off
yet, when the picture comes within ticket-
buying reach.

Grapevine Reports Film
One of the Greatest

On the contrary, Hollywood’s been hear-
ing, from people who worked on or in the
production of the picture, from music people
doing the scoring, from projectionists, lab-
oratory workers, from all kinds and varie-
ties of people whose occupational obligations
have accounted for their viewing of the
finished print — even from people who pro-
fess to dislike the 3,000,000-copy-selling
book itself — that this is the greatest picture
of its kind (maybe of any kind) produced
in modern times.

Life’s critic, if he lives in Hollywood, had
to know all this. It’s the talk of the town.
Another line in the Quigley editorial reads,
“It is easier for a columnist to be ‘smart’
when condemning than when approving.”
Life’s critic knew that fact overwhelmingly
well.

Four pictures were started, and three
others were finished, during the week.

MGM started “Deep in My Heart,” in
Cinemascope and Technicolor, with Roger
Edens producing and Stanley Donen direct-
ing. Jose Ferrer, Donna Reed, Merle
Oberon, Helen Traubel, Douglas Fowley,
Paul Stewart and others are starred.

Warner Brothers launched “Dragnet,”
from the radio and television programs of
the same name, with Jack Webb, Ben Alex-
anfler, Ann Robinson and others in the cast.
Stanley Meyer is the producer, and Jack
Webb is doing his own direction. It’s in
WarnerColor.

Joseph Kaufman, independent, began

shooting “Long John Silver” in Australia,
with Byron Haskin directing. Robert
Newton, Connie Gilchrist, Lloyd Berrell
and Grant Taylor are principal players.
It’s in color by Technicolor.

Columbia’s Sam Katzman went to work
on “Cannibal Attack,” with Johnny Weis-
muller and Judy Walsh, with Lee Sholem
directing.

To Use MGM Studio tor
Making of "Oklahoma"

HOLLYWOOD : MGM studio facilities
will be used in the filming of “Oklahoma,”
to be produced in the new Todd- AO process.
Producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr., director
Fred Zinnemann, and the Todd-AO and
Rodgers and Hammerstein staffs will make
their headquarters at the studio.

IIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIII

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (4)

COLUMBIA

Cannibal Attack

independent

Long'John Silver

( CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

COMPLETED (3)

A.A.

Wanted by the F.B.l.

SHOOTING (25)

A.A.

Adventures of Haiji
Baba (CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

COLUMBIA

Pftft

Violent Men (Techni-
color)

Rough Company
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Long Gray Line
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Joseph and His Brethren
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

Three for the Show
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

This Is My Love
(Dowling; Eastman
color)

LIPPERT

Race for Life (Hammer)

MGM

Green Fire (Eastman
color)

Rogue Cop
Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

MGM

Deep in My Heart

WARNER

Dragnet (WarnerColor)

INDEPENDENT

Bandit (Shaftel; Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)
Case File F.B.l. (Eclipse)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
( VistaVision; Techni-
color)

RKO

Where the Wind Dies
(Bogeaus; Super-
Scope; Technicolor)
20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

Untamed (Cinema-
Scope)

Egyptian (CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

U.A.

Suddenly (Bassler)

Vera Cruz (Hecht-Lan-
caster; SuperScope;
Technicolor)

U-1

Shadow Valley (Techni-
color)

So This Is Paris (Techni-
color)

WARNER

Battle Cry (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)
Helen of Troy (Cinema-
Scope: WarnerColor)
Land of the Pharaohs
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

lllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllll

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

Officers ef
MPA A Are
Reelected

The board of directors of the Motion Pic-
ture Association of America at its first
quarterly meeting in New York last week
unanimously reelected all incumbent officers.
At the same time, since it was the first
board meeting since the death of Will H.
Hays, the board passed a resolution record-
ing its “deep sense of appreciation for the
invaluable service rendered by General Hays
and its deep sense of loss that his wise
counsel will be denied us.”

Those reelected are Eric Johnston, president ;
Joseph I. Breen, Ralph Hetzel, Kenneth Clark
and G. Griffith Johnson, vice-presidents ; Sid-
ney Schreiber, secretary ; F. W. DuVall, treas-
urer ; William H. Roberts, assistant secretary ;
Stanley R. Weber, assistant treasurer, and
James S. Howie, assistant secretary-treasurer.

At the annual meeting of the members of the
association which preceded the board meeting,
all of the present directors were elected. These
are ;

Mr. Johnston; Barney Balaban, and Austin
Keough, Paramount Pictures ; Steve Broidy
and Edward Morey, Allied Artists ; Jack Cohn
and Abe Schneider, Columbia ; Cecil B. deMille,
director-producer; James R. Grainger and Wil-
liam H. Clark, RKO Radio ; Earle W. Ham-
mons, Educational Films.

Also, Milton R. Rackmil and John J. O’Con-
nor, Universal ; Hal E. Roach, Hal Roach
Studios; Herman Robbins, National Screen
Service; Nicholas M. Schenck and Joseph R.
Vogel, Loew’s ; Spyros P. Skouras and W. C.
Michel, 20th Century-Fox ; C. B. Stratton,
Cosmopolitan Corporation; Paul Terry, Terry-
toons ; Albert Warner and Sam Schneider,
Warner Bros. ; Herbert J. Yates and Theodore
R. Black, Republic.

Para, ta Sell
Stack in F. P.
Canadian

Paramount International Films, Inc.
wholly owned subsidiary of Paramount
Pictures Corp., has announced an under-
writing agreement with a syndicate of
Canadian bankers headed by Wood, Gundy
& Co., Ltd., Greenshields and Co., Inc., and
W. C. Pitfield and Co., Ltd., for the sale in
Canada of 285,000 common shares of Fa-
mous Players Canadian Corp., Ltd., by
Paramount International Films, Inc. The
stock will be offered at $23.50 per share.

Barney Balaban, Paramount Pictures
president, in commenting on the sale stated :
“Famous Players is a Canadian business
serving the people of Canada. We believe
it to be in the best interests of all con-
cerned that a larger percentage of the stock
of Famous Players be held by resident
Canadians. We plan to retain the proceeds
of the sale as working capital.”

Mr. Balaban said that after this sale
Paramount International would still own
about 800,000 shares, or approximately 51
per cent of the outstanding shares.

B ax Office Chawnpians
Far April. 1034

The Box Office Champions are selected on the basis of the gross revenue at key city
theatres throughout the country.

CREATURE FROM THE
BLACK LAGOON

(Universal)

(3-D)

Produced by William Alland. Directed
by Jack Arnold. Written by Harry Essex
and Arthur Ross. Cast: Richard Carlson,
Julia Adams, Richard Denning, Antonio
Moreno, Nestor Paiva, Whit Bissell, Ben
Chapman, Henry Escalante, Bernie Gozier,
Sydney Mason, Julio Lopez, Rodd Redwing.

THE GLENN MILLER STORY

(Universal)

Produced by Aaron Rosenberg. Directed
by Anthony Mann. Written by Valentine
Davies and Oscar Brodney. Technicolor.
Cast; James Stewart, June Allyson, Charles
Drake, George Tobias, Henry Morgan,
Frances Langford, Louis Armstrong, Gene
Krupa, Ben Pollack, Kathleen Lockhart, Bar-
ton MacLane, Sig Ruman, Archie Savage
Dangers, The Modernaires, Marion Ross,
Irving Bacon fC/iaAMpton for the third
month.)

THE NAKED JUNGLE

(Paramount)

Produced by George Pal. Directed by
Byron Haskin. Written by Philip Yordan and
Ranald MacDougall (from a story by Carl
Stephenson). Technicolor. Cast: Eleanor
Parker, Charlton Heston, Abraham Sofaer,

William Conrad, Romo Vincent, Douglas
Fowley, John Dierkes, Leonard Strong.

PRINCE VALIANT
(Twentieth Century-Fox)
(CinemaScope)

Produced by Robert L. Jacks. Directed
by Henry Hathaway. Written by Dudley
Nichols. Technicolor. Cast: James Mason,
Janet Leigh, Robert Wagner, Debra Paget,
Sterling Hayden, Victor McLaglen, Donald
Crisp, Brian Aherne, Barry Jones, Mary
Philips, Howard Wendell, Tom Conway.

RHAPSODY

( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

Produced by Lawrence Weingarten. Di-
rected by Charles Vidor. Written by Fay
and Michael Kanin. Technicolor. Cast:
Elizabeth Taylor, Vittorio Gassman, John
Ericson, Louis Calhern, Michael Chekhov,
Barbara Bates, Richard Hageman, Richard
Lupino, Celia Lovsky, Stuart Whitman.

ROSE MARIE

( Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)

(CinemaScope)

Produced and directed by Mervyn LeRoy.
Written by Ronald Millar and George
Froeschel (based on operetta by Rudolf
FrimI and Herbert Stothart). Eastman Color.
Cast: Ann Blyth, Howard Keel, Fernando
Lamas, Bert Lahr, Marjorie Main, Joan
Taylor, Ray Colins, Chief Yowlachie.

To Withdraw "Luther"

From Release July 3 1

Louis de Rochemont’s production, “Mar-
tin Luther,” will be withdrawn from dis-
tribution in the U. S. July 31, 1954, it has
been announced by F. Borden Mace, presi-
dent of Louis de Rochemont Associates, the
producers and distributor of the film. The
film, which has already played 2,500 situa-
tions in its roadshow release, is expected to
reach a total of almost 3,300 dates by the
termination date, it was stated. On the basis
of billings to date, Mr. Mace said, the pic-
ture’s U. S. and Canadian gross is expected
to reach $3,500,000.

"Line" Opens May 14 in
New York Minus Seal

Following the deletion of a part of Jane
Russell’s dance number in “The French
Line,” the censor boards of New York,
Pennsylvania, Maryland and Detroit have
approved the RKO Radio Pictures release

for exliibition. This was learned this week
on the heels of RKO’s announcement that
the picture, which still does not have a Pro-
duction Code seal, will open at the Criterion
theatre in New York May 14 in its initial
Broadway showing here. The film still is
banned in Ohio and Boston. The Motion
Picture Association of America has imposed
a $25,000 fine on RKO Radio Pictures for
exhibiting the film minus a code seal, a fine
against which RKO has yet to make an ap-
peal or pay.

Club Cites Walter Brown

BOSTON : Wa\ttr A. Brown, chief barker
of the Variety Club of New England, has
been nametl the winner of this year’s “Great
Heart Award,” an annual presentation to a
personality who “has done the greatest
amount of good for the greatest number of
people.” The award will be presented
at a dinner on the evening of May 27. Mr.
Brown is president of the Boston Garden.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8. 1954

J. R. PopPELE, former vice-president in
charge of engineering for the Mutual
Broadcasting System, has been appointed
head of the Government’s overseas radio-
television program.

Gordon E. Youngman, industry attorney,
and A. Eredric Leopold have announced
the formation of a partnership for the
general practice of law under the name of
Youngman and Leopold with headquar-
ters in Los Angeles.

Mrs. Leonard H. Goldenson, wife of the
president of American Broadcasting-
Paramount Theatres, and national presi-
dent of United Cerebral Palsy, last Fri-
day visited the White House to present
Mrs. Dwight D. Eisenhower the three
. United Cerebral Palsy 1954 poster chil-
dren.

COMPO rail
Plan Pushed

Council of Motion Picture Organizations
plans were moving forward this week on
its nation-wide audience poll to select the
best picture of the month and the best pic-
ture of the year. A task force of five theatre
advertising leaders was to be picked to make
plans and a first meeting to be held in June.

The governing committee of COMPO
last week also announced as a part of a
greatly expanded program enlarged press
activities and also a study of how the in-
dustry can mobilize its forces to lead the
fight against juvenile delinquency. A deci-
sion also was reached to seek a meeting
with the chief technical experts of the
major companies with a view to getting
their advice on efforts to end technological
“confusion” in the industry.

The governing committee of COMPO is
comprised of Wilbur Snaper, Sam Pinanski
and A1 Lichtman. Declaring the industry’s
chief problem today is the enlargement of
its national audience, the committee voted to
direct Sindlinger and Co. to conduct re-
search to obtain information on this.

Giving high praise to the series of adver-
tisements now being published by COMPO
in “Editor and Publisher,” the committee
voted continuance. In further expanding
press relations, the committee also approved
a plan for press units in major cities.

The committee decided to continue
COMPO’s research program. Pleased with
the friendships established for the industry
among members of Congress and govern-
ment officials as a result of the tax cam-
paign, the committee instructed Mr. Coyne
to keep close touch with Washington. In
behalf of National Screen Service Herman

Gottfried Reinhardt, producer-director,
has obtained his release from MGM after
an association of 21 years.

J. Leblanc, operator of the Capitol theatre,
Shediac, New Brunswick, heads the 1954
edition of the annual lobster carnival.

Julian Berman has been appointed MGM
sales manager in Continental Europe, it
was announced by David Lewis, manag-
ing director in the territory for Loew’s
International.

Norman Rydge, head of Greater Union
Theatres, Australia, and Mrs. Rydge
were scheduled to arrive in New York
Saturday, May 8. He will be the honor
guest of the Motion Picture Export Asso-
ciation directors at a luncheon in New
York May 11.

Robbins, COMPO treasurer, offered to
make a trailer for any exhibitor who might
wish to show his appreciation to his Con-
gressman for tax reduction support.

It was voted to invite the Society of
Motion Picture and Television Engineers
to become COMPO members, and Mr.
Coyne was directed to continue efforts to
enlist the membership of other trade units.

lowa-Nebraska Allied Urges
Support for Makelim Plan

OMAHA: The lowa-Nebraska Independent
Theatre Owners in annual convention here
Wednesday urged support of the Makelim
plan to augment “the scant supply of motion
pictures.” The group advocated, in a resolu-
tion, the “production and release of 12
photoplays to be first offered to the inde-
pendent theatre owners for exhibition in
their theatre in whatever run they choose
and can afford.” The resolution also ex-
pressed appreciation to Hal Makelim and
John Wolfberg for personally presenting
plans and to National Allied for efforts to
secure additional product. The convention
was held at the Fontanelle Hotel.

Buys Northwood House

NORTHWOOH, lA.: Charles Jones has
purchased the Northwood theatre. The new
theatre was formerly part of the Nat Sand-
ler Circuit.

Wanted for Embezzlement

The sheriff of Outagamie County, Wis-
consin, holds a warrant for the arrest of
Richard Phillips, alias Robert Phillips, on
charges of embezzelement. According to
Sergeant Elden J. Broehm of the sheriff’s
office, the wanted man has operated theatres
in other sections of the country and is wanted
elsewhere on similar charges.

German Ms
Honored at
Club Mf inner

Some 40 industry executives and civic
leaders were to share the dais at the New
York Variety Club dinner at the Waldorf
Astoria which was to have been held Thurs-
day night to honor William J. German with
the presentation of the first annual Heart
Award, it was announced by Russell V.
Downing, chairman of the dinner commit-
tee.

The award honoring Mr. German’s work
as president of the Variety Club Founda-
tion to Combat Epilepsy was to be presented
by Adolph Zukor, chairman of the board of
Paramount Pictures. Eredric March was
to head a cast of stars and public figures
participating in the dinner program.

The dais list included Richard W. Altschuler, vice-
president of Republic; Barney Balaban, president of
Paramount; Robert S. Benjamin, chairman of the board
of United Artists; Jack Beresin, Variety Clubs Inter-
national; Rabbi Bernard Birstein, Actors Temple;
Charles Boasberg, vice-president of RKO Pictures;
Harry Brandt, president of the Independent Theatre
Owners Association; Rev. Edwin B. Broderick; C.
Jules Brulatour; Max A. Cohen, president of Cinema
Circuit Corp. ; Robert Coyne, counsel to COMPO; Ned
E. D'epinet, and Russell V. Downing, president of
Radio City Music Hall.

Also, Gus S. Eyssell, president of Rockefeller Cen-
ter, Inc.; Edward L. Fabian, chief barker of the New
York Variety Club; Charles J. Feldman, general sales
manager of Universal-International; Alan E. Freedman,
president of DeLuxe Laboratories; Leonard Goldenson,
president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Thea-
tres; Maury Goldstein, vice-president of Allied Artists;
Thomas J. Hargrave, chairman of the board of East-
man Kodak; William J. Heineman, vice-president of
United Artists; George Hoover, chief barker, Inter-
national Variety Clubs; Arthur B. Krim, president of
United Artists, and A1 Lichtman, director of distribu-
tion for 20th Century-Fox.

Also, Fredric March; Dr. H. Houston Merritt, Col-
umbia-Presbyterian Medical Center; Abe Montague,
vice-president of Columbia; Gen. Lyman Munson; Her-
mann G. Place, president of General Precision Equip-
ment Corp.; Samuel Rinzler, president of Randforce
Amusement Corp.; Herman Robbins, president of Na-
tional Screen Service; J. Robert Rubin, vice-president
of Loew’s; A. W. Schwalberg, president of Paramount
Film Distributing Corp.; Fred J. Schwartz, president
of Century Circuit, and Sol Schwartz, president of
RKO Theatres.

Also, Harold Sharp, vice-president of the Coca-Cola
Co. : Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th Century-
Fox; Wilbur Snaper, president of New Jersey Allied;
Cornelius Van Neil, comptroller of Eastman Kodak;
Joseph Vogel, vice-president of Loew’s; Max E. Young-
stein, vice-president of United Artists, and Adolph
Zukor.

Theatre-Newspaper Tie
Cited in COMPO Ad

Emphasizing the friendship that always
has existed between newspapers and motion
picture theatres, the tenth Council of Motion
Picture Organizations ad published in
“Editor and Publisher” last Saturday calls
attention to an address before the American
Newspaper Publishers Association by
George Diggers of the “Atlanta Journal.”
He said: “Television is competing with
newspapers in two ways, fighting for the
ad-vertiser’s dollar and for the reader’s time.
This statement made us realize for the first
time,” the ad says, “that it is only the exist-
ence of the theatre — the movie theatre in
most cases — that preserves the traditional
relationship and warm friendship and
mutual help which has always existed be-
tween the newspaper and show people. For
the movie theatre is the paper’s ally, sup-
porter, helping friend.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

ALBANY

Visitors included : Harry Rogovin, Col-
umbia district manager; Louis VV. Schine
and Donald G. Schine, Gloversville; John
Cooney, Pittsfield, Mass.; Mr. and Mrs.
Francis Varga, Roxbury; George Thornton,
Saugerties and Windham; Fred Meier and
Phil Rapp, Schenectady ; Rube Cantor, Syra-
cuse ; Ben Coleman, Guilderland. ... A new
type of Polaroid 3-D glasses was used at
the preview of “Dial M for Murder” at the
Strand Theatre. Jack L. Warner’s report,
in a special CinemaScope short, of WB new
film properties was also heard and seen. . . .
Ronald Reagan, who is to be host on the
General Electric Theatre, a series of live
and film dramatic shows, featuring screen
stars and beginning on television in Septem-
ber, spent two days at the Schenectady plant.

ATLANTA

Harry Katz and brother, Ike, Kay Ex-
changes, checked in after a visit to their
New Orleans, Memphis and Charlotte
branches. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Abe Brown,
owner of the K & B Soda Company, where
the film folks hang out, are on a vacation
to Texas and Mexico. . . . Hugh Thomas,
manager Lyric theatre, Huntsville, Ala., is
in the hospital there and Sid Reans, sales
representative. Republic Pictures, also in the
hospital here. . . . Miss Hilda Knight, ac-
counting department. Allied Artists South-
ern Exchanges, is back at her desk after a
spell of illness. . . . Mrs. Sara Smith of the
accounting dept, in the same company, died
at a local hospital after a heart attack. . .
Walter Heggie has purchased the Gulf thea-
tre, Venice, Fla., from Victor Betty. . . . A1
Rook, Rook Booking Service, has moved
into his new office on Walton Street.
Charles Butler has been appointed manager
of the Starlite drive-in theatre, Wauchula,
Fla. He replaces Ernie C. Reed, who has
been transferred to the Boulevard drive-in
Deland, Fla.

BALTIMORE

C. Elmer Nolte, Sr., Durkee Circuit part-
ner who just celebrated his 50th wedding
anniversary, is confined to his home ill. . . .
Fred Schanberger, Jr., Keith’s Theatre, is
in Bon Secours Hospital. . . . M. R. Rappa-
port. Town and Hipp theatres, is in Europe
on a four-week vacation. . . . Ben Cooper,
new UA branch manager, in town visiting
local exhibitors. ... 1. Makover is booking
and buying for the Regent theatre. . . .
Charles Grimes, Stanley Warner district
manager, is back on the job after a siege of
illness. . . . Bill Brizendine^ Schwaber cir-
cuit executive, is suffering from a recurrence
of an old knee injury. . . . Lauritz Garman,
Garman Theatres, is in Union Memorial
Hospital as a result of a heart ailment. . . .
Jack Sidney HI, son of Loew manager Jack
Sidney, in for a visit with his dad from
Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming. . . .
Harry Osterhout, long time night superin-
tendent at the Century theatre, died in Hop-
kins Hospital as the result of severe burns
suffered in a fire at his home.

BOSTON

E. M. Loew, president of E. M. Loew
Theatres, sailed on the SS United States
for six week’s pleasure tour of Europe. . . .
American Theatres Corp. opened its sixth
drive-in April 30, in Oxford, Mass, on
Routes 20 and 12. . . . Benn Rosenwald, dis-
tribution chairman for the 1954 Jimmy Fund
Drive, called a luncheon meeting Monday for
film salesmen, bookers and branch managers
and explained the procedure on the pledge
cards. . . . The Allen theatre, Lowell, for-
merly the Crown, which has been closed for
three years, has been converted into a mer-
chandising store, leased to the Middlesex
Supply Company. . . . Two small upstate
theatres in New Hampshire have reopened.
Julius Cassinelli has relighted the Playhouse,
Bartlett and Harry Welch has reopened the
Lakeside, Lakeport. . . . Herbert C. Shaw,
son of Clifford Shaw, district manager of
Maine & New Hampshire Theatres, was
married recently to Irene T. McCormack of
Newton.

BUFFALO

Elmer F. Lux, head of Elmart Theatres
and president of the Common Council, has
been named chairman of the Governmental
Division for the 1954 Cancer Crusade in the
Buffalo area. . . . Howard Pearl, of the UA
promotion department, has been in town as-
sisting Edide Meade at Shea’s Buffalo on
the exploitation for “Beachhead.”. . . Vir-
ginia Callahan, booker at the MGM office,
is recovering from an illness that confined
her to her home for several weeks. . . . Buf-
falo radio station WGR plans to move soon
from the Rand building to the studios in
Hotel Lafayette formerly used by V/BES-
TV, which folded late last year. . . . The
Starlite drive-in on Military Road, Niagara
Falls, has le-opened for the 1954 season. . . .
Messrs. Whalen and Wullen of Lackawanna
have re-opened the Walden, a community
house on Walden avenue. . . . The State in
Caledonia has been re-opened by Fred Herb.

. . . George Frank has re-opened the Astor
theatre in Rochester, which had been leased
out by him to various parties in recent years.
He now will operate the house himself. . . .

WHEN AND WHERE

May lO-ll: Annual convention North-
Central Allied Independent Theatre
Owners, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis.

June 8-10: Annual convention Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 14-16: Annual spring board meeting
and get-together. Allied Theatre Owners
of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake
Wewasee, Ind.

Lewis Lieser, head of the Lieser Film Dis-
tributing company, has returned from Chi-
cago where he attended the Filmakers con-
ference.

CHICAGO

Dave Gold and Frank Schmidt, operators
of the near north side Newberry here, have
taken over operation of the Gold Coast, also
near north, from Jerry Gottleib, who ran it
as an art house. Schmidt and Gold have
returned to the theatre’s original policy of
showing late releases at a low admission
price. . . . “The Caine Mutiny” has been
booked into the B. & K. State Lake. . . .
Bob Hope spent a day here on his way to
Milwaukee to M.C. a charity show in the
Wisconsin city. . . . The Oriental theatre has
inaugurated a $100,000 remodelling pro-
gram, to include when completed a new
canopy and new seats. . . . Ernest Callen-
bach, Chicago film historian, starts a weekly
series of film reviews on station WFMT
next week. . . . Fred Mindlin, manager of
the Ziegfeld, is in Wesley Memorial Hos-
pital for a complete physical check-up. . . .
S. J. Gregory, J. R. Gregory, and Pete
Panagos of the Alliance chain went to the
West Coast to tour their theatres in that
section.

CINCINNATI

RKO has closed the 2,000-seat Capitol
theatre, which it had been operating pend-
ing final divestment under the Government
consent decree. The house previously was
leased by Midstates Theatres. . . . Climax-
ing practically two years of negotiations,
a permit finally has been granted to Marc
S. Cumminns, Cincinnati operator of a chain
of outdoor houses, for the construction of
an $80,000 drive-in on the Northern Belt
Line Road, in Kentucky. It will be located
almost directly across the road from the
competitive Family drive-in. . . . Unusual
interest is being manifest over the picture,
“The Moon is Blue,” currently playing the
S. & S. Keith’s theatre. . . . William F.
Molony, previously a relief manager for the
local Midstates Theatres, but more recently
a resident of Lancaster, Ohio, is returning
to Cincinnati as manager of the nearby
Mo-Tour-In theatre. ... A new outdoor
theatre, to be known as the Panhandle drive-
in, is being opened near West Union, Ohio,
by William Hitchcock, operator of an in-
door theatre, at Winchester Ky.

CLEVELAND

Bert Unger, violinist and onetime theatre
orchestra leader, died this past week. . . .
Shea’s Astabula theatre, Ashtabula, escaped
all damage from a fire that started in an
adjacent restaurant and destroyed several
business buildings. Opening time was de-
layed several hours to clear out the smoke.

. . . Joe Leavitt, projectionist, returned from
a Florida winter and has resumed his op-
eration of the Colony theatre booth. . . .

{Continued on folloiving page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

{Contimied from preceding page)

Louis Weitz, newly engaged general man-
ager of the Cleveland Motion Picture Ex-
hibitors Association, is a Shaker Heights
justice of the Peace. . . . Western Union
has closed its Film Bldg, branch, in opera-
tion since the building was erected about
30 years ago. Louis Roth, office manager
there for over 15 years, is transferred to
the Hollenden Hotel branch. . . . Liberty
theatre, Lowellville and the Lincoln theatre,
Lisbon, closed on May first according to
notices to film exchanges. . . . M. B. Hor-
witz, Washington Circuit; William N. Skir-
ball and Joe Lissauer, Skirball Brothers
Circuit, attended the VistaVision demon-
stration in New York and brought back
glowing reports of its efficiency.

COLUMBUS

Fred Rowlands has installed Cinema-
Scope equipment in the Parsons, South Side
neighborhood house. First CinemaScope at-
traction was "The Robe.” . . . Academy
theatres had a three-day first run engage-
ment of "Melba” at the Esquire, Lane, Uni-
versity and Beechwold neighborhoods. . . .
Academy theatres’ National auto drive-in
was held up and robbed of $421 by two
armed bandits. . . . Haig M. Boyajohn and
Associates Inc., of Columbus is the apparent
low bidder for the city’s first parking garage
on E. Long Street. Boyajohn bid $759,435.
. . . Cy Francis, operator of the Cruise-In
drive-in at Cambridge, Ohio, was seriously
injured in an auto accident. . . . Charles
Sugarman has been doing good business at
the World with the engagement of “The
Moon Is Blue” which was once banned by
the Ohio censor board and then released.

DENVER

The Wadsworth, deluxe walk-in, drive-in
theatre, slated to have opened May 1, was
forced to postpone the opening a week be-
cause of the big snowstorm hitting Denver
last week, right in tlie midst of the opening
of the downtown deluxe 1,247-seat Centre.
. . . A gunman entered the office of the
Ogden as manager Wm. I.ow was waiting
for an armored car to pick up the bank
deposits, and after binding and gagging
Low, the thug got away with $1,545. . . .
Marie Goodhand is this week opening her
new 400-seat Goodhand, Kimball, Neb. It
will take the place of the old America, which
will be remodeled for other business. . . .
J. J. Morgan, formerly National Theatre
Supply branch manager, and Mrs. Morgan,
celebrated their golden wedding anniversary
with a family dinner, and an open house
the day following. . . . Mrs. Ted Halmi,
wife of the former publicity manager of the
Orpheum, died here last week.

DES MOINES

The Star theatre at Marquette is com-
pleting installation of CinemaScope and
stereophonic sound. The Star, which con-
tains 218 seats, is the smallest house in the
state thus far with these facilities. It is
managed by Milo D. Moody. First picture
to be shown with the new equipment will be
“The Robe.” . . . Three fire companies, a
hook and ladder and an emergency unit
rushed to the Strand theatre in Council
Bluffs at 4:30 p.m. one day recently when
an electric motor on the lobby popcorn ma-
chine caught fire. There was no damage

except to the machine. . . . Thelma Wash-
burn, RKO booker and office manager, will
be away from her desk for about a month,
during which time she will undergo surgery.
She will spend several weeks of this period
recuperating at the home of her daughter
in Florida. . . . Ben Marcus, district man-
ager, was a visitor to the Columbia ex-
change. . . . The girls at Metro had a “hen
party” at Rocky’s Steak House. . . . Mar-
garet McGaffee, Metro, has been ill with
a cold. . . . Helen Marks of Paramount vis-
ited relatives in Minneapolis for a few days.

DETROIT

Fran Murray, (Mrs. Fran Cerrito) was
the winner of the “Lucky Me” contest at the
Michigan theatre. Her recording of her
voice was judged best in the “Lucky Me”
tie-in. . . . The Free Press is running a
“Look for Your Name in the Classified”
gimmick again. This time, name finders will
get two tickets to “The Mad Magician” at
the Palms. . . . Ernest Conlon, executive
vice-president of Michigan Allied will speak
before the Saginaw, Mich. Rotary May 12.
Couloir’s subject will be “The Importance of
the Theatre to Community Development.”
. . . Norman Wheaton of the Telenews
theatre has a customer who pops in several
times a week for about 15 minutes. Question-
ing turned up the fact that he is a nearby
dentist who finds relaxation that way. . . .
The Wayland Theatre in Wayland was sold
by Naman Frank to Elmer Forbear.

HARTFORD

Variety Club of Connecticut, Tent 31,
and other interests sponsored a testimonial
dinner honoring Barney Pitkin, Connecticut
exchange manager for RKO-Radio Pictures,
at Waverly Inn, Chesire, May 4. Pitkin
recently resumed his duties, following a
lengthy illness. . . . Mrs. Mary Grady, office
secretary at the Hartford Theatre Circuit,
Hartford, has resigned. Replacing her is
Mrs. Kay Chase. . . . Mario Aronne has
been named assistant manager of the Art
theatre, Hartford. . . . William Murphy has
been appointed assistant manager of the
Allyn theatre, Hartford. . . . Victor M.
Morelli, formerly Manchester, Conn., city
manager for Stanley Warner Theatres, is
now operating a restaurant in that city.

INDIANAPOLIS

Downtown theatres, 'already hit by the
first wave of outdoor competition, are now
facing the first transit strike here in 25
years. It started Saturday, with no imme-
diate prospect of settlement. . . . The first
run program here this week will be packed
with seven openings, as the Ritz, a neigh-
borhood house showing “Genevieve,” and
the Esquire, finally through with “The Moon
Is Blue” after 30 weeks, join the regulars.
. . . Wm. C. Gehring, 20th-Fox; J. W.
Servies, National Theatre Supply; and
M. L. Simon, MGM, have sent in reserva-
tions for the Alied Theatre Owners of In-
diana spring convention at Wawasee.

JACKSONVILLE

Friends w^ere congratulating Marvin
Skinner on his promotion to chief booker in
the Fox office. . . . T. P. Tidwell, Fox
branch manager, flew to Tampa to attend
the first drive-in showing of CinemaScope

in Florida, where the 20th Century drive-in
opened with "The Robe.” . . . The second
and third drive-ins in the state to be
equipped for CinemaScope, the Gulf and
Wayside, both located at Panama City, had
also booked “The Robe” for openings early
in May. . . . Ken Laird and Jerry Jernigan,
U-I salesmen, were in from the road, help-
ing to wind up the spring drive. . . . “Buck”
Robuck, UA branch manager, called on ex-
hibitors in the Orlando area. . . . Harlow
Land, Land Theatres executive from Mayo,
and Merle Nelson, Hollywood theatre, Lees-
burg, called at the Roy Smith Co.

KANSAS CITY

“The French Line” (2-D) had a big first
week at the new first run Roxy, and is being
held over. No children’s tickets were sold.

. . . The Golden Booking and Buying Ser-
vice has added to its staff as head booker
Gus Kopulus, who has been with local ex-
changes for several years. . . . The Universal
branch at Kansas City will move August 1
into a building now under construction at
1700 Wyandotte Street, on Film Row. . . .
Ernest Block opened last week his new
drive-in at Sabetha, Kan., where he oper-
ates also a conventional theatre. ... A baby
girl was born recently to Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley Durwood. He is general manager
of Durwood Theatres. He and his wife now
have two daughters and two sons.

LOS ANGELES

Dick McKay, formerly booker and buyer
for the Arizona Paramount Theatres, and
more recently a salesman for Realart Pic-
tures, has resigned to join the Cal Pac
Drive-in theatre chain. . . . Back from San
Jose where he visited his ailing father, was
Jack Kalbo, booker for the Everett Cum-
mings theatres. . . . Henry Pine is the new
operator of the Town theatre. Bell Gardens,
House was formerly under the Fox West
Coast banner. . . . Jack Sherriff, Realart
Pictures, is off to Bakersfield to sell com-
pany product. . . . Gloria Barlow, Warner
contract clerk, was back at her desk after
nursing a bad case of sunburn which she
acquired too suddenly in Palm Springs while
weekending there. . . . Jack Van Ler, booker
for the Harry L. Nace Theatres, was in
town on business. . . . Over 800 people at-
tended the special trade show held by
Warner Bros, at the Fox Boulevard theatre
Monday afternoon. . . . George Tripp,
W’arner Bros, salesman, off to Arizona on a
selling trip for the company.

MEMPHIS

Two new drive-ins were scheduled for
opening next week in the Memphis trade
territory. . . . M. H. Miller, owner, reports
his Starlite drive-in, Henderson, Ky., has
been finished and is ready for formal open-
ing May 13. . . . Mr. and Mrs. U. Walker,
owners, have finished their new Skyvue
drive-in, Winona, Miss., which opens next
week. ... Ed Williamson, district manager
for Warner Bros., Dallas, and former branch
manager for his company at Memphis, was
in Memphis on business. . . . M. S. McCord,
head of United Theatres Corporation, North
Little Rock, Ark., was in Memphis on busi-
ness for his chain. . . . Variety Club held a
dinner party for members and guests Satur-
day night last. . . . E. F. Stein, owner of
Met and Met-N-Mov drive-in, Jackson,
(Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8. 1954

(^Continued from opposite page)

Tenn., was a Memphis visitoi'. . . . Henry
Brownlee, formerly manager of Princess
Theatre at Memphis, was visiting Memphis
friends this week.

MIAMI

Jack Miller, manager of the Shores, was
elected vice-president of the newly formed
Miami Shores Businessmen’s Assn. . . .
Charles Moskowitz, vice-president of MGM,
was vacationing at the Saxony and during
his stay was luncheon host to John Calio,
manager of the Flamingo, where “Execu-
tive Suite” is still breaking records. . . .
Rudolph Berger of Washington and Brutus
Bishop, Jr., of Chicago also were on a holi-
day in the area. . . . Ray Toemmes is hold-
ing down the fort at the Miami, while house
manager Tim Tyler is on vacation. . . . All
the first run houses in the area have now
dropped prices in adjustments to the reduced
taxes. The Olympia offered bargain prices
of 50c until 1 p.m. which included film and
stage show.

MILWAUKEE

John Adler’s partner in the hotel in Mer-
rill, Wis., Mr. Fenlon, passed away recently
in Waukesha. His wife and son survive.

. . . Bob Karatz, Badger Theatres, has taken
over the operation of the Meyers theatre in
Janesville from Fox. . . . Congratulations
are in order for Harry Boesel, manager at
the Palace theatre here. His wife presented
him with twins this month. Their names
are Sindy and Randy. . . . Estelle Steinbach
is back managing the Fox-Downer theatre
on Milwaukee’s north east side. Donald
May is replacing Miss Steinbach as manager
at the downtown Strand theatre. . . . Wis-
consin Variety Club, Tent No. 14, Heart
Committee held a luncheon meeting at the
Schroeder Hotel this week to announce plans
to enlarge the scope of their heart work.

MINNEAPOLIS

Trade practices, buying and booking,
availability, print problems, clearances and
rentals are among the principal topics on
the agenda for the annual North Central
Allied convention May 10-11 at the Nicollet
Hotel. . . . Larry Wilk has been named
booker and office manager at Allied Artists,
replacing Sam Niefeld, who will manage the
Westgate, suburban art house. Wilk for-
merly was a booker at MGM. . . . A1 J. Kal-
mon, new owner, has reopened the Orpheum
at Mellon, Wis. . . . G. P. Jonckowski is the
new owner of the Falls at River Falls, Wis.

. . . Harry Weiss, RKO Theatres division
manager, William W. Howard, vice-presi-
dent in charge of operations for RKO Thea-
tres, and Howard’s assistant, Thomas J.
Crehjan, visited situations throughout Iowa as
well as at Omaha and Kansas City. . . . Burt
Zats, booker at Independent-Lippert, was in
Chicago for a weekend. . . . Stella Lettus,
RKO cashier, vacationed at Hot Springs,
Ark. . . . A. P. Wuebben, owner of the
Alvero at Parkston, S. D., has installed a
Magnascope screen.

NEW ORLEANS

R. W. Everett through his buyer and
booker, J. G. Broggi, informed that he has
shuttered the Kay, Farmersville, La. Oper-
ations at his Strand there will continue on
schedule. . . . The Lake, Westlake, La., wilL
close May 11, advised Theatre Service Com-

BOSTON HOUSE OFFERS CHINESE
FILMS TO GRATEFUL PATRONS

BOSTON: For the past 20 years, Ohlnese
films in the Oantonese dialect have been
offered twice weekly at the Stuart theatre,
here, which is on the edge of the Chinese
district, with the shows starting at 1 I P.M.
each Monday and Friday.

Early in 1954, E. M. Loew, president of
the E. M. Loew circuit, purchased the build-
ing housing the Stuarf theatre, and took
over operation of the theatre. The popular
Chinese shows were continued. hJarry
Aaronson, manager of fhe Sfuarf, claims
fhaf fhe Chinese patrons, of whom fhere are
several hundred for each showing, are fhe
essence of decorum during fhe showings.

''If all my pafrons were as well behaved
and as quiefly mannered as fhese Chinese-
American clfizens, my life as a fheafre man-
ager would be an easy one,” he said In his
office. "It's a pleasure fo wafch them and
to note how much they seem to enjoy the
films from fheir homeland and In their
native dialect," he added.

During the war, It was more difficult to

obtain a suitable selection of films i,.
Cantonese, but since the cessation of ho«-
tllitles, a steady flow of Chinese films has
been available. Some are musicals and
others drama. The group sponsoring the
showings is headed by a prominent Chinese-
American named Y. Tick Lee, who leases
the theatre for fhe special program and
who does all fhe buying and booking
through New York. The films are mosfly
shipped from Hong Kong.

A passerby can see fhe long lines of
Chinese pafrons lined up quietly before the
theatre on a Monday or Friday evening,
patiently waiting for fhe close of fhe regu-
lar show before fhey file info fhe fheafre.
Since the end of the war, no "repeat” pro-
grams have had to be shown. Each film is
a "first run." Mr. Aaronson has been man-
ager of the Stuart for nearly three years
and before fhaf was owner-operator of fhe
Rialto in Scollay Square for 30 years. He
is humorously known as fhe "ex-Mayor of
Scollay Square."

pany, buying and booking representatives
for Southern Amusement Company. . . .
Paramount Gulf Theatres closed the Crown,
a subsequent run. Mobile, Ala., May 6. . . .
Stephen S. Riggs reopened the Beack walk-
in, Fairhope, Ala. . . . Rose, Bastrop, La.,
will be closed from May 11 through May 29
for remodeling and refurnishing. ... 1. A.
Funderburk closed the Fox, Jonesboro, La.
The Palace, his “A” house, will continue to
operate on schedule. . . . The WOMPI’s
May luncheon-meet will be on May 10 at
noon in the Jackson Room of the St. Charles
Hotel. . . . State representative Richard
Guidry, owner of Star, Galliano, La., and
interested in Jet drive-in, Cut Off, La., is
hospitalized for a checkup.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Mr. and Mrs. R. Lewis Barton, Barton
Theatres, returned this week from a busi-
ness trip to Los Angeles, Calif. They were
gone about eight days. . . . Melvin Jackson,
manager of the Tower theatre, has resigned.
His successor has not yet been appointed.
. . . Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Leonard will
leave next week for Denver and Los An-
geles on their vacation. Mr. Leonard is
manager of the Criterion theatre. . . . The
Airline drive-in was robbed about April 23
by a gunman who escaped in a late-model car.
. . . George Pomeroy, former manager of
the Frontier theatre, has returned to take
over the management of the theatre. During
his absence only foreign films were shown.
The theatre has reverted to a family policy.

OMAHA

The telethon at the Paramount theatre
brought in more than $135,000 for the
Cerebral Palsy Fund and Bill Miskell, Tri-
states district manager, estimated some
12,000 people visited the Paramount during
the 16-hour show. Ben Alexander, the Sgt.
Frank Smith of “Dragnet,” actress Toni

Gillman, dancer Ray Malone and Singer
Fran Warren received special plaudits for
their efforts. . . . John Waybill, owner of
the Joy theatre at North Bend, has sold out
to George Mott of Verdigre, who will take
over around May 15. . . . Harold Schoon-
over closed his Mazda theatre at Aurora
temporarily to see his son on the west coast
while the latter had a brief leave. ... Joe
Jacobs, Columbia branch manager, was
called to California by the illness of his
father, H. A. Jacobs. . . . Warren Hall has
installed 3-D at his Rodeo theatre in Bur-
well. . . . Harold Dunn, Valentine exhibitor,
was operated on at an Omaha hospital. He
is recuperating satisfactorily.

PHILADELPHIA

With the retirement of C. C. Pippin, vet-
eran film salesman at MGM, to Florida,
office manager H. Bache moves into his spot
as Philadelphia and suburban salesman, while
booker Charles Kaselman moves up to the
office managership while still handling cir-
cuit bookings. . . . Interior decorating firm
of David Brodsky has the contract to re-
furnish the Viking, center-city house which
was formerly the Stanley Warner Aldine.
. . . F. Grayek is now booking and buying
for the Park, Scranton, Pa. . . . Cinema-
Scope has been installed in two more neigh-
borhood houses in Harrisburg, Pa. — the
Camp Hill and the Penway, with the Hill
also getting a redecoration job under the
(Continued on foUozving page)

DuoSeal BURIAL WIRE

for better underground service tn
drive-ins. Easy to install; permanent.
Transposed, twisted pair, red and
bfack. Economical! 16-2, 14-2 or 12-1,
UL approved. Stranded, super tough.

Rrsi 'American

1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8,

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

{Continued from preceding page)
direction of house manager D. S. Blosser.
. . . Abe Franks reopened the North Cam-
den, Camden, N. J. . . . A Decoration Day
opening is set by the Bethlehem Amusement
Corporation for its new Route 22 drive-in,
with an 830-car capacity, near Bethlehem,
Pa. . . . Stanley Warner Ritz, Wilmington,
Del., becomes the fourth house in that city
to install CinemaScope.

PITTSBURGH

Downtown theatre managers breathing
a bit easier since a crippling trolley and bus
strike in Pittsburgh was postponed for a
week. . . . Beverly Garland here Wednesday
and Thursday to get in plugs for the Stan-
ley’s Columbia film, “The Miami Story.’’
. . . The Ritz theatre, now being converted
into a store room, closed several days ahead
of schedule. . . . “New Faces’’ finally reached
the Fulton after several delays, and the
neighboring Harris also has a CinemaScope
feature in “River of No Return.” . . . “La
Ronde” also gets a downtown booking. It
will follow the current “Forbidden Games”
in the Art Cinema.

PORTLAND

d'hings are rather quiet along the theatre
trail this week. Business at first run houses
has been spotty due to holdovers, mid-sum-
mer weather and transient name attractions.
. . . Roy Rogers has been signed to be grand
marshal of the 1954 Rose Festival. Dale
Evans, Trigger, David Rose, and Ed Sul-
livan will also guest. . . . Oregonian Drama
Editor Herb Larsen and family back in

town after a vacation in a trailer to Cali-
fornia. . . . Evergreen’s Eugene city man-
ager Alton Robbins has set up his summer
kid program with backing of local civic
groups. Ditto Bob Anderson, manager of
Evergreen's Hollywood theatre. . . . Harry
James and His Music Makers played to
over 5,000 people at Jantzen Beach Ballroom
last weekend. . . . Frank Breal has changed
the policy at his Century theatre from news-
reels to double bills.

SAN FRANCISCO

New assistant manager at Paramount is
Linn Von Goltz of Los Angeles. . . . New
owner of the Isleton theatre at Isleton is
Emma Stefani. She bought from Edgar
Weiss. . . . Booking and buying news covers
the Palm, San Mateo, now booked l)y Film
Booking and Buying Service and Mrs. Bar-
ney Guernette’s Exeter at Exeter, booked
by Westland Theatres. . . . Robert Cham-
bers, 2nd shipper at Warner Bros, married
Dolores Talich, former Warner’s inspec-
tress, April 30. . . . Studios and offices of
KGO and KGOTV moved to their new
location May 1, 277 Golden Gate Ave. . . .
Robert Hazzard, office manager. United
Artists Exchange, and his wife are vaca-
tioning in New York. . . . The Royal Amuse-
ment Co. of Honolulu has changed its name
to Royal Theatres, Ltd.

VANCOUVER

Myer Rabehak has started construction of
a 300-seat house in the farming community
of Brownvale, Alberta. . . . John Dobni is
erecting a 35mm at Smylie, Sask. . . . Mrs.

Rusk has sold her 250-seat Maidstone, Sas-
katchewan theatre to Isadore Harman, a
local merchant. . . . Lou Karp, district
booker for Famous Players ; Claud Smith,
manager of the Paramount, Chilliwack, and
Sydney Summers, stage manager of the Or-
pheum, Vancouver, are new members of
Famous Players 25-year club. . . . Stan
Pooley, former manager of the Strand, Van-
couver, is the new manager of the Stanley
Warner Ambridge, Pa. theatre. . . . Haskell
Masters, Canadian general manager for
Warners, was in town and said Vancouver
will have a new film building in the near
future. The project is in the planning stages,
he said. . . . R. B. Faulkner, old time pro-
jectionist and a member of the Odeon-Lux
staff, died after a long illness. He was 69.

WASHINGTON

Sid Zins, Columbia Pictures publicity rep-
resentative, and Mrs. Zins are the parents
of a boy, their first child, born April 28
at Doctors Hospital. . . . Harold Saltz will
be the new Universal-International branch
manager, replacing Joseph Gins, who has
been upped to district manager, with head-
quarters in Boston. . . . The Variety Club
Board of Governors met on May 3. . . .
Arthur Levy, former Branch Manager at
United Artists, is now associated with the
Thomas L. Phillips Real Estate Company.
. . . Herbert Kolinsky, brother of Variety
Club secretary, Dorothy Kolinsky, won a
national essay contest open to government
employees. He is an administrative assistant
at the National Labor Relations Board. . . .
Pete Kaufman replaces Fred Von Langen,
resigned, as booker at Paramount.

COLUMBIA PICTURES ANNOUNCES THAT PRINTS OF THE FOLLOWING
PICTURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR EXCHANGES FOR SCREENING

Starring

VINCENl PRICE

with lOHN EMERY . story aod Screen Play by CRANE WILBUR Produced by BRYAN FOY . Directed by lOHN BRANM

Johnny Weissmuller

as JUNGLE JIM

Based upon the besi selling novel by Frank Yerby • Produced by SAM KATZMAN • Directed by WILLIAM CASTLE

General

Release:

June

Bl/ACK EAOliE

THE STORY OF A HORSE

with Karin Booth • Richard Stapley

and Jamba (The Talented Chimp)

Story and Screen Play by SAMUEL NEWMAN • Based upon the famous Jungle Jim King Features Syndicate newspaper feature
Produced by SAM KATZMAN • Directed by LEE SHOLEM

with

WILLIAM VIRGINIA GORDON

BISHOP • PATTON • JONES

lAMES

BELL

Based upon the story "The Passing Of Black Eagle” by 0. Henry
Screenplay by Edward Huebsch and Hal Smith
Directed by ROBERT GORDON • Produced by ROBERT COHN
reprint

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

J^tn^cHant Change in the Quifleii ^ule^

Reluctantly, we wish to advise

Round Table members at this meet-
ing, that effective with the completion
of the 20th Annual Judging, this week in
New York, there will be a significant change
in the rules of the competition. No one will
be permitted to win the Quigley Grand
Award again, for the second time. In fact,
this new rule should have been made long
ago, but we didn’t have the courage to do it,
knowing that so many were striving for the
end result.

But it places a certain limitation on the
competition as a whole, to have numerous
second-time winners already boasting of two
Grand Award plaques. Others, less ad-
vanced in the winning, are apt to feel they
must compete with those who have won be-
fore and will win again. It lessens the en-
thusiasm among runners-up, it diminishes
the fervor of the game for many who feel
out-classed (when they are not!) and it
causes us to operate in a smaller circle of
contenders. In fairness, and for generous
motives, those who have won the Grand
Award once should now be willing to join
our circle of “Old Grads” — and let new-
comers have a better chance at the coveted
prize.

We are proud of our previous winners,
and we want to place them on a row of
pedestals, where they may look down at the
passing parade of new contenders, and offer
to them, their sincere help towards winning
Grand Award plaques for their own. Such
long-time contenders, and two-time winners
as Jack Matlack, in Portland, Oregon; Lige
Brien, now in New York; Ivan Ackery, of
Vancouver, B. C. ; Willis Shaffer, of Hutch-
inson, Kansas, and J. P. Harrison, of Den-
ton, Texas, who have twice won the Quig-
ley Grand Award, are among the best show-
men in this business, and to each of them
has gone the suitable rewards for having
qualified for this high honor. Now, we ask
them to rest on their laurels, and in future,
we hope they may act as judges, and as in-
spiration, to their runners-up.

During World War H, there were numer-
ous War Showmanship Awards, which
really do not count as duplication of the

AMONG THOSE INVITED

This year, at the 20th Annual judging
in the Quigley Awards Showmanship Com-
petition, we are honored by an unusually
large number of Grand Award winners
who are now in New York City, and invited
for the luncheon, as judges and guests of
honor.

Harry Goldberg, who won his plaque
in 1935, from Warner's Theatres in Phila-
delphia, is now advertising director for
Stanley-Warner in New York; Ray Bell, a
winner with Loew's Theatres in Washing-
ton in 1939, is now with Columbia Pictures;
Everett Callow, who won in 1940, also
from Warner's Theatres in Philadelphia, is
now advertising and publicity director tor
Cinerama; Lige Brien, who won from
Warner's Enright theatre in Pittsburgh in
1944, is now special events manager for
United Artists in the home office; Charles
Hacker, who was with Fox Wisconsin Thea-
tres, in Milwaukee when he won the Grand
Award in 1947, is now manager of oper-
ations at the Radio City Music Hall; we
honor them all, and they honor us, by being
among the Alumni of our International
Association of Motion Picture Showmen,
honored around the world.

Also our guest, this week in New York,
is Douglas A. C. Ewin, the champion show-
man of Associated British Cinemas, Ltd.
of England, who won his trip to New York
in competition with more than 400 man-
agers of his circuit, with top honors.

Quigley Grand Award plaque given annually
to two winners in large and small situations.
But most of these top winners have been
represented in both classifications — notably.
Jack Matlack and Lige Brien, who were
winners several times over of this special
Award. We hope that our alumni will step
forward to contend for every special award
that is forthcoming, especially such contents
at “Brotherhood Week” and other drives
wherein all the best showmen, and their tal-
ents, are needed.

^ FOLLOWING our usual custom in
this corner, we wish to thank the judges
who are present at this week’s 20th Annual
Judging for the Quigley Awards. Many of
the panel of industry leaders, production and
distribution executives, theatre owners and
operators, and home office members of the
advertising and exploitation departments of
the major companies, have served before in
their judicial capacity. One good friend,
who will be on vacation this week, wrote
with regret that this would be the first
Quigley Award judging he has missed.

We must also offer our usual explanation
as to the number of exhibits on display. We
receive an average of 200 entries in every
three months period, and there are approxi-
mately 50 finalists in each quarterly judging.
Thus, at the year end, we have an accumu-
lation of 200 finalists from the four quarters,
which must be again reduced to a reasonable
forty or fifty on display — out of more than
800 that have been submitted. It’s a heart-
breaking and nerve-wracking task to make
these eliminations, especially when we feel
that we know the individuals personally,
through their hard and sustained efforts to
win the coveted Award.

Also, let us give additional praise and
thanks to those in the panel of quarterly
judges, who appear at the end of each three-
months period to make the first selections.
They work harder, and have a more difficult
job than the judges in the finals, and we are
grateful to them for past favors — since grati-
tude is defined as the lively anticipation of
favors yet to come. We will be needing
them again and again, with our continued
appreciation for their wise decisions and
good counsel. We lean heavily on their
judgment, the year around.

Winners of the Grand Awards in the cur-
rent contest were not known as this page
was made up but you’ll find the full story,
and a report of Walter Reade’s address to
the assembled judges in the news pages of
this week’s issue. We will take up our Round
Table discussion of these events next week.

— Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 8. 1954

modern

V^ITHOUT th

Leicpxter Square

?MOK£

British Set the
Picture Puce

The huge, curved panoramic dis-
play in Oxford Street for "The
Robe" at the Odeon theatre, London.
Note the vividly colored cut-out
figures in action, with the complete
illusion of depth.

Vigorous imagination to fortify strong
showmanship, that's the characteristic of
British showmen, who conjure up good
displays and ballyhoo stunts, in both
large and small — and new — dimensions.
No doubt of the quality of these few
examples, from our English mail. We
have many Round Table members in
Britain.

F. B. Page, man-
ager of the Rex
cinema, Islington,
placed this somno-
lent street bally-
hoo in convincing
costume and char-
acter, to adver-
tise "Sombrero."

C. A. Purves,
manager of the
R.A.F. cinema,
Gainsborough,
Lines., made good
use of "target for
tonight" in sug-
gesting "Ivanhoe"
as a coming at-
traction.

What we like about British showmanship is the way
in which they welcome and make full use of the
typical affection for western attire and fancy dress
that is common to small fry the world over. Desmond
McKay, manager of the Playhouse, Galashiels, Scot-
land, shows these examples of youngsters "dressing
up" to their part in the entertainment. Note the con-
tainer of "Genuine Apache War Smoke"— all the way
from Colorado, for the occasion!

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

QUIGLEY A WARDS

( Continued from page 13)

tising, national advertising, local advertis-
ing.”

Admitting that more and more efifective
use is being made today of new methods of
advertising such as television trailers, Mr.
Reade nevertheless urged that even greater
efforts be made to find and utilize still other
new, different and novel types and methods
of reaching the customers.

The speaker chided exhibition for not de-
voting enough attention to encouraging “the
solid showmen on the firing line — or rather,
the most strategic position in this industry —
the box office line. The theatre manager,”
he said, “is the greatest potential public re-
lations asset this industry has.

“The chief reason for my honest belief
that our theatre managers may well be the
answer to our industry’s basic public rela-
tions problem,” he continued, “is because
the most significent trend in the whole field
of public relations is the grass roots ap-
proach, as this industry so aptly proved in
its campaign to repeal the Federal admission
tax.

“Community relations — and what better
agent have we to handle this matter than the
theatre manager ? — are essential to every
industry, and to the whole system of free
enterprise as well. If an industry’s own
workers and their neighbors in the com-
munity do not understand the meaning of
the industry, and are not ready to defend it,
the outlook for the ultimate survival of that
industry is discouraging, to say the least.

“Get out and work,” he concluded, “pull,
and pull hard on the box office line.”

Martin Quigley, host at the judging and
the luncheon which followed it, announced
that starting this year, the competition rules
will be revised to make previous Award
winners ineligible for future Awards.

Rodney Bash and Harty McWilliams.

Brieii,

THE COMMITTEE OF JUDGES

Following is the alphabetical listing of the industry executives who were the judges in
the 20th annual Quigley Awards judging held in New York this week.

PAUL ACKERMAN, director
of advertising, publicity and
sales promotion. Paramount In-
ternational.

LEON J. BAMBERGER, sales
promotion manager, RKO
Radio Pictures.

FORTUNAT BARONAT, direc-
tor of publicity. Universal In-
ternational Films, Inc.

EMIL BERNSTECKER, district
manager, Wilby-Kincey The-
atres.

DAVID BLUM, publicity direc-
tor, Loew's International Cor-
poration.

SIDNEY BLUMENSTOCK, ad-
vertising manager. Paramount
Pictures.

LISE BRIEN, director of pro-
motion and special events.
United Artists Corporation.

RODNEY BUSH, exploitation
manager. Twentieth Century-
Fox Films.

CHARLES COHEN, Twentieth
Century-Fox Films.

SAMUEL COHEN, foreign pub-
licity manager. United Artists
Corporation.

MARTIN DAVIS, Samuel Gold-
wyn Productions.

DICK DICKSON, Roxy Theatre.

RUSSELL V. DOWNING, presi-
dent, Radio City Music Hall.

STEVE EDWARDS, director of
advertising and publicity. Re-
public Pictures.

ERNEST EMERLING, advertis-
ing-publicity director, Loew's
Theatres.

MICHAEL EDELSTEiN, RKO
Radio Theatres Corp.

DOUGLAS EWIN, manager
Savoy cinema, Stourbridge,
England.

LYNN FARNOL

ALBERT FLOERSHEIMER, JR.,
director of advertising and
publicity, Walter Reade The-
atres.

THOMAS GERETY, Metro-
Gold wyn-M ay er.

WILLIAM J. GERMAN, presi-
dent, W. J. German, Inc.

MELVIN L. GOLD, director of
advertising and publicity. Na-
tional Screen Service.

EDGAR GOTH, advertising
executive of Stanley Warner
Corporation.

DAVID SRIESDORF, general
manager, Odeon Theatres
(Canada) Limited.

CHARLES R. HACKER, man-
ager of operations. Radio City
Music Hall.

MERVIN HOUSER, eastern di-
rector of advertising, publicity
and exploitation, RKO Radio
Pictures.

G. R. KEYSER, publicity-adver-
tising director, Warner Bros.
Pictures International Corp.

MORI KRUSHEN, exploitation
manager, .United Artists Corp.

RALPH LAGER, head of the-
atre operations. Century The-
atres.

BERNARD LEWIS, exploitation
manager, I. F. E. Releasing
Corp.

LAWRENCE H. LIPSKIN, as-
sistant to the president, Colum-
bia Pictures.

FRED L LYNCH, director of
publicity and advertising. Radio
City Music Hall.

IRVING LUDWIG, sales ad-
ministrator, Walt Disney Pro-
ductions.

HARRY K. McWilliams.

HARRY MANDEL, national di-
rector of advertising and pub-
licity, RKO Theatres Corp.

ROBERT MOCHRIE, vice-presi-
dent, Samuel Goldwyn Produc-
tions.

RUTGERS NEILSON, director
foreign advertising and pub-
licity, RKO Radio Pictures.

SIDNEY NEWMAN. Skouras
Theatres.

JEROME PICKMAN, vice-presi-
dent, Paramount Film Distribut-
ing Corp.

ARTHUR PINCUS, assistant
publicity director, Loew's In-
ternational Corp.

DICK PITTS, director of pub-
lic relations. Theatre Owners
of America.

WALTER READE, JR., presi-
dent, Walter Reade Theatres.

SID RECHETNIK, Warner
Brothers Pictures.

HERMAN ROBBINS, president,
National Screen Service.

LESLIE B. ROBERTS. J. Arthur
Rank Organization.

MONTAGUE SALMON, man-
aging director, Rivoli Theatre.

SIDNEY SCHAEFER, director
media and printed advertising,
Columbia Pictures.

CHARLES SCHLAIFER.Charles
Schlaifer & Company, New
York.

HERB STEINBERG, national ex-
ploitation manager. Paramount
Film Distributing Corp.

MEAD WALWORTH, sales pro-
motion manager, Westrex Cor-
poration.

Melvin Gold end Forfaaat Baronet.

Devid Blum end G, R. Keyser.

motion PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

statesviiie^s Setting Appraach

Scltool For —

Managers

So many good ideas come up from States-
ville Theatre Corporation, where R. E.
Agle, general manager at Boone, N. C., re-
ports the news for seventeen theatres and
drive-ins in North Carolina towns, that we
wonder if this isn’t sort of a showmanship
school operating to stimulate business in
their own theatres as well as to inspire and
lead others into similar progress forward.
Hardly a mail from the Carolinas without a
lu'ief note of showmanship accomplished by
Statesville’s theatre managers at the point of
sale. "WT must get down that way some day
and pay a call.

Mr. Agle writes that “if I sent you all the
angles that Dale Baldwin, manger of the
Parkway theatre, West Jefferson, N. C.,
tries, you would be surprised that a small
town manager could do so much. Dale
keeps his theatre and its program constantly
in the public eye, and his tactics are always
in such good taste that he has the enthusi-
astic support of his town.” Leslie Sprinkle,
another Statesville boy, dresses up the front
of his Lyric theatre, Likin, N. C., to really
look like the hig time.

James S. ( Starkey) Howard, Jr., man-
ager of the Waco and Air-Vue drive-in
theatres at Cioldsboro. is a master at cook-
ing up special stunts for special days, and his
folks look for whatever he has on the fire
for each holiday. And, to go back to Dale
Baldwin for a minute, his most recent letter
has a sample of genuine dirt from the Congo
Basin in Africa wh.ere “White W itch Doc-
tor” was filmed — a giveaway envelope, im-
printed with the playdates, which caused talk
in his neighborhood. And on the distaff
side, Mrs. Elizabeth WMrd, manager of the
Center theatre, N. C., spreads the word
about her special shows with attractive
heralds which she distributes with the help
of practically everybody in WAddon. She
keeps her public relations in such good order
that folks down her way help to put her
show over. W’hich proves that Statesville’s
School for Showmanship is also co-educa-
tional.

Macy's Focuses on
"Pinocchio" Toys

Macy’s in New York has focused the
scores of toys and books on “Pinocchio” in
its “Toy City” displays, conincident with
the metropolitan premiere of the Walt Dis-
ney classic in 125 local theatres. The de-
partment store used a full page adver-
tisement in daily newspapers to herald the
event, including their handling of the record
albums and music tieups for the picture.
Macy’s “real” Pinocchio will be i)resent
in Toy City and will give pictures of his
cartoon friends for free during the week of
April 19th.

THE LIVING DESERT — Walt Disney. In

color by Technicolor. The first, feature
length, true-life adventure. Fabulously
beautiful, savagely real, excitingly differepf.
A whole new world of entertainment. Al-
though this fine Disney production is listed
as a November release, the excellent press-
book has just come to this desk, and we
hasten to praise it in no uncertain terms.
Seldom do showmen have such opportuni-
ties as are extended here! It's color — and
you have two posters in color, the largest
a three sheet, with the one-sheet planned
for schools and away-from the theatre use.
A set of lobby cards and other accessories
sell color with color, and Disney with Dis-
ney. The newspaper ad mats are ample
and varied, with the big 35c special com-
posite mat giving seven ad mats and three
publicity mats, all for the price of a single
mat, on standing order at National Screen.
Another supplement is offered for "Ben
and ME” — a short Disney offered in fhe
same package with "The Living Desert.”
All advertising sells the package, which Is
as It should be in all good theatres. Keep
your Disney audience by not diluting it
with extraneous fare. The publicity section
of the press book Is worth careful study,
and the exploitation section gives you
good ideas on promotion displays.

CASANOVA'S BIG NIGHT — Paramount.

In color by Technicolor. Winchell says this
new Bob Hope film is a "Fundinger.” With
Joan Fontaine, Basil Rathbone, Audrey
Dalton and a cast of cute gals. "It's really
me, folks, as 'Casanova'- — the lovin' ro-
mancin' Menace of Venice, chasin' more
dames than any guy In history.” Greatest
swordsman in hisfory, too, and he'll slay

you! Any resemblance to history Is purely
coincidental, but this is Hope, for tired
audiences. 24-sheet and other posters have
been planned to give you cut-outs and art
materials for lobby and marquee display.
Newspaper ad mats are Interesting and
in the proper style to sell a Bob Hope
comedy, from a set of advance teasers
through all sizes and shapes, up to and in-
cluding the big 35c economy mat for small
situations, which has everything you'll need
to sell the picture.

NIGHT PEOPLE — 20th Century-Fox. Clne-
maScope, with Stereophonic Sound. In
color by Technicolor. Gregory Peck, Brod-
erick Crawford, Anita Bjork, Rita Gam, in
a new-dimensional thriller of the U. S.
Counter-Intelligence. Takes you behind the
tense scenes of cold war Berlin, to reveal
the never-told-before, headline-hot story of
a kidnapped Gl who was held hostage,
until a tough, rugged, two-fisted American,
brough him back, alive! 24-sheet and other
posters sell the excitement of this suspense-
ful film in the new 'Scopes. Herald keys the
campaign with all the right selling ap-
proach. Newspaper ad mats tell about
"The Night People” in the mysterious set-
ting of Berlin — the most sinister underworld
on earth! Teasers and selling ads in all sizes
and shapes, and a complete campaign mat
for 35c at National Screen which contains
3 two-column and 3 one-column ad mats
and slugs, with two publicity mats for good
measure, sufficient for all small situations.
Both CInemaScope and 2-D trailers, and
accessories for complete TV coverage, be-
cause there's no substitute for television
selling In today's market. It reaches right
in and gets your audience Into the theatre.

This is the prize-winning display which won fhe $100 check for Max Cooper, manager
of Skouras Cove theatre, Glen Cove, L I., given by Armour & Company, in their coopera-
tive merchandising tieup to promote Star Pantry Shelf Meals with local theatres and
stores participating. Max used the occasion for Greek Quake Relief.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Refreshtnen t
Sates Zoom
In Summer

Just at the time when individual theatre
operations, and the industry as a whole, are
most in need of a certain “lift” to avoid that
summer slump in grosses, the refreshment
sales step up to meet the seasonal drop of
entertainment. It is good luck for the thea-
tre manager whose concession counters are
up-to-date, and thriving with good merchan-
dising policy. It fills in that deposit slip at
the bank with figures in the black, instead
of in the red. Most showmen don’t have to
be told this elementary fact, but some do,
and there are still very many who fail to
capitalize summer as the busy season at the
merchandising counters.

Also, along seasonal lines, live theatre cir-
cuits such as Schine and Walter Reade, in
this part of the country, are selling more
and more shows for children to local mer-
chants, who buy all the tickets, and give
them away to either parents or the children
themselves, through their store outlets. The
Schine circuit is especially diligent in lining
up these “sell-out” performances with local
sponsors, because they have found much ad-
ditional revenue in the sure gross from the
admissions in bulk, plus a wildly enthusiastic
audience of kids who still have their nickels
and dimes to spend for candy and refresh-
ments. They come literally “loaded” with
cash to spend, on the concession line.

Schine circuit managers are wtirking hard
on plans for high school graduation parties
and promotions. George Cameron, manager
of the Vernon theatre, Mt. Vernon, Ohio,
and Lewis Thompson in Bellfontaine, are
among those lining up the senior class,
their families and friends.

Filmack's Special List of
Refreshment Trailers

Irving Mack, always fast on the draw in
supplying special trailers for special pur-
poses, has many valuable trailers listed in
his drive-in catalog which will sell refresh-
ment merchandise in any type of theatre.
These are “reminders” in the sense that
they are short and to the point. You don’t
have to bear down on the sales talk ; the
thing to do is to say, out loud, that you have
thus-and-so at the concession counter, or
remind the audience that intermission time
is their. time to relax.

WEEKLY REPORT — supplementing the monthly department

Refreshment Market Directory

Appearing in the Spring Buyers Number of the Better Theatres Section with
this issue of the Herald, this month's Better Refreshment Merchandising depart-
ment contains a Buyers Index exclusively concerned with equipment and mer-
chandise of theatre vending, listing manufacturers In this field according to
product classification.

Among other editorial contents of the department is an article on the methods
of refreshment merchandising successfully employed by the Modern Theatres
circuit of Cleveland, covering stand location, types of equipment, stock supplies,
maintenance and promotion.

AT POPCORN CONFERENCE IN BALTIMORE

6000' plSSrb

SPKIAl TRAILERS

Over 50 representatives of the popcorn industry in Baltimore, Md., heard reports on phases of popcorn
and concession merchandising at the third annual regional conference sponsored by the International
Popcorn Association, Chicago, held recently at the Lord Baltimore hotel. Addressing the meeting above
is Don W. Mayborn, Cornco, Inc., Baltimore, co-chairman of the conference; seated are (left to right)
James A. Ryan, of C. F. Simonln's Sons, Philadelphia; John L. Strickland, Riderwood, Md., another co-chair-
rrian of the meeting; and Thomas J. Sullivan, executive vice-president of IPA. Lee E. Stine of the Popcorn
Processing Company, Hagerstown, Md., also acted as a co-chairman. Among the other speakers on the
program (in addition to those pictured) were Tom Derby of the Sylvania Cellophane Company, Phila-
delphia; Irving A. Singer, Rex Specialty Bag Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y.; C. M. Fisher, Jr., Pop Corn Sez
Company, Upper Darby, Pa.; Martin B. Coopersmith, the Marjack Company, Washington, D. C.; and
August Nolte, Theatre Concessions, Inc., Baltimore.

motion picture herald, may 8, 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, box numberand address. Minimum insertion $1.50. Four
insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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

SAVE TIME. SAVE MONEY! PAINT YOUR
own attractive advertising signs. Experience not
needed. Write for information today. TIMES SQUARE
DISTRIBUTING CO., 225 W. 34th St., New York
City.

BARGAIN— 8c EACH, BRAND NEW MAGIC-
Viewers and Polalite 3D glasses, limited supply.
First come, first served. MALCO THEATRES, INC.,
Purchasing Department, P. O. Box 2853, Memphis 2,
Tenn.

MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS, FIT WAG-
iner, Adler, Bevelite Signs; 4''-35c; 8''-50c; 10''-60c;
]2"-85c; 14"-$1.25; 16"-$1.50. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd iStreet. New York 19.

MIKKO-CLARIC REPRESENTS BEST VALUE in
metalized all purpose screen — only $1.00 sq. ft. Seams
absolutely invisible; Kollmorgen wide angle lenses,
special apertures, immediately available! S.O.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
Street, 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 S-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.

MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMA-
nac — 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

CAPITALIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE-SHOOT
local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar-
range advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Ask
for Film Production Catalog, S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New
York 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

WIDE SCREEN PAYS OFF! WIDE ANGLE
lenses, special apertures immediate!y available. Motor-
ized carbon savers 9, 10, 11mm for angle trim arc
lamps (Mighty 90, etc.) $59.50. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION. 602 W. 52nd Street, New
York 19.

USED EQUIPMENT

BIG SAVINGS ON BIG SCREENS AT STAR!
Write us! RCA rotary stabilizer Soundheads, rebuilt,
$395 pair; DeVry XDC Projectors, heavy ba^es,
Suprex Lamphouses, Rectifiers, rebuilt, $1495 pair;
pair Strong Ikw. Lamphouses and Rectifiers, excel-
lent condition, $425; Ashcraft 70 ampere Lamphouses,
rebuilt, $489.50 pair; Motiograph Mirrophonic Sound
System, dual amplifier, latest type, rebuilt, $1150.
What do you need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447
West 52nd St., New York 19.

TWO REGULAR SIMPLEX HEADS JUST RE-
cently rebuilt with new rear shutters and D. B.
intermittents ; new pair of Weaver changeovers; brand
new set of Kollmorgen Super Snaplite coated lenses,
size f/4.25. Will sell all or part of this equipment to
first comer. NEW GLARUS THEATRES, New
Glarus, Wise.

DEVRY DUAL 35MM PROJECTION AND SOUND.
Rebuilt like new, ^95. Send for DeVry Bulletin.
Holmes dual outfits excellent condition. $550. Time
deals available. S.O.S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORA-
TION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New York 19.

HELP WANTED

A.RE YOU THE MAN WE WANT? MANAG-
gerial jobs open in growing drive-in circuit. Positions
available in East Coast and Mid-West. 52-week deal
with extras. The right men showing ambition and
pride in their work can make a fine career with us.
Write and we will arrange appointments. SMITH
MANAGEMENT CO., Attention Arnold Berger, 82
Newbury St., Boston, Mass.

POSITIONS WANTED

CAPABLE THE.\TRE EXECUTIVE, WELL REC-
ommended, seeks manager’s position or will consider
operating theatres for absentee owners. BOX 2786,
MOTION PKTTURE HERALD.

THOROUGHLY EXPERIENCED, ENERGETIC
manager. Promotional, exploitation minded, desires
solid connection offering opportunity to show ability.
BOX 2787, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

SELL DURING YOUR SPARE TIME— ADVER-
tising specialties, calendars, etc. Top commissions.
Write L. H HORTON ADVERTISING SPECIALTY
CO., Lansing, Michigan.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO.,
Cato, N. Y.

THEATRES

THEATRE SOUTH JERSEY, POPULATION 8,500.
436 seats, best equipment. Netting better $150 weekly.
Ideal husband-wife oneration. $10,000 cash plus $12,5(Xk
mortgage. BOX 2788, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

SALE NEW MASONRY BUILDING. 407 SEATS,
new equipment and furnishings, 50 miles from Buf-
falo, asking $60,000 easy terms. DREW, 159 Linwood
Avenue, Buffalo, New York.

SEATING

ATTENTION EXHIBITORS! HOW ABOUT SOME
Spring tonic for your chairs to improve comfort and
get back some of the customers you lost. We have
a large stock of late type chairs that will meet all
requirements. If you are interested in rebuilding your
chairs or in the market for better than you have,
write for additional information. Prices very reason-
able. EASTERN SEATING CO., 138-13 Springlield
Blvd., Springfield Gardens, N. Y., LAurenton 8-3696.

NEED CHAIRS? SEND FOR CHAIR BULLETIN
showing all makes and types from $4.95. S-O.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
Street, New York 19.

Cite 32 New Installations
For Pola-Lite 3-D System

Following openings using the single-track
Pola-Lite 3-D projection system at the
Warner theatre in Oklahoma City; Electric,
Kansas City, Kan.; Whalley, New Haven;
Utah, Salt Lake City and Astor in Cleve-
land, A1 O’Keefe, vice-president in charge
of distribution for Pola-Lite, this week an-
nounced 32 additional installations thus far
set for the current month. Topping the
May playdates on Universal-International’s
“Creature from the Black Lagoon” on the
Pola-Lite System are a group of eight
Chicago openings at the Four Star, Mar-
quette, Rockne, Empress, Kedzie, Commer-
cial, Windsor and State theatres.

Mr. O’Keefe cited the forthcoming na-
tional releases of 20th Century-Fox’s “Go-
rilla at Large” and United Artists “South-

west Passage” and "Gog” as well as the
availability of Technicolor prints on U-Ps
"Taza, Son of Cochise.”

A. E. Cates, national field supervisor for
Pola-Lite, has been appointed Canadian
division manager in charge of the com-
pany’s sales activities, Mr. O’Keefe also
announced. (Mr. Cates will work in cooper-
ation with the General Theatre Supply or-
ganization,* Canadian distributors of the
Pola-Lite 3-D glasses and single-track pro-
jection unit.

Color Corp. to Smith

HOLLYWOOD : Controlling interest in the
Color Corporation of America has changed
hands from the Donner Corp. to Benjamin
Smith and Associates. The latter also con-
trols the Houston Fearless Corp. and the
Houston Color Film Laboratory, Burbank,
which processes Ansco Color film.

Oscar Neufeld Dies

Oscar Neufeld, 68, connected with the
motion picture industry in Philadelphia for
many years, died April 27 in that city. In
his long him career Mr. Neufeld had been
connected with Stanley Mastbaum, MGM,
and once operated his own exchange.

Joe Laurie, Jr.

Joe Laurie, Jr., 61, veteran comedian and
raconteur of show business, tlied April 29 at
St. Clare’s Hospital in New York.

Vincent Marko

Vhneent Marko, 50, known as Tom lylo
in his portrayal of a cowboy in numerous
Western films, died at his home in Ham-
tramck, Michigan, last week after a pro-
longed illness.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

FILM BUYERS RATING

Film buyers of iiidepeinleitf circuits in the U. S. rate current
product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This
report covers 117 attractions, 5,113 playdates.

Titles run al phabctically. 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.

Alaska Seas ( Para.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)

*Appointment in Honduras (RKO)

1 1

Back to God's Country (U-l)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox)

Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

*Big Heat (Col.)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Border River ( U-l )

1 1

Botany Bay ( Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

1 1

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Cease Fire! ( Para.)

Command, The (WB)

1 1

Craiylegs — All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l)

Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO)

Decameron Nights (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

Dragonfly Squadron (AA)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein ( Col.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse ( Rep.)

Flight to Tangier (Para.)

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Female (Para.)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glass Web, The (U-l)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fo*)

fHell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox)

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail (Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

EX AA AV BA PR

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Living Desert, The (Disney)

Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)

(Lucky Me ( WB)

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)

Man Between, The (UA)

...

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

...

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

...

Martin Luther (de Rochemont)

Miss Robin Crusoe (20th-Fox)

...

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)

*Mogambo (MGM)

Money from Home (Para.)

Naked Jungle, The (Para.)

Nebraskan, The (Col.)

...

New Faces (20th-Fox)

Night People (20th-Fox)

“

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)

fPinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

(Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)

Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.) . .

...

Private Eyes (AA)

. .

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

... -

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

1 1

(Rails Into Laramie (U-l)

Red Garters ( Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l)

Riders to the Stars (UA)

...

Riding Shotgun (WB)

...

Riot in Cell Block II (AA)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

...

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Roman Holiday (Para.)

Rose Marie (MGM)

“

Saadia ( MGM )

Saskatchewan (U-l)

*Sea of Lost Ships (Rep.)

...

Shane (Para.)

Shark River ( UA)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)

...

1 1

Siege at Red River (20th-Fox)

...

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

...

So Big (WB)

Take the High Ground (MGM)

1 1

Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l)

1 1

Tennessee Champ (MGM)

...

*Those Redheads from Seattle (Para.)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

. , 1

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)

1 1

Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( UA)

Tumbleweed (U-l)

Veils of Bagdad (U-l)

1 1

Walking My Baby Back Home (U-l)

War Arrow ( U-l )

Wild One (Col.)

...

Yankee Pasha (U-l)

ALUED

SUPERSCO?^

Patents Pending

PesigriGd for use with y/4// Cinemascope Rctures!

13eoil3aM

the

new will

and

fmoumTorgrwng ^hibrfSrs

ALLIED CALLS TUSHINSKY LENS
THE BEST BUY ‘AS OF TODA Y’

WASHINGTON, March 29.— “As
of today,” the Tushinsky Super Scope
lens represents the best buy for exhib-
itors desiring wide-screen showings in
either indoor or drive-in theatres, ac-
cording to the “watchdog committee”
of Allied States Association.

This decision was announced in a
bulletin to Allied members from gen-

eral counsel Abram F. Myers. The
watchdog committee was appointed to
keep an eye on new projection and
sound processes. It consists of Wil-
bur Snaper, Sidney E. Samuelson, Irv-
ing Bollinger and Myers, and recently
witnessed the New York SuperScope
demonstration.

cm/

I The Lowe^ price for

$ any ^ce

• " on the market toda^i

NATIONAL SCREEN SERVICE

^iGHi

The Buffeirs Index

MAY ISSUE:

Section 2 of Motion Picture Herald of May 8, 1954

turn a few into

a nice

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1 fr-pSp

When you install vending equipment for Coca-Cola in a few
square feet of lobby space, a nice round profit starts to show
in your ledger. That’s because theater patrons from coast to
coast have become accustomed to enjoying retreshment with
their entertainment. Ice-cold Coke, of course, is real refresh-
ment. It’s a real profit-maker, too. For the details on a wide
variety of vending equipment, get in touch with The Coca-Cola
Company, P. O. Box 1734, Atlanta, Georgia.

*‘COKE»» IS A REGISTERED TRADE-MARK.

Q^meiicm Smiutff Gmfianff

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

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

NAJiQjjAl

THE PICTURE IS LIGHT...
GIVE IT ALL YOU CAN
with “NATIONAL” CARBONS

The term " National” is a registered trade-mark
of Uniott Carbide and Carbon Corporation

NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY

A Division of

Union Carbide and Carbon Corporation
30 East 42nd Street, New York 17, N. Y.

District SnlfS Offices: Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas.
Kansas City, New York. 1‘ittsburgh, San Francisco
IN CANADA : Union Carbide Canada Limited, Toronto

WITH THE LATEST impressive developments in wide-screen, 3-D and ste-
reophonic sound, with the flurry of new stars and really better movies, ex-
hibitors have more to work for — and more to work with — than ever before.
In your efforts to capitalize on the new projection techniques, don’t overlook
these important facts:

THE PICTURE IS LIGHT - This is a fact exhibitors should know and remem-
ber. Every tone of light and shadow, every hue and shade of color on the
screen are contained in the light behind the film. The film itself cannot
add to the picture. It creates the screen-image only by filtering or holding
back certain elements of the projection light.

LOW-COST IMPROVEMENT — Your "National” carbons deliver maximum
screen-light at, or near, maximum recommended operating currents. Only
by operating at peak current can you get all the screen light your present
eciuipment is capable of delivering. So, while you’re figuring new lamps
or awaiting delivery, don’t miss this inexpensive means of improving your
position in a highly competitive market. Light is box office, too!

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

The Speaker Designed for
the Years Ahead

basic Drive-In needs

contact

RCA's bdsi*
DRIVE - 1^

package

Here’s your No. 1 buy for years of
dependable performance — the fa-
mous RCA Drive-in Speaker — the
most imitated speaker on the mar-
ket— still unmatched for down-
right economy and quality.

More than a million RCA

Speakers are your proof that you’re
buying the finest when you buy
RCA. Compare prices . . . compare
performance . . . and you’ll find you
can’t make a more satisfactory buy
for the years ahead than the famous
RCA Speaker.

New Beam Power

for the New Types of Films

Get the extra light power you need for the
new types of films — with RCA’s new Wide- Arc
Lamp. New High-Efficiency design makes this
new lamp right for your showings of standard
films — right for 3-D and wide-screen films. Get
more light on your screen than ever before
with RCA’s new Wide-Arc Lamp.

New ‘‘Button-On” Soundhead for
Magnetic-Track Films

Here’s the easy solution to the new mag-
netic films — RCA’s "Button-On” Sound-
head. Buy it now in preparation for the
new films — or add it at any time to your
present projectors.

RCA “Proved-Performance” Sound Systems

When you select your sound system — make drive-in operation. Make sure it’s a "proved-
sure it’s engineered and proved in use for performance” RCA Sound System.

Dependable RCA Projectors

Automatic lubrication and long- pendable, trouble-free service,
life mechanical design make the For the last word in economy,
RCA ”100” your best buy for de- check the RCA "60” projector.

THEATRE EQUiRMEHT

RADiO CORPORATiON of AMERiCA

EMGIMEERIMG PRODUCTS CAMDEN. M.J.

In Canada: RCA VICTOR Company Limited, Montreal

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famous Ballantyne

Dub'l-Cone Speakers

for

Stereophonic Sound in
Drive-In Theatres

Ballantyne has now adapted its famous Dub’l-Cone
speakers for you to show profit-rich Cinemascope
pictures in drive-in theatres.

For new drive-ins a

complete four speaker unit is available.

For those theatres who want to change over their
present system to drive-in stereophonic sound, Ballantyne
furnishes you with the necessary conversion kit
for both electrical hook up and four speaker mounting.

This is the system approved by 20th Century-Fox.

Write today for full information or
see your nearby Ballantyne dealer.

00ut Pecple

the ykeatfe

AND OF BUSINESSES SERVING THEM

•

The resignation of Edwin J. Perry as man-
ager of the Public Seating Division of the
Heywood-Wakefield Company, Gardner, Mass.,
and the appointment of Charles H. Rukas, for-
merly Central Division Sales Manager of the
Public Seating Division at the Chicago office,
to replace Mr. Perry has been announced by
Richard N. Greenwood, president of the com-
pany. Mr. Rukas, a veteran of 17 years with
Heywood-Wakefield, has been associated with
public seating during his entire career with
the company at the Gardner plant and at New
York, Boston and Chicago sales offices. He will
make his offices at the Menominee, Mich., fac-
tory, which has been the headquarters plant
of the company public seating division opera-
tions for many years.

Harvey Garland has been appointed buyer
and head booker for Florida State Theatres in
Jacksonville.

Mack Jackson has purchased the Bama thea-
tre in Alexander City, Ala.

Abel Caplan, operator of the Westway thea-
tre, Baltimore, has taken over the closed Astor
theatre there and plans to reopen it soon for
Negro patrons.

The apnointment of J. L. Myers of San
Francisco as the new sales representative in
California for McQuay, Inc., Minneapolis
manufacturers of heating and air conditioning,
has been announced by H. Blake Thomas,
vice-president in charge of sales for McQuay.
Mr. Myers represented the Farr Company in

SINGLE-TRACK 3D SYSTEM

The single-track 3D projection attachment now be-
ing marketed by the Pola-Lite Company, New York,
is explained by inventor Dr. Leon W. Wells (center)
to Wilfred Dawson (left) and William Esperti,
operators of the booth at the Roxy theatre in
Detroit, where the system had its premiere with
Universal-International's "The Creature from the
Black Lagoon." Other theatres which have installed
the system include the Fulton in Pittsburgh; Senate,
Harrisburg, Pa.; Manos, Uniontown, Pa.; Commerce,
Commerce, Tex.; Nicholas, Fairmont, Minn.; Durand,
Durand, Wis.; and Queens, Wilmington, Del. The
system was demonstrated last month to exhibitors
in the Milwaukee and Chicago territories.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8. 1954

GRIGGS equipment company

Atuuuuice^ , , .

the Purchase of the ORIGINAL

Now! When you modernize your theatre . . . you'll
be able to buy the original "Push-Back" Chair from Griggs,
manufacturers of modern, auditorium seating.

chair

jrom the

KROEHLER Manufacturing C ompany, Naperville, Illiftois

And — for trained servicing of the more than 500.000 "Push-
Back" Chairs already installed in theatres everywhere . , .
contact Griggs. We will maintain a complete stock of parts,
supplies, and upholstery materials to keep your "Push-Back"
Chairs looking and operating at their best.

For information on "Push-Back” Chairs at this time, send
inquiries direct to:

V. B. GRIGGS

President

GRIGGS Equipment Company

GRIGGS EQUIPMENT COMPANY

P. O. BOX 630 BELTON, TEXAS

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

northern California as a manufacturers’ agent
for several years.

E. S. Gregg, vice-president and general man-
ager of Westrex Corporation, New York, left
last month for Denmark to attend a conference
of the corporation’s subsidiary manager from
Sweden, Egypt, Italy, Algeria, Spain, England,
Belgium, Denmark and France. Following the
conference Mr. Gregg planned to visit com-
pany offices and return to New York around
the middle of May.

Sam Mellits has equipped his Dentonio thea-
tre, Denton, Md., for CinemaScope.

LeotiarJ Francoeur of Fall River, Mass., a
former projectionist and manager for the Nathan
Yamins circuit in that state, has taken over the
lease on the Island theatre in Portsmouth, R. I.

U’illiam Fried has been named manager of
the newly reopened Bugg theatre in suburban
Chicago. The theatre is operated by a group
of business men with stores in the vicinity of
the theatre.

Kay Simmons, formerly night manager of
the Astor theatre, Chicago, has been appointed
manager of the Gold Coast theatre by owner
Jerry GoUlcih.

Considerable damage to the screen, speakers,
junction boxes and other property at the Melody
Cruise-in Drive-in near Springfield, Ohio, was
recently caused by vandals. It resulted in a de-
layed opening for the drive-in this season.

Elmer Dell'itt, city manager for the Mailers
Brothers’ circuit in Defiance, Ohio, was recently
elected president of the local Lions Club in
recognition of his public and community work.

Robert Williamson has been named manager
of the Dade theatre, Miami, Fla., replacing
George West.

AT EZELL DEMONSTRATION

D. J. White (left), president of the Magnasync
Manufacturing Company, North Hollywood, Calif.,
and A. Leslie, Twentieth Century-Fox research
executive, examine the Ezell speaker for drive-ins
and Magnasync booth equipment used at a demon-
stration of the new three-speaker unit developed for
in-car reproduction of CinemaScope's three-track
sound system. The demonstration was held at the
Buckner drive-in, Dallas, Tex., and attended by ex-
hibitors from all parts of the country. The com-
posite in-car speaker, developed by Claude Ezell
Theatres, Dallas, has three 4-inch speakers housed
in a fiberglas case with the units mounted in a
curve to face the interior and centered on the
width of the windshield. The case may be sus-
pended from the rear view mirror or panel ledge
by a thin cable.

U'illiam McGrath, formerly assistant city
manager in Manchester, Conn., for Stanley
Warner Theatres, has been promoted to city
manager, replacing William Broncn, who re-
signed.

If’illiam Daugherty has been transferred to
the East Windsor drive-in in that Connecticut
city from his post as manager of the Lockwood
& Gordon Webb Playhouse.

Sol Karp, formerly with independent interests
in Connecticut, has joined the Manchester Drive-
in Theatre Corporation, Hartford, as manager
of its Manchester drive-in at Bolton Notch,
Conn.

Kenneth Winkelmeyer announced plans to re-
open this month his theatre at Boonville, Mo.,
which was damaged by fire some time ago.

Refurbishing of his Fillmore theatre, Filliiiore,
Calif., is reported by Gordon West.

The Puente theatre, Puente, Calif., has been
equipped with a new wide-screen and a larger
stage, the latter to be used for “youth talent”
programs which owner Steve Chorak plans to
introduce.

J. Sletters, who recently took over operation
of the Mondovi theatre at Mondovi, Wise., has
installed a new screen and snack bar and reno-
vated the building’s exterior.

Plans to enlarge the screen of the Bluemound
drive-in at Milwaukee are reported by manager
Dick Grede.

Jay Higgins, former exhibitor in Ansley,
Nebr., has purchased the Rialto theatre at
Arnold, Nebr., from Ulysses A. Brown.

Frank Pease, formerly manager of the World
theatre in Philadelphia, has been appointed to
that position at the New Broadway in the same
city.

Edward Lachman, president of Lorraine Car-
bons, Inc., Boonton, N. J., returned recently from
a four-week trip throughout the south, southwest
and mid-central states, during which he met
with Lorraine Carbon dealers to discuss the new
large-cored “Orlux super-charged” carbons for
wide-screen projection and talked with exhibi-
tors in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas,
Tennessee. Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa,
Illinois, Michigan and Ohio. Mr. Lachman re-
ports that exhibitors told him “business is hold-
ing its own” and in many situations is improv-
ing. They were particularly enthusiastic, he
said, about the tax exemption on tickets of 50c
or less and many of them told him they planned
to spend this supplement to their revenue on
refurbishing their theatres and installing new
equipment, carpets and seats. “In fact,” he
said, “many exhibitors are still setting aside the
equivalent to what the tax would amount to and
are arranging with their supply dealers to in-
stall such equipment, including also anamorphic
lenses and stereophonic sound, on a monthly
payment equivalent to the tax savings.” Mr.
Lachman left New York April 22nd for a four-
week trip to Europe, where he planned to visit
film centers in Amsterdam, Paris, Rome, Bar-
celona and London, meeting with circuit heads
and theatre owners for general discussions about
the film industry. While in France Mr. Lach-
man plans to visit the home offices of Lorraine
Carbons in Paris and the company’s manufac-
turing plant in the northeast of France in de
Pagny-sur-Moselle to discuss the wide-spread
acceptance of the new Lorraine carbons.

"When To Suif 9t "

M0TI06RAPH DEALERS

CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES: B. F. Shearer Company

1964 S. 'Vermont Ave

SAN FRANCISCO; 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

BOS rON: 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: Vincent M. Tate

1620 Wyoming Ave

TENNESSEE

MEMPHIS: Tri-State Theatre Supply

320 S. Second Si

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.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Westrex Corporation

honored by

THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE

ARTS AND SCIENCES

. . . FOR SCIENTIFIC AND

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT

The Academy’s Scientific and Technical Award was
presented to the Westrex Corporation for the design
and construction of a new film editing machine (The
Westrex Editer) at the 26th annual "Oscar” presen-
tations held in Hollywood, March 25, 1954.

The Westrex Editer was designed and engineered by the Westrex Hollywood laboratories in co-
operation with leading studios and is an advanced machine that meets every film editing need.

☆

...FOR EXCELLENCE OF SOUND RECORDING

Westrex and Western Electric Recordings have won in
21 of the 24 years that the Academy has established
an Award for Excellence of Sound.

1953 OSCAR

For the best achievement in
sound recording by a studio sound department
v^on by The Sound Department of

Columbia Studios

for their Western Electric recorded film

“From Here to Eternity”

Producer Buddy Adler

Director Fred Zinnemann

Sound Director John Livadary

Recording Western Electric

More films are being recorded today on
Westrex equipment than ever before.
Studios throughout the world can de-
pend on Westrex systems for photo-
graphic, magnetic, and stereophonic
recording and re-recording to deliver
the utmost in sound quality.

Research, Distribution and Service for the Motion Picture Industry

Westrex Corporation

111 EIGHTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 11, N. Y.

HOLLYWOOD DIVISION: 6601 ROMAINE STREET. HOLLYWOOD 38. CAL.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

for MAY 1954

GEORGE SCHUTZ, Editor

EDITORIAL INDEX:

Page

A SUMMARY OF WIDE-SCREEN TECHNIQUES 12

THE PRESENTATION OF VISTAVISION FILMS IN THE THEATRE, by Loren L.

Ryder 13

NEW CARPETING CAN KEY A REFURBISHING PROGRAM 16

THE INSTALLATION AND OPERATION OF A PERSPECTA SOUND SYSTEM, by

N. H. Crowhurst 21

ANAMORPHIC VERSUS CROPPING IN WIDE-SCREEN PROJECTION, by Gio

Gagliardi 23

CINEMA THEATRE, SWIFT CURRENT. SASKATCHEWAN. CANADA. 468 SEAT-
ING CAPACITY 30

DRIVE-IN department:

DRIVE-IN INSURANCE NEEDS, by Wilfred P. Smith 32

BETTER PROJECTION department:

ADAPTING CINEMASCOPE TO VARIOUS FIELD CONDITIONS, by Charles L.
fish 35

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING department:

INTEGRATED SNACK BAR FACILITIES FOR SPEEDY AND PROFITABLE SERVICE 39

MERCHANDISE MART 42

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING BUYERS INDEX. 47

THE BUYERS INDEX 5i

ABOUT PRODUCTS 73

CINEMASCOPE FOR AN OMAHA DRIVE-IN 79

METHOD IN MANAGEMENT department:

A Dictionary of Maintenance (Part Four), by Curtis Mees, Fifteenth Article

of a Series on Motion Picture Theatre Management 82

CHARLIE JONES SAYS: Faith That Survives Three Fires Deserves an Oscar. . 86

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 Guide Number, 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; HOllywood 7-2145.
MIDWEST: Urben Farley & Company, 120 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago; Financial 6-3074.

Growing Pains
In the Head
And the Pocket

YOU READ reports of
exhibitors' conventions these days and the
stories have a common theme: Exhibitors
are confused! Was called on this morning
by an out-of-town exhibitor. Boy, is he con-
fused! Charlie Jones was confused, but a
fire burned him out of business and now
he is merely bewildered.

Confusion about what the technical fel-
lows have devised isn't too hard to get rid
of. Cr is it? Anyway, an attempt to clear
matters up a bit is made on the following
page. But confusion as to what to do about
it is something else again. Depends on the
theatre, the location, the money available.
Some things a fellow just has to decide tor
himself.

But let's all remember that television
was the firecracker under the cushion which
put this industry on its feet and started it
off on this march of progress, and that TV
itself is still growing both in its geographi-
cal coverage and in its competence as a
medium of entertainment.

The industry has acquired confidence in
its ability to meet that competition. That
confidence should fuel, not water down, the
effort.

Meeting the new demands in the area of
projection and sound isn't made any sim-
pler by the overall condition of theatres.
Thousands are outmoded, even more of
them grossly shabby. That state of affairs
certainly bears heavily upon the problem
of competing with entertainment witnessed
from an easy chair near the dinner table.

Those conditions have been accumulat-
ing for many years, and we do not believe
that anything on the screen, or any kind of
screen, is going to make the public long
ignore them. If anything, the "new look"
of the performance will more and more
emphasize the old look elsewhere. It is
simply a case of the new suit with a shabby
necktie and down-at-the-heel shoes. Nor
is anything likely to come out of the tech-
nical movement to minimize the signifiance
k of comfort, which TV indeed has made
more urgent than ever.

It Is too bad that procrastination in deal-
ing With deterioration and obsolescence
has developed a problem of such dimen-
sions to be faced when the art itself is re-
quiring so much of the industry's resources.
But there it is, not to be wished away. To
an effective degree, theatre rehabilitation
and modernization must be somehow super-
imposed on the technical program now
underway. G.S.

1 1

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Wde-^cmn yechnii^ueA

What You Need for What You "Want

Methods now available briefly summarized especially to clarify equipment requirements

With the introduction of Vista-
Vision (see opposite page ) and Per-
specta sound (page 21) among the
“new techniques,” the technical
movement which began last year
may have become even more con-
fusing than it has been to many
exhibitors trying to decide on
a course oi action immediately
adapted to their particular opera-
tion. The following explanations of
processes, and of terms applying to
them, have been suggested by that
possibility, and they have been kept
as simple and concise as the special
and restricted purpose advise.

APERTURE MASKING

Larger pictures than have char-
acterized motion picture exhibition
throughout most of its history have
become adopted by the American
industry" in principle and are stead-
ily supplanting former practice. Be-
cause of the nature of human vi-
sion, and the distribution of an
audience in a theatre (to ignore the
factor of structural obstruction),
the increase should be greater in
width than in height. This has
brought about a change in recom-
mended picture proportions — that
is, in the aspect ratio of the screen
image.

The projector aperture, as long
standardized, has a relationship of
width to height as 4 is to 3, or as
1.33 is to 1. A picture relatively
wider than that, say, as 1.66 (width)
is to 1 (height) can be projected by
inserting an aperture plate with the
height of the opening reduced to
give those proportions. Similarly,
other proportions can be effected in
projection. Obviously, this method
can cut off portions of heads and
other material at the top and bottom
of the photograph. However, Amer-
ican producers not employing ana-
morphic lenses are restricting the
height of critical material to allow

masking for proportions as large as
1.85-to-l, in some instances a little
more (see, for example, adjoining
article on VistaVision).

To widen the picture merely by
masking the aperture, projection
lenses of shorter focal length are
necessary. This has always been
necessary when a theatre has gone
to a larger picture. With wide-
screen presentation, only, or mostly,
the increased width is used, with
part of the height not projected.

This means that, even though the
area (square footage) of the picture
is similar, more light is required
just as if the standard 1.33-to-l film
frame were projected to its full
height, with the height of the
screen image accordingly inc: ased
in standard proportion to the in-
crease in picture width.

The need for more light may re-
quire use of larger carbons and
more amperage. If existing lamps
do not permit this, new ones are
necessary. However, limitations of
an existing carbon trim or lamp
may be compensated for by installa-
tion of a metallic (specular) screen,
which has from two to two and a
half times the reflectance of a
“white” (diffusive) screen.

A metallic screen is necessary for
3D pictures; it is needed for 2D
product, however, only when suffi-
cient light cannot be obtained from
the arc alone with lamps available
or preferred. (A very narrow the-
atre, of course, has always been
able to use a metallic screen to ad-
vantage ; on the other hand, a metal-
lic screen introduces difficulties in
a wide auditorium, and these are
aggravated when the picture is rela-
tively wide.)

It is to be noted that VistaVision
pictures will be offered in prints
which, like those of other producers
(except those making all product by
an anamorphic method), can be
projected merely by aperture mask-

ing and use of projection lenses of
focal length necessary to give a pic-
ture of desired width.

ANAMORPHIC WIDE-SCREEN;

This an optical rather than a me-
chanical method of widening the
picture. GinemaScope is an ex-
ample. Paramount has also an-
nounced its intention to provide an-
amorphic, or squeeze, prints of
VistaVision productions. In each
case, the area photographed is com-
pressed (objects made narrower
than normal) in producing the film
frame, and in projection it is ex-
panded in the same amount by
means of lenses in front of the pro-
jection lenses acting in reverse of
the lenses used in photographing or
printing.

GinemaScope employs anamor-
phic lenses in photography as well
as projection. VistaVision will em-
ploy anamorphic lenses only in
printing (thus there will be two
types of VistaVision prints.

GinemaScope anamorphic pro-
jection lenses differ from those for
which VistaVision squeeze prints
will be made. Gineu.aScope lenses
cannot be used to project Vista-
Vision squeeze prints.

On the other hand, VistaVision
will employ Tushinsky prismatic
lenses in making squeeze prints,
and complementary Tushinsky ana-
morphic lenses will be needed to
project them, and these lenses are
adjustable for projection of Gine-
maScope prints.

Since the anamorphic method of
wide-screen presentation uses all of
the light available at the projector
aperture, (and also because of other
factors that may apply) it does not
require as much light output at the
arc as the aperture-masking method
for a picture of equal width. The
gain is placed at about 40%.

(In next issue: SOUND TECHNiQUES)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

The Presentation of

Vista Vision Films
in the Theatre

By LOREN L. RYDER

Head of Paramount Pictures
Engineering and Recording

Requirements and recommendations
for the exhibition of pictures pro-
duced in the new Paramount wide-
screen process (which was impres-
sively demonstrated in its non-

anamorphic application at Radio City Music Hall on April 27th), ex-
plained here with respect to all forms in the second of a series of three
articles which began in Better Theatres for April.

N the preceding article,
VistaVision was described as to the pro-
duction technique and the manner in which
release printing and release distribution
films are prepared. In this article is dis-
cussed the presentation of VistaVision films
in the theatre.

VistaVision standard prints can be pro-
jected in any theatre in the world with an
improvement in picture quality. Further,
the viewing will be better than heretofore
[with regular Academy standard prints]
from the front and side seats. If the the-
atre is to take full advantage of the im-
proved quality of the VistaVision print, the
theatre must have good projection equip-
ment and a large seamless screen.

Motion picture studios expend hun-
dreds of thousands of dollars in a
meticulous effort to deliver the best
possible technical quality along with
good entertainment. The theatres
should accept their responsibility and
make an equal effort in their exhibi-
tion.

We can understand how, over a period
of years, the picture quality and the projec-
tion quality have been on a par, and im-

TKe new VfstaVision blimp (side view) especially
made to house horizontal camera and film magazines.

prcvements in projection equipment were
not always apparent. We have now arrived
at a turning point, where the product has
been markedly improved ; if the theatres
are to gain the advantage of this improve-
ment, they must have good equipment.

SCREEN DIMENSIONS

When Paramount introduced the large
screen to the motion picture industry prior
to, and during, the release of “Shane,”
Paramount recommended that the theatres
install the largest feasible screen, both as
to height and as to width. This recom-
mendation still stands. Every theatre should
install the largest possible screen, in both
height and width. As a further recommen-
dation in this regard, it is our belief that
in the very large theatres they should install
screens capable of accepting the aspect ratio
of 1.85/1, unless sightlines for seats at the
back of the main floor are limited by a low-
hanging balcony.

In this case, the theatre may elect to
install a screen in the ratio of 2/1. This
is the only limitation that should force the
theatre into an aspect ratio as high as 2/1.

In theatres where the screen width is
limited to under 30 feet, and where there
is adequate height, we recommend a screen
aspect ratio of 1.66/1, reducing the height
only when it is found necessary for good
viewing.

One of the objectives of VistaVision is
to fill the screen. VistaVision is a flexible
system and allows adequate latitude for

graphs we have named specific aspect ratios.
H owever, theatres should vary from these
defined ratios as required to fill the screen.
filling the screen. In the preceding para-

We realize that it is impossible to lay
down fixed recommendations applicable to
all theatres. We are, however, setting down
some general principles and recommenda-
tions which can be used as a guide.

With respect to picture size, in the past
the most acceptable picture quality has
been at a distance from the screen between
two and five times the screen width. As
an example, with a screen 25 feet wide,
this has been from 50 to 125 feet from the
screen. On the basis of the same old pic-
ture quality, if the screen width were in-
creased to 50 feet, the most acceptable
picture quality would be between 100 and
250 feet from the screen.

This reaches beyond the back wall in
most theatres. If people are seated closer,
they see film grain and the picture is fuzzy
and tiring to the eyes. This applies to both
straight and anamorphic projection of all
previous pictures.

VistaVision pictures, starting with
“White Christmas,” can be viewed with
ease and comfort from one-half to eight
times screen width. With VistaVision on
a screen 50 feet wide, the seating will be
acceptable down to 25 feet from the screen,
and will be very satisfactory at 38 feet from
the screen. This is the answer to front
seating.

Side seating is also improved by the better
definition and relative freedom from film

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Y. Frank Freeman, Paramount studio head, pointing out to Adolph Zukor, board chairman, recom-
mended VistaVision aspect ratio (top) as compared on a screen with CinemaScope and standard ratios.

grain which is accomplished by the Vista-
Vision process.

There is also another “rule of thumb”
method for determining best screen width —
namely, “the best screen width should not
be more than one-third the distance from
the screen to the center of seating ; and the
screen rvidth should not be less than one-
sixth the distance from the screen to the
back of the auditorium. I'he center of
seating in most balcony theatres is about
three-fourths the distance from the screen
to the back row of [main floor] seats.”

With the new Paramount process this
rule can be changed to :

The screen ividth can be increased to
one-half the distance from the screen to the
center of seating.

As an example, if a theatre is 100 feet
deep, the best viewing will be on a screen
38 feet wide. (The previous width for the
old pictures would be 25 feet. )

As another example, if a screen 50 feet
wide is installed in a theatre 100 feet deep,
the screen will be too wide and viecving
will be uncomfortable unless seats are
movetl back to at least 25 feet, and pref-
erably 38 feet, from the screen.

SCREEN HEIGHT

With respect to screen height, Para-
mount has made a series of tests which in-
dicate that the same scene always looks
better, and the actors can always be brought

closer to the audience, as the height of the
screen is increased with respect to width
up to the ratio of 1.85/1 for large screens,
and 1.66/1 for smaller screens. This is in
keeping with the recommendation made
earlier in this discussion.

Screen height, the same as screen width,
is usually limited by the proscenium. How-
ever, screen height may also be limited in
balcony houses by the maximum height
that can be seen from the back row of the
main floor, cvhere sightlines are eclipsed
by the overhang of the balcony.

SCREEN RADIUS AND SURFACE

We recommend curving metallic screens
with a radius equal to the projection throw
or in long narrow houses this radius may
be increased to or 1^ times projection
throw. We also recommend tilting the
screen back slightly at the top in theatres
that have very high projection angles. The
angle of tilt should not be over 1/3 the
projection angle, and the writer is opposed
to tilting the screen over 5 degrees.

There is a tendency on the part of
theatre men to select a metallized screen
that has a uniform distribution across the
house. Such a screen gives an inferior pic-
ture at the center of seating and seldom
improves the side seats.

For large houses, we recommend pur-
chasing a metallized seamless screen that
has a light gain of two and one-half to

one. A screen of this type will give much
better viewung to the important and largest
number of seats, and it will provide satis-
factory light distribution throughout the
theatre.

In smaller theatres, seamless white
screens can be used if adequate projection
light is available.

All theatre screens should be seamless.
If the screen already installed has bad
seams, it should be replaced.

One look at a good seamless screen, as
compared to a screen with seams, is all
that is necessary to convince anyone that
a screen with bad seams should never be
used. Please do not be misled by the word
“seamless.” The screen should be seamless,
not just called seamless.

In studies made by Paramount, we find
that seams become more apparent with
time. Part of the trouble is no doubt due
to an accumulation of dirt at the seams,
and microscopic examinations also indicate
that stretching at the seams deforms the
screen surface in the adjoining area.

PROIECTION LENSES
AND APERTURE PLATES

After the best screen size has been
established high quality standard lenses of
proper focal length should be obtained so
as to gain the correct width of picture on
[Continued on page 80)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

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painted, spun glass screen, 80 feet by 32 feet. . . .

The Buckner is but one of the 18 Claude Ezell & Associates drive-in
theatres to install, through Hardin Theatre Supply, wide screens and
Strong lamps for CinemaScope presentation.

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BETTER THEATRES SECTION

New Carpeting Can Key
a Refurbishing Program

resh beauty on the floor effects
a quick noticeable change — and here are
modern fabrics for the purpose.

In the all-wool Cresfmont qualify of Alex-
ander Smith below, a stylized foliage de-
sign is employed with leaf fronds in black
and shadow tones of grey on a background
of Coral red (No. 364/913). Two other
patterns in the Alexander Smith Crestmont
quality are shown at right and below.

A free form Crestmont design above
with a background of dark grey for
sweeping lines of Coral, light grey
and black (364/305).

The abstract design in the Alexander
Smith Crestmont at right features a
monochromatic design of greys.

THEATRES THAT liave long
been out of st\'le, and that have been grow-
ing increasingly shabby, present the more
of a problem now because of expenditures
required to re-equip for the new and de-
veloping technical advances ; yet such
conditions are recognized as quite as much
of a burden in the effort to recaptivate the
public as those which have inspired the
current pursuit of a finer screen perform-
ance.

Under these circumstances, moderniza-
tion in many, probably in most instances,
is most feasibly considered as a long-term
project, to be started with changes which
can create an immediate effect according
to the particular conditions of each theatre.
Less urgent revisions could then follow
in a program set up at the outset, as de-

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

termined by a survey of the theatre.

One of the points of most immediate
effect is the floor. And it is here, as Ben
Schlanger, the architect, pointed out in the
March issue, that shabbiness is generally
encountered. Discolored, dulled, thread-
bare carpeting is conspicuous, since the
floor always is a studied object of view to
the patron passing through foyer areas.

For that very reason, brilliant new fab-
rics on the floor, in patterns of modern
decor, promptly introduce a fresh note of
decoration that dominates the area. At the
same time, it supplies a color scheme with
which to key the rest of the decorative
treatment, whether it is carried out at once
or is deferred.

The newest trends in carpet patterns
generally emphasize ideas of furnishing
which can create a striking change in many
theatres. Public places like theatres used to
lay their floors in a formal manner.

Carpeting today is not so pretentious ;
contract fabrics, in fact, have styling typical
of domestic grades, as the accompanying
swatch reproductions show. It is for this
reason the more potentially effective as a
quick change for a theatre to the taste and
practice of today.

The Har+ford-Saxony pat-
tern of Bigelow-Sanford at
right has two color schemes:
light and moss green
squares with leaf of dark
brown or light and dark grey
squares with dark brown
leaf outline. ( No. 442 1 1-45)

The Bigelow-Sanford leaf pat-
tern at left comes on a natural
background with yellow and
moss greens and grey; or on
a sky blue field with coral and
cedars. (No. 44201-27)

Another Bigelow-Sanford pat-
tern, the skeletonized daisy at
left comes in a dry brush effect
of yellow greens on a natural
field with a flower in deep
brown; or a deep brown field
with dry brush effect in greys
outlined by a light gold
skeletal form.

Current Wiltons in the Mohawk line of theatre
carpeting include Saxony (MS 109) at left;
Braeside (BRI5) above; and the poppy type of
floral at right above.

Other patterns in the Mohawk line of Wiltons are the
modern leaf abstract at left called Braeside (BR 15);
the modern swirl below, Saratoga (SA34); and the large
modern basket weave effect at right. Each quality in the
Mohawk line is made in a variety of patterns and colors.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

NEW CARPETING CAN KEY A REFURBISHING PROGRAM: continued

New patterns from RCA's line of Leedom-
loomed carpets. At tar left a floral design
(Citation, 13594); center, Birds of Paradise
(Citation, 8607); above, lush foliage (Top Per-
former, 4635); below, left, an abstract design
(Citation, 13590); and next, a swirl treatment.

^ ^ ^

Both modern and traditional patterns are
featured in these six Gulistan Wiltons of the
A. & M. Karagheusian line. In the modern
spirit are the gay contract pattern at left
above; the cluster pattern for an intimate
atmosphere at left; and the rounded design
above for a small theatre's lobby or lounge.
The pattern at top right is called the Cal-
ladium Leaf and is designed to blend with
various types of theatre decor, both modern
and traditional. Below it is the Morning
Glory tor a "homey" atmosphere; and at
right is the Birds of Paradise tor a rich
theatre interior.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

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all levels. The fool-proof
volume control is easily
operated but cannot
be twisted or pulled off.
Speaker, volume control
and case are all securely
locked together to
form a rugged, durable
unit ready for years
of trouble-free service.
There’s no better drive-in
speaker than the
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The NEW HI-LUX

SCREEN HAS REACHED A STATE OF
PERFECTION THAT WILL MEET THE
MOST EXACTING PROJECTION REQUIREMENTS

SEAMLESS CONSTRUCTION

No seams to mar the perfection of outdoor scenes and detract from the
dramatic impact of a story.

UNIFORMITY OF SURFACE

No shadings, streaks or blotches.

SHARP DEFINITION

No graininess or pattern to ‘^soften' the picture or make it fuzzy.

The image will be sharp and clear as intended.

EVEN DISTRIBUTION TO ALL
USEFUL ANGLES . . .

JVill return the maximum light to the greatest number of desirable seats
in any auditorium. Now in use in many of the largest theatres in the world.

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

The Installation and Operation
of a Perspecta Sound System

Equipment for three-channel reproduction from one optical track, described by N. H. CROWHURST

THE PERSPECTA SOUnd
system uses a single optical track of any
existing variety, and superimposes on the
existing sound recording a series of con-
trol frequencies that determine the relative
sound level distributed to three sound
channels in a the-
atre. This means
that the sound in

the theatre may be
produced by a com-
bination of any de-
sired different levels
through a three-
channel theatre sys-
tem, the exact com-
bination predeter-
mined by “informa-
tion” on the film.

Stereophonic sound relies on two com-

ponents for its desired effect;

(A) The fact that the sound from
different directions differs in intensity.

(B) The fact that it also differs in

phase or time lag.

The latter effect, for theatre applica-
tions, seems to have been rather overplayed
in discussions of stereophonic sound to date.
A little thought will show that in any
given installation it will be possible for
only a very few seats in the center of an
auditorium to receive the various channels
in exactly their correct time relationship.
As the listener moves from this position,
the deviation from true stereophonic
sound reception becomes progressively
greater.

It might be possible to achieve some-
thing approaching true stereophonic in a
relatively small studio, where all the
audience occupies a space representing a
small time difference at the rate of speed
at which sound travels; but in the average
theatre this cannot be true. So it is logi-
cal to find that better general stereophonic
effects can be ' obtained for the entire
audience of a theatre by concentrating more
on the difference of intensities [volume]
from the various channels, and reducing
the reliance on time difference.

The next point that has been raised in
comparing systems, concerns the impor-
tance of difference in subject material from
the various channels. For example, if an
orchestra is presented on the screen, the
classic idea of stereophonic sound is that
the ears of the audience should be able to

locate each instrument or group of instru-
ments by the apparent direction sensed by
the ears. Careful analysis of the manner
of listening shows, however, that we are
not conscious simultaneously of all the
different directions of various sources. By
concentration on a particular source at any
one instant, we may locate that source
while still conscious of the remaining body
of sound somewhere in the background. By
skillful presentation with Perspecta sound,
the position of the apparent source of total

sound can be located at the point where
the picture concentrates the audience’s
interest for the moment, and no one is con-
scious of the fact that the rest of the sound,
in the background, actually moves along
with the particular prominent feature of
sound to which his attention is pictorially
directed.

If the strings are brought into promi-
nence, while other instruments are still
playing quietly, the audience’s attention is
directed to the strings, either by the

CONTROL CHANNELS
RIGHT I CENTER | LEFT

BAND-PASS
FILTEFS<^

CONTROL \ _
AMPUFIERSV ^

CONTROL

RECTIFIERS

CONTROL FREQ.
AMPLIFIERS*

AUTO-BITCHING

DISCRIMINATOR

PREAMPLIFIER

INPUT

TRANSFORMER

HI -PASS
FILTER

INPUT

SUPPLIES LO-PASS OUTPUTS PHASE INVERTOR
FILTER

FIGURE I: Photo of the Perspecta Integrator with the cover off and elements labeled.

Outputs to Theoter
Amph'iers and
Horn systems.

FIGURE 2: Diagram of the wiring scheme for the Perspecta Integrator.

N. H. Crowhurst

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

orchestra conductor or by the camera
presentation, and at tlie same time Per-
specta control can emphasize the sound in
the position on the screen occupied by the
strings. I'he presence of other instruments
in the composite st)und will be noticed, but
it will not be effectively observed that
their sound has moved to the same loca-
tion as the sound of the strings. Maybe
this effect has to be experienced to be
believed, but it certainly happens.

^Vith dialogue superimposed on a musi-
cal background, the same observations are
true. The positioning of the speech source
is directed in accordance with the dialogue
and pictorial composition, and the fact that
the low-level musical background moves
along with the speech is so obscured by the
emphasis on other elements of the scene
that it is not effectively observed.

DESCRIBING THE INTEGRATOR

'Pile heart of the Perspecta sound system
is a special unit called an Integrator , which
accepts the sound input from the projector
optical soundhead and, first of all, splits
the audio spectrum [the complete record-
ing] into two pieces: the true audio, from
63 cycles upwards; and the control fre-
quencies, all of which are below 63 cycles.

I'he control frequencies are then further
divided by a set of band-pass filters, by
each of which control voltage is derived.
This voltage is applied to each of the
individual contri)! amplifiers feeding the
three theatre channels; thus the control
frequencies present on the Perspecta sound
track control accurately the distribution of
sound to the theatre three channel system
in accordance with the directions applied
in the final stage of mixing the original
soundtrack.

The Perspecta Sound Integrator also
includes a feature which automatically
changes over from monophonic, in which

the sound is fed to the center channel only
when a film with a regular optical track
(without Perspecta control frequencies,
for conventional one-channel reproduction
only) is projected, to three-channel repro-
duction of a Perspecta track. This is
achieved by “sampling” the outputs from
the three control frequency amplifiers and
passing the combination of all frequencies
through a special auto-switching discrimi-
nator circuit {see Figures 1 and 2)
designed to detect the characteristic dif-
ference between the control frequencies
and any unwanted frequencies that may
have got on the track as rumble or noise-
reduction effects.

The only equipment required for Per-
specta sound (besides the three power
amplifiers and three horn systems that are
necessary for any stereophonic presenta-
tion) is the Integrator. No special equip-
ment is necessary for attachment to the
projector, like a special soundhead. How
the Integrator is wired into an existing
one-channel or stereophonic sound system
is shown in Figures 3 and 4. The Integra-

tor is a comparatively inexpensive unit, this
having been one of the requirements laid
down in its fundamental design, because
the purpose in designing Perspecta sound
has been to make it available to the widest
possible field.

The unit has been made extremely ver-
satile so that it can accommodate the large
variety of theatre systems installed in
different parts of the world. The front end
of the Integrator is arranged to accept any
level and input impedance that may be
available in individual installations by a
simple input strapping arrangement which
accommodates levels from minus-60 deci-
bels up to zero. The Integrator output
comes at 0 db across 600 ohms and may
be balanced or unbalanced as required,
simply by method of connection, so that
it is readily hooked up to whatever three-
channel amplifiers are available. The
power supply unit provided for the Inte-
grator also includes provision for four
independently controlled photocell voltages,
enabling the unit to be used also for align-
ing the outputs of up to four projectors
{see Figure 5).

In operation Perspecta sound again is
simple. It is entirely compatible with all
existing soundtracks and no complicated
switching is required to change over from
a film employing a regular soundtrack to
one employing Perspecta sound. The auto-
matic switching circuit of the Integrator
takes care of this automatically.

Calibration of the Integrator ready for
presentation is achieved simply by means
of a calibration reel with a sequence of
adjustments clearly outlined in the instruc-
tion manual. These adjustments are
extremely easy to perform, and once set
up they will require little further attention
unless changes are made later in the instal-
lation.

Maintenance of the unit is also quite
elementary, because the circuit has been
simplified down to an absolute minimum.
There are no superfluous components pro-
{Continued on page 34)

PERSPECTA
T INTEGRATOR

MULTIPLE
“I GANG H
- FADER

LEFT — 1

RIGHT

POWER TO HORN
AMPLIFIERS SYSTEMS

MULTIPLE

■ MULTIPLE

GANG

SWITCH

FADER

TO POWER
AMPUHERS
AND HORNS

FOUR

PREAMPLIFIERS

FIGURE 3 (at left top) shows
how Perspecta sound is added
to a theatre previously
equipped only tor conventional
optical sound and FIGURE 4
(left below) how it is intro-
duced into one equipped for
multiple-track magnetic stereo-
phonic sound. FIGURE 5 (be-
low) shows the input arrange-
ments of the integrator.

GHf-

- (IHi

PE Cl DIRECT

W PREAMP

1 INTEGRATOR

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Anamorphic versus Cropping
in Wide-Screen Projection

^ Wide-screen came first as simple aperture-

masking with short focal length objective
IP*! lenses. Then CinemaScope introduced the

compression-expansion method. Now comes
VistaVision, employing both. This article

By CIO CACLIARDI

A LITTLE MORE than six
months ago, CinemaScope was unveiled to
the public, endowing the screen with new
possibilities of drama, music and spectacle.
Since then, many of us have been putting
on the pressure to make installations for
this process.

Now Paramount has adopted in Vista-
Vision yet another method of increasing
the size and relative width of the picture.
Making its debut in the fall, VistaVision
will allow a choice of picture aspect ratios,
including the old standard, and further
choice of reproducing a single optical track
conventionally through one speaker system,
or through a setup of three; while also
offering the option of an anamorphic print
employing a technique of compression-
expansion fundamentally different from
that of CinemaScope.

No matter how much some motion pic-
ture engineers like to see various methods
developed and put to the test to determine
eventually what is best, the average exhibi-
tor and his staff, including his technical
people who have to cope with the practical
problems of equipment selection, installa-
tion and operation, find themselves some-
times longing for the “good (?) old days”
when the film business was simpler. We
know, of course, there would be nothing
really gained by that now. But the pur-
suit of technical progress has arrived at a
stage at which it should be of good purpose
to examine what has been brought forth
so far.

First of all let us consider the picture
as it is presented on the screen. We are
all familiar with the picture sizes and the
old aspect ratio of approximately four wide
by three high. During the silent and the

basic factors in applying each.

disk sound days this was exactly true. But
when sound on disk was abandoned, and
the optical film track became standard, a
universal positive picture film frame .903"
wide by .612" high w'as adopted.

With this picture frame size it was
possible to use a projector aperture plate
with an aperture size of .825" wide by
.600" high. This has been standard for

many years. With this projection aperture,
a picture could be projected on the screen
having an aspect ratio of four wide to
three high, or 1.33/1 even when it might
have been necessary to remove a keystone
effect with vertical picture masking.

About a year ago, in an effort to create
a significant change in the appearance of
the picture in the indoor theatre, a move-
ment to enlarge and widen the screen
image began. Paramount gave this desire
great impetus by urging tlie showing of
“Shane” with large picture sizes; and in
order to prevent exaggerated heights, they
filmed this picture for safe projection at
an aspect ratio of 1.66/1.

Now since the width of the film frame
could not be enlarged without changing
the 35mm film stock, it was evident that
the width of the projection aperture must
remain at .825", and that the height of

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

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E-123. Bausch & Lomb Opti-
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Rochester 2, N. Y.

BAUSCH & LOMB

SINCE WW1853

the aperture must be reduced to about
.496". This procedure made the film area
being projected considerably smaller; that
reduction has become known as “cropping.”

This new relative width made it some-
what easier to fit larger and larger pic-
tures into most of the proscenium arches
of our theatres. It was noted in many
instances that aspect ratios of 1.75/1,
1.85/1, and 2/1 might even be better
suited to many auditoriums. The photo-
graphic area on the film was “cropped” at
top and bottom by using projection aper-
ture plates with openings of less height,
then the remainder of the film area was
enlarged to great sizes on the screen by
using lenses that were of relatively short
focal length.

LIMITATIONS OF WIDTH

Up to the present this system of
increasing picture width and area has been
limited by several fundamental factors, as
follows :

First: The composition of the subjects
on the pictures had been mostly arranged
for 1.33/1 ratios, therefore excessive
“cropping” of the top and bottom of the
picture frame caused some ludicrous
chopping of feet and heads in some scenes.
Remember that to obtain a 2/1 aspect
ratio, the height of the film aperture must
be reduced from .600" to .412 inches.

Second: The tremendous magnification
of the film frame required often produced
poor detail, poor resolution, color graini-
ness, and lack of picture depth. These
conditions w’ere further aggravated by the
new short focal length lenses which,
because of their great speed, have shallow
depth of focus and a greater amount of
aberration.

Third: By “cropping” the film area, and
enlarging the picture area to such great
e.xtents, not only is the total light on the
whole screen cut down (by as much as
33%), the light intensity per unit area of
screen surface is also cut — as much as 75%.
This latter effect tends to spoil picture
contrast and color quality.

To remedy these conditions, larger
projection lamps and heavier d.c. supplies
have had to be installed. The new metallic
surfaced screens help considerably in rein-
forcing the light reflectivity from the
screen, but they introduced another diffi-
culty— poor light distribution in some sec-
tions of the seating areas, and relatively
high costs for screen equipment and
maintenance.

Just about the time the exhibitor was
beginning to deal with the problems
involved in projecting bigger and wider
pictures, a new projection and sound
reproducing process was presented to him
for trial and approval. CinemaScope was
first submitted by 20th Century-Fox as a
completely nerv system for anamorphic

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Projection of

lNEMASCOP^

pDniPniQN ARC IMS

For Huge Drive-In Screens

National’s new Reflect-O-Heat Unit permits
a ^reat increase in volume of li^lit at tlie
screen witliout a corresponding increase
in keat at tke aperture.

For Presenting 3-D

Tke Excelite ”135’ delivers tke
necessary increased volume
of li^kt and also tke extended
running time required on
a single trim.

Tke color value and inten-
sity of tke li^kt at tke screen
is maintained constant
tkrougkout a full trim witkout
manual adjustment ky an auto-
matic arc crater positioner.

Distributed by

NATIONAL

THEATRE SUPPLY

“THERE’S A BRANCH NEAR YOU

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Call RCA for SERVICE

^TERBOPHO^^f' sound

More than 25 years of knowledge and
experience in the installation and main-
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systems assures you top standards of

performance in Stereophonic Sound.

In addition, thoroughly dependable,
prompt and courteous service are yours
when you call in RCA Theatre Service.

projection and for four-channel stereo-
phonic sound.

It has been admitted by practically
every authority that in order to produce
scenes and action realistically, the picture
on the screen should approach the angle
of peripheral vision as closely as prac-
ticable. This condition would eliminate
distracting theatre architectural shapes and
walls from the line of vision.

Cinerama has approached this condition
probably as closely as possible, at least for
a sizable percentage of the audience. The
human eyes view a scene through a hori-
zontal angle of almost 180 degrees. The
three lenses of the Cinerama camera look
at a scene through an angle of 146 degrees.
CinemaScope, with its 2/1 anamorphic
compression, covers an effective angle of
84 degrees horizontally. The new Vista-
Vision large negative process covers an
angle of 76 degrees. These horizontal
angles as viewed hy the different systems
are shown roughly in Figure 4. T he effec-
tive negative width is given, and all photo-
graphic lenses are assumed to be approxi-
mately 24 to 27 millimeters in focal length.

CINEMASCOPE’S DIMENSIONS

T he aperture dimensions for the Cinema-
Scope picture are .912" wide by .715"
high, giving a considerably larger area of
film to be projected. Since the horizontal
dimensions of this aperture are expanded
by the anamorphic attachment at a ratio
of 2 to 1, the actual effective aperture
dimensions become 1.824" by .715". These
values provide a picture on the screen that
has an aspect ratio of 2.55/1.

In order to obtain these new film frame
dimensions and to accommodate the four
magnetic tracks used for stereophonic
sound reproduction, CinemaScope rede-
signed the standard 35mm film by decreas-
ing the size of the film sprocket holes
and relocating the hole centerlines a
slight amount. These changes require the
replacement of all sprockets, certain rollers,
and guide parts in all projector and sound-
heads where CinemaScope film is to be
run. In addition to this, new projection
lenses generally were found to be necessary,
and anamorphic attachments, adaptors and
aperture plates are required.

T he VistaVision system uses a very much
larger negative aperture area in the photo-
graphic process. Special cameras have
standard negative film running in a hori-
zontal direction and use a larger section —
eight sprocket holes long — for each expo-
sure. With standard 24mm photographic
lenses, the negative camera aperture is
1.472" wide by .997" high.

Objects photographed on this negative
are in standard proportions {no anamor-
phic compression is used in cinematogra-
phy). From this large negative two types
of Technicolor matrices are made by opti-

RCA Service Company, Inc

A Radio Corporation of America Subsidiary
Camden, N. J.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Showing horizontal viewing angles provi ded
by the different film systems. Cinerama
(above) with its three film widths has an
angle of 146 degrees. See text for details.

FIGURE 4

CinemaScope (above) with its anamorphic
compression doubles the effective width of
the negative. VistaVision's horizontal film
(top right) provides two full frames (8
sprocket holes) at one exposure. At right
below the Academy standard single frame
at normal size. All dimensions are approxi-
mate. See text for details.

cally reducing the large negative to a
standard size positive film.

Sketches provided by Loren Ryder in an
article in Better Theatres (April issue)

are shovtm in Figures 1, 2 and 3. Figure 1
indicates the large negative film area used
in the camera. Figure 2 shows the directly
proportioned optical reduction of the nega-

tive print to one type matrix. Here the
full area of the negative was reduced opti-
cally to fit a standard film frame.

f igure 3- demonstrates the reduction of

JUST PURCHASED NEW PROJECTION LENSES?
NEED ADJUSTMENTS FOR WIDE SCREEN?

WHAT TO DO WITH NON-AN AMORPH 1C RELEASES?

Wollensak

VARI-FOCUS

a supplementary lens for all screen

• With the new Vari-Focus lens exhibitors can show all the current
screen releases without buying a complete new range of short focus
lenses. The Vari-Focus permits you to make adjustments for screen
width . . . change the focal length of your standard projection lens
quickly and easily. (See table below.) The Vari-Focus is a supple-
mentary lens which will produce any wide screen aspect ratio (non-
anamorphic) when used in conjunction with a 3" to 6" projection lens.

of Optical Craftsmanship

by WOLLENSAK

The resolution and picture quality will match those of the finest
projection lens. Price $235 each.

Standard Lens

Variable Focus From

21/4"

to 13/4"

31/2"

23/4"

to 2"

31/4"

CNJ

41/2"

31/2"

to 3"

51/2"

41/2"

to 31/2"

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

WRITE for new literature fully describing this supplementary
lens. Wollensak Optical Co., Rochester 21, N. Y.

MOVIBS

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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.

""You Get A/lore Light with Super Snaplite"

ILOLLAIOIMpEK

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MODERN THEATRE SEATING

inCAl SEATING COMPANY

tytlec/i.

only a portion of the area of the negative
(included between the two horizontal
lines) to fit a standard film frame. Here,
however, for the optical reduction, an
anamorphic, or squeeze, lens was used to
give a horizontal compression of 1.5/1.
This second matrix then contains the area
of the negative which has been “cropped”
at top and bottom and then compressed
laterally in the printing. With these two
matrices two types of release prints, can
be made, which will look like Figures 2
and 3.

Theatres which are not equipped, or do
not desire, to use anamorphic attachments,
can project the first type of release print.
With this print, any aspect ratio may be
obtained on the screen by using, in the
manner previously cited, specially sized
aperture plates and different focal length
lenses in the projectors. Since standard
film is used with one optical sound track,
the projection aperture can be .825" wide
and of the proper height to produce the
required aspect ratio on the screen.

This change can only be produced by
“cropping” the top and bottom of the pic-

H G

FIGURE 5 — A normal picture enlarged by
short focal length lenses. The aspect ratio of
ABCD is 1.33 to 1; of ABEF 2 to I. BE
equals 150% of BC. See text for details.

ture frame, but in this instance no trouble
is expected since the picture has been com-
posed for a normal ratio of 1.66 to 1
and plenty of head room has been allowed.
For this reason it is expected that the top
and bottom of the picture may be cut to
show ratios of 1.85/1, and even 2/1 with-
out any trouble. In other words, the main
action and principal part of the scene will
be centered in the circle as shown in the
sketches. The area above and below may
be pared off without affecting the picture.

Theatres which wish to use the squeezed
release prints will have to use anamorphic
attachments with their projection lenses.
These anamorphic attachments however
are different from those used with Cinema-
Scope. The CinemaScope attachments have
an expansion of 2/1, while the Vista-

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8, 1954

Vision film compression is only 1.5/1,
therefore a CinemaScope attachment would
expand the characters of VistaVision film
out of their correct proportions.

It has been amply demonstrated, how-
ever, during the CinemaScope projection
runs, that the use of good and efficient
anamorphic attachments are superior to
short focal length lenses in the conservation
of light for the screen.

A look at Figures 5 and 6 should make
apparent the reason.

Let us assume that a theatre has a
present picture size and shape A-B-C-D,
as shown in Figure 5. The aspect ratio for
A-B-C-D is 1.33/1. It is desired to change
the aspect ratio to 2/1 and increase the
width of the picture by 50%. What light
should we get at the center of the new
picture, compared with what we had
before ?

If we use the proper shorter focal
length lenses as shown in Figure 5, the
width of the picture will be increased to
B-E, and the height to B-H. The area
of the new picture H-B-E-G is 2.25 times
greater, therefore the light at its center
could be only 44% of the original. But
we could only use a picture equal to
A-B-E-F in order to maintain an aspect
ratio of 2/1, so we would have to crop
the aperture and we would waste about
33% of the total light.

If, as shown in Figure 6, we use an
anamorphic attachment with a lateral
expansion ratio of 1.5/1, then we would
not lose any of the total light, and the light
intensity at the center of the new picture
A-B-E-F would be 67% of the original.
If we can assume a loss of 15% in the
anamorphic attachment, then the center

, !

FIGURE 6 — Squeezed picture enlarged by
using anamorphic attachments on projection
lens. The aspect ratio of ABCD is 1.33 to I;
of ABDF, 2 to I. BE equals 150% of BC.
See text for details.

brightness of the new picture should be
about 57% of its original brightness on
A-B-C-D.

If it is desired to produce a 2/1 aspect
ratio, as with VistaVision, it can be seen
from the above reasoning that by using a
squeeze print and a good set of anamorphic

{Continued on page 81)

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OTHER DRIVE-IN PRODUCTS

TRAFFIC CONTROL

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POSTER CASES, ATTRACTION and NAME SIGNS;
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ATwater 9305

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

New Theatre with Wide-Screen
For a Small Canadian Town

The new 468-seat Cinema theatre in
Swift Current, Saskatchewan, owned
by Frontier Enterprises, Ltd., which
also operates a drive-in theatre there.
The town is in the southwestern part
of the province, not far from the U. S.
border at Montana and has a popula-
tion of 7500. The theatre architects:
Rule, Wynn & Rule, Calgary, Alberta

PARTY AND CRY ROOMS: In the rear of the
auditorium, entered through separate doors off
the outer lobby, are the cry room and the party
room (shown at far right). These rooms have
soundproof plate glass windows and are equipped
with speakers. The display showcase In the lobby
Is accessible from the party room.

FRONT AND LOBBY: Constructed of Roman brick and reinforced concrete, the
Cinema theatre Is located on a corner, one block off the main downtown Inter-
section of Swift Current. The building also houses two large commercial offices on
the second floor of the building's west side, which are reached through a door of
plate glass and aluminum (see above). The manager's offices are on the ground
level on the far west side and are also approached through this door. The main
entrance to the theatre faces at an angle to the corner. The marquee carries two-
line Adler attraction panels and mounts two "Cinema" channeled-neon name signs
(not shown In photo). Two pairs of plate glass doors lead directly Into the outer
lobby, on the left side of which Is the Inside box-office. Adjacent to the latter Is a
refreshment stand. The patron then proceeds from this point
to a long corridor running the length of the auditorium, which
Is entered from archways at either side. The men's and women’s
rest rooms are adjacent to these two archways at opposite ends
of the corridor (one end of It Is visible at left). The wall between
the archways forms the rear of a "party room" and a "cry
room." The walls In the lobby areas are covered with "Fabron, "
a fire-resistant plastic coated fabric In a geometric pattern.
The floor Is of Jaspe linoleum tile featuring a dark brown field
with grey stripes and large yellow squares. The glass-covered
recessed wall case at left Is for coming attraction promotion.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

THE AUDITORIUM: The aud itorlum of the Cinema seats 468 in a three-bank, two-aisle
plan with the center section containing 22 rows of 14 seats each, and the two sides
having 20 rows of four seats each. The chairs are Douglas upholstered In dark green.
The concrete floor is a bowl type (forward pitch upward). The concrete was poured
in two layers, the top coat, M/2 inches thick, containing an integral green coloring agent.
The aisle carpeting is a Crossley, 36 inches wide, laid over /^-inch spong rubber and
recessed In a well formed In the concrete to the exact depth of the carpet. The side walls of
the auditorium above the wainscoting are finished with acoustic plaster painted. The wains-
coting has been covered with a vinyl plastic-coated sailcloth known as "Permon," which
gives the appearance of mahogany panelling. It is cemented with a special adhesive to
plywood sheathing and topped by a decorative molding. The ceiling and rear wall are
covered with acoustic tile, and lighting trough run across the ceiling from side to side
at regular intervals. Electrical outlets visible on the side walls are for decorative lighting
panels to be installed at a future date. Extending the full length of the auditorium from
front to back is a soffit panelled in Weldtex striated plywood, patterned in a large alterna-
tive square arrangement and concealing the duct work. The theatre has a curved
Williams screen, which is 3 M/2 feet wide, and masking and curtains designed to permit a
change in the picture size at will. The curtains were especially woven in a horizontal
stripe design embodying the auditorium and lobby colors, dark brown, yellow and white,
with a wide band of Lurex gold metallic thread. Projectors, arc lamps, sound equipment
and rectifiers are Ballantyne and the rewinds are Golde. The booth Is I 0 by 20 feet. The
theatre Is air-conditioned throughout with equipment Installed in the basement. Seating,
floor and wall coverings, and Interior decoration schemes were provided by Robert
Simpson Western, Ltd., Contract Division, Regina, Sask.

In Your Admissions

Control System

If there ever was a time when the
Motion Picture Industry NEEDS
every dollar that comes to its door—
that time is now.

Revenue lost through ticket manip-
ulation or employee connivance can
doom your operation. (Last year,
America’s theatres lost over 15 mil-
lion dollars through improper ticket
handling.)

Make sure your theatre’s admissions
control system is profit-tight . . . with
Automa ticket Register and
Ticketaker, to give you effective con-
trol both in the box office and at the
door! Write for full information.

General Register Corp.

43-01 Twenty-Second Street
Long Island City 1, N. Y.

1018 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago 5, Illinois

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Zhe vrive-m . .

★ A Department Conducted by WILFRED P. SMITH

. . . for many years manager of regular theatres, then of drive-ins, later drive-in circuit executive
in charge of construction and operation; now operator of his own drive-in at Ledgewood, N. J.

Drive- In Insurance Needs

BECAUSE OF the many
constant hazards involved in the operation
of a drive-in theatre, it would be folly on
the part of an owner to neglect the im-
portance of insurance. Even if he never had
a claim, he would have peace of mind. This
is far better than to experience a sudden
harsh blow which fortune may deal him —
even so seriously that should he not be
properly insured, he would possibly find
himself wiped out financially should the
claim be very large with him having to
bear the entire loss himself.

At the recent Allied drive-in convention
in Cincinnati, I met J. G. Wallens, general
manager of A. Yarchin & Co. of Boston,
Mass., and it was his remarks about the
tremendous premiums paid by drive-in
owners in excess of $15,000,000 per year

that sent me delving into the subject of
insurance. Mr. Wallens further stated that
within the next five years the premiums
paid would exceed $20,000,000.

This figure further raised my curiosity
as to why. Only because there would be
more drive-ins, or because the present
rating system would proceed, mysteriously
cloaked with uncertainty, because of lack
of experience? If after 20 years of drive-in
operation a most comprehensive program
cannot be set up by the National Rating
Bureau, would it not appear logical to have
COMPO brought into the picture? I feel
confident that with such interest in the
matter, providing methodical research,
drive-ins would come in for fabulous sav-
ings compared with a nominal extra assess-
ment of drive-in owners by COMPO.

As business men we realize that insur-
ance companies can exist only when they
know the hazards involved in the opera-
tion of a drive-in. Because of the nature
of the business, it is not altogether un-
reasonable to state that hundreds of agents
who write the policies, and the officers of
the National Rating Bureau, do not have
the least idea of what a drive-in theatre is
about. I would say that the insurance boys
are eating high on the hog and that our
exhibitor groups should engage the com-
petent services of leaders in the industry to
seek out a fair setup of rate schedules and
premium payments on policies covering the
vast establishment of drive-in theatres
throughout the country.

RATING SCREEN TOWERS

During the past few weeks I have spent
many hours with agents representing the
biggest insurance companies in the nation.
They were very meagerly informed when
it came to discussing the reasons for higher
rates in a drive-in. One of the elements
of the property of great concern to each
agent (and I talked with each individually)
was the screen tower. Because they do not
realize that these structures are designed
by professional engineers, and erected with
much precaution, they appear to be of the
opinion that our screen towers topple over
every day of the week somewhere in the
country. One agent said to me :

“Come on now. Smith, tell the truth.
How many times have you had to put your
screen structure back up in place during
the past four years?”

That pretty well indicates the trend of
thinking in analyzing the conditions upon
which to base an insurance rate schedule for
drive-ins.

Well, of course, my screen tower is

As we said last month, we have gone wide-screen at our enclosed house in Denville, N. J., as well as
at the Garden Auto-Torium at Ledgewood. Here is the new screen, a Walker "H.L. 29|/2 x l6*/2 feet.
We formerly had Walker "white" with a 16-foot picture. The auditorium has a maximum width of 50
feet and seats 700. Lamps are Peerless using 8mm and 7mm trim at 60 amps. — W. P. S.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8, 1954

standing exactly as it was erected four years
ago, as is every other screen in the state
of New Jersey. And we have had storms
of almost hurricane proportions during re-
cent years. How many screen towers in
Florida have failed to withstand “the big
blows” there year after year?

PREMIUM CHART

Weeks ago I started to set up a chart of
premium payments on policies covering
what I am going to suggest in the coming
paragraphs. Upon investigating further,
I found out that it would not be factual
enough, and might be even misleading. The
reason ? Rates change from town to town,
state to state. Yes, rate setting is a
“toughie” and will require plenty of intel-
ligent research for drive-ins.

Be that as it may, we nevertheless must
have insurance as cheaply as possible. In
the opinion of the writer, after consulting
with reputable agents, the following, be-
sides fire, are the basic requirements that
you must have :

1. Public Liability.

2. Personal Liability.

3. Automobile — ownership and non-
ownership (in event employee is permitted
to drive your vehicle.)

4. W orknien’ s Compensation.

5. Blanket Position (bond) for Fidel-
ity (comprehensive dishonesty, destruction
and disappearance).

6. Money and Securities.

Of the six important basic insurance
policies listed above, Number 5 is probably
the one we are in constant contact with as
drive-in operators on an hourly basis in
the conduct of our business.

What is meant by employee coverage is
fraudulent or dishonest acts committed
anywhere by any of the employees acting
alone, or in collusion with others, including
loss of money and securities and other
property through any such acts of any of
the employees, and including that part of
any inventory shortage which the insured
shall conclusively prove to have been caused
by the fraud or dishonesty of any of the
employees.

Coverage within the premises means ( 1 )
loss of money and securities occurring on
premises and caused by their actual destruc-
tion or disappearance: and (2) of other
property or damage thereto (except by fire)
caused by robbery or safe burglary or at-
tempt thereat.

Coverage outside the premises means
insurance of an act occurring beyond the
property caused by the actual destruction
or wrongful taking of valuables while be-
ing conveyed by a messenger, and (2) of
other property loss or damage thereto
caused by robbery or attempt thereat out-
side the premises while such property valu-
ables are being conveyed by a messenger
{plainly meaning night deposit).

Now Avoilable for IMMEDIATE DELIVERY!
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EPRAD is now in full production of their new stereophonic-
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lOVs inches long and 3 13/16 inches high, which makes it
only slightly larger and heavier than conventional EPRAD
Universal speakers. The case is molded of two-tone gray
Fiberglas and mounts on either the rear-view mirror or the
window. A single cord to the unit contains the four con-
ductor wires.

Sound quality is excellent because of the Fiberglas case and
the use of three Syo-inch driver units with 1.47-ounce magnets
and, of course, a single volume control.

Use

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RAYTONE’S

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Made of a miraculously soft, long white,
hard-to-obtain imported bristle that will
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screens only. Order from your dealer.

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Modern facilities and top
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components mean satisfaction!
Get set for next season, have
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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:

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BETTER THEATRES SECTION

u^ken it Min^!

You'll be "singin' in the rain" when you
see how Rainview Visors help you to stop
those rainy-night profit-leaks. . . . The
Rainview Visor attaches to any car in just
10 seconds — makes it unnecessary tor
patrons to run their windshield wipers
during the show. They gladly pay 20^
rental — a nice extra profit for the season!

Rainview Visors are made of durable
plastic, in attractive red, blue, green,
yellow or pink, with aluminum tube frame.
Rush your request for prices and details.

Rainview Visors

732 Bush Street, Toledo, Ohio

ATTENTION
DRIVE-IN
THEATRES

Aircraft Cable is made
of galvanized high strength,
high carbon steel that will stand up
for years under outdoor exposure. This
cable is '/s'' in diameter ... is the strongest
steel developed by metallurgical science.

PRICE SCHEDULE

Aircraft Cable, 1000 feet rolls Iminimum) @ 9V2cft.

lAboul 5 feet required per speaker)

Va" LocWng Sleeves @ 8c ea.

(One to a unit required)

Galvanized Malleable Wire Rope Clips @ 10c ea.

Pressing Tool $18.50

IComplete detailed illustrated instructions included.
Immediate Delivery
WE WILL PREPAY FREIGHT CHARGES

DON'T DELAY!
Siatt ^airin^ .Speaketi
ORDER NOW!

SPEAKER SECURITY CO. 718 10th AVE., NEW YORK, N. Y.

u/itk U/ite ?^ope ~Tta.dLn^ (2o., AJ. y.

The Perspecta
Sound System

{Continued from page 22)

vided to give what may be described as
luxury facilities, but which may provide
further liability for failure. This results
in a unit of good accessibility for main-
tenance purposes. The system is compara-
tively easy to understand once the princi-
ple has been grasped, and the Integrator
unit is laid out in such a way that the com-
ponents involved may be readily identified
with the function they serve. This fact, in
conjunction with adequate maintenance
instructions, makes for simplicity of main-
tenance procedure.

The advantage of the automatic switch-
ing arrangement will be readily appre-
ciated for providing versatility in presenta-
tion of program material, because it
eliminates necessity to make a number of
changeovers simultaneously whenever the
type of him being presented changes. The
projectionist makes the changeover in the
way he always has.

If a Perspecta soundtrack is played on
existing equipment, the sound comes over
as regular single-channel sound. Without
any special hltering, the control frequencies
are completely inaudible on any existing
theatre system. To summarize, any kind
of film may be played through a Perspecta
sound unit installation and the presenta-
tion will automatically be correct ; and at
the same time any Perspecta sound him
can be played in any standard projection
equipment and its presentation will be equal
to normal one-channel sound presentation
in that theatre.

The practical aspect of stereophonic
presentation in a reasonable size theatre
was discussed earlier in this article. Fur-
ther to this, there are certain disadvantages
of multiple-track stereophonic systems.
Most important of these, probably, is the
signal-to-noise problem. Due to the fact
that in multitrack systems, the sound
intelligence has to be compressed into a
smaller space for each individual track, the
background noise is inherently higher. As
each sound track is simultaneously fed to
its own channel, the background noise from
any individual soundtrack operating at low
level, compared with other channels, will
become evident.

•

{Mr. Norman //. Cro’w/iurst is a consulting
engineer born in England. He has a number of
technical diplomas in math, economics and elec-
trical engineering and has contributed articles
to a number of technical publications. In 1953
he v;as appointed project engineer for the
Fairchild Recording Equipment Company and
ncas closely associated ivith Ray Crenvs, general
manager of Fairchild, and C. Robert Fine, presi-
dent of Fine Sound, Inc., in develo ping the
Perspecta Intgerator. — £t/.]

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

l^etter Project m

A Department an FRDJECTIDIV & SDUIVD

Adapting CinemaScope to
Various Field Conditions

Projecfor models, projecfion room characterist-ics, and similar circum-
sfances must be considered in providing for CinemaScope presentation.
In this article an engineer in charge of many installations offers advice.

By CHARLES L. FISH

IT IS important for those
engaged in the installation of projection
equipment, as at present, especially as re-
gards CinemaScope and wide screen, to
prepare a survey of a theatre’s present
equipment intelligently, so that no errors
be made in the ordering of equipment to be
installed, or to replace the present equip-
ment or parts.

There are in use older types of projectors
which are not equipped with removable
aperture plates, which could be overlooked ;
or an additional anamorphic lens attach-
ment support may be necessary, as in the
case of the older models of projectors.
There is further possibility that him traps
would not be suitable to further use, or
would require modihcation, if used. This
would include valve rollers, especially
when a magnetic soundhead is installed and
24-inch upper magazines are part of the
equipment.

The lenses to be replaced, or changed for
another focal length, should be of a type
made for the lens mount of the particular
mechanism installed. Most of the installa-
tions require three sets of lenses. These
lenses should be easily interchangeable with
proper share tube length, if necessary, with
clamping rings included.

Intermittant movements for some types
of projectors should be available with the
CinemaScope sprockets already installed
rather than to attempt this conversion in
the held. (The supply dealer should make
this CinemaScope sprocket change in ad-
vance of the installation, supplying the

theatre with loan movements in the mean-
time. )

The distance from the projectors to
front wall of projection room is important
in CinemaScope installations.

Do the present arc lamps, rectihers, gen-
erators, etc., need replacing? This is im-
portant for good projection results. Larger
pictures require more illumination, of
course ; and this is especially true when the
greater width is got merely by reducing the
aperture height, instead of by anamorphic
lenses.

It mav also be found that, because of
the increased width, the projection ports
need to be enlarged. When this is found
necessary, one myst be certain that the
splay of the ports is adequate.

There are those and many other items
to check, and all should be included in a
complete theatre survey before actually,
starting an installation for wide-screen
projection.

To the projectionist who is not familiar
with the new aspect ratios of aperture
plates, CinemaScope lenses, anamorphic
lens attachments, etc., the foregoing infor-
mation may be of some aid, if only to
acquaint him with the additional work in-
volved in the projection of CinemaScope
and other wide-screen pictures.

There is one very necessary change, or
improvement, that should be undertaken
by the manufacturers of projection equip-
ment. '1 his change is very important to
the proper projection of motion pictures
when changing from optical track to mag-
netic track (or CinemaScope) sound. This
improvement should be made in the present
projector bases, regardless of type.

The present bases should be redesigned

3D, Drive-ins and other wide
area screen projection systems

• COOLER BURNING
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Amper-

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Posi-

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Grade

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Grade I

40-IKW

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553-01

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553

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555C

160-180 1

13.6x22

583-08

1/2x9

555CN

CARBONS, Inc.

Boonton, N. J.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

to allow a more accurate and instantaneous
movement of them for centering the pro-
jected picture on the screen when changing
from standard frame to CinemaScope pro-
jection and back again, and for fast and
accurate interchangeability of different
sizes of lenses.

As a suggestion, bases designed and built
on the principle of the naval gun mount,
Avith hand wheels and cranks, with mi-
crometer scales for fast reading, and hori-
zontal and vertical adjustments, would
eliminate the work, as at present, of mov-
ing heavy bases, and the vertical adjust-
ments now necessary when changing
between CinemaScope and other prints
with all of these changes coming during a
daily screening.

LENS MOUNTS

( 1 ) Lens mounts with clamping devices,
located inside and outside the projector,
are adequate for the support of both
Series I and Series II anamorphic lens at-
tachments. No additional support is re-
quired, unless a 4-inch diameter lens is
used with the anamorphic attachment.

I'he older models of projectors will re-
quire an additional support installed on
the front of the projector (outside) ; and
when this support is installed, the lens
units should be carefully checked for fit,
as this particular type of support Avill re-

quire redrilling and relocating. I'he lo-
cating rings for this unit will require
alterations.

(2) Another type of support bracket
clamps the anamorphic attachment and is
in turn supported by a rod attached to the
front of projector. This clamping device
slides on the support rod and prevents the
anamorphic attachment from being turned
on its axis. This unit replaces the locating
rings required with other types of ana-
morphic lens supports {see beloiu) .

LOCATmC RINGS

In addition to the lens locking device
provided with the lens mount as a unit,
another locating clamping ring is neces-
sary to keep the lens in focus when the
lens is removed and replaced with other
lenses of different sizes. This locating ring
on the anamorphic lens attachment and
regular lens, when used as a unit, has
another important function. It is used
when inserted over the stationary stud on
the lens mount to keep the lenses from
being turned or twisted on its axis {see
paragraph 2).

The anamorphic lens attachment, when
installed properly, must, after being re-
moved, be replaced in the exact location as
originally inserted in the lens mount. The
locating stud and the hole in the locating
ring are for this purpose.

The locating rings used on the ana-
morphic lens attachment are of a different
diameter, depending on the series of ana-
morphic lens attachments. On some makes
of lenses, using adapters, the locating rings
are attached to the anamorphic lens barrel ;
for lenses of other manufacture, the stand-
ard locating rings are used and attached to
the regular projection lenses.

The holes in the locating rings, as re-
ferred to, are too large for the locating
stud, so care should be taken that when
installing the lenses, the lenses should be
turned (does not apply to type discussed
in paragraph 2) so that the locating ring
hole {inside) should bear against one side
of the stud when the vertical lines appear
vertical in using the target film test. (Di-
rections for adjusting attachments are
included in the lens shipment of Cinema-
Scope anamorphic lenses.)

APERTURE PLATES

Thus far, the most used aspect ratio for
wide-screen projection (other than for
CinemaScope productions) has been 1.66/1
(aperture 0.825” x 0.497”). This; size of
aperture does not decrease the efficiency of
the screen illumination system to any great
extent, as the larger ratios do; nor does it
cut off too much of the picture height of
standard aperture (0.825" x 0.600").

The film releases in the 1.75/1 ratio

THE PRIME
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Your patrons, too, will appreciate the superior quality that over
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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

(aperture 0.825” x 0.471^^) and the 1.85/1
ratio (aperture 0.825” x 0.446”) require
movable masking, or different lens sizes, or
both in many theatres.

It is to be noted, in reference to screen
illumination, that the new specular (alu-
minum) screens have very high reflec-
tivity. One make of screen has as high as
91%. In projecting a CinemaScope pic-
ture with this type of screen, and with a
picture width of 30 feet or more, and
pulling 60 amperes at the arc, the illumina-
tion in most cases is satisfactory (aperture
0.912" X 0.715”).

The best setup for CinemaScope and
other wide-screen presentations, is to figure
the height for both the non-anamorphic
and the CinemaScope pictures the same,
so that the height of the masking remains
stationary. This cannot always be ac-
complished, however, due to physical limi-
tations of stage and screen width. Con-
sider, for instance, a narrow stage where
the CinemaScope picture size is 30 feet, 4
inches by 11 feet, 9 inches, at a projection
throw of 100 feet, and where other pic-
tures are 25 by 15 feet, using a 1.66/1
aperture. The difference in height here is
slightly over 3 feet.

ADjUSTABLE TOP MASKING

In a case like this, the top masking will
have to be adjustable and must be raised
or lowered for each aperture change. Also,
the angle of projection must be changed
and the bases moved to center the picture
on the screen.

In many theatres, the moving of the
upper masking is not feasible. Suppose in
this theatre we had a stage that would
enable us to have a CinemaScope picture
38 feet, 4 inches by 15 feet, 1 inch; we can
still use the 1.66/1 aperture and obtain
a large picture 25 by 15 feet. The filing of
the aperture for height would be very
slight to obtain the same height as that of
the CnemaScope picture. The height of
both pictures being the same, there would
be no reason for changing the angle of
projection; but the bases would have to
be moved horizontally {see paragraph 1
above under hens Mounts).

Now if we wish to increase the width
of the non-anamorphic picture 2 feet with-
out adding to the height, the picture wanted
will be 27 by 15 feet. An undersized
aperture at 1.66/1 is then used with a
change in lense size, and the aperture plate
is filed to fit the height and width.

Most theatres desire a picture with this
method almost the size of the picture pro-
jected for a CinemaScope production. With
lenses of very short focal length as in the
case of a relatively short projection throw,
however, a problem of distortion is thus
produced, especially in the screen image
projected with smaller ratio proportions

In most cases, curving the screen re-

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VERY SPECIAL DISCOUNTS FOR EXPORT

Also a complete line of Wide-Angle and Long Focus projection lenses in all
focal lengths from 1 1/2” to 8" at competitive prices and excellent discounts.

WALTER

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511 FIFTH AVENUE
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WIDE RATIO SCREENS • FOR
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Export: Streuber & La Chicotte, 250 West 57th Street, N. Y. 19
7 9 2 7 • "SUPERIOR" DRIVE-IN SCREEN PAINTS • 7 9 54

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

tITRTAlIV MACHINE

. . . presents a revolutionary development
in Curtain Controls!

NEW . . . MANUALLY OPERATED

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Designers and manufacturers of the world’s leading curtain tracks and controls.

Before you

For further information and prices, write Dept. ABT-S.

Now— at the LOWEST COST EVER— you can
“stop, start and reverse” your curtain at ANA'
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continues as long as finger is held on the switch
(toggle type). Every control is at the operator’s
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WIDE-SCREEN and CINEMASCOPE pres-
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openings is desired. Write immediately for
complete specifications.

REMEMBER — ADC also supplies an especially designed
CURVED TRACK for CinemaScope available in
medium and heavy duty models for installations of over
33' radius.

Motion picture projection is changing, but
only CENTURY is leading in scientific de-?
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15% MORE LIGHT

quires use of an undersized aperture in all
of our calculations so that the projected
image will follow the masking and desired
picture proportions e.xactly, with correc-
tion for keystone. Apertures 0.825-inch
in width should not be filed so much to
eliminate keystone as to allow the optical
sound track to show. Any ratio can be ob-
tained by filing from blanks, or apertures
already with smaller ratios can be enlarged.

For projection of CinemaScope produc-
tions, it is necessary also to use the under-
sized apertures in order to file the plate
for an aperture that follows the curvature
in the proper ratio and fits the masking
e.xactly, as well as to correct for keystone
according to projection angle.

REDUCING THE APERTURE

The CinemaScope aperture (0.715'' x
0.912") should be reduced but slightly, if
at all, as the frame lines of the picture
w'ill show on the left and right bottom,
and at the center top of the screen. Flat
CinemaScope pictures, if projected in this
manner, use either the 0.650" x 0.850", or
0.715" X 0.912" apertures; also Keystone
filing may over-run the magnetic tracks!

There have been some installations
where the theatre owner wanted a Cinema-
Scope picture which was not according to
CinemaScope proportions — not as wide,
proportionately, as high. In this case, an
undersized CinemaScope aperture is used
and filed to increase the height only.

FILM TRAPS

Film traps designed for removable aper-
ture plates 0.825-Inch in width, used with
optical sound prints, are designed so that
the optical axis of the lens is directly in
the center of these apertures. When using
a CinemaScope aperture plate in this trap,
the projected picture will favor the right
side of the screen and will not be centered
in the same manner as the 0.825 width
aperture. As mentioned before, this ne-
cessitates moving the projector base each
time the aperture and lens is changed. (One
manufacturer has eliminated this by re-
designing the film trap parts.) With the
changes made necessary in projection equip-
ment due to various w'ide-screen methods,
perhaps we may see, in the not too distant
future, the revolving lens turret come into
our field 1

[Charles L. Fish is pro'jcciioti engineer for
the Capitol Theatre Supply Company of Bos-
ton. distributors for RC.i equipment. He has
charge of all equipment installations in Neiv
Enqland ’ichcrc he is ’leell-kno’wn in the theatre
field. He has designed many of the drive-in
theatre buildings in the Neve England territory.
An electrical engineer, he installed sound
equipment, in 1927-28, for the first sound pic-
ture shoven in Neve England. During World
H'ar II, he veas the resident electrical inspector
for the U.S. Marines on radar, radio, fire con-
trol, ordinance, gyro compass, r/c.]

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

THEATRE

SALES

v;X*X3rX«X-:

GEORGE SCHUTZ, Director
CARL R. MOS, RICHARD GERTNER, Associate Editors

Integrated Snack Bar Facilities
for Speedy and Profitable Service

In most operations of the Modern circuit equipment is arranged as shown above at the Madison theatre
in Cleveland. Separate glass-enclosed candy cases are placed on either side of the popcorn warmer.
Manley popping machines are at the rear of the stand.

Successful methods of refresh-
ment merchandising employed
by the Modern Theatres circuit,
Cleveland, Ohio, including stand
location, placement and types of
equipment, stock supplies, main-
tenance, display and promotion.

THE ELEMENTS involved
in the successful operation of theatre re-
freshment stands are many and varied —
ranging all the way from the actual loca-
tion of the snack bar to purchasing prac-
tices and promotional techniques. While
they may not have any immediately dis-
cernible relationship one to the other they
nonetheless all do fit together. And they
/iiust he so integrated if the vending opera-
tion is to realize its full possibilities as a
contributor to revenue.

That job of integration has been suc-
cessfully achieved by the Alodern Theatres
circuit, operators of some 12 neighborhood
theatres in Ohio from headquarters in
Cleveland, whose refreshment policies are
carried out under the direction of Raymond
Essick. The circuit’s theatres include the
Ezella, Madison,, Lorain-Fulton and May-
land in Cleveland; Berea, Berea; State an 1
Gallon, Gallon; Parma, Parma; Beach

Cliffe, Rocky River; Vine, Willoughby and
Medina, Aledina.

It is an important policy of the circuit
to make the manager of each theatre a
partner in the refreshment business. He
is made responsible for the stock and the
sales and in turn he receives a commission
on the net profits. In that way, Mr.
Essick e.xplains, each has a direct interest
in the operation of the stand.

Major importance is placed by Air.
Essick on the appearance and location of
the stand itself. All the circuit’s stands
have been tailored for the individual the-
atre in a style designed to “harmonize
artistically and architecturally with the
decor in each.” Other design requirements
are that “they shall attract customers both
by eye appeal and convenience of approach.”

Where possible the stand is placed in an

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

In some theatres in the Modern circuit beverages and ice cream are sold at a separate stand away from
the main one as at the Madison theatre, Cleveland. This one is also located in the lobby.

island just inside the foyer so that all
incoming patrons must pass it on their way
to the auditorium. Where this is not
structurally practical, it is “spotlighted as
a side-wall decorative feature.’’

In the circuit’s Mayland theatre two
refreshment stands are maintained — one in
the lobby, the other in the foyer. At the
latter a special service is offered — free cof-
fee to patrons desiring it! This was
achieved through a promotional tie-in with
the local Nescafe representative.

In some of the theatres there is also a
“Cold Bar,’’ at which soft drinks and ice
cream novelties are the only products sold.

Along with many other theatre opera-
tors Mr. Essick reports that popcorn is
the merchandise providing the greatest
profits. Originally the popping machine
was placed in the front of the stand so
that the actual popping operation could be
used to stimulate sales. That practice has
been discontinued, however, and warmers
installed in all situations. The latter are
usually placed in front of the stand now,
and the popping machines have been moved
to the rear of the stand.

Mr. Essick explains the change thus:
“We have found that while the actual
popping operation always is eye-appealing,
whatever loss is sustained by moving it to
the back of the stand is more than compen-
sated for in speeded-up service and the
consequent better returns. In addition, by
preparing the corn slightly in advance of
opening time and placing it in the warmers,
less counter attendants are required.” All
the Modern theatres use the Manley
“Stadium” type popper.

PLACING EQUIPMENT

While placement of other equipment
may vary somewhat from theatre to the-
atre, at most of the circuit’s stands the
warmer is put in front with two glass-
enclosed candy cases on either side. Ice
cream is sold over the counter from re-
frigerated cases behind the stands.

Refreshment stock supplies at Modern
theatres are kept in a special room adjacent
to the main stand. This room is usually
about 12 by 16 feet and has refrigeration
facilities. It is also equipped with special
bins for storing candy. The stock rooms
are kept under lock and key at all times,
and supplies are removed from it only by
the theatre manager.

It has been found that the amount of
stock kept on hand is best kept at these
levels: popcorn, six-week’s supply; pop-
corn boxes, six-months; oil, three-months;
and candy, two-weeks.

To insure that the stands are always
clean the circuit has hired a regular main-
tenance and supervision crew responsible
for daily cleaning and immediate repair of
any damaged equipment.

Theatres in the Modern circuit do not
display competitive merchandise, and ex-
cept for popcorn, do not push individual
items, according to Mr. Essick. “We buy
what is in our opinion the best merchandise
and let it sell on its own merits,” he ex-
plains. “By not duplicating merchandise,
we eliminate indecision, often resulting in
no sales, and we speed sales.’’

“As for display material,” he adds, “we
find any piece that moves to be most
effective, such as a moving light or a moving
pointer. Any type of animation attracts the
eye and usually leads to sales. While we
do not pressure-sell any particular item, we
do make our greatest effort to sell popcorn
where the greatest profit lies — and prefer-
ably buttered popcorn.”

In addition sales are stimulated through
special activities directed toward the chil-
dren, such as placing passes in a few pop-
corn boxes. “About 70% of our refresh-
ment customers are children,” Mr. Essick
reports, “so we try to attract them by
various promotional stunts throughout
the year. Women are our second best cus-
tomers, with the men trailing.”

INTRODUCING NEW ITEMS

Occasionally the circuit introduces a new
item at the snack stands, and it is backed
by special promotional efforts designed to
give it a fair chance to prove its drawing
power. Recently frankfurters were intro-
duced and they are prepared in rotisseries
at the stands. In addition film trailers
have been employed to boost sales.

All candy displays are rearranged week-
ly. At that time all the stock is removed
from the cases, which are thoroughly
cleaned. The candy is placed on three
levels, with the higher-priced (25c) items
at the top. No merchandise is displayed
on the counter itself in order to guard
against handling and pilfering by theatre
patrons.

Incidentally, Mr. Essick has found that
the film program itself has a decided effect
on the refreshment stand gross. During
the run of “action” or “horror” films sales
are excellent, he says. But “actionless” or
“problem” pictures bring a reduction in
snack purchases among the patrons of the
circuit.

Enlacing the Emphasis
on Fresh Merchandise

THE FACT that merchandise available
at the snack bar of the Paonia theatre
in Paonia, Colo., is "always fresh" is
emphasized In monthly program adver-
tising by manager Francis Gill.

On the reverse side of the April pro-
gram copy reads as follows: "4 reasons
why you always get clean, fresh ice
cream, frozen novelties and tastey candy
bars at our fountain. I: We buy in small
quantities to insure you freshness. 2: Our
reserve stock is kept under refrigeration
to keep it from becoming stale, soft or
sticky. 3: It is handed to you right from
the freezer in the lobby in perfect con-
dition. 4: Our girls make the best pop-
corn on the western slope. They are neat,
polite and good looking."

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

The woman who comes into your theatre is

-Tigurt coascms,

"fk^lnioi^ CoiASdous...

That’s why she prefers to refresh without
filling. Pepsi-Cola is the modern, light
refreshment made to suit her modern
taste. The modern idea in refreshment
makes more sales for Pepsi-Cola in
more and more theatres ... in
whatever form it’s served.

The biggest advertising
program in Pepsi-Cola
history is designed to
appeal to today’s slimmer,
trimmer, modern wor^eja..
Because

kept up with this
trend, it’s more popular
than ever. Cash in on
the new popularity of ?
today’s Pepsi-Cola for
more soft drink
in your theatre.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

MERCHANDISE MART

★ news of products for the theatre
refreshment service and their manufacturers

Illuminated Display
For the Snack Stand

AN ILLUMINATED and
mobile display which can be placed on top
of a drink dispenser or on the counter or
back bar of the refreshment stand has been
announced by the Pepsi-Cola Company,
New \ ork.

Catalogued as “Double Action Lamp
FG-48,” the display produces continuously
changing color and light effects by means
of a 100-watt bulb that shines through two
heavy gauge acetate drums. The bulb
projects the lines and colors of the drums
upon an outer shade of white fiberglas. The
sign is further identified with the words
“Pepsi-Cola” on the surmounting button.

The display can be bolted either on a
counter or to a wall, the company points
out. Its overall height is 25 inches; the
height to the top of the shade is 18 inches.
Its width is 11 inches; depth, 13 inches.
Other materials used in its construction
include steel and solid wood.

Premium Offer to Aid
Canada Dry Drink Sales

.A PROMOTIONAL Scheme
to boost sales of Canada Dry drinks
in automatic vending machines whereby
patrons are given a premium offer of a
plastic alligator billfold has been announced
by Canada Drv Ginger Ale, Inc., New
York.

I Theotre Snack Sales
I Bring Tcdx Reduction

THE patrons of a Detroit theatre
spend almost halt as much tor retresh-
ment products as they do tor admission
to the theatre, and when owners Mr. and
Mrs. Allen Kattan proved that recently,
they earned tor themselves a 20% re-
duction in the tax assessment on their
theatre!

Receipts tor a typical weekday
amounted to $32.54 tor admissions, the
Kattans showed a tax review board, while
on th same day a total ot $14.45 was
spent on retreshments. In addition re-
ceipts tor a typical Sunday showed
$113.10 spent on admission, while snack
sales accounted tor an additional $62.96.

d'he company is offering the billfold for
25c plus two Canada Dry imprinted paper
cups, according to Allan Glazebrook,
national syrup sales manager, w'ho adds that
the retail value of the billfold is 69c. Dis-
play cards featuring the premium offer have
been prepared especially for posting on
vending machines. (See photo on page 43.)

The mechanics of the offer have been
worked out so that theatre operators need
do nothing except post the display material
at their machine locations. Customers who
want the billfold simply mail two flattened

they’ll stop for a drink...

WHEN THEY SEE THE LICHT!

SPACARB'S New '^Rainbow Light" 8-Flavor Cup Drink Dispenser
Gives You Full-Color Illumination That Attracts Customers . . .

Yet Doesn't Distract Audiences!

A flood of light pours through the
smooth-surface, unhreakahle Fiherglas
in fu/l color. It lights up the dispenser,
yet doesn’t throw disturbing rays
elsewhere. Specifically designed for
theaters, the SPACARB 8 has
everything! The push-button selector
serves eight popular carbonated and
non-carbonated flavor variations . . .
gives you maximum variety for maximum
profits! No wonder the SPACARB 8
is the first choice of theaters everywhere.

Write or wire Dep't. 8 for full details.

@ S RAOAR B ..

America’s Oldest Manufacturer of Automatic Beverage Dispensers

Operators, please note; This new FULL COLOR
illumination unit can be easily attached to current
SPACARB models.

Generol Sales Office and Factory: 375 Fairfield Avenue, Stamford, Conn.
Sales Representatives: Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Kansas City, Kansas,
Minneapolis, Mobile, Newark, N. J., New York City, Omaha, Philadelphia,

Pittsburgh, San Diego, Seattle, Washington. D. C., Toronto, Canada

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8. 1954

Candy Bars by Box
Big Seller in Islands

CANDY bars sold by the box are
big business at the snaclt stand of the
Center theatre in St. Thomas in the
Virgin Islands, according to operator
Erwin Gross. The inducement to buy in
that quantity (24 bars to the box) is a
free pass to an orchestra seat in the
theatre, one of which is placed in each
box!

This promotional stunt has two ad-
vantages, Mr. Gross points out, the first
naturally being the increase in sales and
profit at the stand. In addition it stimu-
lates the box-office, as the pass is good
only for the first show on Sunday, which
means that the holder of the pass comes
out early enough to talk up the show for
his friends who can still catch the two
other performances that day.”

The candy is manufactured by the
Vibco Candy Service, which Mr. Gross
also operates. The space on the reverse
side of the passes is used to advertise
bottled beverages, another product of
the Vibco company.

paper cups and the money directly to the
company. Pads of name-and-address slips
are furnished with the display cards.

The new promotion is linked with the
company’s “Annie Oakley’’ television show

on which a similar premium offer is being
made. This tie-in gives the scheme the
benefit of heavy national advertising, it is
pointed out.

New Fountalnette with
Four Lever Action Pumps

THE ADDITION of a new
fountainette, which features a newly de-
signed pump with lever instead of plunger
action, has been announced for its line of

Button Seasoning Pump

YEARS-AHEAD

MONEY-MAKING

FEATURES!

• Greater Warming Capacity — Each
Elevator Well Holds the Equivalent
of 100 Boxes of Popped Corn !

• New Eorced-Air Heating System,
Thermostatically Controlled Keeps
Corn Crisp and Eresh Always.

• Ample Working Space for Two Busy
Attendants.

• Heated Seasoning Urn.

• All Metal Construction.

The all-new CRETORS “Olympic” is a smooth,
streamlined beauty, combining CRETORS’
world-champion money making power with
over-the-counter service . . . No other popcorn
machine has ever incorporated so many new
features and innovations to help you make more
money . . . There’s a sleek, new, all-metal cabi-
net finished in gleaming enamel trimmed with
stainless steel to give your concession more
glamor and sales appeal . . . And there’s a
champion’s Heart of Steel — an exclusive-design,
time-tested, steel kettle that outpops all others,
according to independent side-hy-side tests, and
gives years of trouble-free service , . . Write for
full details about this new machine today!

® Many Other Features,

Other models available . . . also Warmer

CRETORS Corporation National Sales Offices • Popcorn Building • Nashville, Tenn.

CRETORS Corporation
Box 1329-M,

Nashville, Tenn,

Please rush full information about the new CRETORS
’’Olympic” Over-the-Counter Model popcorn machine

NAME

ADDRESS

CITY S STATE

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

POPPING OIL SPECIALISTS TO THE NATION

serve COFFEE the Profitable E-Z WAY!

LESS LABOR

Plus LOWER COFFEE COST

Plus NO STALE OR WASTED COFFEE

Equals More Profit for You!

No brewing required — YET you serve a
BETTER cup of coffee with an E-Z WAY
Coffeemaker for it’s made fresh for each
customer, using liquid coffee concentrate,
frozen, or make your own (we tell you
how). Never a coffee shortage during rush
periods. A Drive-In Theatre natural! Each
unit dispenses both coffee and hot water
(separate spigots). Easily connected, saves
time — no messy grounds, filter or urn to
clean. Pays handsomely.

Ca//, fVrite or Wire

Steel Products Co.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

ABOVE — Automatic Push-Button
Model dispenses a cup of coffee
by pushing button.

LEFT — Continuous Flow Double
Faucet Model, faucets operate
like regular urn.

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 53.

fountain and food accessories by Helmco,
Inc., Chicago.

Designated “Model 224,” the fountain-
ette is constructed of satin finish stainless
steel and is designed for precise tempera-

ture control in each compartment. It is
equipped with four of the new pumps and
four fruit wells for a large variety of
topping service. The manufacturer states
that the unit will fit all standard freezer
cabinets.

New Fibreglas Display
For Drink Machines

Development of a new fluorescent-
lighted Fibreglas display sign for use on its
cup vending machines is announced by
Spacarb, Inc., New
York. The back-
lighting is in three
colors to create a
rainbow effect.

Extremely simple
to install, the new
display fits into the
company’s 1953 ma-
chines ; it is pictured
here as installed on
the “Spacarb-8”
model, which offers
four carbonated
drinks, two mixed drinks (such as cola and
cherry or any fruit mixture) and two

non-carbonated drinks. The display is pro-
vided operators complete with metal back-

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

in the big lO-cent
sizes — 96 count... With
no price marking on
the wrapper!

It seems you can hardly pick up a national
magazine, switch on TV, or tune in the radio
without seeing or hearing something about
“candy bars from Mars.”

So naturally candy eaters look for them.

And you’re all set with famous twin Milky
Ways and twin Snickers along with that
toasted almond favorite, the Mars Bar.

Better be sure you have plenty of these
Mars’ stars in your showcase. America’s most
popular chocolate-covered candy bars are
sure-fire box office. Order now for immediate
shipment.

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

INTRODUCING the NEW 1954 Self-Contained
100-Gallon Per Hour Capacity

HEAVY DUTY
"SODAMAKER "

Large Circuits
Leading Drive-Ins
All over U. S. and
Canada are using
"SODAMAKERS"
with outstanding
success and
exceptional profits

Refrigerated Faucets
•ff Fastest Constant Flow Pin-Point Carbonated
Ice-Cold Drinks Without Ice
Can be had with Two or Three Flavors
Triples Your Profit with Less Floor Space
y^ Reserve Ice Bank for Rush Drive-In Crowd
Write Today for Complete Information

SUPERIOR REFRIGERATOR MFG. CO., I^IC.

822-824 Hodiamont Avenue
St. Louis 1 2, Mo.

Advertised

HENRY HEIDE, INC. • NEW YORK N.Y.

YCUR QUESTICNS ARE INVITED. 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.

ing and fluorescent tubes for installation.

Tlie manufacturer states that this is the
first time that a way has been discovered
to adapt unbreakable Fibreglas to this
display use. In working out the difficulties
in so adapting it, the principal problem
was to obtain colors that would not bleed
or fade — and to do this at a cost low
enough to be practical, it is also pointed out.

Frozen Shrimp Rolls for
Drive-In Snack Stands

FROZEN shrimp rolls, a
food product for drive-in refreshment
stands consisting of a mixture of vegetables
and shrimp wrapped in a noodle jacket, are
now being marketed by Flavo-Rite Foods,
Inc., Bronx, New York. They are priced
to sell at 30c each.

Trade-named the “Flavos Shrimp Rolls,”
the product requires but two minutes fry-
ing time, the manufacturer states, and may
be held in a bun warmer prior to serving.
Glassine bags designed for serving the food
to patrons are also available from the com-
pany. The product can be stored in any
ice cream or freezer locker.

PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL

To promote the shrimp rolls the com-
pany will supply without charge a him
trailer and plastic display signs to be used
at the stand. It is reported that the item
is now being sold in over 200 theatres in
the East and that sales have been extremely
good.

Statesville Circuit Holds
Snack Bar Sales Contest

REFRESHMENT stand attendants em-
ployed in the 15 theatres of the States-
ville Theatre Corporation, Statesville,
N. C., were given a chance to win a cash
prize recently in a contest conducted by
the circuit. The contest ran for eight
weeks, and the results will soon be an-
nounced by R. E. Agle, general manager
of the circuit.

Under the rules of the contest each
refreshment department was given a
quota based on its sales for the same
period last year, with the prize going to
the person achieving the biggest per-
centage over that quota. As Mr. Agle
pointed out in an announcement sent to
the sales personnel, they were competing
"with no one but themselves — that is,
their record tor last year."

New Counter Model
of Juice Dispenser

A NEW MODEL (820-R)
in its line of refrigerated juice dispensers
equipped with an illuminated dome and
cascades for counter display has been mar-
keted by Majestic Enterprises, Ltd., Los
Angeles. It is designed to dispense con-
centrates and syrups.

Adaptable to smaller operations, the unit
is called the “Illuminated Cascade, Jr.”
It is 32 inches high and requires counter
space 13j4 by 14 inches. It has a capacity
of approximately 6 gallons according to
the manufacturer.

Frozen shrimp rolls made by Flavo-Rite Foods, Inc., are popular with patrons of the refreshment stand at
the Massapequa drive-in at Massapequa, Long Island, N. Y. The drive-in has a station system of service.
Note the plastic display sign above the stand which is provided free by the company.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

CLASSIFIED DIRECTORY OF LEADING SOURCES OF REFRESHMENT SERVICE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES

BEVERAGES

American Citrus Corporation, 333 N. Michigan Ave-
nue, Chicago.

Bireley’s, 1127 North Mansfield, Los Angeles, Calif.

Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Incorporated, 100 Park Ave-
nue, New York, N. Y.

COCA-COLA COMPANY, 515 Madison Avenue,
New York, N. Y. See Second Cover.

DAD’S ROOT BEER COMPANY, 2800 North
Talman Avenue, Chicago 18, III. See page 49.

Delaware Punch Company of America, San Antonio
6, Tex.

Doctor Pepper Company, 429 Second Avenue, Dallas
2, Texas.

Double-Cola Company, 1478 Market, Chattanooga 8,
Tenn.

The Grapette Company, Incorporated, 112 E. Grin-
atead, Camden, Ark.

Green & Green, Inc., 2000 Providence, Houston,
Tex.

Green Spot, Inc., 1501 Beverly Boulevard, Los
Angeles. Calif.

Charles E. Hires Company, 206 S. 24th Street, Phila-
delphia 3. Pa.

Julep Company. 353 \V. Grand Avenue, Chicago, 111.

Mission Dry Corporation, 5001 S. Sota Street, Los
Angeles, Calif.

National Fruit Flavor Company, Inc., 4201 Girod,
New Orleans 6, La.

Nehi Corporation, 10th & 9th Avenues, Columbus, Ga.

Nesbitt Fruit Products. Inc., 2946 East 11th, Los
Angeles 23, Calif.

Orange Crush Company, 318 W. Superior Street,
Chicago 10, 111.

O-So-Grape Company, 1931 W. 63rd Street, Chicago
36, 111.

Pacific Citrus Products Company, P. O. Box 392,
Fullerton, Calif.

PEPSI-COLA COMPANY, 3 W. 57th Street, New
York. See page 41.

Red Rock Bottlers, Incorporated, 901 W. Peachtree,
Atlanta, Ga.

Rich Maid Products Company, 1943 West Highland
Avenue, San Bernardino, Calif.

Richardson Corporation, 1069 Lyell Avenue, Roch-
ester 3, N. Y.

Sero-Syrup Company, 255 Freeman Street, Brook-
lyn, N. Y.

Seven-Up Company, 1316 Delmar, St. Louis, Mo.

Sunkist Growers, Inc., 707 \V. Fifth Street, Los .Xn-
geles 13, Calif.

The Squirt Company, 202 S. Hamilton Drive, Bev-
erly Hills, Calif.

Doctor Swett’s Root Beer Company, Incorporated,
134 S. LaSalle Street, Chicago, 111.

Tru-Ade, Incorporated, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chi-
cago 6, 111.

James Vernor Company. 239 Woodward Avenue.
Detroit, Mich.

The Welch Grape Juice Company, Westfield, N. Y.

Wonder Orange Company, 223 W. Erie, Chicago. 111.

BEVERAGE DISPENSERS

APCO, INC., 250 West 57th Street, New York 19, N. Y.
(cup dispenser).

.‘\utcmatic Syrup Company. 46-7 J’ernon Blvd., Long
Island City, N. Y.

Bastian-Blessing Company. 4201 Peterson Avenue,
Chicago 30, III.

Bert Mills Corporation. 400 Crescent Blvd., Lombard,
111. (coffee).

Best Products Company, 220 West Addison Street.
Chicago 18, 111 (coffee).

C. G. Bradley & Sons, 431 N. Franklin St., Syracuse,
N. Y.

Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc., 100 Park .\venue.
New York 17. N. Y.

Carbonaire, Inc., 114 Fern Avenue, San Francisco
Calif.

Carbonic Dispenser Co., Canfield, Ohio.

Coan Manufacturing Co., 2070 Helena, Madison, Wis
(cup dispenser).

COCA-COLA COMPANY, 515 Madison Avenue,
New York, N. Y. See Second Cover.

Cole Products Corporation, 39 South La Salle Street,
Chicago 3, 111.

DAD’S ROOT BEER, Fountain Service, 2800
North Talman Avenue, Chicago 18, III. See
page 49.

Drincolator Corporation, 37(X) Oakwood Avenue,
Youngstown, Ohio.

Everfrost Sales, Inc., 14815 South Broadway, Gardena.
Calif.

The Fischman Company, 10th & Allegheny, Philadel-
phia, Pa.

Fruit-O-Matic Manufacturing Company, 5225 Wilshire
Blvd., Los Angeles 36, Calif, (milk and juices).

Green Spot, Incorporated, 1501 Beverly Boulevard,
Los Angeles, Calif.

Charles E. Hires Company, 206 S. 24th Street, Phila-
delphia 3, Pa.

W. Kestenbaum, Inc., 1790 First Avenue, New York
28, N. Y.

Knickerbocker Beverage Dispenser, Inc., 453 6th
Avenue, New York, N. Y.

Lunch-O-Mat Corporation of America, 2112 Broadway,
New York, N. Y. (coffee, milk and sandwiches hot
and cold).

Lyons Industries, 342 Madison Avenue, New York City.

Maiestic Enterprises, Inc., Ltd., 959 (Trenshaw Boule-
vard, Los Angeles, Calif.

MANLEY, INC., 192D Wyandotte Street, Kansas City
8, Mo.

Milk-O'-Mat Corporation. 500 Fifth Avenue, New York
City (cup dairy drink).

Mighty Midget Manufacturing Company, 2824 East

Washington, Phoenix, Ariz.

Mills Industries, 4110 Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, 111.

Mission Dry Corporation, 5001 S. Sota Street, Los
Angeles 54, Calif.

Modern Refreshers, Inc., 1812 West Hubbard Street,
Chicago, 111.

Multiplex Faucet Company, 4319 Duncan Avenue, St.
Louis, Mo.

Orange Crush Company, 318 W. Superior Street, Chi-
cago 10, III.

S & S Products Company, P. O. Box 1047. Lima. Ohio.

Seco Company, Incorporated, 5206 S. 38th, St, Louis
16, Mo.

LIST OF BRAND NAMES

On page 49 are can^ bars, beverages “
and chewing gums jeM alQ^wa-.

tres, lisfed alphabeficaHy by trade name, ^
with the manufacturer of each ii^icated. i
This is for the purpo^Dof ascertaining
the name of the manafacturer when only

the name of the product is known. The _

nrmnifacturers are listed alphabetically
■with addresses, according to product

cUssi^cation in the direi^ory beginning

. r. .■ ■■

on this page. ‘ ^

, 'Y >

t a _! a, 1

Selmix Dispensers, Inc., 28-25 Borden Avenue, Long
Island City, N. Y.

Snively Vending & Sales Company, Winter Haven,
Fla.

SPACARB, INC., 270 Madison Avenue, New York
16, N. Y. (cup dispenser). See page 42.

Star Manufacturing Company, 6300 St. Louis
Avenue, St. Louis, Mo.

STEEL PRODUCTS, INC., 427 Guaranty Bank
Bldg., Cedar Rapids, la. (coffee.) See page 44.

SUPERIOR REFRIGERATOR COMPANY, 1603
Pine Street, St. Louis 3, Mo. (See page 46).

Telecoin Corporation, 12 E. 44th St., New York City.

Uniflow Manufacturing Company, Erie, Pa.

Vendolator .Manufacturing Company, P. O. Bo.x 1586,
Fresno, Calif, (bottle milk).

John W. Young Foundation, 29 Fairway Drive, Bar-
rington, R. I.

CANDY BARS AND SPECIALTIES

Fred W. Amend Company, 8 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, 111.

Bachman Chocolate Manufacturing Company, Mount
Joy, Pa.

Walter Baker & Company, Inc., Pierce Square, Dor-
chester, Mass.

Banner Candy Manufacturing Corporation, 700 Liberty
Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.

A. L. Bazzini Company, Inc., 108-116 Park Place, New
York. N. Y.

Paul F. Beich Company, Bloomington, III.

E. J. Brach & Sons, 4656 W. Kenzie, Chicago, 111.

Blumenthal Brothers, Margaret & James Streets,
Philadelphia 37, Pa.

Blum’s, Inc., Polk & California Streets, San Francisco,
Calif.

Brock Candy Company, 11 Chestnut street, Chatta-
nooga, Tenn.

Bunte Brothers-Oiase Candy Company. 3301 W.
Franklin St., Chicago, 111.

Cadbury-Fry, Inc., 261 Broadway, New York 7, N. Y.

Candy Crafters, Inc., Stewart and Union Avenues,
Lansdowne, Pa.

Candymasters, Inc., 3-5 N. 15th St., Minneapolis,
Minn.

Cardinet Candy Company, 2150 Marker Street, Oak-
land, Calif.

Charms Company, 601 Bangs Avenue, Asbury Park,
N. J.

Cherry Smash Company, Inc., 1401 Lee Highway,
Arlington, Va,

The D. L. Clark Company, 503 Martindale, Pitts-
burgh 12, Pa.

Cook Chocolate Company, 4825 S. Rockwell, Chicago,

111.

Cox Confection Company, East Boston, Mass.

The Cracker Jack Company, 4800 W. 66th Street,
Chicago, 111.

Curtiss Candy Company, 1101 Belmont Avenue, Chi-
cago 13, III.

Dennis Candy Factory, Inc., 793 Monroe .-\venue,
Rochester, N. Y.

Deran Confectionery Company, Incorporated. 134 Cam-
bridge. Cambridge 41, Mass.

Drake America Corporation, 20 East 50th Street. New
York 22. N. Y.

The Euclid Candy Company of Calif., Incorporated,
715 Battery, San Francisco 26. Calif,

F & F Laboratories. Inc.. 3501 West 48th Place.
Chicago, III.

Fisher Nut &- Chocolate Company. 2327 Wyclift' St.,
St. Paul 4. Minn.

Gold Medal Candy Corporation, 2857 W. 8th Street,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

Golden Nugget Sweets, Ltd., 1975 Market Street.
San Francisco, Calif.

D. Goldenberg, Incorporated, “I” & Ontario, Phila-
delphia. Pa.

H. K. Hart Confections, Inc., 540 39th Street. Union
City. N. J.

Hawley & Hoops, Inc., 200 N. 13tli St., Newark, X. J.

HENRY HEIDE, INCORPORATED, 213 Hudson
Street, New York, N. Y. (See page 46)

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Hershey Chocolate Corporation, 19 E. Chocolate
Avenue, Hershey, Pa.

M. J. Holloway Company, 308 West Ontario, Chicago

10, 111.

Hollywood Brands, Inc., Chestnut & Calumet.
Centralia, 111.

Walter H. Johnson Candy Company, 4500 W. Bel-
mont Avenue, Chicago 41, III.

Robert A, Johnston Company, 4033 W. National Ave-
nue, Milwaukee 1, Wis.

Kimbell Candy Company, 6546 W. Belmont, Chicago,

111.

Klein Chocolate Company, Incorporated, Brown Street,
Elizabeth, Pa.

Kontney Carton Company, 418 North Clay Street,
Green Bay, Wis.

Kraft Foods Company, 500 North Peshtigo, Newark,
N. J., Chicago, 111.

Leaf Brands, Inc.. 1155 Cicero Avenue, Qiicago, 111.

Edgar P. Lewis & Sons, Incorporated, 183 Commer
cial Street, Malden 48, Mass.

Life Savers Corporation North Main Street, Port
Chester, N. Y.

Luden’s, Inc., 200 North Eighth, Reading, Pa.

Lummis & Company, 148 N, Delaware, Philadelphia
6, Pa.

Lusk Candy Company, 2371 Bates Avenue, Daven-
port, la.

McAfee Candy Company, Inc., Macon. Ga.

MARS, INCORPORATED, 2019 N. Oak Park
Avenue, Chicago 3S, III. See page 45.

Mason, Au & Magenheimer Confectionery Manufac-
turing Company, P. O. Box 549, Mineola, N. Y.

Melster Candies, Cambridge, Wis.

National Licorice Company, 106 John Street, Brook-
lyn, N. Y.

Nestle’s Chocolate Company, Main and William Street,
White Plains. N. Y.

New England Confectionery Company, 254 Massachu-
setts Avenue, Cambridge 39, Mass.

Norris Candy Company, Atlanta, Ga.

Overland Candy Company, Div. of Leaf Brands,
155 N. Cicero Street, Chicago 15, 111.

Peter Paul, Incorporated, New Haven Rd., Naugatuck.
Conn.

Planters Nut & Chocolate Company, Suffolk, Va,

Quaker City Chocolate & Confectionery Company,
Incorporated, 2140 Germantown Avenue, Philadd-
phia. Pa.

Queen Anne Candy Company, Hammond, Ind.

Reed Candy Company, 1245 Fletcher Street, Chicago.

111.

H. B. Reese Candy Company, Hershey, Pa.

Rennie Nut Company, 82 Briarcliff Road, Larchmont,
N. Y.

Thomas D. Richardson Company, Atlantic and 1.
Philadelphia 34, Pa.

Ridleys, 159 Carlton Avenue, Brooklyn 5, N. Y.

Joseph A. Riggie Candy Company, 3704 W. North
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

Rockwood & Company, 88 Washington Avenue, Brook-
lyn 5, N. Y.

Schutter Candy Division, Universal Match Corpora-
tion, 1501 Locust Street, St. Louis 3, Mo.

Sperry C mdy Company, Milwaukee, Wis.

Squirrel Brand Company, 1012 Boardman Street, Cam-
bridge, Mass.

Howard E. Stark, 181 N. Broadway, Milwaukee 2,
Wis.

Sweets Company of America, Incorporated, 1515 Wil-
low Avenue, Hoboken, N. J.

Switzer Licorice Company, 612 N. First Street, St.
Louis, Mo.

Terry Candy Company, 963 Newark Avenue, Eliza-
beth, N. J.

James O. Welch Company, 810 Main, Cambridge,
Mass.

Wilbur Suchard Chocolate Candy, Incorporated, 48
N. Broad, Lititz, Pa.

/illiamson Candy Company, 4701 Armitage Avenue,
Chicago 39, 111.

York Caramel. Box 1147, York. Pa.

George Ziegler Company, 408 West Florida, Milwaukee
4, Wis.

•

CANDY MACHINES

Belvend Manufacturing Company, 122 South Michigan
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

Arthur H. DuGrenier, Inc., 15 Hale Avenue, Haver-
hill, Mass.

Mills Automatic Merchandising Corporation. 21-30 44th
Road, Long Island City, N. Y.

Mills Industries. 4100 Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, 111.

National Vendors, Inc., 5055 Natural Bridge Road,
St. Louis, Mo.

The Rowe Corporation, 31 East 17th Street, New York
City.

Sanitary Automatic Candy Corporation, 259 West 14th
Street, New York City.

Stoner Manufacturing Corporation, 328 Gale Street,
Aurora, 111.

CIGARETTE MACHINES

Arthur H. DuGrenier, Inc., 15 Hale Avenue, Haver-
hill, Mass.

The Rowe Corporation, 31 East 17th Street, New
York City.

•

DISPLAY CASES AND
COUNTER EQUIPMENT

Columbus Show Case Company, 850 W. Fifth Avenue,
Columbus 8, Ohio.

Confection Cabinet Corporation, 234 Central, Newark,
N. J.

FIRST-AMERICAN PRODUCTS, INC., 1717
Wyandotte Street, Kansas City 8, Mo. (steel
sectional counters).

Grand Rapids Store Equip. Company, 1340 Monroe
Avenue, N. W., Grand Rapids 2, Mich.

Indiana Cash Drawer Co., Shelbvville, Ind.

MASTER-KRAFT FIXTURE COMPANY, 434 North
Front Street, Baltimore, Md.

SUPURDISPLAY CORPORATION, Wisconsin
Tower Bldg., Milwaukee, Wis.

Weber Showcase & Fixture Company, 5700 Avalon
Boulevard, Los Angeles 54, Calif.

West Coast Sheet Metal Works, 935 Venice Boulevard,
Los Angeles, Calif.

•

FOOD SERVICE EQUIPMENT

Acton Manufacturing Company, 605 South Summer
St., Arkansas City, Kans. (portable, hot or cold
food container).

American Playground Devices Company, Anderson,
Ind. (outdoor grills).

Bell Engineering Company, 55 Munroe Street, Lynn,
Mass, (frankfurter rotisserie).

Cinesnax Corporation, 988 Market Street, San Fra-
cisco. Calif, (frankfurter bar).

J. J. Connolly, Inc., 457 West 40th Street, New York
18, N. Y. (frankfurter and roll grill).

Cory Corporation, 221 LaSalle, Chicago 1, 111. (coffee
brewer) .

Dalason Products Manufacturing Company, 825 West
Madison Street, Chicago 7, 111. (frankfurter steamer).

Dairy Service Company, 100 East Main Street,
Menominee Falls, Wis. (butter dispenser).

Doughnut Corporation of America, 393 7th Avenue,
New York (3ity, N. Y. (doughnut mixer).

Everfrost Sales, Inc., 14815 South Broadway, Gardena,
Calif.

Garvis Manufacturing Company, 210 Court Street, Des
Moines, la. (frankfurter and bun warmer).

Helmco, Inc., 1215 Fullerton Avenue, Chicago, 111.
(barbecue sandwich equipment).

Hollywood Servemaster Company, 114 W. 18th Street,
Kansas City 8, Mo. (frankfurter grill).

Hotpoint, Inc., 5600 W. Taylor Street, Chicago 44,
111. (deep fryer and roll warmer).

W. Kestenbaum, Inc., 1790 First Avenue, New York
28, N. Y. (griddle stand).

Kneisley Electric Company, 2509 LaGrange, Toledo,
Ohio, (hot and cold drinks).

MANLEY, INC., 1920 Wyandotte Street, Kansas City
8, Mo-, (frankfurther and bun steamer).

J. C. Pitman & Sons, 711 Broad Street, Lynn, Mass,
(deep fryer).

Prince Castle Sales, 121 West Wacker Drive, Chicago,
111. (beverage mixers).

Pronto Popcorn Sales Corporation, 702 Beacon Street,
Boston 15, Mass, (frankfurter steamer and dis-
penser) .

Star Manufacturing Company, 6300 St. Louis Avenue.
St. Louis 20, Mo.

STEEL PRODUCTS, INC., 427 Guaranty Bank
Bldg., Cedar Rapids, la. (coffee brewer). See
page 44.

SUPURDISPLAY, INC., 3100 Wisconsin Tower Bldg.,
Milwaukee 3, Wis.

•

FOOD SPECIALTIES

Armour & Company, Union Stock Yard, Chicago, lU.
Gardena, Calif, (cabinets).

Blue Jay Products Co., Inc., 36 Bainbridge Street,
Brooklyn 22, N. Y. (biscuits).

Castleberry’s Food Company, Augusta, Ga. (canned
barbecue pork).

Coast Packing Company, 3275 E. Vernon, Vernon,
Calif, (potato chips).

Prito Company, Inc., 2600 Cedar Springs, Dallas, Tex.
(potato chips).

Flavo-Rite Foods, Inc., 516 Westchester Avenue,
Bronx. N. Y. (shrimp rolls).

Frozen Farm Products, Inc., 1735 Margaret Avenue,
Altoona, Pa. (frozen breaded chicken in basket).

Hygrade Food Products Corporation, 2811 Michigan
Avenue. Detroit, Mich, (frankfurters).

Meadors Manufacturing Company, Greenville, S. C.
(biscuits) .

Pronto-Pup, Incorporated, 619 1st National Bank
Bldg., Cincinnati, Ohio, (frankfurters).

National Biscuit Company, 449 West 14th Street, New
York 10, N. Y. (biscuits).

Purity Pretzel Company, 38th & Derry Streets, Har-
risburg. Pa. (pretzels).

Savon (bandy Company, 61 Bridge Street, Patterson,
N. J. (French fried potato sticks).

So-Good Potato Chip Company, 2929 Gravois, St.
Louis. Mo. (potato chips).

Swift & Company, Union Stockyards, Chicago, 111.
(frankfurters).

Temple’s Frosted Foods, Inc., 454 Berry Street, Brook-
lyn 11, N. Y. (frozen Chinese egg rolls).

•

GUM, CHEWING

American Chicle Coinpany, 30-30 Tliompson Street,
Loner Island City, N. Y.

Beechnut Packing Company, 10 E. 40th Street, New
York. N. Y.

Bowman Gum, Inc., 4865 Stenton Avenue, Philadelphia,
Pa.

Clark Bros. Chewing Gum Company, Merchant Sl,
N.S. Pittsburgh 12, Pa.

Frank H. Fleer Corporation, lOth & Somerville, Phila-
delphia 41, Pa.

William Wri^ley, Jr., Company. 410 N. Michigan
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

ICE CREAM AND FROZEN
CUSTARD EQUIPMENT

Atlas Tool & Manufacturing Company, 5147 Natural
Bridge Avenue, St. Louis. Mo. (ice cream vendor).

Automatic Canteen Co. of America. Merchandise Mart,
cago 39, 111. (ice cream freezers).

Badger Vending Machine Company, 710 N. Planking-
ton, Milwaukee, Wis. (cup ice cream vendor).

Craig Machine Company, Danvers, Mass, (ice cream
vendor).

Dari-Delite, Inc., 1524 Fourth Avenue, Rock Island.
111. (soft ice cream freezers).

DeCicco’s Bon Bon Corporation, 451 N. Rodeo Drive,
Beverly Hills, Calif, (chocolate covered ice cream).

Everfrost Sales, Inc., 14815 South Broadway, Gardena.
111. (cabinets).

Freez-King Corporation, 2518 W. Montrose Avenue.
(Chicago 18, 111.

General Equipment Sales, Incorporated, 824 S. W.
Street, Indianapolis 2, Ind. (ice cream)

Icecreamolator Corporation, 3700 Oakwood Avenue,
Youngstown, Ohio (ice cream).

La Crosse Cooler Company, 2809 Losy Boulevard,
South, La Crosse, Wis. (ice cream).

Mills Industries, Inc., 4110 Fullerton Avenue, Chi-
cago 39, 111. (ice cream freezers)

Multiple Products Company, 225 W. 39th Street, New
York 18, N. Y, (cone dispenser)

Port Morris Machine & Tool Companyq, 208 E. 135th
St., New York City (soft ice cream and custard
machine).

Rowe Manufacturing Corporation, 31 East 17th Street,
New York City, (ice cream pop and sandwich auto-
matic vendor).

Sno-Master Manufacturing Company, 124 Hopkins
Place, Baltimore 1, Md. (Ice shaver)

Sweden Freezer Manufacturing Company, 3401 17th
Avenue, West, Seattle 99, Wash, (frozen custard
and cone dispenser).

Swirley Manufacturing Company, 2518 West Montrose
Avenue, Chicago 18, 111. (soft ice cream).

West Coast Sheet Metal Works, 935 Venice Boulevard,
Los Angeles, Calif, (self-service ice cream cabinet).

Whirla-Whip, Incorporated, W. O. W. Bldg, Omaha,
Neb. (soft ice cream)

•

PAPER CUPS

Dixie Cup Company, 24th & Dixie Avenue, Easton, Pa.

Hi- Land Paper Company, 274 Madison Avenue, New
York City.

Lily-Tulip Cup Corporation, 122 East 42nd Street, New
York City.

U. S. Envelope Company, 68 Prescott, Worcester 5,
Mass.

POPCORN BAGS AND BOXES

Andre Paper Box Company, San Francisco, Calif.

The Best Fooas, Incorporated, 1 E. 43rd Street, New
York, N. Y.

Grand Bag & Paper Company, Inc., Ossining, N. Y.

MANLEY, INCORPORATED, 1920 Wytindotte Strec..;,
Kansas City 8, Mo.

Oneida Paper Products, Incorporated, 10 Clifton
Boulevard, Clifton, N. J.

Rex Specialty Bag Corporation, 95-109 Onderdonk
Avenue, Brooklsm 6, N. Y.

Rockford Paper Mills, 33 S. LaSalle St., Chicago, 111.

SUPURSDISPLAY CORPORATION, Wisconsin
Tower Bldg., Milwaukee, Wis. See opposite
page.

C. F. SIMONIN’S & SONS, INCORPORATED, Tioga
& Belgrade Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

POPCORN POPPERS

C. CRETORS & COMPANY, 600 W. Cermak
Road, Chicago, III. See page 43.

MANLEY, INCORPORATED, 1920 Wyandotte
Street, Kansas City 8, Mo. See page 46.

Star Manufacturing Company, 6300 St. Louis Avenue,
St. Louis 20, Mo.

Viking Popcorn Machines, Incorporated 1481 W.
Washington Boulevard, Los Angeles 1, Calif.

POPCORN, RAW

A. B. C. Popcorn Company, Incorporated, 3441 W.
North Avenue, Chicago, 111.

American Pop Corn Company, Sioux City 6, Iowa.

Blevins Popcorn Company, 3098 Charlotte Avenue,
Nashville, Tenn.

Central Popcorn Company, Schaller, Iowa.

C. CRETORS & COMPANY, 630 N. Cermak Rd.,
Chicago, III. See page 43.

Charles E. Darden & Company, 308 S. Harwood
Street. Dallas, Tex.

Dore Popcorn Company, 5913 W. North Avenue, Chi-
cago, III.

Indiana Popcorn Company, Muncie, Ind.

Interstate Popcorn Company, 1243 S. Wabash Avenue,
Chicago, 111.

MANLEY, INCORPORATED, 1920 Wyandotte
Street, Kansas City, Mo. See page 46.

J. A. McCarty Seed Company. Evansville, Ind.

SUPURDISPLAY CORPORATION, Wisconsin
Tower Bldg., Milwaukee. Wis.

Wyandotte Popcorn Company, Marion, Ohio.

Y & Y Popcorn Supply Company, 526 N. 13th Street,
Philadelphia, Pa.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Betty Zane Com Products Company, 640 Bellefontain*
Avenue, Marion, Ohio.

POPCORN SEASONING
AND SEASONING DISPENSERS

Apco Inc., 250 West 57th Street, New York 19, N. Y.
(butter dispenser).

Arlington Edible Oil Products, 38 Yetten Place, Wal-
tham, Mass, (seasoning).

Best Foods, Incorporated, 1 E. 43rd Street, New
York City, N. Y. (seasoning).

Capital City Products, West First & Perry, Colum-
bus, Ohio.

Cargill, Inc., 200 Grain Exchange, Minneapolis, Minn.

C. CRETORS & COMPANY, 606 W- Cermak Road,
Chicago 16, 111. (butter dispenser).

Dairy Service Company, 100 East Main Street.
Menominee Falls, Wis.

E. F. Drew & Company, S East 26th Street, New
York City (seasoning).

Helmco, Inc., 1215 Fullterton Avenue, Chicago, 111.
(butter dispenser).

MANLEY, INC., 1920 Wyandotte Street, Kansas
City 8, Mo. (cheese seasoning).

C. F. SIMONIN SONS, INCORPORATED, Tioga
and Belgrade Street, Philadelphia, Pa. (sea-
soning). See page 44.

SUPURDISPLAY CORPORATION, Wisconsin
Tower Bldg., Milwaukee, Wis. (butter dis-
penser). See this page.

•

POPCORN WARMERS
AND DISPENSERS

Blessing-HotTman Corporation, 2422 W. Cermak Road,
Chicago, 111. (warmer).

Bonanza, Inc., 2980 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif.

C. CRETORS & COMPANY, 606 W. Cermak
Road, Chicago 16, III. (warmer). See page 43.

Hollywood Servemaster Company, 114 West 18tli
Street, Kansas City 8, Mo. (warmer).

MANLEY, INC., 1920 Wyandotte Street, Kansas
City, Mo. See page 46.

Popcorn Equipment Company, 2004 Broadway, Santa
Monica, Calif, (warmer).

Pronto Popcorn Sales, 702 Beacon Street, Boston IS,
Mass, (warmer and dispenser).

Queen City Manufacturing Company, 1020 Richmond
Street, Cincinnati, Ohio, (dispenser).

West Coast Sheet Metal Works, 935 Venice Boule-
vard, Los Angeles, Calif, (warmer).

VENDING CARTS

Federal Quality Corporation, Atlanta, Ga.

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 S. Kinnikinnic Ave-
nue, Milwaukee 7, Wise.

Walky Service Company, 401 Schweiter Bldg., Wich-
ita, Kans.

BRAND NAMES

[>l(fdresses of the following list eon
be found by referring to proper classi-
ficafion in the preceding directory,]

BEVERAGES

BIRELEY'S: General Foods Corporation.

CANADA DRY (cherry, cream, ginger ale, grape,
lemon lime, orange, root beer: Canada Dry
Ginger Ale, Inc.

COCA-COLA: Coca-Cola Company.

DAD'S ROOT BEER: Dad's Root Beer Company.
DELAWARE: Delaware Punch Company of America.
DR. PEPPER: Dr. Pepper Company.

DR. SWETT'S: Dr. Swett's Root Beer Company.
GRAPETTE: The Grapette Company.

GREEN RIVER: Schoenhofen Edelweiss Company.
GREEN SPOT: Green Spot, Inc.

HAWAIIAN: Pacific Citrus Products Company.
HIRES ROOT BEER: The Charles E. Hires Co.
HI-SPOT: Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc.
PEPSI-COLA: Pepsi-Cola Company
RED ROCK: The Red Rock Bottlers, Inc.

ROYAL CROWN COLA: Nehi Corporation.
SEVEN-UP: The Seven-Up Company.

SPUR: Canada Dry Ginger Ale, Inc.

SQUEEZE: National Fruit Flavor Company, Inc.

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954 _

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DAD’S Automatic
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BARRELS

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any size drink contin-
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with 1 or 2 faucets.

DISPENSERS

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FOUNTAINETTES

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...complete with bar-
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refrigerated, serve
DAD’S, and up to 4
other flavors, plus ice
water and carbonated
water.

DAD’S ROOT BEER COMPANY

2800 N. Talman Ave., Chicago 18, III.

ONLY THE BUTTERCUP PI AN 'PROVIDES
THE SPEED ESSENTIAL TO DRIVE-IN SERVICE!

"k Automatic Butter Dispenser - Displays - Buttercup Containers if

WRITE TODAY TO SUPURDISPLAY su ite 2100 Wisconsin Tower Bldg. • Milwaukee 3, Wis.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

How C. F. Simonin's Sons, Inc.

Pioneered in fhe Popcorn Industry

THE PART that has been played In the development of the
popcorn industry in this country by C. F. Simonin's Sons, Inc., Philadelphia,
manufacturers and refiners of popcorn seasoning, was described In a recent
issue of fhe publicaflon. Popcorn Merchandiser. The arficle sfafes fhat the
company pioneered In three major developments — the experiments with peanut
oil when a substitute for coconut oil was required during the Second World War;
the one-gallon can for packaging; and adding a bufter flavor and color fo the oil.

The report states that the company was founded in 1876 by Count Dillon de
Simonin, a French engineer who had come to the United States prior to the
Civil War with Ideas for equipment for handling oils and fafs, which he patenfed
and successfully exploded. The Counf's grandson, Eugene Buffington SimonIn,
Is the present head of fhe company.

"Among fhe firsf. If nof acfually the firsf, crushers In fhe U.S. of fhe copra
from which coconut oil Is derived, Simonins was Identified at an early date with
the commercial growth of fhe popcorn Industry," it Is pointed out.

It was also Simonins which pioneered the development of peanuf oil for
popping corn during fhe Second World War when there was a shortage of
coconuf oil, fhe report states. It was in that period that the popcorn Industry
enjoyed a "veritable mushrooming of fhe use of popcorn In fhls country due In
large part to Its adoption by motion picture theatres." And at the same time
the popcorn Industry found itself, like all ofher Indusfries using vegefable oil,
"sfarved for fhe necessary fat to season its products."

"In its search for an adequafe substitute for coconuf oil, which had previously
been used universally In fhe preparafion of popcorn, Simonins found fhaf peanuf
oil also possessed highly desirable characteristics for corn popping." Peanuf oil
was instanfly accepfable fo corn poppers, who had found other substitutes
unsatisfactory.

Two more pioneering steps were then undertaken by Simonins, the article
states. One of fhese was Infroductlon of a one-gallon can for packing fhe liquid
peanuf oil. "The heavy, bulky confalners used for coconuf oil were difficulf for
the girl theatre attendants to handle," It Is explained, "and the new cans per-
mitted easy pouring at the popcorn machine and more accurate measurement."

The second Innovation was the development of a buffered flavored and colored
peanuf oil, which was trade-named "Popsit Plus." This product met with "Instan-
taneous success," the report states, due to no small part "to consistent adver-
tising In motion picture publications, both consumer and trade."

With the return of coconut oil after the war's end, Simonins resumed also the
marketing of Ifs coconuf oil, fo which was also added buffer flavor and color.

The report then lists the personalities In the Simonins company responsible
for its activities. It is under the general direction of Eugene B. Simonin, president.
Philip E. Ronzone, vice-president m charge of production, having been with the
firm since 1923, handled development of fhe produefs.

Sales and public relations are supervised by J. A. Ryan, vice-president in
charge of sales. He has been with the firm since 1924, and It was he "who
perceived the opportunity inherent In the butter flavored peanuf oil and the
one gallon can which have proved such a boon to the Industry." Mr. Ryan Is
active In the affairs of the International Popcorn Association, often writes articles
on Industry matters for the trade press, and occasionally addresses group
meetings.

SQUIRT: The Squirt Company.

TRU-ADE: True-Ade, Inc.

VERNOR'S: James Vernor Corporation.

WELCH: The Welch Grape Juice Company.
WONDER ORANGE: Wonder Orange Company.

•

CANDY BARS and SPECIALTIES

ALMOND JOY: Peter Paul, Inc.

ANNABELLE'S ROCKY ROAD: A. S. Jatfe Co.
BABY RUTH: Curtiss Candy Company.

BAFFLE BAR: Cardinet Candy Company.

BIG PAYOFF: Hollywood Candy Co.
BIT-O-HONEY: Schutter Candy Div. of Universal
Match Corporation.

BLACK CROWS: Mason, Au & Magenheimer
Confectionery Company.

BONOMO'S TURKISH TAFFY: Gold Medal Candy
Company.

BOSTON BAKED BEANS: Banner Candy Mfg. Co.
BROCK ASSORTMENT: Brock Candy Co.

BROCK BAR: Brock Candy Co.

BUTTERFINGER: Curtiss Candy Company.
BUTTERNUT: Hollywood Candy Company.
Cardinal BAR: Euclid Candy Company.
CHARMS: Charms Candy Company.
CHOCOLETTOS: Peter Paul, Inc.

CHUCKLES: Fred W. Amend Company.

CLARK BARS: D. L. Clark Company.

CRACKER JACK: The Cracker Jack Company.
CUP-O-GOLD: E. A. Hoffman Candy Co., Inc.
DEEP FREEZE: Brock Candy Co.

DOCTOR'S ORDERS: Walter H. Johnson Co.
DOTS: Mason Au & Magenheimer Confectionery.
DREAM BOATS: Brock Candy Co.

FIFTH AVENUE: Ludens, Inc.

FOREVER YOURS: Mars, Inc.

FOURSOME: Brock Candy Co.

GOOBERS: Blumenthal Bros.

GOOD & PLENTY: Quaker City Chocolate Co.
HERSHEY: Hershey Chocolate Company.
JUICELETS: F & F Laboratories. Inc.

JUJUBES: Henry Heide, Inc.

JUJYFRUITS: Henry Heide, Inc.

JUMBO BLOCK: Planters Nut & Chocolate Co.
JUNIOR MINTS: James O. Welch Company.
KRAFT KARAMELS: Kraft Food Company.
LEAF-MINTS: Overland Candy Company.
LICORICE PASTILLES: Henry Heide, Inc.
LICORICE TWIST: Switzer's Licorice Company
LIFE SAVERS: Life Savers Corporation.

M & M's: Hawley & Hoops Co.

MALT BALLS: Leaf Brands, Inc.

MARS: Mars, Inc.

MASON MINTS: Mason, Au & Magenheimer Co,
MASON PEAKS: Mason, Au & Magenheimer Co.
MILK DUDS: M. J. Holloway Company.

MILK PAILS: M. J. Holl oway & Co.

MILK PODS: M. J. Holloway Company.
MILK-SHAKE: Hollywood Candy Company.

MILKY WAY: Mars, Inc.

MOUNDS: Peter Paul, Inc.

MR. GOODBAR: Hershey Chocolate Company.
NECCO BOLSTER: New England Confectionery Co.
NECCO PEPPERMINTS: New England Conf. Co.
NECCO WAFERS: New England Confectionery Co.
NESTLES: Nestle Chocolate Company.

NIBS: National Licorice Company.

OH HENRY: Williamson Candy Company.

OLD NICK: Shutter Candy Co.

PAYDAY: Hollywood Candy Company.

PEANUT BUTTER CUP: H. B. Reese Candy Co.
PEANUT CHEWS: D. Gold enberg, Inc.

PECAN PETE: Fred W. Amend Co.

PECAN ROLL: Sperry Candy Company.
PLANTER'S PEANUTS: Planters Nut & Chocolate
POLAR DAN: Brock Candy Co.

POLAR: Hollywood Candy Co.

POM POMS: James O. Welch Company.
POWERHOUSE: Walter H. Johnson Candy Co.
RAISINET: Blumenthal Bros.

RED DEVILS: Banner Candy Mfg. Co.

RED SAILS: Hollywood Candy Company.

ROOT BEER DROPS: Chase Candy Corp.

7-11: Mason, Au & Magenheimer Conf. Co.
SHERBITS: F & F Laboratories. Inc.

SMOOTH SAILIN: Walter H. Johnson Co.
SOFTEES: Mason, Au & Magenheimer Conf. Co.
SNICKERS: Mars, Inc.

SUCKERS: M. J. Holloway & Company.

TEENS: Marlon Confections Corporation.

3 MUSKETEERS: Mars, Inc.

TOOTSIE ROLL: Sweets Company of America.

25 KARET: Charms, Inc.

WELCH'S COCOANUT: James O. Welch Co.
WELCH JR. MINTS: James O. Welch Co.
WHIZ: Paul F. Beich Co.

ZERO: Hollywood Candy Co.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

A CATALOG OF THEATRE EQUIPMENT, FURNISHINGS, SUPPLIES, ARCHITECTURAL
MATERIALS . . . LISTING MANUFACTURERS ACCORDING TO CLASSES OF PRODUCT

[For classes of products related to refreshment service, see BUYERS INDEX of Better Refreshment Merchandising, beginning on page 47]

AIR-CONDITIONiNC AND
VENTILATING EQUIPMENT

ASStiRANCE OF clean,
comfortable atmospheric conditions in a
theatre usually requires some means at
least of cooling the auditorium during the warm
months.

In regions of little hot weather, and particu-
larly of low relative humidity, simple ventila-
tion— filter-equipped intake and one or more
blowers of liberal capacity at the screen end
of the auditorium, also an exhaust vent and fan
at the opposite end — may be adequate.

Because the amount of heat and moisture in-
troduced into the air by people seated close
together in an enclosure for two or three hours,
theatres generally need cooling facilities (which
are commonly what is meant by the term air-
conditioning, although that term properly sig-
nifies positive control of sensible heat, relative
humidity and air motion).

Comfort-cooling can be supplied by (1) built-
up plants consisting of one or more compressors
and in coils for transfer of heat in the air to
water or refrigerant (direct expansion, which
method is not permitted in some cities) ; (2) a
similar central plant but consisting in one or
more unit conditioners; (3) unit conditioners
installed for direct space cooling ; and (4) air
washers (evaporative cooling).

Unit-conditioners are designed to provide all
of the essentials of a complete cooling plant,
including an evaporative condenser, with coils
for heating if desired. In their smaller sizes
(generally from 5 to 10 tons), they can be in-
stalled within room zones to be cooled (space
cooling), thus conditioning air supplied through
a simple ventilation system. Unit condition-
ers are available in various capacities from 3 to
75 tons (3, 5, 7)4, 10, 15, 20, 30, etc.). For
central plants, they can be had for ceiling as
well as floor mounting.

Engineers generally regard built-up plants
more desirable from 100 tons up.

Either unit or built-up plants can be ar-
ranged for use of two or more compressors
together or separately so as to provide for
variation in load requirements. Such flexibility
may also be adapted to cooling (also heating)
of a theatre by divisions, or zones (s main sec-
tion of auditorium, in or under balcany, lounge-
foyer-lobby area, etc.)

Evaporative colling is commonly regarded
as being adapted to regions where relative

humidity is seldom higher than 72%. That fac-
tor is minimized, however, by designers of
some types of evaporative cooling equipment on
the market.

Such equipment is not to be confused with
evaporative condensers, which are devices for
cooling the refrigerant of mechanical cooling
plants. They reduce water consumption for
this purpose (estimated at 95%). For some
installations, a cooling tower may prove cheaper.
Some water-saving device is required in a
growing number of localities.

Since a large audience even in winter can
raise relative humidity above the comfort level,
it is well to integrate heating and cooling,
preferably under automatic control.

AIR DISTRIBUTION

_ Blowers: Fans usually preferable for the ven-
tilation of theatres are of multi-blade (“squirrel
cage”) type. They range in air volume capacity
from those adapted to simple (ductless) ventila-
tion systems, to large sizes capable of overcom-
ing the resistance of extensive duct systems. As
a rule, a simple ventilation system should in-
clude an exhaust fan.

Diffusers: To assure uniform distribution of
conditioned air to 'each zone of the auditorium
and other areas of the theatre, without an effect
of draft, outlets for duct systems should be of
“aspirating” type, which mixes the conditioned
air with the room air before it reaches the
breathing zone. Such diffusers are available in
circular flush-set or projecting ceiling types,
flush wall types, and rectangular ceiling types
(the latter are indicated particularly for inte-
gration with ceiling tiles). Each has readily
adjustable dampers.

PRODUCT NEWS . . Pages 28 and 73

The department "About Products"
on general equipment and supplies
is on page 73. "The Merchandise
Mart" on refreshment service prod-
ucts is on page 42.

DEALERS Page 54

Dealers in the United States are
listed in the Theatre Supply Mart.

ADVERTISERS INDEX . . . Page 53

For concealment of outlets that are merely
dampered openings in ducts or in walls, con-
cealing dampers or blowers, ornamental grilles
are available in various stock sizes and also
built to specifications in bronze, stainless steel,
aluminum or other metals, with finish to match
other metal fittings or the decorative scheme
of the room.

AIR CLEANSING

Whether the theatre is air-conditioned or has
only a simple ventilating system, the incoming
air should pass through efficient filters to re-
move as much dust and pollen as possible.
I'hrow-away type filters are discarded when
dirty ; permanent type, of which there are many
kinds, are occasionally washed. One type is
treated also for elimination of odor from out-
side air.

Equipment for cleaning air of unpleasant
odors and of bacteria responsible for many
air-borne diseases is available in electrical and
chemical types.

CONTROL EQUIPMENT

An air-conditioning system can be designed
for the simplest manual control or for automatic
operation embracing a complex system of damp-
ers and switches, safety valves, etc., all respond-
ing, in fixed relation to each other, to changes
in temperature and moisture.

AIR WASHERS

Air Devices, Inc., 185 Madison Avenue, New York 16,
N. Y.

American Blower Corporation, 8111 Tireman Avenue,
Detroit 32, Mich.

United States Air Conditioning Corporation. 3310
Como Avenue, S.E., Minneapolis, Minn.

BLOWERS AND FANS

American Blower Corporation, 8111 Tireman Avenue,
Detroit 32, Mich.

Ilg Electric Ventilating Company, 2850 N. Crawford
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

National Engineering & Manufacturing Company, 519
Wyandotte Street. Kansas City, Mo.

Typhoon Air Conditioning Co., Inc., 794 Union Street,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

United States Air Conditioning Corporation, 3310
Como Avenue, S.E., Minneapolis, Minn.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Sturtevant Divi-
sion, Hyde Park, Boston, Mass.

COILS

McQuay, Inc., 1600 Broadway, N. E., Minneapolis,
Minn.

BEUER THEATRES SECTION

CONDITIONERS, UNIT {5-tons up)

Airtetnp Division, Chrysler Corporation, 1600 Webstei
Avenue, Dayton 1, Ohio.

Alton Manufacturing Company, 1112 Ross Avenue,
Dallas, Tex.

Buensod-Stacey Air-Conditioning, Inc., 60 E. 42nd
Street, New York City (integrated dry and wet bulb
reader).

Curtis Manufacturing Company, 1905 Kienlen Street,

St. Louis 20, Mo.

Carrier Corporation, Syracuse. N. Y.

Frigidaire Division, General Motors Sales Corp., 300
Taylor St., Dayton 1, Ohio.

General Electric Company, 5 Lawrence Street, Bloom-
field, N. J.

Governair Corporation, 60S West Main Street, Okla-
homa City, Okla.

Typhoon Air Conditioning Co., Inc., 794 Union Street,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

United States Air Conditioning Corporation, 3310
Compo Avenue, S. E.. Minneapolis, Minn.

York Corporation, Roosevelt Avenue, York, Pa.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Sturtevant Division.
Hyde Park, Boston 36. Mass.

CONTROLS & INSTRUMENTS

The Brown Instrument Company, Philadelphia, Pa.

Buensod-Stacey Air Conditioning, Inc., 60 E. 42nd
Street, New York City (integrated dry and wet bulb
reader).

Minneapolis - Honeywell Regulator Company, 2822
Fourth Avenue, S., Minneapolis, Minn.

Monitor Controller Company, 51 S. Gay Street, Balti-
more. Md,

FILTERS

American Air Filter Company, First and Central
Avenues, Louisville 8, Ky.

Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation, Ohio Building.
Toledo, Ohio.

Research Products Corporation, 1015 East Washington
Street, Madison 3, Wis. (line includes odor-elimina-
tion filters).

Trion, Inc., McKeess Rock, Pa.

Universal Air Filter Company, Duluth, Minn.

GRILLES AND DIFFUSERS

Air Devices, Inc., 185 Madison Avenue, New York 16,

N. Y.

Anemostat Corp. of America, 10 E. 39th Street, New
York City.

Barber-Colman Company, Rockford, 111.

W. B. Coimor Engineering Corporation, 114 East 32nd
Street, New York 16, N. Y.

Multi-Vent Division, The Pyle-National Company,
1334 North Kestner Avenue, Chicago, 111.

Tuttle & Bailey, New Britain. Conn.

REFRIGERATION MACHINES

Airtemp Division, Chrysler Corporation, 1600 Webster
Avenue, Dayton 1, Ohio.

American Blower Corporation, 8111 Tireman Avenue,
Detroit 32, Mich.

Baker Refrigeration Corporation, South Windham,
Maine.

Carrier Corporation, Ssrracuse, N. Y.

Curtis Manufacturing Company, 1905 Kienlen Avenue,

St. Louis, Mo.

Frigidaire Division, General Motors Sales Corporation,
300 Taylor Street, Dayton, Ohio.

General Electric Company, 5 Lawrence Street. Bloom-
field. N. J.

General Refrigeration Corporation, Shirland Avenue,
Beloit, Wis.

Governair Corporation, 605 West Main Street, Okla-
homa City 1, Okla.

Typhoon Air Conditioning Co., Inc., 794 Union Street,
Brooklyn. N. Y.

United States Air Conditioning Corporation, 3310
Como Avenue, S.E., Minneapolis, Minn.

York Corporation, Roosevelt Avenue, York, Pa.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Sturtevant Divi-
sion, Hyde Park, Boston 36, Mass.

WorAington Pump & Machinery Corporation, Harri-
son, N. J.

AMPLIFIERS AND
AMPLIFYING TUBES

AMPLIFIERS for theatre
motion picture sound systems consist in
pre-amplifiers power amplifiers, and moni-
tor amplifiers, with requirements varying
according to auditorium dimensions (including
presence or absence of balcony seating), to
number of speaker channels, and to whether the
sound signal is optical or magnetic.

Output per channel ranges from IS watts to
medium-size auditoriums. Minimum limita-
tions for amplifier wattage relative to seating
capacity have been established by the Motion
Picture Research Council of the American in-
dustry. Leading manufacturers of sound equip-
ment follow these standards in their installa-
make of metal anchor consists of an especially
long tapered fin head bolt, conical cup, lead

system power amplifiers for optical (single)
track reproduction (usually in a cabinet with
control panel and possibly also including provi-
sions for record player and radio input) typi-
cally supply polarizing voltage to photocells
and also filament and plate current to pre-
amplifiers (possibly additionally to monitor
amplifier) .

Magnetic recordings require amplification
euqipment of different characteristics. The rela-
tively weak magnetic signal is a factor. Pre-
amplifiers are powered separately with d. c. fil-
ament current and carefully regulated plate
voltage from a power pack. Regardless of the
number of channels, a switching arrangement
can be provided for transfer from magnetic to
optical pickup, and vice versa.

Multiple-track (“stereophonic”) sound re-
quires at least three channels of amplification
(for screen speakers). These tracks, always
magnetic according to present practice, may be
augmented by one or more additional tracks for
auditorium “effects” speakers, and/or volume
control, and/or switching in certain supple-
mentary speakers. An “effects” track requires
a fourth system of amplification. With multi-
ple-channel installations, a monitor that can be
tapped into any one channel is supplied by its
own amplifier.

Supplementary amplifiers may be required
for “cry-room” speakers, group hearing aids,
separate public address system, etc.

For drive-in sound systems with in-car
speakers, amplification may be built up to
required output by the addition of main ampli-
fiers or booster units according to the number
of speakers, with arrangement for switching
certain ramps in or out. There are integrated
systems of this kind designed especially for
drive-ins.

For reproduction of multiple-track (screen
speaker signal) magnetic sound by a single
screen horn system (as used for standard opti-
cal sound), special amplification equipment is
available, incorporating a “mixer” to combine
the signals of all tracks. Such an “adapter"
can be obtained with a button-on type magnetic
pickup {see Soundheads) .

AMPLIFIERS

Altec-Lansing Corporation, 9356 Santa Monica Boule-
vard, Beverly Hills, Calif,

AMPEX CORPORATION, 834 Charter Street, Red-
wood City, Calif.

Amplitier Company of America, 398 Broadway, New
York 13, N Y.

THE BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson
Street, Omaha, Neb.

CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729
Seventh Avenue, New York City. See page 38.

Cinematic Corporation, 122 Washington Street, Bloom-
field, N, J. (also multiple track adapted for single
channel sound).

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION,
55 LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.
MOTIOCRAPH, INC., 4431 West Lake Street, Chi-
cago. III.

Paromel Electronics Corp., 2040 West North Street,
Chicago, 111.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMEIRICA, Engineering
Products Department, Camdenl N. J.

J. E. ROBIN, INC., Robin-Weber Division, 267 Rhode
Island Avenue, East Orange, N. J.

WENZEX PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 2505-19
South State Street, Chicago 16, IlL ...
WESTREX CORPORATION, 111 Eighth Avenue,
New York 11, N. Y. (except in U. S. and Canada).

AMPLIFYING TUBES

CONTINENTAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, 715 Hamil-
ton Street, Geneva, 111.

General Electric Company, 1 River Road, Schenectady,
N. Y.

Gordos Corporation. 86 Shipman Street, Newark, N 1
RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engineering
Products Department, Camden, N. J.

Radiant Lamp Corporation, 700 Jeliff Avenue, New-
ark, N. J. - J A

Raytheon Manufacturing Company, Foundry Avenue,
Waltham, Mass.

Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., 1740 Broadway, New
York City. . c m t

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Bloomfield, IL J.
Western Electric Company, 195 Broadway, New York
City.

ANCHORS FOR CHAIRS

EXPANSION BOLTS suited
to anchoring chairs in concrete flooring
are available with metal jacket. A leading

make of metal anchor consists of an especially
long tapered fin head bolt, conical cup, lead
sleeve, washer and hexagon nut.

Chicago Expansion Bolt Company, 1338 West Concord
Place, Chicago, 111.

Fensin Seating Company, 1139 South Wabash Ave..
Chicago, 111.

ARCHITECTURAL MATERIALS
AND THEATRE DESIGN SERVICE

[See also Fabrics and Wallpapers]

THE NUMBER of archi-
tectural materials especially applicable to
the facing of the fronts and finishing of
the interiors of theatres has been greatly aug-
mented by modern industrial science. Following
is an indication of the variety of these ma-
terials for various purposes :

Laminated (built-up) tiles and sheets with
permanent baked plastic finish provide wall
finishes in solid color, in patterns and natural
woods with the practical advantage of re-
sistance to scratching and repeated washing
Such plastic-finished wallboards are obtainable
with either semi-gloss or high-gloss surface ;
the latter is especially suited to refreshment
stand counters.

Wood veneering (plywood) now makes the
choicest grain available for woodwork finishes
of relatively moderate cost.

Architectural glass, which has many interior
applications, is notably successful as a means
of giving the theatre front rich color without
gaudiness. Glass blocks are excellent for ex-
terior panels (translucent window effect, etc.),
interior partitions, illuminated standee rails,
and so on. Mirrors may be considered architec-
tural materials, too, when used in floor-to-
ceiling panels.

Some of the natural beauty of terra cotta
has been imparted to the best grades of porce-
lain enamel finishing of metallic forms designed
for exterior facing ; these are obtainable in
shapes which, when assembled, give a rib pat-
tern, and in a variety of colors with either
glossy or dull finish. Aluminum and steel mem-
bers are available to facilitate erection of fronts
employing such porcelain enamel facing or
structurally comparable materials.

Modern glass products include dear-vision
doors which allow a charming interior to be
visible from the street. For colorful doors
of solid shade or designed in a multicolored
pattern the laminated plastics have, in addition
to the qualities cited above, the ability to seal
the structure against weather.

Ceramic tile is obtainable in types suited to
many interior areas besides outer lobbies and
toilet rooms, while for fronts it facilitates the
making of varicolored architectural forms and
patterns.

Fluted (corrugated) asbestos sheets can be
shaped to an architectural form on the job.
Mineral and glass fibre tiles, solid or perforated
for acoustical purposes may be laid in patterns
of decorative effect.

Perforated metal plates, with baked finish,
are applicable especially to ceilings of areas near
the auditorium, with noise-control material
above ; also, clipping on. they permit easy ac-
cess to electrical or other installations above.

For other kinds of materials of related pur-
pose see also Fabrics and Wall Paper.

Arketex Ceramic Corporation, Brazil, Ind. (ceramic
tiles).

The Celotex Corporation. 120 S. La.Salle Street, Chi-
cago, III. (mineral and vegetable fibre tiles).

F & Y BUILDING SERVICE, 319 E. Town Street,
Columbus, Ohio (design and construction
mouldings). See page 55.

The Formica Insulation Company, 4616 Spring Grove
Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. (laminated plastic sheets).
The Kawneer Company, 1105 North Front Street.
Niles, Mich, (steel frame and porcelain enamel front
structures).

Libbey Owens-Ford Glass Company, Vitrolite Division,
Nicholas Building, Toledo, Ohio (architectural glass,
glass doors).

MARSH WALL PRODUCTS, INC., Dover, Ohio
(plastic-finished paneling, plastic and metal).
See page 55.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 8, 1954

THE

Index to Products Advertised

MART

Firms are lombered for easy Ideetificatlen in using postcard.

&. Described In this Issue, with

• Dealer Directory

• Convenient inquiry 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 Silhouetfe Letter Co 83

Changeable letter signs; Front lighted panels for
drive-ins (lA), back-lighted panels (IB), and
changeable letters (1C). All dealers.

2 — American Seating Co 3

Auditorium cbairs. NTS and direct.

3 — Ardley 77

Orive-in directional signs. Direct.

4 — Ashcraft Mfg. Co., C. S 3rd Cover

Projection arc lamps. Unaffiliated dealers.

5 — Automatic Devices Co 38

Curtain controls (5A), curtain tracks (5B). Unaffili-
ated dealers and direct.

6 — Ballantyne Co 6

In-car speakers. Dealers 3, 8, 10, 18, 21, 22, 23,

37, 39, 44. 57, 66, 69 . 75. 79, '89. 91, 96. 98.

102, 105, no, 113, 121. 127, 131.

7 — Bausch & Lomb Optical Co 24

Projection lenses. Direct and branches and dealers
in all major cities.

8 — Burlte Playground Equipment Co., J. E. . . . 78

Drive-in playground equipment. Direct.

9 — Carbons, Inc 35

Projection carbons. Franchise dealers.

10 — Century Projector Corp 38

Projectors (lOA), sound equipment (lOB). Unafflli-
ated dealers.

I I — Coca-Cola Co., The 2nd Cover

Soft drinks (IIA), dispensers (IIB). Branches in
principal cities.

12 — Cretors & Co., C 43

Popcorn machines. Direct.

13 — Dad's Root Beer Co 49

Soft drinks (I2A), beverage dispensers (I2B). Direct.

14 — Dayton Safety Ladder Co 85

Ladders. Direct.

15 — Eprad 33

In-car speakers. Unaffiliated dealers.

— F & Y Building Service, The 55

Architectural design and building service.

17 — First-American Products, Inc 60

Drive-in equipment. Direct.

18 — Putter, Walter 37

Projection lenses. Direct.

19 — General Register Corp 31

Ticket registers (I9A), ticket takers (I9B). All
dealers.

20 — Goldberg Bros 28, 29, 34

Sand urns (20A), reels (20B). box-office speaking
tube (20C). Unaffiliated dealers and direct.

21 — Griggs Equipment Co

Auditorium chairs. Direct.

22 — Heide, Inc., Henry 46

Candy Direct. •

24 — Heyer-Shultz, Inc 38

Metal projection arc reflectors. All dealers.

25 — Huff Mfg. Co., Hal 1 63

Carbon coolers. Direct.

26 — ideal Seating Co 28

Auditorium chairs. Unaffiliated dealers.

27 — International Projector Corp 4th Cover

In-car speakers. NTS.

28 — Koiled-Kords, Inc 59

. Self-coiling cords for in-car speakers. All dealers
and Graybar Electric Corp.

29 — Kollmorgen Optical Corp 28

Projection lenses. NTS and all dealers.

30 — LaVezzi Machine Works 67

Projector parts. All dealers.

31 — Lindner, Louis J 60

Automobile door protector for drive-ins. Direct.

32 — Manko Fabrics, Inc 83

Auditorium chair seat covers (32A). uphoistering
material (32B). Direct,

Reference Adv.

Number Page

33 — Manley, Inc 46

Popcorn machines (33A). popcorn (33B), frankfurter
and bun warmer (330. Offices in principai cities.

34 — Mars, Inc 45

Candy. Direct.

35 — Marsh Wall Products, Inc 55

Decorative wali paneling. Direct.

36 — Minneapolis Speaker Reconing 33

Drive-in speaker reconing service.

37 — Miracle Whirl Sales 61

Drive-in playground equipment. Direct.

38 — Mitchell & Co., H. R 85

Wide-screen frames. Direct.

39 — Motlograph 9

Projectors (39A), motor-generators (39B). in-car
speakers (39C), sound systems (390. Dealers 8, 10,
14, 26, 29. 34, 36, 38. 42, 45, 52, 54. 58. 60. 69,
74, 84. 89, 98, 102, 103, 112, 115, 121, 127, 128, 130.

40 — National Carbon Co., Inc 4

Projection carbons. All dealers.

41 — National Theatre Supply 25, 57

Distributors.

42 — National Super Service Co 83

Vacuum cleaners. All dealers.

43 — Neva-Burn Products Corp 85

Flameprooflng service (43A), draperies (43B),
flameprooflng compound (430. Direct.

44 — Norpat Sales, Inc 34

Adjustable lens mount. Direct.

45 — Pepsi-Cola Co 41

Soft drinks (45A), beverage dispensers (45B).
Branches in principal cities.

46 — Perkins Electric Co., Ltd 71

Distributors.

47 — Poblockl & Sons 29

Drive-in projection screens (47A), debris cart (47B),
drive-in directional signs (470. NTS and direct.

48 — Projection Optics Co 36

Projection lenses. Distributor: Raytone Screen Corp.

49 — Pullman Vacuum Cleaner Co 75

Vacuum cleaners. Direct.

50 — Radio Corp. of America 5

In-car speakers (50A), projection arc lamps (50B),
magnetic soundheads (500, sound systems (50D),
projectors (50E). Dealers marked*.

51 — Rainview Visors 34

Visors to attach on cars at drive-ins. Direct.

52 — Raytone Screen Corp 20, 26, 33

Projection screen (52A). screen paint (52B), screen
brush (520. Direct.

53 — RCA Service Co 26

Projection and sound equipment maintenance service.

Reference Adv.

Number Pag#

54 — Robin, Inc., J. E. 66

Motor*generators (54A), rectifiers (54B), projection
screens (54C). projection lenses (fi4D). Direct.

55 — S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corp 83

Distributors.

56 — Simonin's Sons, Inc., C. F 44

Popcorning seasoning. Direct.

57 — Sonken-Galamba Corp 29

Drive-in speaker stands (57A). drive-in guide light
posts (57B). Unaffiliated dealers.

58 — Spacarb, Inc 42

Beverage dispensers. Direct.

59 — Speaker Security Co 34

Drive-in speaker cable to prevent theft. Direct.

60 — Steel Products Co 44

Coffee brewer and dispenser. Direct.

61 — Strong Electric Corp 15

Projection arc lamps. Dealers I. 2, 3. 4, 7. 8, 9. 10.

14, 15, 19. 21, 22, 23, 24. 26, 27, 28, 29. 30.

32, 34, 36, 37. 38, 39, 41. 42. 43. 45. 46, 48,

49, 50, 51. 52, 54, 55, 56. 57, 58, 59. 60. 61. 63,

64. 66, 67. 69, 71, 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 83,

84. 85. 89. 90. 91. 95. 96, 97, 99. 101, 102, 103,
104, 105, 106. 107, 108. 110. III. 112, 113. 114.

115, 118. 120, 121. 123, 127, 128. 129, 130, 131.

62 — Superior Refrigerator Mfg. Co., Inc 46

Beverage dispensers. Direct.

63 — Supurdisplay, Inc 49

Popcorn butter dispensers. Direct.

64 — Theatre Specialties, Inc 19

In-car speakers. Unaffiliated dealers.

65 — Theatre Seat Service Co 56

Theatre chair rehabilitation service.

66 — Vdiien, Inc 58

Curtain controls (66A), curtain tracks (66B). Direct.

67 — Vocalite Screen Corp 37

Projection screens. Direct.

68 — Wagner Sign Service, Inc. 85

Attraction frames (68A), glass windows (68B),
enamel panels for drive-in signs (68C). plastic let-
ters (68D). Dealers I. 8, 10. 14. 15. 16. 17, 19.

23, 24, 25, 26, 27. 28, 30, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37, 38.

42. 44. 45, 46, 52, 54, 57, 58, 60, 61. 64, 66, 67.

68, 69. 71. 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 79. 83. 85, 88. 89,

90. 96. 98. 99. 102. 104, 106, 107, IN. 112. MS.
116. 118, 121, 123, 128, 129 and NTS Detroit branch.

69 — Wenzel Projector Corp 69

Magazines (69A), sterephonic attachments (69B).
Unaffiliated dealers.

70 — Westrex Corp 10

Foreign distributors.

71 — Williams Screen Co 69

Projection screens. Direct.

72 — Wollensak Optical Co 27, 65

Projection lenses (72A), lens gauge (72B). Direct.

TO BETTER THEATRES Service Department:

Please have literature, prices, etc., sent to me according to the following
reference numbers in the May 1954 issue —

NAME

THEATRE or CIRCUIT

STREET ADDRESS

qnnr—.^ statp,

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— ai»M Fwturo 6«rvlc«, Morrit Av^. BIraIngham.

ARIZONA

2— Girard TbMtr* Supply. 532 W. Van Burao St., PbMnlx.

ARKANSAS

3— Arkairaas Thaatre Supply. 1008 Main St., LIttIa Rock.

4 — Thaatra Supply C«., 1021 Grand Avo., Fort Smith.

CALIFORNIA

Fresno:

5— MIdctata Thaatre Supply, 1906 Thomas.

Los Angeles:

6 — John P. Filbert. 2007 S. Vermont Ava.*

National Theatre Supply, 1961 S. Vermont Avo.

7— Pembrox Theatre Supply, 1969 S. Vermont Avo.

8 — B. F. Shearer, 1964 S. Vermont Ave.

Son Francisco:

National Theatre Supply, 255 Golden Gate Ave.

9 — Preddey Theatre Supplies, 187 Golden Gate Ave.

10 — B. F. Shearer, 243 Golden Gate Ave.

12 — United Theatre Supply. 112 Golden Gate Ave.

13 — Western Theatrical Equipment, 337 Golden Gate Ave.*

COLORADO

Denver:

National Theatre Supply, 2111 Champa St.

14 — Service Theatre Supply, 2054 Broadway.

15 — Western Service & Supply, 2120 Broadway.*

CONNECTICUT
New Haven:

National Theatre Supply, 122 Meadow St.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Washington)

16— Brient &. Sons, 925 New Jersey Ave.. N.W.

17 — Ben Lust, 1001 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

18 — R & S Theatre Supply, 020 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

FLORIDA

19 — Joe Hornstein, 329 W. Flagler SL, Miami.

20 — Southeastern Equipment, 625 W. Bay St., Jacksonville.*

21 — United Theatre Supply, 110 Franklin St., Tampa,

22 — United Theatre Supply, 329 W. Flagler St., Miami.*

GEORGIA

Albany:

23 — Dixie Theatre Service & Supply, 1014 N. Slappey Dr.

Atlanta:

24 — Capitol City Supply, 161 Walton St. N.W.

National Theatre Supply, 187 Walton St.. N.W.

26— Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 201-3 Luckle St., N.W.*

26— WII-KIn Theatre Supply. SOI North Ave., N.E.

ILLINOIS

Chicago:

27 — Abbott Theatre Supply. 1311 & Wabash Ave.*

28— G. C. Ander* Co.. 317 S. Sangamon St

20 — Gardner Theatre Service. 1235 S. Wabash Ave,

30 — Movie Supply, 1318 S. Wabash Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 1325 S. Wabash Ave.

INDIANA

Evansville:

81 — Evansville Theatre Supply, 2900 E. Chandler Ave.

Indianapolis:

32 — Ger-Bar, Ine., 442 N. Illinois St

33 — Mid- West Theatre Supply Company, 448 N. Illinois St*
National Tbntre Supply, 430 N. Illinois St

IOWA

Des Moines:

34 — Des Moines Theatre Supply, 1121 Hl(b St
National Theatre Supply, 1102 High St

KANSAS

Wichita:

33 — Southwest Theatre Equipment, P. 0. Bex 2138.

KENTUCKY

Louisville:

36— Falls City Thaatre Equipment 427 8. Third SL

37 — Hadden Theatre Supply. 209 S. Srd St

LOUISIANA
New Orleans:

38 — Hodges Theatre Supply. 1309 Cleveland Ave.

39— Jshnson Theatre Serviee. 223 S. Liberty SL
National Theatre Supply. 220 S. Liberty St.

40— Southeastern Theatre EquIpmeoL 214 $. Liberty St.*

Shreveport:

41 — Alon Boyd Theatre Equipment P. 0. Box 362.

MARYLAND

Baltimore:

42— J. F. Duunan Co., 12 Eaat 25th St
National Theatre Supply. 417 SL Paul Place.

MASSACHUSETTS

Boston:

43 — Capitol Theatre Supply. 28 Piedmont St.*

44 — independent The^re Supply. 28 Winchester St.

43— Major Theatre Equipment, 44 Winchester SL

46 — Massachusetts Theatre Equipment, 20 Piedmont St.
National Theatre Supply, S7 Wloehactar SL

47 — Standard Thaatre Supply. 78 Breadway.

48 — Theatre Service 4 Supply, SO Piedmont SL

MICHIGAN

Detroit:

49 — Amusement Supply. 208 W. Montcalm St.

50 — Ernie Forbce Theatre Supply, 214 W. Montcalm St.

51 — McArthur Theatre Equipment, 454 W. Columbia St.
National Theatre Supply, 2312*14 Cass Avo.

Grand Rapids:

52 — Ringold Theatre Equipment 100 Michigan St, N.W.

MINNESOTA

Minneapolis:

53 — Elliott Theatre Equipment 1110 Nicollet Ave.

54 — Frosch Theatre Supply, Mil Currie Ave.*

55— Minneapolis Thsatre Supply, 75 Glonwood Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 66 Glonwood Ave.

56— Wostom Theatre Equipment 45 GIcnwood Ave.

MISSOURI
Kansas City:

57 — Missouri Theatre Supply, IIS W. IStb St*

National Theatre Supply, 223 W. 18th St

58 — Shrove Theatre Supply, 217 W. 18th St

59 — Stobbins Theatre Equipment, 1804 Wyandotte St

St. Louis:

60 — McCarty Theatre Supply, 3330 Olive St
National Theatre tepply, 3212 Olive St.

61— St. Louie Theatre Supply Ce., 3310 Olive St.*

MONTANA

62 — Montana Theatre Supply, MIseoula.

NEBRASKA

Omaha:

National Theatre Supply, 1610 Davenport St.

63 — Duality Theatre Supply. 1515 Davenport St

64 — Western Theatre Supply, 214 N. 15th St*

NEW MEXICO

65 — Eastern New Mexico Theatre Supply, Bex 1009, Clovlt.

NEW YORK
Albany:

66 — Albany Theatre Supply, 448 N. Pearl.

National Theatre Supply. 962 Broadway.

Auburn:

67 — Auburn Theatre Equipment, 5 Court St

Buffalo:

68 — Eastern Theatre Supply, 496 Pearl St*

National Theatre Supply, 498 Pearl St.

69 — Parkins Theatre Supply. 505 Pearl St.

70— United Projector & Film. 228 Franklin St

[Canadian dealers, and exporters, are listed on page 7S]

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.

New York City:

71 — Amusement Supply, 341 W. 44tb St

72 — Capitel Motlen Picture Supply. 030 Ninth Ava.

73 — Crown Motion Picture Suppllee, 354 W. 44th St

74 — Joe HernsteJa, 630 Ninth Ave.

Natienal Theatre Supply, 850 W. 44th St

75— Norpat Sale*, Inc., 113 W. 42nd St

76— S.O.S. Cinema Supply, 602 W. 52nd St.

77 — Star Cinema Supply, 447 W. 52nd St

Syracuse:

75 — Central N. Y. Theatre Supply, 210 N. Sallna St

NORTH CAROLINA *

Charlotte:

78 — Biyant Thaatre Supply, 227 8w Church St.

79 — Charlotte Theatre Supply, 227 S. Church St

80 — Dixie Theatre Supply, 213 W. 3rd St
National Theatre Supply, 304 S. Church St.

81 — Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 209 S. Poplar St*

82 — Standard Theatre Supply, 219 S. Church St

83 — Theatre Equipment Co., 220 S. Poplar St

84 — WII-KIn Theatre Supply, 229 S. Church S*.

Greensboro:

85— standard Theatre Supply, 215 E. Washington St

86 — Theatre Suppliers, 304 S. Davie St

OHIO

Akron:

87— Akron Theatre Supply, 120 E. Market St

Cincinnati:

88— Mid-West Theatre Supply* 1838 Central Parkway.*
National Theatre Supply, 1637 Ceotral Parkway.

Cleveland:

National Theatre Supply, 2128 Payne Ave.

89 — Ohio Theatre Equipment 2108 Payne Ave.

90— Oliver Theatre Supply, E. 23rd and P^ne Ave.*

Columbus:

91— American Theatre Equipment 185 N. High SL

92— Mid-West Theatre Supply, 882 W. Third Ave.

Dayton:

93— Dayton Theatre Supply, III Velkenaod St

94 — SheldoD Theatre Supply* 627 Salem Ave.

Toledo:

95 — Amerltan Theatre Supply, 438 Dorr Sit

96— Theatre Equipment Ce., 1208 Chany St

OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City:

97 — Century Theatre Supply Co., 2S N. Lea St.

98 — Howell Theatre Supplie*, 12 S. Walker Ave.
National Theatre Supply, 780 W. Grand Ave.

99 — Oklahoma Theatre Supply, 09 W. Brand Ave.*

OREGON

100 — Modern Theatre Supply, IKS N.W. Kearmy St*

101 — Portland Motion Picture Supply, 018 N.W. I9tb SL

102— B. F. Shearer, 1047 N.W. Kearney St

103— Inter-State Theatre Equlpmeot 1828 N.W. Kaaney St.

PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia:

104 — Blumberg Bros., 1305-07 Vine St*

National Theatre Supply Co., 1225 Vine St

105 — Superior Theatre Equipment 1315 Vine St

Pittsburgh:

lOa — Alexander Theatre Supply, 84 Vaa Sramn St*

107— Atia* Theatre Supply, 402 Mlltenherger SL
National Theatre Supply, 1721 Blvd. ef Alllea.

Wilkes Barre:

108 — Vincent M. Tate, 1620 Wyeming Ave., Ferty-Fert.

RHODE ISLAND

109— Rhode Island Supply, 557 Wectmlncter St, PrevIdMwai

SOUTH DAKOTA

no— American Theatre Supply, 816 Sl Mala Bt. Sleux City.

TENNESSEE

Memphis:

111 — Monarch Theatre Supply, 402 8. Second St*
National Theatre Supply, 412 8. Second St

1 12— Trl-State Theatre Supply, 820 S. Qniiad SL

TEXAS

Dallas

113— Hardin Theatre Supply, 714 South Haaipton Rd.

1 14 — Herbor Bros., 408 8. Harwood St

115— Modern Theatre Equipment 1916 Jackson SL
National Theatre Supply, 300 S. Harwood St

116 — Southwettorn Theatre Equipment 2010 Jackson St.*

117— Sterling Sales & Servlee, 2019 Jacksen St

Houston:

118 — Southwestern Theatre Equlpmeot 1622 Amtla St*

San Antonio:

no— Alamo Theatre Supply. I3M Alatnetee St

UTAH

Salt Lake City:

120— iDtemeuotalD Theatre Supply, 204 S. Eaat FIret St

121— Servlee Theatre Supply. 258 B. East First St

122— Weeteru Sound A Equipment S. East FIret St*

VIRGINIA

123— Nsr/elk Thsatre Supply. 2700 Celley Ave., Norfolk.

WASHINGTON

Seattle:

124— American Theatre Supply, 2300 FIret Are., at Bell St

125— Inter-State Theatre Equlpmeot Co.. 2224 Second Ave.

126 — Modern Theatre Supply, 2400 Third Ave.*

National Theatre Supply, 2310 Second SL

127 — B. F. Shearer, 2310 Second Ave.

WEST VIRGINIA

128 — Charleston Theatre Supply, 606 Lee St, Charlectea,

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee:

I2»— Manhardt Co., 1705 W. Clybourn St*

National Theatre Supply, 1027 N. Eighth St

130— Ray Smith, 710 W. State St

ISI— Theatre Equlpaiea* A Sopain 141 N. twreatt SA

Mosaic Tile Company, Zanesville, Ohio, (ceramic tile) |

Parkwood Corporation, Wakefield, Mass. (wood
veneer).

Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, 2200 Grant Building
Pittsburgh, Pa. (archHectural glass, glass doors).

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 South Kinnickinnic
Avenue, Milwaukee 7, Wis. (Stainless steel and
porcelain enamel front structures).

Rigidized Metals Corporation, 658 Ohio Street, Buf-
falo, N. Y. (perforated metal plates).

United States Gypsum Company, 300 W. Adams
Street, Chicago, 111. (mineral boards and tiles).

United States Plywood Company, 55 West 44th Street,
New York city (wood and plastic veneers, and
coated fabric wall covering).

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Micarta Division,
East Pittsburgh, Pa. (Micarta for decorative pur-
poses: U. S. Plywood Corporation, see above).

•

AUTOMATIC TELEPHONE— See Telephone
Answering Equipment: Automatic.

BASES — See Projectors and Accessories.

“BLACK LIGHT’’ MATERIALS
AND LIGHTING EQUIPMENT

“black light” is the
term popularly applied to the application
of near-ultraviolet light, to surfaces
painted with luminescent lacquer which near-UV
light causes to glow.

Fluorescent materials in paint form may be
readily applied with either brush or sprayer.
A variety of colors are obtainable.

Filament ultraviolet lamps are avaiable in a
250-Watt size with a bulb of filter glass, hence
no additional filter or ballas is required. How-
ever, the ultraviolet output of this lamp (Pur-
ple X) is relatively low.

Fluorescent ultraviolet lamps, called 360 BL
lamps, are available in the sizes and wattages
of standard F-lamps. These are efficient gener-
ators of near-ultraviolet, and the tubular shape
lends itself readily to display work, and direc-
tional and similar signs are available in stock
models, or may be made up especially. Light
density filters are required since these lamps
produce some visible light also.

Mercury ultraviolet, or Type H lamps, are
concentrated sources of ultraviolet and visible
light ; hence, they are particularly useful to ob-
tain a spot beam of “black light” for spec-
tacular effects. A relatively dense filter must
be used to absorb the visible light and to
create effective fluorescence.

General Electric Company, Lamp Dept., Nela Park,
Cleveland, Ohio (lamps).

G'olde Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, 111.

Kliegl Bros., 321 W. 50th Street, New York City
(light sources).

Keese Engineering Company, 7380 Santa Monica
Boulevard, Los Angeles, C^f. (paints, light sources).
The Stroblite Company, 3S West 52nd Street, New
York City (paints, lamps).

Switzer Brothers, 4732 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland 3,
Ohio.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Lamp Division.
Bloomfield, N. J. (lamps).

•

BOX-OFFICES AND ACCESSORIES

BOX-OFFICES ARE COm-
monly built “on the job” from specifica-
tions of the designer of the front and
entrance area ; however, box offices may be
obtained ready for erection, in styles, colors and
materials to harmonize with the vestibule or
lobby treatment. Architectural glass, glass
structural blocks (which may be interestingly
illuminated from behind), porcelain-enamelled
metal, stainless steel (fluted or smooth) and
laminated plastic are prominent among the
facing materials. (Unless otherwise specified,
the companies listed below are sources only of
material suited to box-offices ; see these further
under Architectural Materials.)

Besides ticket issuing machines and coin
changers (zvhich 'see) , box-office accessories in-

Itt no troubb at all...

to put
Marlite on

the wall!

Marlite Plank and Block eliminate the
inconvenience and costly expense of
modernizing — once and for all. Planks
(16" X 8') and Blocks (16" square) are
quickly and economically installed over
old or new walls with concealed clips.
The soilproof baked finish never neecfs
painting; cleans quickly w ith damp cloth.

SECRET OF FAST, EASY INSTALLATION

nSarlite"^

PREFINISHED

WALL and CEILING PANELING

■ ■ '■

Marine's exclusive tongue and groove joint
shortens installation time from days to hours;
conceals all fastening; provides an attractive
design feature.

Choose from 4 distinctive wood patterns
plus 10 beautiful "Companion Colors”
for modernizing entrances, lobbies,
lounges, rest rooms, offices, and other
service areas. See your building materials
dealer or write Marsh Wall Products, Inc.,
Dept. 569, Dover, Ohio. Subsidiary of
Masonite Corporation.

Marine is made with genuine
Masonite!^ Tempered Duolux(^

MARLITE PLANK AND BLOCK PATENT APPLIED FOR

One way fo posf'ed!,'^

be a, coupon c

ipper

FHE

>19 East

The F & Y Building Service is the outstanding
agency in Theatre Design and Construction in
Ohio and surrounding territory.

F & Y BUILDING SERVICE

Town Street Columbus 15. Ohio

“The Buildings We Build Build Our Business” ., q

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

elude speaking tubes and admission price and
show time signs {see Signs, Directional).

Metallic speaking tubes covering an aperture
in the box-office window to protect the cashier
from cold and infection, are usually louvred, but
are also available with a resonating disk.

Also for protection against cold are shields
of transparent plastic extending across the deal
plate and opening to several fixed positions.

Everbrite Electric Signs, Inc., 1440 North Fourth
Street, Milwaukee 12, Wis. (complete box-office
structures, protective shields).

The Formica Insulation Company, 4616 Spring Grove
Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio.

COLDBERG BROS., 3500 Walnut Street, Denver,
Colo, (speaking tube). See page 29.

Libbey- Owens- Ford Glass Company, 1310 Nicholas
Building. Toledo, Ohio.

MARSH WALL PRODUCTS, INC., Dover. Ohio
(hiniiiMited plastic board).

Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company, 2200 Grant Building,
Pittsburgh, Pa.

theHOTCT

attrantion.
in town !

Generally, after
one of our seating
"treatments,"
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

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 South Kinnickinnic
Avenue, Milwaukee 7, Wis. (complete box-
office structures).

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Micarta Division,
East Pittsburgh, Pa. (Micarta for decorative pur-
poses; U. S. Plywood Corporation, see under

Architectural Materials) .

CABINETS FOR
FILM AND CARBONS

REALLY FIREPROOF cabi-
nets for film storage are essential acces-
sories of the projection room if the pro-
tection required either by law or theatre opera-
tor’s responsibility is to be provided both pro-
jectionists and patrons. With the 2,CKX)-foot
reel standard in the American film industry
(two-film, stereoscopic pictures require 5,000-foot
reels for a single intermission performance),
film storage facilities should accommodate at
least this size of reel in metal compartments that
at least prevent the spread of fire from one
compartment to another and reduce the effect
of heat as a cav se of combustion to a minimum.

The desired safety is provided by a sectional
cabinet of relatively thick (approximately
inches) steel walls insulated with fireproof ma-
terial. Such cabinets are obtainable with or
without vents (vents required by fire regula-
tions in some communities) and with or without
sprinkler heads inside.

A cabinet for carbons (wherever no suitable
compartment is otherwise provided) is a con-
venient place to keep carbons. The carbons,
while drying out, are out of the way so that
breakage tends to be reduced. One type of cabi-
net will hold several hundred carbons (accord-
ing to trim) and also provides a handy compart-
ment for small tools.

Diebolt Manufacturing Company, Canton, Ohio.

Golde Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago — , 111.

GOLDBERG BROS., 3500 Walnut Street, Denver,
Colo.

Mosler Safe Company, 320 Fifth Avenue, New York
N. Y.

Neumade Products Corporation, 330 West 42nd Street,
New York City.

WENZEL PROJECTOR COMPANY, 2509 South State
Street, Chicago, III.

Edw. H. Wolk, 1241 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago,
111.

•

CARBONS, PROJECTION

MOTION PICTURE projec-
tion carbons are required for projection
in most motion picture theatres (all ex-
cept those using filament projection lamps).
The type and size of carbons required depends
upon the type of arc, and in this connection the
reader is referred to the several articles in The
Buyers’ Index on projection lamps.

CARBONS, INC. (mfrd. by Societe Le Carbone
Lorraine, Pagny, France), Boonton, N. J. See
page 35.

Helios Bio Carbons, Inc. (mfd. by Ringsdorff Werke,
Mehlem Rhein. Germany), 122 Washington Street,
BloomfieM. N. J.

NATIONAL CARBON COMPANY, INC., 30 East
42nd Street, New York 17, N. Y. See page 4.

CARBON SAVING DEVICES

VARIOUS DEVICES are
available to join new carbons and stubs so
as to continue use • of short lengths to
about 1 inch. Some are simple clamps ; others
consist in a jaw device permanently installed
in the lamp. In still another method, carbons
are purchased especially processed for such
use of short lengths.

G. C. Anders, Company, 317 Sangamon Street, Chi-
cago 7, 111.

Best Devices Company, 10921 Briggs Road, Cleve-
land. Ohio.

C»U Products Company, 3721 Marjorie Way, Sacra-
mento 20, Calif.

“End-Gripper” Company, 1224 Homedale Avenue,
N. W., Canton 8, Ohio.

HAL I. HUFF MANUFACTURING CORPORA-
TION, 3774 Selby Avenue, Los Angeles 34,
Calif.

THE GOLDE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 4888
North Clark StreeL Chicago 40, lU.

Motion Picture Accessories Inc., 1678 W. 17th Place,
Hollywood, Cal.

NORPAT SALES, INC., 113 West 42nd Street,
New York 36, N. Y.

Payne Products, 2451 West Stadium Boulevard, Ann
Arbor, Mich.

RAYTONE SCREEN CORPORATION, 165 Clermont
Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.

S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corporation, 602 West S2nd
Street, New York (2ity.

Weaver Manufacturing Company, Ltd., 1639 E. 102nd
Street, Los Angeles, Calif.

WENZEL PROJECTOR COMPANY, 2509 Sotrth State
Street, Chicago, III.

Edw. H. Wolk, 1241 S. Wabash Avenue, Chicago. Ill

CARPETING

TYPES OF carpeting suited
to heavy-duty requirements of theatres
are (to name them alphabetically) Ax-
minster (only in the finest grades, except pos-
sibly when used in small lounges), Broadloom,
Chenille (an expensive weave feasible only in
rare instances in which superior carpel of special
shape is absolutely required), Patent-Back (a
special type consisting in Broadloom sections
cut into desired shapes and colors and cemented
to a backing), Velvet (pattern dyed) and
Wilton (pattern woven). The last two are the
weaves most widely used in theatres because of
their durability and relatively moderate price
while providing a wide selection of interesting
patterns and colors.

Many stock patterns suited to theatres (some
primarily designed for them) are available in
Velvet and Wilton weaves especially, either
with all-wool or wool-rayon facing. In the
latter type, the fabric is woven partly with
synthetic carpet yarns, which have proved of
advantage in giving the face toughness and
in realizing true color.

Theatres are usually carpeted in a single
pattern, but consideration should be given to
the advisability of using another design, or a
plain Broadloom, or the same design in a
smaller scale, for areas like lounges, which differ
greatly in size and function from foyers and
standee areas; and also on stairs, where some
patterns can be confusing.

Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, Inc., 140 Madison
Avenue, New York City. (Line includes patent-
back type).

Goodall Fabrics, Inc., S2S Madison Avenue, New
York City (patent-back).

A. & M. Karagbeusian, Inc., 295 Fifth Avenue, New
York City.

Thomas L. Leedom Company, Bristol, Pa.

James Lees & Sons Company, Bridgeport, Pa.

C. H. Masland & Sons, 295 Fifth Avenue, New York
City.

Mohawk Carpet Mills, Inc.. Amsterdam, N. Y.

RADIO CORP- OF AMERICA Engineering Products
Department, Camden, N. J.

Alexander Smith, Inc., 295 Fifth Avenue, New York
N. Y.

CARPET LINING

CARPET UNiNG Of Under-
lay generally suited to theatres is made
of hair and jute, or entirely of hair, or
foam rubber (latex). Lining entirely of jute
(vegetable fibre) does not retain uniform re-
silience (it is not “waffled”), and is otherwise
not so serviceable as the other types.

Foam rubber lining is available in j4-inch
thickness and in widths of 36 and 53 inches,
some types with “waffling” on both sides. Sec-
tions can be joined with adhesive binding tape.

American Hair & Felt Company, Merchnadise Mart.
Chicago, 111.

Bigelow-Sanford Carpet Company, Inc., 140 Madison
Avenue. New York City.

E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company, Fairfield, Conn.
Fremont Rubber Company, fremont, Ohio.

Alexander Smith Inc., 295 Fifth Avenue. New York
City.

Sponge Rubber Products Co., 284 Derby Place, Shel-
ton, Conn.

United States Rubber Company, Mishawaka, Ind.
Waite Carpet Company, Oshkosh. Wis.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

CHAIR CUSHIONS
OF FOAM RUBBER

CUSHIONS for auditor-
ium chair seats and backs (or lounge
chairs, settees, etc.) are obtainable in
foam rubber. Such cushions may take the place
of padding and coil springs, the fabric being
fitted over them ; or be used as padding over the
springs.

This material may be moulded to fit any chair
dimensions or design formation. Except for
hollow cores, the cushion appears solid, but
actually has access to air throughout its struc-
ture.

Foam rubber cushions are vermin-repellent.

Dunlop Tire & Rubber Corporation “Dunlopillo’* Divi-
sion, Buffalo, N. Y.

Firestone Industrial Products Company, Foamex Div.,
Akron, Ohio.

B. F. Goodrich Company, Akron, Ohio.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Airfoam Division,
1144 East Market Street, Akron, Ohio.
Hewitt-Robins, Inc., Hewitt Restfoam Division, Buf-
falo 5, N. Y.

J. S. Rubber Company, Foam Sponge Division,
Mishawaka, Ind.

HEYWOOD-WAKEIELD COMPANY, Gardiner,
Mass.

CHAIR FASTENING CEMENT

THE METAL picCCS tO

which theatre chairs are bolted are firmly
fastened to the floor by special cement
made for that purpose, which hardens in ap-
proximately ten minutes. In reseating a thea-
tre, the old chair bolts are removed from the
floor, and new ones inserted and recemented
{See Anchors for Chairs.)

Fensin Seating Company, 1139 South Wabash Avenue,
Chicago 25, III.

General Chair Company, 1308 Elston Street, Chicago.
National Seating Company, 138-13 Springfield Blvd.,
Springfield Gardens, N. Y.

•

CHAIR REPAIR SERVICE
AND FABRIC PATCH KITS

AN INSTALLATION of
auditorium seating can be completely re-
conditioned, or certain chairs be given
major repairs, usually without interruption of
operation if the experience in organizing sucti
work, and the necessary skill and equipment
are available. A number of companies special-
izing in seating rehabilitation operate nationally.

For minor repair of coated seating fabric by
the theatre staff, kits are available containing
small amounts of “leatherette” in a color
selected to match most closely the fabric of
the seating, and cement solvent with which
to attach a patch. Colors regularly available
are blue, brown, red, green, ivory and black.

Fensin Seating Company, 1139 South Wabash Avenue,
Chicago 25, 111.

MANKO FABRICS COMPANY, 114 E. 27th St.,
New York IS, N. Y. See pa?:e 83.

Mystik Adhesive Products, 2635 North Kildare Avenue,
Chicago 39, lU.

National Seating Company, 138-13 Springfield Blvd.,
Springfield Gardens, N. Y.

Rosco Laboratories, Inc,, 367 Hudson Avenue, Brook-
lyn, N. Y.

THEATRE SEAT SERVICE COMPANY, 160 Her-
mitage Avenue, Nashville, Tenn. See page S6.

•

DRIVE-INS I
THROUGHOUT |
THE COUNTRY
KNOW WHY... I

NATIONAL

THEATRE SUPPLY

Division of Notional • Simplex • Blud worth, I n c.

^etv/ce-

Planning, Engineering, Blue-

prints, Know How!
Convenient payment plans,

CHAIRS, AUDITORIUM

AUDITORIUM CHAIRS
best suited to the motion picture theatre
are those manufactured from designs
developed specifically to meet the conditions en-
countered in film theatre operation.

Chairs may be obtained with seat cushions
of box-spring or spring-edge type; or with jio-
sag springs, alone or in combination with coil
springs (the no-sag springs absorbing the shock
of initial tension imparted to the coils) ; and
with combination coil and Marshall spring con-
struction.

The backs may be either of spring or padded

pay out of income!

One source for all
your needs!

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

type, and here it should be noted that the choice
affects the row spacing^ spring back cushions
being substantially thicker than padded backs
(spacing should not be less than 34 inches back-
to-back for chairs with padded backs, and as
much as 38 inches for spring backs). Chairs
available include models with self-raising seats
and with retracting or with combination re-
tracting-rising seats designed to facilitate
passage between rows. There are also especially
luxurious models designed for loge sections.

While end standards may be obtained in
special designs, regular models offer a wide
choice of patterns, which may be readily exe-
cuted in colors suggested by the color scheme of
the auditorium. Arm rests may be of wood or
plastic, in “blonde” shades enhancing visibility ;
or they may be foam rubber covered with fabric.

Acoustic considerations (each chair should
represent approximately the sound-absorption
of a person so that the capacity factor affect-
ing volume is fairly constant) demand a fully
upholstered chair {see Upholstering Materials).
Some theatre operators think it feasible, how-
ever, to use chairs with at least veneer backs
in the first two or three rows, as protection
against children’s vandalism.

End standards can be supplied with or with-
out aisle lights.

Aisle light fixtures are also obtainable for
attachment to standards not providing for them
American Desk Manufacturing Company, P. O. Box
416, Temple. Tex.

AMERICAN SEATING COMPANY, Ninth &
Broadway. Grand Rapids, Mich. See page 3.
GRIGGS EQUIPMENT COMPANY, Box 630,
Belton, Tex. Sec page 7.
HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD COMPANY, Gardner,
Mass.

IDEAL SEATING COMPANY, Grand Rapids,
Mich. See page 28.

International Seat Corporation, Union City. Ind. See
RCA Theatre Equipment Div.

Irwin Seating Company, Waters Building, Grand
Rapids, Mich.

National Seating Company. 138-13 Springfield Viva.,
Springfield Gardens. N. Y.

rAYTONE screen corporation. 165 Clermont

Avenue, Brooklyn. N. Y. (ausle lights.)

Southern Desk Company. Hickory N C

THIS

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The Vallen Super No. I I for
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No premium for drum-type
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LIKE TODAY'S FINE CARS
IT IS COMPACT. GOOD-LOOKING

CURTAIN CONTROLS AND TRACKS

VALLEN, Inc., Akron 4, Ohio, U. S. A.

CHANCE-MAKERS

CHANGE-MAKING ma-
chines, which speed up ticket selling and
prevent annoying errors are available with
different degrees of facility, some issuing change
in any amount, including pennies, upon depres-
sion of single key; others delivering on depres
sing keys of admission price; some with split
change keys (dimes, quarters, etc.).

For attachment to change makers without
such provisions, where admission taxes in
pennies are added to the regular price, a penny
chute is available. It is clamped to the side of
the change-maker and holds about 150 pennies.
Associated Ticket & Register Corporation, 346 West
44th Street, New York 18, N. Y. (chute).

Brandt Automatic Cashier Company, Watertown, Wis.
Coinometer Corporation, 1223-27 South Wabash Ave.,
Chicago 5, 111.

Golde Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, 111.

Johnson Fare Box Company, 4619 North Ravenswood
Avenue, Chicago 40, 111.

Metal Products Engineering, Inc., 45 West 45th Street,
New York 36, N. Y.

NORPAT SALES, INC., 113 West 42nd Street, New
York 36, N. Y.

•

CHANCEOVERS AND
CUEING DEVICES

SWITCHING out one pic-
ture projector while switching in the
other may be accomplished in various
ways according to the several types of devices
available. The electrical type in general, per
forming its functions at the touch of a switch
(either foot or hand), cuts off the light by a
shutter arrangement while opening and closing
the alternative circuits. There is also a me-
chanical device which merely cuts off the light
at one projection port while opening the other.

One mechanism that employs the port cutoff
method of light interruption, is electrically op-
erated and includes circuit switching means.
One of the electrical changeovers cutting off
the light at the aperture also provides for clos-
ing the speaker circuit, if this is desired. Yet
another electrical device cuts off the light by
a dissolving shutter mechanism in front of the
projection lens.

Several types of changeover time indicators
are available, including reel-end alarm belh
actuated by film tension.

For making changeover cues on film effec-
tively but without mutilating the film there are
devices which make a neat ring in the emulsion.
The better ones are designed to mark four
cues in one operation in accordance with
Standard Release Print specifications.

American Theatre Supply, 2300 First Avenue, Seattle.
Wash, (reel end signal).

Clint Phare Products, 282 E. 214th Street. Euclid.
Ohio, (cueing device).

Dowser Manufacturing Company, P. O. Box 214,
East Northport, N. Y.

Essannay Electric Manufacturing Company, 1438 North
Clark Street, Chicago, 111. (changeover).

Golde Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40. 111.

Signal Electric Engineering Company, 179 Hopewell
Avenue, Aliquippa, Pa.

FILM CEMENT — See Splicers and Film
Cement.

•

CLEANING DEVICE FOR _ 3-D SPEC-
TACLES: See Third-Dimension Equipment
& Su-pplies.

CLEANING MECHANISMS

THEATRES require heavy-
duty vacuum cleaning equipment. Ordi-
nary domestic type cleaners are useful as
au.xiliary equipment, but they have neither the
endurance nor the suction demanded by theatre
cleaning.

Of the heavy-duty equipment, two types may
be regarded as specifically adapted to theatre
work. One is the central system, with pipes

leading to outlets so placed as to provide ac-
cess at least to all public areas of the theatre.
The other is a portable type, with power plant,
suction mechanism and dirt disposal equipment
on rollers, to which equipment the hose is at-
tached. Portable models are available with
motor and suction devices detachable, to be
used as a hand unit. Theatres require a hose
length in portable models of not less than 2u
feet, and this may be provided in two sections,
if desired, 10-foot lengths being connected by a
brass coupling. Portable heavy-duty vacuum
equipment for theatres should have motors of at
least ^-h.p.

Nozzles and brush attachments are available
with both central and portable types for every
kind of dry pick-up, and also for wet pick-up.

In portable units, the mechanism, with at-
tached dust bag, should not weigh over 50
pounds so as to be conveniently carried on stairs
and in seating area. Sound-deadening is a fea-
ture of some heavy-duty equipment.

Blower type cleaning mechanisms are par-
ticularly useful in blowing popcorn boxes and
similar refuse from under auditorium seating,
so that it may be conveniently removed, and
they are obtainable both in floor portable and
hand models. Some heavy-duty vacuum equip-
ment has a blower attachment for this purpose.

Floor machines are obtainable for general
maintenance of terrazzo, composition, tile and
other flooring materials, in models adapted to
use by a theatre porter, and to compact storage
and convenient portability. Such floor machines
scrub, wax, polish and remove stains.

Breuer Electric Manufacturing Company, 5100 Ravens-
wood Ave., Chicago 40, lU. (vacuum and blower
equipment; floor maintenance machines).

Clements Manufacturing Company, 6632 South Nar-
ragansett, Chicago, IlL

Holt Manufacturing Company, 651 20th Street, Oak-
land 12, Calif.

Ideal Industries, Inc., 307 North Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, III.

Invincible Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturing Company.

15 West 15th Street, Dover, Ohio.

Lamson Company, Allen Billmyre Division, Syracuse.
N. Y.

Multi-Clean. Products, Inc., 2277 Ford Parkway, St
Paul, Minn.

NATIONAL SUPER SERVICE COMPANY, 1946
North 13th Street, Toledo, Ohio. See page 83.
PULLMAN VACUUM CLEANER CORPORA-
TION, 33 Allerton Street, Boston, Mass. See
page 75.

Spencer Turbine Company, Hartford, Conn.

CROWD CONTROL
EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES

POSTS, BRACKETS and
ropes for controlling patron traffic in lob-
bies, foyers, etc., are available in types to
meet conditions of floor plan and volume of
patronage. Portable equipment for setting up as
needed may have posts which screw into sock-
ets permanently sunk in the floor, with metal
rim to protect carpeting; or pedestal type posts
with solid brass bases which need only to be
lifted out of the way. The posts are made of
hollow brass tubing, which can be obtained in
chrome finish. For running control ropes to
walls, plates are available with either loop or
gooseneck attachment rings.

Control ropes are made of cotton strands,
over which is a woven fabric, and the covering
is usually velour, whch can be of most any
desired color. Where a stronger rope is needed,
control rope may be obtained with a chain or
comparable center, which is covered with cot-
ton strand roping, interlining and outer cover-
ing. Metal ends for these ropes, with hook for
attachment, are available in solid brass, which
can be had with chrome plating, and in dull
or polished finish.

Apex Brass & Bronze Works, Inc., 116 Walker Street,
New York 13. N. Y.

Lawrence Metal Products, Inc., 79 Walker Street,
New York City.

Newman Brothers, Inc., 670 West Fourth Street, Cin-
cinnati 3, Ohio.

•

CUE MARKERS — See Changeovers and
Cueing Devices.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

CURTAIN CONTROLS & TRACKS

SMOOTH AND Silent
opening and closing of curtains are ef-
fected, either from backstage or from the
projection room, by automatic machines that op-
erate at the touch of a button. The curtain
may be stopped at any point along the track,
or its motion reversed as desired. Such equip-
ment is available in heavy-duty (for large stage
openings and heavy curtains) and in lightweight
type (for relatively small stages, displays, etc.)

Equipment consists of electric control mech-
anism for controlling travel of curtain, and steel
track with carriers.

Such equipment is available also for con-
tinuing the curtain travel on curved track
around screen or along sides of stage, with turn
of small radius.

Control equipment for contour curtain opera-
tion is likewise available, some adapted to
limited overhead space.

AUTOMATIC DEVICES COMPANY, 116 North

Eighth Street, Allentown, Pa. See page 38.

J. R. Clancy, Inc., 1010 West Belden Avenue, Syra-
cuse, N. Y.

VALLEN, INC., 225 Bluff Street, Akron, Ohio

(curved track an1 ro to- - tvpes a^ well as

straight track). See opposite page.

DECORATION, INTERIOR

THE COMPLETE job of
interior decoration, including designing,
may be assigned to a studio specializing
in theatres and similar buildings. Handling the
work on a contract basis, such a studio can
supply all necessary decorative materials as
well as the decorating talent and installation
labor.

Charles H. Kenney Studios, 340 Hempstead Avenue,
Malverne, N. Y.

Knoxville Scenic Studios, Maryville Pike, P. O. Box
1 029, Knoxville, Tenn.

Manhoff Studios, 178 Wellington Road, Elmont, L. I.,
N. Y.

H. R. Mitchell & Co., P. O. Box 690, Hartselle,
Ala.

Novelty Scenic Studios, Inc., 28-34 West 60th Street,
New York City.

Premier Studios, 414 West 45th Street, New York
City.

F. G. Price, 37 Beverly Road, Merrick, L. I., N. Y.
Rambusch Decorating Company, 40 West 13th Street,
New York City.

Rau Studios, Inc., 104 West 42nd Street, New York
18, N, Y,

DIMMERS

THESE ELECTRO-ME-
cbanical devices for controlling stage and
auditorium illumination, permitting fad-
ing out of any desired set of lights and fading
in of others, are available in various types and
capacities.

Resistance types without interlocking features
are suited to small circuits subject to individual
control (spotlight, floodlight, etc.). Interlock-
ing models are for multiple-circuit installations
(as needed for complex stage lighting). There
are also reactance (electronic) dimmers for
stage (performance) lighting control.

Autotransformer dimmers are adapted to
simple auditorium house-lighting circuits ; they
may be installed for single-switch remote con-
trol (as from the projection room), or be bank-
mounted in various interlocking assemblies for
flexible control of a number of circuits (as for
illumination in different colors or locations).
Due to transformer action, dimming is smooth
regardless of lamp load.

I ransformer type dimmer equipment is also
available in a “packaged” portable unit with
circuit capacities for very small auditoriums
and minor stage application.

Dimming of cathode type light sources
(“neon” and fluorescent lamp) is possible
with equipment especially installed for this pur-
pose according to the lighting installation. For
dimming hot-cathode lamps, electronic control,
using two thyratron tubes, is recommended for
full range from and to complete black-out.

One fluorescent dimmer, consisting of a con-
trol unit and matching ballast, permits turning

on the lamps at any desired point within the
dimming range by means of a knob.

Frank Adam Electric Company, 3650 Windsor Place,
St. Louis, Mo.

Capitol Stage Lighting Company, 527 West 45th
Street, New York 19, N. Y.

Century Lighting, Inc., 521 West 43rd St., New York-
City.

Cutler-Hammer, Inc., 315 N. 12th Street, Milwaukee,
Wis.

General Electric Company, 570 Lexington Avenue,
New York City.

Hub Electrical Corporation, 2227 West Grand Avenue,
Chicago, 111,

Kliegl Bros., 351 West 50th Street New York 19, N. Y.
Superior Electric Company, Bristol, Conn.
Ward-Leonard Electric Company, 91 South Street, Mt.
Vernon, N. Y.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh,
Pa.

•

DISPLAY FRAMES. POSTER

POSTER CASES with frames
of extruded aluminum and of stainless
steel are fabricated in sizes for single one-
sheets, while the frame units may be adapted
also to long lobby displays, usually set flush in
the wall. Standard cases, with glazed doors
that swing on hinges and lock, are available for
mounting against a wall as well as recessed;
also with or without lighting provisions
(sources may be all around, or along longest
sides, and are regularly fluorescent tubular
lamps concealed behind the edge of the frame).
They are also available in models adapted to
black-light sources for luminescent displays.

Easel frames of either aluminum or stainless
steel construction are also on the market.

Standard poster size frames are also available
in Kalamein mouldings (metal or wood), fin-
ished in stainless steel, chromium, aluminum or
bronze.

Extruded aluminum insert frames are obtain-
able in a variety of sizes for single or multiple
still displays.

Alto Manufacturing Company, 1647 Wolfram Street,
Chicago 13, 111.

Ames Metal Moulding Company, Inc,, 226 East 144th
Street, New York City.

Art Metal Manufacturing Company, 1408 North
Broadway, St. Louis, Mo.

Champion Moulding Manufacturing Company, 234
East IS 1st Street, New York City.

Everbrite Electric Signs, Inc., 1440 North Fourth
Street, Milwaukee 12, Wis.

Lobby Display Corporation, 551 West 52nd Street.
New York City.

POBLOCKI & SONS, INC., 2159 S. Kinnickinnic
Avenue, Milwaukee 7, Wis.

•

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT,

SUPPLIES AND SERVICES

[For Refreshment Service, Supplies and Equip-
ment, see Better Refreshment Merchandising
Buyers Index, p. 47]

MUCH OF THE equipment
of drive-in theatres is the same as that of
regular theatres. Noted here are the kinds
specifically associated with this type of opera-
tion. (Accordingly, for projectors, sound equip-
ment, projection lamps, motor-generators, recti
fiers, and projection accessories such as splicers,
rewinders, etc., reference should be made to the
clpsifications in The Buyers Index that deal
with these individually.)

Items applying specifically to drive-in theatres
are as follows :

ADMISSION CONTROL

Equipment especially devised to record drive-
in admissions is available in various types, some
eliminating the use of tickets, others printing a
ticket, while others are modifications of ticket
issuing systems used in regular theatres.

Systems eliminating tickets may also provide
for registration of the car by trip of a treadle
when the car passes over it ; and for registration
of the entire transaction on an overhead indi-
cator visible at considerable distance.

Some admission registration equipment may
be installed for remote registration, as in the
manager’s office.

See also TICKET ISSUING MACHINES.

FOR

STEREOPHONIC SOUND
in your Drive-in Theatre
ask about extra long

Koiled Kords

In addition to regular replacement
speaker cords, extra long KOILED
KORDS with straight and coiled sections
as well as multi-conductor retractile
cords can be furnished for use with
new stereophonic sound systems for
drive-in theatres.

KOILED KORDS retractile speaker cords
neatly hug the speaker standard when
not in use and offer no drooping,
dangling loops to catch in car bumpers,
door handles or other projections, yet
they extend as needed.

KOILED KORDS save drive-in operators
from inadvertant loss of speakers and
accidental cord breakage thereby mini-
mizing costly replacements.

KOILED KORDS retractile speaker cords
are jacketed with tough, tire-tread-type
neoprene that withstands sunshine or
storm without failing.

KOILED KORDS always look neat, are
efficient in service and enhance the
appearance of any well maintained
drive-in.

When planning conversion to stereo-
phonic sound, specify KOILED KORDS.

When straight cords need replacing, use
KOILED KORDS and specify them by
name on all new speakers you buy
through your theatre equipment dealer.

Koiled Kards

Incorporated

Box K, New Haven 14, Connecticut

* KOILED KORDS is a trademark of
KOILED KORDS, INC.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Send For YOUR COPY Of
This VALUABLE PORTFOLIO

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Pockets Cover
All Subjects Of
Theatre Operation
And Equipment

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The Theatre Owner’s Manual enables you to
Keep clippings, equipment literature and other
information on theatre operation neatly filed,
always handy for instant reference. You'll
find it just the thing you've needed for years
to keep such material all together in one
place in an easy-to-find, orderly arrangement!
Fits in correspondence drawer file, stands on
bookshelf or lies on desk.

Any theatre owner, manager or circuit exec-
utive is eligible to receive this useful port-
folio absolutely FREE! Just clip this ad to your
letterhead, or write asking for
"THEATRE OWNER’S MANUAL”,
Be sure to state your name and
position. Address your request
to —

firsi •American jWuctj .cnc.

1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo.

Mr. Drive-In and
Indoor Exhibitor

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153-P WEST 33rd ST.

NEW YORK CITY 1 Wl 7-9496

YOUR QUESTIONS ARE INVITED. 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.

Bereezny Engineering & Manufacturing Co., 4208
Avalon Blvd., Los Angeles 11, Calif, (car counter).

The Electronic Signal Company, 483 VVilUs Avenue
WilUston Park, N. Y.

GENERAL REGISTER CORPORATION, 4301
22nd Street, Long Island City, N. Y. See page

oireer.

K.-tlill Signal Company, 328 West Third .

Uhrichsville, Ohio (ticket control car register).
Ohmer Corporation, 740 Bolander, Dayton, Ohio.
Perey Turnstile Company, 101 Park Avenue, New
York City, (turnstiles).

Taller & Cooper, Inc., 7S Front Street, Brooklyn 1.
N. Y.

ATTRACTION ADVERTISING

Changeable letter frames with lighted glass
panels, and using aluminum and plastic letters,
as installed on the marquees and fronts of
indoor theatres, are variously adapted to drive-
ins. Where a screen tower or other facility
structure is near the highway, the attraction
advertising equipment may be mounted thereon.
Otherwise special sign structures are indicated,
with the name of the theatre and attraction
frames integrated in an attractive pattern with
suitable illumination. Designs for such struc-
tures, from simple to elaborate, are available
with complete blueprints for local fabrication.

Changeable letter frames are also available
for front illumination by reflector lamps, de-
signed to be readily attached to walls, posts or
similar supports. These are made in standard
units for convenient erection on the job to any
size of panel. Besides use as attraction boards
at the drive-in, they are effective for remote
exploitation, as along the highway, at nearby
gasoline stations, etc.

For changing attraction board letters at
heights that cannot be reached without use of
a ladder, a “mechanical hand’’ device that grasps
the letter by use of a tensioning lever at the
end of a handle is available.

ADLER SILHOUETTE LETTER COMPANY,
11843 West Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles 64,
Calif. See page 83.

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 S. Kinnickinnic Ave-
nue, Milwaukee, Wis.

Theatre Specialties, Inc., 1615 Cordova St., Los An-
geles, Calif.

WAGNER SIGN SERVICE, INC., 218 South
Hoyne Avenue, Chicago, III. (changeable let-
ters and letter mounting tool). See page 85.

AUTOMOBILE ATTACHMENTS

To encourage a greater attendance when it
rains drive-in operators can secure automobile
visors to attach to the front of patrons’ cars,
thereby eliminating the need for using wind-
shield wipers. The visors are made of plastic
with an aluminum tube frame and come in vari-
ous colors. They can be distributed to patrons
on a rental basis, if desired.

To protect automobile doors from being dent-
ed or nicked when opened against other cars
there is a door-stop device available. It is made
of rubber and chrome and clamps right onto the
car door.

LOUIS J. LINDNER, 153 West 33rd Street, New
York 1, N. Y. (door protector). See adjoining
column.

RAINVIEW VISORS, 732 Bush Street, Toledo
11, Ohio. See page 34.

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

Professional designers experienced in ramp
grade requirements, drainage, traffic plans, etc.,
as well as structural needs and the operating
peculiarities of drive-ins, are availale for plans
and construction supervision.

Such service may also include actual con-
struction of the project.

BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street,
Otnaha 2, Nebr.

F & Y BUILDING SERVICE. 319 East Town Street,
Columbus 15, Ohio (design cuid construction).

DIRECTIONAL SIGNS

These include electrically lighted ramp mark-
ers, with manual means of indicating when the
ramp is full ; stop-and-go, exit signs, etc. A
portable type with plexiglas inserts for traffic
instructions or other copy is available ; others
are designed for mounting on a pedestal or wall.
BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street,
Omaha, Nebr.

ARDLEY COMPANY, 1010 Castle Ave., New
York 72. See page 77.

FIRST-AMERICAN PRODUCTS, Inc., 1717 Wy-
andotte Street, Kansas City 8, Mo.

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 S. Kinnickinnic
Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis. See page 29.

Revere Electric Manufacturing Co., 6020 Broadway,
Chicago 40, 111.

DRIVE AND RAMP OILING

Spraying equipment (see Insecticide Fogging
below) is available also with attachment for
uniform, controlled application of road oil over
drives and ramps (not only preserving surfacing
and laying dust, but retarding weed growth).
Welch Equipment, Inc., 224 S. Michigan Ave., Chi-
cago 4, 111.

GROUNDS MAINTENANCE

Refuse carts are available to facilitate daily
grounds cleaning. There is a model with a steel
basket mounted on wheels and demountable so
debris may be burned in it ; it can also be had
with a utility platform for light cartage.

Outdoor “vacuum” sweepers are available for
clearing the drive-in grounds of paper litter such
as popcorn boxes and bags, cups, and food wrap-
pers. These units are self-propelled and will
vacuum, cut up and bag the debris.

Atwater-Strong Company, Atwater, Ohio (refuse
sweeper).

Canvas & Metal Specialties, Inc., Groverville, N. J.

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 S. Kinnickinnic
Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis. (refuse cart). See page
29.

IN-CAR SPEAKERS AND HEATERS

Two in-car speakers are hung suspended for
convenient removal by patrons, from the ter-
minal, or junction box attached to a fixed pipe,
which is located between each pair of auto-
mobile positions, making one speaker readily
available to each car. The speaker unit is
equipped for attachment to a car door or other
suitable portion of the interior, with a control
for regulation of the volume according to the
wishes of the car occupants.

Such equipment is available in a variety of
models, with speaker units ranging from 3 to 6
inches.

In-car speaker equipment can be obtained with
or without lights for illuminating post and ramp.

Small electric coil heaters are available for
installation and use similarly to in-car speakers ;
power is supplied by special wiring to the speak-
er posts, from which the in-car heaters are sus-
pended to be taken into cars as occupants desire.
Each unit has a control allowing patrons to
regulate output.

For replacement of damaged in-car speaker
cones, such units are obtainable in both single
and double types.

Following manufacture in-car speakers only
unless otherwise specified :

Arvin Industries, Inc., 13th & Big Four R.R., Colum-
bus, Ind. (heaters only).

THE BALLANTYNE COMPANY 1712 Jackson
Street, Omaha, Nebr, See page 6.

CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729
Seventh Avenue, New York City.

Dawo Corporation, 145 North Erie, Toledo, Ohio.
EPRAD, 1206 Cherry Street, Toledo 4, Ohio. See
page 33.

FIRST-AMERICAN PRODUCTS, Inc., 1717 Wy-
andotte Street, Kansas City 8, Mo. See this
page.

General Electric Company, Electronics Dept., Syra-
cuse, N. Y.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORA-
TION, 55 LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.
See Fourth Cover.

MINNEAPOLIS SPEAKER RECONING COM-
PANY, 2312 Cedar Ave., South, Minneapolis 4,
Minn, (speaker reconing). See page 33.

Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing Company, St.

Paul. Minn, (rainproof speaker cover).

Oxford Electric Corporation, 3911 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, 111.

MOTIOGRAPH, INC., 4431 W. Lake Street, Chi-
cago, III. See page 9.

National In-Kar Heaters, 1638 Victory Boulevard,
Glendale, Calif, (heaters only).

Permofiux Corporation, 4900 W. Grand Avenue, Chi-
cago. 111.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engi-
neering Products, Camden, N. J. See page 5.
RAYTONE SCREEN CORPORATION, 165 Cler-
mont Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. (speaker guard).
SONKEN-GALAMBA CORPORATION, 2nd and
Riverview, Kansas City, Kans. (speaker
stands with guide light posts). See page 29.
SPEAKER SECURITY COMPANY, 718 Tenth
Avenue, New York City (cable attachment for
insure against theft). See page 34.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

THEATRE SPECIALTIES, INC., 1615 Cordova
Street, Los Angeles, Calif. See page 19.

Utah Radio Products Co., Inc., 1123 East Franklin
Street, Huntington, Ind. (dual cones).

WESTREX CORPORATION, 111 Eighth Avenue,
New York 11, N. Y. (except in U. S. and Canada).

INSECTICIDE FOGGING AND SPRAYING
Equipment mountable on a small truck is
available for application of insecticides by the
fogging method (mist carried by air over broad
area, effective particularly to discourage mos-
quitos and similar pests from entering drive-in
area). Some equipment is designed also for
spraying insecticides (within buildings, on foli-
age, etc.) and weed killers. Other uses include
spray painting and tire inflation.

To control flies, mosquitoes and other insects
as anve-in refreshment buildings and restrooms,
there are electrical vaporizing units which can
be mounted on the wall. When they are
plugged into an ordinary electric outlet, the
heat generated vaporizes an insecticide, either
crystal or liquid, which is supplied by the
manufacturer. Most models are designed to
operate in an area of up to 10,000 square feet.
Detjen Corporation, 303 West 42nd Street, Nevr York
City (pest electrode).

Devenco, Inc., ISO Broadway, New York 38, N. Y.
Lindavap Corporation, Ann Arbor, Mich, (electrical
vaporizer).

Magic Fog, Inc., Cissna Park, 111.

Todd Shipyards Corporation, Combustion Equipment
Division, 81-16 45th Avenue, Elmhurst, L. I., N. Y.
Welch Equipment, Inc., 224 S. Michigan Avenue,
Chicago 4, 111.

LIGHTING

Mushroom and pylon lighting fixtures for
drives, and floodlights for mounting on poles
or high structures, are available in various
styles and combinations, including downlights
with glass insets to aid lane demarcation.

General Electric Company, Nela Park, Cleveland, O.
Kliegl Bros., 351 West 50th Street New York 19, N. Y.
Revere Electric Manufacturing Company, 6020 Broad-
way, Chicago 40, 111.

Steber Manufacturing Company, Broadview, 111.

PLAYGROUND, FIREWORKS. ETC.

Drive-in playgrounds for the younger chil-
dren usually include teeter-totters, slides and
swings. These are available in many designs,
built to assure safety and painted in lively
colors. But the playground may be made more
interesting by the addition of other pastimes,
notably rides. Ride equipment includes small
carousels and miniature trains ; also “thrill”
rides such as “airplanes” swung from a pole, a
small, safe version of “The Whip,” etc. These
are operated by motors of around 1 h.p.

American Playground Devices, Anderson, Ind.

Bally Manufactiuring Company, 2640 Belmont Ave.,
Chicago, 111.

J. E. BURKE PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT CO.,
Pond du Lac, Wise. See page 78.

Concession Supply Company, 3916 Secor Road, Toledo
13, Ohio.

King Amusement Company, Mt. Clemens, Mich.
Joyrider Co., Ontario, Calif.

Liberty Fireworks Company, Bo-x 98. Franklin Park,

111.

W. F. Mangels Company, 2863 West 8th Street,
Brooklyn 24, N. Y.

Miniature Train Co., Rensselaer, Ind.

MIRACLE WHIRL SALES COMPANY, Grinnell,
Iowa. See this page.

National Amusement Device Co., Dayton 7, Ohio.

Pedal Plane Manufacturing Company, South Beloit,
Wis.

Play-Way Company, 3227 Indiana Avenue, St. Louis
18, Mo.

B. A. Schiff, 901 S.W. 69th Avenue, Miami, 34, Fla.

PREFABRICATED FENCING

Prefabricated fencing of durable timber (such
as white cedar) is available in styles particularly
suited to drive-in theatres, for defining the limits
of the theatre with visual isolation from high-
ways and adjoining property, and to accomplish
this in a rustically decorative manner. It may be
had in heights from 4 to 8 feet, in natural bark
or pealed palings, in straight-top or escalloped
forms. The fencing comes in sections ready for
erection, including gates and hardware.
Arnold-Dain Corp., Mahopac, N. Y.

Fence Company of America, Auburndale, Fla.

Habitant Shops, Inc., Bay City, Mich.

SCREENS AND SCREEN SURFACING

Prefabricated screen towers are available

with steel framing designed to withstand pres-
sures equivalent to wind of 90 miles per hour.
Some types are designed for convenient en-
closure of the frame with wood or other
materials, also for attachment of a stage. The
members come complete for erection by local
labor, including materials for the screen itself,
for screen widths from 40 to 60 feet.

The structures are designed in several sizes.

Paint IS available especially prepared for
drive-in screens and applicable to surfaces of
metal, transite, etc. These include aluminum
paints compounded especially for outdoor screens.

Steel plates with a screen surface of alumi-
num for both 2-D and 3-D projection are avail-
able for mounting on existing or new drive-in
screen towers. They are prefabricated for instal-
lation according to ramp measurement and
throw.

BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street,
Omaha, Nebr.

ERPAD COMPANY, 1206 Cherry Street, Toledo,
Ohio (screen paint).

FIRST-AMERICAN PRODUCTS, INC., 1717

Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo. (screen sur-
facing and screen towers).

Natco Wonder Screen Company, 2031 Jackson Street,
Dallas 1, Texas.

Open-Air Development Corporation, 82 Newbury Street,
Boston, Mass.

PERKINS ELECTRIC SUPPLY CO., INC., 505
Pearl Street, Buffalo, N, Y, (screens and wide-
screen frames).

RAYTONE SCREEN CORPORATION, 165 Cler-
mont Ave., Brooklyn, N. Y. (screen paint).

See page 26.

Tropical Paint & Oil Company, 11481246 West 70th
Street, Cleveland, Ohio (screen paint).

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 S. Kinnickinnic Ave-
nue, Milwaukee, Wis. See page 29.

SPEAKER AND UNDERGROUND CABLE

For wiring an in-car sound system, a type of
cable (neoprene-covered) is available which

(

• You’ll really see the results at the boxoffice once
you install a Miracle PONY RIDE! Youngsters
always like a merry-go-round but they really enjoy
one that’s “just the right size” for them. All-steel
platform and framework; colorful cast-iron ponies;
no greasing or motor maintenance required The
Miracle PONY RIDE is
safe, entertainment for the

tiniest tot . . . popular diver- ftrilii Cl ROC*

sion for the oldest youngster! Ufliy 31993

• The Miracle CHAIR RIDE is the newest addi>
tion 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 with-
stand the roughest abuse, the
Miracle CHAIR RIDE is
already a tested traffic-builder I

Only $1095'

• 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 construction;
no exposed mechanism. Nearly 5,000 in USe. No
serious accident in seven years I
Junior Miracle Whirl (6 ft. size)
also available for 12 youngsters
or less.

Only $298'

• Once again Miracle Whirl is first with the
finest! This new, exclusive swing frame is the first
major improvement in swings for years. Insets show
the patented bearing design and the new “T” joint
connection. ^ Safer, sturdier construction; modern
more attractive design. Gaily painted like peppermint
stick candy! Available in every size to fit the
needs of any playground. When writing, be sure
to ask about our new animal slides, too — another
first from Miracle Whirl!

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

may be laid underground without conduit and
without reference to frost line.

For safer connection of in-car speakers to the
terminal than that provided by ordinary cable,
self-coiling cable is available. Leading makes of
in-car speakers are obtainable with self-coiling
cords instead of the straight type.
First-American Products, Inc., 1717 Wyandotte
Street, Kansas City 8, Mo. (speaker cords, un-
derground cable).

General Electric Company, Bridgeport, Conn, (under-
ground cable).

KOILED-KORDS, INC., Hamden, Conn, (coiled
cords for speakers). See page 59.

Western Insulated Wire Company, 1001 East 62nd
Street, Los Angeles 1, Calif.

THE WHITNEY-BLAKE COMPANY, New Haven,
Conn, (underground cable).

STADIUM AND TERRACE SEATING

Typically of hardwood on metal frames, chairs
are obtainable in folding or fixed types, the lat-
ter models designed for safe attachment to wood
or concrete.

AMERICAN SEATING COMPANY, 901 Broad-
way, Grand Rapids, Mich.

GRIGGS EQUIPMENT COMPANY. Box 630, Belton,
Texas.

IDEAL SEATING COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich.

EMERGENCY LIGHTING AND
ELECTRIC POWER EQUIPMENT

AUTHORITIES IN SOlTie

localities require, and all theatres should
have, equipment which safely illuminates
at Least the auditorium and exit areas in the
event of power line failure, going into opera-
tion automatically. Storage battery systems are
available for this purpose. Small portable flood-
lights that merely plug into an electric outlet
and automatically go on when line power fails,
taking their power from a dry cell battery,
are also marketed for this purpose.

Plants capable of supplying current for con-
tinued operation of the theatre in case of line
power failure, or where there is no public util-
ity service, are obtainable with either gasoline
or Diesel engine power in motor-generator
units readily portable on trucks as well as for
stationary installation. Such units are made in
capacities approximately from 15 to 35 kilo-
watts. There are also water turbine types. In
all cases, for emergencies, switching is auto-
matic.

Chatham Products Company. 15 East Runyon Street,
Newark 5, N. J. (batery floodlamp).

Consolidated Diesel Electric Corporation, 230 East
Eighth Street, Mt. Vernon, N. Y. (power plants).
Electric Storage Battery Company, Allegheny Avenue
and 19th Street, Philadelphia, Pa. (storage battery
lighting systems, and battery floodlamp).

Fairbanks, Morse & Company, 600 South Michigao
Avenue, Chicago, 111. (power plants).

General Electric Company, Schenectady, N. Y. (power
plants) .

Lamplighter Products Co., Inc., 95 Atlantic Avenue,
Brooklyn 2, N. Y. (battery floodlamps).

D. W. Onan & Sons, University Avenue, S.E., al
2Sth, Minneapolis 14, Minn, (power plants).

Portable Light Company, 216 Williams Street, New
York. N. Y. (battery floodlamps).

Ready-Power Company, Kales Building, Detroit, Mich,
(power plants).

U-C Lite Manufacturing Company, 1050 W. Hubbard
Street, Chicago, 111. (battery floodlamp).

U. S. Motors Corporation, 412 Nebraska Street, Osh-
kosh, Wis. (power plants).

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh.
Pa. (power plants).

EXPLOITATION & PROMOTIONAL
DEVICES & MERCHANDISE

FOR QUICK and easy cut-
ting of figures, settings, etc., out of com-
position or wooden board, in making
atmospheric lobby displays, etc., electric saws
are available designed especially for such
purposes.

Posters can be quickly and conveniently made.

often by persons of little or no training in
poster art, with the aid of a poster projector.

Slide projectors that plug into electric light
outlets are available in small models adapted to
projecting advertising on a screen in the lobby
or elsewhere.

A motor-driven revolving tree holder is avail-
able for Christmas decoration and mounting
large exploitation material.

AUTOMATIC DEVICES COMPANY, 116 North
Eighdi Street, Allentown, Pa. (revolving Christmas
tree holder).

Best Devices Company, 10921 Briggs Rroad, Cleve-
land, Ohio (slide projector).

Gale Dorothea Mechanisms, 37-61 85th Street, Jackson
Heights, New York City (continuous automatic slide
projector).

Flowers of Hawaii, Ltd., 670 La Fayette Park Place,
Los Angeles 5, Calif, (orchids).

General Die & Stamping Company, 262-272 Mott
Street, New York 12, N. Y. (revolving stand).

Golde Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, 111.

Herbert J. Hecht, 3074 Park Ave., New York 51,
N. Y. (comic books).

International Register Company, 2620 West Washing-
ton Street, Chicago, 111. (cutout machines).

K & W Automatic Stand Company, Muskegon, Mich.
(Christmas tree stand).

F. D. Kees Manufacturing Company, P. O. Box 105.
Beatrice, Neb. (slide projector).

Pearce Parkhurst Enterprises, Lansing, Mich, (give-
aways).

•

FABRICS FOR WALLS,

CURTAINS & STAGE DRAPES

FABRICS ADAPTED tO moSt
drapery requirements of motion picture
theatres are of four general types : cotton-
rayon damask, plastic coated fabric ; fabric
woven of glass filament; weaves combining
glass and cotton, also glass and asbestos ; and
fabrics woven of plastic filament.

Fabrics of these types are suited to audi-
torium walls, either for covering acoustical
materials or for purely decorative purposes, and
for the decoration of all other public areas, as
wall coverings, door and window drapes, etc.
The cotton-rayon and glass filament fabrics are
also stage drape and curtain materials.

Cotton-rayon fabric should be (.usually must
be) flame-proofed before erection and as neces-
sary thereafter to maintain adequate resistance
to fire. Fiberglas, plastic woven and glass-
asbestos fabrics are non-combustible. The cotton
of Fiberglas-cotton fabric is flame-proofed
before weaving.

Chicopee Manufacturing Corp. of Georgia, Lumite
Div., 40 Worth Street, New York City (plastic).
Dazian's, Inc., 142 West 44th Street, New York 18,
N. Y. (cotton-rayon damasks).

Duracote Corporation, 350 North Diamond Avenue,
Ravena, Ohio (plastic coated).

Goodall Fabrics, Inc., 525 Madison Avenue, New York
City (cotton and wool).

Maharam Fabric Corporation, 130 West 46th Street,
New York City (cotton-rayon damasks).

MANKO FABRICS COMPANY, INC., 114 East
27th Street, New York 16, N. Y. (plastic coated).
See page 83.

New York Flameproofing Company, 115 Christopher
Street, New York 14, N. Y.

Plymouth Fabrics, Fall River, Mass. (Fiberglas-cotton ,
Tliortel Fireproof Fabrics, Inc., 101 Park Avenue,
New York City (Fiberglas).

United States Plywood Company, 55 West 44th Street.

New York City (plastic coated).

United States Rubber Company. 1230 Sixth Avenue
New York City (glass-asbestos and plastic coated).

•

FIRE EXTINGUISHERS

FIRE EXTINGUISHING

materials available for putting out small
fires by means of personally portable
equipment are of four basic types — liquids using
carbon tetrachloride or comparable compound
(not injurious to fabrics), soda-acid, foam, and
carbon dioxide. There are extinguishers of v»
rious designs for applying them.

A guide in selection of the required pre-
ferred type is supplied by the Underwriters’
Laboratories, which classifies fires as follows :

Class A — Wood, paper, textiles, rubbish, etc.,
with which quenching and cooling effect is of
first importance.

Class B — Oil, grease, inflammable liquids, etc.,
which require smothering effect.

Class C — Electrical equipment, with which
fire extinguishing material must be a non-con-
ductor for protection of person applying it.

Some compounds are for more or less general
use. Carbon dioxide, however, is specific in its
efficiency for Class B fires and is effective at
temperatures as low as 40° below zero.

Besides such pressure or pump equipment,
small extinguishing “bombs” are available.
Containing a material of general purpose, they
are thrown into the fire; the container is shat-
tered, releasing the extinguishing medium.

American LaFrance & Foamite Industries, 100 East
LaFrance Street, Elmira, N. Y.

Bostwick Laboratories, 706 Bostwick Avenue, Bridge-
port, Conn.

Buffalo Fire Appliance, 221 Crane Street, Dayton 1,
Ohio.

General Detroit Corporation, 2272 East Jefferson Street,
Detroit, Mich.

Pyrene Manufacturing Company, 560 Belmont Avenue.
Newark, N. J.

•

FIRE PREVENTION
DEVICES, PROIECTOR

THESE ARE automatic
dowsers and film-cutters that cut off pro-
jection light from the film and also sever
the film when any of several controls installed
on the projector sets the device into operation.
The actuating element is usually a fusible link,
which melts upon ignition of the film. There is
also a safety sprocket which actuates the dowser
by means of a speed-sensitive mechanism within
the sprocket.

Film Treatizor Corporation, 117 West 63rd Street,
New York 23, N. Y.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION,
55 LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.

•

FIRE SHUTTERS.

PROJECTION ROOM

FIREPROOF S FI UTTERS

for projection room ports to isolate the
projection room in an emergency, operate
either automatically (by melting of fusible links
in case of fire), or manually.

A special switch is available for tripping the
port shutters by electro-mechanical action, in-
stead of by means of fusible links, and at the
same time actuating an exhaust fan to draw the
fumes into a projection room ventilation duct.
Best Devices Company, 10921 Briggs Rroad, Cleve-
land, Ohio.

Murch Electric Company, Franklin, Me.

RAYTONE SCREEN CORPORATION, 16S Clermont
Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y.

The Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Company, Wood-
ford Avenue, Plainville, Ohio.

•

FLAMEPROOFING

FLAMEPROOFING OF any
combustible fabrics used for walls, stage
drapes or curtains should be carried out be-
fore they are set in place and as often there-
after as is necessary to maintain their resist-
ance to fire. Compounds are available in pow-
der form to be diluted with warm water. Appli-
cation can be made either by immersion or
spraying.

Flamort Chemical Company, 746 Natoma, San Fran-
cisco, Calif.

Monsanto Chemical Company, Merrimac Div., Everett
St., Boston, Mass.

NEVA-BURN PRODUCT CORPORATION, 67
Sullivan St., New York City. See page 85.

New York Flameproofing Company, 115 Christopher
St., New York City

Signal Chemical Manufacturing Company, 15110
Kinsman, Cleveland, Ohio.

L. Sonneborn Sons, Inc., 300 4th Avenue, New York
City.

•

FLOOR SURFACING
MATERIALS, COMPOSITION

COMPOSITION floor cover-
ings of roll or tile type are available for

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

colorful patern effects as well as solid
tones in heavy-duty qualities adapted to non-
public areas of theatres, also to certain sections
of public areas, such as lobbies, in front of re-
freshment counters and drinking fountains ; and
to toilet rooms (not below grade) where ter-
razzo or ceramic tiles would be too expensive
relative to hours of operation.

Such materials make serviceable baseboards,
and composition bases of cowled type are avail-
able for this purpose.

Composition flooring of heavy-duty grade,
without design, is recommended for projection
rooms.

American Floor Products Company, 1526 M Street.

N> W., Washington S, D. C.

American Mat Corporation, 1722 Adams Street, Toledo
2, Ohio.

Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa.
Congoleum-Nairn, Inc., Kearny, N. J.

Fremont Rubber Company, Fremont, Ohio.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 1144 E. Market
Street, Akron, Ohio.

R. C. Musson Rubber Company, 10 South College
Street, Akron 8, Ohio.

Tile-Tex Company, 1232 McKinley Avenue, Chicago
Height, lU.

U. S. Rubber Company, 1230 Sixth Avenue, New Yerk
City.

•

FOUNTAINS AND
WATER COOLERS

DRINKING WATER foun-
tains are of two general types : ( 1 ) com-
plete water coolers (cabinets with me-
chanical refrigeration equipment enclosed and
mounted with bubblers; and (2) ornamental
fountains, which may be directly connected to
the main where water is available at suitable
temperatures (without prolonged running), or
be piped to a concealed mechanical refrigera-
tion unit. (In some cities, among them New
York, water cooling equipment must be isolated
from patrons.)

The simplest kinds of ornamental fountains
are white or tinted porcelain-finished pedestals
or wall bowls, the latter sometimes being in-
corporated with mirror or tile ornamentation on
the wall or in a niche.

Cabinet fountains, or water coolers, are ob-
tainable in finishes adapted to public areas of
theatres where decorative considerations are not
of first importance. The usual models for this
purpose are approximately a foot and a half
square and about 40 inches high, built of steel
with baked enamel finish in a limited choice of
colors, and equipped with either a.c or d.c.
motors for plugging directly into a power line
outlet. To supply cooled water to an ornamental
fountain, a unit of this type may be placed in a
closet or comparable nearby compartment and
piped to the fountain.

To assure sufficient drinking water where
cooling is necessary, the equipment should de-
liver a gallon per hour for every hundred of
seating capacity, and have storage provisions for
several gallons.

Bradley Washfountain Company, 2203 North Michigan
Avenue, Milwaukee. Wis.

The Ebco Manufacturing Company, 401 West Town
Street, Columbus, Ohio.

General Electric Company, 5 Lawrence Street, Bloom-
field, N. J.

Rundle-Spence Manufacturing Company, 52 Second
Street, Milwaukee, Wis.

Sunroc Company, Glen Riddle, Pa.

The Halsey W. Taylor Company, Warren, Ohio.
Temprite Products Corporation, 47 Piquette Avenue,
Detroit 2, Mich.

•

FRAMES FOR SCREENS— See Screens, Mo-
tion Picture.

FURNITURE FOR
FOYERS AND LOUNGES

FURNITURE DURABLE

enough to be practicable for theatre foyer
and lounge areas is obtainable today in a
variety of styles, in either metal or wood, and
in metal-wood combination fsteel frame).

Metal furniture, which is markedly durable.

is available in chromium, stainless steel and
aluminum.

Wood furniture may of course be selected
from the better-built pieces adapted to home
living rooms, but to be most practicable these
should be of wood or metal-wood construction,
with the frame fully covered in durable fabric
(eliminating arm rests, feet, etc., of wood).

Moderately priced wood furniture of sturdy
construction, without upholstering or with only
seat or back cushions, is available in novel
“modern” designs, and also in rustic or Early
American styles, with “wheat” (pale yellow)
or the darker maple finish.

(For foyer and lounge furniture fabrics, see
Upholstering Materials.)

Admiral Chrome Furniture Company, Inc., 213 Greene
Street, New York 12, N. Y.

Art Chrome Company of America (Div. of American
Table Manufacturing Company), Melrose, Mass.
Doehler Metal Furniture Company, Inc., 192 Lexing-
ton Avenue, New York, N, Y.
HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD CO., Garthier, Mass.
Kroehler Manufacturing Company, Naperville, 111.
Lloyd Manufacturing Company, Menominee, Mich.
Royal Metal Manufacturing Company, 175 North
Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 111.

HAND DRIERS, ELECTRIC

ELECTRIC DRIERS for
hands, and of course applicable also to the
face, eliminate towels, which practically
always are of the paper variety in theatre wash
rooms ; hence, they remove the menace to clean
toilet rooms of paper wads on the floor, and the
danger to plumbing of wads thrown into water
closets ; and additionally, the fire hazard of
matches tossed into used towel receptacles.

Such driers are available with heating units,
and related fans capable of drying hands in
about 20 seconds, or less than the time required
for comparably thorough drying with paper
towels.

They can be had in either pedestal or wall
models, the former operated by a foot pedal,
the latter by either foot or hand control ; and in
black, brown, gray or ivory as well as white
enamel finish.

Some models of these driers are equipped
with built-in deodorizing systems to destroy
objectionable odors in washrooms.

Chicago Hardware Foundry Company, North Chicago,
111.

Electric-Aira Engineering Company, 135 S. LaSalle
Street, Chicago, 111.

Electronic Towel Corporation, 57 William Street, New
York 5. N. Y.

National Dryer Corporation, 616 Adam Street, Chicago,
III.

•

HEARING AIDS

THERE ARE tWO distinct

types of group hearing aid systems on
the market of interest in motion picture
exhibition.

Most practicable method uses the principle
of audio induction. This device consists
physically in a series of loops of suitable elec-
trical conductors, concealed beneath aisle car-
peting, in baseboards, etc. This network is
tapped into the theatre sound system amplifier
through the hearing aid system amplifier. The
deafened patron procures from the management
a small “receiving set” and is equipped with
a lorgnette type earphone. Picture sound is
thus available from any seat in the auditorium.

By the other general method, certain seats
(usually from five to ten, each outlet serving
two adjoining seats) are wired to the theatre
sound system either directly or through a hear-
ing aid system amplifier.

Acousticon Division of Dictograph Products Company.

Inc., 92-25 149th Et., Jamaica, N. Y.

Sonotone Corporation, Elmsford, N. Y.

Telesonic Theatrephone Corp., 3 East 48 th Street,
New York 17. N. Y. (audio duction method).
WESTREX CORPORATION, III Eighth Avenue.
New York 11, N. Y. (except in U. S. and Canada).

•

IN-CAR SPEAKERS—See Drive-In Equip-
ment and Supplies.

INTERLOCKS, PROJECTOR— See Third-
Dimension Equipment and Supplies.

INTERCOMMUNICATING
HOUSE PHONES

TO INSURE the manager’s
control over every department of theatre
operation, and efficient co-ordination of
of the activities of different departments, suit-
able methods of signal or communication are
indispensable. The simplest are mere buzzer
systems, as commonly used, for example, to
advise the projection staff that a change in
sound volume is necessary ; but a buzzer does
not permit communication of any but signals.

House phones for more effective inter-de-
partment contact range in design from simple,
two-station communicating lines to elaborate
dial systems by which any station can make
contact with any other. Such equipment in-
cludes a type requiring no batteries, it being
“powered” by the voice itself.

Loud-talking systems, consisting essentially
in distant-pickup for any other microphones
and miniature speakers are also adapted to
theatre intercommunications.

Connecticut Telephone & Electric Corp., Meriden,
Conn.

S. H. Couch, Inc., Boston, Mass.

Wheeler Insulated Wire Co., Inc., Division of Sperry
Corp., East Aurora Street, Wate»*bury, Conn.

LADDERS, SAFETY

THE SAFETY ladder min-
imizes the risk of accident and of law
suits arising from accidents occurring
while lamps are being replaced, attraction board
letters changed, etc. Sizes range from 3 to 16
feet. Besides those constructed of wood with
steel reinforcement, there are ladders of
aluminum construction ; also models with casters
and platforms.

Abbeon Supply Company, 17915 Jamaica Avenue,
Jamaica 32, N. Y.

American Ladder Company, 3700 West 38th Street,
Chicago, 111.

Atlas Industries Corporation, 849 39th Street, Brook-
lyn. N. Y

DAYTON SAFETY LADDER COMPANY, 2337
Gilbert Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio. See page 85.

huff

THE ORIGINAL

Hydro Carbon Cooler

Concentrates all the heat at the gas ball

When you install the Huff Hydro Positive
Carbon Cooler, you save carbons no mat-
ter what size carbon you use. You can
draw more amperage from any type car-
bon. You have less heat at the film. You
get more screen light. The new Cera-Cop
Nozzle has a high refractory ceramic in-
sert which gives longer life.

Seo your Dealer or write to

HAL f. HUFF MFC. CO.

3774 SELBY AVENUE
LOS ANGELES 34, CALIF.

EXPORT DIVISION

301 Clay Street San Francisco, Calif.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

FIRST-AMERICAN PRODUCTS INC.. 1717
Wyandotte Street. Kansas City 8. IVio.

Goshen Manufacturing Company Goshen, Ind.

M & M Manufacturing Company, 7517 Hamilton
Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pa.

The Patent Scaffolding Company, Inc., 38-21 12th
Street, Long Island City, N. Y.

Precision Equipment Company, 3714 North Milwau-
kee Avenue, Chicago 41, 111.

•

LAMPS, D.C. PROJECTION ARC

PROJECTION ARCS of
high-intensity characteristics for 35 mm.
film for operation on direct current are
of two general classes — condenser and reflector.

Condenser type high-intensity projection arc
lamps specifically adapted to theatres are those
operating at 120 to 170 amperes, and 68 to 78
volts.

Condenser lamps in some models may be
fitted with a water-cooled jaw assembly (which
includes a special electromagnet unit) ; a similar
device is available also for operation of re-
flector lamps at the higher amperages.

Reflector type high-intensity carbon arc lamps
may be divided into three general groups, pro-
viding a capacity range embracing the require-
ments of theatres from small to large and in-
cluding what appears to be the practical re-
quirements of drive-in theatres.

The smallest capacity is that of the so-called
“one-kilowatt” arc, which employs a cored nega-
tive carbon of composition designed to give
smooth operation at very low current densities,
with operation at 40 amperes, 27)4 volts, or
about 1 kw at the arc.

In the middle capacity range, the arc is oper-
ated at currents from 42 to 65 amperes, and
31 to 40 volts at the arc. Carbon combinations
are 7mm positive with 6mm or 7mm negative
for 42-45 amperes ; and 8mm positive, with 7mm
negative for 56-65 amperes.

Reflector lamps with 16-inch mirrors are
available for carbon trims of greater light out-
put, using a 9mm rotating positive carbon for
operation at around 85 amperes ; a 10mm posi-
tive of similar characteristics for operation at
about 95 amperes; and a 10mm positive of
greater density for operation at approximately
125 amperes, or possibly somewhat higher.

These larger lamps are equipped with quartz
glass filters which intercept the beam at the
aperture to “filter out” light of greatest heat
characteristics, thus to reduce heat on the film.

For arc illumination in 16mm projection,
lamps are available for high-intensity carbon
trims of 6mm positive with 5.5mm negative oper-
ated at 30 amperes and 28 volts. A 46-ampere
size is also available.

c. S. ASHCRAFT MANUFACTURING COM-
PANY. 3G-32 Thirty-eighth Street, Long Island
City, N. Y. See third cover.

BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street,

Otnaha, Nebr. , . o tii

Cinematic Corporation, 122 Washington St., Bloom-
field, N. J.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engi-
neering Products Department, Camden, N. J.
See page 5.

J. E. McAuley Manufacturing Company, 554 West
Adams Street, Chicago, 111.

MOTIOGRAPH, INC., 4431 Lake Street, Chicago,
III. See page 3.

THE STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION, 87
City Park Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. See page 15.

LAMPS, FILAMENT
FOR PROJECTION

FILAMENT (“mazda”'*
lamps for theatre motion picture projec-
tion are characterized by a high degree of
source concentration and relatively high wat-
tage The most effective lamp for this purpose
—the 2,100-watt, 60-volt T-24 bulb— is designed
for lower voltage to secure additional source
concentration. Hence a transformer with volt-
age-regulating characteristics is required.

There are also available, 1,000-watt prefocus
base, and 1500- watt bipost base, 100-120 volt.

T-20 bulb lamps employing the biplane filament
construction. This construction makes possible
relatively high source concentration for lamps
operating at ordinary circuit voltages.

For portable 35-mm. motion picture projectors
there are the 500-watt monoplane-filament, and
the 750-watt and 1,000-watt biplane filament
lamps in T-20 bulbs with medium-prefocus
bases. The 750-watt ana l,U0U-watt require
forced ventilation.

Another type of 1,000-watt projection lamp
designed to burn base down gives considerably
greater output of light, and does not require the
inclusion of anti-blackening electric grids in-
ternally.

For stereopticon projectors there are 500-
watt short T-20, medium-prefocus base projec-
tion lamp, and a 1,000-watt long T-20 bulb,
mogul-prefocus base lamp. Both are of the 100-
120 volt type and employ monoplane filaments

General Electric Company, Incandescent Lamp De-
partment, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Lamp Division
Bloomfield. N. J.

LAMPS FOR GENERAL
THEATRE ILLUMINATION

GENERAL SERVICE filament
lamps, in sizes from 15 to 1000 watts,
serve the majority of lighting applica-
tions in and around theatres. Except for the
tubular bulb bipost lamps, all are designed for
burning in any position ; all are available with
inside-frosted finish up to 1000 watts, and in
clear lamps from 100 to 1000 watts (also a
10-watt). The frosting absorbs little light — in
fact, inside-frosted and clear lamps (clear lamps
are regularly available in sizes above 100 watts)
have the same rating in light output.

Sign and Decorative General Service Lamps:

The 6-watt S14, 10-watt Sll, 10-watt S14,
25-watt A19 and 40-watt A21 sizes have out-
door enamel coating on outside of bulb.
Principal colors : red, green, blue, yellow, white,
flametint, and orange.

Outside coated lamps for interior use include
7)4 watt Sll, 15-watt A15, 60-watt A21, and
100-watt A23.

Lumiline lamps are a tubular filament type
in clear, inside frosted, straw and white ; 30 and
60 watts (17j4 inches long), 40 watts (11?4
inches long). Other colors red, orange, blue,
green, surprise pink. They may be used exposed
or in narrow reflecting and shielding equipment.

Fluorescent lamps (often referred to as
F-lamps) are now available in straight tubes of
the following sizes :

Length

Diameter

Average lamp
watts at
200 ma.

42 inches

inch

64 inches

y inch

72 inches

1 inch

36.5

96 inches

1 inch

General line

Length

Diameter

Wattage

9 inches

y inch

12 inches

y inch

21 inches

y inch

15 inches

1)4 inches

18 inches

1 or 114 inches

24 inches

1)4 inches

36 inches

1 inch

48 inches

1)4 inches

60 inches

214 inches

100

The most useful “white” F-lamps for the-
atres are the deluxe cool white (keyed to
natural daylight) and deluxe warm white
(keyed to filament). Lamps are also available
in standard cool white, standard warm white,
red, green, blue, pink, gold.

Slimline is another type of fluorescent lamp,
which is characterized by instant start opera-
tion. For general lighting the 1J4" diameter
group is the most popular. All are designed to
operate at 0.425 amperes.

Length Average lamp watts

48 inches 38

72 inches 55

96 inches 74

Where space is limited, small diameter types
are available. These may be operated at 12U,
200, or 300 milliamperes.

Circline or Circlarc lamps, fluorescent lamps
of curved shape, are useful for decorative ef-
fects, such as mirror lighting in the lounge.
Only white lamps of 12 inches diameter in 1J4-
inch diameter tubing. Lamps are available in
8, 12 and 16-inch diameters.

Projector lamps are of filament type with
spot and flood lens cover glasses for narrow or
wide beams. These lamps differ from the usual
type filament lamps in that they contain their
own reflecting surface, which is hermetically
sealed within the lamp, providing a high-
intensity beam of light for supplementary light-
ing. They are made of rugged, heat resisting
glass and are suitable for service inside and
outdoors. They are equipped with medium
screw bases to fit regular sockets and are avail-
able 150 watts (PAR 38), 200 watts (PAR 46),
300 watts (PAR 56). The latter two are nar-
row-beam spots.

The Reflector spot and flood lamps also have
built-in, mirror-like surfaces. Available in 75,
150, 300, and 500 watt sizes in spot and flood
distribution. The 300 and 500 watt sizes are
available in heat-resistant glass for outdoor
use. The 75, 150, and 300 watt sizes are avail-
able in ordinary glass for indoor use. {See also
Black Lighting Equipment.)

New line of reflector color lamps with color
coating fired on end of bulb. Made in 150 watt
R40 spot type only. Four saturated colors —
red, yellow, green and blue. Two tints pink
and blue — white. For decorative lighting stages
and curtains, and for general lighting of patron
areas.

Germicidal

lamps are for

air disinfection.

They can be

used in patron

areas in suitable

equipment or

in air ducts.

Nominal

Length

Diameter

lamp watts

12 inches

54 inch

18 inches

1 inch

36 inches

1 inch

36 inches

y inch

16*

‘Slimline type. Average lamp watts at 120. 200, 300.
and 420 milliamneres.

Ozone-producing lamps (4- watt Sll bulb)
are used, with suitable equipment, for odor
control in such locations as wash rooms. One
lamp per 1000 cubic feet is recommended.
General Electric Company, Incandescent Lamp De-
partment, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

Radiant Lamp Corp., 700 Jeliff Avenue, Newark,
N. J.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Lamp Division,
Bloomfield, N. J.

LAMPS. P. E. CELL EXCITER

THESE LAMPS provide
the light which, interrupted or varied by
a photographic sound track, actuates the
photoelectric cell and initiates the process of
sound reproduction from such a track.

General Electric Company. Incandescent Lamp Depart-
ment, Nela Park, Cleveland, Ohio.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Encineerins
Products Department, Camden, N. J.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Lamp Division.
Bloomfield, N. J.

•

LENSES, PROJECTION
AND ANAMORPHIC

THERE ARE two general
classes — the condenser lens, which focuses
the light of a projection lamp arc on the
film in the projector aperture; and the objec-

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

tive. The latter, commonly referred to as the
projection lens, expands the light to form the
screen image. They are made in two standard
barrel diameters (2 25/32 and 4 inches) foi
35mm projection, in various speed and focal
length, with the latter in quarter-inch stepsi

Knowing the sizes of the screen image, and
the distance of the screen from the lens
(“throw”), the manufacturer or dealer can de
termine the proper focal length for a specific
theatre. In ordering projection lenses, one
should also name the type of light source, the
make and model of projector, and the projec-
tion angle, if any (this angle affects the pic-
ture height) .

Speeds of //1. 8, //1. 9, //2.0 are available in
focal lengths from 2 inches (or 3^4 inches, de-
pending on type) to 5 inches, in y^-mzh. steps;
and slower speeds from 5)4 to 7 or 9 inches all
in 2 25/32-inch diameter. Speeds of //1. 9 and
//2.0 are available also in focal lengths from 5
through 7 inches with 4-inch barrel. The faster
lenses are regularly coated ; others may be had
either coated or uncoated. Coated lenses are
standard in theatre projection.

Coated as well as uncoated lenses are also
available for portable model projectors, in focal
lengths 3 to 6 inches, speeds f/2.5 to f/3.4.

To obviate moving the projector to center
the optical system and the picture on the screen
in changing from CinemaScope prints (which
have special frame size and placement) to
prints with Academy standard frames, a mount
for the projection lens is available which allows
both lateral and vertical movement of the lens.

Lenses required for projection of anamorphic
films are of two kinds — CinemaScope cylin-
drical, and a prismatic type. The latter is ad-
justable to CinemaScope and other anamorphic
prints. CinemaScope lenses can be used only
for prints of that process.

BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street,

Omaha, Nebr.

BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL COMPANY, 679 St.
Paul Street, Rochester, N. Y. See page 24.

BELL & HOWELL. 7100 McCormick, Chicago, 111.

WALTER PUTTER, 511 Fifth Avenue, New York
17, N. Y. See page 37.

Ilex Optical Manufacturing Company, 600 Portland
Avenue. Rochester, N. Y.

KOLLMORGEN OPTICAL COMPANY, 30
Church Street, New York, N. Y. See page 28.

NATIONAL SCREEN SERVICE COMPANY. 630
Ninth Avenue, New York City. (Superscope).

NORPAT, Inc., 113 W. 42nd St., New York City
(picture centering adapter). See page 34.

PROJECTION OPTICS COMPANY, Inc., 334
Lynch Avenue, Rochester, N. Y. See page 36.

RADIANT MANUFACTURING CORP., 2627 Ros-
sevelt Rd., Chicago, III., (SuperPanatar pris-
matic).

J. E. ROBIN, INC., 267 Rhode Island Avenue,
East Orange, N. J. See page 66.

WENZEL PROJECTOR COMPANY, 2505-19 S.
State St., Chicago, III. (lens holder). See page
69.

WOLLENSAK OPTICAL COMPANY, 872 Hud-
son Avenue, Rochester, N. Y. See this page
and 27.

LENS ASSEMBLIES, SOUND

OPTICAL UNITS are com-
posecJ of lenses or lenses and prisms, and
include either a slit opening or a wedge-
shaped prism, by means of which the exciting
light of the sound system is focused on the
sound track, and reduced to the height deter-
mined by the smallest frequency to be repro-
duced,

BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL COMPANY, 679 SL
Paul Street, Rochester, N. Y.

KOLLMORGEN OPTICAL COMPANY, 347 King
Street, Northampton, Mass.

WESTREX CORPORATION. Ill Eighth Avenue.
New York 11, N. Y. (except in U. S. and Canada).
•

LETTERS AND FRAMES FOR
ATTRACTION ADVERTISING

CHANGEABLE letter equip-
ment is available in frame design and in

styles and sizes of letters and accessories
that allow forceful as well as highly legible
announcements of current attractions at the
front of the theatre (usually on a marquee),
and of coming attractions in the lobby, as
above entrance doors, facing the interior. {Also
see Marquees; and Attraction Advertising
under Drive-In Equipment.)

Standard practice employs lighted white back-
grounds with black aluminum silhouette or
translucent colored plastic letters.

Frames designed to fit into marquee or com-
parable structures, with white translucent glass
panels, variously provide for convenient ser-
vicing of the lamp box and for attachment of
letters. In all, however, bars for letter attach-
ment are spaced 7 inches and all letters (above
4-inch types) are designed to fit interchange-
ably. Regular sizes are 8, 10, 12, 17, 24 and 30
inches. Four-inch letters are attached by means
of a special interlinear frame.

Plastic letters are obtainable in red, blue
and green, and other colors may be had to
order. Aluminum silhouette letters in color are
also available.

Frames of similar letter provisions against
steel panels are available for attachment to a
wall or other structure, with illumination by
shielded lamps placed in front {see Drive-In
Equipment) .

Advertising accessories include pictorial trans-
parencies (such as star portraits) and clip-on
plastic colored letters for interior signs (such
as coming attraction displays) ; also projectors
and accessories for projecting slides or film
trailers on the attraction panel from inside tne
marquee structure {see Marquees) .

For changing attraction board letters at
heights that cannot be reached without use of
a ladder, a “mechanical hand” device that
grasps the letter by use of a tensioning letter
at the end of a handle is available.

THE WORLD’S ONLY PERFECTLY
MATCHED PROUECTION LENSES

Today with the new movie techniques— CinemaScope, Vista-Vision," Wide
Screen-exhibitors must have the finest basic lenses in order to give
theatre goers sharp, clear pictures from edge to edge of the screen. There
are no finer projection lenses made than Wollensak Cinema Raptars. (For
CinemaScope these lenses are used with anamorphic lenses.) Cinema
Raptars use six and seven element construction. Only with such a design
is it possible to deliver full speed, edge-to-edge sharpness, and highest
resolution, in addition, Cinema Raptars are the world’s only perfectly
matched lenses— focal lengths matched to within .0025! Marked as matched
(twin) lenses. Speed ranges are f/1.9 in focal lengths from 2" through 5"
and f/2.0 to f/2.7 in focal lengths to 7" . . . priced from $180 each.

WRITE for new literature fully describing these new Projection Lenses.
Wollensak Optical Co., Rochester 21, N. Y.

Finest Lenses Are
Needed for New Projection
Techniques . . .

THE ANSWER

Cinema Raptars

of Optical Craftsmanship

by WOLLENSAK

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

A tapered slotting for the attraction board
letters designed to “lock” them on the bar and
thus prevent dislodgement by high winds or
other disturbances is also available.

Theatres wishing to use regular marquee
changeable letters to make up signs for the
lobby area or over the refreshment stand, can
secure horizontal bar assemblies which will
hold the slotted letters on any flat surface.

ADLER SILHOUETTE LETTER COMPANY,
11843 West Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles 64,
Calif. See page 83.

Falk Class & Plastics Co., Inc., 48-10 Astoria Blvd.,
Long Island City 3, N. Y.

First-American Products, Inc., 1717 Wyandotte
Street, Kansas City 8, Mo.

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 South Kinnickinnic Avenue,
Milwaukee 7, Wis.

Polyplastic Forms. Inc., 2SS Conover Street, Brooklyn,
N. Y

THEATRE SPECIALTIES, INC., 1615 Cordova
Street, Los Angeles, Calif.

WAGNER SIGN SERVICE, INC., 218 S. Hoyne

Avenue, Chicago, III. See page 85.

LIGHTING, ARCHITECTURAL
AND FOR PUBLIC AREAS

ROBIN-ESCOI

Ufl&l’bOW&t

MOTOR GENERATORS

A quality product built especially for
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, wire or phone for
details

Sold through

independent supply dealers

J. E. ROBIN, INC.

Motion Picture Equipment Specialists
267 Rhode Island Avenue
EAST ORANGE, N. J.

Manufacturers of

RECTIFIERS • MOTOR-GENERATORS
SCREENS • PROJECTION LENSES

IN ADDITION to the part
that sign and marquee play on the archi-
tectural effect of the theatre facade, light
may effectively contribute to the front design,
maintaining its daytime values after dark, or
even adding to them, by flooding the entire
upper front, or parts of it, by means of reflector
sources on the roof of the marquee; by out-
lining architectural features with neon or fluo-
rescent lamps.

For the public areas of the interior, lighting
facilities are to be divided into two general
classes — functional and decorative.

Functional devices include coves and troughs,
recessed light boxes (usually having a diffusing
device, like concentric louver-rings, or covered
with flush-set panels of translucent glass with
or without diffusing ribs), and so-called down-
ligliis, consisting in ceiling reflectors or pro-
jectors placed above apertures in the ceiling,
with the light beam directed to cover precisely
a prescribed area.

Decorative fixtures are available in stock de-
signs of great variety — bracket or pylon lumin-
aires, flush-type ceiling drums and boxes, sus-
pended troughs, ceiling bowls, wall urns, etc.,
constructed of metal or glass or both.

(See also Lamps for General Theatre Illumi-
nation, “Black Light” Materials and Lighting
Equipment.)

Adams Lighting, Inc., 48 W. 27th Street, New York
City.

Art Metal Manufacturing Company, 3110 Park Place,
St. Louis, Mo.

Century Lighting, Inc., 521 West 43rd Street, New
York, N. Y.

Curtis Lighting Co., 6135 West 65th Street, Chicago
38, 111.

The Egli Company, Inc., 29 West 17th Street, New
York City.

Gruber Brothers, 72-78 Spring Street, New York City.
Edwin F. Guth Company, 2615 Washington Blvd.,
St. Louis. Mo.

Kliegl Brothers, 321 W. 50th Street, New York City.
McFadden Lighting Company, Inc., 2308 South Sev-
enth Blvd., St. Louis, Mo.

Novelty Lighting Corporation, Emmanus, Pa.

Revere Electrical Manufacturing Company, 6009
Broadway, Chicago, 111.

Voigt Company, 1634-38 North Carlisle Street, Phila-
delphia 21, Pa.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh,
Pa.

Charles J. Winston & Company, Inc., 41 East 53rd
Street, New York City.

LIGHTS, SPOT AND FLOOD

SPOTLIGHTS AND flood-
lights are available in many sizes and
light capacities, and in both lamp bulb
and arc types — the former for use on and near
tlie stage, for display and architectural lighting
(see Projector and Reflector Lamps under
Lamps for General Theatre Illumination) ; the
arc sources for stage lighting from the pro-
jection room.

Filament lamp spot- and floodlights (most

spotlights are adapted to flood applications) arc
designed for wattages of from 75 to 2,000. Arc
equipment is available in capacities of from 25
to l70 amperes.

Best Devices Company, 10921 Briggs Road, Cleve-
land, Ohio.

Century Lighting, Inc., 521 West 43rd Street, New
York, N. Y.

Genarco, Inc., 97-04 Sutphin Boulevard, Jamaica, N. Y.
General Electric Company. Schenectady, N. Y.

Golde Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, 111.

Killark Electric Manufacturing Company, Vandeven-
ter & Easton Avenues, St. Louis 13. Mo.

Major Equipment Company, Inc., 4603 Fullerton Ave-
nue, Chicago, 111.

Kliegl Brothers, 321 W. 50th Street, New York City.

Neumade Products Corporation, 330 West 42nd Street,
New York City.

Stroblite Company, 35 West S2nd Street. New York
City.

STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION, 87 City Park
Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. See page 11.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Lamp Division,
Bloomfield, N. J.

LOBBY POSTS AND ROPES— See Crowd
Control Equipment.

MAGAZINES — See Projectors and Acces-
sories.

MARQUEES

MARQUEES havc bccome
more closely associated with the general
architectural form of the theatre front
than they originally were. They are usually
constructed according to specifications supplied
by an architect who has designed the marquee
Itself, along with other display and sign ele-
ments of the front, as a part of the facade; or
by the design department of the fabricator for
a specific installation.

Marquees are generally of sheet metal con-
struction, painted, or with porcelain enamel
finish in desired colors, i/ith soffits of metal
or glass illuminated by exposed filament or
fluorescent lamps.

An inside service type marquee is available
with a room for storage of letters, lamps, etc.,
from which sign copy and lamps, which are
mounted in prismatic reflectors, can be changed.
The panel bars accommodate standard letters.

American Sign Company, 1911 West 18th Street, Cin-
cinnati, Ohio.

Artkraft-Strauss Sign Corporation, 820 Twelfth Ave
nue. New York City.

Continental Signs, Inc., 550 E. 170th Street, New
York City.

Everbrite Electric Signs, Inc., 1440 North Fourth
Street, Milwaukee 12, Wis.

Flexlume Sign Corporation, 1464 Main Street, Buffalo
9. N. Y.

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 S. Kininickinnic Avenue,
Milwaukee, Wis. (inside service type).

White Way Sign & Maintenance Company, 1850 W.
Fulton Street, Chicago. 111.

MATS FOR LOBBIES
RUNNERS, SPACE UNITS

LOBBY MATS (specifically
for vestibule and similar outer lobby areas
preceding carpeted space) are available in
neavy-duty rubber and thickness in link-belt and
perforated types required for scuffing off grit
and dirt so that it won’t be tracked in upon the
carpeting.

Lighter mats, with corrugated surface, are

available in runner widths (usually 36 inches)
for spreading over carpeting in traffic lanes dur-
ing stormy weather, laying behind or in front of
refreshment counters, etc.; and in various indi-
vidual mat sizes for placing in front of fountains,
vending machines, etc. There are also ribbed
types for placing behind refreshment counters,
with a variety that may be readily cut to fit the
space.

Mats of any of these qualities can be obtained
on special order in most any practicable dimen-
sions, and in color, including special patterns.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Portable rubber mats with built-in radiant
heating units can be secured for installation in
recessed exits and other chilly areas to elim-
inate discomfort from drafts.

There are also space mats and runners of
other materials than rubber, such as cocoa and
sisal fiber.

The following manufacurers make rubber
mats, unless otherwise specified.

American Floor Products Company, 1526 M Street
N.W., Washington 5, D. C.

American Mat Corporation, 1722 Adams Street, To-
ledo, Ohio.

American Tile & Rubber Company, Foot of Perrine
Avenue, Trenton, N. J.

Firestone Industrial Products, Inc., Akron, Ohio.
Fremont Rubber Company, Fremont, Ohio.

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 1144 E. Marke*
Street, Akron, Ohio.

B. F. Goodrich Company, 500 South Main Street.
Akron 18. Ohio.

HEYWOOD-WAKEFIELD COMPANY, Gardner.
Mass, (cocoa mats).

Interstate Rubber Products Corporation, 908 Avila
Street, Los Angeles 12, Calif, (electric).

O. W. Jackson & Company, 290 Fifth Avenue, New
York City.

Lorraine Rubber Engineering Company, 286 Fifth Ave-
nue, New York City.

R. C. Musson Rubber Company, 10 South College
Street, Akron, Ohio.

National Mat Company, 106 Kingsley Street, Buffalo
8. N. Y.

Perfo Mat ft Rubber Company, Inc., 281 Fiftii
Avenue, New York City.

Thermo-Mat Company, 814 South Robertson Boule
vard, Los Angeles 35, Calif.

United States Rubber (Company. 1230 Sixth Avenue,
New York City.

MICROPHONES

THE THEATRE has many
uses for microphones, from ballyhoo
work on a sound truck, or in connection
with the front display, to reinforcement of stage
performances, announcements of election returns
and sporting events, or emergency talks to
pacify an audience in time of trouble. Micro-
phones can be used with separate amplifying
and loudspeaker equipment, or can in most cases
be operated through the existing picture sound
installation.

Crystal magnetic, velocity, dynamic and
cardioid are the type of microphones recom-
mended. Where loudspeakers and microphones
are closely associated, the cardioid principle
greatly reduces the danger of feedback.

Altec-Lansing Corporation, 9356 Santa Monica Boule-
vard, Beverly Hills, Calif.

American Microphone Company, 370 South Fair Oaks
Avenue, Pasadena 1, Calif.

Amperite Company, 561 Broadway, New York City.
Electro-Voice, Inc., South Bend, Ind.

Operadio Manufacturing Company, St. Charles, 111.
Racon Electric Company, Inc., 52 East 19th Street,
New York City.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engineering
Products Department, (3amden, N. J.

WESTREX CORPORATION, 111 Eighth Avenue,
New York II, N. Y. (except in U. S. and Canada).

MOTOR-GENERATOR SETS
FOR D.C. ARC SUPPLY

MOTOR - GENERATOR SCtS
are made in models specifically designed
for motion picture and related direct cur-
rent carbon arc light sources of all outputs.
Capacity provides for operation of two lamps
simultaneously during changeover.

Close-regulation sets for large theatres are
available up to 400 amperes at 100 volts for con-
tinuous operation, or about 600 amperes at
changeover. The larger sets have structural
steel bases and vibration dampeners.

Sets of lower voltage for 6mm to 8mm suprex
carbon trims have double overload capacity for
the changeover period. They are obtainable
with vibration dampeners if installation con-
ditions require them.

The type and capacity needed depends on the
type of arc and amount of light it must produce
(see Lamps, D.C. Projection Arc).

AUTOMATIC DEVICES COMPANY, 116 North 8th
Street, Allentown, Pa.

Century Electric Company, 1806 Pine Street, St. Louis.
Mo.

CINEMATIC CORPORATION, 122 Washington
Street, Bloomfield, N. J.

Crocker- Wheeler Division, Elliott Company, Jeanette,
Pa.

General Electric Company, 1 River Road, Schenecudy,
N. Y.

Hertner Electric Company, 12690 Elmwood Avenue,
Qeveland, Ohio.

Imperial Electric Company. Inc., 64 Ira Avenue,
Akron, Ohio.

MOTIOGRAPH, INC., 4431 West Lake Street,
Chicago 24, III. See page 9.

ROBIN-ESCO DIVISION, ELECTRIC SPECIAL-
TY COMPANY, 267 Rhode Island Avenue, East
Orange, N. J. See page 66.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation. East Pittsburgh.

PHOTOELECTRIC CELLS

ALTHOUGH IT has a

number of applications in many fields, in

the theatre the photoelectric cell operates
in the sound system to transform the light of
the exciter lamp, after it has passed through a
photo type film sound track into the electrical
energy which, amplified, actuates the loud-
speakers.

Continental Electric Company, Geneva, 111.

General Electric Company, Schenectady, N. Y.

Gordos Corporation, 86 Shipman St., Newark, N. J.
RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engineering
Products Department, Camden, N. J.

Radiant Lamp Corporation, Newark. N. J.

Sylvania Electric Products, Inc., 1740 Broadway, New
York City.

Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh,
Pa.

PHOTO MURALS

Photo murals produced on portrait paper and
mounted on superboard are available in a large

ROCK STEADY projection

IS A MUST FOR
3-D OR WIDE SCREEN

BB-66

DOUBLE BEARING
INTERMITTENT MOVEMENT

SOPE/o

*S£RviC^'

REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.

E-78-L
FILM GATE

If your present equipment lacks the
ability to project a picture that is
nailed on the wall” it will pay you to
install a new LaVezzi Intermittent and its
companion accessory the new E-78-L Film
Gate. See your dealer for fur-
ther information or write direct
for illustrated brochure.

Aperture plates for all of the new
aspect ratios for most projectors.
Conversion Kits for most projectors and
sound reproducers for CinemoScope.

LaVezzi Machine Works

4635 WEST LAKE ST. . CHICAG

CHICAGO 44, ILL.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

variety of sizes for placing on the walls of
foyers, lounges, cry rooms and other areas
throughout the theatre. Inviting, home-like ef-
fects can be achieved through scenes which
celebrate a local hero or locale, express the
character of the theatre, or supply human in-
terest appeal.

The murals can be mounted in existing thea-
tres without the need for structural changes.
They are obtainable in almost any size desired
and in black-and-white, sepia or full-color,
Manufacturers will supply a series of stock
photos to choose from or, if desired, enlarge and
reproduce any photographs supplied them.

Foto Murals of California, 8921 West Pico Blvd., Los
Angeles 35, Calif.

Piisytomammoth Murals, 12-48 Van Owen Blvd., North
Hollywood, Calif.

RCS Studios, 123 North Wacker Drive, Chicago 6, 111.

•

PROJECTION PORT COVERS

OPTICAL GLASS covcrs for
projection ports (indicated especially
where the auditorium had better be
acoustically isolated from the projection room)
are available in metallic frame units ready for
mounting in existing projection room walls as
well as in new construction. They may be had
in round or square shape.

Best Devices Company, 10921 Briggs Road. Cleve-
land 14, Ohio.

Murch Electric Corp., Franklin, Me.

•

PROJECTION LAMPS: See Lamps, D. C.
Projection Arc.

PROJECTOR REPLACEMENT PARTS

REPLACEMENT PARTS for

a projector (provided the model has not
been too long obsolete) are of course
available from its manufacturer, while some
parts are obtainable from other manufacturers
for certain makes. When a projector head
must be removed for overhauling at the factory,
it is usually possible to replace it meanwhile
with a head borrowed from the manufacturer
or his dealer.

In selecting replacement parts it is highly
important to be assured that the new part is
precision-tooled for the projector to which it is
to be applied.

THE BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson
Street, Omaha, Nebr.

CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729 7th
Avenue, New York Oty.

Paromel Electronic Corporation, 2040 W. North
Avenue, Chicago, III.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION,
SS LaFrance Avenue, Bloomireld, N. J.

LAVEZZI MACHINE WORKS, 4635 West Lake
Street, Chicago 44, III. See page 67.
MOTIOGRAPH, 4431 West Lake Street, Chicago, IlL
RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engineering
Products Department, Ceimden, N. J.

WENZEL PROJECTOR COMPANY, 2509 South State
Street, Chicago, III.

Edw. H. Wolk, 1241 Wabash Avenue, Chicago, II

•

PROJECTORS & ACCESSORIES:
STANDARD 35-MM., THEATRE

projector mechanisms
for theatrical and comparable professional
projection of 35mm motion picture film
are available in both heavy-duty and light-dut>
tiKidels. Heavy-duty equipment is usually in-
dicated even for theatres not operating on a
daily continuous policy, but the lighter equip-
ment may suffice for small theatres presenting
only a few performances a week. Such light-
duty equipment is “portable” in a limited sense
Heavy-duty mechanisms are available with
various types of shutters, but all with rear shut
ters either exclusively or optionally. Some ma>

be had with rear shutters of single or double
type; or with single rear and front shuiier.

For reduction of film gate heat, a water-
cooled gate assembly may be procured for some
models of projectors. If a lamp with water-
cooled carbon jaw assembly is used, the film
gate device and jaw assembly may use the
same water supply.

Made by the manufacturer of the projector
head and designed in integration with it, the
necessary bases and magazines are separate
items of purchase. Bases are adapted to any
standard carbon arc lamp, and are adapted to,
or include models designed for, tilting upwards
as required by drive-in theatres.

The takeup for the lower magazine is also a
separate item.

BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street,
Omaha 2, Nebr. See page 6.

CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729
Seventh Avenue, New York City. See page 38.
HAL I HUFF MANUFACTURING CO., 3774
Selby Avenue, Los Angeles 34, Calif, (carbon
cooler). See page 63.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORA*
TION, 55 LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.
See Fourth Cover.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engi-
neering Products Department, Camden, N. J.
See page 5.

MOTIOGRAPH, INC., 4431 West Lake StreeL
Chicago, III. See page 9.

Paromel Electronic Corporation, 2040 VV. North
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

ROBIN-WEBER DIVISION, Weber Machine Cor-
poration, 267 Rhode Island Avenue, East Orange,
N. J.

WENZEL PROJECTOR COMPANY, 2509 South

State Street, Chicago, III. See page 69.

•

PROJECTORS, 16-MM.

HEAVY-DUTY TYPE

PROJECTORS FOR 16-mm.
film, incorporating soundheads and with
complete sound reproducing system avail-
able, are obtainable in heavy-duty models
adapted to regular theatres as auxiliary equip-
ment for such purposes as the presentation of
local newsreels, educational subjects, etc. Either
low-intensity or high-intensity carbon arc lamps
are obtainable for such equipment (see listing
under Lamps, D.C. Projection Arc).

Ampro Corporation, 2851 North Western Avenue, Chi-
cago, Til.

Bell & Howell, 7100 McCormick, Chicago, 111.

Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N. Y
Holmes Projector Corporation, 1815 Orchard Street
Chicago, lU.

Mitchell Camera Corporation, 666 W. Harvard Street.
Glendale 4, Calif.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engineering
Products Department, Camden, N. J.

Victor Animatograph Corporation, Davenport, Iowa.

•

PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEMS

PUBLIC ADDRESS and
sound re-enforcement systems may pro-
vide any one or all of various services.
They can be utilized for amplifying stage sound,
for managers’ announcements, etc.

In the theatre the public address system may
consist of microphones suitably connected to the
standard sound installation, or an entirely
separate system, with its own amplification.
Altec-Lansing Corporation, 9356 Santa Monica Boule-
vard. Beverly Hills. Calif.

AMPEX CORPORATION, 934 Charter Street, Red-
wood City, Calif.

General Electric Company, Electronics Dept., Syracuse.
N. Y.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION.

55 LaFrance Street, Bloomfield, N. J.
MOTIOGRAPH, INC, 4431 West Lake Street, Chi-
cago, 111.

Paromel Electronic Corporation, 2040 W. North
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engineering
Pn^ucts Department, Camden, N. J.

Western Electric Company, 195 Broadway, New York
City.

•

RECTIFIER TUBES

LINES OF Tungar tubes
made by the manufacturers listed below
embrace types and amperages for exciter

lamp and for field supply required by some
speaker systems, as well as those for projection
arc supply rectifiers. These gas-filLed tubes are
not of the mercury type, but some may contain
a small amount of mercury. Amperages run
from 2 to 15. (See Rectifiers.)

Baldor Electric Company, 4353 Duncan Avenue, St.
Louis. Mo.

Cinematic Corporation, 122 Washington St., Bloomfield,
N. J.

Continental Electric Company, 715 Hamilton Street,
Geneva, HI.

General Electric Company, Merchandise Department,
1285 Boston Avenue, Bridgeport, Conn.

Gordos Corporation, 86 Shipman Street, Newark, N. J.
Radiant Lamp Corporation, 300 Jelliff Avenue, Newark,
N. J.

Westmghouse Electric Corporation, Bloomfield, N. J.

RECTIFIERS AND POWER UNITS

RECTIFIERS for changing
the alternating current supply to direct
current, for operation of the projection
arc, are available in either Tungar tube or dry
type employing, according to the various makes,
copper oxide, magnesium-sulphide or selenium
as the rectifying agent. Regular models are de-
signed for single- or three-phase operation up to
four-tube capacities, inclusively ; higher capaci-
ties are three-phase. Capacities range from 20
to 80 amperes in most makes, and higher in
some, including selenium plate types up to 135
amperes.

Sound system rectifiers also are made in tube
and disc types.

•American Selectifier Div., Andoc Enterprises Cor-
poration, 113 W. 42nd St., New York 36, N. Y.

C. S. ASHCRAFT MANUFACTURING CO., 36-32
Thirty-eighth Street, Long Island City, N. Y.
See third cover.

Baldor Electric Company, 4353 Duncan Avenue. St.

l.'iuis. Mo.

BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street,
Omtdia, Nebr.

CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729 Sev-
enth Avenue, New York City.

Cinematic Corporation, 122 Washington Street, Bloom-
field, N. J.

Garver Electric Company, Union City, Ind.

General Electric Company, Merchandise Department,
1285 Boston Avenue, Bridgeport, Conn.
McColpin-Christie Corporation, Ltd., 4922 S. Figuera
Los Angeles 37, Calif.

MOTIOGRAPH, INC., 4431 West Lake Street, Chi-
caeo 24, 111.

Paromel Electronic Corporation, 2040 W. North
Avenue, Chicago, III.

Richardson & Allen Corporation, 116-15 15th Avenue,
College Point, N. Y.

J. E. ROBIN, INC., 267 Rhode Island Avenue
East Orange, N. J. See page 66.

THE STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION, 87
City Park Avenue, Toledo, Ohio. See page 15.
Westinghouse Electric Corporation. East Pittsburgh,
Pa.

REELS

REELS NECESSARY for
takeup magazines of projectors (and in
best practice, also in place of the film
exchange reel in the upper magazine), and
otherwise constantly utilized in the projection
room, are available in a number of sizes and
types of construction. The standard reel in the
United States takes 2000 feet of 35-mm. film.
Reels 24 inches in diameter for as much as
5,000 feet of film are also available.

Reels for standard footage are available in
two sizes to accommodate 35mm projectors
in use — 15-inch diameter with 5-inch hub, and
14-inch diameter with 4-inch hub. (Exchange
shipping reels are HJ^-inch in diameter with
4y2-inch hub.)

Reels suitable for projection and other gen-
eral use in the theatre projection room should
have bubs constructed to provide enduringly
rigid firm support for the flanges with the lat-
ter firm enough to hold their shape, yet be light
in weight. Reels suited to theatre use generally
have flanges of welded wire or cast aluminum
construction.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

Reels are also obtainable in 1000-foot sizes,
having diameters of iO inches and 2-inch hubs.

GOLDBERG BROTHERS, 3500 Walnut Street,
Denver, Colo. See page 28.

Hollywcxjd Film Company, 946 Seward Street, Holly-
wood, Calif.

Neumade Products, Inc., 330 West 42nd Street, New
Y ork City.

Tayloreel Corporation, 2 Commercial Street, Roches-
ter, N. Y.

Wenzel Projector Company, 2500 South State
Street, Chicago, 111.

REFLECTORS, PROjECTION ARC

MIRRORS FOR reflector
type projection arc lamps are available in
the diameters required by the various
models of lamps in either glass or metal, in-
cluding both rhodium and aluminum (see
Lamps, D. C. Projection Arc).

Glass shields, called mirror guards, are ob-
tainable for protection of glass reflectors against
pitting. The guards themselves are pitted in
time, but are much less expensive than the re-
flectors.

BAUSCH & LOME OPTICAL COMPANY. 679 St.

Paul Street, Rochester, N. Y.

HEYER-SHULTZ, INC., Gedar Grove, N. J.

{metal reflectors). See page 38.
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION,
SS LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.
KOLLMORGEN OPTICAL CORPORATION, 347 King
Street, Northampton, Mass.

J. E. McAuley Manufacturing Company, 552 West
Adams Sueet, Chicago 6, 111.

Mirror-Guard Company. 837 Eleventh Avenue, New
York City.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA. Engineering
Products Department, Camden, N. J.

THE STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION, 87 City
Park Avenue, Toledo, Ohio.

REWINDERS, FILM

FILM REWINDERS are
available in two general types, open and
fireproof enclosed. The open type is of-
fered in a number of different models, either as
a single unit or as two separate units that are
clamped to the rewind table, or bolted in place.
The enclosed type is a single unit.

Both open and enclosed types may be hand-
driven or motor-driven, may have sleeve bear-
ings or ball bearings, may accommodate either
1,000- or 2,000-foot reels, or both, and may have
either one or several driving speeds.

Some of the motor-driven types incorporate
accessories by means of which the same motor
can be used for general machine work, such as
grinding and polishing.

Rewind tables of metal provide a fireproof
work bench especially adapted to projection
room needs and are available with tool drawer,
rack for film cabinet, and clamping blocks ac-
commodating any type of rewinder.

Clayton Products Company, 31-45 Tibbett Avenue,
New York City.

GOLDBERG BROTHERS, 3500 Walnut Street, Dem
ver, Colo.

GOLDE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, 4888
North Clark Street, Chicago 40, 111.

Hollywood Film Company, 946 Seward Street, Holly-
wood, Calif.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION,
SS LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.

Lakewood Automatic Rewind Switch, 1298 Hathaway
Avenue, Lakewood 7, Ohio.

The Neumade Products Corporation, 330 West 42nd
Street, New York City.

Paromel Electronic Corporation, 2040 W. North
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

WENZEL PROJECTOR COMPANY, 2508 South State
Street, Chicago, 111.

Edw. H. Wolk, 1241 Eouth Wabash Avenue, Chicago,
Illinois.

SAND URNS

THESE RECEPTACLES Spe-
cifically for cigarette butts and used
matches, usually needed at entrances, are
available in either metal or ceramic, plain or
modeled types, and in a number of sizes from
about 12 to 18 inches high.

Associated Ticket & Register Company, 354 West 44th
Street, New York 18, N. Y.

Atlas Products Company, 9257 South Houston Street.
South Chicago, 111.

GOLDBERG BROTHERS, 3SOO Walnut Street,

Denver, Colo. See page 34.

Ex-Cell Products Corporation, 457 North Racine
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

Glaro Machine Products Co., Inc., 3711 Edgemerc
Avenue, Far Rockaway, N. Y.

Guide Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, III.

SCREENS, PROJECTION
AND SCREEN FRAMES

MOTION PICTURE screens
are of two basic types : Diffusive and
Specular. Another type is Translucent,
used with rear projection.

Specular screens are required for third-
dimensionsal (stereoscopic) projection (a diffu-
sive surface, depolarizing the light, destroys the
exclusiveness of the left and right images).
Originally specular screens were fabricated
specifically for relatively narrow auditoriums.

Specularity may be of advantage, however,
for screen images that ar^ so wide that they tax
available light sources, since it significes a high-
er reflectance factor. For such applications, an-
gular embossing of the screen surface, and/or
curving the screen on a radius equal to the pro-
jection distance, or nearly so, avoids “fade-
away” (light loss at sides from audience area
due to extreme angles of incidence).

For the installation of “wide screens,” gener-
ally with curvature, prefabricated frames are
available, fabricated of wood or metal and with
means of adjusting them readily to the desired
curvature, and to tilting projection angle (above
about 12°). If the exact size of the screen and
its curvature are known, the frame may be ob-
tained with lacing hooks installed. Frames are
available for attachment to floor, or mounted
on casters, or designed to be flown.

Diffusive screens (for indoor theatres) are
variously fabricated — entirely of vinyl plastic,
of cotton coated with plastic, and cotton other-
wise coated to provide a “white” surface.

Theatre screens are regularly perforated for
transmission of sound, but unperforated screens
are obtainable.

Artkraft-Strauss Sign Corporation, 830 Twelfth Ave-
nue, New York City (wide-screen frames).
Ballantyne Company, 1712 Jackson Street,
Omaha 2, Nebr.

Bodde Screen Company, 8829 Venice Blvd., Los An-
geles 29, Calif.

Cinematic Corporation, 122 Washington Street, Bloom-
field, N. J.

Da-Lite Screen Company, 2723 North Pulaski Road.
Chicago, 111.

Drive-In Theatre Manufacturing Company, 505 West
Ninth Street, Kansas City, Mo. (wide-screen frames).
First American Products, Inc., 1717 Wyandotte
Street, Kansas City 8, Mo. (wide-screen frames).
Glowmeter Corporation, 37 Franklin St., Buffalo, N. Y.
Hollywood Curvascope Frame Company, 2311 Foshay
Tower, Minneapolis 2, Minn, (wide-screen frames).
Knoxville Scenic Studios, Inc., Maryville Pike, P. O'.

Box 1029, Knoxville, Tenn. (wide-screen frames).

H. R. MITCHELL & COMPANY, P.O. Box 69Q,
Hartselle, Ala. (wide-screen frames). See
page 85.

National Theatre Screen Refinisliing Company. 129
Zenner Street. Buffalo, N. Y.

Radiant Manufacturing Corporation, 2tj27 Roosevelt
Road, Chicago, 111.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engl
neering Products Department, Camden, N. J

Raven Screen Corporation, 124 East 124th Street.
New York City.

RAYTONE SCREEN CORPORATION, 165 Cler-
mont Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. See page 20.
J. E. ROBIN, INC., 267 Rhode Island Avenue,
East Orange, N. J. See page 66.

Trans-Lux Screen Corporation, 1270 Sixth Avenue,
New York 20, N. Y.

UnistTUt Products Corporation, 1013 W. Washington
Blvd., Chicago 7, 111. (wide-screen frame).

VOCALITE SCREEN CORPORATION, 19 Debe-
voise Avenue, Roosevelt, N. Y. See page 37.
Walker- American Corporation, 800 Beaumont Street,
St. Louis, Mo.

WILLIAMS SCREEN COMPANY, 1620 Summit
Lake Boulevard, Akron, Ohio. See this page.

SCREEN PAINT

THE RELATIVELY rapid
deterioration of the reflection characteris-
tics of coated motion picture screens (see
Diffusive type under Screens, Projection)
advises either replacement of the screen or
resurfacing of it within eighteen months after
its installation, and subsequently at somewhat

j HEADQUARTERS FOR

I FILM MAGAZINES

] Give your Projectionist, Wenzel 25" Maga-
■ zines. He can use that "Extra Changeover
' Time" for other Booth requirements.

I The Wenzel 25 Magazine, known as
PRO-51 Upper, and PRO-52 Lower,

I is 3(4" deep, and when the beaded
I type door is closed, there is approx-
I imktely 4" inside clear depth in the
I magazine.

I FILM MAGAZINES

I 18" Standard Type

I 1 8" De Luxe Type

I 25" All Purpose Type

j STEREOPHONIC
; ATTACHMENTS

I 4" Projection Lens Holders with
I focusing device for most standard
I projectors, including Super and E7
I types.

I tf'rite for Complete Illustrated and Descriptive
I Literature, or d sh Your Supply Dealer.

i WENZEL PROJECTOR CO.

I 2505-2519 S. State Street

I CHICAGO 16, ILL.

I Cable Address: WENZKO

WILLIAMS
SOLID PLASTIC
SILVER FINISH
SCREENS

Widely used everywhere for

C|NemaScOP£

ALL WIDE SCREEN
TECHNIQUES and 3-D

• Assures the brightest pictures because It returns the most

light. Unusually high reflective efficiencies (better than
3.1 to I as compared to a flat white screen).

• Superior light distribution permits perfect viewing through-

out the theatre.

• Imperceptible electronically-welded seams.

• Perfect pclarlzation. No streaks or “patterns.”

• True color reproduction. Clearly defined black and white.

• Extremely strong and tough. Permanently flexible,
e Unaffected by moisture.

• Guaranteed fire-resistant. Beware of unsupported fire-proof

claims. Insist on actual PROOF!

• Perforations are of the diameter and spacing recommended

by SMPTE. clean-cut and with no projecting fibres to
impede sound or collect dirt.

Now installed for Cinemascope by Stanley Warner Theatres;
Paramount Inter-Mountain Circuit; United Theatres, New
Orleans; Basil Brothers, Buffalo; Wm. Goldman Theatres,
Philadelphia; Long Theatres, Texas.

Write today for details and sample. Orders given
prompt attention.

UIIUIIIII1S

siREEii [ompnnv

(1875 SUMMIT LAKE BLVD., AKRON 7, OHT^

Originators of All-Plastic and Seamless Plastic Screens.

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

more frequent intervals so long as resurfacing
is practicable. For better standards of projec-
tion, resurfacing (if done at all) should take
place at intervals of from nine to twelve months.

For this purpose various coating materials
are available already made up into a paint of
proper consistency for spraying without serious
filling of the sound-transmission perforations
provided it is skillfully applied. Such resurfac-
ing paint is available from screen manufacturers
(see list under Screens, Projection), and from
the following:

For drive-in screens, flat white paints com-
pounded especially for such outdoor application
are available, adapted to metallic or asbestos
or comparable surfaces. (For drive-in alumi-
num paint ee under Drive-In Equipment, Sup-
plies and Services.)

First-American Products, Inc., 1717 Wyandotte
Street, Kansas City 8, Mo.

Gillespie Varnish Company, Inc., Day & Howell
Streets, Jersey City, N. J.

National Theatre Screen Refinishing Company, 129
Zenner Street. Buffalo, N. Y.

RAYTONE SCREEN CORPORATION, 165 Cler-
mont Avenue, Brooklyn, N. Y. See page 26.

Stewart-Translux Corporation, 1270 Sixth Avenue,
New York 20, N. Y.

Tropical Paint & Oil Company, 1148-1246 West 70th
Street, Cleveland 2, Ohio.

•

SCREEN TOWERS— See Drive-In Theatre
Equipment. *

SEATING— See Chairs, Auditorium.

SELSYN MOTORS — See Third-Dimension
Equipment and Supplies.

•

SIGNS (ELECTRIC)

FOR THEATRE NAME

ELECTRIC SIGNS (metal)
framework with illumination provisions,
are available in a wide variety of designs
more or less closely associated with the archi-
tecture of the theatre front. While they are
commonly especially designed by the architect
or sign construction company, there are also
standardized designs adaptable to the theatre
front. (See also Attraction Advertising under
Drive-In Theatre Equipment.)

Artkraft-Strauss Corporation, 820 Twelfth Avenue,
New York City.

Everbrite Electric Signs, Inc., 1440 North Fourth
Street, Milwaukee, Wis.

Flexlume Sign Corporation, 1464 Main Street, Buffalo,
N. Y.

Long Sign Company, 61 West Hubbard Street, Chi-
cago, 111.

POBLOCKI & SONS, 2159 South Kinnickinnic
Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis,

•

SIGNS: DIRECTIONAL,

BOX-OFFICE, IDENTIFICATION

SIGNS FOR all the pur-
poses of theatres are available in a variety
of materials and modern styles that effi-
ciently perform their function while lending at
the same time a detail of decorative interest, and
at such low relative cost that ordinary box and
painted signs are never warranted.

They can be had either in stock or readily
made-up models to indicate exits, location of
balcony stairs, toilet rooms, etc., fabricated of
decorative metal, etched glass and plastic, and
there are types with free-standing luminescent
plastic letters lighted by a concealed black-light
lamp, still others of plastic with letters so en-
graved as to be defined by edge lighting.

Signs of engraved plastic are available for
such copy as “No Admittance,” “Information,”
etc., and as poster date strips ; and for the box-
office there are admission price signs available
with or without show time clocks of the same
material.

Art-Metal Manufacturing Company, 1408 North Broad-
way, St. Louis, Mo.

Associated & Ticket Register Co., 354 West 44th
Street. New York City.

Capitol Stage Lighting Company, 527 West 45th
Street, New York 19, N. Y.

L. Bahn Company, 123 West Canton Street, Boston
18, Mass.

Edgar S. Bowman, 124 West 21st Street, New York

11, N. Y.

Everbrite Electric Signs, Inc., 1440 North Fourth
Street. Milwaukee, Wis.

Kliegl Brothers, 521 W. 50th Street, New York City.

McFadden Lighting Company, Inc., 2308 South Sev.

enth Boulevard, St. Louis, Mo.

Novelty Lighting, 2480 East 22nd Street, Cleveland
IS, Ohio.

POBLOCKI & SONS COMPANY, 2159 South
Kinnickinnic Avenue, Milwaukee, Wis.
Posterloid Corporation, 693 Broadway, New York

12, N. Y.

The Tablet 4 Ticket Company, 1021 West Adams
Street, Chicago 7, 111.

Vio-Glo Plastics Corporation, 249 West 34th Street
New York City, (black-light signs).

•

SLIDES — See Stereopticons

SOUNDHEADS

SOUND reproducers, or
heads, are of two basic types : Optical, for
reproducing photographic tracks, and
Magnetic, for reproducing magnetic film record-
ings.

Optical reproducers (for standard 35mm pic-
ture-sound prints) are designed for attachment
to any modern standard projector, between the
.jnec-lianism and the Take-up magazine.

Magnetic heads are available for either sep-
arate or attached installation, a variation due to
the tentative status of multiple-track sound,
which is available for some third-dimensional
film product, and either available or mandatory
for some “wide-screen” pictures. In some cases
the tracks are on strips separate from the
image film ; in others sound and image are on
one film. The former require a separate
(“dummy”) magnetic reproducer; the latter
need an attached (“button-on” or “penthouse”)
soundhead.

“Dummy” magnetic heads of some types
are mounted on a pedestal, others are associated
with the amplifiers and controls in a cabinet.
In either case, the reproducer must be con-
nected to the projectors through positive syn-
chronizing devices, such as selsyn motors (see
Third- Dimenion Equipment & Supplies).

“Button-on” magnetic head are designed for
attachment between the projector mechanism
and the upper magazine. They vary in sprocket
and threading arrangement, but all are film-
driven, and while regularly designed to pick
up the four tracks of the CinemaScope system,
they may be adjusted to other track schemes.

Ampex Corporation, 934 Charter Street, Redwood
City, Calif.

THE BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson
Street, Omaha, Nebr. See page 6.

CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729
7th Avenue, New York 19, N. Y. See page 38.
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORA-
TION, 55 LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.
See Fourth Cover.

MOTIOGRAPH, 4431 West Lake Street, Chicago,
III. See page 9.

Paromel Electronic Corporation, 2040 W. North
Avenue. Chicago, III.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engi-
neering Products Department, Camden, N. J.
See page 5.

Fairchild Recording Equipment Co., 154 St. & 7th
Ave., Powell’s Cove BlvT, Whitestone, N. Y.

S. O. S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602
West 32nd Street, New York City.

Weber Machine Corporation, 59 Rutter Street
Rochester, N. Y.

WENZEL PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 2509-15
South State Street, Chicago 16, III. See page 69.
WESTREX CORPORATION, 111 Eighth Avenue,
New York 11, N. Y. (except in U. S. and
Canada. See page 10.

SOUND SYSTEMS, COMPLETE

ALL OF THE componenib
of a sound reproducing installation may
be purchased as an integrated system of a
single manufacturer, with most of his own fabri-
cation and possibly the rest (notably speakers)
products of other manufacturers on which he
has standardized. Thus are offered complete

systems for regular theatres of different seating
capacities (for either photographic or magnetic
track reproduction), and also for large outdoor
installations such as in drive-in theatres.

(See Amplifiers and Amplifying Tubes; Sound-
heads, Speakers and Horns.)

Ampex Corporation, 934 Cliarter Street, Redwood
City, Calif.

•

Equipment for reproduction of a single opti-
cal track by three speakers placed behind the
screen as for stereophonic sound, is available
in the Perspecta system, which introduces a
device acting in the manner of a variable gain
amplifier. Called an “integrator,” it has three
circuits, each responsive to certain frequencies
superimposed on the picture sound record.

THE BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1707-11 Daven-
port Street, Omaha, Neb. See page 6.
CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729
Seventh Avenue, New York City. See page 38.
Cinematic Corporation, 122 Washington Street, Bloom-
field, N. ,T. (stereosound adapter).
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORA-
TION, 55 LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.
See Fourth Cover.

Fairchild Recording Equipment Co., 154th St. and 7th
Ave., Powell’s Cove, Whitestone, N. Y. Perspecta
sound).

James B. Lansing Corporation, 2439 Fletcher Drive,
Los Angeles 39, Calif.

Magnasync Manufacturing Co., Ltd.. 5517 Satsuma
Avenue, North Hollywood, Calif.

MOTIOGRAPH, 4431 West Lake Street, Chicago,
III. See page 9.

Natural Sound Corporation, 1710 North LaBrea Ave-
nue, Hollywood 46. Calif.

Paromel Electronic Corporation, 2040 W. North
Avenue, Chicago, 111.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engi-
neering Products Department, Camden, N. J.
See page 5.

WESTREX CORPORATION, 111 Eighth Avenue,
New York City (except in U. S. and Canada).
See page 10.

SPEAKERS AND HORNS

MOTION PICTURE sound
systems of indoor theatres (standard 35mm
projection) require for proper reproduction
of either optical or magnetic sound tracks,
speaker equipment consisting in a system of
low-frequency and high-frequency units with a
dividing network. In such a system, the low-
frequency units typically number four, housed
in a horn baffle ; while two or more high-
frequency units are mounted above the baffle
in a multicellular horn arrangement, with the
entire system installed for the directionalism
required to “cover” the seating area. (For in-
car speakers see Drive-In Theatre Equipment
and Supplies.)

Stereophonic sound, specifically as employed
in “wide-screen” presentation, with three tracks
for reproduction at the screen, requires three
such horn system, with each centered on a
third of the screen width. These speakers must
be positively matched in power and frequency
response.

For auditorium effects (as supplied by a
fourth track) supplementary cone speakers are
ranged along the walls of the auditorium in
wattages according to the output of this channel
and proper spacing of the speakers for coverage.
Altec-Lansing Corporation, 9356 Santa Monica Boule-
vard, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Ampex Corporation, 934 Charter Street, Redwood
Citv, Calif.

BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1712 Jackson Street.
Omaha. Nebr.

General Electric Company, Electronics Dept., Syra-
cuse. N. Y.

INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORA-
TION, 55 La France Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J.
Oxford Electric Corporation, 3911 South Michigan
Ave.. Chicago. Jll.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA. Engineering
Products Department, Camden, N. J.

WESTREX CORPORATION. Ill Eighth Avenue,
New York 11, N. Y. (except in U. S, and Canada).

•

SPECTACLES FOR 3-D— See Third-Dimen-
sion Equipment and Supplies.

SPLICERS AND FILM CEMENT

DEVICES FOR Splicing film
are available in various models, including
those which supply heat for creating a

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

weld in the shortest possible time; however,
splicers used in theatre projection rooms are
usually of the pressure type, depending on me-
chanical force to effect a firm splice.

Pressure types can be had in either perforated
or non-perforated models, and these for 1/10-
and 5/32-inch splice. There are 16mm splicers
which also splice 35mm film.

Film cement generally recommended for
theatre use is of the weld, rather than the ad-
hesive, type, and is classified as all-purpose. It
is adapted to the splicing of acetate (safety) as
well as nitrate film. With acetate, however, the
splice should be kept under pressure in the
splicer for at least 15 minutes, and it should not
be pulled until at least 5 minutes afterward.

Fisher Manufacturing Company, 1 Salter Place,
Rochester, N. Y. (film cement).

Griswold Machine Works, Port Jefferson, N. Y.

Lake Products Company, 6576 Oleatha Avenue, St.
Louis 9, Mo. (cement).

NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY, 9ft Gold Street,
New York 38, N. Y. (cement).

Neumade Products Corporation, 330 W. 42nd Street,
New York City (splicers, cement).

Prestoseal Manufacturing Corporation, 37-27 33rri
Street, Long Island City. N. Y. (splicers).

•

SPOTLIGHTS— See Lights, Spot and Flood

•

STAGE DRAPES AND CURTAINS— Set
Fabrics for Walls, Curtains and Stagt
Drapes.

STAGE LIGHTING EQUIPMENT

EQUIPMENT FOR lighting
the stage in its use for live-talent perform-
ances hasically requires such permanent
installations as footlights, borderlights and strip-
lights. What is additionally required depends
on the kind of stage productions to be offered;
these may need a variety of portable flood and
spotlights equipped for color effects.

Most productions, even of home talent, advise
the availability of at least one small spotlight for
projection room installation or comparable loca-
tion.

According to these factors of scale, control
equipment may be of the simpler dimmer types
indicated in the Buyer’s Index under Dimmers,
or elaborate preset interlocking switchboards of
resistance, autotransformer or electronic type.

Companies listed below manufacture complete
lines of stage lighting equipment (except pos-
sibly actual switchboard units) ; others limited
to certain items, are so indicated.

Capitol Stage Lighting Company, 527-529 West 45th
Street, New York City.

Century Lighting Equipment, Inc., 521 West 43rd
Street. New York City.

Golde Manufacturing Company, 4S88 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, 111.

Kliegl Brothers, 321 W. 50th Street, New York City.
City.

STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION. 87 City Park
Avenue, Toledo, Ohio (spot and floodlights).
Superior Electric Company, Bristol, Conn.
Ward-Leonard Electric Company, 91 South Street.
Mt. Vernon, N. Y. (diimmers).

STEREOPHONIC SOUND— See Sound Sys-
tems, Complete.

STEREOPTICONS AND
SLIDE PROJECTORS

LIGHT PROJECTORS for
advertising copy, pictorial and effect slides
are available in single, double and triple
dissolving types that permit striking effects and
novelties. Light sources are available in both
carbon arc and filament lamp types.

Slides for the projection of song lyrics, adver-
tising and effects are available made up on glass,
and in a flexible material on which a messafev
can be typewritten at the theatre.

American Optical Corporation, Buffalo. N. Y.

BAUSCH & LOMB OPTICAL COMPANY, 67» St
Paul Street, Rochester, N. Y.

Beseler Visual Products Co., Inc., 200 East 23rd
Street, New York City.

Best Devices Company, 10921 Briggs Road, Cleveland,
Ohio.

Brenkert Light Projection Company, 6545 St. Antoine
Avenue, Detroit, Mich.

Golde Manufacturing Company, 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, 111.

Kliegl Bros., 321 West 50th Street, New York 19, N. Y.

STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION, 87 City Park
Avenue, Toledo, Ohio.

SLIDES

National Studios, 145 West 45th Street, New York 19,

N. Y.

North American Slide Company, 206 North Linden
Avenue, Kirklyn, U. D. Pa.

•

TAKEUPS—See Projectors and Accessories.

TELEPHONE ANSWERING
EQUIPMENT: AUTOMATIC

TO TAKE CARE of incom-
ing calls about the feature film attraction,
including its name, stars, time schedule,
etc., both before the theatre opens when no one
may be around and during operating hours to
relieve the staff from this duty, there is avail-
able an automatic telephone-answering machine.
The machine -incluxies* complete equipment for
recording a prepared message, which can be
done right at the theatre as often as necessary.
The completed record is placed on the machine,
which answers the incoming telephone calls
automatically upon registering the signal.

In addition to delivering information the ma-
chine will also record incoming messages of a
business nature or otherwise which the man-
agement might want to receive when no one is
present at the theatre to take them.

Telephone Answering & Recording Corp., 142 Madison
Ave., New York 17, N. Y.

TELEVISION, LARGE-SCREEN

TELEVISION equipment
for theatre auditoriums is obtainable in
two general types — instantaneous (direct
projection of the televised image), and inter-
mediate photographing of the televised image on
film from almost immediate motion picture
projection, automatically).

Instantaneous equipment, with the receiver-
projector mounted not more than 65 feet from
the screen (on balcony or auditorium ceiling)
can reproduce an image up to 20 feet wide.
Dual projection equipment (should one pro-
jector fail, the other can be switched on imme-
diately at the control panel in the projection
room) is available in apparatus of the instan-
taneous type. Intermediate equipment is obtain-
able for either 35mm or 16mm film.

General Precision Corporation, Pleasantville, N. Y.
Paramount Pictures, Inc., 1501 Broadway, New York
City.

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Theatre
Equpiment Div., Caunden, N. J.
TRAD-MOTIOGRAPH, 4431 West Lake Street,
Chicago, III.

•

THIRD-DIMENSION
EQUIPMENT & SUPPLIES

PROJECTION of third-di-
mensional (stereoscopic) motion pictures
employing two films for the superimposi-
tion of disparate images, requires means of in-
terlocking two projectors positively, means of
polarizing the projection light (plus similarly
polarizing spectacles for the audience), and a
fully specular screen.

With only two projectors installed, large
magazines and reels are needed to avoid a dis-
rupting number of intermissions. For only one
intermission, reels should be at least of 24-inch
diameter, magazines of 25-inch diameter. (Re-
winders may be adjusted to these diameters;
projector locations and pedestals have to be
adjusted to them in some cases.)

Projectors may be synchronized either by

electrical or mechanical interlocks. There are
various types of the latter, with rigid or flexible
connections ; in either case, the device should
permit quick unlocking of the projectors if two-
dimensional films are included on the program.
Electrical interlocks employ special self-syn-
chronizing transformer type motors (“selsyn”)
with sprocket attachment to the regular drive
motors.

Projection light polarizing filters are placed
in frames over the projector ports. These are
destroyed by extremes of heat, hence should be
cooled, and tiny fans for the purpose are avail-
able. Being fragile, the filters also should be
cleaned electrostatically rather than mechani-
cally, and “brushes” for this purpose are avail-
able. The filters and related implements are
included in “kits” of 3-D supplies obtainable
from most theatre supply dealers.

Light polarizing spectacles can be had in
either throw-away (paper or plastic frames) or

IN CANADA

ELECTRIC COMPANY LTD.

IN THE U.S.

PERKINS

THEATRE SUPPLY CO. LTD.

Suppliers of:

• Stereophonic
Sound

• Anamorphic
Lenses

• Wide Angle
Lenses

• Wide Screens

• 3-D Equipment

• Genuine
Polaroid
3-D Glasses

• "Drive-in" Sound

• Projection

• Speakers

• Pre-Fa bricated
Screen Towers

• Concession and
Playground Units

MONTREAL • BUFFALO
TORONTO • VANCOUVER
MONCTON

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

permanent types (heavier plastic). Permanent
types must be processed so as to be free of
germs before reuse. Sterilization can be by
ozone or chemical equipment designed to facili-
tate the process.

A 3-D installation may also require a change
in arc lamp trim. Since polarization reduces
light available to the eyes about 60%, more
powerful lamps may be necessary. In any case,
the trim must have a burning rate allowing im-
interrupted projection according to the inter-
mission schedule. (See Lamps, D. C. Projec-
tion Arc)

Additional current rectification equipment may
also be necessary, since two lamps must be
operated simultaneously. (See Motor-Genera-
tors and Rectifiers)

For specular screens see Screens, Projection.
Before projectors are threaded, they must be
precisely aligned for perfect superimposition of
the two pictures. A continuous alignment test
loop is necessary for this (such a loop is in-
cluded in some 3-D supply “kits”)-
Maintenance of the projectors in synchroniza-
tion is facilitated by monitoring equipment de-
signed for this purpose.

Third-dimension systems for placing the
dual images of 3D productions on the same
35mm films, with frames side by side and
turned longitudinally, have been developed. In
projection pictures are rotated to upright posi-
tion and superimposed by means of an optical
system in front of the projection lens or port.
The projection device must belong to the system
used in producing the print.

Airborne Accessories Corporation, 267 Rliode Island
Avenue, East Orange, N. J. (projector interlock
angle gear).

THE BALLANTYNE COMPANY, 1707-11 Daven-
port St., Omaha, Neb. (mechanical interlocks).
See page 6.

CENTURY PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 729
Seventh Avenue, New York City (mechanical
interlocks). See page 38.

Depth Viewers, Inc., P. O’. Box 6, Cincinnati 36, Ohio
(glasses).

William A. Freedman, Inc., 271 Mulberry Street, New
York City (glasses).

General Electrical Company, 570 Lexington Avenue,
New York City (selsyn motors).

GOLDBERG BROS., 3500 Walnut Street, Denver,
Colo, (reels). See page 28.

Hollywood Film Company, 946 Seward Street, Holly-
wood, Calif, (reels & rewinders).

Hospital Supply Co., Inc., 432 Fourth Avenue, New
York 16, N. Y. (spectacle sterilizers).
INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION,
55 LaFrance Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J. (magazines).
MOTiOGRAPH, INC., 4431 West Lake Street,
Chicago, III. (interlocks). See page 9.
NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY, 92 Gold Street,
New York City (mechanical interlocks).

Neumade Product Corp., 330 West 42nd Street. New
York City (reels).

Pola-Lite Company, 19 Rector Street, New York, N. Y.

(permanent spectacles and single strip equipment).
Polaroid Corporation, Cambridge, Mass, (spectables
and monitoring equipment).

Stroble-Dodge Equipment Corporation, 2324 Beechmont
Avenue, Cincinnati 30, Ohio (magazines).

Steriloptics, Inc., 37-40 12th St., Long Island City,
N. Y. (ozone spectacle sterilizer).

RADIO CORPORATION OF AMERICA, Engineering
Products Department, RCA Victor, Ceunderr, N. J.
(mechanical interlocks).

WENZEL PROJECTOR CORP., 2509-19 S. State
Street, Chicago 16, III. (magazines). See page
69.

Edw. H. Wolk, 1241 South Wabash Avenue, Chicago,
111. (magazines).

TICKET BOXES AND
ADMISSION CONTROL SYSTEMS

TICKET collection equip-
ment ranges from simple receptacles for
the tickets or stubs, and similar boxes
with knives for chopping the tickets to prevent
further use, to collection and filing mechanisms
designed to effect a record of ticket sequence to
prevent collusion.

Simple boxes are typically of steel construc-
tion on an iron base of weight to resist tipping,
finished attractively, usually in color, with a
bowled hinged top of aluminum or comparable
metal.

Chopper boxes are of similar construction and

design, plus knives actuated manually by an
outer wheel.

Collection and filing systems consist in a
receptacle of regular ticket box dimensions and
comparably attractive in external finish, with
means of cutting the ticket in two and filing stubs.

GENERAL REGISTER CORPORATION, 43-01
22ncl Street, Long Island City, N. Y. See page
54.

GOLDE IVIANUFACTURING COMPANY, 4888 North
Clark Street, Chicago 40, IlL

TICKET ISSUING MACHINES

AUTOMATICALLY regis-
tering ticket dispensers facilitate the han-
dling of box-office peaks, and impart the
impression of efficiency, cleanliness and busi-
nesslike methods; they eliminate all extnises for
errors on the part of the cashier (some type
of dispensers make the usual errors impossible) ;
and they may be regarded as necessary to any
real assurance that box-office losses are not
occurring through cashier-doorman collusion.
They are obtainable in motor-driven and manu-
ally operated types.

Ticket issuing machines are also available
with the mechanism for the ejection of each
channel of tickets built as a complete unit. If
any unit gets out of order, it is promptly re-
placed without disturbing the rest of the equip-
ment. Housings are available to accommodate
up to three, and up to five vmits.

Argus Manufacturing Company, 1141 N. Kilbourn
Avenue, Cliicago 51, lU.

GENERAL REGISTER CORPORATION, 43-01
22nd Street, Long Island City, N. Y. See this
page 31.

Golde Manufacturing Company. 4888 North Clark
Street, Chicago 40, III.

National Cash Register Corporation, Dayton, Olrio.
Ticket Register Industries, 1223-27 South Wabash
Avenue, Chicago 5, 111.

WENZEL PROJECTOR CORPORATION, 2505-19
South State Street, Chicago 16, ill. (manual type)

UNIFORMS

WHILE LEADING Ullllorill

manufacturers can readily meet special
design specifications, their catalog models
provide a variety of styles that have proved
effective in distinguishing the functions of
ushers, doormen, porters and other attendants.

These can be had in such materials as regular
weight worsted, tropical worsted, serge and
gabardine, with caps to match ; and poplin for
refreshment attendant apparel. Some lines also
include such accessories as gloves, hoods and
capes, shoulder knots, etc.

Angelica Uniform Company, 1471 Olive Street, St.
Louis, Mo.

S. Appel & Company. 840 Broidway, New York City.
Brooks Uniform Company, 75 West 45th Street, New
York City.

Delta Uniform Division, Highway Outfitting Com-
oany. 3 East 28th Street, New York 16. N. Y.
Maier-Lavaty Company, 315 South Peoria Street, CHii-
cago 7.

Mills Uniform Co., Wister St. & Godfrey Ave., Phila-
delphia 38, Pa.

Marcus Ruben, Inc., 625 South State Street, Chicago,

lU.

Reversible Collar Company, 111 Putnam Avenue,
Cambridge, Mass, (dickies only).

Russell Uniform Company, 192 Lexington Avenue.
New York.

UPHOLSTERING MATERIALS

UPHOLSTERING materials
are of importance in theatre operation,
first in relation to auditorium seating, sec-
ond as coverings for foyer and lounge lurniture.
They may be divided into two general kinds —
(1) woven fabrics, and (2) coated fabrics.

Woven fabrics regarded as suited to motion
picture theatre auditorium chairs are mohair,
wool flat fabrics (certain high grades), cordu-
roy and plastic-filament.

Fabrics are now being woven of plastic fibres,
in a variety of patterns and colors. They are
washable and fire-resistant.

There are two general classes of coated
fabrics, that having a pyroxylin-base, and that
with a vinyl-plastic base. Each is available in
different grades and in various leather-grains
as well as smooth finish.

The vinyl-plastic base type is the most ex-
pensive, but it is also regarded more durable
under stress of flexing, while it is not affected
by perspiration, hair oil, grease, etc.

Athol Manufacturing Company, Athol, Mass, (coated).
Sydney Blumenthal & Company, 1 Park Avenue, New
York, N. Y. (mohair).

Bolta Product Sales, Inc., Lawrence, Mass, (coated).
Chicopee Manufacturing Corporation, 40 Worth Street,
New York City (woven plactic).

Columbus Coated Fabrics Corporation, Columbus,
Ohio (coated).

Cotan Corporation, 331-359 Oliver St., Newark, N. J
(coated) .

Crompton- Richmond, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue. New

York City 20 (corduroy).

E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc., Fabrics
Division, Fairfield. Conn, (coated).

Firestone Industrial Products Co., Velon Div., Akron,
(coated) .

Goodall Fabrics, Inc., 525 Madison Avenue, New York
City (coated).

A. D. JulUard ft Company, Inc., 40 West 40th Street,
New York City (corduroy).

MANKO FABRICS COMPANY, 114 East 27th St.,
New York City (coated). See page 83.

Masland DuraleathW Company, Amber Street £t Wil-
lard, Philadelphia, Pa. (coat^).

The Pantasote Corporation of N. J., 444 Madison
Avenue, New York City (coated).

The Textileather Corporation, 607 Madison Avenue,
Toledo, Ohio (coated).

UNITED STATES PLYWOOD CORPORATION. 55
W. 44th Street, New York 18, N. Y. (coated).
United States Rubber Company, Coated Fabrics Divi-
sion. Mishawaka, Ind. (coated).

Zapon-Keratol Division of Atlas Powder Company,
Stamford, Conn, (coated).

•

VACUUM CLEANERS— See Cleaning mecn-
anisms.

•

VENDING EQUIPMENT— See Better Re-
freshment Merchandising Buyers Inde.v on
page 47.

•

WALLPAPERS AND OTHER
FLEXIBLE WALL MATERIALS

WALLPAPER of far more
serviceable type than ordinary domestic
papers are available in a large variety of
patterns that include both large- and small-
scale designs and color schemes that make wall
paper entirely practicable for theatre foyers
and lounges generally, and for some sizes and
styles of auditoriums. Wall paper is particu-
larly advantageous for the smaller auditoriums,
or for balcony areas, in locations where com-
petent interior decorating service is not l(x:ally
available. There are heavy-duty papers which
can be cleaned repeatedly with soap and water,
with even ink stains being removed in this way.

Other flexible coverings for theatre walls
that are comparably applied are linoleum,
asphalt-base and plastic sheets, and coated
fabrics. The coated fabrics are available in a
variety of wallpaper-like patterns, in solid
colors, and in leather-like t3q>es (see Fabrics
for Walls, Curtains & Stage Drapes').

Armstrong Cork Company, Lancaster, Pa. (linoleum).
Frederick Blank ft Company, Inc.. 230 Park Avenue,
New York City (wall paper).

Bolta Products Sales, Inc., 151 Canal Street, Lawr-
ence, Mass, (coated fabric).

Congoleum-Nairn, Inc., Kearny, N. J. (linoleum).
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, 1144 East Market
Street, Akron, Ohio (coated fabric).

Goodall Fabrics, Inc., S2S Madison Avenue, New
York City (coated fabric).

Katzenback & Warren, 49 East S3rd Street, New York

City (wall paper).

Masland Duraleather Company, Amber Street at Wil-
lard, Philadelphia. Pa. (coated fabric).

The Pantasote Corp. of New Jersey, 444 Madison
Avenue, New York City (coated fabric).

Textileather Corporation, 607 Madison Avenue, Toledo.
Ohio (coated fabric).

UNITED STATES PLYWOOD CORPORATION, 55
West 44th Street. New York 18, N. Y. (coated fabric).
United States Rubber Comi>any, Naugahyde Division,

Mishawaka, Ind. (coated fabric).

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

about Products . .

news and views nf the market and its snnrces nf snpply

Manko Offers New Seat
Cover Repair Service

A SERVICE plan whereby
torn or worn-out theatre seats will be
recovered in matching colors and materials
has been announced by Sid Mankowsky,
president of the Manko Fabrics Company
of New York. The minimum order
accepted is for 25 seats.

A wide choice of colors in plastics or
fabrics is available from the company’s
large stock. Samples of the materials will
be supplied exhibitors desiring them if they
send in one of their seat covers to the
company.

Manko also supplies complete new sets
of seat covers for entire theatres.

Flourescent Drive-In
Directional Signs

A NEW series of direc-
tional signs for drive-in theatres, designed
to provide high visibility by both day and
night, has been marketed by Ardley of New
York City. The signs are now being used
by the Redstone Drive-in Theatres circuit
of Boston and others.

Yellow block letters against a dark blue

background are designed to provide maxi-
mum color contrast by day; while at night
the fluorescent letters reflect the light from
automobile headlights and other sources.

The signs are available with directional
arrows pointing “right,” “left,” and
“straight ahead” and are constructed of
Masonite, which can be nailed or screwed
to trees, posts or fences. The manufac-
turer points out that careful attention has
been given to the size of the signs to make
them conform with state and local high-
way regulations.

The signs can be purchased in quantities
of 25, 50, 100 and 200, with the price per
sign decreasing according to the size of the
order.

Automobile Visors for
Protection from Rain

VISORS designed to be
attached to the automobiles of drive-in
patrons when it rains, thereby eliminating
the necessity of using windshield wipers,
have been marketed by Rainview, Inc.,
Toledo, Ohio. The manufacturer suggests
a rental charge of 20c to patrons.

Trade-named the “Rainview Visor,” the
unit is made of heavy gauge plastic and
has an aluminum tube frame. It is designed
for installation on all types of cars and
can be attached within a very few seconds,
according to the ir.anufacturer. Colors
available include red, blue, green, yellow
or pink.

In case of damage to the visor, a replace-
ment kit will be provided by the company
at a slight cost.

Automobile Door Stop
For Drive-In "Giveaway"

.A. “door-stop” device de-
signed to protect automobile doors from
being dented or nicked Avhen opened
against another car at drive-in theatres or
in parking lots and against walls has been
marketed by Louis J. Lindner of New
York City with the suggestion that they
be used as a “giveaway” to patrons by
theatre operators.

Called “Pro-Tec-Ur-Dor,” the device
is constructed of natural rubber and
triple-plated, rust-proof chrome. It clamps
on car doors at the “impact point,” without

the necessity, the manufacturer points out,
of drilling holes or otherwise damaging the
paint on the doors.

The car door stop is being offered at

quantity prices to theatre operators who
may wish to use it as a premium for
frequent attendance with their drive-in
patrons.

Three-Unit Speakers
Introduced by Eprad

TRIPLE-UNIT in-car speak-
ers designed for reproduction of multi-
track sound at drive-ins have been marketed
by Eprad, Toledo, Ohio. The first drive-
in to install the new speakers was the
Cactus drive-in, Tucson, Ariz., owned by
Wes Becker, where the CinemaScope pro-
duction, “The Robe,” opened on April
24th. Two additional wires were buried
to provide three sound wires and one com-
mon wire to the Eprad three-speaker unit.
The Cactus screen was enlarged to 90 by
40 feet, and new Strong “Super 135” lamps
installed.

The single-case Eprad speaker is 10-^
inches long and 3-13/16 inches high, mak-
ing it only slightly larger and heavier than
conventional Eprad Universal speakers, the
company points out. The case is molded of
two-tone gray Fiberglas and mounts on the
rear-view mirror. A single cord to the unit
contains four conductor wires — three voice-
channel wires to the three driver units and
the fourth effects channel to all driver units.
The three speakers are 33^-inch with 1.47-

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

ounce magnets, and there is a single volume
control.

Eprad junction boxes now in use can
easily be converted to handle the new

speakers through the addition of clips and
a small insulated plate with three trans-
formers mounted thereon, the manufacturer
states. The speakers are available from all
independent dealers.

Curtain Control Model
For Wide-Screen Changes

THE LATEST model of the
“Super No. 11” curtain control of Vallen,
Inc., Akron, Ohio, manufacturers of cur-
tain tracks and control equipment and
special operating devices, has been de-
veloped for use in theatres where quick
and smooth changes in the size of the
projected picture are desired, particularly

with CinemaScope. The number of stopping
points can be accurately and invariably
established, it is pointed out.

'I'he unit has a drum-type drive and a
quick-acting magnetic brake, and it ■ is
designed to circumvent the alteration in
timing caused by slipping linkage. One-

button control provides instant curtain
response at any point of travel and in any
desired direction even when the curtain is
operated at high speed, according to the
manufacturer.

The unit is self-contained and shipped
ready to connect to a simple two-wire cir-
cuit. Safety features intended for protec-
tion to curtains and operating equipment
are built right into the control.

Projection Optics Makes
Changes in Lens Line

THE DISCONTINUANCE of

“Series IITC Superlite” lenses in focal
length sizes from 2.75 to 3.50 inches and
their replacement by tbe new “Hilux” type
in all sizes from 2.00 to 3.50 inches has
been announced by the Projection Optical
Company, Inc., Rochester, N. J.

d'he company also reports that “Series
111-C” lenses in long focal length sizes
from 5.00 to 8.50 inches, inclusive, are now
available for delivery.

Fluorescent Tube with
Peach-Colored Light

•A NEW FLUORESCENT tube
developed to produce a “soft and intimate”
lighting effect in such areas as theatre
lounges has been added to its line of
“Lustra Double-Duty” fluorescent lamps
by the Lustra Corporation of America,
Brooklyn, N. Y.

Available in all popular wattages, the
new lamp is called the “Glo-Tone.” It
emits a warm, peach-colored light, and its
soft tonal quality has been found in tests
to be especially attractive to rvomen, the
company asserts, who “like its restful glow.”

New Furniture Rests
To Protect Flooring

FURNITURE rests designed
to protect resilient flooring and carpeting,
as well as wooden and concrete floors, from
almost all types and sizes of furniture have
been marketed by the Armstrong Cork
Company, Lancaster, Pa. Four types of
rests are recommended, the manufacturer
states, including nail type, cotter pin type,
rests for metal tubular furniture, all wdth
ball and socket construction, and cup types
— both round and square.

It is pointed out that the type of furni-
ture leg largely determines the type of rest
that should be used. Where the leg is solid
wood, either the nail type or cotter pin
type can be inserted after a hole is bored
in the leg. The ball and socket feature
permits tilting of the furniture without
having the rest leave the flatness of the

floor. The larger square and round cups
are for use on furniture with legs of wide
diameter.

The company also has a special rest for
furniture with round, hollow, metal legs.
This type is inserted into the hollow leg.

Furniture rests of the Armstrong Cork Company
designed to protect floors from all types of furni-
ture legs. Constructed with modern lines, the rests
complement the conservative, the moderate, and
the ultra modern types of interior furnishings. At
top left is shown the new rest for metal tubular
furniture. After it is inserted in tube, a parachute
washer expands preventing it from coming loose.

and a serrated, parachute-type washer ex-
pands, preventing the rest from disengaging.

The recommended size of the rest or cup
is controlled by the weight of the particular
furniture, it is further explained. Charts
listing the sizes of rests in relation to the
weight are compiled on the basis of the
weight received by one leg.

Vinyl Upholstery with
Special Jersey Backing

.A. NEW TYPE of jei'sey
knit-backed vinyl upholstery material, pro-
duced by a “controlled lamination” process
designed to prevent splitting of the material,
has been placed on the market by the Bolta
Corporation of Lawrence, Mass.

Trade-named “Armor-Weight Elastic
Boltaflex,” the material is designed for
heavy duty service on all types of furniture
and public seating. The Boltaflex vinyl is
laminated to the jersey backing by a special
process which, according to the manufac-
turer, does not “form deep ditches in the
vinyl as occurs when a vinyl face sheet
and jersey backing are embedded or mashed
together.” As a result of the construction,
he states further, the material has a soft,
pliable “hand” and tear-resistance and
stretchability.

The new material can be applied to
furniture through traditional fabric uphol-
stering techniques, it is pointed out. It Is
now available in two leather-like patterns.
Matador and Imperial Finish, in a new

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

decorator color line. Colors include Bone
White, Oak Brown, Ivory, Tan, Dusty
Oliver, Crimson, Putty, Oxford Grey,
Bottle Green, Lime, Sea Coral, Maize, Old
Wine, Black, Sage Green and Teal Blue.
New Patterns and colors are planned for
the near future.

Redesigned Automatic
Emergency Light Unit

REDESIGNING of its auto-
matic emergency lighting unit, with a num-
ber of new features, has been announced by
the Carpenter Manufacturing Company,
Boston. The unit has a glass jar batter,
non-automotive type, designed to deliver
91% of rated capacity after 30 minutes of
use.

The new features include external
switches for quick testing. Other switches

control the battery charger and disconnect
the lampheads should the unit be taken out
of service. A red pilot light indicates when
the battery is on high charge and an amber
light indicates readiness for service. A
visible disc float hydrometer eliminates the
necessity for ladder-climbing.

87 More Theatres Order
RCA Stereophonic Sound

A CONTINUED demand for
RCA “Stereoscope” sound sj^stems is re-
ported by the Engineering Products Divi-
sion of the Radio Corporation of America,
which lists 87 more theatres ordering in-
stallations of the multi-track magnetic re-
producing equipment and new loudspeakers.
The installations will be supervised by the
RCA Service Company.

Theatres scheduled to receive equipment
covered by the new orders are as follows :

Arlington, Arlington, 111.; Coral, Oklawn, 111.;
Circle, New Kensington, Pa.; Ritz, Clearfield,
Pa.; Capitol, Braddock, Pa.; Strand, Pottstown,
Pa.; Strand, Dundalk, Va.; Radford, Radford,
Va.; Cinema, Framingham, Mass.; Victory,
Holyoke, Mass.; Palace, Jamestown, N. Y.;
Temple, Kane, Pa.; Gem, New Richmond,
Wise.; Auditorium, Red Wing, Minn.

Also Park, Waukesha, Wise.; Boswell, Bos-

well, Ind. ; State, Greenville, Ohio; Covedale,
Cincinnati, Ohio ; Vitaphone, Wenatchee, Wash. ;
Bow, Butte, Montana; Malco, Owensboro, Ky. ;
Fenray, Martins Ferry, W. Va. ; Hamlet, Ham-
let, N. C. ; Gem, Kannapolis, N. C. ; Scott,
Odessa, Tex.; N. Houston, Houston, Tex.;
Long’s, Pasadena, Tex.

Also Senate, Central, Biltmore, Nortown, Chi-
cago, 111.; Pekin, Pekin, 111.; Washington,
Quincy, 111.; Harvey, Harvey, 111.; Roxy, Oak-
land, Cal.; Park, Cleveland, Ohio; Oneonta,
Oneonta, N. Y. ; Norwalk, Norw’alk, Ohio; Lin-
coln, Union City, N. J. ; Oritani, Hackensack,
N. J. ; Warner, Harrison, N. J. ; Union, Union,
N. J. ; Cranford, Cranford, N. J. ; Embassy,
Orange, N. J. ; Regent, Newark, N. J.; Well-
mont, Montclair, N. J. ; Capitol, Belleville, N. J.

Also Fond Uu Lac, Fond Du Lac, Wise.;
Roxy, Peru, Ind.; Dixon, Dixon, III.; Indiana,
E. Chicago, 111.; Lona, Kankakee, III.; New
Moon, Vincennes, Ind.; Collingswood, Collings-
wood, N. J. ; Comerford, Scranton, Pa.; Riviera,
Binghamton, N. Y.

Also St. James, Asbury Park, N. J. ; Plaza,
Schenectady, N. Y. ; Plaza, Corona, L. L, N. Y.;
Brook, Sheepshead, Brooklyn, N. Y. ; Prospect,
Flushing, L. L, N. Y. ; Community, Fairfield,
Conn.; Rialto, Albion, N. Y.; Great Lakes, Nor-
town, Detroit, Mich.; Lancaster, River Rouge,
Mich.; Midtown, St. Paul, Minn.; State, Ely,
Minn.; Varsity, Athens, Ohio.

Also Capitol, Frankfort, Ky. ; Murphy, Wil-
mington, Ohio; Gloria, Urbana, Ohio; Benton,
Kennewich, Wash.; Liberty, Ellisburgh, Wash.;
Norwood, Florence, Ala.; Anderson, Kingstree,
S. C. ; Ritz, Brunswick, Ga. ; Lyric, Waycross,
Ga. ; Trent, Trenton, N. J.; Capitol, Winchester,
Va.; Takoma, Kennedy, Beverly, Washington,
D. C. ; Elbert, Elbertson, Ga.

Hawaiian Flower for
Promotional Derice

THE wooDROSE, a Ha-
waiian flower designed for use as a pro-
motional device, has been introduced by
H. C. Kreuger-Flower of Haw'aii, origi-
nators of the Hawaiian Vanda orchid
promotional. The flower can be used on

such occasions as grand openings, anni-
versaries, Mother’s Day, reopenings, etc.,
according to H. C. Kreuger, head of the
company, which has offices in Los Angeles.

The Woodrose (see photo) is described

REACHES INTO

every seat

Stretihes up
oisies — down
rows ^ CUTS
cleaning time

LN HALF

COMPANY.
STREET

CITY.

. STATE.

Pullman Vacuum Cleaner Corp.
Boston 19, Mass.

I would like more Information about the
Pullman Theater Vacuum Cleaner with Accor-
dion Hose,

SIGN_

FLEXIBLE

Highly maneuverable,

low cost vacuum cleaner
with the power and ca-
pacity for big jobs.
Extremely flexible Ac-
cordion ® 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.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

as “looking and feeling like a hand-carved
rose of wood rubbed to a satiny smooth
finish.” Actually, it is pointed out, the
“roses” are the seed-bearing part of the
vine, Convolvus Tuberosum, from the
Morning Glory family, rvhich produces a
mass of pleasing yellow flowers. The
yellow bloom later turns to variegated
shades of brown — from satiny beige to rich
dark brown. The flower is available in
single and double corsages and with ribbon
bow and corsage pin, packed in a cello-
phane bag.

In addition the company has announced
the Baby Woodrose, which has the same
shape as the larger flower but smaller
blooms and it grows in clusters. It is also
available complete with bow, pin, and
packaging.

•

DATA ON CLEANING FLOORS

Information on how to clean and treat
various kinds of floors is provided in a
small (4- by 6-inch) cardboard device de-
veloped by Multi-Clean Products, Inc., of
St. Paul, Minn. Called the “Multi-Clean
Florule,” the device features a rotating
dial, which, when pointed to the name of a
certain floor, immediately discloses through
a slot in the dial the proper floor materials
to use, coverage in square feet per gallon
for each, drying times and method of ap-
plication. On the reverse side is a complete
catalog description of the company’s floor
treating chemicals together with packaging

information. The Florule is available free,
and requests should be directed to the com-
pany at 2277 Ford Parkway, St. Paul 1,
Minn.

Utility Cart Designed
For Drive-In Clean-Up

.A.N ALL-PURPOSE Utility
cart equipped with a heavy canvas bag for
gathering grass, leaves, or waste paper at

drive-ins has been placed on the market by
Canvas and Metal Specialties, Inc., Grove-
ville, N. J. When the bag is removed, the
frame becomes a handy truck, adaptable
for moving incinerators and waste recep-

tacles from place to place in open areas. In
addition an ash or garbage can, fertilizer,
peat moss or cartons up to 200 pounds rest-
ing on the built-in platform can be trans-
ported, even up steps, the manufacturer
states.

The cart is constructed of welded steel
and is approximately 20 by 20 by 40 inches
high, weighing about 25 pounds. It is
equipped with 10-inch semi-pneumatic
rubber-tired ball-bearing wheels. The steel
framework is collapsible and may be stored
in a closet.

New Plastic Screen
Cast in One Piece

H.AV1NG acquired addi-
tional matrixes, the Bodde Screen Com-
pany, Los Angeles, has announced that it
can now supply, its custom-made seamless
screens on a quantity production basis.
Prior to this time the company had filled
only special orders, its entire output of this
type screen being consumed by the demands
of film studios, preview theatres and experi-
mental installations.

Called the “Bodde Seamless Screen,” it
is constructed of plastic with an aluminum
surface and cast in one piece up to 35 by
90 feet, making it free from “streaks,
‘clouds’ and perforation blemishes,” accord-
ing to the manufacturer. He also states
that the surface does not crack, chip or
flake off ; that the screen is flame-resistant ;
and that it has only d.b. loss in sound

"BEFORE AND AFTER" STORY OF THEATRE AUDITORIUM CHAIRS

How worn-out theatre auditorium chairs can be completely rehabilitated is demonstrated in
these photographs of "before" (above) and "after" (right), which are typical of a recondition-
ing project recently completed for two theatres in Ohio by the Theatre Seat Service Company
of Nashville, Tenn. The theatres are the Xenia and Chakeres in Xenia and Springfield, and the
owners were very pleased with the new teal blue enamel color and wild rose Mohair cushion
upholstery, according to Fred H. Massey of Theatre Seat Service. Note the extremely de-
iapidated condition of the chairs in the photo above, with coverings worn and torn.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

transmission. The latter is attributed
mainly to the fact that the screen is made
from ethyl cellulose instead of a spongy
vinyl type material. The screen is wash-
able with any soluble soap solution or can
be cleaned by flushing with clear water.

The screen is obtainable in three reflect-
ing factors: Type A, for a narrow theatre,
has a 4:1 gain factor; Type B, for a
medium width theatre, has a 3:1 gain fac-
tor; and Types C, for a wide theatre and
steep balcony, has a 2)4:1 gain factor.

The company reports that the Polaroid
Corporation has tested the screen and
credits it with “a higher non-depolarizing
factor (for 3D) than any screen previously
tested.” The screen is flame-resistant, and
the only cloth used in its construction is
the molded binding on the edges.

The screens are shipped in kiln-dried
wooden boxes on 3-inch seamless poles,
with cotton soft liners between screen sur-
faces for protection in shipping and storage.

The Bodde Company also manufactures
a translucent rear-projection screen for
motion picture and television use.

Hand-ond-Foce Dryer
With Germicidal Lamp

AN ELECTRIC hand-and-
face dryer equipped with germicidal action
and designed to operate within 30 seconds
has been marketed by the Michael Electric
Company, Inc., New Haven.

Called the “Ozo-Dry Hurricane,” the
dryer has a Westinghouse Odorout Steri-
lamp, which generates indirect ultraviolet
irradiation to prevent the spread of surface
bacteria and check skin irritations. The
unit has a large push-button timer and
chrome-plated nozzle of swivel design.

The push button, responding to fingertip
or elbow pressure, releases a quick-drying
air current which shuts off automatically
within 30 seconds. The swivel nozzle can
be turned to convenient positions for
drying face or hands.

Designed for mounting on the wall, the
dryer has heavy gauge steel housing. Its
dimensions are 9)/2 by 7 by 6% inches. A
200-watt heating unit, protected by a
special fuse, and a 6000 rpm blower are
designed, it is pointed out, to effect the
“under-30-seconds” speed. The units have
grey metallic finish with chrome trim.

Anamorphic Lens
Called "Vidoscope"

AN ANAMORPHIC auxiliary
lens, called “Vidoscope,” which is manu-
factured in Germany, has been announced
for distribution in this country by Walter
Futter of New York City.

The lens is delivered to both dealer and

exhibitor in a permanent fibre case and is
available lor immediate delivery.

The company also has a complete line of
wide-angle and long focus projection lenses
in all focal lengths from 1)4 to 8 inches.

“LUXURIA” SCREENS INSTALLED

The installations of new “Luxuria”
screens in the New York home office pro-
jection rooms of Paramount and Columbia
are reported by the Trans-Lux Stewart
Corporation of Torrence, Calif. The
“Luxuria” screen is designed for “all-pur-
pose” projection, including 3D and wide-
screen, and is said to give a “seamless”
effect. It is manufactured in sizes up to 90
feet in width. Eastern sales rights are han-
dled by Joe Hornstein in New York City.

•

NEW BOLTA REPRESENTATIVE

Ramso Associates, which has headquar-
ters in Los Angeles, has been appointed
west coast representative for Bolta Prod-
ucts Sales, Inc., and Bolta-Saran, Inc.,
Lawrence, Mass., manufacturers of “Bolta-
flex” vinyl and Saran upholstery materials.
Ramco maintains additional offices in San
Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Phoenix
and Honolulu and serves the entire area
west of the Rocky Mountains.

•

BRITISH EQUIPMENT DISPLAYED

More than 50 motion picture products
made by J. Arthur Rank’s British Optical
and Precision Engineers, a group of com-
panies which manufactures all types of such
equipment in the United Kingdom, were
exhibited at the Photographic Fair and
Trade Show held at Cologne, Germany,

THEATRE

REFLECTORIZED

SIGNS

Small enough not to offend &
still large & BRILLIA]\T enough
to advertise & direct.

NO more wondering and
worrying where to put signs
nor how to light ’em. Any tree,
post, fence or shed, in fact any
roadside object becomes a BRIL-
LIANT directional sign pointing
the way to your theatre.

PRICED LOW for wide dis~
tribution ( yours as well as
ours ).

25 @ 53.00 ea. 100 @52.00

ea.

50 @ 52.50 ea. 200 @51.50 ea.

F.O.B., N.Y.C.

TERMS: Cash with order or C.O.D.

Made In
> RIGHT
LEFT<

and

STRAIGHT
A AHEAD

n BRILLIANT
colors on

HEAVY,

WEATHER-

PROOF

MASONITE

ARDLEY

1010 CASTLE HILL AVENUE
NEW YORK 72, N. Y.

'^ree ahtf Ca^

Some advertisements offer literature on
the product advertised, and often a coupon
Is included as a convenient means of pro-
curing It. Moreover, The Theatre Supply
Mart (insert at page 53) provides a post-
card for this purpose. . . . Or, if you do
not see what you want advertised in this
particular issue, you may write the BETTER
THEATRES SERVICE DEPARTMENT,
Rockefeller Center, New York 20.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

earh in April. Included was G. B-Kalee
Ltd. equipment for CinemaScope, with their
anamorphic lenses fitted to a “Gauniont-
Kalee” 21" projector; new screen materials;
and auditorium chairs. I'he display also
covered the 16mm field and equipment for
film studio technicians. H. R. A. de Jonge,
joint managing director of G. B-Kalee
Ltd., headed the party of BOPE execu-
tives and technicians at the fair.

Adjustable Lens Mount
Announced by Norpat

.AN .ADJUSTABLE lens
mount designed for replacing the lens
clamping mechanism on current models of
projectors to provide the additional advan-
tage of vertical and horizontal movement,
has been marketed by Norpat Sales, Inc.,
New "^’ork, for centering picture on screen,
and aligning the optical system on changing
from Academy prints to CinemaScope
prints, and vice versa.

Called the “Dacor I'ru Center,” the unit
operates as follows: When the lower lever
(shown in the photo on the lower right)
is rotated in an arc of approximately 75°,
the lens holder is moved vertically l/8th
of an inch. With the upper lever (shown
in photo at top center) an equal horizontal
movement of the lens holder is achieved.
These movements, in the planes desired,
are accomplished by means of an eccentric

bushing moving two split clamp collars
vertically, and by means of an eccentric
shaft within a collar in the assembly for
the horizontal movement.

The upper level of the unit is provided
with two stop screws whose position can
be moved in the lever base to limit the
extreme two positions at which it is desired
to set the horizontal adjustment. (One of
these screws is visible on the base of the

lever in the photo; the other is hidden
behind the lever itself.) To accomplish
the same result for the lower vertical move-
ment lever, another bracket with two limit-
ing screws is supplied (it is not shown in
the photo). This bracket mounts on the
front of the projector housing and is ad-
justed to limit the lever movement and
thereby the vertical lens movement at the
extremities desired.

A shaft with an adjustable lock collar
is also provided for use as a guide on which
to mount a prefocusing clamp ring. In this
manner the lens may be repositioned prop-
erly after removing for cleaning, etc.

d'he unit can be easily installed by any
competent projectionist, the company points
out, the only tools required being the Allen
set screw wrenches supplied with the
mechanism, and regular screw drivers.
When the old champ mechanism Is removed
from the projector, the four screws holding
it can be used to mount the new unit in
the same place. The new unit has a lens
holder lock screw with a knurled knob
(shown in center of photo). The lens
focusing handle is at right center, just left
of the lower level.

The clamp ring Is wider than in the
original unit, it is pointed out, in order to
provide a larger clamp bearing surface to
hold the lens. This was necessitated hy the
short focal lenses now in common use.

For projectors having a 4-inch diameter
lens holder. In which standard 2-25/32-inch
diameter lenses are used, eccentric lens
clamp barrels are provided.

NEW LITERATURE

AU-Purp ose Screen: New literature
(Form 3R2249) describing the RCA
“Dyna-Lite” screen has been issued by the
Engineering Products Division, Radio
Corporation of America, Camden 2, N. J.

Made of 100% Firestone Velon, the “all-
purpose” screen is aluminum-pigmented
and has a “seamless” appearance. It is
fabricated to order in all sizes up to 30
feet by 60 feet, with or without perfora-
tions.

CANADIAN DEALERS

Adamson, M. L., 105 Strand Theatre Bldg.,
Edmonton, Alta.

Dominion Sound Equipments, Ltd., 76 Hollis
Street, Halifax, N. S.; 4040 St. Catherine
Street, West Montreal, Que.; 820 Gamble
St., Vancouver, B. C.; 712 Eighth Avenue,
West, Calgary, Alta.; 4 Hazen Avenue,
St. John, N.B.; 1299 Boulevard Charest,
Quebec City, Que.; 270 McLaren Street,
Ottawa, Ont.; 218-222 Fort Street, Win-
nipeg, Man.; 5 Pisch Block, 1651 Nth
Avenue, Regina, Sask.; 10705 106th Street,
Vancouver, B. C.; Edmonton, Alta., 386
Victoria Street, Toronto, Ont.

Dominion Theatre Equipment Company, 847
Davie Street, Vancouver, B. C.

Empire Agencies, Ltd., 573 Hornby Street,
Vancouver, B. C.

Ga umont-Kalee, Ltd., 431 Yonge Street,
Toronto, Ont.

General Theatre Supply Company, Ltd., 104
Bond Street, Toronto, Ont.; 288 St. Cath-
erine Street, Montreal, Que.; 916 Davie
Street, Vancouver, B. C.; 185 Portage,
Winnipeg, Man.; 86 Charlotte Street, St.
John, N. B.

Hutton & Sons, Inc., Charles, 222 Water
Street, St. John's, Newfoundland.

LaSalle Recreations, Ltd., 945 Granville
Street, Vancouver, B. C.

Motion Picture Supplies, Ltd., 22 Prescott
Street, St. John's, Newfoundland.

Perkins Electric Co., Ltd., 2027 Bleury Street,
Montreal, O^e.; 277 Victoria Street,

Toronto, Ont.

Rice & Company, J. M., 202 Canada Bldg.,
Winnipeg, Man.

Sharp's Theatre Supplies, Ltd., Film Exchange
Bldg., Calgary, Alta.

Theatre Equipment Supply Company, 906
Davie Street, Vancouver, B. C.

United Electric Company, 847 Davie Street,
Vancouver, B. C.

EXPORT DISTRIBUTORS

Bizzelle Cinema Supply Corp., 420 West 45th
Street, New York 19, N. Y.

Frazar & Hansen, Export Division, 301 Clay
Street, San Francisco II, Calif.

National Theatre Supply, Export Division, 92
Gold Street, New York 7, N. Y.

Norpat Sales, Inc., 113 West 42d Street,
New York, N. Y.

Radio Corporation of America, RCA Inter-
national Division, 1260 Sixth Avenue, New
York, N. Y.

Robin, Inc., J. E., 267 Rhode Island Avenue,
East Orange, N. J.

S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corporation, Export
Division, 303 West 42nd Street, New York
18, N. Y.

K. Streuber & La Chicotte, 250 West 57th
Street, New York, N. Y.

Westrex Corp., I I I Eighth Ave nue, New
York II, N. Y.

PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT CO

Foctories at

FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN
BOX 986, NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J.

PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT

Complete line of playground,
home, playschool play devices.

THE J. E. BURKE

Write for

special literature cat-
alog, price list, book-
let “Planning Your
Playground or speci-
fications.

BURKE

EXCLUSIVES

* HOBBY-HORSE

* GLIDER

* CLIMB-A-
ROUND

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

CinemaScope for
An Omaha Driye-ln

Having recently acquired ownership of the Airport drive-in
at Omaha, J. Robert Hoff, vice-president of the Ballantyne
Company, proceeded to equip it for CinemaScope, employ-
ing a system of two speakers for each car. The installation
is described and pictured herewith.

Comparisons .in the length of the short coiled
cord and the coiled cord with a 4-foot extension
are demonstrated by Robert Huntling, manager
of the Airport.

Interior view of the projection booth at the Airport drive-in showing the large number of wires coming
in from the two sets of speakers on each speaker post to the control panel. With the Ballantyne system
of reproducing CinemaScope's four magnetic sound tracks, channels one and two are directed to
the left speaker (see photos at top) and channels two and three to the right speaker, with channel
tour going to both. The projectionist above is J. 1. Kelley.

New curved screen tower at the Airport drive-in shown just after the
screen had received its final coat of Raytone paint. The picture
presented is 80 by 40 feet. The tower building is five stories high with
the ground floor used as a garage and office, the second story as an
apartment and the top three tor storage. Mr. Hoff is shown in front
of the tower above.

Four Ballantyne speakers are

mounted on a standard junction
box for reproduction of four-
track sound at the Airport as
shown at right. Two speakers
are blue and white; two solid
grey. Patrons take two speakers
of the same color into the car
placing the one with the stand-
ard coiled cord on the window
nearest the speaker post; the
other with a 4-foot extension
on the opposite window. Below,
an open view of the Ballantyne
junction box showing how the
two transformers and the two
terminal strips are mounted.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

GENERAL INQUIRY COUPON

for types of product NOT ADVERTISED in this issue

Please iise 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

103 — Flashes

104 — Lighting fixtures

105 — Letters, changeable

106 — 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 1 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
61 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

1 003 — Am plifiers

1004 — Amplifier tubes

1005 — Cabinets, accessory

1006 — Cabinets, carbon

1007 — Cabinets, film

1008 — Changeovers

1009 — Cue markers

1010 — Effect projectors
101 I — 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 0 1 9 — 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

1035 — Rewinders

1036 — Rheostats

1037 — Safety devices, projector

1 038 — Screens

1039 — Screen frames

1040 — Speakers and horns

1041 — Splicers

1042 — Splicing cement

1043 — Soundheads, optical

1044 — Soundheads, magnetic

1 045 — Stereopticons

1046 — Tables, rewind

SEATING
I 101 — Chairs

1102 — Expansion bolts

1103 — Fastening cement

1 104 — Foam rubber cushions

1105 — Upholstering fabrics

SERVICE and TRAFFIC

1201 — Crowd control equip't

1202 — Directional signs

1203 — Drinking fountains

1204 — Lockers, checking

1 205 — Uniforms

1206 — Water coolers

STAGE

1301 — Curtains and drapes

1302 — Curtain controls & track

1303 — Lighting equipment

1304 — Rigging and hardware

1 305 — Switchboards

THIRD-DIMENSION

1401 — Filters, port

1402 — Interlocks, projector

1403 — Monitors (synchron.)

1404 — Selsyn motors

1405 — Spectacles

1406 — Aligning Film

TICKET SALES

1501 — Box offices

1 502 — 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 ENVELOPEI

Name Theatre

Address

Presentation of
VistaVisLon Films

{Continued from page 14)

the screen. (Theatre supply companies
have tables that show the proper focal
length of lens to give the desired picture
width.)

Several manufacturers are supplying
adaptor lenses to be used on old long focal
length lenses in place of supplying good
new short focal length lenses. Although
we have probably not tested all of the
different types, most of these lenses give
poor results. The only place we would
use such a lens would be where the projec-
tion throw is very short, requiring a lens
having a focal length under inches.

We have used carefully selected Xpansa
lenses for this purpose.

After determining the proper lens focal
length, the projector aperture plates
should be filed so as to project the proper
shape of picture to meet the size of the
screen that has been selected. If the
screen carries black masking, the projected
picture image should overlap the masking
far enough to give a well framed picture.

Much has been said both for and against
the practice of gaining proper picture shape
by diminishing the opening in the pro-
jector aperture plates. The procedure is
called “cropping.” Our desire is to gain
the best picture quality, and as long as
cropping gives the best picture quality,
we recommend cropping.

In considering cropping, most people
think of a possible quality loss from the
cropped print. The fact is that the real
loss is due to the restricted area of nega-
tive that is used to gain the cropped pic-
ture. The VistaVision negative is large,
thus the loss does not occur with Vista-
V^ision. A loss does occur in the 2.55/1
anamorphic pictures when the aspect ratio
is reduced by side cropping, and some loss
does occur when pictures made from
standard negatives are cropped.

“Cropping” is accomplished in the pro-
jector by using special projection aperture
plates filed to the desired aspect ratio.

PROJECTORS AND LAMPS

We make no specific recommendations
in regard to projector type or projection
lamps, except that in our experience with
shorter focal length lenses, better screen
illumination is obtained with lamps of the
reflector type having mirrors 16 inches in
diameter.

In theatres using very large lamps and
high amperage, we recommend the use of
water and air cooling, also dichroic heat

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

reflectors. We also like the focus stabiliz-
ing feature of a lamphouse wherein a jet
of air hits the projected frame from the
lens side of the film, and low-velocity air
cools the film on the lamphouse side.

VARIABLE PRISMATIC
EXPANDER LENSES

There is a great deal of confusion
regarding aspect ratios, and squeezed
and/or expansion ratios.

The aspect ratio is the ratio of width
to height of the picture image on the screen,
and/or the width to height of the picture
image on the film.

The squeezed and/or expansion ratio is
the result of an optical change in a lens
system. When the images are squeezed,
they are made to appear thin and tall.
When these thin and tall images are
expanded in projection, they appear normal
on the screen.

In the CinemaScope system, the camera
lens picks up a scene that is 2.66 times as
wide as it is high. This scene is squeezed
horizontally in the squeeze ratio of 2/1,
which gives a negative image in the aspect
ratio of 1.33/1. A print made from this
negative is still squeezed.

In CinemaScope projection, the image
passes through an anamorphic expander
lens which expands the image in the ratio
of 2/1. This would normally give a screen
aspect of 2.66/1 ; however, the sides of the
original picture are cropped (making room
for the magnetic stereophonic sound
tracks), so that the final aspect ratio of
the picture when projected is in the ratio
of 2.55/1.*

In the VistaVision process, standard
camera lenses are used in photography and
a standard (non-squeezed) large negative
image is obtained. When desired, squeezed
prints are made during the process of
optical printing, but in the case of Vista-
Vision the squeeze ratio is 1^-to-l.

When these prints are projected, they
must be projected through an expander
lens working in the expansion ratio of
lj4-to-l, (not 2/1, as in the case of
CinemaScope), which gives a screen image
in the aspect ratio of 2/1.

During the years 1934 and 1935,
incidentally, Paramount made a series of
tests with a set of Chretien anamorphic
lenses in the compression and expansion
ratio of 2/1. The picture film which was
made with these lenses is still in the Para-
mount studio library. It projects in the
ratio of 2.66/1. It was Paramount’s deci-
sion then, as it is today, that the 2.66/1
aspect ratio is too wide for its height.

As soon as the Chretien lens was again
considered for industry use. Paramount

*The frame of the CinemaScope release print
is 0.912 X Q.7\S-inch; that of the Academy
standard release print is 0.868 x 0.631. — Ed.

went on record with the Motion Picture
Research Council and the studios of the
industry in a letter written by the writer
on February 11, 1953, recommending that
if anamorphic lenses were to be used, they
should be used in a compression and/or
expansion ratio of l^^-to-l (not 2/1) so
as to give a picture aspect ratio of 2/1 on
the screen. The position of Paramount
has never changed; and with VistaVision,
Paramount is making available release
prints which have been compressed in the
ratio of l^^-to-l for projection through a
variable prismatic expander lens set at the
expansion ratio of Ij^-to-l to give a screen
aspect ratio of 2/1.

In this regard it should be pointed out
that Paramount has never taken a position
against the use of anamorphic lenses; but
Paramount has taken the position that its
pictures should be projected in an aspect
ratio not exceeding 2/1 for the best
presentation.

Three types of anamorphic expander
lenses are now being manufactured. They
are the cylindrical lens type, such as used
by CinemaScope; the reflector lens type,
as manufactured by the Old Delft Com-
pany in Holland; and the prismatic type,
which is now being manufactured by the
Tushinsky Brothers, and others.

Of these three types of lenses, the pris-
matic type is the only one that can be made
variable. Further, in the tests made by
Paramount, the variable prismatic expander
lens gives the best quality. The variable
prismatic expander lens, such as manu-
factured by the Tushinsky’s, also has the
capability of projecting any ratio of
squeeze, from a ratio of 1/1 [zero] to
3/1 — if anyone ever produces a picture for
such a wide aspect ratio. In the 1/1 posi-

attachments, 30% more light should be
delivered to the screen than could be done
with cropped apertures and merely blown-
up pictures.

Similar calculations with the Cinema-
Scope process show that by using anamor-
phic attachments to produce aspect ratios
of 2.5/1, 70% more light can be produced
on the screen than could be obtained with
“cropped” apertures and sheer magnifica-
tion.

Figure 4 indicates that the horizontal
field of view of the CinemaScope and the
VistaVision cameras are not very far
apart, with CinemaScope having a slight
advantage (assuming that the same focal
length lenses are used).

The VistaVision process is of great
importance because of its optical reduction
from a large negative image to the standard

tion these lenses would project standard
prints (either of the Academy standard
type, or the VistaVision standard). Thus
the variable prismatic expander lens pro-
vides complete flexibility in the projection
booth for the exhibition of any print.

In addition to gaining flexibility in pro-
jection, the compressed VistaVision prints,
working with expander lenses, will give a
light increase of approximately 40%
[Over standard print projection. — Ed.],
which can be of real assistance on very
large screens. The light gain would be
less for lower aspect ratios ; and although
there may be some gain with an aspect ratio
as low as 1.85/1, the use of expander
lenses is not recommended by Paramount
for lower aspect ratios.

If a squeeze print and expander lenses
are used, and a screen ratio slightly below
2/1 is desired, the reduced ratio is obtained
by “cropping” the picture width, which is
accomplished by reducing the width of the
projector aperture plate. In this case the
picture composition [Pictorial values. —
Ed.] will not be as good as the picture
composition from a VistaVision standard
print which has been “cropped” at top and
bottom.

VistaVision squeezed prints will carry a
standard photographic sound track with
control track for Perspecta sound. All
VistaVision squeezed prints, the same as
VistaVision standard prints, will not
project properly through the CinemaScope
2/1 expander lenses.

[/n a concluding article in the June issue
of BETTER THEATRES, Mr. Ryder will cover
Perspecta three-channel sound and its use
with VistaVision pictures, together with
suggestions for booth operation and drive-in
theatre presentations,]

release print image because this tends to
reduce emulsion and dye grain, and to
decrease fuzziness. On the other hand, the
CinemaScope projection aperture is some-
what larger than the VistaVision aperture,
especially in the vertical dimension ; and
when the VistaVision squeeze print is used
there does not seem to be any optical
reduction in the vertical dimension between
the negative and the positive release print.

VistaVision with its single optical sound
track has normal sprocket hole size and
spacing and does not require projector con-
version in the field. Its sound track,
equipped with Perspecta controls, is com-
patible with any optical sound system now
existing in the field, hut in usable volume
range, and in frequency coverage, it cannot
be compared, in the writer’s opinion with
magnetic recording and reproduction.

ANAMORPHIC VERSUS CROPPING
IN WIDE-SCREEN PROJECTION

{Continued from page 29)

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

method in
Mt^moement

★

staff supervision
institutional advertising
exploitation equipment
housekeeping & maintenance
and related activities

COHtiHUiHf

A DICTIONARY OF MAINTENANCE

CONTINUING our effort
to provide theatre
managers (especially
the less experienced
ones) and their staffs
basic guidance in the
maintenance of the
theatre property and
its equipment, with
the convenience of an
alphabetical arrangement by topics, we
come in this series to —

GLASS, REPLACEMENT — Care must be
taken in replacing broken glass to avoid cuts,
particularly in handling large sections. Re-
placement of very large sections, as for glass
doors, display frames, etc., should only be made
by professional glass cutters. Small sections, as
for window panes, may be handled by house
maintenance personnel, who should become pro-
ficient in the use of a small glass cutter and
the methods of replacing these panes, which is
relatively simple. For sections as large as a
one-sheet or larger, single-weight glass is gen-
erally nor suitable and replacement by double-
weight, or even plate glass, is advisable.

•

GREASE REMOVAL — Prompt removal is
is most important. If there is a great deal of
grease, as much as possible should first be
wiped or scraped off with a dull knife. A clean
dry cloth should be placed beneath the soiled
area, and the entire area on top should be
moistened with a cleaner, such as benzene or
carbon tetrachloride, which will cut the grease.
This should be done repeatedly, using clean
cloths to wipe over the soiled area until they
remain clean after wiping.

Fifteenth Article in a Series:

MOTION PICTURE THEATRE MANAGEMENT

By CURTIS MEES

GUM REMOVAL — First soak the gum with
a solvent (carbon tetrachloride), then with a
dull putty knife lift off the wadded part of the
gum. After this is done, the solvent can be
worked into the remaining gum and soiled area
to clean the spot completely. Strokes should
go outward from and beyond the soiled area,
blending the wetted area with the surrounding
area to avoid producing a “ring.”

HEARING AIDS — Contacts work loose and
they need re-soldering. Earphones also need
minor servicing, which can generally be made
by a projectionist. Volume controls on the in-
dividual outlets should be frequently checked
to see if re-setting of contacts is necessary.

•

HOSE, FIRE — Drain carefully and dry after
each use before replacing in the racks. Tighten
nozzle and standpipe connections to eliminate
leaks. Put a safety seal (fine wire with a lead
seal) on the valve outlet to each fire hose so
it can be readily seen when these are tam-
pered with, or when opened to the extent water
may get into the hose. Replace rotted or cut
hose as soon as observed.

•

HOUSE PHONES — Firm contacts of wiring
to all stations must be maintained. The power
source, whether powered by wet battery or from
utility lines, should he periodically inspected.

All wiring should be protected from water,
which may easily cause cross-contacts or short
circuits. If possible, an arrangement should
be worked out with a competent telephone serv-
ice man to handle this servicing in his spare
time.

•

HOLDOUT ROPES— These should be care-
fully put away, after using, in storage space
so they will not become soiled when not in
use. The covering on these ropes should be
cleaned with fabric cleaner when soiled. Ends
should he tightened and polished. As cover-
ing ages, it should be sewed promptly when
torn, and replaced in its entirety before it
becomes shabby.

HOLDOUT STANDARDS— These come in
two types, those set into the floor (either per-
manently, or in removable standards with
covers for the floor openings when not in use),
and those which have heavy bases permitting
their placement in any part of the theatre as
needed. Both types should have a specific
storage area so they can be readily found when
needed, and so that they will not be damaged
or scarred up when not in use.

•

HUMIDIFIERS — Such equipment is some-
times installed, particularly where warm air
heating is used, to introduce moisture into the
air during the heating season. Automatic
water-feed is important; a float valve cuts off
the flow at the desired level (adjustable), and

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

an oi^erflow line is av'ailable to carry off any
excess. The float valve must be checked, with
worn washer seats and valve float replaced
as necessary. The overflow line should be kept
open. Some humidifiers utilize tans to blow
air over exposed wet surfaces to achieve the
same result without waiting for the somewhat
slower process of evaporation by heat.

•

HAND DRIERS — Increasingly popular in
public buildings to eliminate the cost and
nuisance of paper (or linen) towels, these de-
vices are installed in the wall, or on pedestals.
The blower fan requires periodic oiling. There
is a timing device to cut the fan off after a
specific running time ; this may need adjustment.
The heating element can be replaced when
burned out. Consult manufacturer’s bulletin
for specific directions.

ICE SHAVER — Used for making “Snow
Cones,” this device will shave ice to an extreme
degree of fineness. The electric motor requires
oiling about once a week if much used. Care
should be exercised to see that no stray items,
such as nails or glass, get into the mechanism,
not only for protection of patrons, but also
to keep the blades from being broken or nicked.
The shaver should be so installed so as to be
protected as much as possible from warm air.
Snow ice should be made as needed, as it
tends to cake up if storage is attempted after
shaving.

•

ICE CREAM FREEZERS — Storage cabinets
for theatre use have compressors which re-
quire replenishing of the freezing component,
usually Freon, which a theatre staff engi-
neer can handle with a little study. Pulley belts
must be in alignment, be tight and be replaced
when worn too slick to pull. The motor must be
oiled periodically. The temperature inside the
cabinet is adjustable and should be set to main-
tain a hard, firm ice cream. In case of a
“melt down” (the trade expression used when
for some reason the equipment stops running
and the ice cream really melts down), check
first on compressor charge, then temperature
setting. (The line current coming to the ma-
chine should of course be checked, though cur-
rent may be off for quite a while before the
temperature inside the cabinet rises to a melt-
ing point.) If no one on the theatre staff can
ascertain the difficulty promptly, a refrigeration
service man should be called in. If the ice
cream melts due to a breakdown, you are
faced with the very messy task of cleaning out
the cabinet.

To arrive at a reliable inventory of loss,
salvage individual wrappers or sticks, if a
count cannot be obtained from the cartons.

All the “goo” must be dipped out, then the
interior be carefully washed down with a
mild soda and water or similar solution, and
thoroughly dried before the system goes back
into operation.

As ice accumulates inside the freezer, it must
be periodically defrosted (in a freezer this is
much less frequent, however, than with a
home refrigerator). Keeping the doors or lids
closed as much as possible will hold this
condensation of moisture to a minimum. About
twice a year it will be necessary to empty the
cabinet, cut off the compressors, and do a
thorough job of defrosting and cleaning of
the interior, rinsing it carefully afterward
and drying it out before starting operation.

•

ICE CREAM VENDORS— These have re-
frigeration equipment which receives the same
general treatment as outlined above for ice

Super Savings Boost Profits

• A Super and one operator handle all clean-
ing tasks. Why pay several people to use
brooms, mops, home-type vacs, etc.?

• Light weight, easy portability speeds up
work, reduces employee fatigue.

Only Supers give all these plus values at nom-
inal investment cost. Four models to choose from.

Ask your supplies dealer or write.

Model

Model JS—

Quiet, compact,
lo\A^-priced.
Same power,
pick-up, perfor-
mance as all
Supers.

• “Once Over Does It.” Super cleaning elim-
inates repeated effort on the same dirt.
Time saving as high as 40 %.

• Super specialized theatre cleaning tools
do a better job easier, quicker.

OTHER SUPER
MODELS

Model M — For

general cleaning and
blowing. Readily

portable.

Model SH — For heavy
duty wet and dry
pick-up and blowing.

NATIONAL SUPER SERVICE CO., INC.

1941 N. 12th Street Toledo 2, Ohio

Sales and Service in Principal Cities

In Canada: Plant Maintenance Equipment Co., Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver

"Once Over Does If"

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CHANGEABLE LETTER DISPLAYS

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ADLER “SECTIONAD” LOW COST
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WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG

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11843 b W. Olympic, Los Angeles 64, Calif.
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Custom Made
Leatherette Covers
for Theater Seats

Only 95^ each

Try our brand new, universal fitting ready-made seat
covers, guaranteed to fit any size theater seat of approx-
imately 19-21 inches. Made of vinyl coated drill back
leatherette, in all colors. Strong rayon sides, plastic
welting and elastic tie-backs to insure better fit. Mini-
mum order 25 seats. Special prices for quantity orders.
Delivery approximately one week.

Heavier qualities with leatherette, mohair, corduroy
combinations slightly higher.

Large stocks of leatherettes, upholstery fabrics and
supplies, such as Mystik tape, batting, etc., sold by
the yard. Samples and prices on request.

MAKKO FABRICS CO., INC.

114 East 27th Street, New York 16, N. Y.

Send $1.25 and we will prepay a sample cover to you
in any part of the U. S.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

cream freezers. In addition, there is vending
equipment which is rather specialized, though
study of the service manual by a competent
maintenance man should prepare him for most
of the problems that go with this equipment.
The coin mechanisms on most ice cream
vendors are standard equipment found on
nearly all automatic coin-operated machines.
Bent coins or slugs frequently jam up the
mechanism. If you operate a number of ma-
chines using the same type of coin mechanism,
it will pay you to have a “spare” to use in
emergencies. (Installation is very simple,
merely by removal of two or four screws and
plugging the unit into an electrical outlet.)

Jamming of the ice cream packs at the point
of issue is not infrequent; usually it means
a slight adjustment in the automatic controls is
needed to complete the cycle of vending at the
proper point. Another cause for non-delivery
may be that the bar or package has frozen
to the cabinet so hard that the vending lever
cannot dislodge it. To reduce this possibility
to a minimum, be sure all items are perfectly
dry and as firmly frozen as practicable at the
time they are put into the vendor.

This equipment should be defrosted occa-
sionally. It is not necessary to remove the
vending mechanism (generally) as a drain
valve is usually placed in the bottom of the
cabinet so that melted ice (and ice cream)
can be flushed out the bottom of the machine.
Consult the service bulletin, as some machines
offer particular problems in this respect, as well
as in other specialized servicing requirements.

•

ICE CREAM MAKERS, SOFT CREAM—
These units used at drive-ins, are relatively
simple. Compressors and freezing element must
be serviced much as outlined under Ice Cream
Freezers. Sanitation is a primary requisite;
none but healthy, clean personnel should be
permitted to operate these freezers. The soft
ice cream turned out in these units can be put
up in bulk containers and frozen solid in the
regular freezer; generally in theatre opera-
tion, however, the ice cream is vended in soft
form direct from the units into cups or cones.
Be sure to get a service manual from the manu-
facturer and have your maintenance man
acquaint himself with specific service instruc-
tions.

•

INCINERATORS— Some theatres have small
incinerator plants for disposal of trash. These
should be serviced about the same as a coal-
fired furnace, with ashes removed before
lower grates are touched, and shaker bar or
other agitation mechanism kept in proper
operating condition. The flue should be cleaned
periodically.

•

INSECTS: PREVENTION AND EXTER-
MINATION— The prevention of an influx of
insects is easier than their extermination once
they have bedded down in the theatre. Sanita-
tion is the primary answer. Cleaning up of
all left-over foods, removal of spilled items on
the floor, and careful storage of foodstuffs
should make your theatre uninviting to the pests.

Once insects are in the least evidence, prompt
steps should be taken to exterminate them.
There are any number of commercial prod-
ucts available which, when properly used ac-
cording to directions, will do a good job of
killing off these pests. When they are used
around foodstuffs, great care should be taken
to see that none of these items could be con-
taminated.

The easiest method of dealing with insects,
and all vermin in the theatre is to contract
with a reputable extermination firm for regu-
lar service.

What’s Your Opinion
Of Curved Splices?

Among letters which our series of
articles on theatre management have in-
spired is one from Jack Dorfllnger of
Pleasant Mount, Pa., who would like to
see improvement in the quality of thin
curved splices (used by some film ex-
changes), or reversion to square-cut film
splices.

Theoretically, it would seem he has a
good argument in that the greatest point
of tension on a curved splice would be
on the apex of the arc, where there is
very little gripping surface between the
joints. In a square-cut splice, on the
other hand, there is equal tension at all
points of contact. Projectionists to whom
we submitted the question also agreed
that curved splices should be discon-
tinued, claiming them responsible for
most of the film breaks during the show.

What do you other managers
and projectionists think of curved
splices? Are you for or against
them?

We'd like to bring a little more opinion
to bear on the issue brought up by Mr.
Dorflinger. — C.M.

LADDERS — A ladder can be a source of
real danger, both to the public and to employees
using them, if they are not maintained in good
condition. Broken rungs or steps should be
replaced promptly. Shakiness should be mini-
mized as. much as possible by bracing, or
wiring, sections together, for additional strength.
They should be painted at intervals for pro-
tection from rust and rot (with appropriate
theatre identification painted on so they cannot
be easily misappropriated). When they reach
a stage of unsteadiness beyond complete re-
pair, they should be replaced.

•

LAMPS — (1) Changing: There are sectional
poles with a gripping device on the end which
can be used to remove and replace high over-
head lamps in such locations as the marquee
without use of a stepladder. When changing
more inaccessible lamps (such as on vertical
sign), baskets, or boxes, should be carried by
the workmen so that both old and new lamps
may be transported safely without danger of
dropping them on pedestrians underneath.

(2) Coloring: Commercial dyes are available
for coloring lamp bulbs. Dyes are placed in
containers only slightly larger than the bulbs to
be dyed, and the bulbs are dipped (base up)
into the solutions. Follow directions on the
dye container, as some must be worked at high
temperature for best results.

•

LAMP SHADES — These can be cleaned if
handled carefully. First they should be dusted
with a light, flexible brush (or vacuumed).
Some materials can be washed in mild soap
and water while others must be cleaned with
carbon tetrachloride or similar dry-cleaning
agent.

•

LAVATORIES — Should be scoured daily
with cleaning powders of sufficient strength to
remove all stains and grease. At least once a
month a drain cleaner should be poured in
the drain (taking care not to get it on the
porcelain surfaces) so that the pipes are kept

fully opened. Faucets should be tightened and
leaks promptly corrected to prevent staining
the porcelain. Drain stopper device should be
checked for proper functioning and repaired by
maintenance man as required.

•

LENSES, PROJECTION — Soft lens cleaning
papers should be used, together with approved
cleaning solutions, for removing dust and finger
marks. Extra lenses should be kept covered in
storage so there is no donger of scratching when
not in use.

•

LIGHT FIXTURES — Wiring deteriorates
with age, but is easily replaced in most fixtures.
Broken switches and sockets should be removed
and replaced, wall brackets and hanging cables,
wires, etc., should be checked for strength.
Shades and crystal pendants used as orna-
mentation should be cleaned regularly l,see
Lamp Shades and Chandeliers) .

•

LOCKS — Most frequent complaint is loss of
keys, and keeping a duplicate set (locked in
safe or special key case) will make it possible
to have replacements made easily and eco-
nomically. When in doubt as to the number
of keys which may be outstanding or lost, have
a locksmith change the tumblers of the lock and
make new keys. (This applies both to hasp
type locks and those set in door facing, which
can be removed easily and taken to a locksmith’s
shop.) Your locksmith can also set up the
tumblers of a number of locks on the same
key combination so that one key can open a
number of different locks, if that is desirable
to reduce the number of keys one must carry.
(See Safes for combination type locks.)

•

LOCKERS — Generally in theatres these are
of the fire-resistant metal type, which require
oiling and occasional painting, with lock re-
pairs for those having self-contained locks. As
these are frequently not too well braced, they
may be bent out of frame in moving (or in
“horseplay” in the ushers’ dressing room),
which may require some minor repair work.
It is generally a good policy to insist that all
employees furnish the office with a duplicate
key to the lock on their locker so as to make
it easy to get into the lockers, without bending
or ripping them open, when keys are lost or left
at home.

MARQUEES — Present a number of varied
maintenance problems, which may be best
catalogued under sub-headings as:

Marquee Roofs: Must be kept clear of trash
and debris so that drains are not clogged.
Drains must be periodically checked and should
be covered at the roof level with protective
wire straining devices to keep out debris. When
leaks are observed, the roof should be checked
to trace and stop any breaks in the roofing
material. This may be done by application of
hot tar or special roofing compound. Flashing
must be securely affixed to building walls and
high enough for protection in heavy rains. In
winter, snow must be removed before it
presents a weight problem which might cause
the marquee to weaken or even fall. If
employees have occasion to walk on the
marquee roof frequently (as for letter changes),
it might be advisable to construct catwalks of
planking to bear the brunt of shoes and dropped
letters.

Attraction Sign Letters: These suffer greatly
at the hand of inexperienced and disinterested
employees who change them. Modern change-
able attraction board letters are usually plastic

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

STRONG • STURDY • LIGHTWEIGHT

NOW READY!

Will Meet Any Projection Requirement

THE NEW ADJUSTABLE

LOOK AT THESE FEATURES

• Revolutionary in design

• Adjustable to meet
every requirement

• Strong, but light in
weight

• Aii metal construction

• Precision made in
every detail

• Easily and quickly
installed

• Amazingly low in cost

• Madetoiast a iifetime

• Designed for erection
on stage or in front of
proscenium

• Optically perfect

H. R. MITCHELL and CO.

HARTSELLE ALABAMA

Available Through Your Local Theatre Supply Dealer

DRY CLEANING

FLAME-PROOFING

—ON OR OFF PREMISES

SHAMPOOING CARPETS
AND SEATS . . . DRAPES
MADE AND INSTALLED

Also distribute "Neva-Burn" compound for
do-it-yourself flame-proofing.

WRITE US NOW

NEVA-BURN prod. corp.

67 SULLIVAN STREET
NEW YORK 12. N. Y.

moulded, or cast aluminum alloy, which are
sturdy materials but nevertheless subject to
injury from hard usage. Employees must there-
fore have emphasized to them the need for care
in handling of this equipment. When the
previous attraction letters are removed and
returned to the letter room, they should be
stored on shelves which protect them, while
at the same time making it easy for them to
be found alphabetically. Metal letters should
be repainted about once a year.

Marquee Glass: Comes in rather large size
sheets and is generally a translucent, or milk,
glass. Extreme care must be exercised in
replacing broken sections, both for the safety
of pedestrians on the sidewalk, and so that
the workmen will not be cut by this fragile
material. Exterior surfaces of the marquee
glass should be wiped down at intervals with
cleaning cloths soaked in glass-cleaning solu-
tion, and when evidence exists that dust and
dirt is seeping behind the glass and fogging
it from the inside, it should be taken down and
thoroughly washed and cleaned.

Marquee Lights: Replacement of burned-out
bulbs and tubes is a responsibility of the house
electrician or of a stage hand, or of a staff
handyman, depending on type of operation.
An adequate supply of fresh lamps must be
kept on hand for replacement, which should
be made at least once or twice a week on the
marquee, as nothing looks so sad and forlorn
as a marquee covered with dark splotches of
burned-out bulbs. Incandescent bulbs still give
the best lighting effect (in this writer’s
opinion), with fluorescent tubing running a
strong second. Neon tubing is not very satis-
factory for theatre marquees where illumi-
nation is essential as it does not give a con-
sistently clear near-white light, though it does
provide attractive color effects. Repairs and
replacement of neon tubing require professional
assistance, which is another factor to be con-
sidered. (See Neon)

Marquee Ladders: There are several very
good types of step ladders available, some
specifically designed for ease in changing
marquees. Many theatres use a special “A”
shaped ladder which has a sliding vertical
extension from the top (making it look like
an inverted Y) and, using them in pairs, a
bridge can be made between them by placing
an extension catwalk, such as painters use,
between the upraised sections. When this is
done, the men changing marquee letters have
much more freedom of movement without the
necessity of moving their ladders so often.
•

MATS AND RUNNERS — Most theatres use
some form of door mat or runner in the outer
lobby during rainy or snowy weather, to absorb
as much moisture as possible and keep dirt and
grit from being tracked into the theatre, con-
tributing to the ruin of carpeting. The biggest
problem with runners is to keep them from
curling up on the end as a result of having
to be rolled up for storage. Attaching heavy
metal end covers on each and of the runner
will help keep them in place. Mats can now
be treated with a rubber compound on the
back side to keep them from sliding.

•

MICROPHONES — Protection should be given
these sensitive instruments when not in use,
wrapping them in soft cloth and storing in a
safe place. Occasionally they are knocked over
in use, and this may require some adjustment.
Most minor troubles can be cured by projection-
ists (such as soldering on a wire connection
which has pulled loose). For more serious re-
pair jobs it is suggested the mike be sent back
to the manufacturer, or to a sound service.

[to be continued]

Daytons

The accepted standard for ladders,
Daytons are built of selected, tested kiln
dried Sitka Spruce, Douglas Fir, or West Coast
Hemlock. Designed in accordance with the
latest specifications of the “American Stand-
ards Association Safety Code," and to meet
Underwriters Laboratories Standards for Lad-
ders. Approved and Labeled by Underwriters
Laboratories.

DAYTON Type A is con-
structed of tested airplane
spruce, reinforced with
rigid steel supports for
greot strength, light-
ness of weight. Hand-
rails of steel guard
large roomy platform
for added safety. Can
be set up instantly,
easy to corry, fold com-
poctly for storing.
Automatic locking fea-
ture insures safety
while ladder is in use
Standard rubber sofety
shoes no extra cost.

Sizes 3' to 12'
to platform.

DAYTON Type H, on
extremely rugged type
fodder, designed and
built to meet the
demand for o plat-
form lodder with
mill wright (rung)
type back construc-
tion. Tool shelf on top.
Ladder shoes stondard
equipment. Folds
absolutely flat for
eosy storage. Features
include pinch-proof
type spreoders —
corrosion resistant
zinc hordwore —
slip proof treads.

Sizes 4' to 16'
to plotform.

PoMton

' sofety ladder ce.

2339 Gilbert Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio
In Canada — SAFETY SUPPLY CO., TORONTO

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

ELMA, lA.

BARXUM was a piker! . . .
The name of no other showman has ever
captured the public fancy like that master-
showman of yesteryear who coined the
phrase, “There’s one born every minute.”
It’s hard to tell whether it’s because no
other showman ever rose to the true heights
of showmanship that P. T. did, or whether
he just had a better press agent. Neverthe-
less none has stepped into the long cold
shoes of Barnum’s for, lo, these many years.
But, we repeat, Barnum was a piker!

'Pile Academy this year was too attentive
to the merits of Oldsmobile, to give a
newly discovered genius due credit by be-
stowing upon him one of its streamlined
Oscars of 1954 in recognition of the fact
that those gargantuan shoes of the Master
of the Tanbark have at least been tried on.

Before divulging the name of the mys-
terious character that we have in mind, we
should rightfully pause for a commercial,
a station break and a cold beer. But you
have to get on with counting and rolling
nickels that 5011 don’t have to send to the
Gov’t any more, so we’ll dispense with the
advertising, open the envelope and — fan-
fare — The Winnah ! . . . IVIe !

Who else?

•

\ ou wanna know why? Well, here’s
the yardstick I used. (Of course I readily
admit prejudice, since I am the only judge.
But, by gosh, it can be proven!) What is
the yardstick of a showman? It’s the same
stick they use to measure a hit picture.
Dollars.

The amount of dollars from a given
potential that can be acquired by a show-
man, or a sales manager with high per-
centagitis, is the only yardstick we use in
this business. If anyone less modest can
afford a press agent, or do his own claim
making with any more validity than Avhat
you are about to hear, let him now speak
or forever buy his own Oscars.

I have equipped and paid for three the-
atres in eight years in a town of 729 peo-
ple. There, that’s the whole basis for our
claim to an award. If Barnum could have
done better he’d have had to cheat on per-
centage pics, or hired his own arsonist.
I’ve burned out three times in this very
same spot and they’re after me hard and
heavy to try for four !

If any of you people can say you’ve been

burned out three time and are ready for
another crack at it, then you’re in my
league. And I feel sorry for you. For it
is in a very low bracket, just one step from
the nut house.

It’s kinda ancient history now, but let
me tell you about this fire. Maybe I can
give you some advice that has been tem-
pered in the forge of experience.

Just about one-third of this town went
up in the biggest show we’ve ever had
here. With our theatre went a print of
Warner’s “So Big.” Everybody was there
but me. I slept through it all, no doubt
an indication of a clear conscience acquired
through many years of paying only flat
rentals.

•

A tavern exploded at 1 :30 a.m., on
M arch 4th, and resulting flames burned
out one block on one side of the street,
and three buildings on my side. I was No.
3 and last to go, they say. Since from all
reports it would have been impossible to
enter the theatre to save a few things. I’m
glad I slept. I’ve seen two of them go
before and it’s not fun. Besides, it was
pretty cold to chase fire wagons.

Insurance? Brother, I had everything.
1 even had insurance protecting my insur-
ance. You wanta know something,
though? You can’t win with these fires.
I had business interruption insurance that
pays for a period of time while out of
business. If you’ve got it you better make
sure it’s for nlenty. for if you think it’s
tough getting along with the income left
after taxes in a TV age, you should try
getting along with no income at all. Bull
Durham just don’t taste like Luckies, and
candles make a louzy substitute for those
high wattage 3-way lamps we used to burn
around the house B. F. (Before the Fire).

How about insurance on film? Sure,
you carry it, I know. How much? Know
what the film companies want when you
burn up a nine-month-old print for them?
A mortgage on your home, your left arm
and all your diamond shirt studs, if any
(in our case, none). Remember, you have
to pay for the reels and cans, too ! And
trailers, and paper, even the ink on old
approved contracts. You pay for them all.
At least they bill you.

As for other types of insurance — you

know that kind where they write you out
a check and you go down to the supply
house and load up on new stuff and get
back in business, but quick? There ain’t
no kind of insurance like that. I told the
adjuster (incidentally, some of my best
friends are adjusters — ^I know hundreds
of them) that all I knew about insurance
was to insure you property honestly for its
present valuation. If you do that you
don’t have enough to replace it. And if you
do have enough insurance to replace it,
they put you in the penitentiary on sus-
picion of arson. You can’t win.

So much for the fire. As for future
contributions to Better Theatres from
Elma, it looks like three strikes and you’re
out for me. Despite encouragement of
every kind to remain, I think I’ve about
had it here. I’m on the prowl. For what?
Another theatre, natch ! Who says this
business is going to fold ?

•

Sure, the little towns like this are get-
ting their brains beaten out and many have
closed with TV and the tax. But the tax
is gone. And the theatre is part of our
way of life. A town that can support a
clothier, a shoe store, a newspaper, a
women’s store, a good cafe, etc., and besides
the essential line of business, will still sup-
port a theatre. But this town never had
any of those things, save the paper, and
that is gone now in the fire. So if any of
you boys have weak stomachs about the
future and have one of those towns, just
let me know. I’ve still got half a hide and
am willing to bet it will grow whole again
in the greatest entertainment business in
the world, if I can get back in.

Right now it’s bed time. It’s great not
to have to stay up til midnight, leave the
wife home alone with the five younguns,
worry whether or not I shut off the furnace,
or whether the projectionist turned off the
sound, or whether tomorrow’s feature wall
arrive; or, if it does, whether it will do a
dime’s worth of business.

No responsibilities, no worries, no fussy
people to cater to, no restrooms to police,
no brats to correct, no spooners to watch,
no advertising to change, no crying babies —

No income, either. You wvanna sell?

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 8, 1954

CRAFT

aupER pewBE

NOW OPERATING IN THE
LARGEST THEATRES USING

GIANT SCREENS

70-120 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 120 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 1, N. Y.

OR CORPORATION • DISTRIBUTED BY NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY

Now you can have brilliant in-a-
car stereophonic sound! Now your
drive-in can reap the profits from
wide-screen, stereophonic sound
features which are breaking rec-
ords all over. Now . . . Simplex
brings you a really sensible "In-a-
car Stereophonic Sound System."

It sure

is! It's a stereophonic sound system that's geared to the way you hear!
Here are two big, full-tone speakers. One for the right side of the car,
and another for the left — to deliver this sound the way your ear wants
to hear it — perfectly balanced and perfectly co-ordinated with the
action on the screen.

, These speak-

ers are Simplex — always the best! The units used are of proven per-
formance— they weren't hurriedly designed to cash in on the popularity
of stereophonic sound. Each speaker is a full four inch Alnico V Alumi-
num voice coil speaker designed to deliver high fidelity performance.
Every one of the three sound tracks of the original film is heard. The
center track is split equally between the right and left speakers, so you
hear it as naturally as you hear the spoken word. ' ~

Of course it is I These speakers are |he most practical approach to
drive-in stereophonic sound. If you hove dome lights on the speaker
posts, you won't even need extra wiring. And these speakers are rug-
gedly built — they'll deliver top performance for years to come!

From any angle, these speakers make sense!

T.M. Sto.u. s. PAT. Off-

IN-A-CAR SPEAKERS

You should have seen our Sales Execs doing hoop-las in the
projection room last week when we screened an advance print
of the sensational "SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS”
in Cinemascope— color, too. It stars Jane Powell, Howard Keel
and a screen full of young talents all-out for love-making. Some
folks call me King of the Musicals. All right, so it’s true!

The Broadway scene is very Lion-ish (that’s me, pals). For instance:

RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL: Sensational "EXECUTIVE
SUITE” [starring Academy Award winner William Holden and
June Ally son, Barbara Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon,
Shelley W^inters, Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern, Dean Jctgger,
Nina Foch) — acclaimed by the critics and applauded by the
public, successor to another Music Hall record-breaker,
"ROSE MARIE” (CinemaScope — color; Ann Blyth, Howard
Keel, Fernando Lamas) — to be followed by "THE STUDENT
PRINCE (CinemaScope — color; Ann Blyth, Fdmund Purdom
and the singing voice of Mario Lanza).

STATE: Box-office music as fans applaud lovely Lana Turner,
even more exciting as a brunette {with Pier Angeli, Carlos

[continued)

{continue cC)

Thompson) in the fiery romance, 'TLAME AND THE FLESH”
(Technicolor).

"Don’t listen to
kill-joys !’’

VICTORIA: Exploitation natural grips Times Sq.'TRISONER
OF WAR” {Ronald Reagan, Steve Forrest, Dewey Martin, Oscar

Homolka).

GLOBE: Thrilling drama of Navy’s jet pilots bombs Broad-
way - ”MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY” (Color; Van
Johnson, Walter Pidgeon, Louis Calhern, Dewey Martin, Keenan
Wynn, Frank Love joy).

TRANS-LUX 52nd St.: That phenom of show business,
”LILI,” continues to pack them in, in its 2nd year. (Incident-
ally, it’s a clean-up in repeat bookings everywhere since it
won so much praise, not to mention the Academy Award for
music. Inquire!)

Random Thought: A lot of those gloomy folk who predicted
the rout of movies by TV are now confessing they don’t turn on
their sets nearly as much as formerly. The movie-going habit is
getting to be a habit again. Nothing to equal a good movie.
Where else can you see great color musicals like ”The Student
Prince” or big, star-studded attractions like ''Executive Suite.”
Only in the movie theatres, natch!

When the tip-off comes from as experienced a movie judge as
publisher Billy Wilkerson of Hollywood Reporter, lend an ear!
In a front page editorial of his April 13 issue Mr. W. reports a
group of M-G-M screenings in Hollywood, advance prints of
"THE STUDENT PRINCE” and "SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN
BROTHERS,” also "BRIGADOON” and "BEAU BRUMMELL”
{all in CinemaScope and ColoP) in stages of completion. He wrote :
"We sat in on 'Brigadoon’ and can report high enthusiasm, not
only for this picture but for the others. There’s no better way of
impressing anyone than by showing them the goods and that’s
what M-G-M did.” When you see for yourself, you’ll join Mr. W.
in his "high enthusiasm.”

iluiC M '(ot AloHe«|

EVERY SHOWMAN WHO SAW IT IS SAYING IT ■

“Superb and full of suspense!” Harold Barnes
Central States Theatre Corp., Des Moines

“A terrific picture! Should be great at the
boxoffice!” A. H. Blank, Pres.

Tri-States Theatre Corp., Des Moines

“One of the best thrillers of recent years!”

John Blass

Fenway Theatre, Boston

“Excellent! 3D at very best!” Mrs. Ann Blount

Bristol Theatre, Memphis

‘A fine motion picture ! Should do terrific at the
boxoffice !” Harold H. Brown

United Detroit Theatres Corp.

‘The best mystery show Pve seen in years !”

J. T. Callahan

The Oregonian

PERFECT

3 Dimension

IN THE HITCHCOCK MANNER

AND Warn erColor

“The best murder story I’ve ever seen !”

Mike Callahan

Times Theatre, Seaside, Oregon

"Finest picture of its type I’ve
ever seen !” Mary Flynn
Upstate Theatres, Albany

“This one will bring top grosses !” m. C. Fox
John Hamrick Theatres, Oregon

“Plenty of suspense! Should be a real
money-maker !” Gerry Franzen

Fox Bay Theatre, Wisconsin

“Here’s one to bring out the S.R.O. sign!”

Hal Glen

Allen Theatre, Cleveland

“Direction, photography and story are tops!

I predict real big grosses!” Irving Goldberg
Commxmity Theatres, Detroit

“‘Dial M’ should do tremendous!” Ralph Goldberg
Goldberg Theatre Corp., Omaha

“The best of the Hitchcocks !” Samuel L. Green
Riviera Theatre, N. Tonaivanda

“Best of its kind ever!” John Hamrick, Pres.

John Hamrick Theatres. Seattle

“Suspense from start to finish! Perfect cast
and direction !” Mrs. C. Johnston

Floodwood, Minn.

“Excellent! Edge -of -the -seat entertainment!”

C. A. King

Walden Theatre, Williamstown

RAY MILLAND •GRACE KELLY- ROBERT CUMMINGS

JOHN WILLIAMS ‘ANTHONY dawson • FRE

DIRECTED BY

DERICK KNOTT who wrote the International Stage Success ALFRED HITCHCOCK

COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED
BY DIMITRI TIOMKIN

“Has every ingredient for smash hit!”

Lester J. Sack

Sack Amusements, Dallas

“It’s right up our alley and I’m eagerly looking
for\vard to our May 28th opening!”

Robert K. Shapiro

Exec. Manager, N. Y. Paramoxint

“Best -made suspense -mystery in years ! Defi-
nitely top entertainment!”. Stan Smith

Irvington Theatre, Oregon

“One of the best murder mysteries I have ever

B. J. Tales

Interstate Theatres, Dallas

seen !”

“Excellent! Should do top business!”

Wm. H. Thedford

Evergreen Theatres, Seattle

“Extremely good from all viewpoints!”

Earl Vandiver

Palace Theatre, Kennett, Mo.

“Excellent! Enjoyed every minute of its

suspense I

T. J. Vernes

Yorktown Theatre, Cleveland

“Without a doubt, one of the finest pictures seen in
a long, long time ! Should prove a tremendous
attraction at the box office!” Dave Wallerstein

Great States Theatres, Chicago

‘Very best of Alfred Hitchcock !”

Harry I. Wasserman, Div. Mgr.

American Theatre Corp., Boston

“Should do very big at the box-office!”

Joe Weinstein

Stanley Warner Circuit Management Corp

‘Finest suspense picture I have ever seen !”

Raymond Willie, Jr.

TransTexas Theatre, Dallas

“Best yet in 3D! Hitchcock’s best!”

Bill S. Wright

Bijou Amusement Co., Wisconsii

“A show to make any
showman happy!”
Robert Zeitz

Zeitz Theatres,

New Bedford

“This is real motion picture entertainment!”

Arthur Keenan

New England Theatres

“Really great! Held us spellbound from
beginning to end !’’ Mr. & Mrs. R. Kunselman

Adamson's Theatre, Portland, Oregon

“Better than the stage play — so it should be an
even greater hit!” Julius Lamin

Colony Theatre, Cleveland

“Terrific! Hitchcock at his best!” r. l. Lightman

Dist. Mgr., Malco Theatres, Memphis

“My enthusiasm reached an all-time high for our
business after viewing ‘Dial M’! It is perfection,
and will rank as one of the top boxoffice attract-
ions of the year !” Frank Mantski

Northwest Theatre Service Co., Minn.

“Everything about it looks like big boxoffice!”

Willard Mathews

C & F Theatre Co., Providence

“Most interesting Hitchcock picture I have seen
in years!” H. M. McHaffie

Marmet Theatre, W. Va.

“An outstanding picture, and business will be the
same !” William Ostenberg

Gibraltar Enterprises, Denver

“The picture’s even more exciting than the play!”

Hazel Parker

Parker Theatres, Oregon

“Will surely be a smash!”

Samuel Rinzier and Emanuel Frisch

Randforce Amusement Corp.,

Brooklyn

Color by TECHNICOLOR

Play it in Genuine

4-TRACK MAGNETIC HIGH-FIDELITY DIREQIONAL-STEREOPHONIC SOUND

Also available in 1 -TRACK HIGH-FIDELITY MAGNETIC SOUND • 1 -TRACK OPTICAL SOUND

20th Century-Fox
proudly announces
the availability
soon of the

CiNemaScOPE

production
that begins where

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 7

MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor

May 15, 1954

It’s Up to Exhibitors

Exhibitor S choice is now the rule throughout
the industry with respect to what type of sound
should be used. Each theatre operator also en-
joys a wide latitude with respect to selection of screens
and anamorphic lenses.

The announcement last week by 20th Century-Fox,
following previous action by Loew’s and Warner Broth-
ers, that CinemaScope pictures may be shown with or
without stereophonic sound puts the responsibility
i.quarely up to exhibitors to keep pace with the techno-
logical improvements deemed desirable or necessary.
Likewise, Paramount’s recent demonstration of Vista-
Vision emphasized the importance of good screens,
lenses and projectors. No system will look or sound
well, in any theatre, unless high quality equipment in
perfect operating condition is used.

The exhibitor forum called by Spyros P. Skouras,
president of 20th-Fox, to highlight dramatically the rea-
sons for making a basic change in the CinemaScope
sound policy was one of the most remarkable meetings
ever held in the industry. Elsewhere in this issue the
flavor of the sessions is captured in a picture story show-
ing exhibitors, large and small, talking earnestly to their
colleagues and to distribution. Although the Fox meet-
ing was called by a distributor and held in a distributor’s
home office workroom, never before in a single day did so
many exhibitors have a chance to address so many of
their fellow theatre operators. During the six-hour meet-
ing fifty exhibitors spoke from the floor to the over-
flowing, standing-room audience that included approxi-
mately 500 exhibitors and circuit excutives.

WHEN the tide was running full in their favor
and they were assured of getting what they
had been asking for, some exhibitors expressed
apprehension. Worry was in the hearts and on the lips
of many that there should be no “stampede” resulting
in a policy change that might detract from Cinema-
Scope’s drawing power with the public. No one spoke
in favor of the complete debasement of CinemaScope,
mentioned as one possible alternative, i.e., release of
CinemaScope pictures as standard “2-D” pictures re-
quiring neither anamorphic lenses nor very wide screens.
It was unanimously the sense of the meeting that ana-
morphic lenses and wide screens were to be required
for CinemaScope ; otherwise the values of CinemaScope
both as a “new look” and as a system that has already
won public favor — would be lost.

One exhibitor, Mrs. Ethel Miles, of Columbus, Ohio,
summed up her concern in these words : “3-D was good
and we killed it. CinemaScope is good. Let’s not kill it.”

Ben Marcus, president of Allied, acknowledged by
20th-Fox spokesmen as one of the prime factors in
bringing about the change of policy, made it clear that
the basic responsibility for setting 20th-Fox’s Cinema-
Scope policy rests with the distributor alone.

Exhibitors now must act to bring their theatres up
to whatever technical level is practical. Freed from the
obligation of installing stereophonic sound by mandate
of the distributor, they must make the decision solely
on its merits in their own circumstance. In many cases
the decision will not be an easy one. Each exhibitor will
have to bear the responsibility for deciding to install a
three-horn system or not. Competitive pressures and
also the desire to do the best job will encourage many
showmen to put in the complete stereophonic system.
It is to be hoped that there will continue to be an im-
provement in the quality of equipment manufactured
and, if possible, additional reductions in the price of
delivering and installing stereophonic sound.

TWENTIETH-FOX plans to have ready first Cine-
maScope prints with a single magnetic track and
with a single standard optical track about July 1.
The company intends to furnish indefinitely four-track
stereophonic prints to theatres wishing them. Eighty
per cent or more of 20th-Fox’s gross comes from the
theatres which have already installed the full equipment.
Some theatres not in a position to afford a three-horn
system may install magnetic sound heads on their pro-
jectors and use prints having a single magnetic track.
At a later date the three matched horns and the addi-
tional amplifiers and related equipment could be added.
Some drive-ins also are expected to equip for single mag-
netic prints in order to take advantage of the greater
dynamic range of magnetic reproduction.

Whether an exhibitor installs stereophonic sound, di-
rectional sound, single track magnetic or continues with
standard optical sound, it must be remembered that the
public is quality minded. It is not accurate to assert that
the public does not appreciate and buy quality. Look at
the high fidelity television and radio receivers and record
players bought by millions, including a high proportion
of individuals who simply can not hear high fidelity.

Even though the average patron does not complain
about sound being too loud or too soft, or of poor qual-
ity» good sound, as well as good projection, is appre-
ciated. Each factor is significant in bringing about
patron satisfaction and in maintaining the motion pic-
ture’s status as the premiere entertainment of the world.
The public is to be served in proportion to the grossing
powers of each particular theatre.

It is up to the exhibitor.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

rjCettepS to the ^.J^erctid

About the Quigley Awards

To THE Editor;

The Quigley Showmanship Award
competition has been one of the most
constructive continuing forces in the mo-
tion picture business. — CHARLES
SCHLAIFER, Public Relations, New York
City.

To THE Editor:

This is as good a time as any to say
that the Quigley Awards have served as
an effective antidote to a hardening of the
showmanship arteries in our business. —

SAMUEL COHEN, United Artists Corp.,
New York City.

To THE Editor:

I feel that the Quigley Showmanship
Awards competition is an important part
of our industry mainly because it serves
as a stimulant to the men in the field who,

Rentals

To THE Editor:

It is indeed gratifying to read in all the
trade papers that this and that producer has
had a big gain in 1953 gross and net, and
double profit in the first year of Cinema-
Scope, etc., etc. This is all very nice for the
stockholders who have their money invested.
But how about the average e.xhibitor who
also has a sizeable investment in this busi-
ness and who has been lucky to break even
the last couple of years? The answer to
that question is easily given.

We have been blessed with some relief
by the tax victory which the producer also
shares in on larger nets now realized. The
question now should be, “When do we ex-
hibitors get some relief from extremely high
film rentals?” Don’t you think it is a little
(putting it mildly) out of line when a pro-
ducer asks 40 per cent film rental to a split
figure then 66^ per cent on a super-duper
picture which plays fourth run after twenty-
one days of playtime? Or 50 per cent film
rental on another so-called super-duper that
will now do only the same kind of box office
that the run-of-the-mill picture did two
years ago? Is there any reason why pro-
ducers should not show the gains they boast
about ? When are we going to be given the
opportunity to share and share alike in an
industry where the exhibitor is still a neces-
sity? Or IS he?

I’m sure I speak the mind of every ex-
hibitor large and small, over the entire
United States when I say that the producers
are getting more than the lion’s share of the

after all, are the ones who must come up
with money-making ideas. — EDV/ARD L.
FABIAN, Fabian Theatres, New York City.

To THE Editor:

I take this opportunity to say that I
have always with the keenest interest fol-
lowed the section of Managers’ Round
Table of the Motion Picture Herald, and
I am glad to say that in many instances
we have obtained ideas from that section.
— H. NOACK, International Pictures, Ltd.,
Distributors, Copenhagen, Denmark.

To THE Editor:

The Managers’ Round Table has, in my
estimation, always taken care of, and very
efficiently, a decided need within our in-
dustry. Keep up the good work. —

MARTIN SMITH, Independent Theatre
Ozmers of Ohio, Toledn. Ohio.

box office net. We are all in business to
make a fair profit for our labors. There
isn’t a picture made that is worth more than
35 per cent to those that have to run it after
first run situations have taken off the cream.
—FRED 1. LINDAU, Valley Theatre, West
Texas Amusement Co., Inc., El Paso, Tex.

Tax Reduction

To THE Editor:

Those in our business who might have
been hesitant in retaining the tax reduction,
and it was indicated even by President
Eisenhower that the movie and fur busi-
ness were the only ones that needed relief,
will be interested in the following quote
from a letter I just had from a friend who
represents numerous big-time manufacturers
of photographic equipment ;

“None of the equipment manufacturers
whom we represent have made any reduc-
tion because of the reduced excise taxes.
They are merely raising the dealers’ net
price to the same amount it formerly would
have been including the excise taxes. In
other words, the manufacturers are just
pocketing the difference on this.”

In checking with merchants I find that
numerous manufacturers are taking the same
stand, although their fight in Washington
was based along lines that the savings would
be passed to the public. In contrast, our
representatives made it very plain that we
needed relief so badly that in many cases
our reduction would be retained by the thea-
tres.— Georgia Exhibitor.

MOTION PiaURE HERALD

May 15, 1954'

MR. EXHIBITOR goes to town — at 20th
Century-Fox forum Page 10

ALLIED leaders say distributors get too
much of tax cut Page 21

CINEMASCOPE sales policy shifted, Allied
meeting advised Page 21

JOHNSTON sees bright future; lauds film
Production Code Page 22

RKO THEATRES reports first quarter net at
$485,458 Page 22

LEVY of TOA urges united action to
achieve industry goals Page 23

LIPTON of U-l cites value in sales of long-
range planning Page 23

VARIETY CLUBS salute William German
and UA at special dinners Page 26

BRITISH welcome change in CinemaScope
policy, to increase use Page 28

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— The box score on
the box office leaders Page 30

SMPTE concludes semi-annual meeting with
study of techniques Page 30

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus-

try personnel across country

Page 37

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising

Page 48

Film Buyers' Rating

3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene

Page 32

Managers' Round Table

Page 43

People in the News

Page 36

What the Picture Did for Me

Page 41

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews

Page 2293

Short Subjects Chart

Page 2294

The Release Chart

Page 2296

Release Chart by Company

Page 2301

"TERRY RAMSAYE SAYS"

In answer to many inquiries, THE
HERALD wishes to inform its readers
that the omission of Terry Ramsaye's
column has been due to an illness
from which the author is now con-
valescing. "Terry Ramsaye Says" will
be resumed in an early issue. — The
Editor.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

On tLe Ofi

onzon

The Radio City Music Hall in
New York is breaking records
even though these are not holi-
days. It has an MGM picture titled
“Executive Suite.” This did $110,-
000 worth of business in its first
four days. By way of comparison,
the Hall did $124,000 in the first five
days of “Rose Marie” during Easter.

► The Ford Motor Company likes
having its sales meetings in motion
picture theatres, and with television
carrying the messages from home
office sales executives to some 35,000
dealers, employees, and salesmen in
39 cities. General sales manager
Bob Rosencranz of Boxoffice Tele-
vision said the other day that the
two-hour meeting May 3 elicited
scores of congratulatory telegrams
and pleased the auto company.

► Jean Harlow will be remembered,
and glamorous again. Producer Sam
Bischoff has acquired the rights to
the story of her life for a reputed
$100,000. Mrs, Jean Bello, Miss
Harlow’s mother, on July 1 will be-
gin acting as consultant and advisor
on the screenplay. Mr. Bischoff
will spend $2,000,000 on the produc-
tion, the Hollywood story says.

► That much talked about and com-
mended Tushinsky variable ana-
morphic lens will be available in the
New York area possibly next week.
National Screen Service, its distrib-
utor, says. The first batch will be
50 pairs. The area thereafter will
receive that number or more each
week.

► End the Federal tax completely,
Samuel Pinanski, co-chairman of
the Council of Motion Picture Or-
ganizations, urged fellow exhibitors
last week. He said he as an indi-
vidual wouldn’t relax till complete
abolition. Mr. Pinanski spoke dur-
ing the meeting of exhibitors on
CinemaScope problems at the 20th-
Fox New York home office. See
page 10.

► Cinerama will ocOupy another
city shortly. It is Cincinnati, and
the date is June 21, at the Capitol
Theatre, This makes 12 cities now.

► Columbia is letting its stockhold-
ers see the product. President Harry
Cohn wrote them last week that
“From Here to Eternity” was of
course an outstanding success, and
that now the company is proud of
its coming “The Caine Mutiny” —
and he enclosed an RSVP card. He
invites the stockholder to see the
picture when it plays in his com-
munity.

► The Argentine government was
scheduled to put into effect in Bue-
nos Aires on May 7 a new law which
makes live vaudeville acts com-
pulsory in motion picture theatres,
according to Commerce Department
film chief Nathan D. Golden. He
said the law would gradually be ex-
tended later to other parts of the
country.

► Cecil B. De Mille’s Academy
Award-winning production, “The
Greatest Show on Earth,” will be
re-released nationally starting July
1, A. W. Schwalberg, president of
Paramount Distributing Corp., an-
nounced this week, Mr. Schwalberg
said the re-release will take advan-
tage of the currently available larger
screen and of the fact that the pic-
ture, like the subject on which it is
built, can be brought back annually
“just like the circus.”

► Decca Records has filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commis-
sion a registration statement cover-
ing the issuance of additional shares
of its 50-cent par capital stock. The
new stock is to be offered in ex-
change for additional stock of Uni-
versal Pictures at an exchange ratio
to be supplied later. As of May 1,
Decca said, it owned 672,996 Uni-
versal shares or 66.2 per cent of
the currently outstanding Universal
common stock.

► The Senate vote to send the Taft-
Hartley law back to the Senate

Labor Committee probably kills for
this session the studio unions’ hopes
of getting a tighter union shop pro-
vision they’ve been seeking. It’s
highly unlikely that the Congress
will move this much through and no
more.

► It now seems completely safe to
write off for this session of Congress
any amendments to the anti-trust
laws. It’s just too late now for any-
thing to happen this year in the
anti-trust field,

► Norman B. Rydge, board chair-
man and managing director of
Greater Union Theatres of Australia,
predicted in New York this week
that his company’s financial report
for 1953, due to be completed in the
near future, will be the best in the
history of the company, reflecting
the excellent business conditions
prevailing generally in Australia.
Mr. Rydge, on a two-week visit to
the U.S., said Australian theatre
business recorded additional im-
provement recently following the
abolition last October of the ap-‘
proximate 23 per cent Government
admissions tax which had plagued
the industry for so long.

► Audiences in the Far East — a sec-
tion of the world currently in the
news for reason other than cine-
matic— have afforded CinemaScope
and stereophonic sound warm wel-
comes, Loke Wan Tho, president of
Associated Theatres, Ltd., said in
New York this week at a press con-
ference at the 20th-Fox home office.
Realizing that competition is keen
among exhibitors in the Singapore,
Malaya and Borneo areas, Mr. Loke
said that Associated Theatres had
equipped five houses with complete
CinemaScope equipment. As an ex-
ample of the returns, he told how
“The Robe” had grossed $130,000 in
one three-week run, compared to an
average gross for a like run at the
same house of $60,000.

motion picture herald, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address,
“Qulgpubco, 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 HOllywood 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, MAY 15, 1954

MR. EXHIBITOR GOES TO
TOWN-AT FOX FOREM

Text by VINCENT CANBY; Photos by FLOYD STONE

THAT 20th Century-Fox, parent and protector of
the CinemaScope child, is a showmanship company,
was proved once again last Thursday. The place
was the New York home office and the occasion an
open forum of some 500 exhibitors, in from all parts
of the country, to discuss the care and the future
of CinemaScope with particular emphasis on stere-
ophony which, like tight shoes, many exhibitors
have felt would stunt the growth of the prodigy.

The immediate result was tlie company’s lifting of its
requirement that 2nth-Fox CinemaScope product be
played with four track magnetic stereophonic sound. Bow-
ing to a resolution passed unanimously by the exhibitors
present, the company agreed that as of July 1 its exchanges
will have available three types of CinemaScope prints:
one equipped with four track magnetic sound, another with
single track magnetic sound and a third with single track
optical sound.

There was, however, more to the meeting than this. As
a distributor-exhibitor forum it was perhaps unique in in-
dustry annals for leading directly to a high level policy
decision by a major company. It revealed the pro and
con participants in the stereophony fight to be something
less than all yes or all no in their positions. Indeed, at
one point in the meeting, 20th-Fox was put in the unusual
role of asking the exhibitors present to consider the fate
of the thousands of small exhibitors who could not afford
stereophony.

As a production this was showmanship calculated, in
the words of president Spyros Skouras, to dispel “the
more than normal anxiety over stereophonic sound’’. Not
(Continued on page 12)

THE RESOLUTION HAS BEEN PASSED and 20th Century-Fox has lifted its stereo-
phonic sound requirement for its CinemaScope product. Above, Al Lichtman,
director of distribution, and below, Spyros Skouras, president, receive exhibitor thanks
and conqratulations.

The Customer
Tells

The Distributor

WALTER NEIBOLD, Goshen, New York, says he
wants "the real thing" and advises 20th-Fox
officials to continue its insistence on full stereo-
phonic sound with CInemaScope product. The
audience listened and took a different course.

SAM PINANSKI, Boston, calls the meeting "one
of the smartest things 20th-Fox has ever done."
Remembering the tax campaign, he asks for a
spirit of unity and unselfishness in attacking the
current problem.

MR. SKOURAS, above, tells about forthcom-
ing product — $50,000,000 worth.

IKE LEVY, below, Trenton, New Jersey, exhibi-
tor, offers his solution to the controversy.

ETHEL MILES, Columbus, Ohio, tries to prevent
a "stampede" towards the relaxation of Cinema-
Scope standards. Whether the public actually
knows stereophony or not, she said, they like
and are paying money for It.

MAX CHASINS, Atlantic City, says 20th-Fox
must service as many customers as possible —
without stereo sound.

JACK TYLER, Paducah, Ky., advises greater use
than heretofore of CinemaScope's visual scope
and stereo sound.

J. ROBERT HOFF, left, execu-
tive vice-president of Ballan-
tyne Equipment Company,
Omaha, and a drive-in oper-
ator, says CInemaScope is prac-
tical and effective in drive-ins,
but not necessarily with stereo
sound.

SAM RINZLER, New York,
right, tells of his adventure
in 3-D with fine comic
effect. The equipment, he
said, was rather difficult to
unload.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

LEONARD GOLDENSON, above, president of
American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, reveals
his company has invested upwards of $6,000,000 in
full CinemaScope equipment, but asked 20th-Fox to
make allowances for drive-ins without stereo instal-
lations. Consider them separately, he asked.

ROBERT O. JEFFERESS, above,
Charlotte, N. C., owner of two
drive-ins, praised magnetic sound
and asked Mr. Sponable if "sound
mixers" were practical for chan-
nelling four tracks into one. The
latter said "no."

JACK FARR, left, Houston, Texas,
drive-in operator, reports on strong
Texas opposition to the stereo-
phonic sound requirement. Tele-
grams tell the tale.

THE FOX FORUM

(Continued from page 10)

JACK BARGER, Chicago drive-in operator, told of his experiences
with CinemaScope pictures at his twin-screen operation with screens
124 feet by 44 feet. He uses two speakers per car for stereophonic
effect.

SO incidentally, exhibition’s faith in 20th-Fox leadership
was presented for all to recognize. The production too was
climaxed hy a show business natural — a happy ending.

Dominating the 20th-Fox part of the show were the
ebullient Mr. Skouras, director of distribution A1 Licht-
nian and general sales manager W'illiam C. Gehring, who
was chairman, as well as 2flth-Fox executive.

Before them sat the exhibitors, comprising representa-
tives of circuits, national associations, small town opera-
tions and drive-ins. They had been ushered in at 10:30
A.M. with background music provided by a public address
system playing the title song for ‘‘Three Coins in the
Fountain” (20th-Fox May release).

The future of stereophony promptly was laid in the
laps of the exhibitors by Mr. Skouras in his opening re-
marks. ‘‘We would not be meeting with you today,” he
said, ‘‘if it were not the everlasting purpose of this com-
pany to regard the exhibitor, whether he is a large oper-
ator or a small one, as a partner.” He said 20th-Fox still
has an $8,000,000 commitment in anamorphic lenses but
denied that the company ‘‘is in the equipment business.”
20tb-Fox, he said, would bow to exhibitor wishes on
stereophony, but he asked them ‘‘not to destroy this great
medium no matter what we decide today.”

Mr. Lichtman got down to specific facts, outlining the
four possible ways of releasing CinemaScope product :
with four track magnetic sound, single magnetic, single
optical and in 2-D or conventional versions. The latter
possibility was not considered very seriously at any time
by any of the participants.

Under Mr. Gehring’s studied but easy direction, the
meeting then turned to its business.

The first speaker did not — as one might have suspected
(Continued on page 14)

CHARLES GOLDFINE, Philadelphia,
is the man who introduced the resolu-
tion which, as it should, resolved the
controversy which has been waged for
months throughout the industry on
both sides of the Atlantic.

HERB BROWN, Greenfield, Mass.,
read a statement praising stereophony
but suggesting that many patrons
could not tell the difference. "Good
product will bring back patrons," he
said.

M. H. BAILEY, New Haven, says his
piece at forum's climax before the
resolution's passage.

JOE BARR, Indianapolis, thinks 20th-
Fox should decide its own policy — a
surprise to Mr. Skouras.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 15. 1954

LOUIS ROSENBAUM, above,
Florence, Alabama, says he was
one of fhe first in the southeast
to install full CinemaScope and
asks what protection he will have
against non-stereo CinemaScope
installations.

MR. LICHTMAN, right, tells
the forum that 20th-Fox is will-
ing to compromise but advises
that the company will continue
to stress the importance of
true stereophony. Mr. Gehring
listens.

NATE YAMINS, Boston, says CinemaScope has
created talk but that its impact "has not yet
been comprehensive enough." Without stereo,
he said, more theatres will equip and the impact
of the new medium will reach all sections of
the country.

MYER RIBBS, New Orleans drive-in operator,
has a twin-screen operation where he says the
CinemaScope pictures look fine, without stereo
sound. He added that his earnings, and those
of 20th-Fox, would rise if they lifted the sound
barrier.

LOUIS SCHINE, Gloversville, New York, praises
20th-Fox and CinemaScope but suggests that
one way to win back audiences is a more orderly
release pattern of the important pictures,
whether they are in CinemaScope or conven-
tional form.

ALBERT PICKUS, Stratford, Conn., reads a
letter from Walter Reade, Jr., head of Theatre
Owners of America, requesting that exhibitors
be given "an optional choice" in the matter of
sound so that more theatres can play the 20th-
Fox CinemaScope product.

MOE HORWITZ, Cleveland, arose after the
resolution was offered and suggested an amend-
ment to the effect that each of the four possible
ways of presenting CinemaScope be considered
by the forum as separate resolutions. He was
voted down.

CHARLES WEISENBERG, Weisenberg Theatres,
Texas, says he feels that all theatres must even-
tually go to the wide screen type of presenta-
tion, but asks 20th-Fox to lift its stereophonic
sound requirements so that all theatres, drive-ins
particularly, may benefit.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

THE FOX FORUM

BEN MARCUS, Allied pres-
ident, above, says exhibitors
need no protection against
non-stereo houses. If it's
good, all must eventually
equip to meet competition,
he said.

HARRY ZEITZ, New Eng-
land, right, pleaded with
20th-Fox to retain Cinema-
Scope in its deluxe form to
keep the film industry out
of what he termed "the 2-D
groove."

{Continued from page 12)

I'roni reading the trade press for the last several months —
denounce stereophony and the costs involved, but asked
what protection an exhibitor who already had installed
full CinemaScope might have against those who might
later come along minus the special sound equipment. This
was Louis Rosenbaum, Florence, Ala. He was answered
first bv Mr. Gehring ("all the protection the law allows’’)
and indirectly by succeeding exhibitor speakers who, like
Ben Marcus, said that eventually competitive factors
would force CinemaScope houses without stereo to install
the special equipment. A favorite phrase used by a num-
ber of exhibitors was : “water will seek its own level.”

Herb Brown, of Springfield, Mass., backed CinemaScope
but qualified his statements by the observation that stereo
sound “is an added measure of perfection” of which the
public is not always aware, and asked consideration for
those who cannot afford it. This, as the day wore on,
turned out to be the sentiment of the majority.

Robert Hoff, Omaha, an equipment manufacturer as
well as drive-in operator, stated frankly two or three-
speaker “stereophonic” sound units in automobiles were
not particularly satisfactory and certainly were not worth
the cost in installation. Flowever, he praised the quality of
magnetic sound and urged the installation of the penthouse
magnetic sound reproducers.

A rather surprising note came into the meeting when
Ethel Miles, Columbus, Ohio, warned those present that
they were being "stampeded” into allowing 20th-Fox to
lift its stereo requirement. On the same tack, Joe Barr,
Indianapolis, suggested that the exhibitors let 20th-Fox
make its own decisions. Said Mr. Skouras jovially, “We
got plenty hell for making our own decisions up to this
time.” The ball went back to the exhibitors.

In due course came the resolution from Charles Gold-
fine, drive-in operator of Philadelphia, to the effect that
20th-Fox allow the exhibitor to choose his own sound.
The passage was held up while Mr. Marcus reminded that
the group had no real power to act, while Sam Rinzler
reminisced about 3-D and while various amendments were
offered and withdrawn. The resolution eventually was
passed unanimously, to the relief of all concerned.

SIDNEY LUST, right, Washington,
D. C., reports "wonderful" audi-
ence reaction to full CinemaScope
at his indoor theatres.

GEORGE BARBER, Illinois, left, asks
20th-Fox brass how he can keep his little
"unroasted peanut circuit open" when
he can install the sound but has no room
for screen. He has room, they said, and
set about to prove it.

FRANK HENRY, left, Trenton,
asked Mr. Sponable whether
CinemaScope would lose some of
its effect without stereo sound.
The latter replied that if it didn't
20th-Fox wouldn't have adopted it
in the first place.

MR. SKOURAS, right, in a char-
acteristic gesture indicates some
thing of the satisfaction he feels
at the turn of events at the un-
usual meeting. The exhibitors are
his friends and CinemaScope is
going onward and upward.

B 0 e R FpiipTR^HULI

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makes ALL types of
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of Theatres ... for ALL
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through the %ar !

n'^n 1 ? ( ‘

And for all those big months of
June, July, August and September,
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t fill

in I

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LLOYD C. DOUGLAS’

COLOR BY

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comes one

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with AGNES MOOREHEAD • OTTO KRUGER • GREGG PALMER

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD

ALL THE VAST PAGEANTRY THE TOWERING EXQTEMENT
THE THUNDERING THRILLS OF KNIGHTHOOD’S EPIC AGE !

SWEEP THE GIANT SCREEN OF Cinemascope

Myles of Falworth,
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COLOR BY

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DAVID FARRAR • BARBARA RUSH • HERBERT MARSHALL

with John Thatcher • Daniel O’Herlihy • Rhys Williams • Craig Hill
Directed by RUDOLPH MATE • Screenplay by OSCAR BRODNEY- Produced by ROBERT ARTHUR and MELVILLE TUCKER • A UNIVERSAL-INIERNM^^

ALLIED LEADER SAYS

MAJORS GETTING TOO BIG
A SLICE OF TAX CUT PIE

Percentage** Device Also
Scored at Allied Board
Meet in Midwest

MINNEAPOLIS : Distributors are getting
an unfair share of the recent Federal ad-
mission tax reduction — up to 80 per cent
in some cases, Ben Marcus, president of
Allied States Association, told members of
Allied’s board of directors at their meeting
here Monday.

At the same time, some 300 exhibitors
heard Abram F. Myers, general counsel of
Allied, declare that the “must” percentage
picture is the “worst thing ever introduced
into the motion picture business,” in an ad-
dress to the North-Central Allied unit in
a convention here May 10-11.

Says Many Exhibitors
Cannot Afford 50%

Many exhibitors with small theatres, Mr.
Myers said, know from bitter experience
that they cannot afford to pay 50 per cent
for a picture. As a result, millions of Amer-
icans have never seen such “monumental”
picture sas “Greatest Show on Earth” and
“Quo Vadis,” and he declared, “therein lies
the tragedy.”

“Enraptured by the heavy
grosses rolled up by certain of
their outstanding successes,” Mr.
Myers continued, “the heads of
the big companies have ceased to
think in terms of customers and
potential customers. Fast money
appears to be their only passion
and they seem not to realize that
as grosses mount due to high film
rentals and increased admission
prices, the pictures are being seen
by fewer and fewer people.”

Removal of roadblocks from the road to
recovery should engage the attention of
those who are responsible for erecting them,
before it is too late, Mr. Myers said.

“They should not be so blinded by their
temporary successes as not to realize that
they are sowing the seeds of their own de-
struction,” he said, asserting that long range
planning must include provision for keeping
everybody interested in pictures by making
them available at prices they can afford.

Mr. Marcus, in his talk, said that he and
Mr. Myers had received complaints from
exhibitors from coast to coast that under the
terms of sliding scale rental contracts the
10 per cent reduction in the Federal tax
had pushed some situations into higher per-
centage brackets, siphoning off from 50 to
as high as 80 per cent of the tax savings.

The national Allied board also planned
a protest to distributors against a print
shortage reported from eight exchange dis-
tricts, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Denver,

NEW SALES POLICY
FOR CINEMASCOPE

A new sales policy for 20th-Fox Cinema-
Scope pictures was laid down by Al Licht-
man, director of distribution, in a telegram
to Ben Marcus and Abram Myers at the
North Central Allied Meeting at Minne-
apolis. The telegram set up two points as
the basis of future contracts:

^ In the case of old accounts the company
will continue its earlier promise to guaran-
tee the exhibitor a profit,

^ All new deals are to be made "on the
basis of what our experience with each ac-
count justifies, with protection afforded
both the exhibitor and ourselves." Re-
negotiations will not be standard procedure.

"The Robe" was sold on a 70-30 per-
centage with exhibitors guaranteed a 10
per cent profit. Subsequent pictures were
sold for 50 per cent with a clause providing
renegotiation to allow for an exhibitor
profit.

New Orleans, Baltimore, Kansas City, Pitts-
burgh and New Jersey.

Mr. Marcus also announced the creation
of a special “Col. Cole Fund” to be used
as a revolving trust fund for legislative pur-
poses. The fund will be created by asking
Allied members to contribute a sum equal
to the amount they would have paid to the
Government for April 1, 2 and 3 of this
year under the old 20 per cent Federal ad-
mission tax. The fund will be established
as a trust fund which will be administered
by Allied’s president, treasurer and board
chairman, at the present time, Mr. Marcus,
Rube Shor of West Virginia and Mr. Myers,
respectively.

Calls Reduction in Tax
“Marvelous Victory”

Mr. Marcus criticized Columbia for high
percentages on “From Here to Eternity.”

Discussing recent developments, he said,
“We have won a marvelous victory” in the
fight for a reduction in the Federal admis-
sion tax. Touching on the outcome of the
20th Century-Fox forum on CinemaScope,
Mr. Marcus declared “we got an armistice,
but I’m afraid we still don't have peace.”

Mr. Marcus, however, did urge independ-
ent exhibitors with conventional theatres to
take advantage of the technological advances.

Details of the film plan of Hal B. Makelim
were outlined by the sponsor for the NCA.

Describing himself as a “small man being
shot at by the majors,” Mr. Makelim said
that he could guarantee delivery of 12 pic-
tures, two of which would be mediocre, nine
“nice” or “top features” and one a hit. He
described the financial arrangements for pro-

duction and said that he estimated each pic-
ture would bring in an additional $400,000 in
domestic rentals from non-contract signers
and from $200,000 to $400,000 from foreign
distribution. This additional $600,000, he
explained, would be divided equally between
himself and the original 2,500 signers.

Wilbur Snaper, speaking on new tech-
niques and equipment, said he did not feel
that he was competent to discuss recent
developments. As a member of national Al-
lied’s watchdog committee he said that he
has seen and investigated most of the new
methods and still was confused. He said
that Allied was setting up an information
bureau for members on a national basis.

No Commitments Now
On Further Production

Allied must tackle not only the supply of
pictures but the release and selling terms
of product, Nathan Yamins, president of
New England Allied, said.

Despite the enthusiasm of Allied States
board members for the plan of Mr. Make-
lim to produce 12 pictures to be sold to
independent exhibitors on a flat rental basis,
the board will make no commitments to
other producers at present, it was said.

The Allied board sent a wire to Spyros
Skouras, 20th-Fox president, congratulat-
ing him and the company for its decision to
make CinemaScope available to exhibitors
without stereophonic sound.

Mr. Marcus was appointed chairman of
a committee to investigate costs of produc-
ing stereophonic sound equipment.

Benjamin N. Berger was elected president
of NCA for the 11th year at the closing ses-
sion. Elected to serve with him were Ernest
Peaslee, Stillwater, Minn., vice-president;
Al Leet, Minneapolis, secretary, and Sim
Heller, Minneapolis, treasurer. Reno Risch,
Wisconsin exhibitor, was elected honorary
vice-president. An expanded board of direc-
tors totaling 29 also was chosen.

Makelim Plan Is Backed
By lowa-Nebraska Unit

OMAHA: The lowa-Nebraska Independent
Theatre Owners, in their annual meeting
here May 5-6, urged support of the Makelim
plan for “augmenting the scant supply of
motion pictures.” The group advocated “the
production and release of 12 films to be first
offered to the independent theatre owners
for exhibition in their theatres in whatever
run they choose and can afford.” The group
also called on film companies to aid exhibi-
tors by “reverting to the sales policies of an
earlier and more prosperous era when film
rentals were apportioned among exhibitors
according to their ability to pay.” The group
recommended that film companies make it
possible for all towns grossing $1,000 or
under per week to secure “must percentage”
pictures on a flat rental basis.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

JOHIVSTON SEES
BRIGHT FETERE

Annual MPA Report Cites
Need of Adherance to
Production Code

Eric Johnston, president of the Motion
Picture Association of America, forecast a
brighter economic outlook for American mo-
tion pictures, in his annual report, issued
Tuesday.

While cautioning against over-confidence,
he pointed to three factors as indicating a
“somewhat brighter picture for the industry
during the coming year.” He emphasized :

1. A stepped-up pace in tech-
nological advances with appar-
ent staying power.

2. An accent on higher quality
pictures.

3. Economies along the line,
including those at production
sources.

Mr. Johnston noted that these factors
“help counteract the competitive effects of
other media, generally higher costs, and the
still staggering array of restrictions and
trade barriers abroad.”

“An objective weighing of the pains and
problems along with the solid showing of
progress,” Mr. Johnston said, “leads me to
believe the American film industry has
greater achievements ahead.”

Further gains in the popularity of Holly-
wood pictures in foreign markets made 1953
one of the best years on record for Amer-
ican companies, Mr. Johnston declared.

While the increase in business volume and
revenue was achieved despite numerous
commercial and monetary restrictions, Mr.
Johnston noted that the American film in-
dustry may face even tougher trading ob-
stacles in the ensuing months.

Contributing factors, he explained, were
a growing scarcity of dollars and foreign
exchange in a number of important overseas
markets ; cutbacks in the U. S. Govern-
ment’s foreign aid program; and an in-
crease in nationalistic pressures to protect
local film industries.

Linked to Trade Policies

The report pointed out that the ability of
the American film industry to maintain and
develop its export business is closely linked
to the direction of U. S. international trade
policies.

“A backward step in U. S. trade policy,
or even a failure to continue the liberaliza-
tion of past years,” the report added, “would
adversely affect the motion picture industry
whose foreign markets now account for over
40 per cent of its total revenue.”

Among the barriers to the free flow of
U. S. pictures to foreign countries, the re-

port lists “exchange controls, artificial cur-
rency valuations, bilateralism, import quotas,
licensing requirements as well as a multi-
tude of direct prohibitions and internal re-
strictions.” On the other hand, “there are no
trade restrictions on the importation of for-
eign films into this country. In recent years
the playing time and gross business of for-
eign films in U. S. theatres have been mark-
edly increasing.

“The growing competition from foreign
films,” the report adds, “is a healthy devel-
opment. It serves as a further spur to Hol-
lywood to continue to provide the type ot
films which have enabled it to achieve a
position of world leadership.”

Production Code Vital

Mr. Johnston expressed confidence that
“the American film industry can meet the
challenges it faces overseas in 1954 and go
forward to even greater accomplishments in
the months ahead.” Reiterating the indus-
try’s backing of the program of self-regu-
lation and the Production Code, Mr. John-
ston said :

“I think it is reassuring to note
that the overwhelming number of
film makers recognize their re-
sponsibility to the public they
serve. The few who ignore self-
restraint invite governmental cen-
sorship and incite public condem-
nation.

“It is an easy mistake to regard
those who press for unbridled li-
cense as champions of originality
and creativeness. But there is
nothing romantic or artistic about
those who reject self-regulation
in favor of open warfare against
public morality. They are derelict
in their obligations to the public.”

Mr. Johnston in the report said
he was “convinced that the pub-
lic will continue to show its con-
fidence in and support for Amer-
ican motion pictures whose pro-
ducers adhere to the Production
Code.”

“Self-regulation,” he said, “is the dra-
matic answer to governmental censorship.
In our industry, we feel that the motion
picture, embracing art, education and in-
formation, as well as entertainment, is fully
entitled to the same freedom as the press
under the Constitution.”

Reopen Theatre

The Victoria theatre, Watertown, N. Y.,
closed in recent months, has been reopened.
The subsequent run, one of two such shut-
tered in that city, is bought and booked by
Joseph Agresta, who operates the Orvis in
Massena, N. Y.

MiKO Circuit
Quurter ]\et

At $485,458

WILMINGTON, DEL.: RKO Theatres
last Thursday reported estimated earnings
for the first quarter of this year, ended April
3, at $485,458 after taxes, compared to $325,-
361 for the same period the corresponding
year. The increase announced to the stock-
holders at their annual meeting here, follows
a loss on the disposal of capital assets of
$86,660, as compared to a profit from the
sale of capital assets of $13,754 during the
first quarter of 1953.

Profits from operating after all charges
and taxes was $1,543,876 as compared to
$1,041,695 for the same period a year ago.
Estimated taxes more than doubled for the
first quarter of 1954 over the same period
a year ago, RKO reported. Estimated taxes
for the first 13 weeks amounted to $460,000
as compared to $200,000 for the same pe-
riod in 1953.

Sol A. Schwartz, RKO president, told the
stockholders the company’s improvement
was “largely the result of the number of
fine quality pictures shown in RKO theatres
during the first quarter.”

“Since our annual report,” Mr. Schwartz
said, “we have disposed of one unprofitable
theatre and leased another theatre, the
Capitol, Cincinnati, for the presentation of
Cinerama pictures. We were required to dis-
pose. of this latter theatre under our consent
decree with the Government,” he added.

All officers and directors were reelected.

Makelim Plan Highlights
Kansas-Missouri Meet

KANSAS CITY : The close of the conven-
tion of the Allied Independent Theatre Own-
ers of Kansas and Missouri, May 5-7, was
concerned with the signing of contracts for
the Makelim-Borzage film plan. A substan-
tial proportion of exhibitors signed contracts.
Hal Makelim, Sam Nathanson and John
Wolfberg interviewed the exhibitors.

Abram F. Myers, general counsel of Al-
lied States Association, spoke optimistically
of the future of the industry and discussed
the new policy of 20th-Fox with regard to
CinemaScope and MGM’s step in the direc-
tion of non-requirement of stereophonic
sound with its CinemaScope pictures. He
also detailed operation and effect of Para-
mount’s VistaVision.

The annual election resulted in the re-
election of Beverly Miller as president, and
Gene Musgrave as vice-president. Ronald
Means was elected secretary-treasurer, suc-
ceeding his father, Jay Means. Four new
Kansas directors were elected, LeRoy Hitch-
ings, Osage City ; Alex Shniderman, Con-
cordia ; C. Bratton, Council Grove, and Tal
Richardson, Coffeyville. Three directors
were elected from Missouri; Ed Harris of
Neosho, Ray Cook of Marysville, and Herb-
ert Jeans of Columbia.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

liCvy Urges
U niiedA.ciion
Of Exhibitors

ATLANTA : Citing MGM’s and 20th Cen-
tury-Fox’s abandonment of the requirement
that stereophonic sound be used as a condi-
tion to showing CinemaScope pictures, Her-
man M. Levy, Theatre Owners of America
general counsel, asserted that “distributors
must not attempt to dictate to exhibitors
how they shall run their theatres, and ex-
hibitors must realize that in unity there is
strength and that with militant, intelligent
and affirmative action, gross injustices can
be prevented.

He spoke at the joint convention of Mo-
tion Picture Theatre Owners of Georgia
and the Alabama Theatre Association, Mon-
day and Tuesday, May 10-11. An estimated
700 exhibitors were in attendance at the
convention.

Speakers included C. L. Patrick, Martin
Theatres, Columbus, Ga. ; Harry Curl, Bir-
mingham; Emil Bernstecker, Wilby-Kincey
Theatres, Atlanta, and E. E. Whitaker, vice-
president and operating manager of Georgia
Theatres. Gov. Talmadge and Mayor Wil-
liam B. Hartsfield made welcoming ad-
dresses at the convention, presided over by
J. H. Thompson, president of Georgia The-
atre Owners.

All officers of the Georgia group were re-
elected at the close of the meeting. President
is J. H. Thompson; treasurer, E. D. Martin;
secretary, John Thompson.

The Alabama association reelected R. L.
Kennedy as its president, A. C. Cobb and
Rufus Davis as vice-presidents and T. E.
Watson as secretary-treasurer.

New Redemption Date
For RKO Stock June 30

Holders of stock in RKO Pictures have
been given until June 30 to tender their
shares for redemption by the company at
the rate of $6 per share, in accordance with
a letter mailed Friday, which extended the
deadline for redemption from the former
date. May 17. Stockholders who wish to re-
deem their certificates must surrender them
to the redemption agent, Irving Trust Co.,
at its offices located at One Wall Street,
New York.

"LUTHER” AUTHOR WAS
COMMUNIST MEMBER

Allan E. Sloane, author of the film
biography of Martin Luther, produced by
Louis de Rochemont, has told House of
Representatives investigators he is a for-
mer Communist.

Mr. Sloane, who also writes tor radio and
television, appeared voluntarily before a
secret session of the House Un-American
Activities Committee last January. His tes-
timony was made public early this week.

The 39-year-old Stamford, Conn., writer
said he had been a party member between
March, 1943, and July 1944, having joined
as a "fuzzy-minded . . . liberal."

Asbury Park Reade House
To Carry Fight Telecast

The St. James, Walter Reade theatre in
Asbury Park, N. J., will present the Mar-
ciano-Charles world’s championship heavy-
weight fight on its full-screen theatre tele-
vision set June 17 direct from Yankee Sta-
dium as the bout occurs. The Reade circuit
announced it had signed contracts with
Theatre Network Television for presenta-
tion of the fight, which will be blacked out
on home television. The theatre telecast
will also be barred from theatres within a
50-mile radius of New York City, so that the
St. James, according to Reade spokesmen,
will be the nearest theatre to New York to
carry it.

Lachman to New Post on
Variety International

Edward Lachman, former chief barker of
Variety Club, Tent 35 in New York, has
been appointed to the international staff by
George Hoover, international chief barker
of Variety Clubs International. In addition
to his new post Mr. Lachman will serve on
the international committee. Mr. Lachman
left last week on a European survey for
the organization.

Paramount Sets Dividend

The board of directors of Paramount Pic-
tures Corporation has voted a quarterly
dividend of 50 cents per share on the com-
mon stock, payable June 14, 1954, to holders
of record June 1.

Eong^Mtange
Elan JMeetled,
Sags Eipton

The answer to today’s selling problems
are detailed long-range planning, backed by
intensive national preselling, David A.
Lipton, Universal vice-president, told the
company’s advertising, publicity and promo-
tion representatives at the opening of their
three-day meeting at the home office in New
York Monday.

Citing the success of “The Glenn Miller
Story’’ as a case in point, Mr. Lipton de-
clared that the box office potential is as
high or higher than it ever was if all the
selling tools are properly and diligently
applied.

Stresses Advance Planning

But to reach this maximum audience, he
emphasized, it is vital that every step in
the selling and promotional campaign be
blueprinted and coordinated in advance.
Close integration is demanded for this be-
tween production, distribution and our own
phase of this over-all operation. He cited
the success of the “Charles J. Feldman An-
nual Sales Drive.’’

Mr. Feldman told the meeting the summer
group of pictures have the greatest variety
and highest price negatives in the company’s
history. He also lauded exhibitors for their
cooperation in the sales drive. He added
the company recognizes its responsibilities
to them by not merely providing them with
all types of pictures for all types of oper-
ations. It also gives them the proper pro-
motional tools for attracting the customers
to the theatre.

This year, Mr. Lipton disclosed, the budg-
et for advertising in national magazines
alone will be double that of the preceding
year. A good deal of this outlay will go
for such important properties as “Magni-
ficent Obsession,’’ “The Black Shield of
Falworth” and “Sign of the Pagan,” the
latter two being CinemaScope pictures.

Use of National Magazines

The company, he said, has always be-
lieved in the value of such national presell-
ing and now is in the forefront among the
majors in the use of national magazines
to focus the attention of the widest possible
audience on its product. At the same time,
Mr. Lipton said, the appropriations for the
equally important task of local selling have
been correspondingly increased and the
operations of the publicity and promotion
staffs broadened and intensified.

More than 30 promotional representatives
attended the sessions. Charles Simonelli,
eastern advertising and publicity department
head, presided. Others who addressed the
meeting were Clark Ramsay, executive as-
sistant to Mr. Lipton; Philip Gerard, east-
ern publicity manager, Jeff Livingston, east-
ern advertising manager, and Henry A.
Linet, sales promotion manager.

In Memoriam

MAURICE D. ‘RED^^ KANN

April 3, 1899 May 15, 1952

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 15. 1954

INe

CENT

are being mad

GENUINE 4 -TRACK HI
DIRECTIONAL- STER

(for this the exhibitor requires proper screen, an
“button-on” soundheads, and three speakers behi

1 -TRACK HIGH-FIDELI

(for this the exhibitor requires prop
tion attachments, and “penthouse

1 -TRACK OPT

^ for this the exhibitor requires proper screen

^ A #E express our most sincere appreciation to those exhibitors who
^ * attended our forum and whose advice and guidance have aided
our decisions.

We thank exhibitors of the world who have installed CinemaScoP^
complete with stereophonic sound, and who have so whole-heartedly
supported its presentation in the manner in which it was conceived for
exhibition.

As the company which pioneered and developed CinemaScoP^, we
wish to make it clear that we will continue to advocate that all

URY-FOX

RODUCTIONS

e available in

GH-FIDELITY MAGNETIC
EOPHONIC SOUND

amorphic projection attachments, “penthouse” or \
nd the screen (“surround” speakers are optional) I

TY MAGNETIC SOUND

er screen, anamorphic projec- \

” or “button-on” soundheads /

ICAL SOUND

and anamorphic projection attachments ^

CinemaScop^ productions be presented as originally designed with
genuine 4-track, high-fidelity magnetic directional-stereophonic sound,
which we believe vital to the best interests of the exhibitor for the finest
presentation and fullest audience enjoyment of CinemaScop^ .

We now extend a warm welcome to the many more exhibitors who
will equip for CinemaScop^ with proper screen and anamorphic pro-
jection attachments, and show it — in accordance with their own desires,
resources and public demand — either in 4-track magnetic stereophonic
sound, one-track magnetic sound, or one-track optical sound.

Photos by the Herald

THE SPEAKER at the left is Russell Downing,
Radio City Music Hall managing director
and dinner chairman. On his tier at the
triple dais, where sat leaders of the New
York industry, are Ed Fabian, Mr. German,
Adolph Zukor and Cornelia Otis Skinner.

WILLIAM J. GERMAN, generous, widely admired,
always ready to aid an industry charity, and a former
New York tent chief barker, received its first Heart
Award at a Waldorf-Astoria banquet the evening of
May 6. Scenes at the testimonial, above and right.

Variety Tents

MR. GERMAN, left, re-
ceives his Heart Award
from Mr. Zukor, known
now affectionately as
"Mr. Motion Pictures.”
The Award is an album
to contain memorabilia
from the dinner.

THE APPLAUSE is by
dais guests Charles
Boasberg, Charles Feld-
man, A. W. Schwalberg,
Max A. Cohen and Fred
Schwartz.

UNITED ARTISTS,
which appears hugely
successful in its 35th
year, under a new own-
ership headed by pres-
ident Arthur B. Krim
and board chairman
Robert S. Benjamin,
was given a testimonial
dinner by the Philadel-
phia Variety Tent, May
5 at the Bellevue-Strat-
ford Hotel. Among the
1 ,000 guests, every
branch of the industry
was represented.

THE BIG OVATION of the eve-
ning was tor Mary Pickford, hon-
ored guest, principal speaker, co-
owner and founder of the company.

M iss Pickford told how Mr. Krim
and Mr. Beniamin, seen applaud-
ing her, saved "good old United
Artists." Master of ceremonies
Phil Silvers is at the right.

Ben Marcus, Charles Boasberg, G. I.
Woodham-Smith, Herman Robbins,
and Louis Schine were among guests
on a dais spread the length of the
ballroom.

Salute

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

M. A. Silver, Ted Schlanger and
George Schaefer provide an example
of the enthusiasm generated during
the evening for United Artists.

Wilbur Snaper, Seymour
Poe, Robert Mochrie,
Eugene Picker, Max Fel-
lerman, Milton Cohen.

A LITTLE CAKE CERE-
MONY preceding the
dinner: the principals
are Messrs. Benjamin,
Krim and Silvers, and
actresses Rita Gam and
Jane Russell.

starring. bv i i V/ _

CHARLTON HESTON • ROBERT YOUNG
NICOLE MAUREY • THOMAS MITCHELL

and presentng\T''f A tS i/ZVI A-C"

Produced by Mei Epstein • Directed by Jerry Hopper • Screenplay by Ranald MacDougall and Sydney Boebm • story by Sydney Boehm

BRITISH BACK
CINEMASCOPE

Decision for Fox Greeted
Happily; New Impetus
for System Expected

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : Leading exhibitors here greeted
the cabled news that Spyros Skouras had
agreed they should play CinemaScope pic-
tures with sound tracks according to their
choice in no spirit of vain triumph.

Throughout the sound track controversy
they have never halted in their admiration
of Mr. Skouras’ pioneering endeavours, or
their appreciation of the fashion in which
he opened new vistas. They look upon his
latest decision as a further witness to his
wisdom. A vast upsurge is expected here
in CinemaScope.

ABC Circuit Goes Along

The powerful ABC Circuit, for example,
which always has refused to accept stereo-
phonic sound, has embarked on an immense
re-equipment operation with CinemaScope
lenses and screens. As previously reported,
19 of the circuit’s key houses already have
been equipped. The circuit estimates that
250 of its theatres are adaptable to the new
screen. By the end of this year at least 160
will be equipped.

The enthused reception given the private
screening of British Movietonews’ Cinema-
Scope picture of the Queen’s Commonwealth
Tour — “The White Heron” — will obviously
be another point for the process. The picture
will have a simultaneous release throughout
the CinemaScope “circuit” of the country
during the Whitsuntide weekend. Appro-
priate versions are being prepared for over-
seas.

Although comment is currently withheld
by the Rank Organization it is generally
believed the Skouras sound-track declara-
tion will lead to a rapprochement between
20th-Fox and the Organization.

All the sudden CinemaScope ferment set
the stage suitably for MGM’s demonstra-
tion of Perspecta Sound Wednesday. The
demonstration preceded the opening of
“Knights of the Round Table.” It was
attended by exhibitors from the whole
country.

TV Bill in Commons

The Government’s Television Bill con-
tinues to have an uncomfortable passage
through the House of Commons. It = has
reached the committee stage in the House,
when its provisions may be examined line
by line. Taking advantage thereof the
Labour Opposition put down more than 100
amendments to various clauses and, in an
attitude suspiciously akin to a filibuster,
insisted on each being debated.

The Government has now decided that

the committee stage will be continued next
week under what is called a guillotine
motion. That is, a time limit will be set.

There is now little spare time in
the Government’s parliamentary timetable.
Nevertheless, the objections made by Labour
have something more than usual force ;
notably the assertion that the Government
has surrendered to top pressure groups
among its supporters representing advertis-
ing interests. The weakness, indeed, of the
Government’s position is the lack of enthu-
siasm among many of its own party.

The Government overtly is determined to
have its bill made law in the present session
and its Independent Television Authority
operating early next year. The suggestion,
however, is made in well-informed circles
that Prime Minister Winston Churchill may
find a diplomatic reason shortly after the
Parliamentary summer recess why his TV
Bill should be abandoned.

Union Lets Off Steam

Like most other trades-union gatherings,
the annual conference of Tom O’Brien’s
NATKE (National Association of Theatri-
cal and Kine Employees) developed largely
as an occasion of letting off rhetorical steam
tinctured with the customary complacent
back-slapping. On two issues, however, the
conference made the union’s position clear
and to the approval of most responsible
leaders of the British industry.

In one resolution, NATKE’s delegates
demanded the Government initiate dis-
cussions with the U. S. Government de-
signed to bring about a reciprocal arrange-
ment for a “fair and just showing of
British films” in America as a condition of
American films continuing to have what is
described as “virtually an open market in
this country.”

The other significant issue was concerned
with the activities of the rival union ACT
(Association of Cinematograph and allied
Technicians). Eollowing the recently re-
ported shakeup in ACT’s executive control
Mr. O’Brien could scarcely embark at his
Conference on his customary anti-Red
tirade. But he is still irked at the most-
favoured-treatment accorded ACT men in
studios as compared with NATKE members.

Rank Unit Has Profit

The J. Arthur Rank British Optical and
Precision Engineers, Ltd., reports a profit
of £142,767 for the year to December 26,
1953, compared with £135,011 in 1952. After
payment of the preference dividend, a divi-
dend of five per cent is paid on the
ortlinaries.

Events march rapidly towards a resolve-
ment of the KRS-CEA break-figure dispute.
It has been agreed that the matter be decided

by a joint committee of the two Associations
presided over by an independent chairman.
CEA rejected the KRS nominee for that
post and proposed another man. If this
nomination is not accepted by the renters,
the president of the Law Society will be
asked to appoint the chairman.

Schedule VistaVision
Showings for Europe

Loren L. Ryder, head of research for
Paramount Studios, flew to London last
weekend to handle preparations for Vista-
Vision demonstrations in major European
cities this June. He indicated London would
be the first European city in which Vista-
Vision would be demonstrated. From Lon-
don, Mr. Ryder will fly to Paris, Frankfort
and Rome. He will select a theatre in each
city for the demonstrations. The European
demonstrations will parallel those conducted
for exhibitors and newsmen at Radio City
Music Hall, Washington’s Capital Theatre
and Loew’s Grand theatre, Atlanta, during
the last several weeks.

National Theatres Net
$ 1 ,307,050 for 6 Months

HOLLYWOOD : The consolidated net in-
come of National Theatres, Inc., and voting-
controlled subsidiaries, after all charges, for
the 26 weeks ended March 27 was $1,307,-
050, which is equal to 47 cents per share on
the 2,769,486 shares outstanding, president
Charles P. Skouras Monday reported to
shareholders. The corresponding figures for
the previous year were $1,458,529 and 53
cents per share. Mr. Skouras said the de-
crease in net income is due to a shortage of
high quality pictures, increased film prices,
and increasing television competition in
some areas.

"The New Look in Movies"
Theme of I Ith COMPO Ad

The eleventh Council of Motion Picture
Organizations’ advertisement in “Editor and
Publisher” is titled, “The New Look in
Movies” and notes the renaissance in the
medium because of its new technical achieve-
ments. It says, in part, in its continuing
message to the editors and publishers who
read the magazine as the trade paper of
the newspaper business, that : “There is an
indestructible buoyancy in the motion pic-
ture business that seems to prevail from the
top to the taproots. . . . These days, the
movie business is flexing its muscles and
making sounds like a showman.”

Levey Decides to
Dub "She Wolf"

Jules Levey, independent distributor oper-
ating from New York, has withdrawn “The
She Wolf” for dubbing in English. This
version wilbbe ready, he said, in July or
August. He added he is assured bookings
by circuits and independent situations. In-
ternational Film Distributors of Toronto has
acquired Canadian rights. The picture
played 10 weeks at the World theatre, in
New York.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities tor the week ending
May 8 were:

Techniques
Are Studied
By SMBTE

WASHINGTON : The Society of Ulotion
Picture and Television Engineers concluded
its week-long 75th semi-annual convention
here Friday, May 7, with a morning session
on advances in high-speed photography and
morning and afternoon sessions devoted to
new equipment and techniques in television.

The convention, which drew a registration
of 720, was keynoted by the showing of early
motion pictures and historical reviews of the
evolution and progress to date of all techni-
cal branches of the motion picture and tele-
vision arts and sciences.

SMPTE will conduct a limited survey of
screen brightness conditions in drive-in
theatres. The survey will be conducted by a
committee headed by Dr. Fred Kolb of East-
man Kodak.

In the closing sessions it was reported by
the magnetic sound committee that it had
completed recommended standards for single
film, multiple track magnetic sound. It said
the standards had been worked out in co-
operation with the Motion Picture Industry
Council and still must be approved by the
American Standards Association.

Herbert Barnett, president of SMPTE
and executive vice-president of Cinerama,
Inc., announced that the society’s fall con-
vention will be held at the Ambassador
Hotel in Los Angeles October 18 to 22.

National Tour Promotes
20th-Fox's "Demetrius"

As part of the promotional program for
20th Century-Fox’s “Demetrius and the
Gladiators,” arrangements have been set for
actor Jay Robinson to make a cross country
personal appearance tour heralding the
CinemaScope spectacle. Robinson, who por-
trays Roman Emperor Caligula in the Tech-
nicolor production, began the publicity swing
Monday in San Francisco. Included in the
itinerary are talks before Parent-Teacher
groups, civic organizations, school assem-
blies, newspaper interviews and TV, radio
and theatre appearances. Attired in full cos-
tume, he will do scenes from the picture and
discuss the making of the production to be
released in June.

Milwaukee Projectionists,
Exhibitors Aid Retirement

A Motion Picture Projectionists Union
Severance Trust has been created by the
lATSE Local 164 and the area’s exhibitors.
Its purpose is to aid financially projection-
ists who have retired, and others disabled
through sickness or accident. Theatre own-
ers finance it by paying a percentage of
projectionists’ wages into the fund. These
began January 11. The fund now has al-
most $50,000. On the board are Harold J.
Fitzgerald, Fox Wisconsin circuit president,
co-chairman; Oscar E. Olson, union busi-

Albany: Carnival Story (RKO), Crea-
ture FROM THE Black Lagoon (U-I),
Genevieve (U-I).

Atlanta: French Line (RKO).

Baltimore: Executive Suite (MGM),
River of No Return (20th-Fox).

Boston: Knock on Wood (Para.) 3rd
week. Elephant Walk (Para.)

Buffalo: Executive Suite (MGM), River
OF No Return (20th-Fox), Riding
Shotgun (WB), Carnival Story
(RKO), French Line (RKO) 2nd
week.

Chicago: Executive Suite (MGM),
Heidi (UA) 4th week, Pinocchio (Dis-
ney-RKO, reissue).

Cincinnati: Executive Suite (MGM),
The Moon Is Blue (UA).

Cleveland: The Mad Magician (Col.),
The Moon Is Blue (UA).

Columbus: The Moon Is Blue (UA) 2nd
week.

Denver: River of No Return (20th-Fox),
Jubilee Trail (Rep.), Hell’s Half
Acre (Rep.), Yankee Pasha (U-I),
Massacre Canyon (Col.).

Detroit: Little Fugitive (Burstyn) 3rd
week. River of No Return (20th-Fox),
Indiscretion of an American Wife
(Col.) 2nd week. Prince Valiant (20th-
Eox) 3rd week. Elephant Walk
(Para.)

Hartford: Elephant Walk (Para.),
Prisoner of War (MGM), Beachhead
(UA).

Indianapolis: Elephant Walk (Para.),
She Couldn’t Say No (RKO), Top
Banana (UA).

Jacksonville: Elephant Walk (Para.),
French Line (RKO), From Here to
Eternity (Col.) 2nd run.

ness manager, co-chairman; Alfred D.
Kvool, Standard Riverside Company gen-
eral manager; Harold Pearson, Allied of
Wisconsin secretary; Glenn C. Kalkhoff,
union president; and Robert O. Lucht, union
secretary.

Sue On "Champagne Safari"

Defense Film Corp., and Jackson Leighter
Associates, owner and producer, respec-
tively, of “Champagne Safari,” are suing
Columbia in Los Angeles Superior Court,
for $4,000,000. They also ask an injunction
to prevent alleged restraint against the pic-
ture’s commercial engagements. The picture
records the wedding travels of Rita Hay-
worth and her former husband, Aly Kahn,
through Africa.

Kansas City: French Line (RKO) 2nd
week, Carnival Story (RKO) and
Loose in London (AA) double bill.
Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd week.

Memphis: Carnival Story (RKO),

Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd week.
The Miami Story (Col.) 2nd week. The
Mad Magician (Col.) 2nd week.

Miami: Executive Suite (MGM) hold-
over.

Milwaukee: Executive Suite (MGM)
2nd week, French Line (RKO) 3rd
week.

Minneapolis: Executive Suite (MGM),
Julius Caesar (MGM) holdover.

New Orleans: Martin Luther (de Roche-
mont) holdover. Executive Suite
(MGM) 2nd week. She Couldn’t Say
No (RKO) 2nd week.

Oklahoma City: Prince Valiant (20th-
Eox) 2nd week, From Here to Eternity
(Col.), French Line (RKO) 2nd week.
The Robe (20th-Fox) holdover.

Omaha: Dangerous Mission (RKO),
Lucky Me (WB), Ride Clear of Di-
ablo (U-I).

Philadelphia: River of No Return (20th-
Eox) .

Pittsburgh: Executive Suite (MGM).

Portland: Executive Suite (MGM),
Southwest Passage (UA), She
Couldn’t Say No (RKO), The Siege
AT Red River (20th-Fox), Rhapsody
(MGM), Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)
3rd week. The Living Desert (Disney)
8th week.

Providence: The Mad Magician (Col.),
Elephant Walk (Para.).

Vancouver: Hell and High Water
(20th-Fox).

Washington: Executive Suite (MGM),
Rose Marie (MGM), Elephant Walk
(Para.), Knock on Wood (Para.) 4th
week.

Kansas City Theatre
Gets Trust Stipulation

KANSAS CITY : A stipulation enabling the
Electric Theatre here to show pictures on
a first-run basis at the same time as theatres
in downtown Kansas City was entered in
the U. S. District Court here. The stipula-
tion entered by Judge Albert A. Ridge, was
agreed to by 20th Century-Fox, Fox Mid-
west, Inc., and Universal Film Exchange,
Inc. The three defendants and others had
been sued for $1,500,000 in an action by
W. D. Fulton, owner of the Electric, filed
in July, 1952. Fulton also, according to
terms of a covenant and contract not to sue,
is to be paid $130,000 by the three defend-
ants in the case.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 15. 1954

LONDON'S GREATEST MONEY MAKER IS

“DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

^ In the fourth week of its run at the Odeon, Leicester Square — London’s premier theatre
— it took more money than any other film in a similar period since its opening in 1937.

^ Simultcincoiisly the 2,564 seat New Victoria Theatre also recorded its greatest
week’s business since it opened in 1931.

^ SimultClTlBOUsly the 2,147 seat Dominion Theatre, Tottenham Court Road,
recorded the hest week’s business since 1948.

^ More records were broken at Gaumont Theatres in their first runs at Bournemouth,
Luton, Coventry, Rochester, Chatham, Dover, Portsmouth, Reading, Southend . . .

• - -v;; •

¥«■

The J. Arthur Rank Organization presents

Dirk BOGARDE*Muriel PAVLOW* Kenneth MORE*Donald SINDEN

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

Color by TECHNICOLOR

Also Starring KAY KENDALL • JAMES ROBERTSON JUSTICE • DONALD HOUSTON *
Adapted from his own novel by Richard Gordon « Screenplay by Nicholas Phipps
Directed by Ralph Thomas • Produced by Betty E. Box

- ■‘■•'V-'i- ■ uirectea oy Kaipn i nomas • Produced Dy Betty t. Box

DISTRIBUTION

CANADA

J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors
(Canada) Ltd.,

Victoria Street,
Toronto, Ontario, -

J -§

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

The death last week of Walter E. Kline,
founder and owner of Walter E. Kline &
Associates, brought to quiet close one of the
most unique and least reported careers in
Hollywood annals. The deceased came to
Hollywood in 1918 and shortly thereafter
established the public-relations firm that
bears his name. Not many persons still
around the trade here remember the firm’s
early years, but there is hardly anybody in
town, whose professional activities relate to
production costs, who hasn’t had dealings
with it, one way or another, for it is not a
public relations organization in the normal,
formal meaning of the term. It is a very
special kind of public-relations firm, and its
particularly special service to its clients —
some of the most distinguished merchandise
concerns in the world — consists in getting
their products into entertainment features in-
conspicuously enough to escape public com-
plaint but identifiably enough to register the
brand-name or trademark or symbol, etc.,
on the conciousness (or even the subconci-
ousness) of the observer.

Now this has been an activity of varying
repute down the years, rising at one time
to the status of a cmise celebre and slipping
back again to the level of tacitly accepted
practice, but it has never been entirely dis-
continued, and it has always been profitable.
Sometimes it has been amusing, at all times
it has been secret, so far as external notice
goes, and occasionally it has backfired. In
the wrong hands it has made trouble, caused
embarrassment, necessitated re-takes, but not
in Kline hands.

Producer Often Given
Important Assistance

In many an instance the producer of a
small-budget picture is given important pro-
duction help by a Kline representative, or a
similar public-relations man. The whole ex-
pense of building a set — store interiors are
especially favored — is borne by the public-
relations firm on the understanding that the
merchandise necessary to the realism of the
scene be the merchandise of the firm’s cli-
ents, and recognizable in at least one shot.
As the merchandise is precisely the mer-
chandise that would appear in a real store
of the same kind, nobody gets cheated, the
requirement of realism is served, the produc-
tion budget buys one more set than it would
have bought otherwise, and the public rela-
tions firm earns a reasonably honest dollar.

In most instances the arrangement for
the placement of the merchandise is made
with the producer or the producing com-
pany, wholly openly, but sometimes it’s made
with the director, often the property man,
and frequently off-record, although that is
not to say outrightly off-color. These latter

arrangements sometimes go awry. The Kline
firm, and maybe others, sends an observer
to the first preview of a picture in which
it’s got a client’s product going, to make
sure it’s not been cut out, overshortened,
whatnot.

Several Items “Planted”

In Particular Picture

In the case of a certain picture previewed
one morning last week such an observer con-
fided to a trade paper reviewer in the ad-
joining seat that his firm had a certain
middle-priced automobile and a certain elec-
tric razor planted in the upcoming film. The
story called for use of half a dozen auto-
mobiles, and they all turned out to be the
same kind, identifiably, which pleased the
young man, naturally. But the actor who
was called upon to wield the electric razor
in the picture crossed up the firm, the ad-
vertising client, and everybody but himself.
He used the wrong kind of razor. The firm’s
observer checked off that item on his list
as a dead loss. Some other actor will make
it up in some other picture. It’s a ranking
brand. Nobody will lose a dime on the deal.

It’s a long jump from these minor maneu-
vers to the big-scale agreements made by
the bigger-budget producers, usually with
the merchandiser directly. One of the big-
gest studios in town has a standing offer to
the manufacturers of principal products
which may be called for in a given picture
— such as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners,
motor boats, — and which can be fabricated
or taken, so to speak, from stock. The offer
is to use an identifiable refrigerator, etc.,
instead of a make-believe one, and leave the
label or trademark on it intact, if the manu-
facturer will spend $1,000,000 in national ad-
vertising tie-ing up the product and the pic-
ture. Only top-drawer manufacturers are
eligible. Nobody gets hurt by the deal. And
the picture gets $1,000,000 plus advertising.

AS a kind of parting-word on the subject of
the industry’s pact with the lay press con-
cerning the reviewing of motion pictures
(for the “Life” magazine violation of the
pact in the case of “The Caine Mutiny,”
outlined here last week, provided the per-
fect test case) the following is the language
used by Universal-International on its credit
sheets distributed to reviewers and other
press people attending previews of that com-
pany’s pictures:

“In line with the established procedure,
you are invited to this preview with the un-
derstanding that no reviews will be pub-
lished until after the local release date of
this picture.”

That’s pretty hard for anybody to mis-
understand.

Some of the other studios use other

phraseology to the same end, but there is
no uncertainty about what is meant.

Maybe it should be written by those mem-
bers of the industry who suffer first and
worst the adverse effects of pact violations
— the motion picture theatre owners. The
pact was their baby. It has been left largely
in the care of the studios, and has fared
very well in the main, but these are days
when the studios have too many and too
heavy burdens of their own to make its care
a first order of business. The big exhibitor
associations, now at their peak of effective-
ness, might serve everybody in the business
quite profitably by tendering the studios
their cooperation in the enforcement of the
agreement.

Illllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllilllll

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (4)

MGM

Glass Slipper
(Eastman color)

INDEPENDENT

Return of Columbus
( Paal-Real )

COMPLETED (3)

COLUMBIA

Cannibal Attack

INDEPENDENT

This Is My Love

SHOOTING (26)

A-A

Adventures of Hajji
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

COLUMBIA

Pffft

Violent Men
(Technicolor)

Rough Company
(CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

Long Gray Line
( CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

Joseph and His Brethren
( CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

Three for the Show
(CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Long John Silver (Kauf-
man: CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

LIPPERT

Race for Life (Hammer)

MGM

Deep in My Heart
(CinemaScope: color)
Green Fire

(Eastman color)

Rogue Cop
Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

V/oman's V^orld
(CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

U-l

Destry (Technicolor)

(Dowling: Eastman)

U-A

Suddenly (Bassler)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
( VistaVision;
Technicolor)

RKO

Where the Wind Dies
Bogeaus: SuperScope:
Technicolor)

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney:
CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

Untamed (Cinema-
Scope: Technicolor)

U-A

Vera Cruz (Hecht-Lan-
caster: SuperScope:
Technicolor)

U-l

Shadow Valley
(Technicolor)

So This Is Paris
(Technicolor)

WARNER

Dragnet ( WarnerColor)
Battle Cry (Cinema-
Scope: WarnerColor)
Helen of Troy (Cinema-
Scope: WarnerColor)
Land of the Pharoahs
(CinemaScope:
WarnerColor)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

RCA now presents the lowest priced

QUALITY STEREOPHONIC SOUND

For the first time ever . . . here is a quality
stereophonic sound system— built to let the
small- and medium-sized theatre enjoy the
increased grosses of the new types of films
. . . on a rock-bottom budget.

Through a brand-new, dual-cone speaker
design — through important manufacturing
economies — RCA can offer many exclusive
RCA design features — many items now in
use in the largest houses— to the theatre
that must operate on a small budget.

Developed specifically for RCA’s new
"Smaller-Theatre" line, is the all-new, reflex-
baffle speaker ... a true, wide-range, big-
power speaker for houses up to 1200 seats.
In this speaker you’ll find RCA has again
put its vast facilities and technical back-
ground to work ... to bring you quality at
a low, low price.

For the finest in stereophonic sound,
equip your house with RCA’s superb Stereo-
scope Sound, including:

• RCA BUTTON-ON SOUNDHEAD

'Utilizing the soft-loop system for flutter-free sound

• RCA AUDIO-SYNC AMPLIFIERS

for complete operator convenience, most faithful reproduction

• RCA EXPONENTIAL-FLARE SPEAKERS

for complete coverage in any type of house

THEATRE EQUiRMEMT

RADIO CORRORATIOM of AMERICA

EMGIMEERiMO RRODUCTS CAMDEN. M.J,

(g) In Canada: RCA VICTOR Company Limited, Montreal

Exports Up
Sharply in
Year 1953

WASHINGTON : U. S. exports of motion
picture films and equipment in 1953 were
up sharply over 1952 and were at the high-
est level since the peak year of 1947, the
Commerce Departmnt has reported.

Nathan D. Golden, film chief, said the
total value last year amounted to $29,352,-
273, a 14 per cent increase over the 1952
exports of $25,692,819. The 1947 figure
was $31,547,567.

Sharpest increase came in shipments of
raw stock. Shipments of exposed feature
films were up in value but down in terms
of linear feet. Shipments of projectors
were up in number but down in dollar value.
Exports of cameras and other equipment
were substantially higher in 1953 than the
year before.

Exports of exposed feature films, both
35mm and 16mm totaled 303,351,452 linear
feet valued at $10,188,253 last year, com-
pared to 305,866(735 feet valued at $9,681,-
480 in 1952. Shipments of 35mm negative
features were up in terms of both linear feet
and dollar value, while shipments of 35mm
positive features increased in dollar value
but dropped in terms of linear feet.

Shipments of 16mm negative features
were down considerably, but this drop was
more than offset by a marked increase in
volume and value of shipments of 16mm
positive features.

Raw stock shipments in 1953 totaled 310,-
064,649 feet valued at $7,364,360, compared
to shipments of 267,643,072 feet valued at
$6,184,418 the previous year.

B'nai BVith Industry Annual
Golf Tourney June 10

The third annual Film Industry Golf
Tournament sponsored by New York’s
Cinema Lodge of B’nai B’rith to bring
representatives of the industry of all faiths
together for a day of sport and good fellow-
ship, will be held at the Vernon Hills Coun-
try Club at Tuckahoe, New York, Thurs-
day, June 10, it was announced this week
by Burton E. Robbins, president of Cinema
Lodge. The tournament will be followed by
a banquet at the Vernon Hills Club at
which prizes will be awarded. The facili-
ties of the Vernon Hills Country Club
swimming pool will also be made available
this year to both golfers and non-golfers.
Martin Levine, Cinema Lodge past presi-
dent, is chairman of the committee. Entry
blanks are available through the Cinema
Lodge office at 229 West 42nd Street and
through Abe Dickstein at 20th Century-
Fox’s New York exchange.

ASCAP Presents Annual
Show in Washington

The American Society of Composers,
Authors and Publishers was to present for
members and guests of the National Press
Club the annual “ASCAP Musical Matinee’’
Thursday, May 13, at 12:30 p.m., in the
Press Club auditorium in Washington, D. C.
Featured composers and authors included
Lew Brown and Ray Henderson, “Oscar”
award winner Sammy Fain ; Mack Gordon,
author, comedian, singer and writer of
numerous song hits; Bennie Benjamin and
George Weiss, joint composers of numerous
songs, and Bee Walker, composer and
pianist. Guests of honor will include mem-
bers of Congress, Cabinet officers and other
Government officials, and members of the
ASCAP board of directors.

Australian Censor Lauds
American Producers

WASHINGTON: Australian film censors
have complimented American film producers
on the high quality of their films.

The Commerce Department film chief,
Nathan D. Golden, said the 1953 report of
the Australian censors points out that only
one feature was rejected last year out of 402
imported from the U. S., Great Britain and
other countries. Of the remaining 401, the
censors classed 292 as suitable for general
exhibition and 109 as suitable only for per-
sons 16 or over. “The report states,” Mr.
Golden added, “that considering that films
are produced primarily for adult entertain-
ment, one must pay tribute to producers and
directors in the United Kingdom and the
United States on their choice of subject,
theme, and suitable casts, to enable the
Australian censors to apply the General Ex-
hibition classification to such a large per-
centage of their films over the past five
years.”

U. S. producers supplied 287 features or
about 72 per cent of the total last year, com-
pared with 290 or about 74 per cent in 1952,
according to the Commerce Department
report.

Major Producers Limited
To 3 Films in Festival

Major producing countries are limited to
three entries each in the forthcoming Inter-
national Festival of Motion Picture Art at
Venice, Italy. Countries whose total is be-
tween 100 to 250 films will be allowed two
entries. Nations with less than 100 will be
allowed one. Additional entries will be per-
mitted if of exceptional merit. Conditions
of entry are that films be made during the
preceding 12 months; not presented at an-
other festival ; reach an artistic and intel-
lectual level “to indicate a real progress of
the motion picture”; and do not offend na-
tional sentiment of any other participating
nation. The Festival begins August 22 and
lasts 16 days.

lA Rogers Hospital
Donation Totals $21,750

A total of $21,750, exceeding by approxi-
mately $4,000 the highest previous sum reg-
istered last year, was announced by lATSE
locals and members as their contribution to
the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. The
amount represents contributions of the un-
ion’s 1953 Christmas Salute drive.

Hoffberg Sets May Release for
Indian Spectacle, "Chandra"

“Chandra,” the first million dollar motion
picture produced in India and which was
filmed under the personal supervision of
S. S. Vasan, the head of Gemini Studios in
Madras, has been acquired for distribution
in the Western Hemisphere by Hoffberg
Productions and will be released in May.
The production is said to have taken two
years to make and stars India’s box office
champion, Raj Kumari. The picture has
been a tremendous box office hit in Asia.

COLUMBIA PICTURES ANNOUNCES THAT PRINTS OF THE FOLLOWING
PICTURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR EXCHANGES FOR SCREENING

CHARLES STARRETT

JHE OLD
WYOMING TRAIL

with

DONALD GRAYSON
BARBARA WEEKS

and the

SONS OF THE PIONEERS

Screen Play by ED EARL REPP
Directed by FOLMER BLANGSTED

CHARLES STARRETT

JWO-FISTED

RANGERS

with

IRIS MEREDITH

and the

SONS OF THE PIONEERS

Original Screen play by FRED MYTON
Directed by JOSEPH H. LEWIS

LONE STAR
MOONLIGHT

with

THE HOOSIER HOTSHOTS

(Hezzie, Ken, Gil and Gabe)

KEN CURTIS • JOAN BARTON

GUY KIBBEE • ROBERT STEVENS

Screenplay by LOUISE ROUSSEAU
Produced by COLBERT CLARK

Directed by RAY NAZARRO

BILL ELLIOTT and TEX RITTER

PRAIRIE GUNSMOKE

with

FRANK MITCHELL • VIRGINIA CARROLL

Screen play by FRED MYTON

X Directed by LAMBERT HILLYER

BILL ELLIOTT and TEX RITTER

NORTH OF THE ROCKIES

with FRANK MITCHELL

Original Screen Play by HERBERT DALMAS

Directed by LAMBERT HILLYER

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 15, 1954

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ALMANAC

Peopie in

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ew6

Al O’Keefe^ vice-president in charge of
distribution for the Pola-Lite Company,
left New York Tuesday for Toronto to
confer with members of the General The-
atre Supply organization, Canadian dis-
tributors of Pola-Lite glasses and new
single-track Pola-Lite 3-D projection sys-
tem.

Robert Schoham has been appointed man-
aging director of MGM operations in
Cuba. He formerly was MGM manager
in Belgium.

Lamar Sarra has been named vice-presi-
dent of Florida State Theatres. He will
continue to serve as the circuit’s general
counsel.

Greenberger Elected to
Head Cleveland Group

CLEVELAND : Henry Greenberger has
been unanimously elected president of the
Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Asso-
ciation succeeding the late Ernest Schwartz.
Mr. Schwartz previously doubled as presi-
dent and general manager. Joe Rembrandt
was elected vice-president and Ted Vermes

Cyril Landau has resigned from Lfniver-
sal-International. Since 1946 he has been
attorney and secretary of United World,
U-I subsidiary, prior to which he was
trial counsel for RKO Pictures.

Samuel E. Feldman has been appointed
assistant sales manager of the American
Society of Composers, Authors and Pub-
lishers. He is a veteran of the ASCAP
organization.

John Jarvis, formerly with Selznick Re-
leasing and Columbia, has been named
I.F.E. southeast district manager, and
David Williams, previously associated
with Eagle Lion and MGM, has been ap-
pointed southeast sales manager.

continues as treasurer. Six new members
were named to the board of directors, bring-
ing the board’s total to 15, a full quota. They
are Marshall Fine, Leonard Greenberger,
Leonard Mishkind, James Kalafate, Bert
Lefkowich and Jack Essick. The association
unanimously approved the appointment of
Louis Weitz, attorney, as general manager
while Arnold Porozynski succeeds his father
on the board.

Appoint Malcolm Kingsberg
Magna Theatre Treasurer

Malcolm Kingsberg, former RKO Thea-
tres president, this week was named treas-
urer of Magna Theatre Corp., distributing
agency for the Tood-Ao Process, the wide-
screen, wide-film system developed by Mi-
chael Todd and the American Optical Co.
Mr. Kingsberg, a native of Springfield,
Mass., and a graduate of Harvard and its
School of Business Administration, was
active in the Keith-Albee and Radio-Keith-
Orpheum companies beginning in 1933, and
then from 1946 to 1950 was RKO Theatres
president. Other officers of Magna are
Joseph M. Schenck, chairman; George B.
Skouras, president; Mr. Todd, production
executive; Arthur Hornblow, Jr., vice-presi-
dent for production; Ralph B. Neuberger,
secretary; Bernard J. Reis, acting comp-
troller and assistant treasurer; Joseph
Faehndrich; and James M. Landis, assistant
secretary.

Youngstein to Europe
For United Artists

Max Youngstein, vice-president of United
Artists, was to leave New York for the
Continent this week. Mr. Youngstein’s
mission is to study and supervise the com-
pany’s production projects and commitments
there. He is to spend much time in Rome,
a center of activity. He also will convene
and direct a meeting of the company’s Euro-
pean publicity men in Paris about mid-June.

COLUMBIA PICTURES ANNOUNCES THAT PRINTS OF THE FOLLOWING
PICTURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR EXCHANGES FOR SCREENING

Jennifer jONES^intpery Clift

ALAN LADD

HsiaaiitgiiiiEfraasi

(m GAYiemco/Yi

PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY

VITTORIO DeSICA

CCS. TECHNICOLOR

with lOANTEIZEL • Basil Sydney • Stanley Baker

Screenplay by ALEC COPPEL and MAX TRELL • Adaptation by RICHARD MAIBAUM • Based on the novel "The White South"
by Hammond Inncs • Associate Producer George W. Willoughby • Produced by IRVING ALLEN and ALBERT R. BROCCOLI

Directed by MARK ROBSON • a Warwick production

General

Release:

July

Color by TECHNICOLOR

PHIL DOROTHY BILLY

CAREY-PATRICR-GRAY

Story and Screen Play by DAVID LANG
Produced by WALLACE MacDONALD • Directed by FRED F. SEARS

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 15, 1954

ALBANY

Dr. Philip Liebig, (}r;inville veterinarian,
is operating Northside drive-in, near Water-
town, with his brother as manager. Dr.
Liebig built and originally conducted it, but
T. J. Trombly was 1953 lessee. . . . Two
Watertown outdoor theatres, the Black
River and Star-Lit, charge $1.30 for a “car-
load” on bargain nights. . . . Visitors in-
cluded; Sidney S. Kulick, Bell Film Ex-
change, New York; Don Gilson, Canton,
Massena and xALlexandria Bay exhibitor ;
Louis W. and Donald G. Schine, Glovers-
ville; Phil Baroudi, North Creek; Clarence
Dopp, Frankfort and Poland. . . . Joseph
Agresta, operating the Or vis in Massena,
is buying and booking Victoria, Watertown
subsequent-run, recently reopened. . . .
Harry Lamont said receipts at his drive-
ins were ahead of last spring’s, due to bet-
ter weather. Lou Goldstein, l.amont’s part-
ner in Vail Mills, took over Iniying and
Ijooking it. . . . Variety Clul> will liold 12th
annual golf tournament June 28.

ATLANTA

The new owner of the Sundown drive-in
theatre, Columbia, Tenn., is Recreation En-
terprises, a Tennessee corporation of which
H. P. Vinson is secretary. . . . Bob Harris,
new in Florida State Theatres’ confection
sales department, has launched a drive to in-
crease the sale at the concession stand at all
theatres in the circuit with $1,000 in cash
prizes to be given to the best stand. . . . The
new Cherokee theatre in Sweetwater, Tenn,,
has opened with Mrs. Edid Brower as man-
ager. . . . The Lyric Theatre, Gastonia,
N. C., under the managership of Ed Pierce,
is remodeling, . . . W, P, Cash has applied
for a permit for a new drive-in at Home-
stead, Fla,, on Route No. 1. , . . Johnny
Jones, manager of the Pasco theatre, and
Curry Anderson, manager of the Joy-Lan
drive-in, Dade City, Fla., were hosts to
Kiwanians of the area at a showing of the
hydrogen bomb film.

BALTIMORE

Leon Back, president Allied Motion Pic-
ture Theatre Owners of Maryland and a
Rome Circuit executive, was in Philadelphia.

. . . Morris Mechanic, New theatre is on
the committee for the testimonial dinner to
20th-Century’s C. Glenn Norris to be held
in Washington at the Shoreham Hotel May
17. . . . The Motion Picture and Television
Operators moved to 2036 Frederick Avenue.
. . . Walter Gettinger, Howard theatre, back
from a New York trip. . . . Mark Silver,
Allied Artists salesman, suffered a heart
attack last week and is in Sinai Hospital.
. . . Among the local exhibitors journeying
to Philadelphia for UA’s 35th Anniversary
dinner were : Milton Schwaber, Bill Brizen-
dine and. Boots Wagonheim, Schaber Cir-
cuit ; I. M. Rappaport Theatres ; Lou Gaert-
ner and Gordon Contee, Ritz Enterprises ;
Aaron Seidler, New Albert theatre; Joe
Grant, Northwood; Leon Back, Rome The-
atres; and C. Elmer Nolte, Durkee.

BOSTON

The Raymond Hakim film "La Ronde”
has not been approved for Sunday showing
Iw the Alassachusetts Department of Public
Safety so the Beacon Hill theatre, where
the film opened May 3, substituted "Street-
car Named Desire” for that one day. . . .
John Gannen has sold the Palace, Lowell,
to be converted into stores. . . . Michael
Redstone, pioneer drive-in theatre owner,
has been named treasurer of the 1954 Jimmy
Fund drive by general chairman Theodore
Fleisher. . . . Sympathy to Stanley Sumner,
owner-manager of the University theatre,
Cambridge, in the death of his mother, Mrs.
Nellie Stanley Sumner. . . . Irving A. Isaacs,
president of Independent Exhibitors Inc. of
New England, has called a board meeting
for May 18 at which time Nathan Yamins
will bring a full report of the Makelim plan
from the Allied board meeting in Minne-
apolis.

BUFFALO

Arthur Krolick, district manager, UPT,
Buffalo and Rochester, and Mrs. Krolick,
vacationed last week in New York, where
they enjoyed some of the top shows and
Mr. Krolick conferred with UPT officials.
. . . WBEN radio station, owned and oper-
ated by the Buffalo Evening News, will be-
come a basic radio outlet of the CBS radio
network on June 1, at which time WGR
radio station will become a basic affiliate
of NBC. . . . Area drive-ins will provide
amusement as well as aid on May 12 when
programs will be run for the benefit of the
Children’s Hospital Building Fund cam-
paign. As part of a five year program, the
drive-ins devote one day each year to this
method of raising funds for philanthropic
purposes. Last year, the first time the plan
was tried, almost $1,500 was raised. Ad-
mission will l)e free on May 12, but patrons
will make their contributions to the cam-
paign when the}" enter the drive-ins. Par-
ticipating in the benefit performances will
be the Aero, Broadway, Buffalo, Delaware,

WHEN AND WHERE

June 8-10: Annual convention Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 14-16: Annual spring board meeting
and get-together. Allied Theatre Owners
of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake
Wewasee, Ind.

June 17-19: Meeting of the executive com-
mittee and board of directors. Theatre
Owners of America, Beverly Hills Hotel,
Los Angeles.

Skyway Lakeshore, Skyway Niagara, Park,
Sheridan and the Star. . . . Mrs. Elmer F.
Lux, wife of the head of Elmart Theatres
and Common Council president, has been
appointed associate director for Erie Coun-
ty’s Civil Defense Warden Service. Mrs.
Lux will be first assistant to Gustav F. Her-
mann, Jr., who is director of recruiting.

CHICAGO

Attorney Aaron Stein, who represents
many theatre interests here, has moved his
offices to 231 South La Salle St. . . . Fred
Mindlin, Ziegfeld manager, is back on the
job after a week in the hospital undergoing
a general checkup. ... Nick de Luca of the
^Vlex theatre is at home recuperating from
a recent operation. ... Tom Gilliam, Fox
brandi manager, was in New York recently
for a company meeting. . . . Friends and
associates of Jim Donohue, recently retired
Paramount district manager, are planning a
farewell dinner in his honor. Donohue is
moving to San Francisco on May 15. . . .
Phil Hodes, formerly with RKO in New
\ ork and more recently retired and living
in Highland Park, is moving back to New
Fork. ... A fire in the Allied Artists in-
spection room fortunately caused no in-
juries to the exchange personnel, but a few
prints were destroyed.

CINCINNATI

June 21 is the date set for reopening of
the 2,000-seat Capitol theatre here by Stan-
ley Warner Cinerama Corporation, which
recently leased the house from RKO.
Changeover reconstruction to permit the
new type projection is now in progress.
This will become the 12th theatre in the
United States devoted to Cinerama and this
w"ill he the only city within a 300-mile
radius to offer this type of entertainment.

. . . John Stevens, of the New York, who
recently was appointed the foreign depart-
ment of United Artists, is now stationed at
the local UA branch to undergo intensive
training in the matter of film exchange
operation. . . . Donald Duff, who was as-
sociated with the local Popular and Realart
exchanges before doing a military stretch, has
joined the Realart exchange as head booker.

CLEVELAND

Exhibitors here are saying that present
grosses — even taking into account the cut
in Federal admissions taxes — are lower than
they were in tlie pre-tax reduction period.
The impression prevails that unemployment,
coupled with payment commitments, leaves
little money for entertainment. . . . Variety
Club is holding a gin rummy tournament
in its Hollenden Hotel club rooms. . . .
There was a fire in the Martinsville, Ind.,
resort hotel where M. B. Horwitz, head of
the Washington Theatre Circuit of Cleve-
land, has been vacationing. ... Elsie Loeb,
The Herald’s Cleveland correspondent, has
been ill with pneumonia.

(Continued on following page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15. 1954

COLUMBUS

Charles Sugarman has been adding Satur-
day midnight shows at the World during
the run of “The Moon Is Blue.’’. . . Mrs.
Lelia Steam, of the Southern, ran a specki
coupon offer in local newspapers, offering
admission to two adults for the coupon and
45 cents. . . .“The Joe Louis Story’’ had
first run local showings at the Empress and
four Miles drive-ins. . . . Lee Hofheimer,
of the Miles circuit, is a grandfather. His
daughter, Mrs. Joyce Strelitz, of Norfolk,
Virginia, gave birth to a seven-pound
daughter, Bonnie Lee, May 1. . . . Norman
Nadel, Citizen theatre editor, added “Sam,
The Gill Man” to his reviewing staff for
the report on “Creature From The Black
Lagoon” at the RKO Palace. Stunt was
heralded by a page one item in the Citizen.
. . . Fergum Theatres Inc. has received
approval from Examiner William Butts ot
the Federal Communications Commission on
its application for a television station at
Mansfield, Ohio.

DENVER

Hall Baetz, formerly Denver city man-
ager for Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres, was
here for the opening of the new Centre, and
indicated he is buying some theatres in
Seattle, where he has been for the past
months. . . . Edward and Caroline Lewis,
of the Peerless, Holyoke, Colo., are parents
of a baby girl, Cynthia Ann. . . . Jean Som-
bar, wife of Wm. Sombar, United Artists
salesman, has recovered from a recent oper-
ation. . . . Tom Bailey has taken over the
distribution of Realart product, and is com-
bining the exchange with his own. He is
the Lippert Pictures franchise owner here.
He has disposed of his Lippert franchise in
Salt Lake City to Tommy McMahon and
Jack Swanson, who will also handle Real-
art product there. Bailey will still distribute
“Martin Luther” in both the Denver and
Salt Lake City film areas.

DES MOINES

The Varsity theatre, a neighborhood house
in Des Moines, has been purchased by B. C.
(Bev) Mahon and Robert L. Fridley from
Iowa United Theatres, Inc. The 600-seat
house will be redecorated and new equip-
ment installed. The new owners have been
in the theatre business for 15 years. Mahon
has a theatre at Pella, and Fridley has houses
at Ida Grove and Rockwell City. . . . Formal
open house was held May 10 at Universal
exchange in celebration of the completion
of wide remodeling. . . . Butch DeFrenne,
veteran of Film Row and now manager of a
booking concern, was a visitor on the Row.

. . . Mrs. Charles Peterson of Hampton is
dead following a stroke. With her husband,
who survives her, she had owned the
Windsor theatre in Hampton for the last
35 years. . . . John Newcomer of Lawrence,
Kan., has taken over the management of the
Page theatre at Shennandoah, replacing
Don Nutter. . . . The Royle theatre at
Lohrville was closed for several weeks to
permit the installation of a new, wide screen
and other improvements.

DETROIT

Cinerama’s Bill Green is off to Cincinnati
to help with the opening of the Stanley
Wamer-Cinerama outlet. . . . Gloria Swan-

son has been in town. . . . The happy sound
of the theatre organ, still a standard part of
the Fisher program, took an all Michigan
flavor for the official Michigan Week. . . .
Mothers’ Day was observed at the Oakland
with gifts. . . . The projection booth at the
recently reopened Palmer Park is being
manned by Harry Smith, long of the Holly-
wood. . . . Peter Simon, head of Simon’s
Film Service plans retirement to less rigor-
ous climates. . . . Vincent Pope has returned
to the business heading the staff at the Circle
in Dearborn. . . . District manager for Co-
lumbia, Carl Shalit and his wife have left
for a European vacation. . . . Nathan Levine,
Allied Artists local manager, has a new look
in his office. A secretary named Loraine
Cohen.

HARTFORD

A new $125,000 drive-in theatre, with ca-
pacity for 815 cars, now being built at
Merilen, Conn., will have a screen measur-
ing 120 feet wide, believed to be one of the
largest of its type in the country. Nick
Kounaris and Paul Tolls, partners in the
Kounaris and Tolls Theatres in Connecti-
cut, are building the outdoor project, in the
rear of their first-run Meriden theatre,
Meriden, Conn. A July completion date is
planned. . . . The E. M. Loew circuit’s
Hartford division is completing installation
of 76-feet wide screens at the Hartford
drive-in, Newington; Norwich-New Lon-
don, Montville; Farmington, Farmington,
all in Connecticut; and the Riverdale, West
Springfield, Mass. George E. Landers, divi-
sion manager, says a similar unit will be
installed at the Milford (Conn.) drive-in,
following extensive remodeling now under
way.

INDIANAPOLIS

First run business is surprisingly good
here in the second week of the transit strike.
City officials have opened thousands of free
off-street parking places in downtown parks.

. . . The Cantor circuit complained to police
that 25 to 40 speakers a week are being
stolen from the Shadeland and Lafayette
Road drive-in. . . . Sam Oshry, U-I branch
manager, says the weekend of May 1 set an
all-time billing record for the exchange. . . .
Howard Castle, formerly with Ger-Bar, was
nominated for state representative on the
Democratic ticket in the May primaries. . . .
Joseph W. Barr, general manager of the
Williston circuit, was reelected treasurer of
the Democratic county committee. ... Ed
Bigley, UA branch manager, attended a
regional meeting in Chicago last week. . . .
Bob Conn, 20th-Fox branch manager, is
serving as handicapper for film row golfers.

. . . The Princess, at Portland, and the
Mars, Indianapolis sub run house, have
closed for the summer. . . . The Pendleton
Pike drivein is installing a new screen, 100
by 48 feet.

JACKSONVILLE

Milton C. Moore was negotiating a new
lease for the suburban Lake Shore theatre.
Lake Shore. . . . Byron Cooper, veteran
Plant City exhibitor, died of a heart attack.

. . . Visiting Georgia exhibitors included
Nat Williams, Jr., Thomasville; C. L. Jack-
son, Woodbine; and H. J. Wells, Kingsland.

. . . Out-of-town Floridians were Paul Mize,
Delray Beach ; Harlow Land, Mayo ; Sam

K. Strathos, Monticello; and Harry Gordon,
Orlando. . . . Film Row welcomed Leonard
Allen, who resumed his former post as
southeastern publicity man for Paramount,
upon the resignation of Everett Olsen, now
in the exhibition field in South Carolina. . . .
Cecil Cohen, owner of the Murray Hill the-
atre, reported success with the sale of five-
cent bags of popcorn at kid shows. He said
the sale of 10-cent bags did not drop. . . .
Florida showmen were exploiting the fact
that “The Creature From The Black La-
goon” was filmed at nearby Wakulla
Springs.

KANSAS CITY

Many members of the industry in the
Kansas-Missouri Theatre Association area
will join with the Missouri-Illinois Theatre
Owners members, St. Louis exchange area,
in the regional parley-party May 18-20, at
Arrowhead Lodge, Lake Ozark, Mo. The
May board meeting of the Kansas-Missouri
Theatre Association will be held there. . . .
A change in plans for the proposed industry
party sponsored by the Motion Picture As-
sociation of Greater Kansas City, required
tentative cancellation of the date set, June
12. When the place and date are decided
upon, further announcement will be made.
. . . The city council of Kansas City, Mo.,
lias authorized employment of a professional
promotion manager for the Municipal Audi-
torium. . . . Fairyland amusement park
opened May 8. . . . The Riverside and Crest
drive-ins, and the Pines, near Excelsior
Springs, Mo., join in offering a separate
stage and screen show, with a large co-
operative display advertisement.

LOS ANGELES

The Arizonian theatre in Tucson, oper-
ated by A. F. and R. L. Belcher, was totally
destroyed by an explosion. Luckily the blast
occurred at 3 a.m. in the morning, at a time
when no one was in the building. . . . Harry
Rush, manager of the Triple A, has re-
signed. . . . Mr. and Mrs. J. Y. Berman,
president of the Berman Theatres, off to
Europe on a three-month tour of the con-
tinent. . . . Harold Stetson was visiting his
brother A1 Stetson, who operates the West
Coast, San Bernardino. . . . Replacing
Harry Stern, who resigned, Gus Acosta ap-
pointed Art Burnham the Chicago manager
for Azteca Films. . . . The Covina theatre
in Covina has installed a wide screen. . . .
Back from a vacation in Las Vegas was
Max Laemmle, operator of the Los Feliz
theatre. . . . Transferring from Glendale,
where he managed the Fox West Coast’s
Gateway, Ed Winslow is the new manager
of FWC’s Fox in Santa Paula. . . . The
United Artists Theatre have moved their
offices from the Block Building on West-
moreland to their Egyptian Theatre Build-
ing. . . . After being without a theatre for
the past two years, the city of Beaumont
welcomed the opening of the Beaumont thea-
tre by Harry Kunneiger. . . . Sam Klein,
theatre broker, and wife celebrated their
25th wedding anniversary.

MIAMI

Vacation plans for Joe Perez, manager
of the Circle, were in for a bit of rearrange-
ment, when his car was struck and badly

(Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

{Continued from opposite page)
damaged by a non-insured driver, recently.
His assistant, A. R. Bollenbach, reported
Joe luckily escaped injury. . . . Carl Jamroga,
relief manager for Wometco, has started the
summer circuit of vacation rotation, with
first stop at the Miami to allow manager
Tim Tyler to go back home to South Caro-
lina. . . . From the Stewart and Everett
theatres in North Carolina, Dewey Fuquay
is now manager of the Coral. . . . Walter
Klements, manager of the Mayfair Art, was
host for the monthly meeting of the Sym-
phony Club recently, with about 100 mem-
bers in attendance. Klements also had a
treat in store for the children of the visit-
ing Kiwanians, when the theatre offered the
youngsters a free show matinee. . . . The
annual banquet of Wometco’s “Old Guard"
was held at the Algiers Hotel.

MILWAUKEE

John Mednikow, manager at National
Screen Service here, is distributor for the
Tushinsky lens. . . . There was some doubt
whether Ray Trampe would ever get back
to Milwaukee from New York City where
Oliver and he attended the National Film
Service and National Film Carriers Annua!
meeting at the Hotel Astor. Ray missed five
planes, but finely made one. They also saw
the Vistavision demonstration. ... A big
night is planned by Wisconsin Variety Club,
tent 14, on June 3, when a dinner will he
held for the Milwaukee Braves in the Fern
Room at the Phister Hotel here. . . . Sig
Goldberg, Wisconsin Allied president, and
Harold Pearson, executive secretary, at-
tended the North Central Allied convention
in Minneapolis. . . . C. L. Baldwin is man-
aging the Strand theatre in Oshkosh for
Standard. His Gem theatre in Gillett is
open part time.

MINNEAPOLIS

CinemaScope equipment and stereophonic
sound have been installed in the Avon at
Medford, Wis., and the Lake at Rib Lake,
Wis. . . . Irving Marks, Allied Artists
branch manager, was in Duluth on business.
. . . O. E. Maxwell of Northwest Sound
Service attended his nephew’s wedding and
vacationed in Mississippi . . . Glenn Wood,
Universal booker, is on jury duty. ... A
Minneapolis girl, Carol Weisman, will
marry Bernard Briskin, son of Samuel Bris-
kin, producer with Paramount studios, at
a ceremony in Fullerton, Calif., May 23.
. . . John Mowry is reopening the Time
at Kenyon, Minn., on a new policy, in-
cluding a wide screen presentation. . . .
Joan Pruning, branch manager’s secretary
at National Screen, was married to James
Bean. . . . Also recently married was Bud
Krohn, head shipper at 20th-Fox. . . .
Clara Higgins, assistant cashier at RKO, is
hospitalized. . . . Robert Karatz, head of
.Arkay Amusement Co., has purchased the
Meyers and Apollo theatres at Janesville,
Wis. The Meyers is currently operating.
The Apollo is shuttered and Karatz said he
has no plans for reopening the house.

NEW ORLEANS

George Baillo, president and general man-
ager of Southern Amusement Company,
Lake Charles, La., was in to confer with
branch manager, Lucas Conner, Warner

HONORING THE OLD GUARD

In recognition of 20 years' service with Wometco Theatres, three members of the
"Old Guard" were presented gold watches at the annual banquet, held in the Aigiers
Hotel, Miami Beach. Pictured left to right are Col, Mitchell Wolf son, Paul Allen, artist,
Stanley Sterm, real estate, Frank Miller, maintenance, and Sidney Meyer, who made
the presentation, Mr. Wolfson and Mr. Meyer own the chain of theatres and Television
station WTVJ. To be eligible to become a member of the Old Guard requires 7 years
of employment. More than 11 per cent of the employes are members.

Bros. . . . William Cobb, head of a chain
of theatres in Louisiana and president Ex-
hibitor’s Poster Exchange, is temporarily
assisting Joy’s Theatres Inc. in buying and
booking of films. . . . T. G. “Teddy” Solo-
mon, McComb, Miss., operator of a chain of
drive-ins in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama
and Florida, and Mike Ripps, of Do Drive-
In Theatres, in Mobile, Ala., and Metairie,
La., were in New York for 20th Century-
Fox exhibitor meeting on the future of
CinemaScope. . . . Dan Brandon, Trans-
way’s general manager, is back at his desk
after attending business conferences in New
York. . . . Logan Lewis, IFE representa-
tive, resigned. Henceforth the territory will
be covered by John Jarvis and David Wil-
liams out of Atlanta. . . . Columbia Pictures'
Joseph Hyams, special events department of
the home office. New York, was in town.

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Skytrain theatre, Oklahoma City, has
adopted a policy of having previews every
Saturday night. Easy Duncan is manager.
. . . Lewis Eilm Service, Inc., Wichita, Kan.,
has been granted a charter. Vern E.
Gardner is resident agent. . . . Ken David.
Coed theatre manager at Topeka, Kan.,
said the Coed may be closed and the build-
ing converted to some other business use.
He said the College Hill neighborhood thea-
tre, opened in 1937, has been hit by a droj)
in attendance and can’t continue to operate
at a loss. Mrs. Sarah Galitzki is owner. . . .
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans will be in
Oklahoma City to participate in the Junior
League benefit horse show May 19-22. . . .
R. Lewis Barton, has purchased the Capitol
theatre from the Cooper Foundation. This
is the 14th theatre in the Barton chain in
Oklahoma City. Verrol Johnson is new
manager of the Capitol.

OMAHA

Mr. and Mrs. Willard Hockman of Fair-

field, Neb., have purchased the theatre there
from Hillis Hubbell. . . . Flarold Dunn,
Valentine exhibitor who recently underwent
an operation in Omaha, was out of the hos-
pital and visiting friends among the ex-
changes last week. . . . Jack Shwidelson,
Allied Artist salesman, was called in from
South Dakota when his son was taken to
Children’s Hospital for an emergency ap-
pendicitis operation. “Butch” Shwidelson,
8, is recovering satisfactorily. . . . Jack
Sussman, Columbia salesman, was uninjured
in a highway accident last week. . . . Mrs.
Frank Hollingsworth, whose husband has
the Holly theatre in Beatrice, is back home
after an operation. . . . Bad weather hit
drive-ins throughout the lowa-Nebraska ter-
ritory last week but no damage was re-
ported. . . . Mrs. Esther Green, of FEPCO
film advertising, gave a farewell party for
Dr. Henry Ouellet, president of the Erench
Alliance who will go to France as a Ful-
bright Scholar. . . . Dode Kosiut, former
employee at Metro, where he was cashier,
has announced plans to marry Alden Lincoln.

PHILADELPHIA

Plans for the two million dollar shopping
center announced for suburban Paoli include
the building of a theatre. . . . Paramount
Decorating Company here is refurnishing
and redecorating the Strand, Berwick, Pa.
. . . The Star-Lite drive-in, Muncy, Pa., has
been sold to Paul Shaffer, who owns the
Lycoming drive-in, Williamsport, Pa. Mil-
( Continued on foUoiving page)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY |5, |954

{Continued from preceding page')
gram Theatres here is handling the buying
and booking. . . . The Key drive-in near
Harrisburg, Pa., reopened for the season
with a policy admitting children under 12
free. . . . The Newmanstown, Pa., Fire
Company leased the Joy, only theatre in the
area, to Warren Trate, Florida movie ex-
hibitor, who will operate the house ^on a
seven-day a week basis. . . . Dave Rosen’s
independent film exchange is now handling
the Jam Handy reels for John Goller. . . .

Iz Segall, veteran exhibitor here, an-
nounced the opening of a complete theatre
service known as Theatre Management As-
sociates. . . . Rube Shapiro, operating the
Alden here, secured the eastern distributor-
ship of the Zeiss motion picture projection
lens, handling the area from eastern Canada
down to Virginia. . . . Uptown Theatre
Building, where Sam Stiefel operates the
key neighborhood house, was sold by owner
Donald Bean.

PITTSBURGH

“Beachhead” has replaced “Flame and the
Flesh” on the Penn schedule, and “Indiscre-
tions of an American Wife” will follow the
current “River of No Return” at the J. P.
Harris. . . . Dick Purvis, assistant manager
of the now torn-down Ritz, has been trans-
ferred to Loew’s Stillman in Cleveland. . . .
The Navy claimed Bob Timko, chief-of-
service in the Stanley. . . . The Fulton, now
playing a re-issue of “The Best Years of
Our Lives” will go CinemaScope again with
“New Faces,” to be followed by “Johnny
Guitar.” The same house also gets RKO’s
“The French Line.” . . . The Stanley War-
ner Corp. has sold the Cambria theatre in

Johnstown to the Trans- America Theater
Corp. of Washington, D. C. . . . The Im-
pending “Dial M for Murder” will play the
Stanley in 3-D with most subsequent en-
gagements planned in 2-D.

PORTLAND

W. Tebbetts has installed CinemaScope
and stereophonic sound in his..Daurelhurst
theatre. More and more neighborhood
houses are using the equipment. . . . Don
Schramm, J. J. Parker city manager in As-
toria, was in to confer with Tom Walsh. . . .
Journal drama editor, Arnold Marks, flew
to Denver for the opening of Rocky Mt.
chain’s Centre theatre. Also there was
Evergreen’s vice-president William Thed-

ford Paramount branch manager

Wayne Theriot returned to his desk after
a business trip to the Seattle office. Para-
mount Field Man Walter Hoffman made
the return trip with him. . . . Nancy Welch,
assistant manager of the Guild and Century
theatres, is back at work after a vacation in
So. Calif.

PROVIDENCE

Boasting a new wide vision screen, E. M.
Loew’s drive-in theatre, at the Providence-
Pawtucket city line, attracted good houses
with Judy Holliday’s “It Should Happen To
You”; co-feature was “Drums Of Tahati.”
. . . With near-summer temperatures pre-
vailing, many open-air theatres unveiled
their kiddie playlands for the season. . . .
Michel Rosenberg, star of Yiddish stage and
screen productions, will appear in person,
heading an all-star cast, in “Mama’s
Happy,” at the Veterans’ Memorial Audi-

torium. . . . The much-opened-and-closed
Metropolitan theatre offered the first local
screening of Robert Mitchum and Jean
Simmons in “She couldn’t say no.” Com-
panion film was “Killers From Space.”

TORONTO

Leading the Odeon Big Show Contest are
the Hastings, Vancouver; Cremazie, Mon-
treal, and Odeon, Fort William. Only man-
ager to score a perfect 100 in the third week
was Ray Resky, Broadway, Saskatoon. . . .
Some 110,000 TV receivers were sold in
Canada in the first three months of this
year, with 40,000 being sold in the month
of March alone. . . . Charlotte Cohen re-
signed as treasurer of Shae’s while Pat
Toban has replaced her. . . . Eddie VVeis-
berg. Allied Artists booker, celebrated his
first wedding anniversary May 3. ... A
delegation of Belleville theatre managers
protested to the Parks Department against
the holding of stock car races basing their
objections on the fact that no municipal nor
provincial seat taxes was paid by that group.
Heading the delegation was George Forhan,
Tom Mascaro and Willard Fawcett.

VANCOUVER

Charlie Doctor, manager of the Capitol
theatre who won the Quigley award for
showmanship for the second time, was given
front page attention by Vancouver news-
papers. . . . Sydney Summers, Orpheum
stage manager, and Buck Taylor, mainte-
nance manager of the Strand, are new mem-
bers of FPCC 25-year club. The boys have
been in local show business since 1908. . . .
Ernest Doctor, assistant manager of the In-
ternational-Cinema, hospitalized for minor
surgery. . . . Harry Pearson, Jr., of North
Vancouver, is the new president of local 118
stage hands union, with Sydney Summers,
of the Orpheum, treasurer. . . . Jack Ran-
dall, former manager of the FPCC Strand
and now a resident of California, is here
on vacation looking up his many friends in
show business. . . . Peter Myers 20th-Fox
Canadian chief, also in for a look-see at
CinemaScope situations. To date British
Columbia has only five installations, com-
pared to SO situations in Washington state.

WASHINGTON

Variety Clubs International chief barker
George Hoover has appointed Jake Flax,
Republic branch manager, to serve as Vari-
ety's international representative covering
Baltimore and Washington. . . . George
Crouch, Stanley Warner zone manager, at-
tended a home office meeting of executives
and zone managers. . . . Edward Purcell,
manager of the Virginia, Harrisonburg, Va.
was given a gold watch for the best over-all
job done in Stanley Warner Theatres dur-
ing a recent drive. . . . Jack Fruchtman.
Tent No. 11 chief barker, has made the
following committee appointments : to head
the golf tournament and dinner dance at the
Woodmont Country Club, September 24 :
George A. Crouch, Sam Galanty and Al-
bert W. Lewitt. To head the annual dinner
dance at the Statler Hotel November 20, as
well as the dinner dance program, Alvin Q.
Ehrlich. . . . Victor J. O rsinger, former gen-
eral manager of Lopert Washington thea-
tres, and 1953 chief barker of the Variety
Club of Washington, and Mrs. Orsinger are
parents of a daughter — their sixth child.

Altec’s current installation rate accounts for 75% of total stereophonic sound sales!

Broadway or Main Street, theatre owners know Altec’s engineering skill and
know-how assure perfect installation, sure service.

That's why Brandt's GLOBE, Broadway, New York, (pop. 8,000,000) and
the OPERA HOUSE, Lebanon, New Hampshire, (pop. 4,614) signed
Altec stereophonic installation and service contracts!

SPECIALISTS IN MOTION PICTURE SOUND

161 Sixth Avenue, New York 13, N.Y.

D';.'

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks, Director

/IfifiteciathH tp Walter ^ea4e ^Pt Pettinent ^etnatk^

WE’VE traveled the convention circuit,
but seldom heard a more inspiring
speech at an exhibitor’s meeting,
across the country, than was given byWalter
Reade, Jr., at the Quigley Awards judging
and luncheon. He spoke for showmen, as a
showman, and if he carries the same message
to other meetings, as president of Theatre
Owners of America, he will do more for
showmanship than has been done from the
dais, in our hearing. Conventions are usually
devoted to exhibitor complaints, and the
word “showmanship” is never mentioned.

He asked his audience of home office
executives and industry leaders in New
York for greater encouragement in the ef-
fort to obtain showmanship, and urged that
all kinds of media should be the basis of in-
creased advertising and promotion at the
local level. He lauded the Quigley Awards
Competition as having accomplished more
in keeping theatre managers in the field
thinking of showmanship than any other
single factor in the industry over the past
20 years. He pointed to examples to show
a comparative lack of interest in showmen’s
problems, in other contests in the trade.

He cited the fact that too few exhibitors
have taken advantage of the distributor’s
willingness to share advertising costs on a
.SO/50 basis, and said that their cooperation
was generally better than the response. One
major company offered free 24-sheets to all
who would apply for them, with only a few
replies. He asked that every form of adver-
tising be explored to meet the inroads of
new competition, and said; “No matter how
tough things get, the advertising budget
should never be cut.”

He praised the AMPA School of Show-
manship, which he has strongly supported in
the metropolitan area, and said we are not
making the manager’s job glamorous enough
to attract new men — in fact, we are losing
some of our trained men to other lines of
business. Salary and security offered are not
enough to compete with present-day mer-
chandising opportunities along Main Street,
ffe spoke for our side, and he put it on the

MR. FILM INDUSTRY

Walter Reade, Jr., in his excellent ad-
dress at the Quigley Awards luncheon last
week, paid special tribute to the theatre
manager, and spoke of him as "Mr. Indus-
try" at the point of sale. He gently chided
the Industry leaders present for not devot-
ing enough attention to the solid showmen
at the most strategic position in this Indus-
try— the box office line. We were gratified
to hear such an expression of confidence in
our members of the Managers' Round
Table, on the fighting front.

"The theatre manager," he said, "is the
greatest potential public relations asset this
industry has. The most significant trend in
the whole field of public relations Is the
grass roots approach." He felt that com-
munity relations are most essential — "and
what better agent do we have to handle
this matter than the theatre manager?" He
stated that "our theatre managers may well
be the answer to our Industry's basic public
relations problem" and urged that the max-
imum benefit be derived from the sort of
community activities which the manager
may originate or encourage at the local
level, where he is In direct contact with the
public.

We've long known that In thousands of
situations, the manager of the neighbor-
hood theatre Is the most important figure
In film Industry, to his patrons and friends.
If the manager is a true showman, his pub-
lic will look to him for news of motion pic-
tures, and be guided by his opinions and
expressions of what's right in our Industry.

line with the type of circuit executives who
can and who will reflect on the new im-
portance of the theatre manager, at the
point of sale.

We propose to discuss some phases of
his address in a continuing series of edi-
torials on the matter of incentive and se-
curity offered to good showmen.

^ NEWSWEEK, in the current issue,
devotes its front cover and a fine inside
story, to the new MGM picture, “Executive
Suite” — which it headlines, “Hollywood
Discovers the U. S. Business Story” in a
review extending over five pages, with pic-
tures. We have always credited Tom Wen-
ning, long-time movie editor of NEWS-
WEEK, for the manner in which this maga-
zine of news significance has reviewed films,
with a measure of honesty not so often dis-
cernible in the press. The film, incidentally,
is now in its first week at the Radio City
Music Hall, and attracting crowds who will
go out and talk about it. We predict that
“Executive Suite” will have more and bet-
ter word-of-mouth advertising than any pic-
ture seen in recent months.

^ THANKS to Leon Bamberger, for hand-
ing us the excellent piece from the Cities
Service magazine — “The Indispensable You”
— which you’ll find on another page in this
week’s Round Table. It exactly fits the need
for expression of the theatre manager’s place
in public relations, and is worth reading and
remembering, although we must admit that
the phrase, “Public relations is YOU” was
first suggested by Mr. D. J. Coodlatte, man-
aging director of the Associated British
Cinemas, Ltd., in a brochure prepared for
the mangers of his 400-odd theatres, and
duly reviewed and appreciated in a Round
Table meeting of a couple of years ago.
Doug Ewin, who was just here on his prize-
winning trip to New York, is an example
of the kind of showmen they raise in Eng-
land on the ABC’s of showmanship.

^ SLOW MUSIC, please, for the passing
of the Center Theatre, in Rockefeller Cen-
ter. It’s the newest theatre in New York-
City — and one of the most modern, and most
beautiful theatres in America. But it falls
to the wreckers this week, overtaken by the
fact that the real estate it occupies is more
valuable for other purposes. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 15, 1954

Lively
Out In

fimat::

pR.WA

yrTC/fti/

Cracking whip for "Southwest
Passage" at the Rialto theatre,
Atlanta, these Georgia belles add
lively touch to world premiere of
United Artists feature; next in
line, Art Stanisch, manager of
Switow's Kentucky theatre, Louis-
ville, with a lobby game for
"Red Garters": then John Brun-
ette, manager of the Studio thea-
tre, San Jose, California, intro-
duces his "Gypsy Colt" promo-
tion tor the MGM picture, with
a bold cowboy riding right up to
the box office. This was a studio
stunt, arranged on tour for MGM
customers in a lot of places, with
Capt. Volney Phifer, who knows
his way about, acting as escort
for the black colt who captivated
audiences both in and out of the
theatre.

Antics

Fmnt

LIVELY imaginations,
these, that conjure up
such lively promotions at
the box office line. And
they stimulate a lively
tingle on the ticket ma-
chines, to prove that
managers who think in
these terms, cash in with
their deposits at the
bank, accordingly. It's a
pleasure to compliment
live managers, with fa-
cilities functioning for
better grosses.

This girl is surely "captivated"
if not captured by the convincing
character who's selling "Phantom
of the Rue Morgue" at the Stan-
ley theatre in Newark. She doesn't
appear to be at all frightened at
the prospect of a phantom such
as this.

The staff of the Malco theatre
in Memphis pitched in to help
with the pitch for Universal's
"Fireman Save My Child" using
a slightly miniature fire truck and
costumes borrowed for the ride,
from nearby Hose Company
No. 2. Above, two concessions-
counter cuties, the cashier, and
two assistant managers all having
fun with the promotion.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

St,

owmen in

^cti

Reade Starts
2nd Vacation
Movie Series

For tlie second summer, Walter Reade
Theatres in New York and New Jersey
towns will play the annual Vacation Movie
shows for children, under official school and
Parent-Teacher Association sponsorship.
Starting in June, the series adopted from
the format developed by Fox Midwest Thea-
tres, will be presented in Red Bank, Free-
hold, Perth Amboy, Plainfield, Asbury Park,
Morristown and Long Branch, in New Jer-
sey, and in Kingston, and Saratoga Springs,
in New York.

Under the program, twelve special shows
are offered, one a week, to the children, for
$1.00 for the series, or about 8 cents per
show. Pictures are selected by local school
officials from the Child Film Library lists.
The Parent-Teacher Association handles the
sale of the $1.00 strip tickets in the schools,
and also furnishes their members to help
care for the youngsters at each show.

Mr. Reade says the wonderful public and
community relations that accrued from last
year have made it easy to organize the series
again. The schools, and the PTA, were
waiting for the theatre manager, and in
some cases where the ticket sales had been
barred last year, permission was immedi-
ately granted this time. The audience is also
waiting, with tickets paid for in advance, to
insure a capacity house, twelve times over,
with no further advertising or exploitation
necessary to sell tickets.

Promofes Greyhound Trip To
New York from Kentucky

John W. Godfrey, manager of the Para-
mount theatre, Ashland, Ky., promoted a
free vacation trip via Greyhound Bus Lines
for two people, to New York and Wash-
ington, for winners in a lucky contest which
he conducted in cooperation with the Ash-
land Daily Independent. The trip lasted a
week, with all expenses paid, and the pub-
licity accruing included newspaper, radio,
poster displays, etc., all at no expense to
the theatre. The promotion manager of
Atlantic Greyhound in Charleston said he
was so pleased with the result that they
would do it elsewhere. Lots of theatres
down the line that could use Greyhound
cooperation in similar deals.

W. S. Samuels Now at the
Texas Theatre, Dallas

W. S. Samuels, wizard of the rotagravure
herald which he creates himself is now
with the Texas theatre, Dallas, where he
will show his style for Rowley United Oak
Cliff Theatres, operating nine houses under
the direction of J. A. Callahan. “Buster”
Samuels has attracted attention in the
Round Table, and with such experts as
Irving Mack, with his paste-up roto ideas.

Universal is going to reissue two of their
previous Glenn Miller hits — “Orchestra
Wives” and “Sun Valley Serenade”- — to
capitalize on the terrific success of “The
Glenn Miller Story” now knocking them
dead in countless situations.

J. J. Lafave, manager of the Capitol thea-
tre, Windsor, Ont., sends a color photograph
of his nice Holy Week lobby display, so
well done, in such g'ood taste, to augment
his continuing campaign, “Come to Church
This Sunday.”

Loew’s Theatres out of town are going
all out for MGM’s “Executive Suite”—
which is getting more advertising from
satisfied customers than any recent picture
to play the circuit,

Jimmie Thames reports exceptional co-
operation from the Arkansas Gazette, which
carries the “Prince Valiant” cartoon strip
in Little Rock, and came through with ex-
traordinary support for the new Cinema-
Scope picture playing at the Capitol theatre.

John G. Corbett, manager of Schine’s
Glove theatre, Gloversville, N. Y., has
something for teen-agers in his special disc-
jockey record session, aimed their way and
dedicated to what they like best in music,
and movies.

Nice note of exploitation received from
the manager of the Century theatre, Bonny-
ville, Alberta, who types everything but his
own name, and we can’t read his signature !

Jack A. Farr, long-time member of the
Round Table, and manager of the Trail
Drive-In theatre, Houston, Texas, was in
town for the Fox CinemaScope meeting, and
a welcome visitor.

Karl Fresick, publicist for Loew’s State
and Orpheum theatres, had a girl depositing
nickels in parking meters, with the card
“Just in case your overtime is the ‘Indiscre-
tion of an zTmerican Whfe’ the management
of Loew’s Theatres has i)aid your nickel — .”

Jack Pardes, manager of Walter Reade’s
Park theatre, Morristown, N. J., had himself
"mugged” — in the fashion of the police pho-
tographer in Morris County Jail — as adver-
tising for "Riot In Cell Block 11.”

John DiBenedetto, manager of Loew’s
Poll theatre, Worcester, Mass., writes that
he is proud to be a citation winner in the
1st Quarter of the Quigley Awards, and
sends a newspaper picture of the Loew’s
Poli Softballers, of which he is coach.

Bernie Depa, manager of Schine’s Strand
theatre, Lexington, Ky., pulled quite a coup
when he promoted a 52-piece set of Rogers
Silverware, presented to a lucky patron as a
“Mother’s Day” gift. The set was on dis-
play to lure the ladies.

Richard D. Empey, manager of the Gran-
ada theatre, Duluth, Minn., submits the out-
line of two of his recent campaigns, on “Rose
Marie” and “Prince Valiant” in which radio
and television promotion were prominent.

Dallas is deluged with entries in a sponsored "Heidi" contest. Frank Starrs, advertising
and publicity head for Interstate Theatres, center above, examining more than 5,000
replies in the record response for a coloring contest, done cooperatively by the circuit
and the Dallas "Times Herald." Winners will receive a free 10-day trip to Switzerland.
Helping to sort drawings are Jimmy Goff, assistant manager of the Tower theatre, and
Francis Barr, publicist.

MANAGERS’ ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 15, 1954

Theaire Cluhs Ad^pt Orphuns As

Bay L/ast** Biays Canada

Jim Cameron, l-'amous Players' Lakehead
sU])ervisor at Fort William, Ontario, brings
heartwarming news of the jihenomenal suc-
cess of the Foster Parents Adoption Plan,
originally outlined in the Round Table,
which he l.iunched in C anada with the first
l.daydates of Bing Crosljy’s "Little Boy
I.ost" at the Lyceum theatre, Pcjrt Arthur,
(Ontario, and the Royal theatre. Fort Wil-
liam, Other houses of the Famous Players-
Canadian circuit will follow this good exam-
ple, with the blessing of John J. h'itzgibhons,
president of the circuit, and James R, Nairn,
advertising and publicity director.

Orphans Befriended

Two little Korean hoys, one eight years
old, and the other thirteen years old. have
been "adopted” — in a fin.ancial and human
interest sense by the children’s cluhs of the
two theatres. The manager of the Lyceum
is Ken Keehn, with Frank Sahatini at the
Royal, hut both are "Uncles” — along with
“LTncle” Jim Cameron, who started this in-
teresting affair as a regular feature of the
"Recess Time” programs in his area. As an
aside, he says he treats this “Uncle” business
very seriously, for you can’t fool the kiddies
— and they won't kid you. It may sound a
little corny to some, but the rewards are
great for doing the right thing. You can’t
lose — when you play fair.

Jim Cameron says this plan for “adopting”
Korean hoys has had a wonderful newspaper
res})onse, and he sends tear sheets to show
how the local papers .gave the idea front
page stories, several times repeated, as the
plan went into effect. It takes hold of their
heart-strings, and parents like it as well as
the children. Jim remarks that some parents
haven’t wanted their youngsters to join the
"noisy brats” at the usual mornin.g show,
hut this is different.

It Gets Back Home

One thing that happened is wt)rth special
attention in this Round Table story. The
small girl, two and a half years old, on “Un-
cle Jim’s” lap in the adjoining photograph,
has just suiyg “Jesus Wants We for a Sun-
beam” as her contribution to the program.
\'ou can imagine what this was like in the
theatre, hut what you can’t imagine is the
reaction with the listeniiyg audience ! There
were plenty of cheers, in the theatre, and
tears, hack home — and plenty of parents who
called and told “Uncle Jim” of how much
they liked this feature, and how convinced
they were of the charm and wholesome ap-
peal of the "adoption” plan as an interest
for their children.

Support of the Korean hoys cost each club
$3.75 per week, $15.00 per month, and it is
understood that the children must earn the
money they put in each week, as their con-
tributions. The winner of the contest for

The little girl sitting on "Uncle Jim" Cameron's knee, in the photo above, has just
sung "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam", as part of the Recess Time Club program^ at the
Lyceum theatre. Port Arthur, Ont„ and raised havoc with the hearts of the listening
audience on the radio hook-up. Below, the club formation outside of the Capitol theatre,
Fort William, waiting to see Bing Crosby's "Little Boy Lost."

the most original way to earn his small share
gets a silver dollar. Of course. Famous
Players guarantees the total amounts in-
volved, hut as Jim says, this doesn’t actually
matter, for “If we were to worry too much
about this, it would be phony and wouldn’t
ring true with the children themselves. As
it is, they get along fine, and think they are
carrying the responsibility, as indeed they
are, for all practical, and spiritual, pur-
poses.”

There hasn’t been time enough to get any
letters back from Korea, but photos of the
two boys have arrived at the theatres, and

have been printed in the newspapers, and
posted on the Club’s bulletin board. The
youngest is a bright child, and anxious to
go to school — wants to be a general when
he grows up, for in the eyes of little Korean
boys, all generals are heroes. The older lad
is “a fine young hoy, honest and persevering
in whatever he starts to do.” He will send
his drawings to his little friends at the
Lyceum theatre in part payment of what
they are doing for him. Both of the chil-
dren, of good families, have lost all through
the Communist invasion of their country.
Now they have 500 new-found friends.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15. 1954

Recess JPoi*
Tite Summer

“Julius Caesar” — MGM’s gangster picture
to end all gangster pictures — is taking a
summer vacation, effective after the current
250 first-runs and subsequent-runs in the
same areas are played off. The picture has
completed an 11 month first-run in New
York, and goes into Loew’s neighborhood
houses to wind up a very merry month of
May at the box office. In purely scholastic
fashion, it suspends for the summer with the
closing of school — but this is no high-brow
picture, we’re frank to tell you. That is, not
entirely — schools may help but this is an ex-
citing picture !

“The longer I’m in this business, the less
I know about it” — so Oscar Doob, in charge
of special promotions for MGM, quotes an
exhibitor. “I never thought I’d live long
enough to see a Shakespearian film become
a mass-appeal, box-office hit.” He was mere-
ly voicing the mazement of many other ex-
hibitors, and some producers, too. “Julius
Caesar” started off as “an artistic master-
piece”— “a cultural triumph” — but it re-
mained to develop into a mass attraction
that has them standing, and cheering, in the
aisles. What is so rare as a class picture
with mass appeal?

Booking the picture slowly, MGM has
experimented in a variety of situations, both
large and small. Now, they will capitalize
on what they’ve learned, with the general
release of the multi-starred film this Fall.
After school re-opens, but you can believe it,
the school approach is a come-on, to obtain
support for a political gangster film, with
murder as the motive, and Shakespeare
writing the punch lines.

"Julius Caesar" Contest
In Greater New York

More than 50 independent and circuit
theatre owners and managers were offered
the opportunity to contend for prizes given
by MGM for the best campaigns on “Julius
Caesar” as used in New York City, when
the picture begins its subsequent runs in lo-
cal theatres, starting May 15th and extend-
ing through June. The details were outlined
by Arthur Canton, eastern divisional press
representative, to members of the Century
circuit, the Randfore theatres, the Skouras
theatres, and the Walter Reade circuit, all
of which will play the picture concurrently.
All independent circuits, as well as mana-
gers of the RKO circuit are eligible. Loew’s
theatres will not be included in the con-
test.

Art Cauley, manager of the Paramount
theatre, Petersboro, Canada, had an inter-
esting “doll contest” which was suggested
by the CinemaScope short film “Dancers of
the Deep,” running with “Hell and High
Water” — with local championship girl swim-
mers to promote interest.

BY BERT ON B RALEY

THE

INDISPENSABLE

YOU

Public relations is not just the art of
Putting a message across;

Public Relatioyis is something you’re part of
Either for profit or loss,

You, in your job, are the firm’s emissary.

All that you say and you do

Counts — plus or minus — ivith Tom, Dick and Harry,
Public Relations is — YOU!

AIillions that go into ivinning the people’s
Confidence, friendship, good tvill.

You can knock higher than several steeples
If you’re a grouch and a pill.

You put the blessing, or you put the curse on all
Plannmg and policy too,

Public Relations is private and personal.

Public Relations is YOU !

It IS BY YOU that the customer judges
You give the Public its slant,

You’re the promoter of grins or of grudges.

It’s the impression you plant

That’ll decide if your firm’s reputation’ s

Proved by performance, all through;

Public Relations is private relations,

Public Relations is YOU!

Through the courtesy and thoughtfulness of Leon J. Bamberger, sales promotion man-
ager for RKO Pictures, and good friend of the Round Table, we are given the oppor-
tunity to reprint this excellent and very practical poem by Berton Braley, from the cur-
rent issue of SERVICE, a publication of Cities Service Company, with the permission of
Robert I. Marshall, in charge of business development for that company. It fits our busi-
ness, as well as his, and conforms to Leon Bamberger's conception of the substantial
duties of a theatre manager. Cities Service is one of our neighbors oiong Main Street.

Statesville Co-Ed Has
Good Showman's Stunts

R. E. Agle, general manager of States-
ville Theatre Corporation, Boone, N. C.,
keeps us posted on the showmanship ideas
of his good managers, of both sexes, and
this week, his report is devoted to Miss
Helen Johnson, manager of the State thea-
tre, Statesville, who uses her native ingenu-
ity. She promoted “The Eddie Cantor
Story,” using white cotton gloves she bought
from a local “mortuary” — as good a source
as any. She also used that big “Banjo Eyes”
mask, made from a pressbook mat, and dis-
tributed free balloons to youngsters. Advance
ticket sale was at the high school.

For “The Glenn Miller Story” Miss John-
son had the full schedule, with everything
on the beam. She had a substantial theatre
front display, a full page cooperative news-
paper ad, a contest with more than 500 re-
plies received, and a radio campaign on a
local station.

^TELL YOUR PATRONS

ALWAYS / ABOUT IT WITH A

GOOD! I
ALWAYS
ON TIME!

FILMACK

TRAILER

1327 S. Wabash ■ Chicago, III. 630 Niath A«e. - Now York, N. Y.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 15, 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menfing t-he special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

INCREASED OUTPUT SEEN
FOR "DIME" CANDY BARS

IN THE months to come
theatre operators, along with other distrib-
utors of candy, can expect to find available
on the market less and less of the small-
size or “nickel” bars and specialties and
more and more of the “ten-cent” or larger
varieties. This trend toward replacement
of the small bars with larger, which lias
been developing for some time within the
candy industry, gained added impetus last
week with the announcement that the price
of cocoa beans had jumped to a record high
of 63c per pound and a report that many
candy manufacturers are taking definite
steps to raise the prices on all products in
their lines.

T he plans of manufacturers to upgrade
their prices was revealed by the publica-
tion Candy Industry following a survey it
took of the leaders in the field. Such tactics,
the trade paper said, “appear to be the only
answer in the manufacturer’s desire and ef-
fort to turn the tide of reduced sales and
diminishing profits.”

Foremost among the reasons for the re-
duced profits in candy is, of course, the
sharp rise in cocoa bean prices, which in
turn has been brought on by a shortage in
the supply. According to a report in the
New York Times of May 10th, disease
and blights have damaged the crop in Brit-
ish W est Africa, which supplies more than
50% of the world’s cocoa beans; wdiile
drought has cut the yield in Brazil, which
accounts for more than 15%.

Although production has not been re-
duced, the Times report further states,
consumption has increased. “During 1952
and 1953,” it is revealed, “the demand for
cocoa exceeded output, reducing the carry-
over from former years. Now, with Euro-
pean purchases increasing and American
demand at least holding steady, the short-
ages are pronounced.”

In meeting this problem candy manufac-
turers have three major alternatives, as
the Times further points out: They can
raise their prices, reduce the size of the
product or turn to substitute flavorings. It
has been reported in the past that many
manufacturers believe that reducing the
size of the “nickel” bar would not be an
answer and that the only alternative is to
concentrate on “dime” bars which can be
produced at a profit.

As for raising prices. Candy Industry
reports that this will now be applied pri-
marily to those candy specialties selling
between 10c and 50c. For these products,
the publication states, emphasis will be
placed on “better quality” also.

In regard to a substitute many candy
firms are now experimenting with or al-
ready using a chocolate-like coating, which
employs a small amount of cocoa mixed
with a hydrogenated vegetable oil.

One of the companies reporting the de-
velopment of cheaper subsi’tutes with a
“suitable flavor,” is the Blumenthal
Brothers Chocolate Company of Philadel-
phia, according to the Times. It has tested
a milk-flavored compound on consumers,
and this coating costs the concern about
half the price of regular chocolate.

Whatever the ultimate solution to the
chocolate problem settled on by the candy
firms, one fact seems assured for the thea-
tre operator: he will find more and more
large-size candy bars on the market and
less and less of the “nickel” size.

THEATRE REPRESENTATIVES

The appointment of two representatives
to serve the theatre trade, Ben Newman
and Jerry Weissman, has been announced
by the Lucy Lynne Chocolate Company,
Brookl3'n, N. Y., manufacturers of “Wash-

ington Cordial Cherries” and other can-
dies. Mr. Newman was sales manager for
Mason, Au & Magenheimer Confectionery
for 25 years, and Mr. Weissman was sales
manager for the Huylers Co. previously.

NEW FOUNTAINETTE UNIT

A fountainette equipped with two lever-
action pumps and four fruit wells has been
added to its line of fountain and food ser-
vice accessories by Helmco, Inc., Chicago.
Catalogued as “Model 204,” the unit is
made of satin finish stainless steel.

BRM also means

Better Recognition for Managers

Get your light from under
that bushel by qualifying for
Special Merit Awards in better
refreshment merchandising —
and gain nationwide recogni-
tion.

Send in reports indicating
how you are promoting busi-
ness, improving stand service
and appearance, displaying
products more effectively. In-
clude photos and any other
pertinent material.

Published reports will be
credited to the contributor and
will qualify for citations. Cita-
tion holders are eligible as
entrants for the annual Special
Merit Award judging.

Send in as many reports as
you desire from time to time.
Address them to; The Editor,
Better Refreshment Merchan-
dising Dept., Motion Picture
Herald.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

CLIPPED WINGS: Bowery Boys — A very good
Bowery Boys picture which should please your week-
end patrons. Plenty of laughs in it. Doubled with one
of the Bomba. Boy. series. Played Friday, Saturday,
April 9, 10. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals,

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 Mo,
Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20.

Ind.

RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11: Neville Brand, Leo
Gordon — In spite of bad weather, this exciting picture
did well above average business and was thoroughly
enjoyed. Flayed Thursday, Friday, March 25, 26.—
Daird Flexer, Magnolia Theatre, New Albany, Miss.

ROAR OF THE CROWD: Howard Duff, Helene
Stanley — A very good racing picture which was well
liked by everyone who saw it. Played Friday, Satur-
day, April ZS, 24. — James Hardy, Shoals Tlieatre,
Shoals, Ind.

WHISTLING HILLS: Johnny Mack Brown— Good
little western. Wish that Allied Artists would sign
Smiley Burnette for a series. Played Saturday, April
17. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala.

Columbia

CRUISIN’ DOWN THE RIVER: Dick Haymes,
Audrey Totter — Color musical that we played in com-
bination with “War Arrow” (U), adding up to a
fair midweek program. Our rating: Fair. — Played
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, April 13, 14, 15.—
Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In Theatre, Lansing,
Mich.

Mefro-Goldwyn-Mayer

AMERICAN IN PARIS, AN: Gene Kelly, Leslie
Caron — Oicl, but it is still good and won six Academy
Awards. We booked it in to reap the benefits of the
recent Academy Awards. Weather was tough and
we had to admit, so was business. Very good picture
in our opinion. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, Tliurs-
day, April 20, 21, 22. — Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing
J)rive-In Theatre, Lansing, Mich.

LILI: Leslie Caron, Mel Ferrer — Everyone loved
this one and we were happy to do average business
at the box office. Played Monday, Tuesday, March 29,
30. — Daird Flexer, Magnolia Tlieatre, New Albany,
Miss.

MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID:. Esther Williams,
Victor Mature — 1. Esther Williams. 2. Victor Mature.
3. Technicolor. Total: All around good show. Lansing
Drive-In rating: Good. Played Sunday, Monday, April
11, 12.- — Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In Tlieatre,
Lansing, Mich.

SMALL TOWN GIRL: Jane Powell. Farley Gran-
ger— It’s the type of film that patrons are sorry to
see end. It’s a fine MGM musical that was enjoyed
by big houses here. Sakall is a favorite here. Hope
MGM gives him more musicals to play in. Color,
music and dancing tops. Bobby Van should do well
in future. Can recommend this to all houses. Played
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, April 28,
29, 30, May 1. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre,

Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa.

STORY OF THREE LOVES, THE: All Star Cast-
The fourth love was my cash register — packed to the
top! It showed the house nearly full all nights ex-
cept one. And how did we sell ballet to the miners?
By stressing the third story for all we were worth.
We went to town on the trapeze story and got them
all in, and they admitted enjoying the ballet immensely.
Personally, I loved the first and last. Bet MGM pm
in the mediocre second to give patrons a well-earned
breathing space. Heartily recommend for all houses—
it has something for everyone! Played Tuesday, Wed-
nesday, Thursday, Friday. Saturday, April 13, 14^ 15,
16, 17. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana,
Northern Rhodesia, Africa.

Paramount

ARROWHEAD: Charlton Heston, Jack Balance — A

very good Indian picture which should please the aver-
age movie-goer. Heston and Balance at their best.
Flay it — you can’t go wrong on this one. Did aver-
age business both nights. Played Sunday, Monday,
April 4, 5. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind.

STALAG 17: William Holden, Don Taylor — Don’t
need any remarks on this picture — just play it and
your patrons will do the commenting on it. This is
one of the best pictures I have seen in a long time.
Let’s see more of Robert Strauss and Harvey Lem-
beck — they sure did their parts well. Played Sunday,
Monday, April 11, 12. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre,
Shoals, Ind.

VANQUISHED, THE: John Payne, Jan Sterling —
This is a slow-moving drama with not much action. I
should have played it midweek. Pass it up if you can.
Had a few walkouts on it. Just an average picture.
Rural and small town patronage. Flayed Friday, Sat-
urday, April 2, 3. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre,
Shoals, Ind.

RKO-Radio

BEAR COUNTRY: Tru-Life Adventures-Walt Dis-
ney— Walt Disney well deserves the 1953 Academy
Award for the best two reel short subject. “Bear
Country” is just that. Running time 33 minutes of
pure entertainment. Orchids to you, Walt Disney. —
Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In Theatre, Lansing,
Mich.

Republic

WOMAN OF THE NORTH COUNTRY: Rod Cam-
eron, Ruth Hussey— We got the black and white ver-
sion of this one. Photography was so poor and dark,
many of our patrons asked us to put the house lights
on so that they could see what was happening. How-
ever, I am sure if U.S.A. exhibitors have the Trucolor
print, they ought to do average business with this
one. It’s quite entertaining. Played Sunday, Monday,
April 18, 19. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre,
Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa.

Twentieth Century-Fox

CITY OF BAD MEN: Jeanne Crain, Dale Robert-
son— Something different in westerns. Did above aver-
age business both nights. Played Sunday, Monday,
April 25, 26. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals,
Ind.

HALF PAST MIDNIGHT: Kent Taylor, Peggy
Knudson — We played “Half Past Midnight” at half
past midnight and got half past an average midnight
spook show. Total: Hall past fair. Played Saturday,
April 17. — Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In The-
atre, Lansing, Mich.

PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET: Richard Widmark,
Jean Peters — As only Fox can make them! Another
excellent film on the same lines as “13 Rue Madeleine”
and “House on 92nd Street.” Fox does these films
so well that no fault can be found, except perhaps
with this one’s title. Widmark is tops here — he adds
prestige to his already fine record. I heartily recom-
mend this film to all houses. Advertise it as the
Fox entry to the^ Venice Film Festival that won
acclaim. It will bring them in as it did in our situa-
tion.— Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana,
Northern Rhodesia, Africa.

United Artists

I, THE JURY : Bill Elliott, Peggie Castle — Although
we played to practically capacity houses, I personally

fail to see the attraction, except perhaps that millions
have read Mickey Spillane. We had this one in the
2-D version. Story and continuity disjointed in this
film. Patrons seemed to be disappointed — it was not
quite like the book. Played Sunday, Monday, April
11, 12. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana,
Northern Rhodesia, Africa.

Universal

BACK TO GOD’S COUNTRY: Rock Hudson, Steve
Cochran — We played this picturization of James Oliver
Curwood’s story as the bottom half of our w^eekend
bill — nuff said. We would rate it as fair. Played Fri-
day, Saturday, April 23, 24. — Pearce Parkhurst, Lans-
ing Drive-In Theatre, Lansing, Mich.

BORDER RIVER: Joel McCrea, Yvonne de Carlo —
Another fair to middlin’ outdoor Technicolor picture.
Chu* rating: Fair. Played Friday, Saturday, April 16,
17.— Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In Theatre,
Lansing, Mich.

MA AND PA KETTLE AT HOME: Marjorie
Main, Percy Kilbride — We hate to see Universal dis-
coniiiiue^ this wonderful small town series. Did a
fine business and a large crowd had a fine time.
Played Monday, Tuesday, March 15, 16. — Daird Flexer,
iMagnolia Theatre, New Albany, Miss.

WAR ARROW: JeiT Chandler, Maureen 0'’Hara —
Another one of Universal's fine westerns. Drew very
well both nights. Jeff Chandler is well received here.
Beautiful color. Played Friday, Saturday, April 30,
iMay 1. — James Hardy, Shoals IJieatre, Shoals, Ind.

WAR ARROW: Jeff Chandler, Maureen 0'’Hara —
The cast and the Technicolor helped what proved to
lie only a fair outdoor picture. We know you can
do better than this, Universal. Lansing Drive-In
rating: Fair. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
April 13, 14, 15. — Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In
Theatre, Lansing, Mich.

Shorts

Mefro-Goldwyn-Mayer

JERRY & JUMBO: Technicolor Cartoon — We
haven’t laughed like this for a long time! — Dave S.
Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rho-
desia, Africa.

JOHANN MOUSE: Quimby Technicolor Cartoon —
They did it again by winning another Oscar for the
best color cartoon of 1952. One of the best Tom &
Jerry shorts. — Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In
Theatre, Lansing, Mich.

TWO MOUSEKETEERS: Technicolor Cartoon—
Oscar for the best cartoon of 1951! Top Tom & Jerry
color short.— Pearce Parkhurst, Lansing Drive-In The-
atre, Lansing, Mich.

RKO-Radio

LION AROUND: Walt Disney Cartoon — Good Don-
ald D’uck short. — W. R. Shepherd, Regent Cinema,
vSouth Shields, England.

Universal

BEHIND THE WALL: Variety View — This is an
interesting short subject that was filmed at the Illi-
nois State Prison. It shows the inside of the prison
and different workshops that the prisoners maintain
— Mel Edelstein, Lybba Theatre, Hibbing, Minn.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15, 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy.Count initials, boxnumberandaddress. Minimuminsertion $1.50. Four
insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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

SAVE TIME, SAVE MONEY 1 PAINT YOUR
own attractive advertising signs. Experience not
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BARGAIN-Sc EACH. BRAND NEW MAGIC-
Viewers and Polalite 3D glasses, limited supply.
First come, first served. MALCO THEATRES. INC..
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MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS, FIT WAG-
ner, Adler. Bevelite Signs; 4''-35c; 8"-50c; 10''-60c;
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PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New York 19.

MIRRO-CLARIC REPRESENTS BEST VALUE in
metalized all purpose screen — only $1.00 sq. ft. Seams
absolutely invisible; Kollmorgen wide angle lenses,
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CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
Street, 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-
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cles by leading authorities — edited by Martin Quigley,
Jr., 208 pages. Price $4.50 postpaid. QUIGLEY BOOK-
SHOP, 1^0 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. Licludes 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 ALMA-
nao — 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.

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CAPITAUZE YOUR EXPERIENCE— SHOOT
local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar-
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for Film Production Catalog. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
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Y ork 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

WIDE SCREEN PAYS OFF! WIDE ANGLE
lenses, special apertures immediately available. Motor-
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USED EQUIPMENT

BIG SAVINGS ON BIG SCREENS AT STARI
Write us! RCA rotary stabilizer Soundheads, rebuilt,
$395 pair ; DeVry XDC Projectors, heavy bases,
Suprex Lamphouses, Rectifiers, rebuilt, $1495 pair;
pair Strong Ikw. Lamphouses and Rectifiers, excel-
lent condition, $425; Ashcraft 70 ampere Lamphouses,
rebuilt, $489.50 pair; Motiograph Mirrophonic Sound
System, dual amplifier, latest type, rebuilt, $1150.
What do you need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447
West 52nd St., New York 19.

DEVRY DUAL 35MM PROJECTION AND SOUND.
Rebuilt like new, $895. Send for DeVry Bulletin.
Holmes dual outfits excellent condition, $550. Time
deals available. S.O.S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORA-
TION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New York 19.

HELP WANTED

ARE YOU THE MAN WE WANT? MANAG-
gerial jobs open in growing drive-in circuit. Positions
available in East Coast and Mid-West. 52-week deal
with extras. The right men showing ambition and
pride in their work can make a fine career with us.
Write and we will arrange appointments. SMITH
MANAGEMENT CO., Attention Arnold Berger, 82
Newbury St., Boston, Mass.

TOP MANAGER FOR DRIVE-IN THEATRE IN
Maine. Salary .^125 per week. Year-round employment
guaranteed. Write stating qualifications to FRANCES
W. HARDING, 38 Church Street, Boston, Mass.

WANTED- THEATRE MANAGER FOR FIRST
lun, downtown, upper midwest metropolitan city (oper-
ated by small independent chain). Willing to pay
good salary for a first class manager capable of doing
all exploitation and handling staff. Please state quali-
fications and salary expected. All replies confidential.
BOX 2790, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

POSITIONS WANTED

CAPABLE THEATRE EXECUTIVE, WELL REC-
omraended, seeks manager’s position or will consider
operating theatres for absentee owners. BOX 2786,
MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

THOROUGHLY EXPERIENCED, ENERGETIC
manager. Promotional, exploitation minded, desires
solid connection offering opportunity to show ability.
BOX 2787, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

SELL DURING YOUR SPARE TIME— ADVER-
tising specialties, calendars, etc. Top commissions.
Write L. H. HORTON ADVERTISING SPECIALTY
CO., Lansing, Michigan.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO.,
Cato, N. Y.

THEATRES

THEATRE SOUTH JERSEY, POPULATION 8,500.
436 seats, best equipment. Netting better $150 weekly.
Ideal husband-wife operation. $10,000 cash plus $12,500
mortgage. BOX 2788, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

SALE NEW MASONRY BUILDING. 407 SEATS,
new equipment and furnishings, 50 miles from Buf-
falo, asking $60,000 easy terms. DREW, 159 Linwood
Avenue, Buffalo, New York.

SEATING

ATTENTION EXHIBITORS! HOW ABOUT SOME
Spring tonic for your chairs to improve comfort and
get back some of the customers you lost. We have
a large stock of late type chairs that will meet all
requirements. If you are interested in rebuilding your
chairs or in the market for better than you have,
write for additional information. Prices very reason-
able. EASTERN SEATING CO., 138-13 Springfield
Blvd., Springfield Gardens, N. Y., LAurenton 8-3696.

NEED CHAIRS? SEND FOR CHAIR BULLETIN
showing all makes and types from $4.95. S.O.S.
aNEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
■Street, New York 19.

Benjamin H. Serkowich Dies;
Former Publicity Director

Benjamin H. Serkowich, former news-
paper man and then publicity director for
some of the biggest companies in the motion
picture business, died in New York May 8,
at the age of 60. He had been from 1946
to 1949 director of advertising and publicity
for Columbia, and from 1936 to 1946 pub-
licity director for the Capitol theatre. New
York. He recently had been in business for
himself. He was a native of Peoria, 111.,
and a veteran of newspapers in the midwest,
and of the Associated Press and United
Press. He entered the industry in 1919 as
director of advertising and publicity for the
Robinson Circuit in Illinois, which later be-
came the Great States circuit. He also was
with Balaban and Katz, then with Para-
mount Publix, and with RKO Radio Pic-

tures, and RKO Theatres, and then again
with Balaban and Katz. He leaves three
brothers, Jules, David, and Hyman, and two
sisters, Carrie and Hannah.

Walter E. Kline

Walter E. Kline, 61, Hollywood public
relations counselor, died May 8 at his home
in Bel-Air, Cal. Mr. Kline established his
business in the film center in 1918. His
widow, Jean, son, Walter, and daughter,
Mrs. Betty Grady, survive.

Legion of Decency
Reviews Three Films

Three films have been reviewed and clas-
sified this week by the National Legion of
Decency. They are “Johnny Dark,” termed
unobjectionable for general patronage; “Star
of India,” morally unobjectionable for

adults ; and “Flame and the Flesh,” which
the Legion says is morally objectionable in
part for all because of “suggestive situations
and dialogue” and because it tends “to con-
done immoral actions.”

Bell And Howell Has New
CinemaScope Lens Campaign

A new sales campaign to sell the stand-
ard cylindrical type CinemaScope lenses was
announced this week by Bell & Howell. The
campaign stresses the recent price reduc-
tions. It will comprise advertisements in
theatre trade papers and will be supple-
mented by direct mail technical and other
information to theatre owners and equip-
ment dealers. It is being h.indled by the
Chicago office, aided by district managers
in 48 states and other offices in Hollywood,
New York, and Washington.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 15. 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 114 attractions, 5,045 playdates.

Titles run alphabetically. Numerals refer to the mimber 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.

King of ihe Khyber Rifles (20fh-Fox)

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Living Desert, The (Disney)
Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)
Lucky Me (WB)

t Act of Love ( DA)

Alaska Seas (Para.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)

Back to God's Country (U-l)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (DA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox) . . . .
Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Border River (L)-l)

Botany Bay (Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Cease Fire! (Para.)

Command, The (WB)

Crazylegs— -All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l).
Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO)
Decameron Nights (RKO) .
Diamond Queen, The (WB)
Dragonfly Squadron (AA) .

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

Flight to Tangier (Para.) . . . .

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Female (Para.)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

Give a Girl a Break ( MGM ) . . .

Glass Web, The (U-l)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)
Gun Fury (Col.)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Hell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

Hovr to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox)

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail (Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

EX AA

_ „

- 17

1 1

1)5

1 1

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox) . ...
Martin Luther (de Rochemont)

fMiami Story, The (Col.)

Miss Robin Crusoe (20th-Fox) .
Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.) .
Money from Home (Para.)

Naked Jungle, The (Para.)
Nebraskan, The (Col.) . . . .
New Faces (20th-Fox) . . .
Night People (20th-Fox) .

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)

Pinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)

Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.) . . .

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue) .

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)...

Ralls Into Laramie (U-l)..

Red Garters (Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l)
Riders to the Stars (UA) .
Riding Shotgun (WB) . . . .
Riot in Cell Block I I (AA)
Rob Roy (Disney-RKO) . . .

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Roman Holiday (Para.)...
Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (U-l)

Shane (Para.)

Shark River ( UA)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)
Siege at Red River (20th-Fox)

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

So Big (WB)

Take the High Ground (MGM)
Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l)....
Tennessee Champ (MGM) . . . .
Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)
Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)
Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( UA)

Tumbleweed (U-l)

Veils of Bagdad (U-l)

Walking My Baby Back Home (U-l)

War Arrow (U-l)

Wild One (Col.)

Yankee Pasha ( U-l)

1 1

- 36

- 26

- 17

UULUMblA PIUIUKtb presents

Jennifer intpeiy

JONES ClIFT

IMDISCUTIOH

o/ Q/n GAYie/iico/n ”

VITTORIO DeSICA

On this page and the next
we show the wide range of
M-G-M showmanship. Just a
few of many attractions
current and coming from the
Busiest Studio on the Coast!

The New Sensation of the Nation!

"EXECUTIVE SUITE"

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 dagger • Nina Foch
Tim Considine • Screen Play by Ernest Lehman » Based on the novel by
Cameron Hawley • Directed by Robert Wise • Produced by John Houseman.

A Big Popular Attraction!
A solid hit!

"RHAPSODY”

(Technicolor)

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.

Flash! First test engagements
playing '"A” time, prove
that showmanship pays off!

M-G-M presents “PRISONER OF WAR” starring
Ronald Reagan • Steve Forrest • Dewey Martin • with
Oscar Homolka • Written by Allen Rivkin • Directed by
Andrew Marton • Produced by Henry Berman.

Just what the title says!

"FLAME AND THE FLESH”

(Technicolor)

M-G-M presents in Color by Technicolor • Lana Turner
in “FLAME AND THE FLESH” . co-starring Pier
Angeli • Carlos Thompson • with Bonar Colleano • Screen
Play by Helen Deutsch • Based on a novel by Auguste
Bailly • Directed by Richard Brooks . Produced by
Joe Pasternak.

M-G-M presents “MEN OF
THE FIGHTING LADY” star-
ringVan Johnson • Walter Pidgeon
Louis Calhern • Dewey Martin
Keenan Wynn • Frank Lovejoy
Screen Play by Art Cohn • Based
on James A. Michener’s “For-
gotten Heroes of Korea” and
Comdr. Harry A. Burns’ “Case
of the Blind Pilot” • Photographed
in Ansco Color • Print by Tech-
nicolor • Directed by Andrew
Marton • Produced by Henry
Berman.

of N. Y.!

JjlL

(Technicolor)
Repeat bookings
terrific everywhere!

M-G-M presents in Color
by Technicolor • “LILI” star-
ring Leslie Caron • Mel
Ferrer • Jean Pierre Aumont
with Zsa Zsa Gabor • Kurt
Kasznar • Screen Play
by Helen Deutsch • Based
on a story by Paul Gallico
Directed by Charles Walters
Produced by Edwin H. Knopf

Thrills of the
Navy Jet Pilots !

"MEN OF THE
FIGHTING

LADY” (Color)

The Cash Register Sings!

"VALLEY OF THE KINGS”

(Color)

M-G-M presents “VALLEY OF THE KINGS” starring
Robert Taylor • Eleanor Parker • Carlos Thompson • with
Kurt Kasznar • Victor Jory • and Sarnia Gamal • Written
by Robert Pirosh and Karl Tunberg • Suggested by
Historical Data in “Gods, Graves and Scholars” by
C. W. Ceram • Photographed in Eastman Color • Print
by Technicolor. Directed by Robert Pirosh.

The Next Big M-G-M Musical I

"THE STUDENT PRINCE”

(CinemaScope — Color)

M-G-M presents in CinemaScope • “THE STUDENT PRINCE”
starring Ann Blyth • Edmund Purdom • John Ericson • Louis Calhern
with Edmund Gwenn • S. Z. “Cuddles” Sakall • Betta St. John • John
Williams • Evelyn Varden • and The Singing Voice of Mario Lanza
Written for the Screen by William Ludwig and Sonya Levien • Music
from “The Student Prince” by Sigmund Romberg • Color by Ansco
Directed by Richard Thorpe • Produced by Joe Pasternak.

BIG, NEW, M-G-M PROPERTIES!

Just added to Leo’s Treasure Chest
for future production:

'TEAHOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON”

Current famed stage hit by John Patrick
"THE FEMALE” Top best seller by Paul Wellman
"MARY ANNE” by Daphne du Maurier, top popular novelist
— Anr/ many more!

MAY

strictly a
night-tiine
womaai

NEU sUll
burning with|
honeymoon I
It M -feverh I

^ SALLY
who

1^ lived /
^ in a
world
of ^
Bwhistles !

DAN

> who had
used up his
nine lives,
and was
starting
on ten ! rA

AND INTRODUCING

PAUL KELLY SIDNEY BLACKMER • DOE AVEDON • KAREN SHARPE • JOHN SMITH screen piay by ERNEST K. G^N music

Stereophonic Soun

WarnerColor

ROBERT

URAINE

CUIRE

n D

^‘1

Tr|

CHILDS

a wealthy
collector--
of other
men’s
wives !

LYDIA

who was
as low as
high society
could get!

They meet on an adventure

that spans the 2400 miles

from Honolulu to San Francisco
Bay. Out of this meeting of
strangers comes entertainment
history, the story of every kind
of love there is!

WARNER
BROS.

BRING EVERY
POUNDING
PAGE OF THE
2 -YEAR ft.
BEST-SELLER
SENSATION
TO THE
SCREEN

NemaSCO

Dual Pre-Release
Premiere

AT THE

Egyptian Theatre,

^ Los Angeles

AND THE

Tlomkln' A WAYNE • FELLOWS PRODUCTidi'l

■SUt lJU '

by WILLIAM A. WELLMAN WARNERBROS.

The Robe • color by Technicolor

How To Marry A Millionaire • color by Technicolor

Beneath The 12-Mile Reef • color by Technicolor

King Of The Khyber Rifles • color by Technicolor-DeLuxe

Hell And High Water • color by Technicolor

New Faces • in Glorious Color

Night People • color by Technicolor
Prince Valiant • color by Technicolor
River Of No Return • color by Technicolor
3 Coins In The Fountain • color by Deluxe
Demetrius and The Gladiators • color by Technicolor

The Raid • print by Technicolor

The Rocket Man

Gorilla At Large • color by Technicolor
The Siege At Red River • color by Technicolor
Man In The Attic

Racing Blood • Supercinecolor

Man Crazy

Miss Robin Crusoe • Pathecolor
Thy Neighbor’s Wife

Enough to keep every theatre
in America well supplied!

See your 20tk Branch Manager Today!

Inferno • color by Technicolor

Vicki

A Blueprint For Murder
Sailor Of The King

^ ^

Inferno • color by Technicolor
Gorilla At Large • color by Technicolor

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 8

MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor

May 22, 1954

Print Happy!

HOLLYWOOD product is currently available (or soon
to be available when processing now in progress is com-
pleted) in the following fourteen combinations :

Standard print — standard sound

Standard print — separate stereophonic sound print

Standard print — separate stereophonic sound print;

effects on optical track with picture
3-D — two print system
3-D — single print system

3-D — two print system with separate stereophonic
sound print

CinemaScope- — 4-track stereophonic sound
C inemaScope — single optical sound track
CinemaScope — Perspecta directional sound
CinemaScope — single track magnetic
CinemaScope — reduced to standard “2-D” print
VistaVision — Perspecta sound
VistaVision printed in SuperScope — Perspecta
sound

SuperScope print of standard picture

The Italians have a word for a situation like this. It
is BASTA. The meaning— THAT’S ENOUGH !

World Exhibitor Organization

JUST as the impact of the new techniques and
present sales policies have tended to eliminate dif-
ferences between the two major exhibitor organiza-
tions in the United States so also current conditions
have promoted a sense of common cause among exhibit-
ors throughout the world.

Stereophonic sound, wide screen, 3-D and television
are among the problems which are of concern to show-
men everywhere. Exhibitors of all nations always have
had much in common because the life blood for most of
them has been the wares produced in Hollywood. Pre-
occupation with the difficulties of introducing the new
techniques has done much to strengthen the common
bond.

Exhibitors abroad have been keeping in close touch
with developments in the industry in the United States.
There has been an unusual number of foreign visitors
at various of the studios and theatre demonstrations of
new techniques. In over eighty countries each week
subscribers of The HERALD read what is going on
here. Moreover, some influential American showmen
have been journeying overseas, particularly to Europe.
Often such trips turned out to be a “busman’s holiday’’
because the American travelers became wrapped up with
exhibitors’ local problems, fascinated because of their
resemblance to matters at home.

Therefore it should not be surprising that efforts have
been launched looking to the establishment of a formal
international alliance of exhibitor organizations. The
project is being sponsored by the Cinematograph Ex-
hibitors Association of Britain. The goal is a working
arrangement between the CEA on the one hand and
Allied and TOA on the other. Purposes of the coopera-
tive effort are to seek coordinated activity on new tech-
niques and to alleviate, if possible, the product shortage.

An international alliance of exhibitor organizations
would be a constructive force if it served no other end
than encouraging exhibitors everywhere to view their
problems and those of the industry from the broadest
point of view.

■ ■ ■

New Release Chart Service

Commencing with this issue The Release Chart
in the Product Digest section of The HERALD
will include data indicating new techniques in
which pictures have been made and the types of sound
prints currently being made available. At a glance the
reader will be able to determine whether a picture was
filmed in CinemaScope, 3-D, VistaVision or other sys-
tem and whether it is available in four-track magnetic
sound, separate magnetic stereophonic sound, Perspecta
directional optical sound, single-track magnetic or single-
track optical.

This additional information is required now by a num-
ber of exhibitors. All will need it as soon as releases
in the new techniques and diverse sounds become more
numerous. The special data on systems and sounds will
be revised weekly based on information supplied by the
distributors.

Only a little over a year ago motion pictures were
exhibited in only one standard of screen and sound ; now
there are available many different combinations of pro-
jection system and types of sound. The day of complete
standardization, if it ever is to come, is still far in the
future. Meanwhile, The HERALD will continue to do
its part in clarifying the situation and in serving its
readers.

m m m

Q The American Association for the Advancement of
Science was recently informed by a Boston doctor that
the most common “psychosomatic illness of our times is
money-sickness.” That only goes to give more weight to
the old axiom, “Money is the root of all evil.” So when
exhibitors, producers and distributors think they have
“the virus” it may simply be “money sickness.” The
doctor did not prescribe a cure.

■Martin Quigley, Jr.

rsCettepd io tlie ^.J^eruid.

Far-Sighted Skouras

To THE Editor:

Believing that we have one of the smallest
theatres in the United States (360 seats)
with a CinemaScope installation, I thought
that I would pass on the following infor-
mation.

We have just finished playing “The Robe”
in the Alki theatre, Wilbur, Washington
(population 1,044), for seven days to a gross
of $1,394. This is the first time any picture
has ever played a week in this situation,
and it broke every existing record of any
feature or combination of features in this
house. Business was 560 per cent above our
normal week’s business, and the last day
exceeded each of the first three days on
the picture.

With regard to stereophonic sound, I feel
that it is a definite must in theatres, both
large and small, in adding to the impact of
a CinemaScope presentation. In fact, I be-
lieve that it is actually more effective in a
house such as mine due to the intimacy of
a small theatre. I now have every available
CinemaScope feature dated, and am looking
forward to a very successful year for the
Alki theatre.

May I add my thanks at this time to
Spyros Skouras and the 20th Century-Fox
organization for being so far-sighted in a
critical period in bringing forth a process
such as this to entice the patrons back to
the theatres.— £. C. RETT KOW SKI, Alki
Theatre, Wilbur, Wash.

Irreparable Damage

To THE Editor:

Amen to the letter written by the Virginia
Theatre Manager on that horrible Holly-
wood sex article in “Esquire.” I read the
article in a barber shop while waiting to get
a haircut. How many other customers read
it makes no difference. The harm has been
done, with irreparable damage to our busi-
ness, and again as always happens when
repulsive things about Hollywood appears,
the theatres will be the ones to get it in
the neck from all civic groups, the ministers
and possible even the newspapers.

Your editorial on the subject was fine,
but again, the damage has been done.

What does Hollywood plan to do about it ?
Kick the said Mr. Hecht out which should
happen, or will they just tell him he’s been
a bad boy and to go ahead and write them
a story which will make a movie which will
get them some money and all will be for-
given ?

It’s just like some of the stars who have
brought disgrace on the business and are still
in the business, and it all adds up to money,
greed. The exhibitors seem to be the only
ones to control such a situation, but here
again you have greedy exhibitors too.

If all the exhibitors would refuse to play

a movie, the story of which was written by
Ben Hecht, the movie would not be pro-
duced. Mr. Hecht would be out of business
as a writer of stories for the motion picture
industry.

It seems that in this land there ought to
be laws to protect a business such as ours
from such unscrupulous beings as Hecht. It
takes all sorts of sordid people to make a
world, along with the decent human beings.
What a pity sex-minded Hecht can’t be
dealt with properly.

“Esquire” magazine too is just as much
to blame for publishing such tripe. Decent
advertisers should refuse to advertise in a
magazine which publishes such trash about
a great industry.

I was told plenty about the Hecht article
by our newspaper publishers today when I
paid a visit to the papers. And at a time
when all those nice ads are appearing in
“Editor and Publisher” and when all along
on the local level we have been trying to
sell Hollywood and the movies more than
ever to our editors.

I’m clipping your editorial to answer
further comment on the article but I’m
afraid much damage has been done. —
Georgia Theatre Manager.

Deserved Tribute

To THE Editor:

I have come to the conclusion that theatre
owners and managers can be some of the
nicest people in the world and probably
never ever get the thanks and recognition
they deserve.

One recent evening I was locked out of
my apartment and not being able to get
assistance from the local police or fire de-
partment or neighbors I happened to think
of the local theatre, the Beverly, 823 Third
Avenue, New York City. Mr. Harold Ray-
mond, owner and manager of the theatre,
himself came to my assistance and got his
marquee ladder and aided me in my re-
entrance.

I certainly feel this was beyond the call
of ordinary neighborly assistance and cer-
tainly was convinced of the very good neigh-
bors and fine members of the community
theatre managers are.

I would very much appreciate your print-
ing this letter as a tribute to the kindness
and consideration of theatre managers who
are sometimes forgotten, and as the only
way I can begin to thank Mr. Raymond
beyond a letter.

Thank you very much. — EDMUND M.
TATE, New York City.

Rentals

To THE Editor:

Is it right for company salesmen to ask
higher rentals and percentage now that the
tax repeal is finished? — West Va. Exhibitor.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

May 22. 1954

INTERNATIONAL exhibitor group is urged
in Britain Page 1 3

TOA and ALLIED leaders greet alliance
proposal warmly Page 13

INDUSTRY arbitration system target of
New York meeting Page 16

WALLER, inventor of Cinerama, dies in
New York at 68 Page 16

"FAME” Achievement Award presented to
Skouras by Martin Quigley Page 18

20TH-FOX stockholders vote confidence in
management Page 18

20TH-FOX offers 2-D prints on Cinema-
Scope motion pictures Page 20

VISTAVISION demonstrations planned for
key cities of world Page 22

AB-PARAMCUNT stockholders told upturn
due for quarter Page 22

TCA board urged to discuss product prob-
lem by Broidy Page 24

PARAMCUNT decree should not be used
as evidence, is claim Page 26

ATLAS Corporation discussing purchase of
RKC stoclc from Hughes Page 26

THE WINNERS CIRCLE the box score

on box office leaders Page 27

PRCVIDENCE manager shows how to lick
the hoodlum problem Page 28

BRITISH CEA and KRS in new row in break
figure dispute Page 29

TECHNICCLCR planning to build a new
plant in France Page 31

MEXICAN industry sees formation of new
export unit Page 32

NATICNAL SPCTLIGHT — Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 33

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising Page 46

Film Buyers' Rating Page 38

Hollywood Scene Page 30

Managers' Round Table Page 41

People in the News Page 37

What the Picture Did for Me Page 39

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews Page I

Advance Synopses Page 3

Short Subjects Page 3

The Release Chart Page 4

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 22. 1954

The statute of limitations may
not apply in any instance,
whether three, five, or seven
years, as argued recently in Con-
gress, if a ruling by Federal Judge
Harry Westover in Los Angeles
Federal Court has any force.
Judge Westover, considering a
suit .brought by Lorraine Valuskis
against Loew’s and other distribu-
tors for allegedly, denying her prod-
uct and forcing her to sell her thea-
tre in 1940, denied defendants’
motions for dismisal because of the
statute of limitations. He ruled that
the 1940 Government anti-trust suit
consent decree was a “stop gap”
measure-— and that all during the
period 1940-45 after which final
entries were made, the case was
merely pending.

► iThe left-oriented “Salt of the.
Earth” which \yas cancelled out of
a &qheduled fir^t Chicago rUn by the
Hyde Park theatre because of
alleged “outside pressures” has been
booked into the Cihema Annex for
its Chicagu preriiiere May 28, 'I'he
theatre has been featuring foreign
filrns, mostly Russian, the past few
mon^s* and Previously hM an'
Italian filin policy. , dn the wake of
J the cancelled booking a siiit has
been filed against Jdie Hyde Park in '
Cif chit Court of Cook ;Cpuntyj by
Ihdepehdent, Co.^ Inc.

seeking $25,000 damages.

► Motion’ Picture Association piresi-
depfv'igric ‘|dl:^aori’'s^ recent: ' annual"
■report' :'emp^siking'.:''th.e-: Contiri.uiftg,'
imptortanae pf.; overseas earnings
also' points up the' itUportance to
the industry of the: coming Senate
Firiahce Contim^ deGisiort oh
forei^ incofne in the technical tax
. bill. cortinuttee must decide

\yhether to give the film industry
the same preferential treatment the
House-passed bill gives other indus-
tries. ■ ' ' ■ ■

. 0.

► There may be some in the indus-
try who do not know that the
Council of Motion Picture Organ-
izations has been advertising the
industry as a whole — 'its problems,
and its philosophies — in that news-
paper man’s magazine, “Editor and
Publisher.” Herman Robbins, pres-

On tlie Ori

orizon

ident of National Screen Service,
wants everyone to know how very
good those ads have been. This
week he began distributing, gratis,'
through his company, a brochure,
Containing the first eight of the ads.
He will collect and similarly pub-
lish ensuing ads. He also stated
publicly: “I believe these advertise-
ments are one of the finest things
the industry has done f Or its public
relations. ...”

^ The siege of Dien Bien Phu has
pre-sold any new picture about para-
chutists. Last week, Warners an-
nounced it would make “Jump Into
Hell,” which it said will be about,
the war in IndorChina. It will have
“top priority” *and a top' cast, Jack
L, Warner said.

A. column . called^ “Why Grow
Old” by Josephine Lowman in the
Uew York “Post” hails Ralph Stol-
Idn of Chicago for having the
“enthusiasm^ energy,: capacity for
h^rd work and vision” which pfo-
long youth. “How else,” says Miss
LoWman, “could he, at the age of
36,. head, an empire of enterprises ■
which fun's far • yito the millions,
when he began a decade ago with
;a borrowed $15,000.” Mr, Stolkin’si
press notices have changed. A year
and a half ago if was a bad press
that was instrumental in dissolving
the ’ deal by which , as pur chaser of
Howard Hughes’ atock in RKO, he
bbeame president of that company.

: ► Official figures released in West
Germany last week' indicate an
upward trend in the popularity of
motion pictures in general and
American productions ip particular.
There are now a total of 5,200
houses in the Western Zone as com-
pared with 4,625 in 1951. Most
recently popular American films
were “Gone With the Wind,” “From
Here to Eternity” and “Roman
Holiday,” with German subtitles.

► A scheduled forum in Memphis
on censorship has been cancelled
because no one, not even Lloyd T.
Binford, will tackle Arthur Garfield
Hays in a debate. The noted New
York lawyer was to speak against |
city censorship June 7 in Memphis
at the Public Affairs Forum. Bailey
Brown, chairman of the forum, said
Mr. Binford was first asked to
appear on the program as Mr. Hays’
opponent but “after some reflection ^
declined;” Mr. Binford is 'chairman
of the Memphis censorship board.
Mr. Brown therrasked several mem-
bers of the M[emphis city legal staff
to' defend censorship- but all de-
cliued,

► The Tu&hihsky ferothers, Joseph
and irVingv this week announced
tbat the first West Coast demonstra-
tion of their :SuperScope process, set
for next Tuesday at the Wiltern
theatre in Los Angeles, will be high-
lighted by wha.t they call a ■‘startling
innovation.”

► Justice ;'i>epartment and Senate'

Small Business Committee officials
are hot expected to be represented
at the forthcbmihg industry arbitral
tibn cpriferenee. Both have been
notified of the meeting, but hbt f or-
mally to send observers to:

watch first hand;

► Exhibitbrs who were plannihg to
take advantage bf the faster depre-

. ciatibn ^allowed in the pew tax bill
need not worry over the delays the
bill is encountering in the Senate.
It’s sure to pass, and the deprecia-
tion changes will be retroactive to
January 1, 1954.

► Now it’s a pre-release of a re-
relpase. Universal is bringing back
its “The Egg and I” in July. How-
ever, in the Omaha and Des Moines
area, it will have on May 27 a satu-
ration “pre-re-release World Pre-
miere.”

motion picture herald, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Coble address,
"Qulgpubco, 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 Forley, advertising representative. Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams
B^jrnup, 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 fl of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame,

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 22, 1954

Oil

F-

Id wee
ictured

THE WELCOME BANNER greet-
ed the delegates from the two
southern states as they first con-
vened tor luncheon at the Hotel
Biltmore, in Atlanta.

^ ALABAMA THEATRES ASSN.

u HT AND'

PICTURE THEATRE OWNERS i OPERATORS <TGA

THESE ARE THE PRESI-
DENTS, at the final offi-
cers' installation banquet;
J. H. "Tommy" Thompson
of the Georgia group, and
Dick Kennedy, Alabama
president.

EXHIBITORS

IN THE SCENE at the Atlanta registration desk; Fred McLendon, Ed
Atkinson, Robert Wilby, Russ Gaas, Margrite Stith, E. Caascallen, and
Ed Watson.

ALLIED PERSONALITIES; be-
low, producer Hal Makelim
and exhibitor John Woltberg,
seated, with exhibitors Al Lee,
George Granstrom; bottom,
Minneapolis exhibitor Ted
Mann and president Benny
Berger flank National Allied
counsel Abram F. Myers.

MET last week in the South and in
the North, discussing, arguing, social-
izing. Left, scenes from the Atlanta
meeting of the MPTO units of
Georgia and Alabama; below, right,
scenes from the Minneapolis meet-
ing of the North Central Allied.

Mr. Thompson, whose term
will be his eighth, poses
with convention guests
Herman Talmadge, Georgia
Governor; Frances Lang-
ford, and exhibitor Nat
Williams.

MELVIN L GOLD, who
had directed National
Screen Service advertising,
publicity, and television
activities, resigned this
week and will shortly open
his own television produc-
tion agency in New York.
He was I I years at NSS.

THE INTERVIEW at the
right was at the 20ih-
Fox home office in New
York last week, and its
subject was the visiting
Malayan theatre ty-
coon, Loke Wan Tho.
Mr. Loke, who owns
about 30 theatres,
among them the most
modern, spoke highly of
his host's specialty, Cin-
emaScope. He is on
world tour, next stop
London.

by the Herald

THE PERAKOS FAMILY is doing things these days in a big way.
They opened their Plainville, Conn., Drive-In the other day with a
116-foot wide screen, possibly the biggest yet. In array above at
the affair are John Perakos, newspaper man Allen M. Widem, Peter
and Sperie Perakos, and Max Birnbaum of Warners and Max Hoff-
man of Perakos Theatres. Warners' CinemaScoped "The Command"
opened the house.

HERMAN KASS, who has
been coordinating field ex-
ploitation men for Univer-
sal since March, 1953, has
been named eastern ex-
ploitation manager. This is
a new post, in the New
York home office. Mr. Kass
joined the firm in 1944.

"THE SPELL OF IRELAND" is upon
them. Co-producer Daniel Devlin poses
at the Baronet Theatre, New York, open-
ing, with Mrs. John McCormack, widow
of the late, renowned Irish tenor. The
picture has been crowding them in for
such totals as a first week $14,292.

THE MOTION PICTURE BOOKERS
CLUB of New York on Monday held
one of its largest luncheons, in a tribute
to Alex Arnswalder, 20th-Fox New York
sales manager. As circuit owner Harry
Brandt and 20th-Fox branch manager
Abe Dickstein, right, watch, club presi-
dent Sam Einhorn presents a plaque (for
"loyalty and leadership" to Mr. Arnswal-
der, right.

by tbe Buald

NORMAN RYDGE, chair-
man of fhe board of
Greater Union Theatres,
Australian circuit, has been
visiting old business friends
in New York. Universal,
whose product he also dis-
tributes, was one of many
of his hosts. The scene at
the left is at the luncheon
the company tendered him
last week. Among those in
the picture in addition to
Mr. Rydge, are Jack Dob-
bin, Ray Miles, Ray Moon,
Americo Aboaf, Charles J.
Feldman, Ben Cihn, James
Franey, Joseph Mazer,
Norman Gluck, Irving
Weiss, Fortunat Baronat,
Ben Lorber, Captain Har-
old Auten, Adolph Schimel,
Eugene Walsh, Al Lowe,
and Richard Davis.

PETE SMITH, shown hold-
ing his Academy Honorary
Award tor "witty and pun-
gent observations on the
American scene", will be
in the public eye consider-
ably longer than his retire-
ment indicates. MGM has
ten new Pete Smiths, and
many current ones.

LUNCHEON at Paramount's studio, for
A. E "Dick" Harmel, general manager
of South Africa's Schlesinger Enterprises.
His hosts are executive producer Don
Hartman, left, and vice-president Y,
Frank Freeman, right.

LAWRENCE J. BURKE, manager
of the Capitol, Pittsfield, Mass.,
"Topped the Score tor '54". A
district winner of the New Eng-
land Theatres' managerial con-
test, he receives his cash prize
from Martin J. Mullin, circuit
president, right, at a Boston
luncheon.

by the Herald

DR. PATRICK A. McNALLY, the
chief barker of the Irish Variety
Club and a director of the Amal-
gamated Cinemas circuit, spent
part of a day with us last week,
at our New York office.

IXTERXATIONAL GROUP
OF EXHIRITORS URGED

Alliance of Organizations
Suggested by British to
Meet Problems

TOA. ALLIED LEADERS GREET

ALLIANCE PLAN WARMLY

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : An international alliance of ex-
hibitor organizations permitting them to
take unilateral action toward the solution of
important problems common to exhibitors
everywhere is projected here by the Cine-
matograph Exhibitors Association.

Designed to deal with such matters as
sales and exhibition policies for pictures
produced in the new processes and produc-
tion policies which result in the shortage of
films, the C.E.A. proposes to put the plan
to the test immediately.

Concern Growing
Over “Shortage”

Exhibitors here are growing increasingly
concerned over a shortage of product, due,
as they allege, to sale conditions imposed
by CinemaScope producers. At this week’s
meeting, a resolution was adopted demand-
ing that conventional prints be available on
all films offered to the trade. The resolution
will be sent to exhibitor associations
throughout the world, including those in the
U. S., soliciting their support.

Other indications of the continuing and
intensive resistance to the new marketing
policies are to be seen in CEA’s technical
adviser Leslie Knopp’s statement that an
anamorphic lens should be marketed at
considerably less than the current price of
£650 and that it is doubtful in his (Leslie
Knopp’s) opinion whether the present form
of anamorphic lens will be the lens of the
future.

Believes Tushinsky
Lens Will Be Adopted

Dr. Knopp, incidentally, gave an unex-
pected boost to the Tushinsky lens at the
CEA meeting. He had been asked the ques-
tion of the lens’ relation to the standard
aspect ratio proposed in this country and
now in the rest of Europe.

He replied that he felt the Tushinsky sys-
tem would be generally adopted for economic
reasons. He thought it would be advisable
for exhibitors to adhere to the recommenda-
tion of 1 :65 to 1 for the time being and per-
haps during the next six months or so the
position with regard to aspect ratios and the
types of lenses involved would be clarified.
Ninety-four per cent of the theatres in this
country could accept this ratio without al-
terations to the proscenium, Dr. Knopp de-
clared.

The Knopp reference to developments
“during the next six months” was accepted
by the meeting as particularly significant.
Exhibitors generally are coming round to

Top executives of both Theatre
Owners of America and the Allied
States Association received with inter-
est this week’s report from The HER-
ALD’s London correspondent that the
Cinematograph Exhibitors Association
was planning preliminary moves
towards an international alliance of
exhibitor associations.

Ben Marcus, president of Allied, said
in Milwaukee Wednesday, “naturally
we are very much interested in the
proposal of the British exhibitors’ or-
ganization. We suggest that a confer-
ence be held with all exhibitor organ-
izations represented to arrive at a com-
mon solution so that a committee may
discuss problems of the new techniques
with producers and sales policies with
the distributors.” Mr. Marcus’ first
choice for the site of such conference
is Hollywood, to be near the American
center of production. He indicated he
felt much good could be accomplished
by exhibitor leaders from the United
States, Britain and other leading coun-
tries sitting around a table. He hopes
it will be possible some kind of stand-
ardized system will be worked out and
that ways and means will be found to
alleviate the product shortage.

Walter Reade, Jr., president of
Theatre Owners of America, at mid-
week said that such an alliance, the
purpose of which would be to present
united exhibitor resistance to various
sales and exhibition policies, would be
a “continuation of what most progres-
sive, thoughtful exhibitors have been
doing for a long time.”

“The world is shrinking,” said the
TOA chief, “and such an alliance is
inevitable.” He said that although the
specific problem which had prompted
the CEA plan — the request that stand-
ard versions of CinemaScope films be
made available — might be rendered
academic by distributor compliance, an

the belief that many things will be “clarified”
in six months; particularly in the event of
that now projected alliance between ex-
hibitors on both sides of the Atlantic being
consummated.

Following what they regard as a “climb-
down” by 20th-Fox, British exhibitors are
disposed to regard themselves as the leaders
of a resistance movement.

international alliance would prepare
exhibitors for any problems which
might appear in the future. He added
that he had not yet been approached
on this latest British move.

In Washington Wednesday, Abram
F. Myers, general counsel for Allied
States, said he had found the CEA to
be a “well-organized, effective associa-
tion,” and that he believed Allied
would be glad to cooperate with the
British outfit “whenever it appeared to
be feasible.”

Mr. Myers said he had personally
been in correspondence with the Brit-
ish organization and had suggested
they exchange information on matters
of common interest. He added he had
been moved to do that when he had
read a trade paper account of the Brit-
ish organization’s attitude toward 20th
Century-Fox’s former policies on
stereophonic sound.

Asked whether his willingness to
exchange information went as far as a
willingness to enter an alliance with
the British group, Mr. Myers said the
British frequently use words differ-
ently from American usage and he
wasn’t sure how the CEA meant “alli-
ance.” If CEA means cooperation and
exchange of information on mutual
problems, that is one thing, Mr. Myers
said. However, he declared, “if they
mean a hard and fast organization, I
doubt that the Allied board of direc-
tors would ever barter away to an-
other body any part of their inde-
pendence.”

In New York, Harry Brandt, presi-
dent of the Independent Theatre Own-
ers Association, said that an interna-
tional alliance would be a “tremen-
dously effective body if they could get
it to function.” He added, however,
“if exhibitors of America can’t get to-
gether, how can we hopefully expect
this to be successful?”

Adorno Starts Drive-In

Sal Adorno, Jr., recently assistant general
manager for M & D Theatres, Middletown,
Conn., has begun building a $125,000, 750-
car drive-in theatre four miles from down-
town Middletown. It will be called the Sal
Adorno Jr., Theatre, and will have a 100-
foot curved screen.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 22, 1954

SUMMER TIME IS CIRCUS TIME

The circus is back . . . because

available. Now is the time to date it and

schools closed, millions of youngsters an

choice in summer entertainment. Book

■ w

the greatest boxoffice show on earth is
campaign it for July and August. With
d their families will make it their first
it to repeat its never- equalled grosses!

INDUSTRY ARBITRATION SYSTEM
TARGET OF NEW YORK MEETING

REPRESENTATIVES of exhibitor
associations and the major distributors
will meet in New York Monday at the
Hotel Astor to try once again to fash-
ion an all-industry arbitration system.
At midweek, at least, the exhibitors
were saying that they would enter the
negotiations with no “preconceived
notions” about the manner in which
the problems should be approached.

However, it was understood that
delegates from each of the associations
will come to the meeting prepared with
recommendations based on the two
previous drafts of arbitration proposals
which were prepared by both exhibi-
tion and distribution groups. Monday’s
session, at which Eric Johnston, presi-
dent of the Motion Picture Association
of America, will preside, are expected
to last all day.

In New York to attend the meeting,
Harry C. Arthur, chairman of the
board of the Southern California The-
atre Owners Association, this week
urged each distribution representative
to approach the arbitration sessions
with an “open mind.” Mr. Arthur also
attacked competitive bidding as “one
of the worst things in the industry to-
day” and said that although film ren-
tals cannot be arbitrated, matters hav-
ing a bearing on film rentals should.

It was the lack of provision for arbi-
tration of film rentals which led the
Allied States Association board to turn
down the distributors’ draft last Janu-
ary, following the rejection by the
Allied convention in November, 1952.

Theatre Owners of America will be
represented at the Monday meeting
by Walter Reade, president; Herman
Levy, general counsel; Mitchell Wolf-
son, Miami, and S. H. Fabian. Repre-
senting the Independent Theatre Own-
ers Association will be Harry Brandt,
president; Julius Sanders, Abe Leff
and Ray Rhone.

The Metropolitan Motion Picture
Theatres Association has named
Emanuel Frisch, president, and Leo
Brecher and Sol Schwartz as its dele-
gates. The Southern California group
will be represented by Mr. Arthur and
Albert Hanson. Claude Ezell and
Robert J. O’Donnell are scheduled to
be the spokesmen for the International
Drive-in Theatres Association. As in-
dicated before. Allied States will not
participate.

The distributors’ draft of an arbitra-
tion system, which was approved by
the majors in October, 1952, was sub-
sequently rejected by Allied at its
Chicago convention in November. At
that time Abram F. Myers, Allied gen-

eral counsel, listed eight “plus” factors
in the plan.

They were: (1) the proposed sys-
tem was “one way arbitration,” i.e. it
could be instituted by an exhibitor, but
not by a distributor ; (2) provisions for
clearance ; (3) protection against arbi-
trary refusal of a run; (4) a “partial”
remedy for hardships and abuses of
competitive bidding ; (5) the barring of
the forcing of pictures; (6) provision
for the arbitration of alleged contract
violations; (7) conciliation, and (8)
the awarding of damages up to double
damages when a deliberate intent to
injure an exhibitor was found.

At the same time Mr. Myers listed
as “minus factors” (1) the lack of pro-
vision for the arbitration of film rent-
als; (2) the authorization of two pre-
release pictures per distributor per
year and the fact that such pre-release
engagements would be exempt from
restrictions on the institution of com-
petitive bidding; (3) the fact that bid-
ding reforms should have been volun-
teered by the distributors, and (4) the
limitations of the awards to double
damages in contrast to the mandatory
triple damages provided by the anti-
trust laws and also suggested limita-
tion to four years, a period less than
the statute of limitations in some cases.

Inventor oi
Cinemmn
Dies nt 63

The researcher and inventor whose per-
sistence in pushing- “peripheral perception”
into an entertainment medium known as
Cinerama, and who finally had a grateful in-
dustry award him an “Oscar,” died at his
Huntington, Long Island, home, Tuesday,
aged 68, after a long illness. He was Fred
Waller. Most of his life he had been an
offbeat, inquisitive photographic engineer
credited with some 160 inventions, the most
famous of which was a gunnery trainer used
hy this country and Great Britain during the
war.

This used the principle of “peripheral per-
ception.” Mr. Waller obtained backing from
various sources and evolved the system of
three cameras and a curved screen, bringing
to audiences the sense of envelopment and
participation.

The medium was not his only industry
connection, however. For some 40 years,
he was with it either as photographer, tech-

nician, or producer. He was at one time
head of Paramount’s special effects depart-
ment. He also, as founder of Film Guild,
produced a series of entertainment and his-
torical pictures. He produced for the New
York World’s Fair, and also developed the
Eastman Kodak Hall of Color there.

At his death, he was a director of Cine-
rama, Inc., a Fellow of the Society of Mo-
tion Picture and Television Engineers, a
member of the International Photographers,
and author of many treatises, including an
article on Cinerama in “New Screen Tech-
niques,” which was published in 1953. He
leaves his widow, Doris ; daughter, Muriel ;
son, Stuart; and stepson, John P. Caron.

RKO Theatres Buying Stock

RKO Theatres last week announced its
directors mailed to stockholders an invita-
tion to tender common stock for purchase
by the corporation at up to $6.50 per share ;
and that the corporation was to spend up to
$5,000,000 in this pursuit.

Welsch Film to Columbia

Columbia will distribute Howard Welsch’s
production, “A Bullet Is Waiting,” Techni-
color film, with Jean Simmons, Rory Cal-
houn, Stephen McNally and Brian Aherne

Name Dietz to Loew's
Board; Dividend Voted

Howard Dietz, vice-president in charge of
advertising, publicity and exploitation of
Loew’s, Inc., Wednesday, May 19, was
elected to the board of directors of the com-
pany to succeed William E. Rodgers, who
has resigned. At the same time, the board of
directors declared a regular dividend of 20
cents a share on the common stock, payable
June 30, 1954, to stockholders of record
June 11, 1954.

Plan Omaha Drive-In

OMAHA : William Miskell, western man-
ager for Tristates Theatres Corporation, and
veteran exhibitor Ralph Blank have an-
nounced plans to build a $325,000 drive-in
theatre on a 30-acre site in northwest
Omaha, for 1,100 cars.

Hacker Opens in Hollywood

Samuel Hacker & Company, New York,
public accountants, this week opened an of-
fice in West Hollywood. The company does
much work for industry firms. John E. Mc-
Dermott manages the new office. He was
with Standard Capital, Paramount and War-
ners.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 22. 1954

The ■first pre-release
opening o'f
Columbia’s

THE CAINE MUTINY

will be held at the
Capitol Theatre,

New York City
June 24th, 1954

STARRING

Humphrey Bogart - Jose Ferrer
Van Johnson - Fred MacMurray

ROBERT FRANCIS -MAY WYNN ...JECHNICOLOR

Screen Play by STANLEY ROBERTS • Based upon tfie Puhtier pn^e winning novel by HERMAN WOUK

^ erected b, EDWARD DMYTRYK • A COLUMBIA PICTURE • A STANLEY KRAMER PROD.

^^FAME^’ ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

by the Herald

Presentation to Spyros P, Skonras, left, president of 20th Century-
Fox Film Corp., of FAME Magazine’s first annual ^^Achievement
Aivard”. The presentation was made by Martin Quigley of a plaque
symbolizing the award and citing Mr. Skouras for ^Tyis notable con-
tribution to the art and industry of motion pictures by the develop-
ment and introduction of CinemaScope. .

Beckwor+h Corp. Names
Columbia in Action

Rita Hayworth and the Beckworth Corp.
in wliich she is a partner and owner of
450 shares, last week filed suit in New York
against Columbia Pictures, seeking an ac-
counting on the distribution of four pictures
produced by Beckworth and released by
Columbia and asking that the present dis-
tribution contract be declared null and void.
The suit claims that Columbia violated its
duties in the handling of the product and that
certain liabilities were charged to Beck-
worth. It is charged that the plaintiffs had
asked for an accounting on the domestic and
foreign distribution of “The Loves of Car-
men,” “Affair in Trinidad,” “Salome” and
“Miss Sadie Thompson,” but that no ac-
counting had been made to Beckworth. The
Beckworth Corp. was formed in 1947 to
produce pictures for Columbia release.

Montana Theatre Unit
Affiliates with TO A

GREAT FALLS, MONT.: The Montana
Theatres Association voted unanimously at
its two-day convention here last week to
become affiliated with Theatre Owners of
America, it was announced by Carl E. An-

derson, association president. The affiliation
of the Montana theatremen gives TO A a
total of 28 states and regional units. TO A
president Walter Reade, Jr., hailed the
i\Iontana Theatres entry as “indicative of
the realization and appreciation of exhibi-
tors everywhere for unity and cooperation
on the national level as well as the local
level.” Representing TOA at the Montana
convention were Robert R. Livingston, of
Lincoln, Neb., secretary, and J. J. Rosen-
field of Spokane, Wash., member of the
executive committee.

Sees "Robe" as Biggesf
Money-Maker in Australia

SYDNEY: 20th-Fox’s “The Robe,” in
engagements at only five theatres, has out-
grossed any other picture ever released in
Australia, Ernest Turnbull, managing direc-
tor of Hoyts Theatres, told the press. Mr.
Turnbull, who also is chairman of the
directors of 20th-Fox in Australia, estimated
that “The Robe”s will be seen by at least
one in three of Australia’s population in its
initial swing around the continent. He
based his estimate on the fact that attend-
ance in the first five theatre situations has
totaled 1,150,273 out of a combined popula-
tion of 4,288,040.

MMolders Vote
Confidence
In Skourns

The success in the launching of Cinema-
Scope, combined with the knowledge that
20th Century-Fox’s profits were substan-
tially up in 1953 over 1952 and that profit
for the first quarter in 1954 was double that
of the same quarter in 1953 were factors that
struck a cheering note at the company’s an-
imal stockholders meeting in New York
Tuesday. It was a love feast compared with
last year’s meeting when a proxy fight led
by Charles Green challenged the company’s
management headed by Spyros Skouras.

Mr. Green Tuesday took the floor to com-
mend management on its report to the com-
pany stockholders.

Profits Increase

Mr. Skouras reported company profit for
this year’s first quarter at $2,048,030 after
provision of $1,990,000 for taxes. The re-
sult compares with profit of $1,023,965 in the
first quarter of the previous year and is
equal to 74 cents per share, compared with
37 cents a year ago.

The company president declared that
worldwide film rentals of $105,662,000 last
year were the highest in the company’s his-
tory and compared with $93,167,000 in the
preceding year, or a hike of 13.4 per cent.

Mr. Skouras told stockholders that 4,600
theatres in the U. S. and Canada are
equipped for CinemaScope now, and that the
company estimates 7,500 will be by Septem-
ber 1, and that by the end of the year 10.000
“will be able to play CinemaScope produc-
tions.” He said 1,500 abroad are equipped
“or to be equipped” for CinemaScope now
and that an estimated 4,000 will be so
equipped by the end of the year.

All directors were reelected at the meet-
ing. They are L. Sherman Adams, Colby
M. Chester, Robert L. Clarkson, Daniel O.
Hastings, Robert Lehman, Kevin C. McCann,
William C. Michel, B. Earl Puckett, Spyros
P. Skouras and Gen. James A. Van Eleet.

Vote Extra Dividend

Mr. Skouras announced the regular 25-
cent quarterly dividend and an extra divi-
dend of 10 cents on June 26, to holders of
record on June 11, duplicating the action
taken in March.

Questioned about the volume of produc-
tion, Mr. Skouras pointed out that with the
company’s $26,000,000 cash investment in'
CinemaScope last year and the necessity of
reducing inventory to put the company in
a flexible position, a reduction of the pro-
duction budget from $45,000,000 to $30,000,-
000 was necessary.

In reply to another question he said that
exhibition has spent more than $50,000,000
for CinemaScope equipment to date and that
an additional $25,000,000 will be spent.

Mr. Skouras also lauded the record of
executives A1 Lichtman and Charles Einfeld.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

Forbidden empire,
where love was the
prize in the most
dangerous game
of all!

Savage heart of
Africa, challenged
by a white hunter’s
lust for vengeance!

Land of the hunter
. . . and the hunted,
ruled by a madman’s
dynasty of terror!

HOWARD DUFF

with JEFF MORROW
JOE COMADORE

DMCiED m ANORE EIE lEllll • smpiw ii WILLIAM SALRRLIM in RICRARO ALAN SIMMONS ■ panooctn ni ALBLRl J. LOREN • a unwetsai imemationai Picture

. . Pictures with that Universal appeal

FOX OFFERS 2-0 PRIIVTS
OF CIIVEMASCOPE FILMS

Modification Surprise to
Many; Exhibitors Had
Not Asked Full Change

Twentieth Century-Fox CinemaScope pol-
icy, the subject of an all-day forum of ex-
hibitors at the home office two weeks ago,
has been modified to an even greater extent
than was previously indicated. The com-
pany this week announced that it had agreed
to furnish 2-D prints of its CinemaScope
product and has already ordered the equip-
ment necessary to reduce optically the ana-
morphic pictures to standard size.

This came as a surprise to
many industry observers who had
attended the 20th-Fox forum. It
seemed to be understood at that
time that 20th-Fox had agreed
only to furnish CinemaScope
prints with three types of sound
track — four-track magnetic
sound, single-track magnetic and
single-track optical. Indeed, there
seemed to be little or no effort on
the part of exhibitors at that time
to get the company to release its
anamorphic product in standard
versions.

The revelation that the company had been
“convinced” that it was depriving a number
of theatres of product by insisting on ana-
niorphic prints, came as the result of an
interchange of telegrams between the 20th-
Fox director of distribution, A1 Lichtman,
and top officials of Allied States Association,
who were attending the annual convention
last week of North Central Allied in Minne-
apolis.

In answer to criticism out of Minneapolis,
Mr. Lichtman issued the following state-
ment :

“At the exhibitor meeting last Thursday,
we informed the trade that we could provide
our CinemaScope product in four different
versions: (1) with four-track high-fidelity
magnetic directional stereophonic sound;
(2) with single-track high-fidelity magnetic
sound; (3) with single-track optical sound;
and proper screens and anamorphic lenses
or (4) in two-dimensional versions with
single track optical sound, if this was the
will of the majority of exhibitors.

Decided to Utilize Three
Sound Systems on Films

“Very early in the meeting, it was the
expression of the gathering that there was
most to gain through retaining the Cinema-
Scope process varied only by the different
sound systems accompanying it. ■

“Following complete expression and dis-
cussion from the floor we decided to make
CinemaScope productions available with the
three sound systems, so that a great many

FOX ANNOUNCES 26
TO BE CINEMASCOPE

HOLLYWOOD: Twentieth Century-
Fox announced here this week thal it
will step up production to 26 Cinema-
Scope features for the year beginning
September I, compared with 16 in
CinemaScope for the current year.
Of the new 26-picture total, at least
20 will be "studio-made," according
to Darryl F. Zanuck, studio chief, with
the remainder coming from indepen-
dent producers.

more theatres may share in the wonders of
tlris new process.

“During the course of the meeting, how-
ever, it was stressed that there are theatres,
a great many of them drive-ins, which can-
not install CinemaScope profitably, and
would find it a great hardship to convert.

“We pointed out that it is possible to
make 2-D prints of CinemaScope pictures.
These prints will not be available starting
July 1, which is the date we previously an-
nounced for the first CinemaScope prints in
the optional sound systems, but will be ready
at a later date this year.

“It is our feeling that the vast majority
of exhibitors are anxious to see Cinema-
Scope continue in its most successful form,
that is with full stereophonic sound. They
have provided us with much encouragement
along these lines, and their response to our
meeting has resulted in hundreds of orders
for CinemaScope installation, the majority
of them with magnetic sound.

Cites Obligation Felt for
All Nation’s Exhibitors

“We do feel an obligation to every exhibi-
tor and where there-, is a major difficulty in
converting to CinemaScope, we are pre-
pared to service our product in 2-D. We must
repeat that to show CinemaScope in 2-D
would be retrogression and add nothing to
the artistic or economic advancement of the
industry. But if it is the will of any exhibi-
tor to prefer showing our pictures in 2-D,
as soon as these prints can be made, we will
make them available. Our laboratories have
ordered machinery to optically reduce Cine-
maScope prints to 2-D, and they are also
working night and day to make the record-
ings with the different sound tracks as de-
scribed.”

Thus, in one fell swoop, 20th-Fox seems
to have relaxed its CinemaScope policy even
further than MGM, which, in the week pre-
vious to the 20th-Fox forum, had announced
that it would make its CinemaScope product
available with either Perspecta or four-track
sound. MGM has not made any commitment

so far to release standard versions of the
pictures. Neither has Warners, although it
has been reported that a standard version of
“The Command” was shot at the same time
as the CinemaScope version and could be
released at any time.

The immediate result of the release of the
2-D prints of CinemaScope product, of
course, will be to ease the product shortage
felt most acutely by the smaller houses which
have experienced a financial pinch relative
to the installation of new equipment. There
also are indications, however, that there
will be no stampede to disregard either Cine-
maScope in its anamorphic form or megnetic
stereophonic sound.

Claims No Slackening in
CinemaScope Inquiries

The 20th-Fox office reports that there has
been absolutely no letup in inquiries concern-
ing CinemaScope equipment. Especially
heavy activity has been reported by the com-
pany managers in Canada, Jacksonville,
Omaha, Los Angeles, Seattle, Pittsburgh,
Georgia, North Carolina, Denver and Buf-
falo. A good number of these inquiries, it
was indicated, come from drive-ins and
small houses for whom the previous sound
policy provided the major re-equipment
barrier.

“The industry forum,” reported 20th-Fox,
“has created vast trade interest. Many ex-
hibitors are proceeding to equip their the-
atres with full four-track magnetic stereo-
phonic sound ; while scores of others are
making arrangements to show CinemaScope
in one-track magnetic sound.”

Along this line, it was announced in New
York this week by Max Feller man, vice-
president of Lopert Films, that arrange-
ments have been completed to equip two first
run Broadway houses, the Astor and the
Victoria, with CinemaScope screens and
full stereophonic sound systems, with instal-
lations scheduled to be completed and ready
for use by July 1.

MGM’s First in Perspecta
Due at End of June

MGM also announced this week that it
will have the first Perspecta sound prints
of “Knights of the Round Table,” its first
CinemaScope production, available late in
June. The first single-track magnetic and
single-track optical prints from 20th-Fox
are due about July 1 according to Mr. Litch-
man’s statement.

The week also heard the announcement
of another low cost, four-channel stereo-
phonic sound system by Motiograph. Fred
C. Matthews, vice-president of the equip-
ment firm, said that the new Motiograph
system, designed for theatres of 1,000 seats
or less, costs $4,058, which includes instal-
lation costs and all necessary equipment for
stereophonic reproduction.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

Which little girl

will make it?

All else being equal, she’ll be the
one on the film which was more
carefully selected and processed.

Unless film and handling are technically
compatible, skin tones fade and
features become wan and haggard —
dull and lack-luster. Important this beauty
care in the days of black and white . . .
vital now with color.

To co-operate with the industry in
helping solve questions of film selection,
processing, and projection, Kodak
maintains the Eastman Technical Service
for Motion Picture Film. Branches at
strategic centers. Inquiries invited.

Address: Motion Picture Film Department

EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY, Rochester 4, N. Y.

East Coast Division

342 Madison Avenue
New York 1 7, N. Y.

Midwest Division
137 North Wabash Avenue
Chicago 2, Illinois

West Coast Division
6706 Santa Monica Blvd.
Hollywood 38, California

Vista Vision Heads
Around the World

PARAMOUNT SEIZED an opportunity last week, in showing its VistaVision during the
Georgia and Alabama theatre owners' convention at Atlanta. In the picture above,
A. W. Schwalberg, Paramount sales chief, is seen at the Loew's Grand Theatre, with
friends R. B. Wilby, left. United Paramount-Wilby Theatres operating head; and Mack
Jackson, right, exhibitor from Alexander City, Ala.

Barney Balaban, president of Paramount
Pictures, personally presented VistaVision
at its first international demonstration
Thursday at the Imperial theatre in To-
ronto, kicking off a series of demonstrations
which are being set up by the company in
Europe, the Far East and Latin America.

Accompanying Mr. Balaban to Toronto
was Dr. Charles Daily, Paramount studios
research engineer who worked closely with
research chief Loren Ryder in developing
and perfecting VistaVision. The Toronto
showing, like those in New York, Washing-
ton and Hollywood, featured a VistaVision
reel as w'ell as scenes from forthcoming
VistaVision productions, including “White
Christmas,” “Three Ring Circus” and
“Strategic Air Command.”

Earlier this week Louis Mesenkop, of the
Paramount technical staff, left Los Angeles
for Tokio on the first leg of a VistaVision
theatre survey tour that will include, besides

Asks Standardization
Of Frame Dimensions

Standardization of film frame dimensions
on anamorphic prints has been urged by
R. O. Jeffres, technical vice-president of the
Drive-In Theatre Owners Association,
Charlotte, N. C., in letters to Spyros
Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox
Film Corporation; Loren L. Ryder, head of
engineering and sound recording of Para-
mount; Frank E. Cahill, head of technical
research of Warner Bros. ; and Douglas
Shearer, head of the engineering and sound
department of MGM.

Mr. Jeffress points out that he is chiefly
concerned about differences in specifications
of anamorphic prints having single optical
sound tracks. Resolution of these differences

the Japanese capital, Manila, Singapore,
Bombay, Sydney and Melbourne.

Frank LaGrande, Paramount home office
representative, was scheduled to leave New
York by plane Wednesday on a Latin
American theatre survey with a view to set-
ting up future demonstrations of Para-
mount’s new production and screen presen-
tation process. He will visit Mexico City,
Plavana, Lima, Rio de Janeiro and Caracas,
returning in about two weeks to report on
his findings.

Mr. Ryder, head of the Paramount techni-
cal research department, was scheduled to
return to New York this week by plane from
England following a VistaVision theatre
survey tour that included London, Paris,
Frankfort and Rome. In each city he was
to select a theatre for holding a demonstra-
tion of VistaVision for European exhibitors
and other film industry representatives,
newspaper writers and radio commentators.

to provide a uniform print should be under-
taken, he asserts, to make it unnecessary for
exhibitors to purchase projection lenses of
various focal lengths.

For the same purpose Mr. Jeffress urges
Paramount to change the compression-ex-
pansion rate for VistaVision prints from
1.5-to-l to the 2-to-l rate of CinemaScope.

With respect to the present CinemaScope
multiple track prints, Mr. Jeffress suggests
standardization of the present specifications
developed by Earl Sponable and the technical
staff of 20th Century-Fox.

Graetz Here with Film

Paul Graetz has arrived in New York
from Paris and has brought with him a print
of his latest production, “Monsieur Ripois.”

GoMenson
Sees Pickup
In Quurter

A pickup in theatre business is expected
in the third quarter, with the anticipated
release of a number of excellent pictures,
Leonard H. Goldenson, president of Amer-
ican Broadcasting - Paramount Theatres,
Inc., declared Tuesday at the annual stock-
holders’ meeting in New York.

The theatre admission tax reduction
should also prove beneficial, he said. The
second quarter is running behind last year
not only because of the scarcity of pictures
but also because of the continuation of the
conditions which affected earnings adversely
in the first quarter ; namely, high film ren-
tals, increased depreciation charges result-
ing from the installation of new wide screen
and sound equipment, and the effects of tele-
vision for the first time in smaller towns,
especially in the south and midwest, he said.
Mr. Goldenson did not expect that these
effects of television would be as prolonged
as was the case in other areas several
years ago.

Mr. Goldenson said that the ABC division
is looking forward to an improvement in the
coming fall season with many outstanding
new programs including a Walt Disney
series and exclusive coverage of the NCAA
college football games, as well as a con-
tinuation of many of the popular TV shows
now on the network.

Mr. Goldenson stated that the company
has an interest with the Walt Disney or-
ganization in the development of an unusual
amusement center called “Disneyland” to be
located in Southern California.

The company continues to be in a strong
financial position, Mr. Goldenson said, with
its cash position further strengthened by
recent re-financing of some of its debt.

The present board of directors was re-
elected for the coming year. They are :
Earl E. Anderson. John Balaban, A. H.
Blank, John A. Coleman, Charles T. Fisher,
Jr., E. Chester Gersten, Leonard H. Golden-
son, Walter W. Gross, Robert H. Hinck-
ley, Robert L. Huffines, Jr., William T.
Kilborn, Robert E. Kintner, Walter P. Mar-
shall, Edward J. Noble, Robert H. O’Brien,
Herbert .Schwartz, Robert B. Wilby, Owen
D. Young.

Film Activity Will Resume
At Old Biograph Studios

Biograph Film Studios, Inc., a new cor-
poration headed by Suzanne Sedlock, Thom-
as Ward and Roger Donoghue, has just
signed a long term lease with Biograph
Realty Corporation on the old Biograph
studios located in the Bronx, New York.
The studios, which figured prominently in
the early days of the film industry, closed in
1929. The new corporation will use the
property for production of motion picture
and TV films.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

9 Rockefeller Plaza, New York 20, N. Y.

First in circulation
First in audience
First with advertisers

Great

pictures

built

LIFE’S

great

audience

great

audience

can

buiid

your

pictures

Market Area

No.*

Theatres

Wash., D.C.

Grand Rapids, Mich.

Portland, Ore.

Little Rock, Ark.

^Source: 1954 Film Daily Year Book,
lative Audience in 696 Local Markets
Research, Inc.

15,447 73,340

44,039 121,140

11,502 22,450

tSource; LIFE Accumu-
(1950), by Alfred Politz

Broidy Asks
TOA Board
Biscussion

HOLLYWOOD : Steve Broidy, piesident
of Allied Artists Productions, has issued an
open invitation to the board of the Theatre
Owners of America, when it convenes here
June 17-19 to “sit down with us and discuss
ways and means of breaking down tlie bar-
riers that seem to exist between production
and exhibition, of which president Walter
Reade, Jr., recently spoke.”

“The meeting of the TOA board here can
turn out to be a very profitable one for all
concerned,” said Mr. Broidy. “The timing
is just right. The present conditions call
for action. The issues involved are serious
and important. What’s more, the industry
in nearly all its phases of operation, should
be the gainer if the proper approach is made
to resolve the problems that the theatre own-
ers say are confronting members of exhibi-
tion right now.

“We at Allied want to make our own kind
of contribution to the hoped-for success of
the exhibitor meeting here. We think it can
prove to be of definite value to the board. We
would like to sit down with the TOA people
and talk over this whole matter of film short-
age.”

The Allied Artists president feels that it is
necessary for the studios to make some im-
mediate sacrifices to see that the board meet-
ing here and the issues to be dealt with and
resolved play themselves out to the satisfac-
tion of the embattled industry. “When Mr.
Reade and his 40-man board leave Holly-
wood June 19, at the end of the session they
will have agreed that they got every kind
of help possible from the studios,” Mr.
Broidy explained.

“If we in production, and the men running
the theatres can face each other by sitting
down and one telling the other what he
wants, expressing his thoughts in terms that
won’t confuse the other, production and dis-
tribution can get some place. If so-called
shortages exist elsewhere, we don’t know of
it here at Allied Artists,” said Mr. Broidy.
As he measured the output of his studio this
year, thus far, he felt that no shortage of
product exists. He explained that AA is
keeping up a release schedule that should
meet exhibitor needs.

Mr. Broidy explained that his blueprint
of production also called for more big pic-
tures this year.

Hold Americanism Dinner

HOLLYWOOD : The 12th annual Ameri-
canism Dinner co-sponsored by Charles P.
Skouras was held here last Friday evening,
May 14, at the Ambassador Hotel with 200
reserve officers and training corps cadets
from 20 high schools in the area as guests
of honor. The event was attended by 400
military, naval, civic, business and film
leaders.

Three RKO Houses Set
To Show Title Bout

Three theatres of the RKO Theatres cir-
cuit will have the closed circuit telecast of
the heavyweight title bout on June 17 be-
tween Rocky Marciano and Ezzard Charles
from the Yankee Stadium, William W.
Howard, vice-president of the circuit, has
announced. Arrangements have been com-
pleted with Theatre Network Television for
the presentation. RKO houses which have
the fight are the Albee in Cincinnati, and
Keith’s in Dayton with $3, including tax,
to be charged for all seats which will be
reserved. The Palace in Cleveland will
charge $3.50, including tax, for a seat.

Mjcaders at
Berspecta
la Ltoadoa

LONDON : The audience last week at
Metro’s Empire theatre Perspecta demon-
stration was as impressive as the show itself.
More than a thousand filmmen, including
renters, technicians, producers and exhibi-
tors from all parts of the country, rein-
forced by a considerable phalanx of Con-
tinental executives, attended.

They came filled with expectancy and
certainly were not disappointed in the event.
The show, they said, had been put across
with showmanship plus.

Arthur Loew subsequently received the
press and had a number of things to say in
regard to Metro’s sound-track intentions.
He protested, for example, that Perspecta
was no showman’s gimmick or magic nos-
trum for show business ills. “We don’t
regard Perspecta as having novelty value,”
he said. “Exhibitors have been led to expect
miracles from new sound techniques. We
believe that all these developments, of which
Perspecta is one, are natural progressive
steps in improving picture presentation.”

Perspecta demonstrations will be held, Mr.
Loew said, in key centers, in association
with Paramount and Warners. Negotiations
are in progress with G. B-Kalee, British
Thomson Houston, RCA and Westrex for
the manufacture of the integrator gear here.

Durwood Wins $1,000,000
In 8-Year-Old Suit

KANSAS CITY : Circuit operator Edward
Durwood has been awarded almost $1,000,-
000 in an eight-year-old legal battle with his
brothers. Mr. Durwood was awarded at cost
three theatres and their profits which were
acquired by his brothers, Irwin and H. W.
Dubinsky, while they were in Mr. Dur-
wood’s employ from 1946 to 1949. The
judgment upheld a previous ruling that Dur-
wood was the intended victim of a “con-
spiracy to defraud.” Under a contract, the
two brothers were prohibited from engaging
in any other theatre business while in Dur-
wood’s employ.

"WheM 7o Sutf jft "

BALLANTYNE DEALERS

ARKANSAS

LITTLE ROCK: Arkansas Theatre Supply Co.
CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES; B. F. Shearer Co.

SAN FRANCISCO: B. F. Shearer Co.

FLORIDA

TAMPA: United Theatre Supply Co.

MIAMI: United Theatre Supply Co.

GEORGIA

ALBANY: Dixie Theatre Service & Supply
ILLINOIS

CHICAGO: Ed. Mikkelsen
IOWA

DES MOINES: Theatre Engineering &

installation Service

KENTUCKY

LOUISVILLE: Hadden Theatre Supply Co.
LOUISIANA

NEW ORLEANS: Johnson Theatre Service
MASSACHUSETTS

BOSTON: Independent Theatre Supply
MICHIGAN

DETROIT: M. N. Du«y Co.

MINNESOTA

MINNEAPOLIS: Aved Theatre Service
MISSOURI

KANSAS CITY: Missouri Theatre Supply Co.
NEW YORK

ALBANY: Albany Theatre Supply Co.
BUFFALO: Perkins Electric Co., Ltd.

NEW YORK CITY: Norpat, Inc.

NORTH CAROLINA

CHARLOTTE: Charlotte Theatre Supply

OHIO

CLEVELAND: Ohio Theatre Equipment
COLUMBUS: American Theatre Equipment
TOLEDO: Theatre Equipment Co.

OKLAHOMA

OKLAHOMA CITY: Oklahoma Theatre Supply
OREGON

PORTLAND: B. F. Shearer Co.
PENNSYLVANIA

PHILADELPHIA; Superior Theatre Equipment
SOUTH DAKOTA

SIOUX FALLS: American Theatre Supply
TENNESSEE

MEMPHIS: Theatre & Exhibitor Supply
TEXAS

DALLAS: Hardin Theatre Supply Co.

UTAH

SALT LAKE CITY: Service Theatre Supply Co.

WASHINGTON

SEATTLE: B. F. Shearer Co.

WASHINGTON, D. C.

R & S Theatre Supply Co.

WEST VIRGINIA

ELKINS: Veterans Electrical Service
WISCONSIN

MILWAUKEE: Theatre Equipment &

Supply Co.

CANADA

MONTREAL; Perkins Electric, Ltd.

TORONTO; Perkins Electric, Ltd.

VANCOUVER. B. C.; Theatre Equipment

& Supply

WINNIPEG: J. M. Rice

EXCLUSIVE EXPORT

NEW YORK CITY; Streuber & La Chicotte

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22. 1954

IMMEDIATE DELIVERY

NEW Ballantyne Single

Track Magnetic Sound Package
for Cinemascope Productions

Approved by 20th-Century Fox May 6, 1 954

2 Ballantyne Magnetic Reproducers SX400

984.00

per pair

1 Ballantyne Pre-Amplifier SX452

275.00

1 Wide Screen

1.25

sq. ft.

2 Anamorphic Lenses

(Current

Prices)

Drive-In Theatres! can take advantage of big CinemaScope

money making attractions during the current season by ordering Ballantyne Magnetic
Reproducers and preamplifiers plus anamorphic lenses.

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Every point in the speaker
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A heavy 1.30 oz. Alnico V
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UNIQUE DUB'L-CONE

Two cones, one super im-
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SUPERB SOUND

Ask your Ballantyne representative to
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For the best reproduction of either magnetic or optical
sound, Ballantyne Dub’l-Cone Speakers are unsurpassed
and here’s why!

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OMAHA, NEBRASKA

CLAIM DECREE
XOT EVIDENCE

Majors, in Denver Appeal,
Say Paramount Verdict
Should Have No Force

by J. A. OTTEN

WASHINGTON: Cinema Amusements,
Inc., owner of the Broadway theatre in
Denver, told the Supreme Court this week
that lower courts were absolutely right in
upholding its anti-trust suit against major
distributors.

Loew’s, 20th Century-Fox and RKO
have appealed to the high court a decision
of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals up-
holding a $300,000 damage award against
them and in favor of Cinema Amusements.
Cinema charged a conspiracy to deprive it
of first run films.

In appealing the case, Loew’s
and 20th-Fox centered their
argument on a contention that the
consent decrees in the Paramount
case should not be admissible as
evidence against the distributors
in private anti-trust suits, such as
this one. They claimed that the
Paramount Decrees involved a
general conspiracy, had nothing
to do with a specific conspiracy
in Denver and should not have
been admitted as evidence in this
case.

Cinema’s reply brief, filed by former
Government Anti-Trust chief Thurman
Arnold, said the Paramount Decree was ad-
mitted in the Denver case only after the
plaintiff “had first established by a mass of
competent and credible additional evidence
that the petitioners (Loew’s, 20th-Fox and
RKO) pursued in Denver the identical
practices which had been found in the Para-
mount case to be the result of collusion
among the petitioners and the other major
distributors.”

Mr. Arnold said the evidence introduced
by Cinema Amusements was sufficient to
sustain a verdict against the distributors
even without reference to the Paramount
decree. Fie declared the jury believed this
evidence, the trial court believed it sufficient
and the appeals court agreed.

Cites Crest Case

The brief filed here this week warned
the court to differentiate the Denver case
from the recently decided Crest case in Bal-
timore, where the justices sided with the
distributors and ruled that the relevancy
of the Paramount case was slight. The
Broadway was a first caliber downtown
house, whereas the Crest was six miles
from the downtown area, Mr. Arnold said.
Moreover, he pointed out, the Crest case
involved a period long after the decision
in the Paramount case, whereas the Denver

case covered at least a year and a half of
the period when the Paramount case was
still pending.

“In this case,” Mr. Arnold declared,
“Respondent's additional evidence so
abundantly proved pursuit of the identical
practices in the local competitive area of
Denver, during a period coiniciding with the
nationwide conspiracy, that it would have
been reversible error to exclude the Para-
mount decree.”

MGM Offers
43 Sheris

MGM will have 45 single-reel short
subjects, in addition to 104 issues of News
of the Day, for release during the 12-month
period starting September 1, 1954, accord-
ing to William B. Zoellner, in charge of
sales for short subjects and newsreels.

The list will be headed by 16 cartoons in
color by Technicolor, produced by Fred C.
Quimby, four of which also will be made
available in CinemaScope. Additionally
there will be five Technicolor Musical Gems
in CinemaScope. These will include the
following titles: “Merry Wives of Wind-
sor,” “Poet and Peasant,” “The Jubilee
Overture” and “The Thieving Magpie.”
The fifth subject is now in production. In
most instances, exhibitors have been showing
these musicals as overtures to such features
as “Knights of the Round Table,” “Rose
Marie” and “The Student Prince.”

There also will be eight Gold Medal
Reprint Cartoons and six FitzPatrick
TravelTalks in color by Technicolor, and
10 Pete Smith Specialties. The Travel Talks
have been chosen from the list of outstand-
ing subjects made over the years.

Reserve Decision in
Jackson Park Case

CHICAGO ■. Hearings on the Jackson Park
decree were heard here May 14 in U.S.
District Court by Federal Judge Michael L.
Igoe, who took the matter under advisement.
Meanwhile, the Court extended the six-
month moratorium of some booking phases
of the decree, including the two-week limi-
tation on first runs in B. & K. theatres, to
September 13.

The motions taken under advisement were
B. & K.’s for modification of the decree;
the Jackson Park’s counterclaim for addi-
tional damages since the decree was im-
posed; and B. «& K.’s for dismissal of the
counterclaim. Also taken under advisement
were petitions for dismissal from the decree
and proceedings by companies no longer
operating in Illinois since divorcement has
become effective, such as National Theatres.

Atlas May
Buy Mtuyhes
BKO Stock

Atlas Corporation, in addition to the es-
timated million or more shares of RKO Pic-
tures Corp. stock it has acquired in recent
months, stands ready to purchase Howard
Hughes’ 1,262,120 shares and to reactivate
the company for business other than motion
pictures, a statement issued last Friday by
Floyd B. Odium, president of Atlas, dis-
closed.

Discussed With Hughes

Mr. Odium said he had discussed the pro-
posals with Mr. Hughes and that no decision
has been reached, although Mr. Hughes “has
indicated that he has no objection whatso-
ever to the continuance of RKO Pictures
Corp. in business provided he is not bur-
dened with the responsibility for its manage-
ment and given the same right as he has ar-
ranged for others to receive $6 per share for
all of his stock holdings or such, if any, as
he does not wish to hold.”

Following is the complete text of the Od-
ium statement :

“RKO Pictures Corp. is no longer in the
motion picture business, having sold all its
assets to Howard Hughes for cash equal to
$6 per share of outstanding stock. Each
stockholder, other than Mr. Hughes, cur-
rently has the right to turn in his stock to
the corporation and receive $5 per share
therefor.

“Atlas Corp. has been a substantial stock-
holder of RKO Pictures Corp. since its for-
mation and in recent weeks has substantially
increased its holdings. Atlas Corp. would
prefer that RKO Pictures Corp. not be dis-
solved but rather that it be maintained as
a going concern, using its cash to operate for
a profit.

“Atlas Corp. has made such a suggestion
to Howard Hughes who has indicated that
he has no objection whatever to the continu-
ance of RKO Pictures Corp. in business
provided he is not burdened with the re-
sponsibility for its management and is given
the same right as he has arranged for others
to receive $6 per share for all of his stock-
holdings or such, if any, as he does not wish
to hold.

Nothing Definite Set

“Mr. Hughes and Mr. Odium have been
in conversations about the two points last
above mentioned although nothing has been
made definite as yet with respect to such
points.

“This statement is being made so that any
stockholder of RKO Pictures Corp. who
wishes to do so can refrain from turning in
his stock for cash until he has further in-
formation as to whether RKO Pictures
Corp., following its complete divorce from
the motion picture business, is going to be
maintained for other types of business or is
going to be dissolved.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 22, 1954

PiBratnouni
Sets Four
For Summer

A. W. Schwalberg, president of Para-
mount Film Distributing Co., announced the
release of four productions for July and
August. “The showmen of the nation know
their business, and when they say they need
big pictures with big stars and top-grade
production values to keep their theatres
thriving and prospering during the summer
months. Paramount is ready to cooperate,”
Mr. Schwalberg said.

The July-August schedule follows : The
1954 re-release of Cecil B. DeMille’s Acad-
emy Award winning “The Greatest Show
on Earth,” in color by Technicolor starring
Betty Hutton, Charlton Heston, James
Stewart and Dorothy Lamour ; Dena Pro-
ductions’ “Knock on Wood,” Technicolor,
with Danny Kaye and Mai Zetterling; “Liv-
ing It Up,” Technicolor, Dean Martin,
Jerry Lewis, Janet Leigh; “About Mrs.
Leslie,” Shirley Booth and Robert Ryan.

“As rich with top-flight product as Para-
mount’s summer release schedule is,” Mr.
Schwalberg said, “exhibitors may rest
assured that there will be no lessening what-
ever in the grade of product which will be
made available by Paramount in the months
to follow. Our coast studios have been and
continue to be hard at work to supply the
theatres with an uninterrupted flow of truly
great motion pictures.

“A glance at the list of big pictures to
follow,” Mr. Schwalberg said, "reveals such
titles as Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rear Window,’
starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly;
the Technicolor spectacle, ‘Ulysses,’ made in
Italy and the Mediterranean and starring
Kirk Douglas and Silvana Mangano ;
‘Sabrina,’ the first picture to couple in star
roles the two top Academy Award winners
of a preceding year — Audrey Hepburn and
William Holden — and with Humphrey Bo-
gart also starring; ‘White Christmas,’ in
VistaVision, Technicolor, starring Bing
Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney
and Vera-Ellen; George Pal’s science-fiction
epic, ‘Conquest of Space;’ ‘The Country
Girl, starring Bing Crosby, William Holden
and Grace Kelly ; war dramas such as ‘The
Bridges at Toko-Ri’ and ‘Strategic Air
Command,’ in VistaVision, Technicolor, and
many others.”

Paramount Canadian
Sales Force Meets

TORONTO : Paramount’s Canadian divi-
sion held its annual sales convention here
starting Thursday, for four days. Meeting
at the Royal York Hotel, the meeting was
presided over by Gordon Lightstone, general
manager for Canada. VistaVision was
shown the assembled sales force. At the
luncheon Thursday, Adolph Zukor, Para-
mount board chairman, was the chief
speaker. A. W. Schwalberg, president of

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities for the v^eek ending
May 15 were:

Albany: From Here to Eternity (Col.)
(drive-ins).

Atlanta: French Line (RKO) 3rd week.
River of No Return (20th-Fox).

Baltimore: Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd
week. Rose Marie (MGM), Julius
Caesar (MGM).

Boston: Indiscretion of an American
Wife (Col.), Rails Into Laramie
(U-I), The Miami Story (Col.) 2nd
week, Genevieve (U-I) 4th week, La
Ronde (Hakim) 2nd week.

Buffalo: Executive Suite (MGM) hold-
over, Ma and Pa Kettle at Home
(U-I), Carnival Story (RKO) hold-
over, River of No Return (20th-Fox)
holdover.

Chicago: Pinocciiio (Disney-RKO, re-
issue) 6th week, Heidi (UA) 5th week

Cincinnati: River of No Return (20th-
Fox), The Moon Is Blue (UA) 2nd
week.

Cleveland : Best Years of Our Lives
(RKO, reissue), Gildert and Sullivan
(UA).

Denver: River of No Return (20th-Fox),
Executive Suite (MGM).

Detroit; Executive Suite (MGM), River
of No Return (20th-Fox), Carnival
Story (RKO), New Faces (20th-Fox).

Hartford: Prisoner of War (MGM),
River of No Return (20th-Fox), Jubi-
lee Trail (Rep.).

Indianapolis: Carnival Story (RKO),
Rhapsody (MGM).

Kansas City: Night People (20th-Fox),
Casanova’s Big Night (Para.), French
Line (RKO) 3rd week.

Memphis: Elephant Walk (Para.).

Miami: Executhe Suite (MGM) 4th
week.

Milwaukee: Ride Clear of Diablo (U-I),
French Line (RKO) 4th week. It
Should Happen to You (Col.).

Minneapolis: Executive Suite (MGM)
holdover, Julius Ceasar (MGM) hold-
over, Night People (20th-Fox).

New Orleans: Executive Suite (MGM)
2nd week. River of No Return (20th-
Eox) holdover. She. Couldn’t Say No
(RKO) 2nd week, Martin Luther (de
Rochemont) 3rd week.

Oklahoma City: Erench Line (RKO)
2nd week. Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)
3rd week.

Philadelphia: Rose Marie (MGM), River
OF No Return (20th-Fox).

Pittsburgh: Executive Suite (MGM).

Portland: River of No Return (20th-
Fox), Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd
week.

Providence: Elephant Walk (Para.)
2nd week. Beachhead (UA).

Toronto: Executive Suite (MGM),
Prince Valiant (20th-Fox) 2nd week.
The Living Desert (Disney) 8th week.

Vancouver: Elephant Walk (Para.).

Washington: River of No Return (20th-
Eox), Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd
week, Elephant Walk (Para.), Knock
ON Wood (Para.) 4th week.

Paramount Film Distributing Co., and
Oscar Morgan, sales manager for shorts and
Paramount Newsreel, addressed the dele-
gates. New product also was shown.

Alberta Exhibitors Ask
End of Ticket Tax

TORONTO : The Province of Alberta has
been asked by the Alberta Theatres Associa-
tion to eliminate the amusement tax. This
follows decision at the recent meeting of
officers and directors in Calgary.

President of the association, A. W. Shack-
leford, who is Mayor of Lethbridge, said
that failing the complete removal of the
tax, it should be eliminated on all tickets up
to 50 cents. The second course might be
even better than complete removal, he sug-
gested, since it would eliminate the pos-
sibility of municipal application. Doug
Miller of Taber, one of the two vice-presi-
dents, took the position that if the amuse-
ment tax is continued, the Provincial theatre
license should be dropped, it being unfair to
impose both.

It was agreed, at the suggestion of Matt

Park, a director, that the age limit for ap-
prentices in projection be lowered from 18
to 16, since there is considerable difficulty in
hiring as many as needed. Drive-ins will
be invited to join the association, organized
in 1943, with a fee of five cents per car.
Next annual general meeting will be held in
Edmonton September 20.

Sef 7 Goldwyn Films Reissue
Through State Rights

A group of seven Samuel Goldwyn pro-
ductions has been made available for release
through state rights distributors in 32 ex-
change cities, James A. Mulvey, president
of Samuel Goldwyn Productions, Inc., an-
nounced in New York this week. The first
two pictures, “The Westerner” and “Dead
End,” will be released under the plan this
month. Other features, to be released at 30-
day intervals, include “Barbary Coast.”
“Come and Get It,” “Adventures of Marco
Polo,” “Nana” and “The Cowboy and the
Lady.” New promotional campaigns are be-
ing prepared for each of the films which are
offered for re-release.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

How Providence Licks
Its Theatre Hoodlums

by G. FRED AIKEN

PROVIDENCE: When William J. Tram-
bukis returned to Providence, three and a
half months ago, to take over the manage-
ment of Loew’s State theatre, he was con-
fronted with a problem that has been
plaguing theatre owners and operators
throughout the country. Vandalism and
hoodlumism had been driving family and
genteel patronage away from the theatre
in numbers sufficient to affect grosses
drastically.

Mr. Trambukis, who got his start in the
theatre business in Providence, having risen
from part-time usher to chief-of-service ;
then assistant manager in almost record-
breaking time, was not wholly unfamiliar
with existing conditions locally. Despite his
sojourn in other cities as manager of Loew’s
houses, he had always kept watch on the
Providence scene.

Sunday TVas Dreaded

Sunday, a day that was usually looked
forward to, in the past, by exhibitors, was
dreaded by members of the new manager’s
staff; for this was the day that the juvenile
delinquents, hoodlums and vandals descended
on local theatres like locusts. However, it
was also the most important day for many
family groups, as working conditions in this
textile and machinery manufacturing center
had virtually set aside the Sabbath as the
only possible day when all the family could
get together at the same time.

In his first step in the campaign to stamp
out vandalism, Mr. Trambukis shook up his
entire staff. After carefully screening all
employees, especially ushers, he dispensed
with those who had indications of arrogance.
Having been an usher years ago, he knew
that many times an over-zealous or pug-
nacious usher could make an otherwise
minor situation develop into a major scuffle.

Balcony Kept Closed

Following this, Mr. Trambukis selected
from some 50 applicants, after careful in-
vestigation, 35 trainees, and they were given
schooling over a two-week period. School
sessions were held in the mornings, prior
to opening, and at night after the end of
the evening performance. The manager
pulled no punches. Every trainee was given
an honest and straight-forward picture of
what was expected ; and only those who
passed the final tests with exceptional ratings
could expect to be retained. After “gradua-
tion exercises,” a staff of 18 met the acid
test ; and selecting a 35-year-old chief-of-
service, Mr. Trambukis launched his plans.

On Sundays, the balcony was kept closed,
and only bona-fide pleasure-seeking couples
and families were allowed in the mezzanine
and loge sections. By doing this, Mr. Tram-
bukis and his staff kept all known and sus-

TH£ PROBLEM was vandalism, and if was
solved by the Loew's State, Providence, after
a campaign of three and one-half months.
Above, Fred Aiken, HERALD Providence cor-
respondent, left, gets the story from Robert
Petersen, the theatre's chief-ot-statf, and
William J. Trambukis, its manager.

picious characters under strict surveillance
in the orchestra section. Additionally, to
supplement his staff, Mr. Trambukis em-
ployed the services of a burly, former mem-
ber of the Providence Police department.
This uniformed member was stationed In
the inner lobby, always available and on
hand should trouble start ; and his presence
lent confidence to other staff members.

Then Mr. Trambukis, aided by two of his
assistants, alternately took up positions
where the girl in the box office could see
them. When known or suspicious trouble-
makers sought to purchase tickets, a signal
from the management was sufficient cue for
the ticket-seller to politely but emphatically
deny the request. A few remonstrated, but
eventually they “caught on” to the idea
that they were not wanted. Many of these
“characters” took the hint, and gradually
their numbers diminished.

Securing 100 per cent cooperation from
his immediate staff, Mr. Trambukis dis-
continued all “Sundays off,” giving executive
members their choice of other days. Thus,
a full staff was on hand every Sunday. That
his careful plan worked successfully is in-
dicated in the fact that not a single arrest
has been made in the three and a half months
the campaign has been under way.

Incidentally, where the troubles in the past
had caused a rash of resignations by ushers,
many quitting after the first week, saying
“they had had enough” ; the present staff
still includes many of the original ‘trainees’
who sought employment when Mr. Tram-
bukis first took over.

Furthermore, the $300 to $400 lost every

Sunday, either by disgusted patrons, or by
denying admission to troublesome characters,
has been all won back, and more, too.

As a matter of fact. Bill Trambukis re-
ports that, to date, he has received between
350 and 400 letters ; hundreds of telephone
calls, and many personal messages compli-
menting Loew’s State, the management, and
the staff on the extremely pleasant and
favorable conditions that have resulted from
this intensive campaign. In addition, Tram-
bukis states that many patrons, recognizing
him, in the lobby, and in restaurants, take
the time and trouble to congratulate him
because of his success in making Loew’s
State atmosphere so quiet, respectable and
free from former annoying situations.

Local TV and Radio commentators have
added their praise, in special programs and
broadcasts.

Despite the fact that Loew’s has won back
many of its former patrons, and that the
rowdyism is a thing of the past, the manage-
ment has not, and will not, relax its vigil-
ance.

Fines Cut Vandalism
In Fall River

After a local court fined each of ten
youths $40 for larceny involving loudspeak-
ers, vandalism at open air theatres in the
Fall River area decreased drastically. Losses
till then had been alarming managers seri-
ously. The youths are part of a “hot rod’’
set for which the damages were a sort of
sport connected with an element of social
prestige.

Pittsburgh Club Plans
Hospital Fund Drive

PITTSBURGH: Tent No. 1 of the Variety
Club here has named Reggie Wilson, vice-
president of the Commonwealth Trust Co.,
to head the forthcoming drive to raise $750,-
000 for the construction of an addition to
the Roselia Foundling and Maternity Hos-
pital, which the local club helps support. The
Catherine Variety Fund, a non-profit corpo-
ration, organized last year to handle the
project, disclosed that it will sponsor a tele-
thon on April 24 to give the drive its final
spur. George W. Eby, president, named sev-
eral top civic leaders to the Variety Club
committee to stage the drive, including Judge
Samuel A. Weiss, Leon Falk, Jr., John
Harris, Carl Dozer, Norman Mervis and
Harry Kodinsky.

Earnings of Heller & Co.
Increase in Quarter

CHICAGO : Walter E. Heller & Company,
and subsidiaries, installment bankers active
in motion picture financing, earned $480,281
after provision for income taxes in the three
months ended March 31, 1954. This com-
pares with $405,668 in the like period last
year. Earnings were equal to 70 cents a
share on 568,718 shares of common, com-
pared with 80 cents a share on 433,544
shares of common last year. The figures
were announced by Walter E. Heller, presi-
dent of the company.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

MjOtverMienial
Sought Bg
Exhibitors

A move to demand lower rentals and per-
centage terms on pictures for which there
is a scarcity of prints at the time of availa-
bility is being quietly mobilized by exhibitor
groups. This action is reported to have
been discussed at recent exhibitor associa-
tion meetings and although the plan will be
pushed initially by individual exhibitors, the
campaign may branch out into a national
issue.

The print shortage, it is charged by ex-
hibitors, is as acute as the product shortage
and if a theatre is ready to play a picture
on availability and there is no print with
which the exchange can serve it, then the
terms should drop to a lower figure based
on the later date on which the print is
obtainable. If a picture is worth more on
national release, it is argued, then the rentals
should be less if the engagement has to be
pushed back because of the unavailability of
the print.

These points were brought out at closed
meetings of exhibitor groups and definite
drastic action was blueprinted to either force
distributors to make more prints available
or reduce the rental terms on delayed prod-
uct due to print shortages.

Stars Help Promote
"High and the Mighty"

Jan Sterling, one of the eight top stars in
the Warner release, “The High and the
Mighty”; Doe Avedon, and Karen Sharpe,
two who make their debuts in it — these this
week were added to the list of players boost-
ing the Wayne-Fellows CinemaScope pro-
duction, by appearing on radio and TV, and
submitting to newspaper interviews. Miss
Sterling is to appear on the Art Linkletter
Houseparty May 31. Miss Avedon was to be
on the starlet spot in the Lux Video Theatre
Thursday. Miss Sharpe appeared there Mon-
day. Miss Sterling, Laraine Day, and Claire
Trevor have been in San Francisco, where
the picture is to open May 27, at the Para-
mount theatre, coincident with its opening
at the Egyptian theatre, Hollywood.

New COMPO Ad Features
Men Behind the Camera

Captioned “Back of the Bijou,” the 12th
in the series of COMPO ads now appearing
in “Editor & Publisher” describes the im-
mense pool of talent — artists, technicians,
executives and others — that is behind the
local theatre. The ad states that a typical
motion picture requires the arts and crafts
of some 300 specialists representing 35
unions and guilds. “For every performer
imaged on the film,” it says, “15 non-actors
work behind the camera.” It adds that the
“local movie house is the nerve center of
this vast and continuing accomplishment thqt
is called ‘production.’ ”

Variety Club Announces
International Agents

International representatives were named
recently for Variety Clubs International,
by International Chief Barker George Hoo-
ver. The men are: Ralph Pries, New
Haven, NewYork, Philadelphia ; Jake Flax,
Baltimore, Washington; Ruben W. Bolstad,
Boston, Albany, Buffalo, and Toronto ;
Marc Wolf, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and De-
troit; Roy Wells, Cincinnati, Indianapolis,
Dayton; John J. Jones, Chicago, Grand
Rapids, Milwaukee; J. Robert Hoff, St.
Louis, Des Moines, Omaha, Minneapolis;
C. A. Dolsen, Memphis, Houston, Dallas,
Oklahoma City; John Fulton, Charlotte,
Atlanta, Jacksonville, Miami ; Rotus Harvey,
Denver, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City; A1
Grubstake, San Francisco, Los Angeles ; C.
J. Latta, Europe; Luis Montes, Mexico
City.

Malaya Theatre Has
CinemaScope Unit

Loke Theatres, Ltd., has reopened its
Cathay Cinema, Penang, Straits Settle-
ments, after eight months of renovation for
CinemaScope. The reopening featured “The
Robe,” and it was attended by 300 specially
invited guests. Steel and concrete have re-
placed the wood in the balcony floor. There
is a new theatre front. The proscenium
opening of 30 feet with a 24 foot screen
has been widened for a CinemaScope screen
of 48 feet. Seating has been changed to
GB Consul, and increased from 900 to
1,000. The lobby was enlarged and now
has a candy shop. Above it now is a milk
bar and a liquor bar. Above the bar is a
new projection booth with GB-20 projectors
and GB-21 sound equipment. Above all
this is a roof garden. There also is a 30
foot neon sign.

Survey Shows 638 Ohio Houses;
Compared with 1,034 in 1948

A survey by Independent Theatre Own-
ers of Ohio has revealed that there are 638
indoor theatres operating in the state, com-
pared with 1,034 in existence in 1948. Of
the houses now operating, 50 are closed
more than one day in each week. In the
drive-in category, there are 175 operating;
in 1948 there were 113. Three of the out-
door theatres are equipped with heaters for
year-round operation.

TV Set Production
Off in Three Months

WASHINGTON : Television set produc-
tion during the first three months of 1954
was sharply below the like 1953 period but
slightly ahead of 1952, the Radio-Elec-
tronics-Television Manufacturers Associa-
tion has reported. It said 1,447,110 TV sets
were produced during the first 13 weeks of
this year, compared with 2,259,943 in the
like period last year and 1,324,831 sets in
the like 1952 period. Production in March
of this year was put at 599,606 sets, com-
pared to 810,112 sets produced last March
and 510,561 sets in March, 1952.

CEA~KRS in
Afen? Bou? on
Brenk Totul

LONDON : Yet another impediment has
been thrown in the way of settlement of the
long drawn-out break-figure dispute between
renters and exhibitors here. Following
months-long wrangling between the two
associations concerned — the Kinematograph
Renters Society and the Cinematograph
Exhibitors Association — it was agreed that
the matter be considered by a joint com-
mittee of the two bodies under the presi-
dency of an independent chairman.

Monkey Wrench Thrown

Mr. Cyril Salmon, Q. C., a lawyer with
considerable reputation as a pleader at the
bar, was eventually selected for the post,
at which point another monkey wrench was
thrown in the works by the exhibitors.
CEA’s executive announced that it had
“retained Sir Hartley Shawcross, Q. C.,
for presentation of our case.”

In a letter to CEA’s Walter Fuller, the
KRS secretary, Frank Hill, says: “I was
instructed to point out that the engaging
of counsel by either side to appear at Joint
Conciliation Committee meetings is not in
accordance with the terms of reference and
conditions by which the Committee came
into being on November 24, 1943, and, fur-
ther, is not in accordance in our view with
the spirit of the discussions and decisions
arrived at the Four Trade Associations’
meeting held on April 21 last.

“The KRS Council is unanimously
opposed to counsel appearing for one side
or the other in order to present a case at
which conciliatory discussions are to take
place before the independent chairman who
is to tender advice upon the dispute in
question.”

CEA Reacts Quickly

CEA quickly reacted to the letter. It
wrote to Mr. Hill in the following terms:

“Comment from your Council now comes
too late and cannot be considered. You
know that Sir Hartley Shawcross has
advised us and will recollect that counsel
to plead our respective causes was envisaged
at the last meeting of the Joint Committee
of the CEA and KRS when you suggested
each party paid its own costs, the fee of
the independent chairman to be shared.”

The whole industry here hopes that both
disputants will drop their preliminary legal-
istic sparring and get down to a settlement
of the sore-thumb break-figure dispute
which has irked the business for far too
long in the general view.

UA Gets "Hobson's Choice"

“Hobson’s Choice,” which David Lean
made and which stars Charles Laughton and
John Mills, has been acquired for release by
United Artists. It is a London Films picture.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

i -S

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

By last weekend Hal R. Makelim, touring
the country on a circuit of Allied States
Association meetings, had amassed signed
contracts amounting to $1,000,000 for flat-
rental bookings of his planned productions.
That figure represented the yield of four
meetings. He has 17 more on his itinerary.
If the next 17 live up to that beginning, or
maybe even beyond as momentum builds up,
this town’s bankers will be spreading wel-
come mats all over the place on his return,
in tribute to the man who (it may turn out)
made production-investment safe again.

Production Investment
Long a Favorite Kind

For production-investment was long a
favorite kind, accommodating large amounts
of money and assuring fast recovery, and its
place has not yet been completely filled by
television-film production- investment.

If the Makelim method of procedure
proves as practicable as it now appears,
the risk that recently entered into the bank-
loaning of independent production shall have
been dispelled. That the Makelim method
will be adopted by others is already clear.

But money is not the only thing exhibitors
are giving Producer Makelim as he makes
his rounds. They are giving him advice,
too, and suggestions and tips and titles and
castings and the names of the stars he ought
to use in his pictures and of those he ought
not to. This was not wholly unexpected,
naturally, but it was not precisely sought,
either, and while it is certainly true that a
producer can’t get too much money for his
purposes, it is likewise inescapable that he
can get too many suggestions, tips, titles,
castings, pointers and recommendations to
utilize in a mere dozen pictures, which is
the extent of the present Makelim planning.
Not that he won't try, of course, and not that
by listening to all of them in all the places
he goes he won’t come home with a fresh
and pinpointed mental picture of the nation
and its entertainment demands.

Suggestions Offered
Have Wide Range

The suggestions offered Mr. Makelim
range over a wide area, but they stack up
pretty deeply on a few points. One of these
is the need for color. Another is for move-
ment. Importance of titles is a third, al-
though exhibitors display no more unanimity
about exactly what makes a good title and
what makes a bad one than do producers,
distributors, writers or pollsters.

There’s no unanimity among exhibitors
concerning screen shapes, either, save on the
point that shape is no substitute for content,
exploitability and customer satisfaction. I\Ir.
Makelim is keeping track of the advice as
closely as the contracts signed.

THIS WEEK Monday Universal-Interna-
tional announced the placement of emphasis
in their talent-building program, on the de-
velopment of leading men, naming seven
actors whose future, along with its own, the
company is undertaking to insure by proper
procedures of casting, publicity and promo-
tion. The actors are Keith Andes, John
Agar, Lex Barker, Jeff Morrow, George
Nader, Bart Roberts and Race Gentry. The
announcement says the studio is “carefully
grooming them to take their places along
with Jeff Chandler, Tony Curtis, Rock Hud-
son and Audie Murphy”, contract stars
whom the studio describes as “graduates of
U-I’s talent building program.”

The announcement brings into clear defi-
nition a studio-administered solution of
the leading-man problem which, otherwise,
nflght have been lost sight of in the over-
all consideration by the trade of the tre-
mendous product successes registered by the
company in recent seasons. For the leading-
man problem is, for reasons nobody ever
agrees on with anybody else, the thorniest
in the whole field of talent.

Last year’s Top Ten Stars of Tomorrow,
as determined by exhibitors voting in The
herald’s annual poll of that title, yielded
six feminine winners to four males — Tony
Curtis, Robert Wagner, Scott Brady and
Jack Palance. Whereas the Top Ten Money-
Making Stars of the same year, as estab-
lished by The HERALD’s 22-year-old poll
of that name, turned up eight men and only
two girls.

The results of the two pollings, combined,
reflect dramatically the now quite well
known fact that male stars, although harder
to huild than their opposites, last longer and,
collectively, sell the most tickets. This is a
grievously ungallant truism that many a
studio has sought, by various means, to util-
ize advantageously through setting up train-
ing schools, and so on, without notable suc-
cess. The U-I method seems to work well.

Five pictures were started during the
week, and five others finished, keeping the
over-all production level intact.

RKO started shooting “The Conqueror,”
Technicolor, with John Wayne, Susan Hay-
ward, Pedro Armendariz, Thomas Gomez,
John Hoyt, William Conrad, Agnes Moore-
head, Jeanne Carson, Leslie Bradley and
Lee Van Cleef in the cast. Dick Powell is
producer-director.

MGM launched “Jupiter’s Darling,” in
CinemaScope and Eastman color, with Es-
ther Williams, Marge and Gower Cham-
pion, Howard Keel, George Sanders, James
Whitmore and Richard Haydn in principal
roles. George Wells is producing and George
Sidney directing.

Aubrey Schenck and Howard W. Koch
began shooting “Shield for Murder” for
United Artists distribution, with Edmond

O’Brien, Marla English, John Agar, Emile
Meyer, Herbert Butterfield, Robert Bray
and Claude Akins. Messrs. O’Brien and
Koch are directing.

Allied Artists producer Ben Schwalb
started “Jungle Gents,” a Bowery Boys’
number with Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall, Lau-
rette Luez, Patrick O’Moore, Woody Strode
and others, under Edward Brends’ direction.

“Crashout” is a Palo Alto production,
with John Ireland and Dorothy Malone in
leading roles. Roger Corman is producing,
with Jack Milner as associate, and Ed
Sampson and Ireland are directing. No dis-
tribution channel has been announced.

Illllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (5)

A.A.

Jungle Gents

INDEPENDENT

Crashout

( Palo Alto Prod.)

MGM

Jupiter's Daughter
(CinemaScope; East-
man color)

COMPLETED (5)

A.A.

Adventures of Hajji
Baba (CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

LIPPERT

Race for Life (Hammer)

MGM

Rogue Cop

SHOOTING (23)

COLUMBIA

Phftft

Violent Men (Techni-
color)

Rough Company

(CinemaScope: Tech-
nicolor)

Long Gray Line

(CinemaScope: Tech-
nicolor)

Joseph and His Brethren
(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

Three for the Show
(CinemaScope: Tech-
nicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Return of Columbua
( Paal-Real)

Long John Silver
(Kaufman; Cinema-
Scope: Technicolor)

MGM

Glass Slipper (Eastman
color)

Deep in My Heart
(Technicolor)

Green Fire (Techni-
color)

Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

RKO

Conqueror

(Technicolor)

U.A.

Shield for Murder
(Schenck-Koch)

RKO

Where the Wind Dies
(Bogeaus; Super-
Scope; Technicolor)

WARNER

Battle Cry

( CinemaScope:
WarnerColor)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
(VistaVision; Techni-
color)

RKO

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

20TH-FOX

Woman's World

(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

U.A.

Vera Cruz (Hecht-Lan-
caster; SuperScope;
Technicolor)

U-I

Destry (Technicolor)

Shadow Valley (Techni-
color)

So This Is Paris (Tech-
nicolor)

WARNER

Dragnet (WarnerColor)

Helen of Troy (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

Land of the Pharoahs
(CinemaScope:
WarnerColor)

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 22, 1954

Castle Urges
JVo Overseas
U.S.Prograwa

WASHINGTON : Eugene W. Castle, for-
mer documentary producer, last Friday
urged a Senate Appropriations subcommit-
tee not to vote any funds for the Govern-
ment’s overseas film program.

He said the $13,186,000 cut by the House
of Representatives from the United States
Information Agency vras not enough. He
made recommendations that would cut at
least $15,000,000 more from the $89,000,000
the agency had asked. About $3,000,000
could be saved, he argued, by cutting out the
film program.

Mr. Castle said that for better or for
worse, U. S. entertainment films portray
American life as it is and are our best propa-
ganda overseas, being shown to 200,000,000
persons weekly. The U.S.I.A. documen-
taries are a “complete waste,” he declared.
In any event, he added, U.S.I.A. has enough
documentaries on hand to supply the world
for five years.

Senators Bridges (R., N. H.) and Know-
land (R., Calif.) listened with apparent
sympathy as Mr. Castle declared that the
U. S. had more friends abroad when it was
spending a fifth as much as at present on
information programs.

Mr. Castle charged that the film service’s
panel of consultants, headed by Cecil B.
DeMille, were never actually consulted by
U.S.I.A. and in fact practically never func-
tioned.

Equipment Makers Donate
3-D to Rogers Hospital

New 3-D equipment has been installed and
soon will be dedicated, at the Will Rogers
Memorial Hospital, Saranac Lake, New
York. It has been donated by the Ballantyne
Company, Williams Screen Company,
Wenzel Projectors Company, Goldberg
Brothers, Raytone Screen, Projection
Optics, Altec Service, and Altec Lansing.
It will be dedicated at the June meeting of
the board of directors, at the hospital. The
latter have invited representatives of these
companies to the meeting, which is part of
an annual tour of inspection.

National May Ask
Divestiture Delay

WASHINGTON : National Theatres will
ask the Justice Department for another ex-
tension of its divestiture deadline, it was
reported this week. The circuit is supposed
to complete its divestiture program by June
7. Under the original 20th Century-Fox
consent decree, it was to have sold 110
theatres in two years. National has already
received two six months extensions of the
divestiture deadline, and when the last ex-
tension was granted in December, still had
about 27 theatres to dispose of.

MANAGER'S CALM
AVERTS FIRE PANIC

More fhan 150 children were saved
from panic and disaster Saturday
afternoon at the Walden Theatre,
Buffalo, when manager and co-owner
Edward Whalen, after noticing smoke
pouring from projection room ports,
told the children in his calmest manner
"we are having a little trouble" and
asked them to file out. "They were
really good — they went out in an or-
derly manner," he said. Damage was
estimated at $3,000.

Paramauat
3"3€aath Net
$1,404,000

Paramount Pictures Corporation esti-
mates the earnings of the Corporation and
its domestic and Canadian subsidiaries for
the first quarter ended April 3, 1954 at $1,-

404,000 after provision for income taxes.
This compares with earnings for the quar-
ter ended April 4, 1953 which were reported
at $1,374,000.

The consolidated earnings for the first
quarter 1954 represent $.63 per share on
the 2,217,044 shares outstanding and in the
hands of the public on April 3, 1954 which
compares with $.59 per share for the quarter
ended April 4, 1953 on 2,339,471 shares then
outstanding.

Chromatic Working on
New Color TV Tube

Pilot production of an improved version of
the Lawrence Color TV tube has begun at
Chromatic Television Laboratories’ West
Coast development laboratory, Richard
Hodgson, president, announced Monday.
Known as the Chromatron PDF 21-3, the
tube will, he claimed, give a true rectangu-
lar picture 11 by 14j^ inches. Its rectangu-
lar shape allows a cabinet size 20 per cent
smaller than demanded by round tubes, he
continued. The tube is 25 inches long, is a
“single-gun” type, and can be mass pro-
duced at less than $100, he said.

Market New Variable
Anamorphic Lens

Adjustable anamorphic lenses of the pris-
matic type have been developed by the Pro-
jection Optics Company, Rochester, N. Y.,
and are expected to be available within a
week or so through the Raytone Screen
Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., distributors
of the manufacturers’ “Hilux” line of pro-
jection lenses. The anamorphic lenses are
adjustable to various rates of expansion, as
used for CinemaScope and comparable proc-
esses, up to 3-to-l, and down to 1-to-l for
projection of standard prints.

Teehnicalor
Plaas Plant
In France

Technicolor Motion Picture Corp., and
French motion picture interests have com-
pleted negotiations for the establishment of
the Societe Technicolor with a capital of
about one billion francs to operate a Techni-
color plant in Paris, it was announced by
Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, president and gen-
eral manager of Technicolor, Inc., at the an-
nual stockholders meeting in New York
Monday.

Dr. Kalmus reported the consolidated net
profit of Technicolor for the first three
months of this year to be $363,493, or 19
cents per share on the outstanding stock. Dr.
Kalmus said that this increase of five cents
per share over the last quarter of 1953 prob-
ably will continue upward with the increased
number of features he expects to be proc-
essed by Technicolor.

Concerning the foreign situation. Dr. Kal-
mus added that Technicolor, Ltd., the Brit-
ish affiliate, had shown a net profit for the
first quarter of 1954 of $299,149. He com-
pared this favorably with the initial quarter
in 1953 of $231,837 despite a two-week shut-
down due to a strike earlier in the year.

Election of William G. Rabe and James
Bruce to the board of directors was an-
nounced also. The former is a director of
the Manufacturers Trust Co., and the lat-
ter, former U. S. Minister to the Argentine,
is director of several other firms.

Loew's International Will
Build in South Africa

Loew’s International is expanding in
South African exhibition, according to
Arthur M. Loew, president. He said in New
York last week his company plans to build
three houses in the Capetown area, and
more elsewhere in South Africa and also in
Rhodesia. Where building is not alone by
MGM, it will be with the cooperation of
franchised independent exhibitors of com-
munity standing. The firm now operates the

3.000 seat Metro, Johannesburg, and the

2.000 seat Metro at Durban.

Buffalo Dispute Rages
On "The French Line"

RKO’s “The French Line” last week was
the subject of sharp debate in the Buffalo
Common Council. A resolution offered to
the body by Councilman Joseph J. Cooley,
who would have the picture reviewed by the
State Board of Regents, failed to pass. The
vote was seven to seven. Council President
Elmer F. Lux, a circuit owner, refrained
from voting. The resolution would have
called the picture, in part “obscene, indecent”
and tending to “corrupt morals.” Council-
men who objected to its language and intent
noted that it prejudged “something we are
asking the Regents to review.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

MEXICO EXPORT
EXIT FORMED

by LUIS BECERRA CELIS

in Mexico City

Cinex, the company formed by the Mexi-
can Government to control foreign distribu-
tion of Mexican pictures — and which takes
over Exportex, originally founded for the
purpose, has been legally constituted and is
now an operating concern. Eduardo Gar-
duno, director general of the trade’s own
bank, the semi-official Banco Nacional Cine-
matografico, is the Cinex president. Included
in the membership are 47 top producers.

The new firm has a capital of $580,000,
according to Alfonso Cortina, chairman of
the National Cinematographic Board, under
whose direction the company was estab-
lished. Any producer will be accepted as a
Cinex partner on payment of a contribution
of $5,814. Those who desire to join but lack
the ready cash will be lent the amount by
the trade’s own bank. The latter has pro-
vided $150,000 of the total capital.

Permit Is Requested

A permit to establish Cinex was asked of
the Ministry of National Economy by Cesar
Santos Galindo, president of the Producers
Association. The by-laws call for a board
membership of a minimum of seven and a
maximum of 11.

Mr. Galindo recently was reelected pres-
ident of the Producers Association, but un-
der the Association’s new officers’ rules, his
term of office will be for six months instead
of a year, as previously was the case. His
associate members on the executive com-
mittee— Santiago Reachi and Adolfo Lagos,
automatically become candidates to succeed
Mr. Galindo. Juan Bruguera is the Asso-
ciation’s new treasurer.

“All we can do now is to play very strong
pictures and for as long as possible,” accord-
ing to a local exhibitor anent the Govern-
ment’s policy to sustain the stand against
any permission for increase in admission
prices, in view of the general upswing in liv-
ing costs following devaluation of the peso
to eight cents from 1 1 cents. The Ministry
of National Economy warned that exhibitors
who raise admission prices will be heavily
fined.

Exhibitors regard this as the final defeat
in their campaign to raise prices that has
been waging since December,, 1952, when
those rates were put at ceilings at levels 20
to 35 per cent below the former charges.
However, some big circuit heads say that
now is not the time to raise prices, that ex-
hibitors must cooperate with the Govern-
ment in its efforts to straighten out Mex-
ico’s economy. These men say too that the
cost of living will not go higher than 10 to
15 per cent over rates that prevailed when
the peso was worth 11.6 cents.

The defeat is a disappointment to distrib-
utors of U. S. and other foreign films. They

had hoped that allowance of higher prices
for exhibitors would retrieve some of the
45 per cent loss from the totals they will be
sending to their home offices. They had ex-
pected that their percentages would yield
more from the higher admission prices by
theatres.

The technical and annual workers sections
of the Picture Production Workers Union
(STPC) estimated that about 80 films will
be produced in Mexico this year, basing the
estimate on the 30 films which had been
made as of April 10 and the expectation that
50 more will have been produced by Decem-
ber 31. The union indicates too that 80 films
will be “just about right” to furnish the needs
of the domestic and foreign market. Pour
American pictures already have been made
here this year and two more are being com-
pleted. It is expected that a total of 10
American films will have been made in
Mexico before the year’s end.

FRANCE

by HENRI KAHN

in Paris

Representatives of eight European coun-
tries met in Paris recently to set up plans
for the first extended Western Europe TV
hookup. The eight countries are Prance.
Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Italy,
Switzerland, Denmark and Belgium. The
international hookup will last one month
beginning June 7.

M. Emile Hugues, the Prench Minister of
Information, pointed out at the conference
that if TV can become European and there-
by drop its national identification, the cost
problems would be largely solved. Each
nation could put on programs for the whole
continent.

The program schedule for the month-long
test is being kept secret at present. It is
known, however, that there will be 19 pro-
grams in all, afternoon and evening, and
that eight of the programs will be national.
That is to say, each of the eight countries
will put on one program designed primarily
for its own citizens. The language prob-
lem will be overcome with a commentator,
at home, who will comment, when necessary
in the receiving nation’s tongue. It is
planned that the programs will be primarily
visual, however, so that as little language
as possible will be necessary.

See Threat to Cinema

If the programs are a success and the pro-
grams do capture the imagination of the
public, the cinema will have to face up to
another threat.

The press recently was invited to witness
a demonstration here of another anamorphic
film process, Cinepanoramic, based on a
lens developed in the last century by Pro-

fessor Abe of lena University. Technically
the system is similar to CinemaScope. Einan-
cially, however, there is a difference. Exhibi-
tors can buy two Cinepanoramic lenses for
433,000 francs, compared with 500,000 for
two CinemaScope lenses. Cinepanoramic
camera lenses can be rented for 2,000,000
francs per picture.

Visually, the Cinepanoramic demonstra-
tion was a marked success. However, no
sound was used in the showings. At the
moment, there are 20 projection lenses and
10 camera lenses in existence in this new
motion picture process.

The Scnool of Advanced Cinematographic
Studies recently celebrated its 10th anni-
versary. The school was set up to provide
the Erench cinema with trained technicians
for all sections of the industry. Monsieur
Louvel, chief of the Ministry of Commerce,
which is directly responsible for the indus-
try in Erance, in a speech to mark the anni-
versary said that in 10 years the school had
turned out 350 highly trained men, many of
whom were now working in the far corners
of the world. Besides the Erench students,
the school now has students from more than
40 different countries.

The National Assembly’s Press and Cine-
ma Committee soon will get a report on the
censorship question in Erance. Following
the local ban of certain films, the Govern-
ment has taken the position that the whole
censorship problem must be reconsidered.
Some quarters expect that the Committee
is likely to recommend a manner of cate-
gorizing films, as is done in Great Britain,
and/or the scrapping of the present cen-
sorship board and the establishment of a
new one, excluding members of the film
industry who, it is felt, are subjected to a
great deal of pressure.

The industry itself is urging the abolition
of censorship altogether and will violently
oppose a board on which it is not repre-
sented.

AUSTRALIA

by FRANK O'CONNELL

in Sydney

Paramount this year celebrates its 40th
anniversary in Australia. It was the first
major company to have direct representa-
tion here and it was the first major over-
seas company to have its own exchange
here. In 1914, “Prisoner of Zenda” opened
at Spencer’s Lyceum and “Caprice” opened
at the Crystal Palace.

Paramount also proudly claims that many
top men in the industry began their careers
with the old firm, among them being three
managing directors : Here C. McIntyre,
Universal; Bernard N. Freeman, MGM, and
Doug Lotherington, RKO.

The first theatre to be built in Australia
exclusively as an art house is the claim for
Perth’s Liberty, a well-appointed 450-seater,
which opened recently. One of the directors
is Errol S. Heath of Independent Film Dis-
tributors, importer of continental films
which will be the staple diet of the Liberty.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22. 1954

ALBANY

20th Century-Fox’s decision to make stere-
ophonic sound optional for CinemaScope
prompted certain exchange district drive-in
operators to study installation costs and to
prepare inquiries about distributor terms.
Harry Lamont revealed he had instituted a
survey for one of his six out-doors; and
there were reports others had done like-
wise. . . . Visitors included: Richard Harper,
Metro sales executive; Jack Mundstuk,
MGM branch manager in Buffalo; Sam
Davis, returned . from a winter in Florida
to prepare for reopening of Fleischmanns
theatre. Memorial Day; Phil Baroudi, North
Creek and Indian Lake; Clarence Dopp,
Frankfort, Northville and Poland; Mr. and
Mrs. John W. Gardner, Westmere. . . .
Strand Theatre Building, Johnstown, fell
to wreckers, preparing for erection of a
store. Mr. and Mrs. Leland Warner were
recent lessees. . . . Faithful cooperation in
Variety Club Camp Thatcher project won
honorary membership awards for Times-
Union publisher Gene Robb, city editor Con
Heffernan, circulation manager Mark D.
Bohen.

ATLANTA

Cliff Parker, general sales manager of
Alexander Films, has returned to the home
office after attending the convention here.

. . . George H. Mayer, supervisor for Na-
tional Carbon Co., was in visiting. . . . W.
B Jones, Belvins Popcorn Co., Nashville,
was in. . . . The Fox Theatre Co., Chat-
tanooga, has taken over the Skyway drive-
in, Oxford, Ala. . . . George Cochran, for-
mer booker with Columbia Pictures, is now
with Allied Artists Southern Exchanges
booking department. . . . H. Laird, branch
manager for Republic Pictures, Tampa, was
in visiting. . . . Mrs. C. O. Jeffery, wife
of C. O. Jeffery of Alexander Films, came
up from Florida to pay her first visit in
ten years. . . . Lou Finske, Florida State
Theatres, was an Atlanta visitor. . . . Henry
Fayard, of the Meyer theatre, Biloxi, Miss.,
has installed a new screen and CinemaScope
equipment. . . . The new Riverside drive-in
theatre, Brunsville, N. C., has been opened
by Frank, John and Jess Cooper. . . . M. C.
Moore, Lake Shore theatre, Jacksonville,
Fla., was in booking for his theatre. . . .
E. C. Sanderson and R. D. McGowan are
the new owners of the Gatesville theatre,
Gatesville, N. C.

BALTIMORE

Mrs. Moe Rendleman, wife of Berio
Vending official, was a patient at Sinai
Hospital. . . . Frank Walker, head of MGM
Records, was in town. . . . Mrs. Helen Leon-
ard, secretary to the Allied MPTOM, is
back on the job. . . . A1 Pratt, Stanley War-
ner sound department, in town visiting the
Stanley. . . . 1. M. Rappaport, Town &
Hippodrome theatre, made a quick New
York trip. . . . Mark Silver. AA salesman,
still in Sinai as the result of a heart attack.

. . . Dernie Seaman, formerly manager of

the Hippodrome theatre, is now the general
manager of Bayshore Park. . . . Fred J.
Schanberger, Jr., Keith’s theatre, underwent
more surgery at Bon Secours Hospital. . . .
Morris Mechanic, New and Centre theatres,
hosting a group of friends at the Glenn
Norris testimonial dinner which will be held
in Washington.

BOSTON

George Roberts was re-elected president
of Sentry Lodge B’Nai B’rith at annual din-
ner dance and installation of officers May 16
at Hotel Bradford Roof. Henri Schwartz-
berg, ATC film buyer and Benn Rosenwald,
MGM manager, received special awards for
their services during the year. Highlight
of the evening was the “surprise” presenta-
tion of a special “Oscar” to Samuel Pinan-
ski as “Sentry’s Man of Distinction for ’54.”

. . . Frank Boscketti, owner-operator of
Star theatre, Lawrence, is in New England
Baptist Hospital for observation. . . . Sonia
Zarsky, secretary at Interstate Theatres
Corp., married Charles Waxman of Danvers
May 20 in Brookline. . . . Howard Duffy,
54, concessionaire of Old Orchard, Maine,
and a former exhibitor there, died May 11.

. . . The Quonset, R. 1. drive-in, situated
opposite the Quonset Naval Base, will open
its gates May 26. Owned by Joseph Stanzler
who operates the Boro drive-in. North At-
tleboro, Mass., the new theatre is equipped
with a large CinemaScope screen.

BUFFALO

Gil Golden, advertising manager, Warner
Bros., was in town last week for a two-day
conference with Arthur Krolick, Charles B.
Taylor, Leon Serin and Edward Miller at
the UPT executive offices, lining up cam-
paigns on coming pictures, with special em-
phasis on “Dial M For Murder,” an early
attraction at the Center. While in town, Gil
who was accompanied to Buffalo by Mrs.
Golden, visited Niagara Falls. . . . When
“Beachhead” played Shea’s Bellevue at Ni-
agara Falls, manager Lou Jaffe put on a
big advance exploitation campaign, includ-

WHEN AND WHERE

June 8-10: Annual convention Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 14-16: Annual spring board meeting
and get-together. Allied Theatre Owners
of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake
Wewasee, Ind.

June 17-19: Meeting of fhe execufive com-
mittee and board of directors. Theatre
Owners of America, Beverly Hills Hotel,
Los Angeles.

ing a parade of Marines to the theatre on

opening night Buffalo area drive-ins

collected a goodly sum for the Children’s
Hospital Building Fund last Wednesday
night when all receipts were turned over to
the fund by the Aero, Broadway, Buffalo,
Delaware, Lakeshore, Niagara, Lakeshore,
Park, Sheridan and Star. . . . The Center
will telecast the Rocky Marciano-Ezzard
Charles bout June 17 direct from the Yankee
Stadium. . . . The new North Park drive-in,
first out-doorer to be built within the Ro-
chester city limits, will be ready for its
grand opening in a few weeks. Sam Salone
will be the manager and Anthony Sulkowski,
assistant. It will have a CinemaScope
screen.

CHICAGO

Herbert Biberman, producer of “Salt Of
The Earth,” controversial film, was in town
to lead the battle to get a first run for the
picture, which originally was booked into
the Hyde Park and then cancelled. It’s set
for Cinema Annex May 28. . . . The Starlite
drive-in is making a bid for more business
with quadruple features. . . . The Internal
Revenue Department is cracking down on
delinquent tax payers here. One neighbor-
hood theatre was closed down until back
taxes for 1952 and 1953 were paid up. . . .
Opening date of MGM’s “Prisoner Of
War,” booked by the Loop theatre, has been
pushed back because of the phenomenal run
of “Pinocchio,” now in its sixth week. . . .
John Jones of Jones, Linick, and Schefer,
has returned from an extended vacation. . . .
Harry Walders move from I.F.E. to the
local Columbia exchange, replacing the late
Oscar Bloom. . . The De Luxe, formerly

operated by Charlie Golan, has been re-
opened by Duke Shumow, after being closed
two months for refurbishing.

CINCINNATI

United Artists’ “The Moon Is Blue,” pre-
viously appearing here as a stage play,
banned l)y the Ohio censors in film form
and subsequently released following the
U. S. Supreme Court decision on censor-
ship, is currently in its third consecutive
week at the S. & S. Keith’s theatre, where
the grosses, while not sensational, are satis-
factory. . . . The Cincinnati Variety Club,
Tent No. 3, will hold a Decoration Day
dance in the club quarters May 29. Jules
Sien, Robert McNabb, Max Marcus, Robert
Jacobs and Art Van Gelder comprise the
entertainment committee. . . . W. B. and
Elizabeth Eckrod have acquired the Cozy
theatre, at Cedarville, Ohio, formerly oper-
ated by A. D. Curfman. ... A source of
stiff theatre competition soon will be faced
by local and area exhibitors in the form of
the annual Summer opera at the Zoological
Gardens, with prominent guest stars appear-
ing at each performance. In previous years
the project has drawn capacity audiences
from throughout the territory to the local
opera presentation.

{Continued on foUozviug page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

COLUMBUS

Other cities the size of Columbus have
proved “the hard way” that they cannot
support two art houses, said Charles Sugar-
man of the World in answer to requests
by Bexley and other East Side residents
for a World-type art house in that area.
Sugarman said a downtown location is best
for an art theatre. The World is located on
the North Side. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Jay Mc-
Gee, co-managers of the Gayety, are vaca-
tioning following seasonal closing of the
theatre. ... A group of business men have
approached Mayor Maynard Sensenbrenner
for help in selection of a site for a 6000-
capacity sports and spectacle-show arena.
Ben Cowall, local promoter, has asked the
city about availability of a city playground
at Olentangy River Road and Goodale
Street. . . . New members of the Indepen-
dent Theatre Owners of Ohio in this area
include : Carlos Crum, Skyview drive-in,
Lancaster; Paul Russell, New Lex, New
Lexington, and C. E. Huprich, Skyway
drive-in, Zanesville.

DENVER

Mrs. Alma D. Simpson, with Metro 26
years, contract clerk, is retiring and moving
to California. . . . Nate Eastman has opened
300-car drive-in, the Panhandle, at Kimball,
Neb. . . . Jean Gerbase, secretary at West-
ern Service & Supply, will vacation in Cali-
fornia and Nevada, hoping to recoup hei
vacation money at the latter spot. . . . Robert
Patrick, Preferred Pictures exchange owner,
is father to a second daughter, 7-lb. Mariam
Jo. ... Ed Ballard, assistant to E. J. Baum-
bartner, Lippert Pictures, was in for a
couple of days conferring with Tom Bailey,
franchise owner. . . . Alex Kling will open
his new drive-in four miles east of Belle
Fourche, S. D., next month. . . . Ralph Roe,
city manager for Fox Inter-Mountain The-
atres, Nampa, Idaho, has been promoted to
a similar post at Pocatello, Idaho, succeed-
ing Robert Sweeten, who was made man-
ager of the new Centre, Denver. The
Nampa job went to Robert Vanderpool, as-
sistant city manager at Pocatello.

DES MOINES

Bill Toney, who has been purchasing
agent for the Tri-States Theatre Corp. for
many years, has resigned to take a position
with the Wilkins Theatre Supply Co. of
Atlanta, Ga. The Wilkins firm is an affiliate
of ABC-Paramount which owns Tri-States.
. . . Howard Ross, branch manager for
United Artists, has left his post, also. He
is joining Edward L. Alperson, an inde-
pendent producer, of Beverly Hills, Cal.
The company is establishing foreign dis-
tribution of its films and Ross will represent
it abroad. He sails June 1. Sol Frances,
Omaha branch manager, will supervise the
exchange here pending the naming of a
new manager. . . . Mrs. A. H. Blank gave
a tea for nurses of Raymond Blank Mem-
orial Hospital for Children at the Blank
home the other day. . . . The Planfield thea-
tre has closed its doors after a career of only
five years. The house first opened in April,
1949.

DETROIT

C. E. O’Bryan, Palms theatre manager,
has put tickets on sale for the Rocky Mar-

ciano-Ezzard Charles fight telecast, June 17.

. . . Alice Gorham, UDT press rep, is back
from Thunder River where she reported
watching husband. Jack, fish. . . . Nortown
operator, Michael Badarak, died at 51. . . .
Arthur Herzog, Jr., has opened a free lance
public relations office to specialize in assign-
ments for distributors. . . . Bob Haskins has
left Allied Artists for WWJ-TV. . . . Har-
old Brown, United Detroit Theatres presi-
dent, spoke at the Greater Detroit Motion
Picture Council annual luncheon. . . . Har-
old Munz was elected president of Co-Oper-
ative Theatres. Delno Ritter is vice-presi-
dent, and James Peck, secretary-treasurer.

. . . Eddie Loye of RKO is home after heart
surgery in Osteopathic hospital.

HARTFORD

Groton Open Air Theatre, Inc., Pleasant
Valley Rd., Groton, Conn., a new corpora-
tion, has filed a certificate of incorporation.

. . . Ed O’Neill has resigned as general
manager of the Markoff Bros. Theatres, to
join Associated Management Corp., which
has disclosed plans for construction of a
drive-in theatre, to be known as the Bridge
drive-in, at Groton. . . . Harry Finger has
been named general manager of the Mans-
field (Conn.) drive-in theatre. . . . Jack
Keppner, son of Morris Keppner of the
Burnside Theatre Corp., East Hartford, and
Mrs. Keppner, has left Hartford Hospital,
following hip surgery. . . . John R. Hesse,
son of the late John Hesse, Connecticut dis-
trict manager for Stanley Warner Theatres,
has been named to the editorial board of
the Yale University Scientific Magazine at
New Haven. . . . Stanley Warner has an-
nounced the sale of the Circle theatre, Man-
chester, Conn., in compliance with the Fed-
eral anti-trust suit. The new owners are
House and Hale Corp., a real estate firm.

INDIANAPOLIS

Marie Wilson will present the victor’s
trophy at the end of the 500-mile Speedway
race here Decoration Day. . . . Time trials
at the Speedway Saturday drew a record
crowd of 120,000. First run theatres, al-
ready hit by the transit strike, suffered.

. . . Ben Marcus, president of National Al-
lied, has sent his reservation for the Allied
Theatre Owners of Indiana spring con-
vention at Lake Wawasee June 15-16. . . .
Bob Conn, 20th-Fox branch manager, has
set up 50 state bookings in a fast break on
“The Rocket Man,” starting at Keith’s here
May 19. . . . Russ Brentlinger, RKO branch
manager, has “French Line” set for a simul-
taneous first run at six drive-in and neigh-
borhood theatres, opening June 2. . . . Rex
Carr is holding “Genevieve” for a second
week at the Ritz. . . . Drive-ins here are
plugging their chicken and shrimp dinners
almost as hard as their pictures.

JACKSONVILLE

Praise for the possibilities of Paramount’s
VistaVision came from many Florida ex-
hibitors who attended the recent demonstra-
tion of VV in Atlanta. . . . Mrs. E. N.
Claughton, co-owner with her husband of
the Claughton circuit, is heading arrange-
ments for a mid- June regional meeting in
Miami of the Motion Picture Exhibitors of
Florida, said Horace Denning, MPEOF
president. . . . Milton Singer, of the Rex
Specialty Bag Co., called on the Florida

trade. . . . Members re-elected Miss Irene
Scanlon to the presidency of the city’s Mo-
tion Picture Council. . . . The San Marco
Square Merchants Association has adopted
a group advertising program which is di-
rected by Allen Armstrong, manager of the
San Marco theatre. . . . Sara Keller, MGM
booker, spent her annual leave at the Welaka
fishing grounds. . . . George Hoffman, Na-
tional Screen Service salesman, was here
from Orlando, and Walt Woodward, Wil-
Kin Theatre Supply, came up from Miami.

. . . Exhibitors in town included Jimmy
Biddle, Jasper; Rex Norris, Clermont; E.
Wulfekuhler, DeLand; and Milton Frack-
man. Key West.

KANSAS CITY

Harold Lyon, manager of the Paramount
at Kansas City, had a visit recently with
James Cagney, who was westward bound
for the production of “Run for Cover.”. . .
Frank Kennedy, manager for Common-
wealth Theatres at Norton, Kas., is general
chairman for the American Legion’s dis-
trict convention there. . . . Several Kansas
exhibitors and circuit managers have grown
beards, as participants in a centennial ob-
servance of trail days. . . . For Saturday,
May 15, eight drive-ins had double bills and
an extra feature for a midnight show. . . .
William Terrill has been transferred from
the Goodland to the Lawrence drive-in of
Commonwealth Theatres. George Plybon
has been transferred to the Goodland man-
agerial position from the staff at the Fulton.

LOS ANGELES

Off to Arizona on company business was
Jack Sherriff, Realart Pictures. Also headed
in the same direction was A1 Blumberg,
National Screen, and Ben Taylor, Favorite
Films. . . . John Danz, Seattle circuit oper-
ator, came in from his northern headquarters
for conferences with Watt Appleman, his
local representative and manager of the
Hastings and La Mirada drive-ins. . . . A1
Bruno, Fox West Coast city booker, is re-
cuperating 3t home after undergoing major
surgery. . . . Off to northern California on
a vacation was Elmer Freitas, Warner
Bros, shipper. . . . Harry L. Nace, Jr., and
Vince Murphy of the Harry L. Nace Thea-
tres, flew into town from Phoeflix on busi-
ness. . . . Harold Wensler, operator of the
Oaks theatre in Pasadena, was back with
his family from a vacation spent in Yuma.
. . . Seen on the Row were Charlie Maestri,
Lippert Theatres ; Joe Markowitz, La Pa-
loma, Encinitas; Ernie Harper, Fontana;
and Jim Harper, Corona.

MIAMI

Don Tilzer, assistant general manager
and publicity executive with Claughton The-
atres, was handing out stogies recently when
his wife, Barbara, presented him with a
daughter. Fern Janice. . . . The many friends
of Harry W. Reiners, will be saddened to
hear of his death May 13, after an illness
of 10 days. The 62-year-old exploiteer had
been in semi-retirement for some time. . . .
Norman S. Bean, WTVJ’s electronics and
TV engineer, was guest speaker recently at
a luncheon of the Florida Public Relations
Association. . . . Mel Haber, of the Miracle,
arranged a mutually beneficial exploitation
stunt for the showing of “Three Coins in

{Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

(Contimted from opposite page)

the Fountain,” when he placed 50 fountains
at strategic points, advertising the film, of
course — l)ut also asking people to drop do-
nations in the fountain for the benefit of
Variety Hospital. . . . Lillian Claughton
and her son, Ed, Jr., were in Atlanta re-
cently for the motion picture exhibitors con-
vention there.

MILWAUKEE

Floyd Woodsmall, 42, projectionist at the
Princess theatre here, died unexpectedly last
week at his home on Nagawicka lake, Nash-
otah. He formerly had been the projec-
tionist at the Ritz theatre. . . . Billy Pierce,
Savoy theatre here, was one of Mr. Wood-
small’s pallbearers. . . . The father of Sidney
Margoles, Regal theatre here, passed away
last week. . . . The Comet theatre, operated
by A. J. Honthaner, was broken recently.

. . . John Mednikow held another success-
ful meeting, in his office at National Screen
Service, on plans for Variety’s coming
Brave’s dinner June 3 and Braves Night
June 7 at the Stadium. Mr. Mednikow is
program chairman for Tent No. 14.

MINNEAPOLIS

Louella Parsons devoted six paragraphs
in a recent syndicated column to the Volk
brothers’ Terrace theatre in suburban Rob-
binsdale. . . .“Gone With the Wind” will
be re-released in the area some time in July.
. . . RKO Pan has reduced its top admis-
sion price from 85 to 75 cents. . . . Ivan
Fuldauer, MGM Midwest press representa-
tive, was in. . . . Harry Weiss, RKO Thea-
tres district manager, returned from a visit
to situations in Denver and Kansas City.
. . . Nancy Peek, bookers clerk at MGM,
resigned. . . . Ben Marcus, Columbia Mid-
west district manager, was in. . . . Irene
Christopherson, inspectress at Warners, is
vacationing in Phoenix and Los Angeles.
. . . Polalite’s new single-strip 3D projec-
tion system has been installed in the State,
Minneapolis, and the Riviera, St. Paul, ac-
cording to Jack Bradley, area distributor.
. . . Minnesota Amusement Co. has trimmed
10 cents off the top admission price _ for
CinemaScope pictures in eight key situations
in the territory. . . . The Lake theatre at
Lake Bronson, Minn., which has been closed
for about a year, will be operated by the
local American Legion post as a community
project.

NEW ORLEANS

“Temple Of Mystery,” E. W. Brundell’s
stage show attraction, has just completed a
successful trek over Joy Theatres circuit.
. . .“Babe” Cohen, Lippert Pictures, accom-
panied his field representative, Larry Nic-
aud, on a trip in the territory. . . .“Hank”
Werling, Theatre Poster Exchange, Mem-
phis, paid his mother a visit here on
Mother’s Day. The lure of fishing sneaked
in on him so he stayed over an extra day
to haul them in over in Madisonville, La.
. . . W. B. Butz, formerly with Stevens
Pictures here, holding the reins of the Dallas
exchange of Stevens Pictures for television,
was in town. . . Bernard Woolner is look-
ing extraordinarily happy after a two-day
stay in Touro Infirmary for dental surgery.
. . . Clara Cote, Paramount Gulf’s “Hello
Girl,” observed her 12th year with the com-
pany on May 20. . . . Louis G. “Mike” Gut-

man, a 25 year employee at Columbia Pic-
tures, was feted by 34 fellow employees on
the eve of his 80th birthday, May 17.

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Skyview drive-in theatre had Hawai-
ian orchids flown in for Mother’s Day.
Every mother attending on Mother’s Day
was presented an orchid. . . . The Agnew
theatre was held up May 11 and robbed of
about $50. ... A Free Pass was given
every mother attending any of Barton’s 14
theatres on Mother’s Day. This is an annual
feature of Barton Theatres. . . . Starlite
drive-in theatre, Ardmore, Okla., featured
“Bargain Nite” May 12. A carload was
admitted for 50 cents.

OMAHA

Walt Bradley, Neligh, Neb., exhibitor,
will have charge of the entertainment pro-
gram at the annual Farmers’ Night barbecue
sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

. Don Shane, former manager of the
Orpheum theatre, has been named city
manager for Tristates Theatres, including
the Omaha, Orpheum and Paramount, the
latter now used onlv for stage attractions.
He succeeds William Miskell, who resigned
as western district manager to become a
partner in a $325,000 drive-in venture.
Charles Kopp is manager of the Orpheum
and Ted Emerson the Omaha. . . . Mothers
present at the 84th and Center Street drive-
in on Mother’s Day received baby orchid
gifts from exhibitor Herman Gould. . . .
Everett Olhausen. has bought the theatre at
Sutherland, Neb., from D. C. Henry. . . .
Harry Hummel, owner of the theatre at
Scribner, was chosen president of the pub-
lic school Ijoard. . . . Dorothy Kosiut, for-
mer cashier for MGM, and Alden Lincoln
were married at St. Francis Church.

PHILADELPHIA

Ray O’Connell, Stanley Warner, repre-
sentative in York, Pa., and his wife and
son are in the Lancaster hospital after an
automobile accident. . . . Harvey Schwartz
leaves Paramount to take over the hooking-
post at Clark Film Distributors for the
handling of Walt Disney Buena Vista
Productions. . . . Paramount salesman Boh
Shissler is now a booker. . . . Independent
circuit head Michael Felt and radio station
owner William A. Banks named co-chair-
men for the “Johnny Night” baseball-charity
show which will he staged by the local
Variety Club at Shibe Park in June. . . .
Ruth Chatterton received the first charity
award of the local Variety Club Ladies’
Auxiliary at the group’s annual donor
luncheon held this week at which time a
check was presented to Jack Beresin, former
International Chief Barker who heads the
local Tent’s Heart Fund. . . . Harold Sei-
denberg, managing director of the Fox, back
from a meeting of National Theatre execu-
tives in Los Angeles. . . . John P. Morgan,
Jr., has the chair installation contract at the
Viking. . . . Borough Council in Kutztown,
Pa., has on its calendar a proposed ordi-
nance establishing a curfew hour for hoys
and girls which would have a bearing on
movie attendances. . . . The loliliy of the
Colonial, Harrisburg, Pa., has l)cen redeco-
rated under the direction of house manager
Jack O’Rear. . . . Stanley Warner circuit
added CinemaScope at its Virginia, Atlantic
City.

PITTSBURGH

The Pittsburgh Opera signed a contract
to sponsor the televised opening of the
Metropolitan Opera on a closed circuit on
Nov. 8, but the film house or houses to show
the Opera have not yet been set. . . . The
current trolley strike of 2,700 bus and street-
car operators, now in its second week, is still
playing havoc with downtown theatre at-
tendance, but didn’t mean any obstacle what-
soever for Liberace, who jammed Syria
Mosque for three straight nights. . . . “The
Student Prince” opens at the Penn Memorial
Week, depending upon the settlement of the
trolley strike, while other big pictures are
liable to be held up too for the same reason.

. . . Ambrose McKeown has been appointed
group sales representative for “Cinerama’’
by Bob Suits, managing director of the lo-
cal Warner theatre. . . . “Gilbert and Sulli-
van” went into the Art Cinema. . . . “The
Golden Coach” will replace “The Holly and
the Ivy” in the Squirrel Flill.

PORTLAND

First run business continues spotty with
only so so product being shown. . . . 20th-
Fox character actor. Jay Robinson, was set
to make personal appearances here May
17-18. Evergreen’s Oscar Nyberg, man-
ager of the Oriental theatre has lined up a
complete and full program for the guy. . . .
Hamrick city manager Marvin Fox is off on
a vacation vacation. . . . Liberty theatre
manager Harold Lorrimer received more
than 1,000 entries for his “Lucky Me” con-
test. . . . Paramount theatre manager Dick
Newton has a swim suit window tie-in at
one of Portland’s downtown stores and will
feature “The Carnival Story” swim suits
worn by Ann Baxter. . . . The Playhouse
theatre, an old landmark, has been coni-
pletely torn down and is now a parking lot.
. . . Mrs. J. J. Parker has been ill for a
few days.

PROVIDENCE

Edward J. Maguire, assistant engineer at
Loew’s State theatre since 1945, died sud-
denly, in his 44th year. . . . Besides his
widow, Mr. Maguire leaves four children.
. . . Oscar Doob, Arthur Canton and Eloyd
FitzSimmons, MGM executives, were in
town, conferring with William Trambukis,
Loew’s State manager, relative to the forth-
coming re-presentation of “Gone With the
Wind. . . . Incidentally, Bill Trambukis,
Loew’s State manager, has been chosen
theatre chairman for the Greater Providence
‘Red Feather’ (Community Chest) Cam-
paign. . . . Five continuous rainy days vir-
tually “washed out” attendance at surround-
ing open-air houses. . . . Robert Peterson,
Leow’s State chief-of-service, is passing
around cigars, celebrating the birth of his
third child, a son. This makes three boys
in the Peterson family. . . . Drive-in theatres
were the subject of a feature article recently
in the “Providence Journal.”

(Continued on foUoiving page)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

TORONTO

Tlie newspaper and the radio station got
hehind the annual I)cnetit show of the
Niagara Theatre Managers' Association for
V'ariety Village held at the Palace, St.
Catharines to yield about $500. The picture
was contributed by KKO. . . . Merchandis-
ing of candy, ice cream and soft drinks will
he discussed at the regional meeting of the
International Popcorn Association to be held
May 28 at the King Edward Hotel, Toronto.
Coca-Cola is giving a luncheon and Pepsi-
Cola a cocktail party. . . . A. E. Cates, na-
tional field supervisor for the Pola-Lite
Company, has been appointed Canadian
division manager in charge of the company’s
sales activities. . . . James P. McHonough,
manager, Tivoli theatre, Hamilton, is first in
the Ballyhoo Bonanza contest conducted
among managers of the Ontario “B” Dis-
trict. Second spot goes to Boh Harvey, man-
ager, Capitol, North Bay. . . . Paramount
Pictures, which is holding its annual Cana-
dian sales meeting here May 20-22, will in-
troduce VistaVision to the Canadian film in-
dtistry at a special showing on the first day
of the meeting.

VANCOUVER

CinemaScope admission prices have been
reduced in Vancouver downtown theatres.

. . . Lance Webber, manager of the Capitol,
Penticton, who has been away on sick leave
for the past year, returned to work. . . .
Bari'}' Freeman, who was in charge of the
Capitol during Webber’s absence, was
moved to the EPCC Starlite, ozoner at
Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island. . . . Rae
Waldergrace, formerly with Hoyts circuit

at the Arncliff theatre, Sydney, Australia, is
a new addition to the floor staff at the
Odeon-Vogue, which now his three Aus-
tralians on the staff. . . . Four drive-in the-
atres in this area are under new ownership
this year. They are: the Kuskin near Haney,
the Casc;ides at Burnaby, the Hill-Crest near
Langley Prairie, and the North Star at
Aldergrove, B. C. . . . Sam Diamond, Van-
couver, who purchased the old Lonsdale,
North Vancouver, from Odeon Theatres, is
renovating the property for stores.

WASHINGTON

Jack Fruchtman, of St. Mary's Theatres
Inc., has moved his offices from New Jersey
Avenue to the Warner Building. . . . Nate
Shor, Universal-International booker, has
resignedi to go into business with his father-
in-law. . . . The Variety Club of Washing-
ton presented a sterilizer to Emergency
Hospital to complete a dental clinic donated
by the club. . . . The Camliria theatre in
Johnston, Pa., has been added to the Frucht-
man chain of theatres. . . . The Hilltop
drive-in in West Virginia was scheduled to
open May 15. . . . RKO Keith’s will play
"The Caine Mutiny” June 30.

Herzog Opens Detroit Office

Arthur Herzog, Jr,, independent publicist,
this week opened a new office in the Royal
Palm Hotel, Detroit. Mr. Herzog, with
long exploitation experience, has handled
“Hamlet,” "Cyrano,” “David and Bath-
shcha,” "The Glenn Miller .Story,” and
"Genevieve” in the Detroit area, and also
was executive director of the Detroit Metro-
I)olitan Committee’s campaign.

Foreign Film
imports itBto
Canatla Gain

I'ORONTO : The number of foreign pic-
tures brought into the Province of Ontario
lias treljled in the last three years, according
to the annual report of the Ontario Board
of Censors, headed by O. J. Silverthorne.
The Board reviewed 591 features from all
countries. Ol these, 495 were approved with-
out treatment or classification. Of the total,
401 were of United States origin; 81 were
made in the British Isles and the remainder,
with one exception, were produced on the
European continent, principally in France,
West Germany and Italy.

There were 109 foreign films brought in
the last fiscal year, as compared with 59
the previous year, and 34 two years ago.
Reason for this interest in foreign films may
he gathered from the fact that Can-
ada's large-scale immigration program has
brought hundreds of thousaiifls of new resi-
dents from Europe.

The hoard chairman cites a "tendency in
advertising to over-emphasize sex even for
jiictures which dealt sparingly with sex
problems. Consequently, it became increas-
ingly difficult to deal with the advertising
and certain distributors and exhibitors
attempted to take advantage of our position
with regard to newspaper advertisements
and theatre fronts.” But with the proclaim-
ing of the new Theatres Act, ‘‘the authority
of the Board has been increased consider-
ably and we do not expect further difficulty.”

During the fiscal year, 575 theatre
licenses were issued, an increase of 11 over
the previous year. Seven theatres closed
permanently, and six closed voluntarily
temporarily. In three locations, theatres of
an antiquitated nature were replaced with
buildings of modern design and construc-
tion.

There were 1,084 projectionists' licenses
issued, a slight increase over the year’s
total. Only two prosecutions were instituted
against theatres, one for obstructed exits,
and the other for admitting unaccompanied
children. Ten projectionists were suspended
for various periods.

Dr. Hammarskjold Pays
Tribu'fe to U. S. Films

HOLLYWOOD : Dr. Dag Hammarskjold,
Lhiited Nations Secretary-General speaking
before the World Affairs Council last Fri-
day, paid tribute to American films. He
declared : ‘‘American motion pictures have
had much to do with the fact that through
a large part of the world, when somebody
wants to bang his neighbor on the head, he
stops and thinks before doing it. Generally
movies oppose intolerance. Without them
people of the world would know much less
al)Out each other and we would be much
further from our goal of living together
l)eaceahly.”

GREATEST NEWS YET
IN THEATRE SOUND!

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on a standard optica! track

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exhibitor’s stereophonic sound problems — and it’s fully compatible
with conventional sound systems. Projection procedures remain the
same, too.

Exhibitors with stereophonic sound can switch to Perspecta Stereo-
phonic Sound by installing only an integrator unit, design-engi-
neered by Fairchild. Theatres equipped for conventional sound need
only that single miracle unit plus additional power amplifiers,
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np|y|P|y|nFn l MGM, Paramount and Warner Bros, are now
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RECORDING
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MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 22, 1954

j^eopie in ^Le ^ew6

Film MMe€Bds
UVeigh A^rmy
Ficiure

IVASHINGTON : The possibility of popu-
lar release of a 90-niiuute color documentary
film of the Army was discussed by industry
leaders and Army officials here at a meeting
in the Pentagon this week.

Some 40 industry leaders attended the
meeting. Spokesmen said the Army did not
ask the industry for any immediate com-
mitment, and no commitments were volun-
teered. The film, titled “This Is Your
Army,” is a feature-length picture, the long-
est film ever made by the Army. It is now
being used for troop orientation purposes.
The industry officials reportedly were en-
thusiastic about the film and will notify the
Army shortly on the best way to handle it.

Among those attending the session were :
20. h Century-Fox president Spyros Skou-
ras : Edmund Reek, Fox Movietone News
producer and producer of “This Is Your
Army"; Joseph Vogel, Loew's ; Abe Mon-
tague, Columbia: William Gehring, 20th-
Fox; Harry Mandel, RKO ; A1 Schwalberg,
Paramount; Richard Altschuler, Republic;
Ben Kahnenson and Norman Moray, War-
ners; Morey Goldstein, Allied Artists;
Mhchell VVolfson, WOMETCO; Abram F.
Myers, Allied States Association; Elmer T.
Rhoden, Fox Midwest Theatres; Harry
Arthur, St. Louis; Frank Ricketson, Fox
Intermountain ; Kenneth W. Clark, Motion
I’icture Association, and Washington repre-
sentatives for studios and newsreel com-
panies.

Legion Reviews Nine;

Puts Two in Class B

Of the nine motion pictures reviewed this
week by the national Legion of Decency,
two were regarded as morally objectionable
for all. These are “Flame and the Flesh,”
for which the objection is that it has “sug-
gestive situations and dialogue” and tends
to condone immoral actions: and "Hell
Raiders of the Deep,” which has “suggestive
costuming.” Morally unobjectionable for
adults are “Dial M for Murder,” "Star of
India,” and “Johnny Guitar.” Unobjection
able for general patronage are “Johnny
Dark,” “Men of the Fighting Lady,” “Out
of This World,” and “The Student Prince,”

Harry M. Warner Cited
By Med ical Fraternity

HOLLYWOOD: Harry M. Warner, presi-
dent of Warner Bros., was presented with
the Medical Achievement Award of Phi
Lambda Kappa, national medical frater-
nity, at a dinner here May 15 “because of
his outstanding contributions to medical
science.” Dr. Daniel Levcnthal, chairman
of the awards committee, said : “I know that
a list of jMr. Warner’s medical and charit-
al)le contributions covers more than 10
pages.” He disclosed that in addition to

Matthew Fox, industry executive, and
Yolande Betbeze, Miss America of 1951,
have announced their engagement, with
the wedding to take place in July in the
home of N. J. Blumberg in Los Angeles.

Herbert T. Kalmus, president of Techni-
color Motion Picture Corp. of America,
and Mrs. Kalmus, left New York for
Europe Wednesday on the 5. A. Queen
LUzabctJi.

Marcel Gentel, RKO Pictures manager
for France, has lieeii reelected president of
the Franco-American Syndicate, for the
fifth consecutive time.

William Moclair temporarily is manager
of the Roxy theatre in New York follow-
ing the withdrawal of Dick Dickson as
managing director. Mr. Dickson report-
edly is returning to the Fox West Coast
headquarters in Los Angeles. Mr. Mo-
clair is senior floor manager of the Roxy.

George Berthelon has been engaged by
Jaguar Productions in an executive ca-
pacity, it was announced in Hollywood by
the Alan Ladd film company. For many
yea-s Mr. Berthelon was with Para-
mount as a production manager.

Mervin Houser, eastern publicity and ad-
vertising director for RKO Radio for the
past year and a half, has returned to Hol-
Ivwood, where he will be executive assist-
ant to Perry Lieber, national director of
advertising and publicity of RKO studios.

funds granted hospitals in Hollywood, New
York and other places, Mr. Warner had
provided money for research work on a
serum expected to he helpful in healing frac-
tures and in treatment of arthritis. Mr.
Warner is the first non-medical man to win
the honor.

Elect Walt Disney President
Of New Disneyland Project

Walt Disney this week in Hollywood was
elected president and board chairman of the
newly organized Disneyland, Inc. The latter
is a $9,000,000 project — “part World’s Fair,
part playground, part community center" —
which is scheduled to open in 1955 in
Orange County, California. Named to the
board were C. V. Wood, Jr., Sidney Mark-
ley, Earl J. Hudson, Robert S. Callender,
Paul L. Pease and Loyd Wright. Vice-
chairman of the board is Mr. Hudson, vice-
president of the American Broadcasting
Company. Disneyland vice-presidents are
Mr. Markley and Mr. Wood. George D.
Klimmer was named secretary and O. V.
Melton assistant secretary and assistant
treasurer.

Russell C. Holslag, vice-president of Pre-
cision Film Lalioratories, and Kern
Moyse, president of Peerless Film Proc-
essing Corp., have been elected to the
board of directors of the Association of
Cinema Laboratories.

Dominick J. Capano has been elected vice-
president of S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corp.
in charge of TV studio and film produc-
tion sales. In another company promotion
William H. Allen has been named pro-
duction manager.

Thomas F. Duane, branch manager for
Republic Pictures in Pittsburgh, has been
named manager of Paramount Pictures
Detroit branch, succeeding Mike Simon,
resigned.

James O’Neill, public relations man, has
lieen appointed eastern publicity represen-
tative for Hecht-Lancaster Productions.

William P. Howard and Robin R. Lewis
have been appointed east coast salesman
and supervisor of quality control, respec-
tively, of Pathe Laboratories.

Arthur L. Mayer has severed his connec-
tion with Arthur Mayer-Edward Kingsley,
Inc., disposing of his holdings to Mr.
Kingsley. The company, which special-
izes in (he importation of foreign pictures,
will continue as Kingsley International
Pictures Corp. Mr. Mayer said he would
continue to be engaged in matters related
to foreign film production.

Aiany Query
Fiimukers

The pre-production licensing plan appears
to be in remarkable good favor. The second
producer to attempt it, Filmakers Releasing
Organization, reports tremendous response.
Via trade papers last week, the company in-
vited exhibitors to hid for its projected
“Private Hell — 36.” It announced this week
telegraphic replies have come in from such
companies as American Broadcasting-Para-
mount Theatres, Stanley Warner, RKO
Theatres, Skouras Theatres. Also, that in-
quiries were made by Walter Reade, Jr., of
Reade Theatres; Fred Schwartz, Century
Circuit; Harold Hinzler, Randforce Thea-
tres; and Bernard Brooks, Fabian Theatres.

The idea is somewhat similar to that of
producer Flal Makelim, who has Allied sup-
port for a program of films. Filmakers an-
nounces it ^vill ask supiiort for “IMad at the
World” md then for “Crash-Out.” Com-
pany president Irving li. Levin said it plans
to deliver a picture per month.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

FILM BUYERS RATING

Film buyers of indepeinleitf circuits in the U. S. rate current
product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This
report covers 119 attractions, 5,406 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.

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)..

Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Living Desert, The (Disney)....
Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)
Lucky Me (WB)

Act of Love ( DA)

Alaska Seas ( Para.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) .

Back to God's Country (U-l)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (DA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox) .
Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Border River ( U-l )

Botany Bay (Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

(Casanova's Big Night (Para.)

Cease Fire! ( Para.)

(Charge of the Lancers (Col.)

Command, The (WB)

(Conquest of Mt. Everest (UA)

Craiylegs — All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l) . . .
Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO)

^Decameron Nights (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

Dragonfly Squadron (AA)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

(Executive Suite (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse ( Rep.)

Flight to Tangier (Para.)

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Female (Para.)

(French Line (RKO)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glass Web, The (U-l)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM) .
Gun Fury (Col.)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Hell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox)

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail ( Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

EX AA AV BA PR

- - 3 5 2

- - 4 8 6

1 1

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

Martin Luther (de Rochemont) . .

Miami Story, The (Col.)

Miss Robin Crusoe (20th-Fox)
Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)....
Money from Home (Para.)

Naked Jungle, The (Para.)
Nebraskan, The (Col.) . . . .
New Faces (20th-Fox) . .
Night People (20th-Fox) . .

Paratrooper (Col.)

Paris Model (Col.)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)

Pinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)

Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.)

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

Rails Into Laramie (U-l)..

Red Garters (Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l)
Riders to the Stars (UA).
Riding Shotgun (WB) . .
Riot in Cell Block II (AA)
Rob Roy ( Disney-RKO ) . . .

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

*Roman Holiday (Para.) .
Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (U-l)

*Shane (Para.)

Shark River ( U A)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)
Siege at Red River (20th-Fox)

Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

*So Big (WB)

*Take the High Ground (MGM)
Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l) .

Tennessee Champ (MGM)
Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)
Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)
Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana (UA)

Tumbleweed (U-l)

Veils of Bagdad (U-l)

Walking My Baby Back Home (U-l)

War Arrow ( U-l )

Wild One ( Col.)

Yankee Pasha (U-l)

1 1

- 36

- 27

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

‘WLt Ike

f^ictupe did

Of* me

. . . 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.

Colu m bla

IT SHOULD HAPPEN TO YOU: Judy Holliday.
Peter Lawford — Very good comedy. Those who saw it
raved about it — but not enough saw it. Did below
average business. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday,
May 2, 3, 4.— Frank Hughes, Avenue Theatre, San
Francisco, Calif.

JUGGLER, THE: Kirk Douglas, Milly Vitale — Very
good story about a refugee juggler from Germany who
has arrived m Israel and can’t seem to get adjusted.
The picture is good and the scenes very enlightening,
but it also died. Suggest that you use it if you can
on the bottom of a double bill, or otherwise p^ss it
up. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, May 4, 5. — Major
1. Jay Sadow, Starlite Drive-In Theatre, Rossville,
Ga.

MISS SADIE THOMPSON: Rita Hayworth, Jose
Ferrer — I was shocked, but not by the picture — only
by the amazingly good business. Ferrer’s performance
was perfect. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, April 27,
28. — Elaine S- George, Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore.

Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer

ESCAPE FROM FT. BRAVO: William Holden,
Eleanor Parker — Excellent! Tliis is one of the best
Indian pictures 1 have ever had. However, business
on this was bad. Too many Indian pictures lately and
my patrons just won’t pay to see them any more.
Stop making them for a while! Played Sunday, Mon-
day, May 2, 3. — George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar,
Colo. _

HALF A HERO: Red Skelton, Jean Hagen — This is
a cute picture that your teen-agers will like. Not
strong enough for single bill, however. Played Tliurs-
clay, Friday. Saturday, April 29, 30, May 1. — George
Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo.

MOGAMBO: Clark Gable, Ava Gardner — An excel-
lent picture of its type and this type always goes over
big here. Ava Gardner, in a provocative role, cer-
tainly stole the show. Clark Gable good as the rugged
white hunter, although he’s beginning to show signs
of wear and ^ear. If you haven’t played this one yet,
by all means do so. Played Sunday, Monday, May 2,
3. — Mike OHenyk, Belfield Theatre, Belfield, N. Dak.

SAADIA: Cornel Wilde, Mel Ferrer — Very good.
This is different and was well liked by the few who
took the chance. Title scared most of them away.
Played Tuesday, Wednesday, May 4, 5. — George Kel-
loff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo.

SCANDAL AT SCOURIE: Greer Garson, Walter
Fidgeon — Excellent business! Tlie Garson-Pidgeon
combination rang the bell and the till. Nice family
picture did 175% on a short mid-week — should have
given it better playing time. We can use more just
like it. Played Wednesday, Thursday, April 28, —

Mike Olienyk, Belfield Tlieatre, Belfield, N. Dak.

TENNESSEE CHAMP: Shelley Winters, Dewey
Martin — This is without a doubt one of the best pic-
tures I have ever seen and the one that was most
disappointing to the box office. It has everything you
might want ui a picture — color, action, comedy, story
and stars. We went all out with this one in advertis-
ing with window cards, heralds, etc., but it fell flat. It
didn’t do hardly anything with the first run engage-
ment either, even with the personal appearance of
Keenan Wynn. Everybody who saw this, though,
really seemed to like it. If I had it to do all over,
I would offer a dollar bill to all patrons attending
who didn’t honestly believe that “Tennessee Champ’’
is one of the best pictures they ever saw. I think
the boxing may have killed the picture because this
has never drawn a decent attendance yet. Played
Sunday, Monday, May 2. 3.— Major I. Jay Sadow,
Starlite Drive-In Theatre, Rossville, Ga.

Paramount

CADDY, THE: Martin & Lewis, Donna Reed — Ex-
cellent! My draw was low due to this being so old.
Most of my people had already seen it. Played Sun-

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22. 1954

day, Monday, April 25, 26. — George Kelloff, Ute Thea-
tre, Aguilar. Colo.

CASANOVA’S BIG NIGHT: Bob Hope, Joan Fon-
taine- The fascinating thing about this picture for
me was all the prominent players in small and even
non-speaking roles. Funnier than “Here Come the
Girls’’, but this star needs a really good story.
Played Sunday, Monday, May 2, 3. — Elaine S. George,
Star Theatre, Heppner, Ote.

CEASE FIRE: Korean War — This documentary did
not do any business. Obviously the lack of any star
material had a considerable effect on the B. O., be-
sides the war angle involved. I think if there were any
known stars in the picture, that would have provided a
much needed “shot in the arm.” It’s tough to sell the
picture without any marquee names. May be O. K.
in situations where you can tie in the American Le-
gion, the Army Reserves or other military groups.
Played Tuesday, Wednesday, April 27, 28. — Major I.
Jay Sadow, Starlite Drive-In Theatre, Rossville, Ga.

DARK CITY: Charlton Heston, Lizabeth Scott,
Jack (Dragnet) Webb — Tliis was bought about two
years ago when Charlton Heston was not known, in
fact “Dark City” is the picture that introduces him.
As a result of the popularity of Charlton Heston and
Jack Webb of TV fame, I played it to good attend-
ance. It concerns police and action. Bought very rea-
sonably. Played Saturday, May 1. — Major I. Jay
Sadow, Starlite Drive-In Theatre, Rossville, Ga.

FLIGHT TO TANGIER: Joan Fontaine, Jack Pal-
ance — Very poor. Hard to understand and not worth
playing. Pass it up. Played Sunday, Monday, April
25, 26. — Milan G. Steele, Ritz Theatre, Pawnee, O'kla.

MONEY FROM HOME: Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis
— Not one of the best, but very good box office — their
first Technicolor. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Fri-
day. Saturday, April 28, 29, 30, May 1.— Frank

Hughes, Avenue Theatre, San Francisco, Calif.

Republic

CRAZYLEGS— ALL AMERICAN : Elroy Hirsch,
Lloyd Nolan — Strong pull among the high school group
—an interesting football picture. Played Sunday, Mon-
day, May 2, 3. — Milan G. Steele, Ritz Theatre,

Pawnee, O'kla.

HEART OF THE ROCKIES: Roy Rogers, Penny
Edwards — Not as good as he used to be. These black
and white prints haven’t the appeal the colored ones
have. Glad this is my last. Played Tliursday, Friday,
Saturday, April 29, 30, May 1. — George Kelloff, Ute
Hieatre, Aguilar, Colo.

Tv/entieth Century-Fox

BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF: Terry Moore,
Robert Wagner — A wonderful picture: The under-
water scenes and accompanying music truly “out of
this world”. Photography is much improved over the
first two releases. We enjoyed only normal business,
which is a disappointment when I remind myself of
the cost of the CinemaScope installation. Played Sun-
day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Tliursday, May
9, 10, 11, 12, 13. — Mike OHenyk, Belfield Tlieatre, Bel-
fieid, N. Dak.

HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE: Marilyn
Monroe, Betty Grable, Lauren Bacall — An entertain-
ing picture that seemed to please better-than-average
crowds. Marilyn Monroe is not a draw here, so busi-
ness was not up to expectations. Photography is still
bad in a good share of the footage — impossible to
liring into sharp focus. Comments ranging from
“good”, “cute” to “not so bad”. Personally, I liked

it. The shot of the airplane landing wa^ the nearest
thing to being right on the plane that I' have ever
experienced. Played Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Mon-
day, Tuesday, April 23, 24, 25, 26, 27.— Mike Olienyk,
Belfield Theatre, Belfield, N. Dak.

INFERNO': Robert Ryan, Robert Fleming— Excel-
lent! This honey of a picture drew well and pleased
all present. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, April 27,
28.— George Kelloff, Ute Theatre, Aguilar, Colo,

SIEGE AT RED RIVER: Van Johnson, Joanne Dru
— Played this one “hot” on a saturation booking. It’s
a good Civil War-Indians-action picture that gave us
only normal business. Van Johnson good in what I
believe is his first western. Played Friday, Saturday,
May 7, 8. — Mike Olienyk, Belfield Tlieatre, Belfield,
N. Dak.

United Artists

SABRE JET: Robert Stack, Colleen Gray — Very
good. Really a woman’s picture, but few knew it.
So, since most women don’t go for war pictures, they
stayed away. Push the woman angle. Played Sun-
day, Monday, Tuesday. April 2S, 36, 27. — Milan G.
Steele, Ritz Theatre, Pawnee, Okla.

Universal

GOLDEN BLADE: Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie — A
good small-screen version of “Prince Valiant”. Little
Miss Laurie is not much of an actress, but she is a
joy to behold, and Hudson has done a sincerely good
job in everything we’ve seen him in. Played Thurs-
day,^ Friday. Saturday, April 29, 30, May 1. — Elaine
S. George, Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore.

Warner Bros.

ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD:

Abbott & Costello, Charles Laughton — This is their
worst picture to date. Why this had so much music
is beyond me. They would just start making them
laugh and then someone would break in and start
singing. Played Tliursday, Friday, Saturday, May 6,
7, 8. — George Kelloff, Ute Tlieatre, Aguilar, Colo.

MOONLIGHTER, THE: Barbara Stanwyck, Fred
MacMurray— Very good picture but very bad busi-
ness. The title didn’t help. Better double this with
something that will bring them in. Ofice they are in,
they will like what they see. Played Thursday, Fri-
day, Saturday, May 6, 7, 8. — George Kelloff, Ute Tlie-
atre, Aguilar, Colo.

Shorts

Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer

TEE FOR TWO': Gold Medal Reprint Cartoon—
They enjoyed this as much as the feature. Most of
my patrons saw this twice. — George Kelloff, Ute The-
atre, Aguilar, Colo.

Warner Bros.

THAR SHE BLOWS: Special — Excellent documen-
tary on whaling.— W. R. Shepherd, Regent Cinema,
South Shields, England.

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy.Count initials, boxnumberand address. Minimum insertion $1.50. Four
insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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

BARGAIN— 5c EACH, BRAND NEW MAGIC-
\’iewers and Polalite 3D glasses, limited supply.
First come, first served. MALCO THEATRES, INC.,
Purchasing Department, P. O. Box 2853, Memphis 2,
Tenn.

MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS, FIT WAG-
ner, Adler, Bevelite Signs; 4"-35c; 8''-50c; 10"-60c;
12"-85c; 14"-$1.25; 16"-$1.50. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New York 19.

MIRRO-CLARIC REPRESENTS BEST VALUE in
metalized all purpose screen — only $1.00 sq. ft. Seams
absolutely invisible ; Kollmorgen wide angle lenses,
special apertures, immediately available! S.O.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
Street, New York 19.

BOOKS

“NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES”— THE NEW
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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-
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especially prepared for the instruction of theatre pro-
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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.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

CAPITALIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE— SHOCKL
local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar-
range advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Ask
ior Film Production Catalog. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New
York 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

WIDE SCREEN PAYS OFFl WIDE ANGLE
lenses, special apertures immediately available. Motor-
ized carbon savers 9, 10, 11mm for angle trim arc
lamps (Mighty 90, etc.) $59.50. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New
York 19.

USED EQUIPMENT

SWELL BUYS AT STAR! CENTURY CC OR
Simplex E-7 mechanisms, 6 month guarantee, only
$475 pair; RCA MI-9050 soundheads, rebuilt, $595
pair: Ashcraft or Strong mogul 70 ampere lamphouses,
rebuilt, $489.50 pair; DeVry XD projectors, complete,
rebuilt, $745 pair; Holmes projectors, heavy bases,
arc lamphouses, etc., rebuilt, $850 pair; What do you
need? STAR CINEIMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd
Street, New York 19.

DEVRY DUAL 35MM PROJECTION AND SOUND.
Rebuilt like new, $895. Send for DeVry Bulletin.
Holmes dual outfits excellent condition, $550. Time
deals available. S.O.S. aNEMA SUPPLY CORPORA-
TION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New York 19.

HELP WANTED

WANTED— THEATRE MANAGER FOR FIRST
lun, downtown, upper midwest metropolitan city (oper-
ated by small independent chain). Willing to pay
good salary for a first class manager capable of doing
all exploitation and handling staff. Please state quali-
fications and salary expected. All replies confidential.
BOX 2790, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

POSITIONS WANTED

THOROUGHLY EXPERIENCED, ENERGETIC
manager. Promotional, exploitation minded, desires
solid connection offering opportunity to show ability.
BOX 2787, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

SELL DURING YOUR SPARE TIME— ADVER-
tising specialties, calendars, etc. Top commissions.
Write L. H. HORTON ADVERTISING SPECIALTY
CO., Lansing, Michigan.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALD'S,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO.,
Cato. N. Y.

THEATRES

FOUR HUNDRED SEAT, AIR CONDITIONED,
only neighborhood thec.tre, easily converted, wide
screen. Ten thousand, half cash. LAKESHORE THE-
ATRE. Jacksonville, Florida.

SALE NEW MASONRY BUILDING, 407 SEATS,
new equipment and furnishings, 50 miles from Buf-
falo, asking $60,000 easy terms. DREW, 159 Linwood
Avenue, Buffalo, New York.

SEATING

ATTENTION EXHIBITORS! HOW ABOUT SOME
Spring tonic for your chairs to improve comfort and
get back some of the customers you lost. We have
a large stock of late type chairs that will meet all
requirements. If you are interested in rebuilding your
chairs or in the market for better than you have,
write for additional information. Prices very reason-
able. EASTERN SEATING CO., 138-13 Springfield
Blvd., Springfield Gardens, N. Y., LAurenton 8-3696.

NEED CHAIRS? SEND FOR CHAIR BULLETIN
showing all makes and types from $4.95. S.O.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
Street, New York 19.

Charles Jones Opens
New House in Iowa

DES MOINES : The Northwood theatre,
Northwood, la., was formally opened May
16 by Charles Jones, secretary of the I.T.O.
of lowa-Nebraska. Mr. Jones, columnist for
“Better Theatres” formerly operated the
Dawn theatre at Elma, la., which was de-
stroyed Ijy fire last Alarch. The Northwood
was purchased from Nathan Sandler of this
city. L. E. Whitcome, its manager for the
past 12 years, will remain until Mr. Jones
has familiarized himself with the operation
and then will retire for reasons of health.

Goldwyn's ''Hans'' to Go into
General Release July I

Plans have lieen completed for the general
release of Samuel Goldwyn’s “Hans
Christian Andersen” July 1, James Mnlvey,
president of Samuel Goldwyn Productions,
announced in New York this week. A special
summer exploitation campaign has been

prepared, according to Charles Boaslierg,
general sales manager for RKO Radio Pic-
tures, which is handling the distribution.
Completely new ads, TV and theatre trailers,
and publicity material will be employed.

Metropolitan Playhouses
Reports $ 1 ,748 Loss

i\ietropolitan Playhouses, Tnc., of New
York, last week reported a net loss for the
year ended January 31, of $1,748. Its gross
income was $3,224,063. Expenses and other
deductions listed $2,480,092 as rent. Sales of
theatre property brought in a profit of
$43,691. United Artists Theatre Circuit,
Inc., reporting for the year ended August 31,
1‘^'53, lists a net income of $177,324.

Joseph J. Unger, Industry
Veteran, Dies in New York

Joseph J. Unger, industry executive, was
found dead in his New York apartment
May 12, apparently from a cerel)ral hem-

orrhage. In the industry 34 years, Mr.
Unger entered the field as a booker for the
General Film Co. in 1920. Up to his death
he was a partner in Rogers and Unger As-
sociates, which was formed in 1949. In 1921
he joined First National Pictures as branch
manager, then transferred to Paramount
three years later in a similar capacity. He
was named district manager in 1928, eastern
division sales manager in 1932, and eastern
and Canadian sales manager in 1939. He
later liecame western sales manager for
United Artists before becoming general sales
manager in 1946. He resigned in 1948 to
form his association with Mr. Rogers. He
is survived liv tliree lirothers and tliree
sisters.

Herbert I. Leeds

Herbert T. Leeds, 42, film director for
many of the most important companies,
killed liimself May 16 at a New York hotel,
witli a shotgun. He leaves liis widow, Evie,
and four-year-old daugiiter Lydia.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

The tHana^ef^ Outhck jf 4 ^H^ktefThan WaA

Not long ago, there came to this desk
a well-printed brochure, “Motion
Picture Theatre Operation As a
Career,” which was published in 1939 by
The Institute for Vocational Research. Chi-
cago, and which is made more interesting by
the comparisons that follow such a study, fif-
teen years later. The editorial hoard respon-
sible for the contents are heads of educa-
tional departments in various colleges an 1
universities, and we are flattered that they
used the Motion Picture Herald and Bet-
ter Theatres as authorities in reaching their
conclusions. We can’t dispute their sources.

But Walter Reade’s observations at the
Quigley Awards luncheon serve to [)omt up
the differences that obtain today, as com-
pared with the figures quoted in this study,
especially with regard to wages and salaries.
For instance, the book concludes with the
pungent line, “The theatre manager must he
a jack of many trades and master of one.”
We like that sentence, and hope to use it
again, for it contains so much truth. But
they also say that salaries for theatre man-
agers vary with the size of the theatre, and
they print a scale which ranges from $45
up to $70 per week, in houses of from 500
to 1,000 seats.

They also refer to the assistant manager's
job, at $20 per week; the projectionist at
$35; the cashier at $14 and up, so things
must be considerably better today than they
used to be, back in 1939. If this wasn’t
such an elaborate study, so well printed and
prepared, we’d be inclined to laugh at some
conclusions with regard to wages and sala-
ries. For it is obvious that we have grown
to a different stature in the salary brackets.
Many who come to our door, as visitors,
tell us that the manager’s job is worth $100
a week and up, these days, and further proof
of that fact is found in the classified ads in
Motion Picture Herald. It’s encouraging
to know that the manager’s outlook is so
much brighter, and that this phase of man-
agement is improving. ^ >

We note, too, the outline of “the mana-
ger’s day” — which the professors agree,
starts at 9:30 A.M. and continues, “some-

WE FREELY PREDICT

That now 1116 exhibitor groups have won
their political victory over the co;npulsion
to use stereophonic sound and/or other
new dimensions, that the theatres which
will endure, and be here next year, and
thereafter, will vcluntarily use the identi-
cal style and system which has been so
rigorously opposed.

In fact, the good theatres and the good
managers will continue to be out in front
with the best things on the screen, in the
best fashion, and v/ith the best of modern
devices. That's all that can keep any of
us in this business, in the face of tremen-
dous new competition. Those who prefer to
drift with the tide will awake to find them-
selves in a back-current, and statistics will
show more theatre closings in the fringe
areas.

It isn't necessarily a difference between
large and small situations, for very many
of the latter have shown that they are
most up-to-date, and ahead of the times.
The new dimensions are particularly effec-
tive in small theatres, and only have to be
planned and purchased with reasonable
common sense to avoid any real difficul-
ties. We've said repeatedly, on this page,
that if Round Table members will read, and
learn, these differences, in the trade press
and from observation in other theatres,
they will never make a fundamental mis-
take in policy or procedure.

We know a long list of good theatre
managers in small situations v/ho are al-
ready well advanced in the new methods.

times, until 1 A.M.” Furthermore, his clav,
in this study, is compactly filled with a
number of things, all scheduled as part of
his job, even to going to lunch, “perhaps at
a local club or group meeting which the
manager has found it advisable and profit-
able to attend.” There’s lots to learn, in
this study, and we propose to give it a care-
ful going over, for further facts.

(^1 V’ERY INTERESTING, the statement
l)y Hal B. Makelim, who will ])roduce 12
feature films for Allied States Association
of Motion Picture Exhibitors, that of this
number, he would guarantee two which
vN Ould be mediocre, nine that would be “nice”
and one that would be a hit — his own esti-
mate of the risks involved in producing films
for theatre audiences, anywhere in the
world. The major studios have long known
that factual potential as it applied to their
own production. In the good old days, of
block hooking and blind selling, which Mr.
Makelim and Allied will happily restore, the
exhibitor had a 20 per cent cancellation privi-
lege for pictures he felt were too mediocre
for his use, and it was seldom that exhibi-
tors agreed.

^ PIANO as a musical term, may mean
“soft music” — but the CinemaScope short
film of “The First Piano Quartet” could be
one of the best demonstrations of our new
dimensions of sight and sound on the screen.
The Quartet is well known on radio, and
for their many recordings which have been
widely sold throughout the world. Four
pianos give scope to the scene, and provide
a substantial reason for stereophonic sound.
Also coming up from 20th Century-Fox are
other good musical shorts in CinemaScope
that will give your music lovers the kind
of an attraction they usually pay several
dollars to hear.

^ JEFF JEFFERIS’ always amusing and
neighborly chatter, mimeographed on the
back of his monthly program, must be just
as interesting to his home folks as it is to
us. For instance, he writes them, “We ad-
vertised ‘Cheyenne Crossing’ but I was just
too anxious. We got a letter from the film
outfit today telling me the picture isn’t even
finished yet, and so we’d have to substitute
something else on May 22nd. I was so per-
plexed that I forgot to ask them the name
of the other feature, hut I know it will be
a good one, for the man said so.” That’s
a real good line. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 22, 1954

Elephamts &
Executwes

Johnny Corbett, city man-
ager tor Schine theatres in
G 1 o V e r s V i 1 1 e, N. Y., had
teen-agers on stage to sing
in a halt-hour tieup with
a local disc jockey,

NO MATTER where you look, you'll find
interesting examples of ingenious exploi-
tation, as represented by the pictorial evi-
dence on this page, quite varied, quite
valuable, to members of the Round Table,
as inspiration for their own showmanship.

«ii£!!j|MXscngc~

CUMattt STOoSoHl'r's
ROBERT WAONEfi OESRA f

To rEATVHE
CTICH t

JAMES HASOH jANETirgy

Carl Rogers, manager ot Loew's
theatre, Dayton, Ohio, staged the
"Executive Suite" scene above,
with "Miss Secretary" to take dic-
tation from patrons wishing to
record their own voices, on the
Dictophone tie-in, which is sug-
gested in the pressbook. Good
ballyhoo, right on the box-office
line, where it matters most. Below,
you see one of the wonderful win-
dow displays arranged by Wana-
maker's in New York, for the run
cf "Executive Suite at the Radio
City Music Hall. They're doing it
all over the country — in store win-
dows and theatre lobbies — simu-
lating "Executive Suite" as the
scene of exciting business drama.

Clifford Lorbeck made ex-
cellent use ot a vacant
store, adjoining the thea-
tre, to extend his front dis-
play for "Prince Valiant —
using the art materials from
a 24-sheet as the basis. It
all adds up to complete the
highly pictorial effect.

Alice Gorham, in charge
of ticket sales promotion
for United Detroit Theatres,
planned the fine geographi-
cal display for "Elephant
Walk" in the lobby ot the
Michigan Theatre, Detroit,
and below, the huge street
display for the same pic-
ture at the Stanley theatre,
in Philadelphia.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

owmen in

**T'h€Bt Girl
From Sauli
Ste. Marie ”

We keep looking at the map and wishing
we could go to Canada, and it’s not alto-
gether the vacation country up there that
we find attractive. It’s that attractive Round
Table member, Miss Olga Sharahura, and
her showmanship, from the Orpheum thea-
tre, in addition to the beauties of nature.
She says she’s operating a small theatre, hut
giving it all she’s got, and results show.

For “Rob Roy,” she turned out a kilted
piper band, in keeping with the occasion,
and the photos she sends prove that this
was just the right idea to pay off at the box
office. Dan Krendel gave her first prize in
her group for the ballyhoo, and now she’s
a contender in the Quigley Awards with the
same campaign. The theatre front was hold
and colorful — and by the way, we like that
maple leaf trademark of Famous Player’s
theatres, in neon lights, above the marquee.
It pays to sell your theatre along with the
attraction.

The Scotch atmosphere was carried into
many window displays by cooperative mer-
chants, and a full-page newspaper ad was
sponsored by half a dozen merchants who
plastered their ads with “Rob Roy” slugs,
and left a good area, top center, for the
theatre. Some throwaway heralds were also
sponsored by a cooperative advertiser. By
coincidence, the junior champion Scottish
dancer was in town, and that with the bag-
pipe parade, had everybody talking about
the picture, the theatre, and the manager,
who deserved all credit for tying in every-
thing to make the promotion possible.

"Miss Federalsburg" Is A
Pearl Bryant Production

Miss Pearl Bryant, manager of Schine’s
Federal theatre, Federalsburg, Md., lias
again put on her annual production of
"Miss Federalsburg” a contest that seems
to be a bigger success every year. 1954’s
“Miss Federalsburg” is certainly a beauty,
and she deserved the front-page breaks she
got in local papers. The new Queen re-
ceived a complete wardrobe, and her ex-
penses to the Delmarva contest in June,
which is the big affair on the Shore. That
coined word is made up of Delaware, Mary-
land and Virginia — and it’s the Eastern
shore of those States that borders on Chesa-
peake Bay and the Atlantic. Wonderful
public relations, in this idea — and accumu-
lative, through the years. No doubt about
what it means to the theatre, and its able
manager.

Seymour Morris reports that “the hoys
from Syracuse” (and this doesn’t mean tlie
Shuberts) did a phenomenal job with
“Prince Valiant” — under the direction of
Harry Unterfort, at Schine’s Paramount.

Harry Shaw, division manager for the
Loew-Poli Theatres in New England, has
left for San Francisco to take over the
duties of Boyd Sparrow, manager of Loew’s
Warfield, while the latter is on vacation.

Arnold Kirsch, manager of the DeLuxe
theatre in the Bronx, New York, has regular
stunts lined up for holidays, with a com-
mercial tieup to pay the way. His morning
show was sponsored by tbe Bronx Savings
Bank and the Easter show by neighborhood
merchants.

Lou Hart contacted 26 Junior High,
Senior High, Central and Parochial schools
to put over his engagement of “Julius
Caesar” at Schine’s Avon theatre, Water-
town, N. Y., and diversified his selling ap-
proach to handle this as a special attraction,

▼

Sorry that we spelled the name wrong, of
the overseas winner in the first quarter, who
will find his name spelled correctly when he
receives his certificate. Our apologies to
M. Galeazzi, publicity director for Re])ublic
Pictures of Italy, in Rome.

Bob Helm, manager of the United Artists
theatre, San Jose, California, had pretty girls
on the street in a co-op ballyhoo stunt for
“The Glenn Miller Story” and station
KXRX.

▼

Tommy Edwards, Jr., of Edwards and
Plumlee Theatres, Farmington, Mo., says
he likes the new Refreshment Merchandising
section in the Herald, and will contribute
some things for it. We’d like to hear from
Tommy, Sr., too.

Joe Boyle, manager of Loew’s Poli thea-
tre, Norwich, had “Bozo, the Clown ’ as a
guest for his children’s show on a recent
Saturday morning, with newspaper breaks.

Jerry Schur, manager of Skouras Crotona
theatre, in the Broi x, used special flash her-
alds and equally e.xcitmg lchl)y display, lor
‘ Riot 111 Cell Block 11.“

Dale Baldwin, manager of Statesville’s
I'arkway theatre at West Jefferson, N. C.,
who seldom misses a bet, had a special her-
ald for “Little Boy Lost.”

Ray McNamara, manager of the Allyn
theatre, Hartford, arranged a contest in the
Hartford Times for "Elephant Walk” with
guest tickets for tliose who could assemble
die longest list of films containing the word
"walk” in the titles,

Jack Hamaker, manager of the Fox thea-
tre, Spokane, had his attractive usherettes
in Hawaiian costumes as atmosphere for
“His Majesty O’Keefe” — and the candy
counter trimmed with a tropical decor.

Jack McDougall, manager of the Fox
theatre, Oakland, Calif., had “water skiers”
— on roller skates, that is — towed by a speed-
boat— on wheels, th.at is — as street ballyhoo
for “Easy to Love” to make a good exploi-
tation stunt for a good picture.

▼

More than 100 FW Coasters gathered in
Los Angeles to wish retiring general man-
ager George Bowser hon voyage. He was
in New York last week, sailing on a six-
weeks trip abroad.

One of Loew's Theatres oldest employees. In length of service, Mrs. Bessie Dove, mana-
ger of Loew's >lvenue B theatre, says farewell to Joseph R. Vogel, vice-president, as she
retires after 43 years with the company. Mrs Dove began as a cashier at Loew's famous
American theatre, and since 1929 she has managed Loew's Embassy, Ziegfeld, Criterion,
42nd Street, Woodside and 86th Street theatres, all in New York. The Round Table salutes
a good manager, who tops all of our records.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION. MAY 22, 1954

Limited Aits
Sell **Liir^

A moit unusual campaign, submitted lay
Emil Hollenstein, from the Studio 4 theatre,
Zurich, Switzerland, shows how he sold
"Lili" for an exteiuled rnn, with liniit:itions
on his advertising such as we’ve never
known. The .Swdss don't exactly encourage
showmanship. There can be no exploitation
hy either distributor or e.xhibitor under pen-
alty of heavy fines; no street stunts, no
front displays and even the size of the ])Ost-
ers and newspaper ads are fixed hv .Swiss
law.

It’s extraordinary to see how this genuine
showman sold his jiicture and stayed within
the legal limits. With all the handicaps, he
has done such a masterful job that we ho])e
he attracts attention with this entry for the
Quigley Awards in the second (|uarter.
There are sixty-three ads, all measuring just
dfZ and 2 inches, each with a picture of
"Eili" with the name of the picture in
strong display, and half of each space de-
voted to a different, compact sales talk,
which siiarkles with originality, good humor
and practical showmanship. We can't re-
produce them to any advantage, and the
language is different. But every one of the
messages are pertinent, pithy, ])unchy, con-
vincing.

It’s enough to say that “Lili” played 88
days, to break all records. In length of run,
and in gross receipts, “Lili” beat “The
Robe,” which is a runner-np for honors.
The little ads became the talk of the town
— the Swiss teasers sold the picture, to us !

Steve O’Bryan, manager of Schine’s State
theatre, Hamilton, N. Y. — the home of Col-
gate University — found that it paid to cpiery
students about return dates for pictures
they may have missed, and now he sends out
special {iostcards.

Harry Unterfort, Schine division manager
at the Paramount theatre, Syracuse, is seen
above with Dennis Sullivan, local disc jockey,
fjoing over some of the replies received in a
radio contest for "The Glenn Miller Story",
which had the public writing and telephoning
two weeks in advance of the playdates. The
idea developed when the disc joefcey casu-
ally mentioned that the picture v/os a com-
ing attraction — and wondered who would
play the leading roles. He promptly began
to receive so many suggestions that it be-
came a promotion.

Mel Jolley Uses Radio
Tieup For Bob Hope

Good friend, IMel Jolley, manager of the
Century theatre, Hamilton, Ontario, has a
thoroughly professional presentation for his
radio tieuj) station CHAIL for Jello — and
Bob Hope. In fact, this has Bob at work,
selling Jello, and vice versa. The Saturday
Evening Post series on Bob Hope was also
utilized to sell the film attraction, which
w:is "Here Come the Girls.”

**fVild One*^
Safety Drive

Jack Alger, publicity manager for Alger
Theatres in La Salle, Ilk, supplies an un-
usual campaign which he devised for the run
of “The Wild One” at the La Salle theatre.
It’s a difficult film to handle, for it accents
juvenile delincjuency on the wrong side, and
we compliment him on the way he overcame
a major olijection by creating a municipal
benefit. He promoted a safety drive, in the
name of the picture, the Mayor of La Salle
and the publishers of the Daily News-Trib-
une cooperating. The newspaper gave front
page space, and editorial copy, to the fact
that a $100 prize was offered in a “Youth-
Maturity Test.”

The Chicago Motor Club were partici-
pants in the 11-way tieup, with their “De-
tonator Test” idea, whereby drivers of con-
tending cars were to stop within 25 feet,
after a black cartridge exploded and put a
yellow mark on the pavement. We can tell
you that nobody won the $100 — because no-
body could stop within 25 feet, and, of
course, that was the whole point. The news-
paper played up the idea for several days,
on the front page, and both the editor and
the Alayor tried to win, still not convinced
that 25 miles was too fast to stop within
25 feet from the signal. The local schools,
automotive dealers, radio station, Chamber
of Commerce, and Police Departments were
co-sponsors with the theatre in the drive
to sell a picture for its lesson in safety.
.Street ballyhoo, consisting of wrecked cars,
were furnished by garages.

Jim Womble, manager of the Lompoc
theatre, Lompoc, California, submits his co-
operative ads for “Executive Suite” — done
with a furniture store — and it all fits to-
gether perfectly to furnish a newspaper ad
for both parties.

East or west, "Julius Caesar" is best — in the special handling of
MGM pictures. In New York, for instance, 50 independent and circuit
theatre managers gathered to hear Arthur Canton, eastern divisional
press representative, outline a contest to award the best showman-
ship in the metropolitan area, in the subsequent runs immediately
following the original engagement here. That's Oscor Doob, in charge

of special promotions for MGM, smiling broadly in a front rov/ seat.
At right, Emery Austin, MGM exploitation director, meets his west-
ern division field men in San Francisco. He's seated with Ted Gal-
lanter, divisional head in that area, and Howard Herty, who has
the similar post in Los Angeles. Standing are Alan Wieder, Seattle;
Frank Jenkins, Denver; and John Norcop, of the exploitation staff.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

Shotvman In
A JVcw Town

We’ve written before of the good shovv-
nianshi]) submitted by Fred Godwin, mana-
ger of Martin & Thompson’s Wellston the-
atre, in the brand-new town of Warner
Robins, Georgia. This is a growing city,
Iniilt around industrial development in the
area, and as we understand it, there wasn’t
any town there, a decade ago. Just one of
America’s frontiers, in Georgia. Fred was
a contender, and a winner, in MGM’s
“Lucky 7” contest, and we recall his ex-
cellent campaign on “Fort Bravo.” He
had some confederate money gags that were
amusing to all of us Southerners.

It’s pretty obvious that tlie Wellston tlie-
atre is a stronghold for MGM Pictures,
for he advertises “Quo Vadis” in two local
papers to get front page and editorial com-
ment on the attraction. He also had edi-
torial praise for “Easy to Love” — which
had its own points in favor. For “All the
Brothers Were Valiant,” he used the press-
book suggestion of a ‘‘Honeymoon contest”
that was well received in both local papers,
and a $100 wrist watch was promoted from
a local jeweler as a prize.

Space Ship Flying Over
Four Midwest States

More than 100 cities in Ohio, Indiana,
Kentucky and West Virginia will be visited
by a huge space ship, 500 feet long and
weighing five tons, during the period May
I5th to June 13th, as part of 20th Century-
Fox’s promotional campaign for “The
Rocket Man” to highlight saturation open-
ings of the film and add impetus to the box
office in both large and small situations.
The craft, transformed into a mobile ex-
hibit, will draw the attention of hundreds
of thousands of potential patrons. The film
is described as “the tender, hilarious story
of a boy who turned an American town up-
side down” — and the pressbook looks like a
showman’s opportunity.

Rhodes Theatre, Atlanta,

Gets Best Publicity

Ernest De Lamater, Jr., manager of the
Rhodes theatre, Atlanta, says the tieups for
“Long, Long Trailer” worked out better
for the theatre than anything in their his-
tory. The Phillip Morris representative in
Atlanta cooperated, the Atlanta Trailer
Mart furnished a trailer similar to one used
in the picture, and the Lincoln-Mercury
dealer supplied a new car.

-/TELL YOUR PATRORS

ALWAYS / ABOUT IT WITH A

GOOD! i
always^

ON TIME!

FILMACK

TRAILER

1327 S. Wabash - Chicago, III. 630 Ninth Ave. - New Yerh, N. Y.

•Seilina

in^ ..y^pppoaa

EXECUTIVE SUITE— MGM. A great novel
becomes the picture of the year, with
the cast of the year. William Holden,
June Allyson, Barbara Stanwyck, Frederick
March, Walter PIdgeon, Shelley Winters,
Paul Douglas, Louis Calhern — In a film that
will obtain more word-of-mouth advertis-
ing than any motion picture in your mem-
ory. The Inside story of big business that
will Intrigue every business man, and busi-
ness girl. Frankly shocking revelations of
what goes on when men strive for control
around a director's table. Powerful, excit-
ing conflict, the dynamic story of reckless
and daring In the tower suite of a typical
big corporation. 24-sheet and other pos-
ters have materials for cut-outs, but these
are loaded with the names of cast and
credits that hurt the poster quality. Giant
herald, from Cata Show Print, Is tabloid
size. A special 40x80 standee sells “big
shots and blondes" at a fair price, $8.50.
A set of 17x22 star heads. In color, is of-
fered at only $1.00 a set, to sell this big
cast. Newspaper ad mats are also loaded
with cast names and credits, but how else
can you sell such a big package to those
who run and read? Try for some that com-
mand attention and hold It long enough to
read all the type. The MGM economy mat,
at 35c from National Screen, gives you
ten ad mats and slugs, two publicity mats
and a yard of linotype borders — who can
ask for more? Book tieups are e natural,
and window displays of office furniture are
flooding the country.

•

THE MIAMI STORY — Columbia Pictures.

Filmed the way it happened, where It hap-
pened, UNDER POLICE PROTECTION.
Now gang rule was smashed. In the crime
capital of America. This was the home of
the murder syndicate, the vice ring, the
fixed g ame, the shake-down, the paid killer.
Here Is the amazing, violent truth about
the way Miami put the big heat on the
Mob! With the warning — don't come back!
Quite a picture, this one! Special tabloid
herald offered In pressbook simulates act-
ual news story of why it was done. No
poster larger fhan the 6-sheet, for reasons
unknown, but these will give you key-art
for special front display. You can build up
the Idea yourself. Newspaper ad mats are
similarly handicapped, with some too big
for other than first-run theatres, who can
roll their own, but you can find sufficient
to sell the picture In small situations. Con-
sider printing your own herald with one
of these oversized ad mats, used as a
throwaway. The 35c economy mat Isn't
particularly well selected, either, but gives
you seven ad mats and slugs, and two pub-
licity mats, all for fhe price of a single
ad mat, at National Screen. Seek the co-
operation of your own Police Department,
in special previews.

DIAL M FOR MURDER — Warner Broth-
ers. Alfred Hitchcock's dramatic produc-
tion from the International stage success.
In WarnerColor, with superior skill. The In-
terrupted ring — was It the man she was
waiting for, or the man who was waiting
for her? If a woman answers, hang on for
dear life! Suspense — as only Alfred Hitch-
cock can get it. 24-sheet and all posters
are unusually fine for dramatic, pictorial
quality, in lobby and marquee displays.
You can find suggestions in the pressbook
that will work tor you, at small cost, plus
a little effort. Newspaper ads follow the
single, dramatic scene which sets the ad-
vertising style. You'll find it compelling,
and convincing selling approach, some-
thing new In your advertising styles. A set
of teasers Is done to whet curiosity, and
the larger ads follow It up with proper
strength. Use a number of these in dif-
ferent sizes and shapes, to hammer home
the sales idea. The economy mat, on
standing order at National Screen, gives
you six one and two-column ad mats, which
Include that halftone scene that stirs your
Interest — in murder. Film Is available in
3-D and should be wonderful, with such a
director as Alfred Hitchcock to handle It.
You can use the reference to 3-D that Is
placed In most of the mats, or leave It
out, as you may desire. Snipes are pro-
vided to add the 3-D advertising to any
or all of the posters. This one will prove to
your doubting Thomases that movies are
better than ever.

•

RIVER OF NO RETURN— 20th Century-
Fox. In color by Technicolor, CinemaScope
with stereophonic sound. Marilyn Monroe
tames Robert Mitchum, In a frontier story
that has practically everything. Marilyn
sings, and Mitchum fights. Through Cree
ambush and Thunder Gorge, you are en-
gulfed In the swirling rapids with the
honky-tonk girl and the man who was used
to taking what he wants. 24-sheet and all
posters are designed to make lobby and
marquee display. The herald keys the cam-
paign, with all the right selling approach.
Newspaper ad mats are numerous and var-
ied, in all sizes and shapes, and many
original styles. You'll find this pressbook
a better job than most, and you'll want to
use at least one flash ad, such as No. 404
or 214. A series of smaller mats Introduces
a special, bordered background style that
Is something different. The 35c economy
mat gives you six ad mats and two pub-
licity mats, all good. A special lobby musi-
cal record will plav continuously with Mari-
lyn's songs. Special new Marilyn Monroe
art for exploitation and tie-lns. RCA-Victor
have a tie-up that Includes a free record-
ing for local disc jockeys. You'll find It easy
to sell all this film offers In sight and sound,
of Marilyn.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION. MAY 22. 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
meni-ing the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

New Croup Takes Over
Mills Industries^ Inc.

NEW OFFICERS and di-
rectors liave been elected for Mills Indus-
tries, Inc., manufacturers of a line of bev-
erage coolers, ven-
dors and ice cream
freezers, following
purchase of the cap-
ital stock of the cor-
poration, including
that of former
Chairman Ralph J.
IVI i 11s and former
President Herbert
S. Mills.

The new officers
are as follows: A.

E. Tregenza, formerly e.xecutive vice-pres-
ident, now president; Richard F. Dooley,
executive vice-president; Walter F. Her-
mann, vice-president in charge of manufac-
turing; G. T. Lawler, treasurer; Fred G.
Pace, secretary; and Joseph J. Koster, as-
sistant secretary and assistant treasurer.

Pile following were named directors:
William P. Ronan, Harold S. Russell,
Matt O. Blesius, Charles T. Scott, Frank

F. Reilly, Mr. Dooley and Mr. Treg-
enza.

The company, which was established in
1889, will be continued with the same cor-
porate name and line of equipment. The
management also plans to release for early
production a number of new products that
have been engineered and field tested.

A. E. Tregenza

NEW “SODAMASTER ” LINE

A new line of its “Sodamaster” soft
drink dispensers has been introduced for
1954 by Carbonic Dispenser, Inc., Canfield,
Ohio. A special feature of the new units
is a display case built into the superstruc-
ture, behind which are mounted the faucets.
These display cases are illuminated and
have a colored plastic face which opens
easily so that posters may be changed as

often as desired. There are also three plas-
tic medallions for flavor identification on
each side of the superstructure which are
also illuminated and changeable. The “Mix
iVIonitor” faucets on the units are designed
to serve three flavors each plus a coarse
and fizz stream soda with no intermingling
of flavors.

•

FLOOR PADDING FOR
REFRESHMENT STANDS

The Durkee-Atwood Company, Alinne-
apolis, has developed a new vinyl-faced
.ponge rubber padding especially designed
to provide relief from foot and ankle fa-
tigue for employees who stand for long
periods behind counters or machines. It is
particularly adaptable, it is pointed out, for
use behind refreshment stands and in the
kitchens of drive-in theatres. Called “Dura-
pad,” the new material can also be used as
a cushion against shock and noise on coun-
ter tops and work tables, according to tlie
manufacturer.

•

FRANKFURTER UNIT DISPLAYED

The ''Roto-Grille” frankfurter unit made by Electro
Aluminum Products, Chattanooga, Tenn., was dis-
played by National Theatre Supply in its booth at
the Wisconsin Allied State convention held at the
Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee recently. Shown
at the booth above are (left to right) Rube
Melcher, of Electro; Sid Ross, National Screen
Service salesman; Ike Levy, of the United Theatre
Management circuit, Milwaukee; John Mednikow,
manager of National Screen Service, Milwaukee;
and Harry Hollanber of Allied Artists.

NEW “MALT-ETTS” PACKAGE

A redesigned package for the “Malt-etts”
candy employing a cellophane “window”
has resulted in a 30% increase in sales, ac-
cording to Marshall S. Leaf, vice-president
In charge of advertising and sales promotion
for Leaf Brands, Inc., Chicago. The new
box was tested in the field for three months,
he said, and resulted in conversion of the
company’s entire production of “Malt-etts”
to this type.

How To Win Friends
and Influence Bosses

Gain deserved recognition for
your better refreshment mer-
chandising ideas. Make your-
self eligible for Motion Picture
Herald’s Special Merit Awards
by sending in reports on how
you have applied showmanship
and built business at your re-
freshment stand.

Make the reports as detailed
as you can.

Include photos of your stand
and any samples of printed
matter used.

Reports considered by the
editors to be of interest to
readers will be published, with
credit to the contributor.

From the published reports,
quarterly selections will be
made for citations.

Citation-holders will qualify
as finalists for the annual Spe-
cial Merit Awards.

Remember, BRM also means
Better Recognition for Man-
agers. Send your entries today
to : The Editor, Better Refresh-
ment Merchandising dept..
Motion Picture Herald.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 22, 1954

\fe

4»'

Whether the picture

t t ^

^ i *

Whether prints are
available with:

Stereophonic sound

(4-lrack magnetic)

was made in:

CinemaScope

VistaVision

Superscope

3-D( as well as 2.D)

Perspecta sound

Single-track sound

(magnetic

optical)

(dual prints
or

single strip)

The Release Chart
shows it
at a glance

The industry’s original Release Chart, in the Product Digest
section of the Herald, has added still another service to its
record of leadership. From the outset of features in new
techniques, the Release Chart has identified all product
accordingly. Now, hot on the heels of newly adopted policies
of major film companies, the Herald has expanded its data
service.

This week, and every week, you can instantly see the up-to-
date information you need to know, concerning every
feature. Simply glance at the right-hand column in line with
the picture title — and you are immediately informed on the
production process and also the types of prints currently
available. And, of course, all the other helpful reference data
for each picture continues to be included.

* * * Exhibitor leaders acclaim

Tushinsky Brothers’ Variable Ana-
morphic S(/P£/?SCOPE* Lenses.
The BEST BUY in the market!

$700

*Trade Mark Reg. and Patents Pending

fiow NATIONAL SCREEN SERVICE

At Your Local Exchange

MAY 29, 19)4

Hiisini

■!7^

■ ■ '.i''^*l

I :i

TAIN 1!:1)D

l>:a

ION

afijJi

Exi

del

libitor and distributor

}gates see^ formula to

jipkJljl ■"T-lTfl

brdak two-:^tr deadlock

my ....
fe'‘’ ■ ■ :■'■■ '■

EMERGENCY

N^j York exhibitors rally
t^^&ht sudden imposition
ofjdity tax on admissions

»gi

AND THE SLAVE]

1E:WIGH.AND THE MIGHTY, THE STUDENT PRINCE, MAN WITH A

HL,„JUNGLE MAtl-EATERS, FLAMENCO

St Office, at New Yori City, V. S. A., ttttdsr the Miirch 1, lpl9.

h Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New y»k S, N, Y,.: ''Siibsdripnott ftritees:

' j,; 25 cents. All eontm^s copyrighted 1954 by Qatglcy PitbHs/iirig ine..

The Box-Office Sings I

VALLEY OF THE KINGS"

Flaming COLOR!

M-G-M’s mighty production starring

ROBERT TAYLOR ELEANOR PARKER

CARLOS THOMPSON

With

KURT KASZNAR • VICTOR JORY <.„d SAMIA GAMAL
Wnnen by ROBERT PIROSH and KARL TUNBERG

Suggested by Histerie@l D@ta in “Oeds, Graves and Schoiars’’ by C. W. Ceram

Photographed in EASTMAN COLOR
Print by TECHNICOLOR

Directed by ROBERT PIROSH

"I'm usually silent, but I've gotta
talk now. I watched M G AA making

VALLEY OF THE KINOS'over

here and I haven't seen anything
so exciting in thousands of years.
They've really captured the mystery
and majesty of this fabulous
land of the Pharaohs!' /

TRADE SHOWS-JUNE 18th

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 RKO Palace Theatre Bldg.

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

LAFAYETTE, LA. Pat Theatre

lOS ANGELES United Artists’ Screen Rm.

1 052 Broadway

6/18

2 P.M.

197 Walton St., N. W.

6/18

2 P.M.

46 Church Street

6/18

2 P.M.

290 Franklin Street

6/18

2 P.M.

308 S. Church Street

6/18

1 :30 P.M.

1307 S. Wabash Ave.

6/18

2:15 P.M.

16 East Sixth Street

6/18

8 P.M.

2219 Payne Avenue

6/18

1 P.M.

1803 Wood Street

6/18

2:30 P.M.

21 00 Stout Street

6/18

2 P.M.

1300 High Street

6/18

1 P.M.

231 0 Cass Avenue

6/18

1 :30 P.M.

236 No. Illinois St.

6/18

1 P.M.

128 East Forsyth St.

6/18

2 P.M.

1720 Wyandotte St.

6/18

1 :30 P.M.

6/22

10 A.M.

1851 S. Westmoreland

6/18

2 P.M.

MEMPHIS 20th- Fox Screen Room

PHILADELPHIA M-G-M Screen Room
PITTSBURGH M-G-M Screen Room
PORTLAND B. F. Shearer Screen Rm

ST. LOUIS Paramount Screen Room

SALT LAKE CITY 20th- Fox Screen Room
SAN FRANCISCO 20th- Fox Screen Room
SEATTLE Jewel Box Preview Thea.

WASHINGTON RKO Screen Room

151 Vance Avenue

6/18

12 Noon

212 W. Wisconsin Ave.

6/18

1 :30 P.M.

1 01 5 Currie Avenue

6/18

2 P.M.

40 Whiting Street

6/18

2 P.M.

200 S. Liberty St.

6/18

1 :30 P.M.

630 Ninth Avenue

6/18

2:30 P.M.

10 North Lee Street

6/18

1 P.M.

1502 Davenport St.

6/18

1 P.M.

1233 Summer Street

6/18

2 P.M.

1623 Blvd. of Allies

6/18

2 P.M.

1947 N. W. Kearney St.

6/18

2 P.M.

2949 Olive Street

6/18

1 P.M.

216 E. First St., So.

6/18

1 P.M.

245 Hyde Street

6/18

1:30 P.M.

2318 Second Avenue

6/18

1 P.M.

932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W.

6/18

2 P.M.

2117 SATURATION BOOKI

A MASS- RELEASE PRESENTATION U

Ballyhoo unmatched in
entertainment annais!
Across the nation

fon top of the big blast in
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the most powerful
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spot-time penetration ever
pounded into the homes!
Super- promotion
history for you and
WARNER BROS.

THEM/

STARRING

lAMES WHITMORE - EDMUND DWENN - JOAN WEEDON - JAMES ARNESS

NGS STARTING JUNE IS HI

NSEEN BEFORE IN THIS INDUSTRY/

A HORROR-HORDE OF
CRAWL-AHD-CRUSH
GIANTS CLAWING UP
OUT OF THE EARTH’S
STEAMING DEPTHS!

WITH Music by

ONSLOW STEVENS -SEAN McCLORY - CHRIS DRAKE • Screen Play by TED SHERDEMAN • Bronislau Kaper • Produced by DAVID WEISBART • Directed byGORDON DOUGLAS

'This tity Is under
martial law till wi

■L ^ . '•**>»■

The Most Powerful

National Advertising Campaign
In The History of 20th Century-Fox

Is Pre-selling

the CINEMaScOP^ production
that begins where left off!

* starting May 3t in LIFE, LOOK, THIS WEEK,
AMERICAN WEEKLY, PARADE,
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(TOTAL READERSHIP: 175,114,561)

DATE IT NOW! Play it in genuine
4-TRACK, MAGNETIC, HIGH-FIDELITY, DIRECTIONAL-STEREOPHONIC SOUND

K 1 also avaiiable in 1-TRACK, HIGH-FIDELITY, MAGNETIC SOUND • 1-TRACK OPTICAL SOUND

r- ' ....

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 9

MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor

May 29, 1954

Another Try at Arbitration

Delegates from exhibitor organizations, with
the exception of Allied, and distributor sales
chiefs labored this week at the Astor Hotel in
New York in an effort to hammer out an arbitration plan
that would be worth putting into operation.

For years many exhibitors have believed that they
have nothing to lose by agreeing to the establishment of
some kind of an arbitration system. No such system can
take away any legal rights of an exhibitor. It never has
been contemplated that an arbitration proceeding could
be instituted by any distributor. Also under the plan
formulated in 1952, which is serving as the basis for the
new discussions, only a distributor may be subject to any
fine.

A1 Lichtman, spokesman for the distributors at the
initial session May 23, said, “The distributors are pre-
pared to discuss each and every specific item considered
by any party to the conference as pertaining to the dis-
tribution of film, except film rental terms.” Prudently it
was pointed out that there could be no agreement to
arbitrate unknown matters.

One factor that up to now has made realization of an
industry voluntary arbitration system difficult has been
that distribution and exhibition seek different ends. Dis-
tribution looks for a diminution of litigation; exhibition
looks for changes that will result in more revenue for
theatres. The two ends are not mutually exclusive. Both
distribution and exhibition collectively stand to gain by
arbitration.

This is the time to work out and promptly put into
operation an arbitration system. The matter has been
allowed to drag on needlessly for years. An arbitration
plan should be adopted or the subject definitely put aside.
If a practical system is evolved, all exhibitors, including
Allied members, obviously will be prepared to use the
machinery as suitable occasions arise.

■ ■ ■

Blueprint for COMPO

First steps to keep COMPO as a vital force within
the industry have been taken. At a meeting
recently in New York the governing triumvirate of
A1 Lichtman, Wilbur Snaper and Sam Pinanski formu-
lated an extensive program. Problems set down for at-
tention include an attempt at technological coordination,
a campaign against juvenile delinquency, a national
audience poll to select best pictures, statistical research
and assistance — where asked by exhibitors — in connec-
tion with state and local admission taxes. A program of
this magnitude would place a heavy burden on any or-
ganization. It inevitably will be too much for COMPO
unless real “grass roots” support develops. The new

COMPO program needs to have the endorsement of
the COMPO board of directors and the wholehearted
support of the membership. Pat McGee, co-chairman
of the tax committee, has pleaded for continued ex-
hibitor financial support of COMPO in the words,
“It isn’t enough to give lip support. You must con-
tribute funds.”

m m m

Eyes on N. Y. Tax Fight

The entire industry has a substantial stake in the
fight being waged by New York exhibitors against
the proposed five per cent New York City tax on
admissions. The measure first was announced on Friday,
May 21, as a substitute for extending the city’s sales tax.
The original time-table called for passage of the measure
May 23 or 24. Protests by a committee representing all
branches of the industry resulted in assurances by Mayor
Wagner that some kind of a public hearing would be
held in advance of action on the bill. At mid-week the
outcome was uncertain.

Any unjust and discriminatory tax that is allowed to
become law is a precedent for similar action elsewhere.
The New York measure is of importance not simply be-
cause so majiy theatres would be affected but also
because this attempt on the part of a local community
to step in and take part of the hard-won relief comes
so soon after Congress reduced the Federal tax.

It should be understood that the industry in New
York was caught by surprise not because it was not on
guard but because politicians change their minds so
quickly. Mayor Wagner and other officials involved had
been reported to be unanimously against an admissions
tax up until very recently. It is asserted that the New
York City administration is in desperate straits to find
more tax revenue, although New York State officials do
not agree. Unhappily throughout the country other mu-
nicipalities and states also are as eager to tap new or
additional revenue sources.

Once again COMPO has demonstrated its usefulness
by immediately helping the industry in its emergency
campaign in New York. Taxes, fees or licenses that place
a burden on theatres disproportionate to the burden on
other businesses, must be fought with every available
proper means.

■ HI

^ Quotable Quote : “The man with the best attraction
and the best facilities will get the audience — and the
money” — Paul Raibourn, vice-president of Paramount
Pictures, in an address May 21 to the Television Council
of Chicago.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

Financing COMPO

To THE Editor:

The financing of COMPO is a problem
which must be faced squarely rather than
evaded, as has so often in the past been
the treatment given when any united action
was suggested. I wonder if anyone has
come forward with a specific formula along
the following lines which is designed to
meet the situation ?

If we can get everyone concerned to agree
that COMPO almost single-handedly won
the recent tax battle, wouldn’t it follow that
as a matter of justice that a minute fraction
of the resultant saving be passed along to
COMPO to breathe new life into such a
worthwhile organization?

Since tax cuts amounted to a whopping
20 per cent of the gross in most cases, and
a hefty 10 percent when admissions go above
the 50 cents mark, shouldn’t it be one per-
cent of the gross as “insurance,” if nothing
else, for the next battle which is sure to
come? (They would still be 9p2 percent or
19p2 percent ahead of the time before
COMPO fought the tax campaign).

And if the exhibitors could be induced to
contribute this amount, then surely the dis-
tributors/producers would match that dollar-
for-dollar, as they have contributed in the
past.

Collections for COMPO on such a basis
would be relatively simple. At the time of
settlement on each engagement with the
exchange, the exhibitors could add one-half
of one percent of the gross to his film pay-
ment check. The distributor would then add
an equal amount from his own "treasury,
turning over to COMPO the total of one
percent of the gross on each participating
engagement.

On flat rental pictures a sliding scale
could be settled upon, possibly on the basis
of the total cost of the flat feature.

This is just one way the money might be
collected on a fair and equitable basis —
providing sufficient support can be given to
make such a plan cover the vast majority of
the theatres and distributors. Putting across
such a deal would require one helluva strong
selling job ! Which brings us back to the
purpose of such a suggested public relations
program as I have outlined. — CURTIS
MEES, Roxy Theatre, Atlanta, Ga.

On CinemaScope

To THE Editor:

To Spyros Skouras: My personal belief
is that every picture should be made in
CinemaScope to combat TV competition.
The elimination of the various screen sizes
that look insignificant by comparison is
essential.

Jealousy on the part of some producers
is the root of all evil and for the sake of

May 29, 1954

BEST REWARD

To the Editor:

Glad to receive the news of my
winning the Quigley Grand Award
for Best Overseas Campaign in The
HERALD Managers Round Table com-
petition for 1953. I am most happy
for it is the best reward I ever hoped
to receive.— JACK PLUNKETT, Di-
rector of Publicity for Films Para-
mount, Paris, France.

the entire motion picture industry every
producer should get on the CinemaScope
band wagon. Any improvement such as the
Vista Vision photography should be added
to CinemaScope for a better definition of
focus.

I doubt that anything in the near future
can surpass CinemaScope. However, if
novelty is needed occasionally, 3-D would
serve that purpose providing viewers were
reduced to five cents so that no price change
would be necessary at the box office and run
on one projector to eliminate any possible
out of sync.

For this generation, all good stories of
the past with a little modification and
CinemaScope can be remade with the new
look that would appear different than the
movies we knew. As some patrons have
said, “an outdoor scene in CinemaScope is
worth the price of admission.” Comment
like the above speaks for itself for the bene-
fit of the theatre.

Every picture should be 90 minutes or
longer and we must stop giving the public
indigestion from over-seeing, like over-
eating, that double features are causing.
Good surrounding shorts or live theatre TV
that were nationally advertised should
round out a complete two or two-and-one-
half hour show. Providing Eidophor was
within the reach of the average theatre,
this too would be the next step to combat
TV competition. Orchestra CinemaScope
preludes should be eliminated as the average
movie-goer wants more movement in the
movies.

Last but not least, the surface hasn’t even
been scratched by the sound technicians of
Hollywood. The potential effects that could
be had on our auditorium speakers are
terrific. Where is their ingenuity gone ? I
find keeping the sound soft as possible makes
it easier to control the hoodlums and noise-
makers as the patrons themselves will help
you control that class. Softness is more
soothing entertainment too unless a scene
justifies loudness.

I trust the above is a partial answer to
our problem as an exhibitor sees it. — C. V.
MARTINA, Albion, New York.

ARBITRATION comes front and center at
meeting in New York Page 12

INDUSTRY springs to arms to combat tax
on tickets in New York Page 16

EXHIBITORS pitch into distributor prac-
tices from two areas Page 20

HIGH court refuses a rehearing in Denver
trust action Page 20

YATES invites TOA board to discuss
product problem Page 22

FEE TV partial answer to UHF problem,
Raibourn tells group Page 22

DOCTOR, winner of Quigley Award, is

honored in Toronto Page 24

CINEMASCOPE installations increase
sharply in British theatres Page 24

PARAMOUNT demonstrates VistaVision
process in Canada Page 24

SPYROS SKOURAS honored at luncheon
for industry UJA campaign Page 26

20TH-FOX to release full length feature on
Royal world tour Page 26

MAKELIM reports total of 262 theatres
signed for his product Page 27

ALLIED ARTISTS shows increase in net
profit for 39-week period Page 29

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— the box score on
the box office leaders Page 30

PARAMOUNT announces release of six

films in Canada shortly Page 30

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 31

DRIVE-IN operation seen depending much
on the personalized touch Page 33

BREWER challenges Walsh for the presi-
dency of the lATSE Page 35

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising Page 42

Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene Page 28

Managers' Round Table Page 37

People in the News Page 35

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews Page 9

Short Subjects Page 10

What the Picture Did for Me Page I I

The Release Chart Page 12

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

(^n tLe ^Jt(

opizon

^LLIED ARTISTS is getting
r\ the artists. It informed the
industry this week it had
signed John Huston as producer,
director, and writer; that it is nego-
tiating with Billy Wilder for similar
work; and that it also is talking with
director William Wyler. Allied
Artists said Mr. Huston’s first will
be Kipling’s “The Man Who Would
Be King.’’ Steve Broidy, president,
said : “The changing condition of
the business made it especially ad-
vantageous that our company make
a major move. The public is buying
outstanding pictures such as made
by these three distinguished artists
who represent the kind of boxoffice
manpower sought by every major
company in our industry. Allied
Artists will be in a strategic position
to capitalize on the current market.”

► Joseph Tushinsky, co-inventor of
the Tushinsky lens, added a new
fillip Tuesday. In Hollywood, he
demonstrated an all-purpose ana-
morphic print, and a kit of modifiers
for his Superscope variable anamor-
phic lens. The new print provides
any ratio between 1:66 to 1, 2 to 1,
without distortion, and without us-
ing an aperture less in height than
the standard Academy frame. The
lens kit modifies the prime lens into
several focal lengths. Mr. Tushinsky
also claimed Cinerama’s three prints
may be transferred by the Super-
scope system to one print.

► Our British office reports comedy
seems to be on the mark over
there. “Genevieve” was outstanding;
“Doctor in the House” is still break-
ing records, and in the British
market at least, local studios may,
it appears, once again have the
money makers. The HERALD’s
survey last year showed four of five
top money makers were British.

► The Department of Justice won’t
stop National Theatres from buying
$1,000,000 in Magna Theatre Cor-
poration debentures. Magna plans
to produce and distribute films under
the Todd-AO Process, which is wide
screen, and wide film plus special
projectors. Its first will be “Okla-
homa.” The Department merely
observed that National Theatres
should observe conditions of the
consent decree. On Friday after-
noon, in New York Federal Court,

it will petition for permission to buy
the debentures, and the Justice De-
partment will not oppose. The de-
cree stipulates National may not
invest in a firm distributing film,
without court permission, and with-
out showing such investment would
not restrain competition.

► It now looks almost certain as
though film industry firms — along
with all other industries — will be
paying higher social security taxes
next year. The House Ways and
Means Committee has approved the
administration’s social security bill,
which makes the maximum amount
of earnings subject to social security
taxes $4,200 a year, rather than
$3,600 as at present.

► Chicago’s censorship ordinance is
constitutional, the Illinois Supreme
Court ruled this vreek. Circuit Judge
Harry Fisher last July called the
ordinance invalid in deciding on the
city’s refusal to allow “The Miracle”.
The Supreme Court told Judge
Fisher to consider only whether the
picture is immoral.

► An extension of the June 7 dead-
line for National Theatres to com-
plete its divestiture under the 20th
Century-Fox consent decree is al-
most certain to be granted by the
Justice Department.

► Exhibitors not only will be receiv-
ing 20th-Fox’s “The Robe” after
June 19 with single-track optical and
magnetic sound, from July on they
also will be able to choose from four
types of trailers available for each
CinemaScope picture. These are in :
Cinemascope, with four-track mag-
netic sound, stressing high fidelity
and directional values; 2-D, with
optical sound, but selling Cinema-
Scope and stereophonic sound ; Cine-
maScope, with optical sound, for
theatres equipped for it, or for one-
track magnetic sound; and 2-D,
with optical or single-track mag-
netic sound, which can be used to
demonstrate the theatre’s magnetic
sound which may be compared with
optical sound.

► It’s 20,000 dates for “High Noon,”
United Artists announced this week.
This makes it one of the “big” pic-
tures of all time.

► Television producers, please note :
A housewife in a small Illinois town
reports that her two and a half-year-
old son thinks television is just fine.
His favorite programs, however, are
not “Kukla, Fran and Ollie” or
“Space Patrol.” His very favorite
programs come through the round
window of the automatic home
washer, before which he sits with
rapt attention.

LOOKING AHEAD

As of Feb. 14, 1931

Excerpt from an editorial by Martin Quigley in The HERALD of February
I4, I93I:

"There is only one fixed, stable certainty about the motion picture industry,
and that is that it will be different. . . . Sometimes the changes are so rapid that
the superficial manifestations look disorderly. The consequence is that a great
deal which tends to be greeted as revolution is merely evolution. . . .

"Now in the offing, and temporarily on ice perhaps, are color, the wide
screen and television."

motion picture herald, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3I00; Cable address,
*'Qoigpubco, 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;
Roy Gallagher,' Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOllywood 7-2I45';
CtMCago, I20 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative. Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Willlamt
B>jrnup, manager, Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents In the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other Quigley
Publicotlons:* Better Theatres, published thirteen times a year as Section M of Mofion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame,

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 29. 1954

iuES MBTIW&

A BREAK IN THE CONVENTION; a
luncheon scene during the Paramount
Canadian sales convention in Toronto.
Around the table, Dr. Charles Daily,
studio technician: A. W. Schwalberg,
sales chief; Adolph Zukor, board chair-
man; John J. Fitigibbons, Famous Play-
ers Canadian president; Gordon Light-
stone, Canadian manager; Reuben Bol-
svad, FPC vice-president; Loren Ryder,
studio technical head; and Robert J.
Rubin, assistant to Paramount president
Barney Balaban.

AND, OF COURSE, VISTA-
VISION. The new Para-
mount medium was shown
for the first time in a
"foreign" area, at the Im-
perial Theatre. Above, ex-
hibitor guests Robert and
Sam Feingold, Ralph Dole,
Richard Main, and Donald
Kiendell.

weeL
In plctuved

WASHINGTON'S VARIETY CLUB
tendered its compliments, at din-
ner, the other night, to 20th
Fox's new eastern sales manager,
Glenn Norris. Above, at the af-
fair: Harley Davidson, Indepen-
dent Buying and Booking of Vir-
ginia: Al Lichtman, 20th Fox dis-
tribution director; Mr. Norris;
and John Murphy, Loew's.

AND, IN DETROIT, Thomas Du-
ane, center, who has become
Paramount's Detroit manager, is
seen with some of the group who
gave him a welcome luncheon.
The men are Alden Smith, Mutual
Circuit president: Robert Bur-
mele. General Theatres; Milton
Herman, Cohen Circuit general
manager: and Carl Burmele, Gen-
eral Theatres president.

JOHN WAYNE AND
JUNE ALLYSON, left,
who've been voted by
readers of the "Woman s
Home Companion" top
movie stars of the year,
receive the magazine s
Family Movie Award from
Jack Kimball, its West
Coast representative. The
scene at left is in footage
shot by newsreels of Uni-
versal, Paramount, and
Warner-Pathe.

A MOMENT OF DRAMA in a
long and exciting story of pass-
engers in flight. In Warner's epic
"The High and The Mighty," co-
pilot John Wayne explains their
plight to his companions, who
shortly begin to reveal private
tensions and secrets. The picture
opened in San Francisco and
Hollywood Thursday evening. It
is in CinemaScope and Warner-
Color and is reviewed in this
issue. Product Digest, Page 9.

TOP BRASS turned out at the
Warner studio to entertain A. E.
Harmel, chief of the Schlesinger
theatre interests of South Africa.
In array are Milton Sperling,
Steve Trilling, Mr. Harmel, Jack
L Warner, executive head of pro-
duction: Mort Blumenstock, ad-
vertising and publicity chief; and
Bill Orr.

PRODUCER Leonard Gold-
stein came to New York
last week to discuss with
United Artists executives
his ten coming films. Here
he is, standing, below,
right, with president Ar-
thur B. Krim. H is brother,

Robert, is seated, left, with
board chairman Robert
Benjamin.

HAROLD DAVIS, a di-
rector of Dublin Cine-
mas, which operates
four houses in the Irish
capital, and of National
Film Distributors, sell-
ing independent pic-
tures, paid The HER-
ALD a visit in New
York. He is on a busi-
ness trip.

by the Herak’

IN NEW YORK. Uni-
versal executive vice-
president Alfred E. Daff
had as visitors some
infernatlonal film indus-
try executives. At the
right are Latin Ameri-
can supervisor Al Lowe,
Dario Vasquez, manag-
ing director of Cine
Colombia; Universal's
foreign manager Amer-
Ico Aboaf; Louis Elll-
man, managing director
of Odeon of Ireland;
Mr. Daff, Eric A. Patter-
son, president of the
Swedish Motion Picture
Exhibitors Association:
and U-l assistant foreign
manager Ben Cohn.

Front and Center

%-> 'i

AL LICHTMAN stresses his contention rentals
are not to be included in arbitration. Ralph
Hetzel watches him.

AUSTIN KEOUGH, speaking from the dis-
tributors point of view, buttresses Mr. Licht-
man's argument.

All photos by The Herald

CHARLES FELDMAN of Universal is another
distributors' representative who spoke forth-
rightly for his group.

The arbitration ball, kicked around spo-
radically ever since the system operated
under the Consent Decree of 1940 ended
almost ten years ago, was put back into
play with vigor and resolution this week.
Representatives of distribution and of all
segments of organized exhibition with the
notable exception of Allied, met Monday at
the Hotel Astor, New York, to try to evolve
a workable plan.

Scheduled for only one day in the invi-
tation issued a month ago by Eric Johnston,
president of the Motion Picture Association,
the conference was under way less than an
hour when it became apparent that it would
last at least three days. By midweek only
broad general principles were in view.

Drafting Committee Is
Selected for Adjustment

The meeting adjourned late Wednesday
afternoon after a drafting committee had
been appointed to try to adjust differences
between what exhibitors want included in
the plan and what distributors are willing
to give. The committee includes Herman
Levy, Leo Brecher, Max Cohen and S. H.
Fabian for exhibition ; and Adolph Schimel,
A. Montague, A. W. Schwalberg and A1
Lichtman for distribution. Charles Feldman
is an alternate for the distributors.

The exhibitor members of the committee
are to poll members of exhibitor organiza-
tions to determine what disputes exhibitors
think should be arbitrable. These are to be
sifted and submitted to the full committee
in “not longer than 60 days.”

After preliminary skirmishing, and after
starting from the draft of a plan drawn up

two years ago, the conferees by Tuesday
afternoon had reached agreement on one
point and had split on another. They were :

^ Agreed that a provision in the plan
of two years ago that each major dis-
tributor should be limited to two pre-
releases a year should be dropped but that
pre-release runs should be subject to all
the conditions, provisions and terms of
any arbitration plan, including those cov-
ering runs and clearances.

^ Split on a firm contention, agreed
upon by the exhibitor representatives
among themselves, that “any matter af-
fecting the orderly distribution of motion
pictures, except the amount of money the
exhibitor shall pay for film, shall be
arbitrable.”

On this point distribution, represented by
A1 Lichtman, chairman of the distributors
committee, just as firmly held to the point
that “distributors cannot now agree to arbi-
trate matters not now known to them and
not agreed upon at this conference.”

Exhibitor agreement on their stand came
Monday after a brief disagreement among
them during which Harry Arthur, repre-
senting the Southern California Theatre
Owners, made a bid for including film
rentals also. This brought a brief discussion
of the terms of Mr. Johnston’s invitation,
which Mr. Arthur charged was broad
enough to cover his point.

Agreement was reached in caucus, how-
ever, and the exhibitors’ stand was an-
nounced by Herman Levy, general counsel
for Theatre Owners of America. In addi-
tion to the broad terms indicated it speci-

fied ; “This shall include but not be re-
stricted to clearances, runs, conditioning
(forcing), contract violations, print short-
ages, competitive bidding and pre-release
pictures.”

Mitchell Wolfson, a member of the TOA
arbitration committee, also proposed that
availability of prints be included as an
arbitrable matter. He said there “have been
many complaints” from exhibitors charging
failure to receive prints at the time speci-
fied in their contracts and he maintained
that such exhibitors should have some
channel of relief available.

Claude Ezell, representing the Interna-
tional Drive-In Theatres Association, pro-
posed that any final system of arbitration
also contain provisions covering fair trade
practices and “some means of controlling”
houses which regularly play “morally objec-
tionable pictures.”

The distributors’ opening position, enun-
ciated Monday by Mr. Lichtman, was that
they were “prepared to discuss each and
every specific item, considered by any party
to the conference as pertaining to the dis-
tribution of films, except rental terms.

“In addition,” the prepared statement
said, “they (the distributors) are willing
that the arbitration agreement reached here
should specify that other matters not now
specifically agreed upon may be added to
the matters subject to arbitration at any
time during the operation of the arbitra-
tion system when proposed by any party
to the arbitration agreement and which has
the approval of all the other parties.”

“They cannot now agree to arbitrate mat-
ters not now known to them and not agreed
upon at this conference. They take this

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

THE NOTE-TAKERS are Paramount's A. W.
Schwalberg, and Warners' Howard Levinson and
Benjamin Kalmenson.

THE MEN FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Al Hanson; Harry C. Arthur, Jr., who said
he understood all subjects, including rentals, were to be discussed; and James H. Arthur.

position because the exhibitors have the
right to invoke arbitration but no such right
is given to distributors.

“Moreover, effective arbitration adminis-
tration requires that with respect to each
matter agreed upon to be arbitrated, prin-
ciples will be incorporated into the arbitra-
tion agreement to guide the arbitrators in
reaching a decision. If the agreement is to
include the arbitration of matters not now
known or determined, obviously it is im-
possible to lay down principles for the arbi-
tration of such matters.”

Urge Submission to
Local Arbitration Unit

Announcement that the distributors would
not depart from this position came Tuesday
after the exhibitor side agreed that dis-
tribution should enjoy the same appeals
privileges as exhibition. This was contained
in a proposal that a complaint by a theatre
owner on a matter not specifically covered
in the arbitration plan should be submitted
to an arbitration tribunal functioning at the
local level, with the exhibitor having the
right to go to a national appeal body.

In presenting the tribunal idea to the con-
ference, Max Cohen of New York had sug-
gested that subjects outside the limits of

MITCHELL WOLFSON, TOA, urged adoption
of a seven point plan. He also noted com-
plaints about late prints, among matters he felt
needing attention.

the arbitration plan on which complaints
are brought by exhibitors should be ar-
bitrable if they are complaints which have
“validity.”

Countering, Mr. Lichtman proposed the
creation of a “continuing committee to
which would be referred any matter not
now thought to be arbitrable. The commit-
tee, after considering the matter, would
pass it on to all parties to the arbitration
agreement for a decision on whether the
item ought to be included in the arbitration
system.”

Interpretation of Mr. Johnston’s invita-
tion to the conference was the subject of
bitter argument. Mr. Arthur said it was an
invitation to “a fresh endeavor to a simple,
inexpensive method of arbitration of dis-
putes.”

Austin Keough, general counsel for Para-
mount Pictures, took issue with him and
offered his own interpretation which was
to the effect that the distributors were leav-
ing the door open on many matters but that
there had always been agreement on their
fixed position that film rentals themselves
were not and could not be aribtrable.

Mr. Arthur stressed that a “start from
scratch” method of setting up arbitration
boards should be adopted and later on in-

HERMAN LEVY, also of the TOA, reads the
results of an exhibitor conference reconciling
points of view. "Any matter except money,
should be arbitrable."

sisted, “Unless a system of self-regulation
(of trade practices) is forthcoming from
these meetings, the SCTOA will ask for
aid from outside the industry.” Mr. Levy
dissociated TOA from this stand.

Ralph Hetzel, MPAA vice-president, was
named permanent chairman of the confer-
ence at the opening session Monday and
Mr. Levy was appointed secretary.

Among those in attendance at the opening
session were: Herman Levy, Mitchell Wolf-
son, Si Fabian, of TOA ; A. W. Schwalberg,
E. K. (Ted) O’Shea, Austin Keough, Sid
Blumenstock, Hugh Owen, Monroe Good-
man, Jerry Pickman, Paramount ; Lichtman
and William Gehring, 20th-Fox; Morey
Goldstein, Allied Artists; International
Drive-ins Sidney Lust and Claude Ezell ;
Julius Sanders, Max Cohen, Ray Rhone,
Abe Leff, ITOA; Leo Brecher of MMPTA;
Charles Boasberg, Leon Bamberger, RKO ;
Eric Johnston, Ralph Hetzel, Sidney Schrei-
ber, MPAA ; Robert Perkins,, Howard
Levinson and Ben Kalmenson, Warner
Brothers; Harry C. Arthur, Jr., Al Hanson
and James H. Arthur, SCTOA; Abe Mon-
tague and Irving Moross, Columbia ; Ben
Melkiner, M-G-M ; Bernard Kranze from
United Artists; and Charles Eeldman of
Universal. ^ 4

fe.

SIDNEY LUST, standing below, with Claude
Ezell, has his say. Mr. Ezell argued for cov-
erage of fair trade practices and houses play-
ing immoral films.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

TECHNICOLOR ... In the wonder of 4-TRACK, HIGH-FIDELITY STEREOPHONIC SOUND

ELL- • 't"' CHARLES BRACKET! ““S"' HENRT HATHAWAY sr; FRANK FENTON

AVAILABLE FOR JULY 4ii.!

See your 20th Century-Fox Branch Manager Now!

TRESPASS INTO THE

20th Century- Fox’s Production in

TRADE SPRUVGS TO ARMS
TO FIGHT AEW YORK TAX

Exhibitors Unite as Mayor
Makes Screen Fall Guy
for Financial Woes

The eyes of the industry were focused on
New Y ork City tins week, where a proposed
five per cent tax on motion picture admis-
sions hung- ominously. Moving with quick
efficiency, exhibitors mobilized to persuade
Mayor Wagner against the measure. Mean-
while, throughout the nation showmen were
awaiting developments, knowing that pas-
sage of the tax in New York could set the
pattern for an outbreak of similar taxes in
other cities.

Following a meeting of exhibitors with
Mayor Wagner Monday indications were
that the industry would be given time to
present its case at a public hearing.

Tuesday the Board of Estimate
approved the tax. It was an-
nounced the public hearing would
be held Tuesday, June 1. City
Hall expectations were that the
bill would go through the City
Council the same day and the tax
would be ready for collection by
June 15.

At his Tuesday press conference the
Mayor declared the amusement tax, which
would tax everything from merry-go-rounds
to legitimate theatres, except racing, wres-
tling and boxing, would bring in $17,500,000
a year.

A special committee of exhibitors and
union representatives was appointed last
weekend to lead the fight against the meas-
ure. The committee was named at an emer-
gency meeting at which Harry Brandt and
Emanuel Frisch were co-chairmen.

Top Executives Comprise
Emergency Committee *

The emergency committee that met with
the Mayor Monday, giving facts and figures
to prove the tax more ruinous than helpful,
were Nicholas M. Schenck, Mr. Brandt,
Mr. Frisch, J. R. Vogel, Sol A. Schwartz,
Leonard Goldenson, Robert Coyne, Jerome
Chaiken, Samuel Rosen, Herman Gelber,
Tom Murtha and John McDowell.

At a meeting at the Rivoli theatre Wed-
nesday morning a simultaneous “blackout”
of over 600 theatre marquees was decided
for Monday evening at 9 P.M. The theatres
would be asked to remain closed until 1 P.M.
Tuesday. Tuesday morning some 10,000 in-
dustry employees and friends were sched-
uled to march to City Hall in a protest rally.

Exhibitor feeling on the proposed five
per cent city tax on admissions was epito-
mized by Mr. Brandt, president of the In-
dependent Theatre Owners Association. He
said: “This attempt to pick out the motion
picture theatres for a special discriminatory

EMERGENCY COMMITTEE
DIGS IN FOR FIGHT

The special Industry emergency
committee girded itself for an all-
out battle against the proposed five
per cent admission tax in New York
this week and prepared for the public
hearings next Tuesday. Early this week
it was ready to present the industry
case in a series of newspaper ads,
trailers, newsreels, meetings and other
activities.

tax at this time is a shocking thing . . . in-
stead of tapping a new source of tax rev-
enue, the city will destroy one of New
York’s most important local industries. We
are fighting for our lives.”

Said Air. Frisch, president of the Metro-
politan Alotion Picture Theatre Association :
“We have always willingly carried our share
of the city’s burdens. To pick out our thea-
tres for a discriminatory tax merely means
that City Hall will put out of business many
more struggling theatres.”

Mr. Chaiken, represenfing Local 54, port-
ers and cleaners union, speaking for thou-
sands of theatre workers, pointed out that
the proposed tax bill would bring about the
loss of jobs and prevent the workers from
progressing salary-wise.

Legitimate Theatres
Also Join Protest

Legitimate theatres, through the League
of New York Theatres, also joined in the
opposition. The League said the tax would
be “oppression on an industry that is un-
fortunately in a weakened position, but
which nevertheless is the biggest single at-
traction to bring visitors to New York City
with the resultant benefits to hotels, restau-
rants, department stores and the like.

Among the arguments against the tax pre-
sented to the mayor by committee spokes-
men were :

(]f The estimate that the five per cent tax
would produce $16,000,000 is erroneous so
far as motion picture theatres are con-
cerned. Based on actual box office figures,
the tax w'ould produce not more than
$4,000,000 from films and probably only
$3,000,000 if attendance is harmed as much
as anticipated.

Cll A list of 144 theatres closed in the Metro-
politan area since 1950 was presented. The
loss of jobs by theatre workers, the adverse
effect on neighboring real estate and stores
was underscored.

C| The motion picture industry was one of
two industries which the U. S. Government
found most in need of tax relief. Government

statisticians convinced the President, the
Congress, the Treasury Department that the
movies must have tax relief from the 20
per cent levy. The movies were given con-
sideration beyond any other industry. Now,
New York City Hall is closing its eyes to
the distress of one of the city’s most im-
portant iridustries.

C]I This threatened tax blow comes just at a
time when the struggling theatres are still
working their way out of their troubles due
to TV competition and the Federal tax.
The recent reduction of the Federal tax
has not 3'et had a chance to lead the dis-
tressed theatres out of the woods. It will
take a long time to wipe out past losses.
The city tax will close many theatres hang-
ing on by a thread, it is indicated by the
industry leaders.

C| New York is the hub of the film business.
The national home offices and film ex-
changes, employing thousands, are located
here. These will be affected, as well as the
theatres.

^1 The New York City theatres comprise
one of the largest tax-paying groups in the
city ; they already pay all general taxes,
plus a number of special taxes and licenses
aimed at this business.

C]| It has always been the policy of the film
groups never to oppose any general tax
which applies to all businesses and citizens.
They do oppose bitterly being singled out
for a discriminatory tax which will drive
away their customers.

Thousands of wires reached the mayor,
many of them from film-goers who resent
being super-taxed on films. Within hours
after the tax storm broke, a surprise in view
of previous assurances that no such tax
would be considered, committees were at
work.

Oscar A. Doob, chairman of the execu-
tive committee of the Metropolitan Motion
Picture Theatres Association, said the field,
“has never been so aroused.” He announced
that Albert Sindlinger, noted market analyst
_whose research was instrumental in the re-
cent reduction of the Federal admission tax,
has been recruited to compile statistics to
determine just what revenues could be paid
by a five per cent city tax. Mr. Sindlinger
also will study the profit situation here to
determine the number of local theatres cur-
rently losing money.

Paramount Gets "Desire"

Paramount has acquired the film rights to
“Desire Under the Elms,” one of the great
plays of Eugene O’Neill. Don Hartman,
production head, has assigned H. L. Davis,
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist to write
the screen treatment of the O’Neill drama.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

THE MAYOR GREETS Emanuel Frisch, a committee
leader.

Photos by the Herald

THE COMMITTEE poses with the Mayor, for the
newspapers.

THE MEETING OVER, Nicholas M. Schenck man-
ages a smile.

THE COMMITTEE TELLS THE PUBLIC, through
the newsreels.

TELLING THE REPORTERS: Robert Coyne, right,
is spokesman.

AND IT TELLS FELLOW EXHIBITORS, at an emer-
gency meeting.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 29, 1954

JERRY

It’s headed to beat every Martin & Lewis
gross to date— because it’s their first show
based on a smash musical straight from
the Broadway stage. A barrage of big
production, blazing color, hit songs, gags
and fun fired by your top boxoffice stars
teamed with scintillating Janet Leigh
and sizzle-lating Sheree*^- North.

SONGS

That’s What I Like • Champagne
and Wedding Cake • Money
Burns A Hole In My Pocket
Ev’ry Street’s A Boulevard In
Old New York • You Are The
Bravest • How Do You Speak
To An Angel • You’re Gonna
Dance With Me Baby.

Co-starring

JANET LEIGH

Edwaid Arnold

with

FEED OAEK-SHEREE NORTH

Produced by Directed by

PAUL JONES • NORMAN TAUROG

Screenplay by

JACK ROSE & MELVILLE SHAVELSON

WHEN SHEREE SHAKES
THE WHOLE TOWN QUAKES!

Anatomically speaking, boys, the gal’s atomic.
Stand back while she dances because she hits
with a high voltage shock. First time on the
screen — for the sensational personality who
stopped the show in “Hazel Flagg” and made

From the Musical Comedy HAZEL FLAGG it the outstanding sell-out it was!

Book by Ben Hechf • Music by Jule Styne • Lyrics by Bob Hilliard
Based on a Story by James Street

EXHIBITORS PITCH INTO
DISTRIBCTIOIV PRACTICES

Cole Hits Tax Split; SCTO
Also Threatens Move to
Government Authority

While the prickly question of film ren-
tals was agitating the arbitration confer-
ence in New York this week, the same
problem was the source of a renewal of the
old threat to “call the cops” from exhibitors
in two other sections of the country.

(]| Fresh from the Federal tax
victory, Col. H, A. Cole, chair-
man of the board of Allied Thea-
tre Owners of Texas, blasted
distributors for “siphoning off”
any relief inherent to exhibitors
in the tax reduction. He threat-
ened that a request for an “offi-
cial investigation” would be made
to the Ways and Means Commit-
tee of the House of Representa-
tives.

€]f In an invitation to “all exhibi-
tors ... to unite . . . for our mu-
tual protection and benefit,” the
Southern California Theatre
Owners Association declared,
“should the arbitrary method of
operation of both producers and
distributors . . . fail to change ma-
terially we shall advocate and
strive for some form of govern-
mental regulation for the motion
picture industry.”

Col. Cole summed up his threat in the
following words :

“After conferences with many exhibitors
and after viewing the fact that numerous
unsuccessful attempts have been made by
exhibitor organizations to persuade those
who control, toward a more sane and busi-
nesslike attitude, the conclusion seems in-
evitable that these same 18,000 theatres,
which carried through the campaign on tax
relief, will be forced to go back to Congress
with the request that an official investigation
be made. . . .”

This investigation would be to determine
“whether or not the refund by the Govern-
ment to the motion picture industry has been
confiscated inequitably, if not illegally, by
the one branch of our industry which needed
it least, contrary to the express intent of
Congress.”

The Colonel’s statement admitted that this
would be a drastic step and one which he
approached “with reluctance.”

At the recent National Allied board meet-
ing in Minneapolis, Ben Marcus, Allied
president, expressed a similar view, charg-
ing the distributors were getting an unfair
share of the tax cut.

Referring to the two-year tax campaign.
Col. Cole said :

“During the course of hearings before

Congressional committees we had warning
from a number of Congressmen that relief,
supposedly granted to theatres, would be si-
phoned off and the producer-distributors
would receive practically all the benefit. We
tried to soften this viewpoint, calling atten-
tion to the fact that the industry was suffer-
ing and that both exhibition and distribution
would benefit in usual proportions from any
relief.

“I am greatly disturbed by authentic re-
ports received from all parts of the country
that the pessimistic predictions . . . have
come to pass. . . . With the shortage of pic-
tures of box office value, selling terms have
become more and more onerous, and it ap-
pears that the relief accorded theatres is due
to shrink more and more and shortly disap-
pear.”

The SCTOA invitation listed the organi-
zation’s “aims and purposes” and said, “If
you believe these ... to be right and worth-
while we cordially invite you to join us in
an action campaign during 1954 to achieve
these ends for the betterment of the entire
industry.”

The aims and purposes were :

‘.k'l We are unalterably opposed to ad-
vanced admission prices and to
special priced productions.” The statement
charged that these were devices to increase
film rental. It further urged a return to
“popular prices” by all theatres.

wwQ ■ • • Film rentals are excessive and
exorbitant and we are making
every effort to achieve their reduction to a
more fair and equitable figure.

kwo We believe that more film produc-
tions should be made and released
annually by the major film companies than
they are presently scheduling.

'‘'•A Exhibitors shall have freedom of
choice in the selection of Cinema-
Scope and stereophonic sound equipment, or
any other new equipment which may be
developed.” The statement pointed out that
in the case of CinemaScope this already had
been accomplished.

We believe the independent ex-
' hibitor is the backbone of the in-
dustry and that every effort must be ex-
erted to assure that his needs are given
serious consideration.

'‘'‘Ck. believe the (Production) Code
is entirely adequate in its present
form but we submit that its administration
is being handled badly. We believe that,
properly interpreted and administered by a
committee composed of producers, exhibitors
and representatives of several selected lay
groups, the Code can reflect considerable
credit on the motion picture industry and
can contribute to increased grosses.”

The seventh and final item was the attack
on “the arbitrary method of operation” on

the part of distributors and the threat to
ask for governmental regulation. The state-
ment said, “We realize full well that this is
not ideal for our industry and for our free-
dom of operation . . . but we believe it will
be more beneficial than the evils of the pres-
ent system. ...”

Court Denies
Denver Cnse
Deheuring

WASHINGTON : The Supreme Court
Monday refused to overturn a lower court
decision upholding an anti-trust action
brought against major distributors by Cine-
ma Amusements, Inc., owner of the Broad-
way theatre in Denver.

In so doing, the high Court turned down
a bid by distributors for a ruling that the
consent decrees in the Paramount case
should not be admitted as evidence in pri-
vate anti-trust suits against them.

Cinema’s suit charged a conspiracy to
deprive it of first-run films, and a District
Court awarded it $300,000 damages. This
decision was upheld by the Tenth Circuit
Court of Appeals, and Loew’s, Twentieth
Century-Fox and RKO appealed to the Su-
preme Court.

The Supreme Court Monday, however,
said it would not take the appeal, in effect
upholding the lower court decision.

In their appeal, Loew’s and Fox had ar-
gued that the District Court and Circuit
Court had been wrong in permitting use of
the Paramount consent decrees in the Den-
ver case. They said a Supreme Court ruling
that the Paramount decrees were not admis-
sible as evidence in private anti-trust suits
would bring an end to many “untenable”
exhibitor suits now pending in lower courts.

However, Cinema Amusements answered
that the evidence it had produced was suffi-
cient to sustain a verdict against the dis-
tributors even without reference to the Para-
mount decree.

The Justices gave no reason for their
decision not to. grant the appeal, merely
noting their decision in a long list of orders
handed down. The decision not to hear the
Denver case clears the Supreme Court
docket for the time being of all film cases.

Wolf son Gets TV Award

On behalf of WTVJ, Miami, which has
been named “the television station in the
U. S. which did the most for public safety,”
Mitchell Wolfson, co-owner of Wometco
Theatres and president of the station, was
presented with the Alfred Sloan Award last
week by General Motors Corp.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

WITH ^3259^

RICHARD LONG • LOUISE ALLBRITTON

Big One NOW has
added audience potential
with the ESTABLISHED
POPULARITY of the
FAMOUS
KETTLE
FAMILY!

Produced and Written for the screen by CHESTER ERSKINE and FRED F. FINKLEHOFFE • Directed by Chester erskine • A universal international Re reiease

W'Jt "Pictures with that Universal Appeal”

Fee TV Seen

YATES INVITES TOA BOARD

TO TALK PRODUCT PROBLEM jjjggr Crisis

HOLLYWOOD : While independent pro-
ducers take to the road to solidify their pre-
production plans in meetings with exhib-
itors, some studio heads see a golden oppor-
tunity in the forthcoming meeting here,
June 17-19, of the governing board of
Theatre Owners of America to accomplish
even more.

Another “open invitation” to TOA board
members to help resolve one of the indus-
try’s most controversial questions — the need
for more pictures produced at lower bud-
gets has come, this time from Herbert J.
Yates, president of Republic.

“I’d like the visiting exhibitors to take
time out from their busy Hollywood sched-
ule, and come out here to our studios,”
Mr. Yates said. “All we’d want with
Walter Reade, Jr., president of the TOA,
and his board is one big meeting. It should
be serious minded in nature. We feel that
a lot of good for all concerned can be
accomplished.”

He pointed out that such a discussion, if
it were to mean anything, would have to be
“open minded.” Mr. Yates hopes to be
able to show the exhibitors how his studio
is blueprinting a production schedule that
should result in the kind of films that would
make the exhibitors reasonablv sure of their

Attack U.S. Contempt
Right in Schine Case

BUFFALO : The right of the Government
to institute civil contempt proceedings in
cases where it has suffered no direct loss
came under attack in Federal Court here
this week as a hearing on motions involving
Schine Chain Theatres, Inc., its officers and
affiliated corporations began before District
Court Judge John Knight. The Schine
chain, its officers, J. Meyer Schine, John A.
May and Louis W. Schine; three other in-
dividuals and eight other corporations have
been named by the Department of Justice
in civil and criminal contempt show cause
orders charging them with alleged failure to
comply with the 1949 anti-trust consent
decree issued by Judge Knight. The decree
ordered the Schine chain to divest itself of
39 theatres and to make available to com-
peting theatres first run films.

Jersey Exhibitors See
Comparative Lens Showing

New Jersey Allied’s “comparative” dem-
onstration of anamorphic lenses at the May-
fair theatre, Hillside, N. J., this week was
“revealing” and “informative,” according to
exhibitors who attended. Approximately 70
theatre men saw four different makes of
lenses, using clips from Warners “The Com-
mand” as the guide. Expressions of opinion

box office potential, played in any situation
in the country.

“Mr. Reade pointed out recently,” said
Mr. Yates, “that there’s a lot of misunder-
standing between production and exhibition.
Impartially enough, the TOA head made it
seem as if his brother exhibitor stood in the
wrong on that issue.” Mr. Yates went on
to recall that it was Mr. Reade who said
that it was the exhibitor who failed to chan-
nel enough important information to the
producers, and because of that, perhaps, the
studios were allegedly not giving the ex-
hibitors what they wanted and needed.

“We’re in a position, now that the TOA
group will be in Hollywood, to be able to
give them all the vital information they need
and want. It would help all of us,” he said.

Mr. Yates said he is in hopes of getting
the right kind of answers to the following
questions ; What films make for bigger
revenues? What can Republic do to help
the theatre-owner picturewise? How can
the studio help in the matter of extended
runs ? What can the exhibitor suggest in
the way of using the kind of stories that
make for greater profit? Mr. Yates pointed
out that profits for the exhibitor, in the final
analysis, should mean “profits for everyone
else in the film business.”

following the showings pointed to a need
for similar demonstrations in all parts of
the country, inasmuch as both the demon-
stration and the question-and-answer forum
which followed gave the exhibitors an op-
portunity to have many of the confusing
technical issues clarified.

Virginia Theatre Unit
To Discuss Problems

RICHMOND : Plans for the Virginia Mo-
tion Picture Theatre Association conven-
tion to be held at the Chamberlin Hotel,
Old Point Comfort, Va., June 8-10 were
announced this week by Syd Gates, Nor-
folk, and Roy Richardson, Suffolk, chair-
men of the convention.

Speakers for the three-day session are
George Murphy, Robert Coyne, special
counsel for COMPO, Ben Marcus, presi-
dent, Allied States Association; Rube Shor,
chairman Allied drive-in committee who will
conduct a special drive-in session; Mike
Simons, director of customer relations for
MGM, and Hal Makelim, who will present
his plans for making 12 features per year
under Allied sponsorship. Principal discus-
sions concerning the Virginia exhibitors
only will be a projected group insurance
plan, and the increased rates in Virginia
Electric Power Company’s contract which
are threatening to hit some theatres very
drastically.

CHICAGO : The present economic problems
now under investigation in Washington in
the hearings to determine what can be done
regarding the failure of ultra high frequency
stations would be best solved by color and
pay-as-you-see television, Paul Raibourn,
Paramount Pictures vice-president, declared
here last Friday. He spoke to the Tele-
vision Council of Chicago at a luncheon.

Mr. Raibourn, a director of the Chicago
TV Council, outlined 12 proposals which
were being discussed in the industry and in
Washington as a solution to the UHF
problem.

Some of these proposals were: remission
of the 10 per cent manufacturers’ excise tax;
additional UHF channels ; subsidies for
UHF operators; arbitrary inclusion of
UHF tuning in color sets ; relocation of FM
band ; stations to bid for all programs.

“A logical way both of developing tele-
vision to greater possibilities and of furnish-
ing income in which UHF stations would be
bound to share” is pay television operation
of stations, Mr. Raibourn pointed out. He
then discussed the proposal for standards in
this field.

He defined the m.ethods of payment used,
thus: Phonevision — pay after seeing; Tele-
meter— pay as you see; Skiatron — pay be-
fore you see; noted that Phonevision and
Skiatron have been experimenting with
other methods; and said Telemeter had a
strong patent position on variable instan-
taneous pricing, cash operation with coding,
recording accounting and program identity
information, barker sound for selling pro-
grams, credit storage, and a simple cash col-
lection system.

Mr. Raibourn also noted the Federal Com-
munications Commission May 6 commented
on a House Interstate Commerce Committee
bill to declare operators of broadcasts sent
into homes for fees, common carriers. It
said its opinion was pay television was a
broadcast service, not a common carrier, and
not subject to rate regulation. He com-
mented that 28,000,000 sets multiplied by a
low goal of ten dollars as a fee, is $280,000,-
000, and added : “The possibilities of reward
available are worth the effort.”

Approve New National
Writers' Organization

HOLLYWOOD: The Screen Writers
Guild membership last week voted unani-
mous approval of a reorganization plan
which will bring Eastern and Western
writing groups together in an organization
to be called American Writers Guild. The
unit, which will take six months to formu-
late completely, will consist of two groups,
Eastern and Western, the former compris-
ing radio and television writers, and the
Western including radio, television and
motion picture script writers.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29. 1954

•• -fs

moving

AN ALLIED ARTISTS PICTURE starring

an, - I STERLING HAYDEN • COLEEN GRAY

S®'" \ KEITH LARSEN • TOM TULLY - JIMMY WAKELY with Tudor Owen . Lee Von Cleef

PRODUCED BY HAYES GOETZ DIRECTED BY Lesley Selander SCREENPLAY BY Don Martin

■US?:

man

and the big
theatres are

®HYING it HOT!

*-os Angeles *

■ • • • • • egypt/ani
boston loew's state

paramount

DETRO/T . . FENWAY

HOUSTON . ■ ■ •®'^0^DWAY CAP/TOL

Minneapolis majestic

Milwaukee state

buffalo .

Memphis ■ • • century

KANSAS CITY EARNER

SEATTLE . MISSOURI

OMAHA COLISEUM

providence OMAHA

DES MOINES ..■.■■■ ^PRAND

'Indianapolis paramount

fort Worth circle

BRIDGEPORT PALACE

WARNER

PORTLAND MERRITT

charlotte paramount

GALVESTON IMPERIAL

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salt lake nc'.i ■ ; ■ ^^I-onial

HYLAND D|

EL PASO redwood D.i'

RICHMOND ELLENAY

LINCOLN . COLONIAL

VARSITY

THE

DOCTOR, WINNER OF QUIGLEY
A WARD, HONORED IN TORONTO

TORONTO: Charles Doctor, manager of
the Capitol theatre, Vancouver, and Quig-
ley Award winner, was honored at a
luncheon held by Famous Players Canadian
Corp. here for about 50 persons. Also
present was Mrs. Doctor.

Mr. Doctor was described by Rube
Bolstad, vice-president, as an "individualist"
who learned his lessons in showmanship well
under the guidance of the late Larry Bearg.

The Quigley Award is the "Oscar" of
showmanship, said Mr. Bolstad, just as the
Pulitzer Prize is to the field of literary arts,
and the Oscar statuette to the making of
motion pictures.

"Not only has Charlie Doctor brought
honor to himself through the winning of
the prize, but he has also brought honor to
the company and the motion picture in-

UanMBda Secs
Vista Vision

TORONTO : Paramount unveiled Vista-
Vision for the Canadian industry at the
Imperial here, flagship of Famous Players
Canadian Corp., Adolph Zukor, chairman of
the Paramount’s board of directors, was
present in place of Barney Balaban, presi-
dent, who was unable to come.

Mr. Zukor read an address prepared for
delivery by Mr Balaban. Gordon Lightstone,
Canadian general manager of Paramount,
introduced Mr. Zukor as “the youngest old
man in the industry.” In the talk, it was
stressed that VistaVision’s merits were in
its simplicity, flexibility and economy.

It was pointed out by Mr. Balaban that
it was “statesmanlike leadership” of John J.
Fitzgibbons, president of Famous Players,
w'hich had brought many friends to the
Canadian motion picture industry. He said,
'“We are proud of John Fitzgibbons.”

The showing of the film was introduced
by Loren Ryder, research director, and Dr.
Charles Daily of the Paramount studios.
The unveiling of Paramount’s new technique
coincided with the first day of a Canadian
Paramount sales convention.

British Circuits Equip
For Perspecta Sound

Arthur M. Loew, president of Loew’s
International Corporation, announced on
Wednesday that the A.B.C. circuit of Eng-
land had agreed to equip its theatres with
Perspecta Stereophonic Sound. Installa-
tion will proceed immediately to permit the
showing of Perspecta stereophonic sound
prints of “Knights of the Round Table,”
“Rose Marie,” “The Student Prince” and
“Rhapsody.”

dustry," Mr. Bolstad said. "We need that
kind of showmanship, showmanship which
will teach the younger fellows coming up."

In introducing Mr. Doctor to the assem-
bled representatives of every branch of the
industry, and the press, Robert Eves, west-
ern supervisor, said the way he handles his
theatre is a "real treat." He said there was
a feeling "of hospitality in the theatre from
the moment you reached the box office."
Mr. Doctor said he couldn't say anything
without giving credit where credit was due,
to men like Mr. Bolstad and Mr. Fitzgib-
bons. "I don't know of any business that
has as much of a family feeling as is found
in Famous Players," he said.

Peter Meyers, president of the Canadian
Motion Picture Distributors' Association,
said it was "showmanship which will meet
the competition of TV."

French Trade to Hear
Perspecta Sound June I

The first demonstration for the French
trade and press of Perspecta streophonic
sound has been scheduled for the Rex thea-
tre, Paris, June 1, according to MGM’s
Continental European headquarters in Paris.
It will be followed by additional demon-
strations in all French key cities. Demon-
strations are also being scheduled for the
near future in capital cities of all European
countries, to introduce to exhibitors, pro-
ducers, equipment manufacturers and deal-
ers the single, optical track stereophonic
sound system which has been adopted by
MGM, Paramount Pictures and Warner
Brothers.

Denver Trust Action
Is Settled Out of Court

DENVER : A $300,000 triple damage suit
against Wolfberg Theatres and United Art-
ists, filed by L. K. Lee, head of Kar-Vu
Theatres, Inc., has been settled out of court
for what was said to be a “fair-sized
amount.” Mr. Lee had alleged violation of
anti-trust laws, claiming he was not able
to obtain the same terms for second run
United Artists films that were enjoyed by
Wolfberg Theatres. Wolfberg operates five
drive-ins in Denver, with Mr. Lee operating
one at the time the suit was filed. He has
now opened a second drive-in here, and
operates two at Colorado Springs and one
at Greeley, all in Colorado.

Theatre tor Levittown

PHILADELPHIA : Melvin J. Pox, presi-
dent of Fox Theatres, Inc., announces the
opening May 30 of the Town theatre, a
1,200-seat house in Levittown. The Town,
designed by architect David Supowitz, will
be the first new theatre built in the Dela-
ware Valley area since 1950.

CinemaScope
Increasing
In Britain

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : The sharp upturn in the instal-
lation of CinemaScope equipment in British
houses continues following the lifting of the
stereophonic sound requirement. Spyros
Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox,
here again this week, resumed talks with
John Davis of the J. Arthur Rank organiza-
tion, with respect to CinemaScope equipping
of Rank houses.

Contracts have been signed for installa-
tions in 18 of Sidney L. Bernstein’s Granada
theatres. Sir Alexander King, key exhibitor
in Scotland, announces that 14 of his larger
theatres will be equipped. “CinemaScope
will make its debut in my houses with
‘Flight of the White Heron’,” says Sir
Alexander.

The Army Kinema Corporation, an in-
creasingly important factor in the booking
position here, will put CinemaScope into
13 of its bigger houses attached to military
camps. It plans an opening of “The Robe”
at one of the larger camps July 19.

Paramount’s Loren Ryder, here for the
pending VistaVision demonstration, has left
for the Continent finalising arrangements
for demonstrations in various European
centres. There will be four demonstrations ;
in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Rome. The
first will be that in London in June.

Sam Eckman, Jr., managing director of
MGM here, has summoned all the company’s
branch managers and salesmen to London
for a Perspecta conference. “These are the
most important motion picture days for
many, many years and with the vast and im-
portant developments made in both stereo-
phonic sound and CinemaScope and pano-
ramic screens, it is imperative that our full
sales organisation gets the earliest opportu-
nity of hearing and seeing the developments
and then of discussing them,” said Mr.
Eckman. ^

The Trade Benevolent Fund, in whose aid
the annual Royal Film Performance will be
held at Metro’s Empire theatre November
15, announces that nominations of feature
films submitted for the performance will
close September 10. The Fund’s selection
committee will start its viewing of the nomi-
nated films September 13.

Percentage Suits Filed

PHILADELPHIA: Six percentage actions
were filed here last week in the Pennsyl-
vania state courts. The actions by Para-
mount, Loew’s, Twentieth Century-Fox,
Warner Bros., Universal and Columbia
named George Resnick and William Fish-
man as defendants. The theatres involved
are the Vogue, Cayuga and Grant in Phila-
delphia.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29. 1954

AIMS

AND

PURPOSES

SCTOA

ALL

EXHIBITORS
ASKED
TO JOIN
FOR

UNITED

ACTION

SCTOA

OPPOSES

ADVANCED

PRICE

FEATURES

PRESENT
FILM
TERMS
ARE TOO
NIGH

PRODUCT

SHORTAGE

HURTS

THE

ENTIRE

INDUSTRY

AIMS AND PURPOSES OF SCTOA

AND AN

Invitation to All Exhibitors to Unite With Us
For Our Mutual Protection and Benefit

The Board of Directors of the Southern Califor-
nia Theatre Owners Association has adopted a
PLAN OF AIMS AND PURPOSES toward which
we shall exert our every effort during this current
year. Each principle is dedicated to the welfare of
the independent exhibitor and to the better enter-
tainment of his audiences. Many among us in the
Association are chain-operated theatre owners
and exhibitors, but it is our considered opinion
that the small-theatre exhibitor is the backbone
of our entire motion picture industry and as such,
that it is he whose needs and desires must be
heard and acted upon.

If, in your opinion, you believe these AIMS
AND PURPOSES to be right and worthwhile, we
cordially invite you to join with us in an Action
Campaign during 1954 to achieve these ends for
the betterment of our entire motion picture
industry.

1. We are unalterably opposed to advanced
admission-prices, and to special-priced motion
picture productions. In our opinion, advance-
priced films serve but one major purpose, i. e., to
increase film rental to theatres. We further be-
lieve that a revision to "popular prices" by all
theatres, will tend to bring back to our theatres
many millions of those regular movie patrons
who now cannot afford the luxury of advanced-
prices, regardless of the excellence of a film
production.

2. We are committed to the proposition that film
rentals are excessive and exhorbitant, and we
are making every effort to achieve their reduc-
tion to a more fair and equitable figure.

3. We believe that more film productions
should be made and released annually by the
major film companies than they are presently
•scheduling. The gradual lessening of films pro-
-duced yearly by the major studios has had a
devastating effect upon both large and small ex-
hibitors, who must have a steady and unstinted
supply of product for their screens, and who,
without this supply, are forced to fall back upon
re-issues and unworthy product made available
through other sources, a practice which has con-
tributed greatly to a downward trend in box
office figures nationally.

4. We are committed to the principle that ex-
hibitors shall have freedom of choice in the selec-
tion of CINEMASCOPE and stereophonic sound
equipment, or any other new equipment which
may be developed, installing that equipment, or
not, as he sees fit. We believe it should not be
obligatory for him to install such equipment in
order to feature a specific film production.

5. We believe the independent exhibitor is the
backbone of the motion picture industry and that
every effort must be exerted to assure that his
needs are given serious consideration and acted
upon favorably wherever possible.

6. We believe the Code for the motion picture
industry is entirely adequate in its present form —
but we submit that its administration is being
handled badly. We believe that, properly inter-
preted and administered by a Committee com-
posed of producers, exhibitors and representa-
tives of several selected Lay groups, the Code
can reflect considerable credit to the motion pic-
ture industry, and cdn contribute as well to in-
creased grosses. We further believe that, with
proper administration, and a possible designa-
tion of categories of motion picture productions,
American producers can avail themselves of
every film-production possibility without sacrifice
of quality or reality, and without need for resort-
ing to cheapness, and that these same producers
can better compete with the growing influx of
foreign film productions aimed at an "adult"
market.

7. Finally, we favor an immediate change in
the arbitrary method of operation of both pro-
ducers and distributors. We resolve that should
their method of operation fail to change material-
ly we shall advocate and strive for some form of
governmental regulation for the motion picture
industry. We realize full well that this is not ideal
for our industry and for our freedom of operation
in all its phases, but we believe it will be more
beneficial than the evils of the present system,
i. e., regulation by producers and distributors to
the detriment of all exhibitors in the United States.

EQUIPMENT ^
CHOICE
RIGHT
OF EVERY
EXHIBITOR

Fait Accompli

FILM

INDUSTRY
MUST HEED
NEED OF
"INDIE”
EXHIBS

PRESENT
CODE
O. K.

BUT

NEEDS

BETTER

ADMIN-

ISTRATION

NEW

CODE

GROUP

NEEDED

ARBITRARY
RULE MUST
END

★

GOV’T.

AID TO
BE CALLED
ON TO
END

PRESENT

CHAOS

★

CURRENT

EVILS

WILL

WRECK

INDUSTRY

Southern California Theatre Owners Association

1914 S. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles 7, Calif.

Fox to Move
Feature on
Moyal Four

UJA Sereeii Drive
Honors Skouras

Ai the Skouras presentation, left to right: Adolph Schimel; Spyros Skouras receiving
award from S. H. Fabian; Barney Balaban and Sam Rosen.

Motion picture and amusement industry
leaders last Thursday pledged $418,920 in
support of the 1954 campaign of the United
Jewish Appeal of Greater New York at a
Hotel Pierre luncheon, as Spyros P.
Skouras, 20th Century-Fox president, re-
ceived a silver -coated Israeli Bible for his
activities in the field of humanitarianism.

Simon H. Fabian, president of Stanley
Warner Corporation, and a member of the
UJA’s motion picture and amusement divi-
sion’s steering committee, praised Mr.
Skouras “as one of the industry’s most
prominent figures — a man who has played a
key role in making motion pictures an in-
tegral part of American culture, and a hu-
manitarian who is always concerned with
the welfare of his fellow-man regardless of
their religion, race, creed or place of na-
tional origin.”

In accepting the Bible from Mr. Fabian,
Mr. Skouras said he was of the opinion that
“no man deserves special recognition for

helping others less fortunate than himself.
Humanitarianism efforts do not require a
reward for feeding one’s family or educating
one’s children.”

Main speaker at the luncheon was Reuven
Dafni, Israel Consul in New York and di-
rector of the Israel Office of Information.
Adolph O. Schimel, vice-president, secretary
and general counsel of Universal Pictures,
chairman of the drive, presided.

The major financial objective of the
UJA’s 1954 campaign is to raise the metro-
politan area’s share of the goal of $119,921,-
150 set by the nationwide UJA.

Seated on the dais with the guest of honor
were Henry Bernstein, Sam Rinzler, Robert
Benjamin, Ned E. Depinet, Fred Schwartz,
Mr. Dafni, Major Albert Warner, Mr. Fa-
bian, Mr. Schimel, Barney Balaban, Sam
Rosen, Herman Robbins, Jack Cohn, Wil-
liam J. German, Leopold Friedman, Sol A.
Schwartz, William Klein and Rabbi Bernard
Burstein.

The Royal Tour of Queen Elizabeth and
Philip, the story of the recently-completed
journey through the British Commonwealth
by England’s Queen and her consort, has
been made into a full-length motion picture
by 20th Century-Fox in CinemaScope and
Eastman Color and will be released in the
United States later this year, the company
has announced.

The film, portions of which were pre-
viewed to great acclaim from British film
critics recently, will present on the broad
CinemaScope canvas the colorful events and
ceremonies which highlighted the Royal
couple’s 45,000-mile around-the-world tour.

Photographed by British Movietone with
full stereophonic sound, the production, sub-
titled “The Plight of the White Heron,”
commences with the arrival of the Queen at
Fiji and Tonga. From the Friendly
Islands, the CinemaScope camera follows
the tour through New Zealand, Sydney,
Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane
and Perth. Spyros P. Skouras, president of
20th Century-Fox, who left for London last
Thursday, is seeing final footage of the tour
showing the return to England through the
Mediterranean via Gibraltar.

Double Features Demanded
By Public, says COMPO Ad

Double-features, where they are custom-
ary, mean better business at the boxoffice,
says the 14th of the series of COMPO ad-
vertisements to be published in “Editor &
Publisher” on Saturday, May 22. Headed
“Those Doggone Double-features !” the ad-
vertisement points out that many persons
within and without the industry do not like
them but that theatres, which had tried ex-
perimentally to eliminate them, experienced
a sharp falling off in gross and were com-
pelled to restore them. “In areas where
double-features never got started the thea-
tres get along very well without them,” the
ad says. “Offhand, we’d say that about 65
per cent of the country is now double-feature
territory.”

Eastman Net Earnings
In Quarter $12,297,275

Consolidated net earnings of Eastman
Kodak Company for the first quarter of 1954
were $12,297,275, an increase of 24 per cent
from $9,916,028 in the first quarter of 1953,
it was announced last week by Thomas J.
Hargrave, chairman, and Albert K. Chap-
man, president, following a meeting of the
company directors. The main reason for
the increase in net earnings was removal of
the excess profits tax, it was said.

The quarterly earnings are equal to 70
cents a share on 17,401,210 common shares

outstanding. This compares with 59 cents a
share in the first quarter of 1953 on
16,555,254 shares then outstanding.

The directors declared the regular quar-
terly dividend of six per cent ($1.50) on the
preferred stock and a dividend of 45 cents a
share on common. Both are payable July 1
to share owners of record June 4.

Two new directors were elected to fill
unexpired terms. They are Gwilym A.
Price, president of Westinghouse Electric
Corporation, and Donald McMaster, Kodak
vice-president and general manager. All
officers of the company were reelected, it was
announced.

Corporation Fox Bill
Moves Ahead in Senate

WASHINGTON : The Senate Einance
Committee tentatively approved a provision
in the House-passed technical tax bill to
make large corporations pay part of their
income taxes in the same year the money is
earned. At present, corporations pay their
taxes on one year’s income in the following
year. The House bill made the pay-as-you-
go provision apply to firms with an antici-
pated tax bill of $50,000 or more. The
Finance Committee said the provision
should apply only to firms expecting to pay
$100,000 or more in income taxes.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 29, 1954

Photos by tho Herald

MAKELIM SIGIVS
263 THEATRES

THE MAN WHO WILL MAKE THE PICTURES
outlines his story properties, and pleads for back-
ing. At the left, producer Hal Makelim, with his
sales manager, Sam Nathanson. Above, some of
the listeners, Lou Baurer, Sid Stern, Harry Lowen-
stein, F. Rubado.

pictures or indicated that they would sign
them by tlie end of the week. Buyers and
bookers representing more than 500 theatres

Independent producer Ha! Makelim came
to New York last week and made a hit. He
enlisted, he said, 262 theatres, with guaran-
teed rentals of $43,500.

Mr. Makelim has been traveling these
days, with a somewhat revolutionary pro-
duction plan, sponsored by National Allied
as a move against the product shortage. He
will make pictures if exhibitors will guaran-
tee him rental money now. Reception of
the plan so far is said to be enthusiastic.
Scheduled meetings to explain the plan and
garner contracts have been held in Philadel-
phia, Minneapolis and Cleveland.

Last week, as noted in the pictures here,
he was with New York and New Jersey ex-
hibitors, invited by the New Jersey Allied
unit to a luncheon-discussion at the Hotel
Astor.

Exceeded Hopes

The number of theatres and the sum men-
tioned mean he exceeded his “quota” hopes
in the area. Tuesday, Mr. Makelim, accom-
panied by his sales manager, Sam Nathan-
son, was in Boston. John Wolfberg and
Wilbur Snaper, circuit owners and leaders
in Allied units, were there to help him.
Wednesday, he was to be in Baltimore ;
Thursday, in Indianapolis; and Friday in
New Orleans.

And, next week, there will be more cities,
the definite itinerary to be disclosed at this
week’s end.

Mr. Makelim outlined to the New York
meeting and to the others, a comparatively
crowded schedule of 12 pictures, which, he
said, would be handled by his own represen-
tatives in each area. They would be affiliated
independent distributors, in his words.

He said the New York meeting was most
enthusiastic. It was exceptional for includ-
ing representatives not only of Allied but

also of the Theatre Owners of America and
every major circuit in the area.

In Columbus, Ohio, last week, some 50
exhibitors at a special meeting were reported
to have decided they favor Mr. Makelim’s
plan because they “have everything to gain
and nothing to lose.”

At the Boston meeting Tuesday it was
reported that a large percent of exhibitors
present signed contracts for the projected

in the area attended the meeting at Hotel
Bradford sponsored by Independent Exhibi-
tors, Inc., of New England.

Introducing Mr. Makelim, Nathan Ya-
mins, chairman of the meeting, said, “The
shortage of product is acute and with higher
film rentals and increased percentage films
something must be done about it. Mr.
Makelim's plan seems to be the answer to the
situation.”

ABOVE: Morris Spewak, John FloraventI,
Matthew Polan, Samule Einhorn, Peter
Adams, Jack Unger, and George Gold.

BELOW: Harry Sheer, Lucian Feldman,
Daniel J. Sheer, Harold Klein, Lou Wolf,
Herbert Hahn, Al Sicignano, and Fred
Schwartz.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

J s.

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

Robert Bassler's 30 years in this thing the
trade calls an industry when it’s going big,
and an art when it flops, span its best times
and its worst. He
thinks the present is
neither of these, but
the future could well
turn out to be the
former. So, for the
first time in those 30
assorted years, he’s
backing himself, and
that future, with his
own money.

His first indepen-
dently produced pic-
ture, which United
Artists is to dis-
tribute, is entitled
“Suddenly,” and its principal figure, a
would-be assassin of the President of the
United States, is played by the Frank
Sinatra of “From Here to Eternity” and the
Oscar parade. It’s being timed for release
next September or October, and its pro-
ducer is confident the motion picture thea-
tres of the country and their customers will
still be there to see it. He thinks a busi-
ness that could survive a 1929 and a 1932
has to work imagination overtime to howl
up a fear of a 1954.

The Bassler career has been of a kind to
warrant credence in his concept of the mo-
tion picture’s future as it moves forward
now into a phase of its development in
which, more than at any other time, there is
unanimity concerning the place and impor-
tance of the story in screen product. This
tardy but happily total agreement on the
point that neither size nor shape nor color
nor sound of picture can salvage a produc-
tion that lacks a good story is very old news
indeed to a man whose formative years in
his profession were devoted strictly to the
story side, but it makes the tomorrows
strictly to his liking.

Entered Film Business
From College in 1924

Mr. Bassler entered this business back in
1924 when, aged 21 and fresh out of George
Washington University, he joined Para-
mount’s research department in New York,
spending two years in that quiet but reward-
ing activity before coming to Paramount’s
Hollywood studio where, as a cutter, he had
important hand in the making of such silent
successes as Pola Negri’s, Gloria Swanson’s,
many another’s.

In 1929, with films taking to talking, he
went back to the New York pole of the
Paramount axis to edit (actually, the term
“cutter” gave way to “editor” around this
time) some of the company’s oral offer-
ings. and then, as if to let the now-talking
pictures get used to vocality, he stepped

away from films for a spell of desk work on
“Reader’s Digest” (where the cutting is
even deeper than Hollywood’s was at its
deepest) and later on a whirl at literary
agenting.

Back in films again, as assistant story edi-
tor at the original Fox studio, he survived
the switch-over to 20th Century-Fox and
emerged as European story editor, stationed
in London, a three-year stmt from which he
returned to the studio here and, in 1942, to
producer status and to the production of the
musical, “My Gal Sal,” a mighty satisfying
first-try by all standards, including grosses.

“Snake Pit” Notable Among
His Big Productions

Picture followed picture, after that, with
“The Snake Pit” possibly the most memo-
rable of the lot, in terms of discussion and
distinction, but perhaps not so memorable,
in terms of mass appreciation and whole-
some human appeal as “Thunderhead — Son
of Elicka,” “Smoky” and others of his gent-
ler works. Or, on the opposite hand, such
melodramatic thunderheads as “The Lodger,”
for instance, which still bothers light-sleep-
ing lodging-housekeepers to this day the
world around.

In comedy, musical, melodrama or what-
have-you, the Bassler imprint has been
plainly discernible on all his product (save
perhaps in the odd instance of “Beneath the
12-Mile Reef,” where he seemed to have
tied two short stories end-to-end to make
one long one) for the excellent reason that
a Bassler picture proceeds from a structur-
ally correct script derived from a properly
proportioned story and designed directly for
a theatre screen.

In the production phase of his career,
1942 on, Mr. Bassler has learned a great
many things other than story values, styles,
techniques and requirements, but they have
been things that change — screen shapes,
color systems, personality equations, topical
fads, market demands, budgetary means and
methods — and now' that he is his own em-
ployer and employee in the lively field of in-
dependent production he will learn others.
But the basic Bassler asset, unchanging
now and always, is his command of the
story factor. It was never more needed than
now'.

The production arm started four new un-
dertakings during the week, and ended shoot-
ing on six, bringing the over-all shooting
level to 22.

William H. Pine and William C. Thomas
confirmed their recent intent to budgeted
films from $1,000,000 upward, by starting
“Run for Cover,” in VistaVision and color
by Technicolor, with James Cagney in the
top role, and with Nick Ray, sought-after
young director in that spot. Viveca Lind-
fors, John Derek, Jean Hersholt, Grant

Robert Bassler

Withers, Jack Lambert, Ernest Borgnine,
Irving Bacon, are in the cast.

Producer Sol C. Siegel launched “There’s
No Business Like Show Business” for 20th
Century-Pox, in CinemaScope and color.
It’s to be a top project, and it has Ethel
Merman, Donald O’Connor, Marilyn Mon-
roe, Dan Dailey, Johnny Ray and Mitzi
Gaynor under Walter Lang’s direction.

“Thunder Pass,” a production by the
William E. Broidy corporation for Lippert
Pictures release, went into work with Robert
A. Nunes as producer and Prank McDonald
directing. Dane Clark, Andy Devine, Dor-
othy Patrick, Nestor Paiva are cast.

Sam Katzman turned cameras on “The
Moon Men,” a Johnny Weismuller item for
Columbia with Jean Byron, Helene Stanton,
Bill Henry directed by Charles Gould.

Illllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (4)

COLUMBIA

Moon Men

LIPPERT

Thunder Pass

COMPLETED (6)

COLUMBIA

Violent Men
(Technicolor)

Rough Company

(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

Long Gray Line
(CinemaScope: Tech-
nicolor)

SHOOTING (22)

A.A.

Jungle Gents

COLUMBIA

Phtfft

Joseph and His Brethren
(CinemaScope: Tech-
nicolor)

independent

Crashout (Palo Alto)
Return of Columbus
( Paal-Real )

Long John Silver
(Kaufman; Cinema-
Scope: Technicolor)

MGM

Jupiter's Darling

(CinemaScope; East-
man color)

Glass Slipper
(Eastman color)

Deep in My Heart
(Technicolor)

Green Fire
(Technicolor)

Last Time I Saw Paris
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Run for Cover (Vista-
Vision; Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

There's No Business Like
Show Business (Cine-
maScope; color)

Three for the Show
(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

U-l

Shadow Valley
(Technicolor)

So This Is Paris
(Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
(VistaVision; Techni-
color)

RKO

Conqueror (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)
20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney:
CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

U.A.

Shield for Murder
(Schenck-Koch)

Vera Cruz

( Hecht-Lancaster;
SuperScope; Techni-
color)

U-l

Destry (Technicolor)

WARNER

Dragnet ( WarnerColor)
Helen of Troy
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

Land of the Pharoahs
(CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

AA Net for
39 Weeks
Shotrs Rise

The gross income for the 39-week period
ended March 27, 1954, of Allied Artists Pic-
tures Corporation and its subsidiaries
amounted to $8,290,681, Steve Broidy, presi-
dent, announced. This compared with $7,-
147,360 for the same period of the previous
year. The net profit before Federal income
taxes amounted to $585,289 for the 39-week
period ended March 27, 1954, compared
with $585,127 for the corresponding period
of the previous year. ,

In this 39-week period (which covers the
first nine months of the company’s current
fiscal year) a reserve was set up for Federal
income taxes of $304,000 whereas this re-
serve for the corresponding period of the
previous year, adjusted on the basis of the
pro-rata amount for the full fiscal year,
amounted to only $269,000. After providing
for this income tax reserve, the net profit in
this 1954 period amounted to $281,289 as
compared with $316,127 for the correspond-
ing period in the previous year.

Mr. Broidy pointed out that very little of
the earnings accruing from the Walter
Wanger production “Riot in Cell Block 11”
were reflected in this 39-week report. This
picture had its world premiere at the May-
fair Theatre, New York, February 18th and
went into national release March 1st. From
all indications this picture will be one of
the highest grossing films for the company.

Mr. Broidy expressed high hopes for the
recently completed CinemaScope produclion
“The Adventures of Hajji Baba,” which is
the first picture produced by Allied Artists
under its parnership agreement with 20th
Century-Fox Film Corporation. The sec-
ond picture under this arrangement with
20th Century-Fox will be “The Black
Prince,” also a CinemaScope production,
which is scheduled to go before the cameras
in England in July.

Pola-Lite Single Strip
Shown in New Orleans

The new Pola-Lite single strip 3-D
attachment was demonstrated May 19 at the
Lakeview theatre. New Orleans. Attending
were representatives of all major circuits in
the area, most of the booking agencies, many
of the theatre supply dealers. Universal’s
“Creature from the Black Lagoon” was
screened. Film Inspection Service, dis-
tributor for the device in the New Orleans
territory, announced that three units were
ordered after the demonstration, bringing
the total in the area to seven.

William LaPortes Dies

William LaPortes, 59, manager of the
Boyd, Chester, Pa., died May 21. He helped
found the Main Line Amusement Co. in
Philadelphia and later was a division man-
ager for the Stanley Theatre Co. of
America.

through «

fought

jUtrini
Uselottt
1 Hans
i Titian WOVI

triumph*

“Silvana Pampanini is given ample
opportunity to demonstrate
why she is the leading
pin-up and named

ITALY'S MARILYN
MONROE!"

— N. y. Mirror

ALWAYS
XT YOUH
SERVICE!

WITH THE GREATEST LOVE • ANNA • SENSUALITA •

3 GIRLS FROM ROME • YOUNG CARUSO •
little world of DON CAMILLO • BEHIND CLOSED SHUTTERS

"contact your nearest I. F.E. RELEASING

CORP. DISTRICT OFFICE

L 1501 BROADWAY

1255 SO. WABASH AVE. * 115 WALTON ST., N.W. * 1907 SO. VERMONT AVE.'

" NEW YORK 36, N. Y.

• •

CHICAGO, ILL. , ATLANTA, GA.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.

• •

2108 PAYNE AVENUE

* 310 S. HARWOOD ST.

* 246 STUART ST. i

; ^ ' CLEVELAND, 0HIO

* DALLAS, TEXAS

* BOSTON, MASS. \

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 29, 1954

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities for the week end
ing May 22 were:

P€BrawnoMBt%t
Sets G Films
For Canada

TORONTO : In a departure from policy of
announcing the releasing schedule for the
entire year for Canada, Paramount Pictures
has announced the release of five major
pictures between September and the end of
December. The announcement was made by
Gordon Lightstone, Canadian general man-
ager, at the annual sales meeting May 20-22.

In addition to the five pictures, the com-
pany will release Irving Berlin’s “White
Christmas” as a special. The five are :
‘‘Rear Window,” Technicolor, an Alfred
Hitchcock production with James Stewart
and Grace Kelly ; “Sabrina,” produced by
Billy Wilder, starring Humphrey Bogart,
Audrey Hepburn; “The Bridges of Toko-
Ri,” Technicolor, a Perlberg-Seaton pro-
duction, with William Holden, Grace Kelly
and Fredric March; “Ulysses,” Techni-
color, Kirk Douglas, Silvana Mangano;
“Mambo,” Silvana Mangano, Shelley Win-
ters and Vittorio Gassman. The latter two
were filmed in Italy.

Among those on hand for the meeting
were Adolph Zukor, Paramount Pictures
chairman of the board ; A. W. Schwalberg,
president of Paramount Film Distributing
Corp. ; Loren Ryder, technical research head
of the studio ; Dr. Charles Daily of the
studio engineering department; Oscar A.
Morgan, general sales manager in charge
of short subjects and News; John J. Fitz-
gibbons, president of Famous Players Ca-
nadian Corp. ; Sam Fine, president of B & F
Theatres.

Bidding Shifts Hawaii
First Run Situation

HONOLULU : As a result of competitive
bidding involving 11 Paramount pictures,
the second-run Royal circuit here has been
awarded first run on Paramount’s “Elephant
Walk,” “Casanova’s Big Night,” “Here
Come the Girls,” “Botany Bay,” “Forever
Female,” “Money From Home,” “Red Gar-
ters,” “The Naked Jungle,” “Alaska Seas,”
“Jivaro” and “Cease Fire.”

These pictures, according to Paramount,
will play day-and-date first run in Hono-
lulu at the King theatre, downtown, and at
the Queens theatre in the heavily populated
Kaimuki residential district, with moveover
at the Palace. All top pictures will have
a minumum of two weeks day-and-date at
the King and Queens with one week follow-
ing at the Palace.

Consolidated Amusement Co. here for
many years has played all companies’ prod-
uct first run, with the e.xception of Repub-
lic’s. “Knock on Wood” and “About Mrs.
Leslie” are the ne.xt Paramount pictures to
be offered for first run in Honolulu. They
will be offered for bidding to both Consoli-
dated and Royal.

Albany: Executive Suite (MGM),

Beachhead (UA), The Robe (20th-
Fox), Last Holiday (Stratford).

Atlanta: Gone With the Wind (MGM,
reissue). River of No Return (20th-
Fox) 2nd week, French Line (RKO)
3rd week.

Baltimore: Executive Suite (MGM), 3rd
week, Julius Caesar (MGM) 2nd week.

Boston: Executive Suite (MGM),

Playgirl (U-I) and Project M7 (U-I)
double bill, The Carnival Story
(RKO).

Buffalo: Southwest Passage (UA), The
i\lAN Between (UA), Highway
Dr-\gnet (AA), Executive Suite
( MGM ) 3rd week.

Chicago: River oe No Return (20th-
Fox), PiNOCCHio (Disney-RKO), re-
issue), Elephant Walk (Para.).

Cincinnati: Rob Roy (Disney-RKO) and
Texas B adman (AA) double bill.

Cleveland: River of No Return (20th-
Fox).

Denver: River of No Return (20th-Fox),
She Couldn’t Say No (RKO).

Detroit: Executive Suite (MGM) 3rd
week. The Moon Is Blue (UA).

Hartford: Johnny Guitar (Rep.), Flame
and the Flesh ( MGM), French Line
(RKO), Carnival Story (RKO).

Indianapolis: Yankee Pasha (U-I), It
Should Happen to You (Col.).

Kansas City: Prince Valiant (20th-
Fox), French Line (RKO) 3rd week.
Riot in Cell Block 11 (AA) and
Paris Playboys (AA) double bill.

Salt Lake Exhibitor
Wins Jury Trust Case

SALT LAKE CITY : A jury in the Federal
District Court here Monday recommended
that Village Theatre, Inc., operator of the
Villa Theatre in Salt Lake, be awarded
$20,000 damages, and that the treble award
provision also be exercised in the suit of the
plaintiffs against Paramount Pictures and
Intermountain Theatres, Inc.

Village Theatre, a subsidiary of Joseph L.
Lawrence Theatres of Salt Lake, claimed
Paramount Pictures would not sell it exclu-
sive first-run product ox day and date with
downtown theatres or moveovers. The
complaint also claimed that Intermountain
Theatres, Inc., a subsidiary of Paramount
Theatres, had conspired with Paramount
Pictures to prevent the Villa from obtaining
first-run films.

The Villa is a four-year-old de luxe
theatre. Village theatre sought $120,000
treble damages.

Memphis: River of No Return (20th-
Fox).

Miami: Executive Suite (MGM) 6th
week, Johnny Guitar (Rep.) 2nd week.

Milwaukee: Carnival Story (RKO)
holdover, French Line (RKO) 5th
week.

Minneapolis: Rhapsody (MGM), We
Want a Child (Lippert).

New Orleans: Prince Valiant (20th-
Fox), River of No Return (20th-Fox)
2nd week, French Line (RKO) hold-
over, The Yellow Tomahawk (UA).

Oklahoma City: Outlaw Territory

( Realart ) .

Philadelphia: Indiscretion of An Amer-
ican Wife (Col.) 2nd week. Elephant
Walk (Para.) 3rd week.

Pittsburgh: River of No Return (20th-
Fox ) 2nd week.

Portland, Ore.: Prisoner of War

(MGM), Carnival Story (RKO),
River of No Return (20th-Fox), 2nd
week. Executive Suite (MGM) 3rd

week.

Providence: Elephant Walk (Para.)
2nd week, Julius Caesar (MGM),
River of No Return (20th-Fox).

Toronto: Hans Christian Andersen,

(RKO).

Vancouver: Rose Marie (MGM).

Washington; River of No Return (20th-
Fox) 2nd week. Executive Suite
(MGM) 3rd week. Elephant Walk
(Para.) 3rd week, French Line (RKO),
Knock on Wood (Para,) 5th week,
Rob Roy (Disney-RKO).

"Obsession" Premiere Set
For Cleveland July 15

“Magnificent Obsession,” Universal-Inter-
national’s production based on the novel by
Lloyd C. Douglas, and starring Jane Wy-
man, Rock Hudson and Barbara Rush, will
have its world premiere at the RKO Palace
theatre in Cleveland July 15, Charles J.
Feldman, vice-president and general sales
manager of Universal, announced last week.
Charles Simonelli, eastern advertising and
publicity department manager, will help set
the advance promotional campaign.

Allied Artists' New Office

Allied Artists has acquired the entire 10th
floor of 1560 Broadway in New York and
has moved into its new quarters. The com-
panv formerly occupied part of the sixth
floor in the same building, with the interna-
tional subsidiary on the seventh floor. Both
companies now will be housed together.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29. 1954

ALBANY

The pattern of new CinemaScope releases,
announced by Jules Perlmutter for Ft.
George drive-in, Lake George, with ex-
pected installation by June IS, is not one
that he or other outside operators think ad-
visable for most situations. Ft. George is
unusual in that the major share of its
patrons are vacationing New Yorkers — pre-
sumed to have seen the older CinemaScope.

. . . The same condition prevails, and

therefore the same policy will be followed,
at Perlmutter’s Lake theatre. Lake George
Village. . . . Variety Club annual golf
tournament will be held at Shaker Ridge
Club June 21 inctead of June 28, as first
scheduled. . . . Francis Mulderry, son of
the exchange owner and grandson of Film
Row’s co-developer, will be graduated from
Holy Cross College June 9. His father is
a Manhattan College graduate. . . . Gus
Lampe, former general manager of Schine
Circuit and present g.m. of Schine-owned
WPTR, as well as entertainment director
for Schine Hotels, is selling his Glovers-
ville home preparatory to moving, with Mrs.
Lampe, into an Albany apartment near that
of Jack Goldberg, Metro manager.

ATLANTA

Herbert Roller, manager of the Ritz, San-
ford, Fla., has been named president of the
Junior Chamber of Commerce of that city.

. . . Milton C. Moore, manager of the Lake
Shore theatre, Jacksonville, Fla., was in
visiting. . . . George B. Odium has re-
signed as manager of the Cleveland drive-in,
Cleveland, Tenn., will announce his plans
upon his return from New York. . . . The
Independent Theatre’s the Skyway drive-in,
Chattanooga, Tenn., has opened its new ply-
ground with several rides and merry-go-
round. . . . The Roxy .theatre. Old Fort,
N. C., owned by Mr. and Mrs. A1 Jennings,
has reopened after remodeling. . . . Also

opened is the Princess Cross City, Fla., after
undergoing a complete renovating job. . . .
J. D. Bush, owner of the Slappy drive-in,
Albany, Ga., was in for a talk with his
booker, Howard Schuessler ; Eugene Rhodes,
Rhodes Sound Service, Savannah, Ga., was
in with friends; also Bill Griffin, theatre
o^\mer of Cullman, Ala. . . . Eight former
chief barkers of Atlanta Variety Club had
a party at the club house with the following
chiefs: Harry Ballance, Jack Duestric, Jr.;
Paul Wilson, Charlie Durmyer, E . E.
Whitaker, Fred Coleman and John Fulton.

BALTIMORE

Among the local exhibitors attending the
Glenn Morris testimonial dinner in Wash-
ington last week were : I. M. Rappaport,
Town & Hippodrome theatres; Gordon
Contee and Lou Gaertner, Ritz Enterprises ;
Rodney Collier, Stanlay; Jack Sidney,
Loew’s; Leon Back and Ed Kimpel, Rome
Circuit; Fred Schmuff, Durkee Circuit;
George Daransoll, Crest; Irving Cantor,
Hippodrome; Joe Grant, Northwood; Mil-
ton Schwaber, Bill Brizendine and Boots-

Wagonheim, Schwaber Circuit. , . . Mr.
and Mrs. Herb Bennin, MGM branch man-
ager in Washington, in Baltimore enjoying
a holiday. . . . H. David Thomas is the
new assistant at the Little theatre. . . .
Gil Peacock, Times projectionist, is recup-
erating at home following surgery at Mary-
land General Hospital. . . . Mrs. William
Johnson, wife of Elkton drive-in manager
Bill Johnson, passed away recently. . . .
Richard Dizon, Hippodrome assistant, in
Atlantic City for weekend. . . . Jake Flax,
Republic branch manager, in town visiting
accounts. . . . Sam Tabor, Republic sales-
man in Baltimore, complaining of an ailing
leg. . . . Oscar Kantor, Warner salesman,
preparing for a trip to Hawaii.

BOSTON

Lawrence G. Laskey has been appointed
New England regional chairman for Bonds
for Israel. While Israel’s Ambassador Eban
was in town, Mr. Laskey accompanied him
to a luncheon at the Somerset Club, where
Governor Herter tendered the Ambassador
a luncheon, and that evening to the Somerset
Hotel for the Eounders’ Dinner of the
Guardians of Israel. Mr. Laskey, a partner
with E. M. Loew, is also head of the Boston
Committee for the State of Israel Bonds.

. . . The Saugus theatre, owned by Dick
Rubin, was flooded during the recent heavy
rains, forcing the closing for four days
while renovations were made. . . . Stanley
Warner Theatres’ Bob Howell, manager of
the Fort, Newburyport, Mass., won second
place for the March managers’ contest
throughout the circuit. . . . Irving Saver,
district manager for Alexander Film Co.,
played host to his salesmen at an all-day
luncheon meeting held at the Warren Lob-
ster House, Kittery, Maine. General man-
ager Cliff E. Parker flew in to address the
group. . . . Funeral services for Lewis
Newman, 53, well known theatre manager
in this area, were held at the Solomon
Funeral Home May 20.

WHEN AND WHERE

June 8-10: Annual convention, Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

June 14-16: Annual spring board meeting
and get-together. Allied Theatre Owners
of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake
Wewasee, Ind.

June 17-19: Meeting of the executive com-
mittee and board of directors. Theatre
Owners of America, Beverly Hills Hotel,
Los Angeles.

June 27-29: Annual convention, Mississippi
Theatre Owners Association, Edgewater
Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss.

BUFFALO

Richard T. Kemper, zone manager. Dip-
son Theatres, and Charles B. Taylor, UPT,
attended the annual memorial service in St.
Louis Church last Wednesday of Buffalo
Bill Tent, Circus Saints & Sinners Club of
America, Inc. . . . There was a big crowd
at the first of a series of Monday luncheons
in the Variety Club this week. Chief Barker
Billy Keaton is trying out the experiment
in the hope of making it a weekly get-
together party. . . . Buffalo’s own Bob
Smith, star and creator of “Howdy-Doody,”
was in town the other day as a surprise
guest at a testimonial party for his pastor,
the Rev. Emil E. Mueller of Emmaus Luth-
eran Church, of which Bob’s mother, Mrs.
Emma J. Schmidt, also is a member. . , .
Richard D. Walsh, Hyman Theatres, Ni-
agara Falls, is arranging the distribution
of a series of safety trailers, presented to the
Buffalo police department by the Buffalo
Automobile Club and which will be shown
in theatres of Western New York. . . .
Elmer F. Lux, head of Elmart Theatres, and
Richard T. Kemper, Dipson Theatres zone
manager, are chairmen of committees
arranging the annual national convention of
the Circus Saints & Sinners in Buffalo
June 10-12. . . . A City Court jury in
Dunkirk has acquitted Henry K. Leworthy
on a charge he was operating Bingo illegally
when his game was raided May 12.

CINCINNATI

The 3,300-seat RKO Albee, the flagship
of the local circuit, will be one of three
RKO theatres in the country to have the
closed circuit telecast of the heavyweight
title bout June 17 between Rocky Marciano
and Ezzard Charles from New York’s
Yankee Stadium. Admission at the Albee,
as well as Keith’s theatre, in Dayton, Ohio,
will be $3, including tax. The third house,
the Palace, in Cleveland, Ohio, will charge
$3.50, including tax. . . . Two out of the
four first runs here are currently playing
reissues, with “The Jolson Story” at the
Albee, while the RKO Grand, playing a
double bill, is presenting “A Girl for Joe,”
originally titled “No Time for Comedy,” and
“A Guy With a Grin.” . . . Harris Dudel-
son, formerly branch manager for United
Artists here, but until recently division man-
ager for Lippert Pictures, now has joined
the Walt Disney subsidiary, the Buena Vista
organization. He will make his headquar-
ters in Chicago in a sales capacity. ... A
new drive-in theatre, to be known as the
Frontier, is soon to be opened at Sisters-
ville, W. Va., by Arthur Schrul. H. Gill-
man is the new owner of the Bel-Air drive-
in, at Paducah, Ky., having acquired the
theatre from R. E. Renfro of Paducah.

CLEVELAND

Reports from the city and surrounding
areas indicate a noticeable drop in theatre
attendance in spite of continued cool
weather. “River of No Return,” being held

(Continued on following page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

(Continued from preceding page)

a second week at the Hippodrome. . . .
John Oliver, Paramount booker, is on vaca-
tion. . . . The Marciano-Ezzard Charles
fight telecast June 17 will be on both the
Allen and Palace screens. Both houses
liave adopted a reserved seat policy with
tickets selling at $3.50, tax included. World
premiere of U-Ps “Magnificent Obsession”
will be held in Cleveland at the RKO Pal-
ace theatre July 15, according to announce-
ment by Manager Max Mink of the RKO
Palace. Decision to hold the premiere here
was in response to thousands of requests
from Clevelanders who want to honor Ross
Hunter, producer of the picture, and Rock
Hudson, star, who hail, respectively, from
Cleveland and Elyria. . . . Mike Masan-
drea has notified exchanges that he is clos-
ing his Mayfield theatre May 28 for an
indefinite period. . . . Horace Adams, In-
dependent Theatres of Ohio president, pre-
dicts that Ohio will oversubscribe its quota
to Makelim Productions.

COLUMBUS

Loew’s Ohio has installed auditorium
speakers which will be used for the first
time for the showing of “The Student
Ih'ince.” . . . Revival of the Columbus
tent of the Variety Club is planned. Meet-
ing of theatre men, radio, TV and press will
be held June 7 at the Virginia Hotel. It is
planned to install club rooms at the Vir-
ginia. ... 48 members of the Independent
Theatre Owners of Ohio attended the meet-
ing at the Deshler-Hilton to hear details of
the Makelim plan. . . . Editor Don Wea-
ver of the “Columbus Citizen” was sched-
uled to present the grand prize to the win-
ner in the “Perfect Secretary” contest on
the stage at Loew’s Broad on opening night
of “Executive Suite.” Winner will receive
a cruise on the Della Queen down the Ohio
and Tennessee Rivers from Cincinnati.

DES MOINES

Lake Tilton, shipper at Warners, has re-
signed and will retire after many years of
service on Film Row. Employees at War-
ners gave Lake a farewell party and pre-
sented a gift. . . . The Legion post at
Waucoma has purchased the Waucoma
theatre at auction for $1,750. The Legion-
naires will use the house for their club-
rooms. . . . Horace Spencer, manager of
the Ritz at Chariton, has been transferred
to Oelwein, where he will manager two
theatres and a drive-in for the Central
States Theatre Corp. Mr. Spencer succeeds
Paul Scholer, who was recalled to active
duty with the army. W. F. Stolfus, who
had been interim manager at Oelwein, is the
new manager of the Ritz in Chariton. . . .
Roberta Chapman has resigned at Universal
to become a full time housewife. . . .

Florence Baker is no longer at Metro. She
left to await a visit from the stork. . . .
Bol) Newmann, NSS office manager, is vaca-
tioning in Missouri. . . . Robert Krueger,
manager of the Uptown theatre in Sioux
City, has been reelected executive vice-presi-
dent of the lowa-Nebraska AITO.

CHICAGO

Attorney Seymour Simon was married to
Roslyn Biel of Cleveland in tliat city May
28. . . . The Karlov theatre has been

reopened by Joseph Pasteur. . . . Elsa

Aylward was appointed assistant advertis-
ing manager of Filmack Trailer Corpora-

tion. . . . Fred Mindlin has resigned as
manager of the Ziegfeld and will be suc-
ceeded by Tom Dowd, formerly with the
Beacon Hill in Boston. . . . Cinema Lodge
of B’nai B’rith had a successful two-night
run of its variety and amateur show at the
Eighth Street theatre. Major domo of the
project was Nat Nathanson of Allied
Artists. . . . Peggie Castle, Shawn Smith
and Dolores Donlon were here to plug the
world premiere of “The Long Wait” at the
Essaness Woods. All three girls appear in
the picture. . . . Paramount has scheduled
a demonstration of VistaVision at the Chi-
cago theatre, Wednesday, June 2. ... A
surprise birthday party at the Ambassador
Hotel for Mrs. John Balaban, wife of the
B. & K. president, was attended by many
of the city’s notables and civic leaders.

DENVER

After receiving a “fair sized amount,”
L. K. Lee, president of Kar-Vu Theatres,
Inc., operating the Monaco here, dropped
his anti-trust suit against the Wolfberg
Theatres and United Artists for $300,000
tripled damages. Mr. Lee claimed he had
been unable to get second run United Ar-
tists films for the same terms as that en-
joyed by the Wolfberg interests. . . .
R. L. Stanger, owner of the Windsor,
Windsor, Colo., and Cecil Willars, are build-
ing a 500-car drive-in in southwestern
Denver. This will make nine drive-ins in
and adjacent to Denver. . . . Vic Love
has taken on the distribution of the films
of the British Information Service, which
run 10 to 38 minutes, for the western por-
tion of the U.S. Hall Baetz, formerly dis-
trict manager here for Fox Inter-Mountain
Theatres, will distribute them in Seattle.
. . . L. J. Albertini, Wolfberg Theatres
district manager, flew to California for his
mother’s funeral. . . . Ben Benda has

resigned as manager of the Santa Fe, with
no replacement as yet.

DETROIT

Borrowing a phrase from the theatre
business, Detroit merchants threw a three-
day sales event named 3-D day. Downtown
Detroit Days. All major central businesses
participated, including theatres. Wayne
University’s queen, Jean Sugrue released
balloons carrying 500 complimentary tickets
to United Detroit Theatres. . . . United
Detroit has replaced Thane Lenz as man-
ager of the Bloomfield in Birmingham, with
Lee Fraser. Fraser, who has been doing
some survey work for UDT, plans extended
civic co-operation with the house. . . .

Concurrent with the showing of “Three
Coins in the Fountain,” at the Fox, manager
Dave Idzal is looking for persons who
tossed coins into the di Trevi fountain in
Rome. Hopes v.^ere that Detroit Council
President Miriani, who is in Rome with the
Board of Commerce tour, would do so. The
picture was prevued two days before open-
ing on a sneak basis. Idzal spoke this week
before the American-Korea Foundation
$175,000 opening meeting. . . . Morris
Katz and Ralph Ruben have filled in for
ailing Phil Schare at the Film Bldg, booth.

HARTFORD

Early June openings are planned for
Connecticut’s newest drive-in projects, both
in Groton, a suburb of New London. The
units: Route 12 Drive-In, being built by

Groton Oi)en Air Theatre, Inc., consisting
of J. Lawrence Peters, president; Isadore
Fishbone, vice-president; Harry Picazio,
secretary ; and Anthony Albino, treasurer ;
Bridge Drive-In, being erected by the
Associated Management Corp., president of
which is Edward F. O’Neil, formerly gen-
eral manager of the Mrakoff Bros. Theatres
in Connecticut. . . . Livio Dotter, manager
of the State, Jewett City, Conn., has been
promoted to manager of the $200,000, 1,000-
car capacity Plainville (Conn.) Drive-In,
according to an announcement by Sperie G.
Perokos, general manager, Perakos Theatre
Associates. William Hoddy goes to the
Jewett City theatre. . . . Mrs. George E.
Landers, wife of the E. M. Loew’s Circuit
Hartford division manager, leaves here next
month to visit their son-in-law and daugh-
ter, Dr. and Mrs. Ben Vicas, in San Fran-
cisco. . . . Frank Daley has been named
assistant manager at the E. M. Loew’s Hart-
ford. . . . The motion picture industry of
New Haven and associated groups spon-
sored a stage and screen presentation at
Loew’s Poll for benefit of Troop Three,
Handicapped Boys of New Haven. . . .
Hartford visitors: Sal Adorno, Jr., Middle-
town, Conn., exhibitor ; Lou Brown, Loew’s-
Poli New England Theatres advertising
department.

INDIANAPOLIS

A nine-and-a-half-pound boy was born to
Indiana Allied leader Trueman Rembusch
and Mrs. Rembusch May 19. It’s their sev-
enth child. . . . Boyd Sparrow, formerly
manager of Loew’s here and now manager
of Loew’s Warfield in San Francisco, is
back for a visit. . . . Cinerama is negotiating
with Greater Indianapolis for a lease on the
Lyric. . . . Carl Niesse has installed a
wide screen and stereophonic sound at the
Vogue. . . . Both the Lyric and Keith’s
will appeal to race crowds with stage shows
in place of their second features Sunday.
. . . Despite the transit strike, which has
cut downtown business in general 40 per
cent, “River of No Return,” at the Indiana,
and “The Student Prince,” at Loew’s, will
lieadline a gala bill for the holiday week-
end. . . . The State Fair Board listed
Joe Cantor, Indianapolis circuit operator,
among parties interested in leasing the
Coliseum, formerly operated by Arthur
Wirtz. . . . Martin & Lewis drew a crowd
of 6,000 to the Butler Fieldhouse for their
show Monday night.

JACKSONVILLE

Roy A. Benjamin, partner in National
Theatre Enterprises, left for New York on
a pleasure and business trip. . . . Astrolite
wide screens have been installed in both
the Strand and Roosevelt theatres, Negro
patronage houses. . . . Dick Regan, Para-
mount salesman, was vacationing. . . .

Abner Camp, another Paramount salesman,
became the father of a nine-pound girl
May 18. ... A total of 67 Florida theatres
now have CinemaScope. . . . The city’s
first “sneak preview” of a CinemaScope
coming feature film was held at the Florida
theatre. . . . Bob Capps, MGM salesman,
was taking his annual leave. . . . Lynn
Goodyear became the new assistant man-
ager of the Beacham theatre, Orlando, when
Mabel R. Case resigned. ... Joe Charles
moved up from the management of the

(Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29. 1954

{Continued from opposite page)

Roxy, Orlando, to the Rialto. . . . The
St. Johns, first run house, was double-billing
two re-releases, “Public Enemy” and “Little
Caesar,” both Warner pictures.

KANSAS CITY

The dinner-dance for the industry, spon-
sored by the Motion Picture Association of
Greater Kansas City, has been re-set for
Monday, June 21 (the original date was
June 12). The place will be the Wyandotte
County Lake — with games, dancing, enter-
tainment, starting with the buffet dinner at
6 P.M. — all “western style.” . . . Mrs.
Mildred Blackmore, who has managed thea-
tres in the area several years, is now buy-
ing and booking for and managing the Ad-
miral, close-in neighborhood theatre, under
the ownership of Charles Johnson, who
bought from Herman Lavine. Bill Blakey,
who succeeds the late Eddie Mansfield as
city manager for Greater Kansas City of
Commonwealth Theatres, with offices at the
Regent Theatre, has appointed James White,
recently night manager of the Regent, to
be day manager. Mrs. Bess Powers, many
years night manager of the Regent, but for
the past few months manager of the Com-
monwealth’s Waldo, returns to the night
post. . . . Harold Hume, booker for Dis-
trict 2 of Fox Midw'est (the Greater Kansas
City district), Leon Robertson, manager,
has been given also the duties of assistant
to Ralph Adams in the buying of films.

LOS ANGELES

Sam Stiefel, who operates a buying and
booking service here, was injured in a fall
which sent him to the hospital with a leg
injury. . . . Back in town after flying to
Mexico City on business was Frank Fouce,
prexy of the Fouce Theatres. . . . The
Harper theatre in Fontana, which was shut-
tered for the past few years, has been con-
verted into a roller rink by Jim and Ernie
Harper. . . . The Century theatre has

been reopened by Joe Kogan, who was for-
merly a theatre manager for Fox West
Coast. . . . Ben 1. Mohi, owner of the
Hunley theatre in Hollywood, returned from
vacationing in Manhattan. . . . Saying

goodbye to his friends on the Row was Stan
Lefcourt, who is moving to San Francisco
to take up new booking duties there. Stan
was formerly associated with the Cal Pac
Corp. . . . Back from a business trip to
Arizona was A1 Blumberg, National
Screen salesman, and Ben Taylor, Favorite
Films. ... In from New York was Foster
Blake, U-I western division sales manager.

. . . On the Row buying and booking new
product were Lloyd Katz, Las Vegas; Bill
Alford. Desert Hot Springs; Ernie Harper,
Fontana; Joe Markowitz, Encinitas, and
Tom Aluchmore, Canoga Park.

MIAMI

Arthur Price, exploitation exponent who
was at one time associated with the Wo-
metco Theatres, died recently in New York
Citv, where he was connected with Allied
Artists. . . . Bill Duggan, manager of the
Florida in West Palm Beach, was ‘way
down upon the Swanee River’ recently when
he spent part of his vacation on a fishing
jaunt to the historic stream. . . . Walter
Klements, manager of the Mayfair Art, had
an interesting and varied art display in the
theatre louiTge when Lillian Leichtag had a

SEES THE PERSONAL TOUCH AS
VITAL TO DRIVE-IN SUCCESS

ALBANY : The personal touch is all-
important in the management of a drive-in.
So said Alan V. Iselin, who conducts the
Auto Vision in East Greenbush, across the
Hudson River from Albany. Agreeing with
him was Jules Perlmutter, chief barker of
the local Variety Club and operator of
automobile theatres at Lake George and
Richmondville, N. Y. Adding a word of
assent was Attorney Lewis A. Sumberg,
partner of Harry Lamont In several upstate
drive-ins.

Mr. Iselin expressed the belief that
absence of the personal approach is the
greatest handicap in circuit operation of
outdoor theatres. He said, "With it many
circuit drive-ins could increase business 15
to 20 per cent." Difficult indeed, he con-
tinued, is the task of landing a manager
who will give the operation the individual-
ized touch required.

"I know virtually all my patrons; know
their cars, know even their license numbers;
I am out to greet the folks in all kinds of
weather," explained the World War II

Navy officer operating the exchange dis-
trict's first drive-in.

Mr. Iselin emphasized that he makes it a
practice to greet patrons as they enter his
drive-in. They look for him; expect to see
the manager to an extent that indoor thea-
tre customers seldom do. This is not an
assignment that can be delegated to an
assistant, he said.

Mr. Perlmutter affirmed Mr. Iselin's belief
in the importance of the personal touch,
but opined that it can be achieved, in cir-
cuit operation, by hiring a local man, well
rooted and highly respected. He did so, at
the Fort George drive-in, with excellent
results; also in Richmondville, by engaging
a man and wife.

Mr. Sumberg pointed out that Mr.
Lamont had hit paydirt in at least four out-
door situations by engaging or training men
for the specific spots. "The customers
know and like these men," he said. "They
are eminently right for the situations
assigned them." Mr. Lamont supplements
these operations with personal visits.

one-woman show of marines, landscapes and
portraits. . . . Sonny Shepherd reported
an advance sale on reservations for the
theatre TV world’s heavyweight champion-
ship bout June 17, with the Wometco Carib,
Miami and Capitol the only Florida theatres
equipped for receiving the bout.

MEMPHIS

M. A. Lightman, Jr., and Joe Keifer,
Malco executives, made a business trip to
Ft. Smith, Ark. . . . F. J. A. McCarthy,
division manager. New York, and J. V.
Frew, district manager, Atlanta, were visit-
ors to Universal exchange in Memphis. . . .
R. L. Bostick, National Theatre Supply dis-
trict manager, Memphis, is in New York
on business. . . . Mrs. William Hessel-
bein, office manager’s secretary at Univer-
sal, and Mr. Hesselbein are parents of a
baby daughter. . . . C. B. Clark, owner,
closed his Fix theatre, Philadelphia, Miss.
. . . Ira and Claude May, owners of Air-
way Theatre, Little Rock, have closed Air-
way temporarily. . . . Rowley United

Theatres, Inc., have closed Victory Thea-
tre, Benton, Ark. . . . J. C. Cox, owner,
has closed Ritz theatre at Union City, Tenn.
Mrs. Mildred Bomar, Wren Theatres, an-
nounces Lil Theatre, Mena, Ark., has been
closed.

MILWAUKEE

Wisconsin Variety Club’s night at the
ball-game, June 7, is anticipated by the many
members who have already purchased their
tickets from John Mednikow or other mem-
bers. Members of Wisconsin Variety and
their ladies will have the opportunity to
meet the National Leaguers in person along
with their owner, Lou Perini, at a dinner
in their honor at the Pfister Hotel, June 3.
John Mednikow is program chairman for

this affair. . . . J. R. Velde, divisional
manager from New York for United Artists,
was in town the past week. . . . A new

girl in the office at United Artists is Jeanette
Lindquist, who formerly worked at the RKO'
office. . . . The Royal theatre here, on
Milwaukee’s south side, is going up for
auction next week. . . . Sam Miller, Rialto
theatre in Gladstone, Mich., drove here from
California with his wife to do his booking
and buying. He now makes his home in
California.

MINNEAPOLIS

Three new drive-ins in the territory
opened this week. They are the D & R at
Phillips, S. D., operated by Dale Ronning;
the Triad at Ashland, Wis., operated by
Frank Hahn, and the Paul Bunyon at Inter-
national Falls, Minn., operated by Eugene
Tacke. . . . C. K. Wauttke, operator of the
Lakeside drive-in at Regent, N. D., flew in
to do some buying and booking. , . . Ben
Berger has installed CinemaScope equip-
ment in his Fergus at Fergus Falls, Minn.,
and the State at St. Peter, Minn. George
Johnson installed CinemaScope in his Stan-
ley at Stanley, Wis. . . . Independent Film
Service has taken over the inspection and
shipping for Republic. . . . Jack Kelvie, 20th-
Fox office manager, is in a fishing trip at

(Continued, on following page)

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(^Continued from preceding page)
Detroit Lakes, Minn. . . . Martin Lebedoff,
Minneapolis exhibitor, has leased the neigh-
borhood Capitol, St. Paul, from Minnesota
Amusement Co.

NEW ORLEANS

Raymond Gremillion, Southeastern Thea-
tre Equipment Co. of Louisiana sales and
service representative and associate owner
Twin Do Drive-In, Metaire, La., vacationed
in New York. A. L. Royal, Meridian, Miss.,
and his assistant Hank Jackson on their
round passed out streamer reminders that
the Mississippi Theatre Owners Association
annual convention is slated to be held at the
Edgewater Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park,
Miss., June 27-29. . . . George A. Pollitz,
418 North Street, Jackson, Miss., leased
Mrs. Maurren Hobson’s Lynne at Bran-
don, Miss. . . . Milton Dureau, presi-
dent Masterpiece Pictures announced that
they have acquired the rights to distribute
Samba Pictures re-releases in this territory
which includes “Tulsa,” “Big Cat,”
“Mickey,” “Amazing Mr. X,” “Trapped,”
“Port of New York,” “Man From Texas,”
“Reign of Terror,” “Lost Honeymoon,”
“Down Memory Lane.” . . . E. V. Richards,
Jr., former theatre magnate was appointed
chairman of the New Orleans citv trust
commission by Mayor Cheps Morrison.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Allied of Oklahoma held a special meet-
ing May 17 at the Biltmore Hotel, follow-
ing a luncheon at which Glenn Thompson
was the speaker. He gave a report of a
meeting held in Kansas City, regarding the
Makelim Plan, for producing pictures for
Allied. Twelve pictures are planned for ex-
hibitors over the nation. About 25 theatre
owners and managers attended the meeting.
Among these were Eddie Jones, Tulsa,
Frank Deaton, Alva, Roy Shields, Enid,
Bernard McKenna, Norman, Earl Snyder,
Tulsa, Mrs. Bess Newcom, Lakeside Thea-
ter, Oklahoma City, Claude Motley, Video
Theaters, Oklahoma City, Robert Busch,
Uptown and Villa Theaters, Oklahoma City,
Herb Boehm, Watonga, Earl Snyder Jr.,
Tulsa. It was reported a relief in shortage
of good pictures was in sight. They dis-
cussed future meetings to be held at which
time a committee will be set up to handle
details of buying and booking these pictures.

. . . Mr. and Mrs. Robert Busch, are plan-
ning a vacation with friends to Mexico City.
Mr. Busch is manager of the Uptown and
Villa Theaters. Charles Ferris, owner of
the Villa and Uptown Theaters, is planning
extensive remodeling of the Villa theater.

PHILADELPHIA

Tri-States Buying and Booking Service
is now handling Jimmy Dukas’ Grand, Ed-
wardsville, Pa., and Allied Motion Picture
Theatre Service here is now handling the
Harvest Moon drive-in. Linden, Pa. . . .
The Pastime, Duryea, Pa , has been leased
by Raymond Everett. . . . Criterion, Moores-
town, N. J., which has been operating only
weekends, re-lights for the Wednesday and
Thursday evenings with foreign and classic
films, keeping the popular runs for the week-
ends. Jay King, manager of Stanley-War-
ner’s Yorktown, on the sick list at Jeans
Hospital. . . . Del Jones pinch-hitting as as-
sistant manager at the Stanton while How-
ard Seidman is in Jefferson Hospital for a

checkup. . . . Local theatre men received a
tax break when Mayor Joseph S. Clark
signed an amendment to the present ordi-
nance covering the 10 per cent amusement
tax to read: TO per cent on each 10 cents or
major fraction thereof.” . . . The vote on
the Sunday movie referendum in Hanover,
Pa., which showed that the majority of the
voters were opposed to Sabbath showings,
will stand in a decree handed down by the
local courts there in dismissing a complaint
against the tally. . . . George Morris, man-
ager of the Orient, Scranton, Pa., became
the father of a son born last week. . . .
The Mount Penn Drive-In near Reading,
Pa , reopened for the season. . . . The Bern-
ville. Pa., School Board, with one theatre in
the town, voted to discontinue the 10 per
cent tax on theatre admissions.

PITTSBURGH

The deadlock in the trolley strike, now in
its third week, continues to paralyze busi-
ness 111 the downtown theatres, which are
taking out promotional ads in the three
dailies in an effort to lure more customers.

. . . “Witness to Murder” has been set to
follow the current “Student Prince” in the
Penn. . . . “The French Line” will follow
the Fulton’s “Three Coins in the Fountain.”

. . . critic Win Fanning of the “Post-Ga-
zette” and his wife, Vicki, back from a
Block Island, R. 1. vacation . . . the transit
strike has advanced the end of the legitimate
season at the Nixon, with “Separate Rooms’’
as the finale insetad of “Late to Bed,” now
canceled. Producer Francis Mayville has
also delayed his three weeks of ballet at the
Casino theatre until June 15, at least. . . .
“Dial M for Murder” is playing the Stan-
ley in 2-D instead of 3-D as previously an-
nounced.

PORTLAND

Mike Reeves has been appointed assistant
manager of the Oriental theatre. . . . Mrs.
J. J. Parker has just returned to work after
two weeks of illness. . . . Jay Robinson,
20th Centurty-Fox character actor was here
for two days and did a fine public relations
job for the industry. Evergreen’s ace show-
mandiser, Oscar Nyberg, had a tight sched-
ule for him. This was his second stop on
a nationwide tour. . . . Nick George, Walt
Disney cartoonist also here visiting schools
in the entire area. Herb Royster, J. J.
Parker publicity director, set up local dates.
Mrs. -A.rnold Marks, wife of “Oregon Jour-
nal” drama editor, hired by RKO to set up
school dates all around here.

PROVIDENCE

The Majestic theatre was the scene of
the New England premiere of “River of No
Return.” . . . John F. Murphy, general man-
ager of Loew’s theatres, was in this city,
recently, conferring with William J. Tram-
bukis, manager of Loew’s State. . . . Among
the Rhode Islanders who journeyed to Bos-
to to attend the 100th Anniversary cele-
bration of the motion picture industry, were
Edward M. Fay, Dave Levin, Archibald
Silverman, William J. Trambukis, Meyer
Stanzler and Albert J. Clarke, all prominent
theatremen. . . . Continuing their latest
policy of remaining open more than a couple
of weeks at a time. The Metropolitan offered
Jane Russell in “The French Line.” . . .
The Route 44 drive-in is using striking ad-
vertising on the sides of the busses operated

by the local traction company. . . . The Kent
theatre, East Greenwich, is now equipped to
present CinemaScope attractions. . . . While
operators of nearby amusement parks were
‘singing the blues’ due to unseasonable cold
and rain, exhibitors were enjoying the
weather which kept things humming.

TORONTO

Assistant manager of the University, John
G. Earthy, died suddenly in his sleep. He
was 34. Mr. Earthy was formerly at the
St. Clair and was with the RCAF during
World War H. . . . Johnny Coquillon, of
Associated Screen News, has been selected
as lighting cameraman to join an American
feature production unit. He has been granted
a year’s leave of absence to undertake what
may turn out to be a world tour. . . . Rain-
bow Developments have acquired the drive-
in permits and land of G. Donsky and P. B.
Ulster. The company now has in work a
drive-in located off the 400 Highway near
Barrie, Ont. . . . John Grant, manager of
the Roxy, Newmarket, has purchased the
Roxy, Dundas, Ont. John Newson, for-
merly of the Hyland, Toronto, is now man-
aging the Newmarket house. . . . Nicky
Langston, Capitol, Hamilton, was top man
in the sixth week of the Odeon Showman-
ship Contest.

VANCOUVER

C. B. R. Salmon, vice-president of Odeon
Theatres and Ted Forsyth, assistant gen-
eral manager of the circuit, are here on an
inspection trip. . . . Herb Stevenson Prince
George theatre owner back from a four-
month world tour. George Thrift, secretary
of Local 348 projectionist union was ap-
pointed a delegate to the national conven-
tion. He replaced Doug Calladine, who
could not go for personal reasons. The
Belmont, being built by a company headed
by Attorney-General Maynard of the Al-
berta governmertt near Edmonton, Alta.,
will open in June. It will hold 500 cars. . . .
Frank Goddard, Canada’s oldest doorman,
now over 80 is hospitalized for surgery. He
is a veteran of the South African war re-
placed at the Odeon- Vogue by Byron
Briton. Irene Partaik, Vogue cashier, re-
signed to await a visit from the stork, and
was replaced in the box office by Bette Kur-
liak, former candy counter girl. . . . J. D.
McCaughey, former manager of Benograph
is now factory representative for B. C. and
Alberta for Bell & Howell of Canada.

WASHINGTON

It was Variety Club night at the Rose-
croft Raceways in Oxon Hill, Maryland,
May 21, when the $4,000 Variety Club trot
was run. This was a class 16 event, and
free club house tickets were available to all
Variety Club members. A cup was presented
to the winner of the race by Jack Frucht-
man, chief barker. . . . Earl Taylor, former
film row employee, is now a patient at the
Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. . . . Mark
Silver, Allied Artists, has been hospitalized
for a heart ailment. . . . George Hoover,
International Chief Barker of Variety Clubs
International, was in Washington May 17
to attend the Testimonial Dinner for C.
Glenn Norris, recently promoted to eastern
sales manager of 20th Century-Fox. . . .
Joseph Gins, recently promoted to division
manager for U-I will be given a testimonial
June 18 at the Variety Club here.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29. 1954

Brewer Aims
At UVatsh^'s
lATSE Post

PITTSBURGH : Roy M. Brewer and Rich-
ard F. Walsh, international president of the
lATSE, confronted each other here last
weekend for the first time since the former
displayed interest in challenging the latter
for the lA presidency. The two appeared
before a meeting of 125 delegates to the
30th annual meeting of the Tri-States Asso-
ciation, from Pennsylvania, West Virginia
and Ohio.

In answer to an inquiry by Mr. Walsh,
Mr. Brewer assured him that he was a
candidate for the lA presidency and in the
race to the finish. The election is scheduled
to take place during the bi-annual conven-
tion in Cincinnati August 9.

Mr. Brewer accused Mr. Walsh of failing
to give local unions, particularly smaller
locals, full support in their efforts to protect
their economic interest. He read one of
many letters he said he has received accus-
ing Mr. Walsh’s administration of “repre-
senting management rather than unions.”
He also charged Mr. Walsh with failing to
deal effectively with certain problems of the
Alliance, which he outlined as organization
of television, support of exchange workers
and contracts for traveling stagehands.

Mr. Walsh defended his administration,
stating if local unions were dissatisfied, he
is unaware of it as they had failed to pre-
sent complaints. He criticized Mr. Brewer
for a report the latter presented to lA ex-
ecutive board in Las Vegas in March, 1955,
outlining his recommendations dealing with
Hollywood problems, and also for the man-
ner in which Mr. Brewer handled his resig-
nation from the Hollywood lA post.

In Minneapolis, it was learned, William
Donnelly, recently-named vice-president in
the AFL stagehands union and international
representative for the stagehands and mo-
tion picture projectionists in the area, will
oppose the candidacy of Mr. Brewer. Mr.
Donnelly’s position is opposite that of Mil-
waukee lATSE unit, which a month ago
declared that it v/ould support Mr. Brewer.

Name Committee for
COMPO Audience Pol!

The membership of the committee of ad-
vertising experts that is to devise a plan
for a national audience poll for the choice
of the best picture of each month, quarter
and year was announced this week by
Robert W. Coyne, special counsel of
COMPO, which is sponsoring the plan.

Those who have accepted invitations to
serve on the committee are Mrs. Alice N.
Gorham of the United Detroit Theatres
Corporation, Senn Lawler of the Fox Mid-
west Amusement Corporation of Kansas
City, Paul Levi of the American Theatres
Corporation of Boston, Emil Bernstecker
of the Wilby-Kincey Theatres of Atlanta,

Harry K. McWilliams has been elected
president and appointed general sales
manager of Air Programs, Inc. He re-
cently resigned from Screen Gems, Inc.

Robert Roddick and Edward Zorn, Fa-
mous Players Canadian Corp. Maritimes
district manager and Prairie district man-
ager, respectively, will retire, it has been
anounced by John J. Fitzgibbons, presi-
dent. The retirement of the veterans be-
comes effective in July.

Jacob H. Karp, executive assistant to Para-
mount studio vice-president Y. Frank
Freeman, has returned to the U. S. from
abroad.

Frank J. Shea has been appointed director
of industrial sales for John Sutherland
Productions, Inc. He previously was di-

and Ralph W. Russell, manager of the
Palace Theatre of Canton, O. and Roy
Kalver, president of Indiana Allied. The first
meeting will be attended by William A.
Carroll substituting for Mr. Kalver.

The committee will meet at the Astor
Hotel in New York City June 5 and 6,
with members of the COMPO Press Rela-
tions Committee, and executives of the unit.

Robbins Heads Palsy Unit

Herman Robbins, president of National
Screen Service, has once again been ap-
pointed chairman of the motion picture
trailer distribution committee for the 1954
United Cerebral Palsy campaign by Leonard
H. Goldenson, UCP president and president
of American Broadcasting-Paramount Thea-
tres, Inc. Mr. Robbins has been chairman
each year since UCP was launched five
years ago. In addition. National Screen
Service will handle distribution of the cam-
paign appeal trailer.

BALABAN A DIRECTOR OF
MANUFACTURERS TRUST

Barney Balaban, president of Para-
mount Pictures, has been elected a
director of Manufacturers Trust Com-
pany, New York, it was announced
this week by Horace C. Flanigan,
president. Mr. Balaban has been ac-
tive for many years in the leadership
of various civic and philanthropic
undertakings. He was one of the
founders and is vice-chairman and a
trustee of the American Heritage
Foundation and New York State
chairman of the Crusade for Free-
dom. He also has aided many of the
philanthropic campaigns conducted
within the film industry.

rector of television and commercial sales
for The March of Time.

Aleck Abrahamson, sales vice-president
of the Chunky Chocolate Corp., will leave
New York for Europe June 4.

Harold Hecht, executive producer of the
Hecht-Lancaster Organization and James
Hill, producer, arrived in New York
Tuesday from location in Mexico City.

Wilbur B. England, a one time executive
in RKO Theatres, has been appointed pro-
fessor of business administration in the
Harvard Business School.

Archie Laurie, Canadian industry veteran,
has been appointed exploitation and pub-
licity representative for United Artists in
Canada.

2 Exhibitor
Units Meet
In Missouri

LAKE OF THE OZARKS, MO.: Cinema-
Scope pictures are grossing from 60 to 120
per cent more than those of conventional
dimensions in Neosha, Mo., a town of 6,000
population, Ed Harris, exhibitor, told the
Missouri-Illinois Theatres and Kansas-Mis-
souri Theatres Association at their joint
convention here last weekend.

Earlier Herman Levy, general counsel of
the Theatre Owners of America, declared
that any industry dispute that can be liti-
gated should be arbitrable. He added that
matters that cannot be litigated but lend
themselves effectively to arbitration should
be included too, in any draft of an arbitra-
tion system.

Peter Gloried, manager of Poplar Bluff,
for Rodgers Theatres, said that the public
wants good pictures and will come out of
their homes to see them. He reported a
mixed reaction by his audience on the merits
of stereophonic sound. Mr Harris told his
audience that he had “no regrets” for his
CinemaScope installation and that his peo-
ple “are sold on it” adding that it had
brought many TV fans back to his theatres'
as regular patrons.

Other speakers included Mike L. Simons,
sales promotion manager for Loew’s, Inc.,
and State Senator Edward Long of Bowl-
ing Green, a director of MITO. Mr Simon
touched on the advantages of concerted
thinking by all exhibitors, including those
not members of trade organizations, for the
solution of current trade problems and bet-
ter public relations at the local level.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy.Count initials, box numberand address. Minimuminsertion $1.50. Four
insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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

MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS, FIT WAG-
ner, Adler, Bevelite Signs; 4''-35c; 8"-S0c; 10''-60c;
12"-85c: 14"-$1.25: 16"-$1.50. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New York 19.

MIRRO-CLARIC REPRESENTS BEST VALUE in
metalized all purpose screen — only $1.00 sq. ft. Seams
absolutely invisible; Kollmorgen wide angle lenses,
special apertures, immediately available! S..O.S.
QNEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
Street, 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.

MOTION picture AND TELEVISION ALMA-
nac — 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

CAPITALIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE— SHOOT
local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries. Ar-
range advertising tie-ups with local merchants. Ask
for Film Production Catalog. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New
York 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

WIDE SCREEN PAYS OFFI WIDE ANGLE
lenses, special apertures immediately available. Motor-
ized carbon savers 9, 10, llram for angle trim arc
lamps (Mighty 90, etc.) $59.50. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd Street, New
York 19.

USED EQUIPMENT

SWELL BUYS AT STAR! CENTURY CC OR
Simplex E-7 mechanisms, 6 month guarantee, only
$475 pair; RCA MI-9050 soundheads, rebuilt, $595
pair; Ashcraft or Strong mogul 70 ampere lamphouses,
rebuilt, $489.50 pair; DeVry XD projectors, complete,
rebuilt, $745 pair; Holmes projectors, heavy bases,
arc lamphouses, etc., rebuilt, $850 pair; What do you
need? STAR CINEMA SUPPLY, 447 West 52nd
Street, New York 19.

WANTED TO BUY

WILL PAY 50c EACH FOR OLD' LANTERN
slides used for theatre advertising. J. KOKEN, 4201
Schiller Ave., Cleveland 9, Ohio.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO..
CatO: N. Y.

THEATRES

MOTION PICTURE THEATRE— MARNE, MICHI-
gan (near Grand Rapids) building and equipment,
'riiis is a modern theatre, built about five years ago.
Seating capacity 408. Radiant heat. Air-conditioned.
Motiograph projectors and sound. Large capacity park-
ing lot. Situated in good agricultural area. Phone
9-6221, Real Estate Department, THE MICHIGAN
TRUST COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich.

FOUR HUNDRED SEAT, AIR CONDITIONED,
only neighborhood theatre, easily converted, wide
screen. Ten thousand, half cash. LAKESHORE THE-
ATRE, Jacksonville, Florida.

SALE NEW MASONRY BUILDINC;. 407 SEATS,
new equipment and furnishings, 50 miles from Buf-
falo, asking $60,000 easy terms. DREW, 159 Linwood
Avenue, Buffalo, New York.

SEATING

ATTENTION EXHIBITORS! HOW ABOUT SOME
Spring tonic for your chairs to improve comfort and
get back some of the customers you lost. We have
a large stock of late type chairs that will meet all
requirements. If you are interested in rebuilding your
chairs or in the market for better than you have,
write for additional information. Prices very reason-
able. EASTERN SEATING CO., 138-13 Springfield
Blvd., Springfield Gardens, N. Y., LAurenton 8-3696.

NEED CHAIRS? SEND FOR CHAIR BULLETIN
showing all makes and types from $4.95. SO.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
Street, New York 19.

RKO Sues Kansas
On "Sinbad" Ban

RKO Radio I’ictures, Inc., May 14,
hnnight court action against the Kansas
State Board of Review in connection with
l)anning of “Son of Sinbad” in Kansas. A
petition filed with the clerk of the Wyan-
dotte County District Court asked that the
court set a hearing to determine whether a
certificate of approval of the film should be
issued. The board refused to approve “Son
of .Sinbad” due to several dance sequences.

Chicago Catholic Paper
Attacks Theatre Ads

CHICAGO : “The New World,” official
pajier of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chi-
cago, continues its attack on newspaper
pulilishers, and motion picture producers
and exhibitors in an editorial titled “Smut
. . . Smut . . . Smut . . . and More Smut,”
blasting the papers for accepting “The Most
sexed-up advertising in their motion picture
and entertainment columns these eyes have
seen.” The editorial singles out several
downtown theatres, including the Woods,
United Artists, State Lake, Chicago, Roose-
velt, and Monroe for censure because of
their front displays on pictures such as

“Carnival Story,” “River of No Return,”
"Wicked Woman,” “Best ^Tars of Our
Lives,” and "The Long Wait.” The edi-
torial, in the May 21 issue of the paper,
ends with a plea to “You, the people. You’re
responsible for permitting it. Eternal vigi-
lance is the price we have to pay to preserve
democracy and a right moral order.”

Seek to Ban "Salt" from
Showing in Chicago

CHICAGO : A petition asking that “Salt
of the Earth” be banned from Chicago thea-
tres has been sent to Police Commissioner
4'imothy J. O’Conner by the anti-subversive
committee of the American Eegion, Depart-
ment of Illinois, according to Edward dam-
age, head of the committee, who claims that
picture, which was to open Eriday, May 28,
at the Cinema Annex theatre, is both Com-
munist-inspirited and follows the Commu-
nist propaganda line.

Mr. damage, who led an unsuccessful at-
tempt a few months ago to have Phillip
Eoeh dismissed from the cast of “Time Out
for Ginger” at the Harris theatre because
f)f alleged Comimniist connections, also
asserted that the picture aiipears to he "100
[lercent Communist from the director, pro-
ducer, and writer.”

JLtlas ’ RKO
Total Gains

Atlas Corporation and associates now hold
about 1,250,000 shares of RKO Picture
stock, compared with 1,262,120 shares owned
by Howard Hughes, it was reported to the
“Wall Street Journal” last week by Floyd
B. Odium, president of the investment com-
pany. Atlas alone holds about 900,000 shares,
he said.

Mr. Odium said Atlas does not plan to
buy more RKO stock. Presumably he meant
that buying in the open market would not
he continued because he had indicated earlier
he is negotiating with Mr. Hughes to buy
the latter’s RKO holdings hut that no defi-
nite understanding has been reached.

RKO Pictures shares have been selling in
the open market at a premium over the
$6 per share at which the stock may be re-
deemed by holders up to June 30. The
Atlas buying, which has amounted to more
than 800, 00() shares since the first of the
year, is largely credited for the increase
in the market price, klr. Odlnm said Atlas
would like to get control of RKO Pictures
Corp. and operate it as a subsidiary, using
it to take advantage of a special situation.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 29, 1954

An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks, Director

We 'n Vet the Onltf OneA te Vindet^e Veu> tS/fitehJhhJ

OUT in Dayton. Ohio, tlie promoters of
a new ultra-high frecjuency television
station induced 41,000 local citizens
to spend two million dollars for adapters, so
they could watch the new station’s UHF
programs. Now, the station is shut down
for lack of sufficient revenue to pay for its
operation, and the costly conversion equip-
ment in private homes is so much junk.
This has been going- on in other cities, and
out in Kansas City, a drug store chain is
said to be offering its customers $5.00 as a
good will gesture, for each locally useless
UHF tuner they bring in.

More than sixty applications for television
stations on file with the Federal Communi-
cations Commission have been withdrawn,
since these were in the Ultra High Fre-
(juency areas — and this was so distressing to
Frieda Hennock, blonde Commissioner, on
the Government’s official board, that she
hurst into tears, describing the trouble she’s
had with new dimensions in her particular
province. It seems that the applicants are
withdrawing faster than otherwise. A new
station operator says the unused UHF tubes
in Little Rock, Arkansas, would provide
illumination for a ghastly Christmas Tree,
hut they’re not likely to glow again for any
more commercial reason.

A syndicate newspaper columnist says the
trouble seems to be that all the good network
TV programs in most cities are already tied
up by the old-fashioned and well-established
stations, and there isn’t very much left for
tlie newcomers to broadcast except speeches
by the Mayor and shots of the high school
dancing class, so who’s going to spend extra
money to change over to LUtra High Fre-
quency just to see these?

All this may be somewhat comforting to
any in our business who have believed
that they alone were enduring the march of
time, with the penalties of change. In fact,
our industry is better off, in many respects,
because we have somewhat less Government
interference in this department, and more
opportunity to exercise our local freedoms.
Some theatre operators, who always “wish
there was a law’’- — can look profitably at the

SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE

Curtis Mees, in correspondence, asks the
question — "What's the opportunity for
college trained men in theatre manage-
ment?"— and says an exhibitor friend sees
his education lost in the business of operat-
ing theatres.

But, as a matter of fact, the heads of
two of the biggest theatre circuits in the
country, are Harvard graduates — Leonard
Goldenson, and Si Fabian — and there are
others, as you will find if you look for the
symbol "e" which denotes the educational
background of 12,000 industry people who
are listed in the MOTION PICTURE
ALMANAC. It's a very creditable showing
for the industry.

It would be a pat phrase, indeed, to say
that a good education is neither a barrier
nor a benefit, and there are those who have
won their college degrees in the University
of Hard Knocks — and gone far in this busi-
ness. You have to be born a showman, but
if you have that natural inclination, then
college training may make your talents
shine beyond ordinary standards.

We think that motion pictures, as an art
and an industry, offer as great rewards for
a well educated man as any of the pro-
fessions, and the fact is proven by examples
which are well known. One of the assets
of college training is the ability to discern
where the opportunities are.

Incidentally, the Motion Picture Daily
records an interesting item this week. Wil-
bur B. England, former RKO Theatres
executive, has been appointed Professor in
Business Administration at the Harvard
School of Business!

Federal Communications Commission and be
glad that it’s none of ours, as a headache to
contend with. Even the Commissioners are
crying with the futility and frustration of
their own regulations.

q MOTION PICTURES, over the past
25 years, iiave averaged less than 6% profit
on gross rentals, including films that lost
money along with those that broke records,
it is estimated. A business with as much
risk deserves a better break. Radio averages
twice as much on their production, and tele-
vision will do better. Exhibitor organiza-
tions often point to profit figures without
taking into consideration the amount of the
gross involved. The present good manage-
ment status in film industry is shown in the
stock market. Spyros Skonras received
some well deserved praise from Charles
Green, who last year was fighting a proxy
l>attle against him.

^ WE QUITE AGREE with Bob Wile,
executive secretary of the Independent
Theatre Owners of Ohio, who says in his
current service bulletin : ‘‘This would be a
sad business if everyone were not enthusias-
tic about his product. However, enthusiasm
can be mistaken for exaggeration.’’ And.
he (|uite i)roperly objects to a pressbook
ad which designates a certain picture as “the
greatest since ‘Gone With the Wind.’ ’’ No-
l)ody is going to believe such a statement,
and if you use it. your public will have rea-
son to distrust your advertising in the future.

q DOUGLAS EWIN, hack in England
after his two-weeks’ prize winning trip to
New York as the champion showman of
the Associated British Cinemas, Ltd., has
been rewarded, and he is now assistant pub-
licity manager for the circuit as a whole,
with headquarters in London. He isn’t the
first, nor will he be the last, to find awards
the stepping stone to promotion in this busi-
ness. His circuit, with many Round Table
members to its credit, is one of the biggest,
best and busiest of theatre operations, any-
where in the world today. We credit Mr.
D. J. Goodlatte. managing director, with
many of the outstanding things that have
been done, for showmanship, in the theatre
world, as we know it. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 29. 1954

Ballyhoo that called attention to
Republic's "Johnny Guitar" at the
Wiltern and Downtown theatres in
Los Angeles was a contest to win
electric guitars, and six easy
lessons. At right, Ben Cooper
shows his six-gun to a few of the
5,000 carrier boys of the Los
Angeles Mirror, who were enter-
tained at a preview of the picture.

Bays HVill Be
Ballyhaaers

Bud Jones, owner of the St.
Bernard Drive-In; Ed Mortimer,
owner of the Sky-Vue Drive-In;
Larry Woolner, owner of the Jef-
ferson, Drive-In, and Paul Schae-
fer, manager of the Crescent
Drive-In, backed with a Canal
Street cavalcade of cowboys and
cowgirls, for the opening of
"Yellow Tomahawk" in New Or-
leans.

ToHA"***

J. P. Harrison had the young-
sters dressing up in character for
Ma and Pa Kettle at Home," as
exploitation for the Universal pic-
ture, at the Texas theatre, in Den-
ton, Texas.

TV's "Captain Video"
launches the space ship
that's ballyhoo for "The
Rocket Man" — 20th Cen-
tury Fox picture that gets
real fun out of the space-
man idea — with a boy who
found one.

Dazzled young man, and
video audience, got a look
at $20,000 in genuine one
thousand dollar bills, as
exploitation for "Southwest
Passage," arranged by Mar-
vin Fox, manager of the
Liberty theatre, Portland,
Oregon.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

101 BEST EXPLOITATION AIDS

June Is A Month For
Business Builders

This Is the time tor the graduates, and there
isn't a town in America that's not proud of
its graduation class, with desire to honor and
entertain them. Theatre managers can do no
better job of business building than to cooperate in the
procedure of community acclaim, and take part in such a
program. Out of the whole country, just two theatre men
have met and accepted this assignment — both in northern
Ohio. Leo Jones, at the Star theatre, Upper Sandusky, was
first, with an all-night program starting at the theatre and
continuing until dawn, and he had a piece in LOOK maga-
zine about it. Then, Ben Schwartz, at the Lincoln theatre, Mas-
sillon, a city of 30,000, followed his example — and then,
silence. What's the matter with so many others who could
do just as well? In both the small town and the small city,
the plan was a great success. Parents, school authorities,
church and civic leaders applauded. The young people were
given a real big evening, and danced until dawn, after a
preview show, with breakfast served by cooperative sponsors.
Cocktail bars were out of bounds; there was no risk of
driving accidents, which had brought death to similar class
affairs in previous years. It's all been reported here, and
retold again and again. But what stops the pattern in other
towns, when it is so surely successful, so beneficial to com-
munity relations and such a business builder for the theatre,
in June? We'll be waiting for more returns.

When School Is Out
—Vacation Begins

But no vacation tor the theatre manager! Now
is the time when he gets in some special licks,
at finding and keeping business at the box
office, through the summer months. It's vital
that he does so, for the public has many interests — and that
includes both the children and their parents. Best thought
of all is to celebrate "school's out" with a special children's
show, preferably sponsored by a cooperative merchant, and
provide gifts, also underwritten by sponsors, as an incentive
to prize winners. Sell the theatre, outright, and make certain
of a packed house, with one or more of your merchants
giving away the tickets with merchandise purchases, to either
children or parents. You can't lose, when the house is sold
out for a show that has virtually no other advertising expense.
And use the occasion to launch a special series of shows for
summer, such as have been identified by Elmer Rhoden's
Fox Midwest Theatres In recent years, as "Vacation Movies."
He sells a strip ticket, for $1.00 which is good for 12 shows,
making the admission price 9c per time. These matinees are
authorized by the Parent Teacher Association, and they
bridge the gap between "school's out" and "school's open
again" next Fall. You will do well, too, to invite the pro-
fessors and the teachers to enjoy your theatre during their
vacation. Distribute some summertime passes that will bring
them to see your good pictures v/hile they are at leisure,
and you'll make friends.

Theatre Housekeeping
In the Summertime

Summer dress does something for theatres, as
well as people. The girls look even more
attractive in the summertime, and it's neces-
sary for you to dress up your theatre, if you
v*ould kpep them, and their boy friends, and their families,
with you through the hot months. Spring is a time to clean
and freshen, and June Is a month to double your effort to
have things bright and shining. If you don't — your public
will find something else more attractive than a dingy, run-
down theatre that lacks, glamour. You can brighten the front
by making sure there's light enough, and you can freshen
the Inside by changing the dim lighting to cool colors. You
can make summertime apparent in your refreshment stand,
and keep that feeling of coolness obvious with cool drinks,
^Jptfhe pause that refreshes. Fans'-'and,'VentIlatIon equipment,
air-conditioning if you have it, ...must get your fullest
’ attention, with accent In the advertising of how really cool
and comfortable you can be in youpfheatre. In contrast with
other places. It's a tough assignment, but It can be done,
and Is being done, throughout the length and breadth of
the land, beginning right now and extending until Fall
weather. There are some clever things for front and lobby
display that shine and spread the entertainment feeling,
across the street and down the block, where patrons decide
to buy your wares. We've seen pressbook ads of streamers
and hangers that you can buy for summer, and use for the
next several months, for profit.

More Competition for
Amusement Dollars

Audiences, long imprisoned through winter
months, respond quickly to the out of doors,
when they can escape from all confinement, in
homes or theatres. That you will feel, at the
box office. Immediately. And the public is spending more
for recreation than for movies, as such. There are more ways
to find entertainment, and a larger public has more money
to pay for it. So, hold to your line, and sell them movies,
as their best entertainment — and prove It. You'll have the
best pictures this summer you've had In a long time, to offer
in all dimensions. Our industry has been going through a
cataclysmic change, and right here Is where you find out
whether you have been keeping up with the procession, or
whether the parade is passing you by. Now, your new wide
screen, your new dimensions of sight and sound, will bring
and keep the patronage you might lose to other competi-
tion. Basically, the public prefers to go to the theatre, but
they get detoured at times, and you lose your grip on them.
It's also satisfying, that In summer radio and TV go off the
air, or are saturated with static and interferences which are
not yours. Just when the family tunes out, disgustedly, they
are In the mood to "go out" and the movies are best. Also,
you'll discover that your friendly merchants downtown, and
the bus lines, and the town generally, will thank you for
fighting to keep the family together, and at the movies. A
smart showman will be alert to take part In any new associa-
tions with his business neighborhood.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 29, 1954

owmen in

jArt S^anisch
Shotrs Style
With ^Miller ^

Art Stanisch, manager of Sam Switow's
Kentucky theatre in Louisville, submits
another of his fine campaigns on “The Glenn
Aliller Story" — equal to the excellent show-
manship he has offered as other entries for
the Quigley Awards. He launched a street
I)ul)licity stunt, with a Ing juke box playing
Glenn Aliller tunes for the benefit of the Will
Rogers Hospital, thus accomplishing two
show-business objectives. In two weeks’
time, the public listened to $47 worth of
recordings, and the whole thing was spon-
sored and consequently cost-free to the
theatre. The radio and music dealers car-
ried the tieup into their own stores and
windows.

The Louisville Times and Courier-Journal
cooperated with nice publicity in free space
to offset the good advertising which was
l)ased on pressbook materials. But the best
idea of all was a “Gold Pass" to a special
preview — attractively printed in gold on a
black card — which was sent to press and
radio people, and other opinion makers. Art
says this resulted in $2000 worth of free
advertising on the air waves, in radio and
TV time. Reviews, and second reviews, were
excellent in local papers.

Theatre front display was dignified and
in keeping with the house and the attrac-
tion. The big juke box was liuilt into this
display during the run of the picture, in a
spot opposite the box office.

Genera! Foods Supply
Roy Rogers' Premiums

We’re glail to know that Bernie Depa,
manager of Schine’s Strand theatre, Lex-
ington, Ky., has found a way to provide a
series of premiums for Rogers’ matinees
which will run for four weeks. General
Foods Corporation, who can afford it, will
furnish Roy Rogers’ cards with 3-D glasses,
the first week ; a Roy Rogers’ ring, the
second week ; a Roy Rogers’ pin, the third
week, and Roy Rogers’ pop-out cards, five
to each kid, the fourth week. Now if he can
find someone to supply Roy Rogers’ films
on the screen, he will be re-established in
business with the children who have made
Roy Rogers a popular screen star, the world
over.

Quick Booking Needs
Fast Showmanship

Bob Anthony, manager of Schine’s State
theatre, Cortland, N. Y., didn’t have time to
prepare when he was given a fast booking
for “Pinocchio" but he persuaded a local
baker to give away 1000 loaves of bread at
the theatre, which is good ; and he gave
away 100 Pinocchio games at the Saturday
matinee to the kids, all promoted with the
sponsorship of local merchants.

Joe DeSilvia, manager of Schine’s Play-
house theatre, Canandaigua, not only pro-
moted free candy bars for the first 500 kids
in line for his Kiddie Big Four Show, but
also persuaded Pepsi-Cola to pour free
drinks for all of them as they left the
theatre, after the show.

Good theatre managers find out every-
thing. When Bernie Depa, manager of
.Schine’s Strand theatre, Lexington Ky.,
played “Paratrooper" he discovered that a
local plant manufactured parachutes for the
British, and he obtained a “demonstrator”
to be used as ballyhoo. One party of 45
[jcople came from the factory.

Ray AIcNamara, manager of the Allyn
theatre, Hartford, tied up with six down-
town record stores for a regional premiere
of Republic’s “Johnny Guitar” — with local
papers going for the Joan Crawford story.

klarry Wilson, manager of the Capitol
theatre, Chatham, Ontario, had a fine co-op
page on "Botany Bay" — with free passes for
good sailors who made the right guesses, all
jaaid for by sponsors who also gave the
picture a seven-column newspaper ad mat.

William P. Miller, manager of the State
theatre, Elkhart, Indiana, had a double-truck,
two cooperative ad pages on “It Should
Happen to You”- — supported by seventeen
sponsors, who gave the theatre a five-column
ad on the break.

Charles Guadino, manager of Loew's Poli
theatre, Springfield, Mass., had the Governor
and top business executives interested in
“Executive .Suite" — which he opened during
National Secretary Week (which Oscar
Doob no doubt promoted this year ^

Ed Rosenfield, manager with Trans Lux
theatres in New York City, was awarded
the Armed Forces Reserve Medal in recog-
nition of his more than ten years tenure with
both active and reserve units. He is presently
with the 1 1 Corps Artillery Headtiuarters,
N. Y. National Guard.

Mr. and Mrs. Harry Boesel sent us his
cute “BabyScope” announcement — announc-
ing the arrival of “not one, but TWO new
stars” — Cindy Jo and Randy Tod, real show-
manship twins.

Alurray Spector promoted a complete dis-
play of ancient armor from a local collector,
as lobby display for “Prince Valiant” at
Skouras Plaza theatre, Englewood, N. J. In-
teresting enough to make news pictures in
two local papers.

Alfred Loewenthal, manager of Skouras
David Marcus theatre, used an excellent
Civilian Defense tieup as a lobby stunt for
“Hell and High Water” — so good that it
got a write-up in the downtown New York
"Post” as a community activity.

Elaine George has sent us a package of
her good showmanship in a small town, the
Star theatre, Heppner, Oregon, and she's
pleased with the fact that she won a prize in
.MGM’s national contest.

Bill Trudell, district manager of Famous
Players-Canadian theatres at London, On-
tario, used a direct approach with his per-
sonal recommendation of “Little Boy Lost”
in newspaper ads.

Fred Putman, manager of the Strand
theatre. Port Arthur, Te.xas, dressed his
theatre front with atmospheric and scenic
effects to sell “Riot in Cell Block 11.”

Tiff Cook shows the "Gladys Glover" street ballyhoo used for "It Should Happen to
You" at Famous Players-Canadian's University and Eglinton theatres, Toronto — and he
also posted that 24-sheet downtown that started all the excitement in the picture.
At right, the chairman of the Easter Seal committee. Bill Trudel. district manager and
Murray Summerville, manager of the Capitol theate, London, Ontario, count up con-
tributions to a good cause, collected in a lobby campaign.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MAY 29, 1954

Israel Film
Gets Special
Explaitatioa

Wally Goldstein, manager of the Rand-
force Carrol theatre in Brooklyn, submits
an excellent and complete campaign on the
first film program produced in Israel, which
is being shown in celebration of the sixth
anniversary of the State of Israel. The
title is “Khamisha” — and it consists of five
stories of love, hate and hope, of people
caught in the maelstrom of history in the
making. Erwin Gold, general manager for
the circuit, cooperated in planning the spe-
cial handling of the picture.

The front of the house was very well
treated with special display materials, and
the neighborhood was given extra attention
with window displays, tack cards, and other
tieups. A free trip to Israel was offered
in a special contest, which was advertised
with heralds distributed in places where
world problems are discussed, and with radio
and television interviews and discussion over
local stations. Special blue-and-white tickets
were issued to adults and students through
Yeshivah and other organizations. Heralds
were stapled to Jewish Sunday newspapers
delivered to homes in the neighborhood.

The New York Post, and other metropoli-
tan newspapers, reviewed the picture and
carried news of the contest offering the
50-day trip to Israel,

"Walk-In" Contest to Find
Infrequent Movie-Goers

Jim Womble, manager of the Lopoc thea-
tre, Lopoc, California, had a contest to
entice “walk-in” customers, i.e., those who
seldom go to the movies, with a double-
truck, two-page cooperative newspaper ad,
sponsored by 24 advertisers, who shared the
space equally with the theatre. Twenty-four
publicity mats were published, with 240
prizes for those who guessed what pictures
were represented.

Murray Spector Ties Up
National Biscuit Go.

Murray Spector, manager of Skouras
Plaza theatre, Englewood, N. J., tied up the
National Biscuit Company with a coopera-
tive idea that paid off in biscuits for custo-
mers, and ticket sales at the box office. Very
tasty, we calls it, and quite typical of Mur-
ray’s skill in hunting down and tieing up
all the commercial sponsors in his vicinity.

ALWAYS
COOD! i
ALWAYS!
ON TIME/

TELL YOUR PATRONS
ABOUT IT WITH A

TRAILER

1327 S. Wabash - Chicago, III. 630 Ninth A*e. ■ New York, N. T.

COXTEXDERS FOR
QVIGLEY AWARDS

TED ALLEN
Rivoli

Hempstead, N. Y.

MARK ALLING
Golden Gate
San Francisco, Cal.

DALE BALDWIN
Parkway

W. Jefferson, N. C.

AGATHA BERINGER
Roosevelt
Flushing, N. Y.

E. H. BLACKWOOD
Astra, Tern Hill, Eng.

H. G. BOESEL
Palace, Milwaukee, Wis.

JOSEPH BOYLE
Poli, Norwich, Conn.

JACK BRIDGES
Victory, Timmins, Can.

C. F. BRODIE
Regal, Barrow, Eng.

R. N. BROWN
Astra, Kirton, Eng.

PAUL BROWN
Fresno, Fresno, Cal.

JOHN BURKE
Fox, Brooklyn, N. Y.

LENNART BJORCK
Paramount Films
Lima, Peru

JIM CAMERON
Capitol

Ft. William, Can.

J. G. CAMPBELL
Regal

Coatbridge, Scot.

H. C. CHAPPEL
Palace, Guelph, Can.

MAX COOPER
Cove, Glen Cove, N. Y.

JOHN G. CORBETT
Glove, Gloversville,

N. Y.

R. J. CRABB
Lyric

Wellingbotough, Eng.

PHILIP DE SCHAAP
Paramount Films
Amsterdam, Holland

JOHN Dl BENEDETTO
Poli, Worcester, Mass.

F. Dl GENNARIO
Merrick, Jamaica, N. Y.

BEN DOMINGO

Memorial, Boston, Mass.

BOB DYCHES
Lucas, Savannah, Ga.

JOHN M. ENDERS
Calderone
Hempstead, N. Y.

BENNO ERB

Metro, Santiago, Chile

DOUGLAS EWIN
Savoy, Stourbridge,

Eng.

TONY EWIN
Grand, Banbury, Eng.

PAUL FLODIN
Paramount Films
Stockhol m, Sweden

HERMAN FLYNN
Paramount Films
Sydney, Australia

ELAINE GEORGE
Star, Heppner, Ore.

J. GILLIES
Seamore, Glasgow,

Scot.

WALLY GOLDSTEIN
Carroll, Brooklyn, N. Y.

DIANE GORDON
Fulton, Jersey City,

N. J.

P. HARRISON
Odeon, Torquay, Eng.

N. J. HARTLE
Capitol, Bolton, Eng.

BOB HARVEY
Capitol

North Bay, Canada

BILL HAVER
Paramount
Des Moines, la.

WALTER HOPP
International
Vancouver, Can.

D. HUGHES
Regal, Cheltenham,

Eng.

PAUL JACOBS
LaRoy, Portsmouth, O.

KEN KEEHN
Lyceum

Port Arthur, Can.

H. KLEIN
Liberty

Elizabeth, N. J.

JULES KOENIG
Midway

Forest Hills, N. Y.

S. D. KULKARNY
Paramount Films
Bombay, India

JOHN E. LAKE
Savoy, Luton, Eng.

JUAN LAUPHEIMER
Paramount Films
Santiago, Chile
DAVE LEVIN
Albee, Providence, R. I.

FRANK LINDKAMP
Palace

Rochester, N. Y.

C. G. MANHIRE
Savoy

Edinburgh, Scot.

TONY MASELLA
Palace, Meriden, Conn.
S. V. MURDOCH
Gaumont
Liverpool, Eng.

F. B. PAGE

Rex, Islington, Eng.

R. W. PARKER
Regal, Torquay, Eng.

GEORGE PETERS
Loew's, Richmond, Va.

ELMER PICKARD
Stanley

Philadelphia, Pa.

AL PLOUGH
Stanton

Philadelphia, Pa.

J. PLUNKETT
Films Paramount
Paris, France

Lester Pollock
Loew's, Rochester, N. Y.

ROBERT PRATCHETT
Paramount Films
Havana, Cuba

GEORGE PUGH
Rialto

Glens Falls, N. Y.

FRED PUTNAM
Strand

Port Arthur, Texas
BILL RIDING

Regent

Harrisburg, Pa.

OSWALD ROCHA
Paramount Films
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

TED C. RODIS
Astoria, Astoria, N. Y.

CARL ROGERS
Loews, Dayton, O.

HARRY A. ROSE
Maiestic

Bridgeport, Conn.

WILLIAM ROSENFIELD

Valentine

New York, N. Y.

MORRIS ROSENTHAL
Poli, New Haven, Conn.

FRANK SABINI
Royal

Ft. William, Can.

SYDNEY L. SALE
Granada, Dover, Eng.

G. SANTERAMO
State

Jersey City, N. J.

MATT SAUNDERS
Poli, Bridgeport, Conn.

HEINZ SCHENK
Paramount Films
Frankfort, Germany

IRVING SCHMETZ
Forest Hills
Forest Hills, N. Y.

JERRY SCHUR
Crotona, New York,

N. Y.

IRVING SCHWARTZ

Interboro, New York,

N. Y.

A. J. SERALE
Grand, Astoria, N. Y.

HAROLD SHAMPAN
Odeon, London, Eng.

C. R. SHEPHERD
Paramount Films
Djakarta, Indonesia

OLGA SHARABURA
Orpheum

Sault Ste. Marie, Can.

S. L. SORKIN
Keith's, Syracuse, N. Y.

BOYD SPARROW
Warfield

San Francisco, Cal.

MURRAY SPECTOR
Plaza, Englewood, N. J.

LESLIE SPRINKLE
Lyric, Elkin, N. C.

T. STAMATIS
Bayside, Bayside, N. Y.

JACK STEWART
Picture Palace
Parkhead, Eng.

MICHAEL STRANGER
Plymouth, Worcester,
Mass.

M. SUMMERVILLE
Capitol, London, Can.

EVAN THOMPSON
Fox, Hackensack, N. J.

JOE TOLVE
Capitol

Port Chester, N. Y.

MILT TROEHLER
Orpheum
Davenport, Iowa

A. C. VALLET
Parsor.s, Flushing, N. Y

J. E. WARD
Savoy

Northampton, Eng.

D. H. WESTERN
Regal, Torquay, Eng.

G. C. WILLIAMS

Regent, Chatham, Eng.

HARRY WILSON
Capitol, Chatham, Can.

JIM WOMBLE
Lompoc, Lompoc, Calif.

KEN WOODWARD
State

Uniontown, Pa.

MARTY WUCHER
Town, Miami, Fla.

AL W. YAHRAUS
Bryan, Bryan, O.

PAUL YUl
Paramount Films
Singapore

JOE ZEBRUN
Appolo, Buffalo, N. Y.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, MAY 29. 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menting the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

Apco Appoints Head
Of Western Division

THE APPOINTMENT of
Stanley Reehling as vice-president of Apco,
Inc., New York, manufacturers of “Soda-
Shoppe” soft drink
cup dispensers, has
been announced by
Sam Kresberg, presi-
dent of Apco. Ef-
fective June 1st,
Mr. Reehling will
be in charge of
Apco’s newly cre-
ateil Western Divi-
sion, with headquar-
ters in Los Angeles,
riiis branch is to
include a Customer’s Service Division,
staffed by trained Apco service engineers.

At the same time Mr. Kresberg an-
nounced two other appointments: that of
Mel Rapp, who is in charge of all sales
and advertising, as executive vice-president;
and that of Gerald L. “Buddy” Rosenthal,
divisional manager covering eight Eastern
states out of Washington, D. C., as vice-
president of the company.

Mr. Reehling was formerly manager of
the Syrup Sales and Fountain Division of
the parent Nehi Corporation of Columbus,
Cia.

Popcorn Mobile Displays
Shipped to 2300 Theatres

.AN INITIAL shipment of
2500 of the popcorn mobile displays re-
cently developed for theatre refreshment
stands to boost sales by the International
Popcorn Association, Chicago, has been re-

ported by the Merchandising Committee of
the Theatre and Concessions Segment of
I PA. This group is headed by J. J. Fitz-
gibbons, Jr., of Theatre Confections Ltd.,
Toronto; Bert Nathan, Theatre Popcorn
Vending Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y;
and Lee Koken, R. K. O. Theatres, New
't'ork City.

Don’t Be An
Undercover Man

Win recognition through
Special Merit Atvards

Here’s how managers and
theatre concession executives
can win nationwide recognition
for better refreshment mer-
chandising:

Prepare a report on ideas or
methods applied in achieving
increased sales; more attrac-
tive presentation of refresh-
ment items ; sales promotion
activities; improved service to
the public, resulting in building
business ... in short, *‘hetter
refreshment merchandising^*

Send in reports, with photos
of the stand and samples of any
promotion material used. Sub-
mit as many as you wish from
time to time.

Reports published will be
credited to the contributor and
will qualify for citations. From
citation-holders, the judges will
select the Special Merit Award
winners. There will be separate
Awards for small theatres and
larger theatres.

Get on “recognition road.”
Start sending vour reports to-
day to : The Editor, Better Re-
freshment Merchandising dept..
Motion Picture Herald.

PLUGGING "BOTANY BAY" AT THE SNACK STAND

As a tie-in with the Paramount film, "Botany Bay," manager Olga Sharabura devised these flag decora-
tions tor the snack stand at the Famous Players-Canadian Orpheum theatre in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.
In keeping with the naval atmosphere the stand attendant wears a Wren's uniform.

Stanley Rheeling

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. MAY 29. 1954

FILM BUYERS RATING

Film buyers of indcpeiulcut circuits in the U. S. rate current
product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This
report covers 120 attractions, 5,247 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.

It Should Happen to You (Col.) . .

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

JIvaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail ( Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)
Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Act of Love ( DA)

Alaska Seas (Para.)

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)

Back to God's Country (U-l)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox)

Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Border River (U-l)

*Botany Bay (Para.)

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain’s Paradise (UA)

f Carnival Story, The (RKO)

Casanova's Big Night (Para.)

Cease Fire! ( Para.)

Charge of the Lancers (Col.)

Command, The (WB)

Conquest of Cochise (UA)

Crazylegs — All-American (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l) . .
Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO).
Diamond Queen, The (WB)
Dragonfly Squadron (AA) .
jDuffy of San Quentin (WB)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

(Elephant Walk (Para.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)
Executive Suite (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

*Flight to Tangier (Para.) . . .

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Female (Para.)

French Line ( RKO)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

EX AA
I

1 I

4
56

3
12

1 1
I I
39

3
6
2

1 1
7
I

1 I
27
19
19

I I
I

2
7
2
1

1 1
I

4
9
9

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

*Little Fugitive (Burstyn)

Living Desert, The (Disney) . .
Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)
Lucky Me (WB)

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)
Martin Luther (de Rochemont)
Miami Story, The (Col.)

*Miss Robin Crusoe (20th-Fox)
Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)
Money from Home (Para.)

Naked Jungle, The (Para.)
Nebraskan, The (Col.) . .
New Faces (20th-Fox) .
Night People (20th-Fox)

Paratrooper (Col.)

*Paris Model (Col.)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)

Pinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)
*Prisoners of the Casbah (Col.)

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue) .

Rails Into Laramie (U-l)

Red Garters (Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM) . .

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l) .
Riders to the Stars (UA) .

Riding Shotgun (WB)

Riot in Cell Block I I (AA)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (U-l)

Shark River ( U A)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)
Siege at Red River (20th-Fox)
*Slaves of Babylon (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

fGeraldine (Rep.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM) . . . .

*Glass Web, The (U-l)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

Go, Man, Go (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury ( Col.)

fGypsy Colt (MGM)

4 3 13-

---2b
7 23 40 15

- I 5 9 9

94 37 5 2 -

9 18 10 2 2

9 12 18 6

5 18 12 3

- 6 3 - -

Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l)
Tennessee Champ (MGM) . . .
Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)
Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)
Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( UA)

Tumbleweed (U-l)

Veils of Bagdad (U-l)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Hell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Pa ra.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox)

Walking My Baby Back Home (U-l)

War Arrow ( U-l )

fWicked Woman (UA)

Wild One (Col.)

1 1

Yankee Pasha ( U-l )

1 1

Vice President and Director of Loew's, Inc., says:

(y L/

“I thought Columbia’s
‘Eternity’ was tops.
They’ve done it again with

THE CAINE MUTINY! ”

STARRING

Humphrey Bogsut • Jose Ferrer
Van Johnson ■ Fred MacMurray

and Introducing

ROBERT FRANCIS • MAY WYNN .....TECHNICOLOR

Screen Play by STANLEY ROBERTS • Based upon the Pulitzer prize winning novel by HERMAN WOUK

Directed by EDWARD DMYTRYK ■ A COLUMBIA PICTURE • A STANLEY KRAMER PROD.

W^RIDES FOR saw SftOTHfiiS. JOWNNY DARK, THE
•lATORS. “

{ir, ■ Produ-cT

tecfion): DEMETRIUS AND THe"

New Horixon^for the Driye-ln
Equipnnent Essentials Suinmarixed

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LEO’S IN

THERE
PITCHING I

The Busiest Studio
in Hollywood is
M-G-M! Here’s an
On-The-Scene” Report
for the exhibitors
of America!

The Eyes of the Industry are on M-G-M!

Day and night at the World’s Largest Studio, ceaseless
activity on every set, the greatest in years, sends a
thrill of optimism throughout the land! The confidence
of the Friendly Company in motion picture business,
represented by multi-millions of dollars in production
expenditure, tells America that the screen is headed for
a new era of popularity and prosperity. M-G-M, The
Leader, points the way with Big Attractions, current,
coming and in production!

"SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS"

(CinemaScope — Color)

Wherever you go in Hollywood you’ll hear about this
amazing CinemaScope musical, the freshest idea, the
fastest-paced entertainment in years. Seven lusty
mountain brothers abduct seven lovely village girls;
they are marooned when an avalanche of snow shuts
them off from the outside world. By the time Spring
comes, they don’t want to be rescued! It’s The Love-
Making Musical, in Blushing Color, the gayest bundle
of song, dance and saucy humor that audiences have
seen in years. Jane Powell, Howard Keel and a screen-
ful of uninhibited young talents will pack your theatre
with joy and customers!

"BEAU BRUMMELL” (cdcr)

Previewed last week at the Paradise Theatre in Holly-
wood, this picture takes its place with the masterpieces
of M-G-M showmanship history! A spellbound audience
breathlessly followed the absorbing drama of the hand-
some adventurer who rose from obscurity to fame,
envied by men, adored by women, handsome, reckless,
proud. He loved and was loved by one he could not
have. So it was with his fascinating life, told in magnifi-
cent Color against the spectacular backgrounds of his
era in this fabulous attraction filmed by M-G-M in the
original locales abroa'd. Stewart Granger creates an
Academy-Award challenging role; Elizabeth Taylor is
seductively exquisite; Peter Ustinov as the weak,
sensation-seeking Prince is even more stunning than
he was as Nero in “Quo Vadis.” Write it down:
“BEAU BRUMMELL” wiU make screen history!

"VALLEY OF THE KINGS” ( Color)

It couldn’t have been better timed! The newspapers
and magazines will talk for months about the new
discovery of ancient treasure at a pyramid in Egypt.
You’U see it happen in M-G-M’s attraction in which
the exciting Color backgrounds of Egypt merge with
a pulse-pounding love story of a research expedition to
yield a big-time attraction. M-G-M is first to make a
Hollywood-produced film in the mysterious land of the
Nile. To the fabulous land of the Pharaohs M-G-M
brought a whole company to film the story of the man
who helps a girl unearth the secrets of an ancient tomb
only to find she has a husband who is a viUian and
that both their lives are in mortal danger! Robert
Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Carlos Thompson head a cast
of hundreds.

"BRIGADOON”

(CinemaScope — Color)

In the course of its notable production of screen musi-
cals, M-G-M has brought many famed Broadway
attractions to films, but none so gloriously as the cele-
brated, the enchanting, prize- winning musical stage
hit “BRIGADOON,” which it now offers to the world
in magical CinemaScope. “If you love someone deeply
enough, anything can happen — even a miracle” . . .
this is the beautiful theme that pervades every brilliant.
Color-splashed, spectacular number, every heart-stab-
bing love song, because truly this picture is dedicated
to a deathless love. Rich in humor, action, romance,
Big in eye-filling wonders, “BRIGADOON” is destined
to rank with Academy- Award winner “American In
Paris” as the ultimate in M-G-M musical triumphs.
Starring are Gene Kelly, Van Johnson, Cyd Charisse
with Elaine Stewart and hundreds in the cast.

"THE STUDENT PRINCE”

( CinemaScope—Color)

The echoes of the trade-shows of this joyous Color-
glorious CinemaScope production are still heard on
every Film Row and now the trade press shouts its
praises. M-G-M has devoted every resource of its
acknowledged musical production skill to this beloved
Sigmund Romberg all-time operetta favorite. This
story of the handsome Prince and the Barmaid at Old
Heidelberg is the attraction to which the youth of
America will flock. Such happiness, such soul-stirring
love songs, such rapture of carefree student days!
Pretty Ann Blyth is the Barmaid; Edmund Purdom,
handsome young star, a new personality for the fans
is the Prince. He kisses with his own lips but sings
with the glorious voice of Mario Lanza. Not since
Lanza’s romantic voice thrilled the fans in “The Great
Caruso” has such singing been heard on the screen.
Prepare now for a major M-G-Musical attraction!

"BETRAYED”

(Color)

Once more the mighty production planning of M-G-M
spans the ocean to create a pulsating screen drama
rich with eye-filling, authentic scenes in stunning color.
For the first time a Hollywood company of top stars
combines the exquisite beauty of Holland, its rich-
ness of tradition, its dykes and storied settings, with a
tale worthy of such an enterprise, a story of spies,
suspense and supreme sacrifice, Clark Gable makes his
first screen appearance since record-breaking “Mogam-
bo” and the girl opposite him is seductive Lana Turner,
an explosive combination, plus a third big name for
marquee power, Victor Mature. Clark as a leader of
the Intelligence, Lana as the beauty involved in high
intrigue, Victor Mature as “The Scarf” a shadowy
dare-devil of resistance. At cross- purposes in love and
intrigue, each personality is etched crisply, appealingly,
to make an attraction of high-voltage success.

AND MORE!

Take a trip around the humming M-G-M Studio.
Here’s what you’ll see!

‘ DEEP IN MY HEART”

It glows with Big-name musical extravaganza brilliance. It’s
the story of Sigmund Romberg and out of it M-G-M creates a
Big Show in lavish Color with a wealth of entertainment. Jose
Ferrer rivals his “Moulin Rouge” performance. For each role
an equally expert talent was chosen: Merle Oberon; Helen
Traubel, famed opera star now a night-club sensation; Walter
Pidgeon and others plus guest stars, each of whom does a great
number; Cyd Charisse, Vic Damone, Howard Keel, Gene Kelly
and his brother Fred; Tony Martin, Ann Miller, George Murphy,
Jane Powell, Debbie Reynolds, Tamara Toumanova, Vera-
Ellen, Esther Williams and more. Much of it is completed and
every evidence points to one of the Biggest, if not the Biggest
in the tradition of M-G-M’s Ziegfeldian-type musicals.

"THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS”

This is the story of a dramatic love conflict between two sisters
who love the same young man. Told against the background
of the world’s most romantic city, it packs an emotional punch
to spellbind audiences everywhere. The cast: Elizabeth Taylor,
Van Johnson, Academy Award Winner Donna Reed, Walter
Pidgeon, Eva Gabor and others. Watching the cameras filming
it is assurance of a powerful, romantic Technicolor attraction!

"THE GLASS SLIPPER”

Its filming is being noted nationwide because its producer,
director and star are the same that gave the world “Lili”
{winner of the Oscar for music and now enjoying successful repeat
bookings while continuing merrily in its 2nd year in New York!)
The footage seen thus far promises a more wonderful, more
enchanting exquisite color entertainment than even its famed
predecessor. Leslie Caron, Michael Wilding and the celebrated
Ballets de Paris are just a few of the talent assets of the cast.

"GREEN FIRE”

Another Big One in CinemaScope nearing completion at the
studio after filming in South America. It is an adventure-packed
love story of the search for an emerald mine. Stewart Granger,
Grace Kelly, ever growing in popularity, and Paul Douglas
journeyed to the danger-infested mountains of Colombia to
enact the drama of lust for the most concentrated wealth of
all — the emerald of Green Fire. Something to look forward to.

"ATHENA”

This riotous comedy brings a gay company of youthful talents
to the screen in a blaze of Color, romance and fun. A young
lawyer falls in love with the daughter of a faddist household
and before she renounces astrology and carrot juices for the
red-meat of romance, there’s a harvest of comedy, songs and
girl-boy appeal. The cast: Jane Powell, Edmund Purdom
(star of “The Student Prince”), Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone,
Louis Calhern, Linda Christian. They deliver merchandise for
the millions of America’s young folks.

"JUPITER’S DARLING”

To the never-ending good news at the busy M-G-M Studios
add this Big attraction now being directed by the man who
made “Show Boat” and “Annie Get Your Gun.” Only Cinema-
Scope could do it full justice. Bigness is inherent in its theme,
mighty Hannibal and his fabulous legions about to attack
Rome, diverted by the ruse of a beautiful girl. The elephant
sequence, original and eye-filling, is just one of many visual
excitements; its rich, new popular score of songs and the glories
of its production pageantry make it an attraction of top
magnitude. The cast of terrific talents are headed by Esther
Williams, Howard Keel, Marge and Gower Champion,
George Sanders.

WATCH THE M-G-M STUDIOS! OPTIMISM IS ON THE
MARCH! THIS IS JUST PART OF THE PRODUCTION
AND PREPARATION PLANNING FOR A NEW AND
GREATER ERA OF MOTION PICTURES!

★

SPEAKING OF OPTIMISM: The trade is joyous over
the first return engagement of Dovid O. Seiznick’s pro-
duction "GONE WITH THE WIND" in Atlanta where it is
topping oil its previous successful appearances, even the
very first, historic World Premiere! Get ready for GWTW!

DIALTHE BOXOFFICES FROM
AND THEm TELL YOU IT’S

BUSY!/ BUSY IfrBUSY LIN

Cover and 6 pages in LOOK on stands novy^
calls her “most wanted woman in Hollywood”!
Also LIFE cover and 6 pages, NEWSWEEK cover
and 3 pages, 3, 4, 5 page stories on *DIAL M'
in COLLIER’S, TIME, ESQUIRE, etc. and con-
stant newspaper and fan magazine publicity!

PRESENTED BY

Warner Bros, .n Warner

RAY MIILAND-GRACE KELLY' R

Color STARRING

OBERT CUMMINGS

WRITTEN BY

JOHN WILLIAMS ’ANTHONY DAWSON • FREDERICK KNOTT who wrote the International Stage Success

ALFRED HITCHCOCK

MUSIC COMPOSED AND CONDUCTED BY DIMITRI TIOMKIN • DIRECTED BY,

you’ll gross with 20th Century-Fox’s f i

if ^

IN THE FOUNTAIN

CinemaScopF

Color by Deluxe • In the Wonder of 4-TRACK HIGH-FIDELITY
MAGNETIC DIRECTIONAL-STEREOPHONIC SOUND

CLIFTON WEBB-DOROTHY McGUIRE-JEAN PETERS • LOUIS JOURDAN- MAGGIE McNAMARA

ROSSANO BRAZZI • Produced by SOLC. SIEGEL* Directed byJEAN NEGULESCO * Screen play by JOHN PATRICK

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY , Editor-in-Chiej and Vublisher

Vol. 95, No. 9

MARTIN QUIGLEY, ]R., Editor

June 5, 1954

Anything Goes!

by MARTIN QUIGLEY

A CURIOUSLY irresponsible attitude has de-
veloped in this industry on the subject of adver-
tising and promotion. The condition has been
showing up in increasing intensity and extent,
particularly during the past two or three years. An ugly
and perhaps crucial high-point of indecency and bad
taste has been reached in recent months.

The condition is not one due to an isolated revolt
against commonly accepted standards. While it is being
brought currently into sharp focus by one particularly
pointed challenge to decent public opinion it has by no
means been created by any single incident or effort.

The responsibility must be widely shared because it
has been brought about by contributions from many
sources. Hence, it is inevitable that the penalities that
surely will be exacted by an outraged public will be laid
at the door of the industry at large — exhibition, produc-
tion and distribution.

The economic pressures of the post-war years of read-
justment in the industry provide no valid excuse or alibi.
On the contrary, resort to advertising and promotion
which is scandalous in text and illustration can only be
interpreted by an intelligent public as a profession of
incompetence, and a disregard for the public interest.
On either count the public is likely to conclude that
existing economic difficulties are well-deserved.

Maintenance of decent standards in advertising and
promotion requires a sense of responsibility for the good
name of the motion picture and the industry. It requires
also that those who are in a position of final authority
awake to the fact that the general public advertising is
an all-revealing disclosure of the character of the indus-
try and the judgment, taste and purposes of the people
who run it.

An objective look at much recent and current motion
picture advertising presents a criterion of decency
^ and social accountability which does no one a
favor to be judged by.

The maintenance of standards requires a regular and
thorough-going policing. The several principal trade
associations, exhibitor, producer and distributor, have
been notoriously off watch in this regard. It is sheer
futility to adopt codes and pass resolutions and then
assume that by these gestures responsibility has been
discharged.

There never has been, and there never will be, a main-
tenance of decent advertising standards unless and until
a determined will to this end is expressed by those who
have the authority to issue orders. Passing the buck to
an appointee who can only plead and cajole is not even
an effective smoke-screen, because the public easily looks

through to the industry itself and those who are re-
sponsible for its management.

An advertisement tinged with purple suggestiveness
in text and illustration is the easiest way to a piece of
copy that looks attention-arresting. It is also the easiest
way to telling millions of decent-minded people that they
want no part of the picture advertised. This is not a fly-
by-night carnival business in which, come the morning
dawn, the outfit is on its way to a new crop of suckers
in the next town. Carnival business ethics should have
no part in today’s motion picture industry.

The motion picture and the industry have been culti-
vating a bad name through the character of some of its
advertising not only with its public but also with many
important newspapers whose columns have been giving
voice to their own and the public’s complaint. In recent
months newspapers in Chicago, Cleveland, Atlanta,
Pittsburgh and elsewhere have published sharp criticism
of movie advertising. In some of these cities and in some
others, newspapers, in face of voluble public protest,
have been driven to the necessity of setting up codes,
and even outright censorship, to protect their columns
and their own good name against objectionable movie
advertising.

Objectionable advertising is defeating the
very purposes of the COMPO campaign of ad-
vertising in “Editor and Publisher,” which was
intended to better the industry’s relations with the gen-
eral press of the nation. Right at the time the COMPO
advertising, addressed in the newspaper trade journal
to editors and publishers, is seeking to point out the
responsibility, stability and service in the public interest
of motion pictures, the same editors and publishers have
been finding their columns muddied with suggestive and
vulgar theatrical advertising.

The deterioration in the decency standard of motion
picture advertising has been gradual. No one source, but
many, both in distribution and in exhibition, are account-
able. One advertiser after another has sought to top,
perhaps by only a little, what the fellow just ahead of
him has done. This has gone on until at the present time
a collection of current specimens could be gathered which
would make a first-rate chamber of horrors.

Perhaps an all-time low is one that recently appeared.
In this a theatre in playing a picture which is being
advertised with a notoriously “shocking” campaign, fea-
turing a strangely posed and scantily clad dancing figure,
uses a life-size blow-up of the figure as a front for the
cashier’s booth. A window was cut at the abdominal
section of the blow-up through which tickets were
handed out to patrons !

In face of a practice in advertising and promotion of
the notion that “anything goes” it should be well-remem-
bered that among the things that may go are the good
name of the industry and public respect. When these
go the prosperity, stability and future of the industry
go with them.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

cjCettef'6 to ilie ^.J^eruid

Protesting Lewdness

To THE Editor :

The newspapers here did not want to
accept niy press sheet ads on “Dial M for
Murder’’ owing to the theme pose which
showed the girl stretched out over the desk
with the man hovering over her. Actually
this was the scene where the attempt was
made to strangle Grace Kelly, however, the
ad illustration seemed to indicate that a
necking part}' was in progress.

Both of our papers here, owned by the
same people, have put into effect censorship
on movie ads and they have already refused
to run other ads which had sexy or mislead-
ing poses and copy.

The paper called a conference of all
theatre men in the area and read the riot act
to us, stating that letters were being received
from the public protesting the illustrations
and copy content of the ads, which are gen-
erally lifted bodily from the press sheets.
None of the theatres are showing sex pic-
tures of any kind. The objections were to
many of the better class movies.

The press sheet editors had better watch
their steps along these lines. Theatre man-
agers or copy men can, of course, watch the
situation, but what’s the use of having ads
and mats if you have to spend so much time
in changing the ads to make them acceptable.
Let’s have them right to start with. —
EARLE M. HOLDEN. The Lucas and
Avon Theatres, Savannah, Ga.

[An editorial on decency in advertising,
entitled “Anything Goes,” by Martin Quig-
ley, appears on page 7.]

Lens Reaction

To THE Editor:

For the past four weeks the Town theatre,
San Fernando, California, has been used as
a test theatre for the Tushinsky Super Scope
Variable Anamorphic Projection Lens, dur-
ing which time we have played two Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer and two 20th-Fox Cinema-
Scope pictures, and the thought occurred to
the writer that you might be interested in
knowing our feelings regarding this lens.

First, the theatre is of average size, being
fifty feet wide with a throw of 110 feet,
size of our curved screen is sixteen by
thirty-two feet. In using the SuperScope
Lens we were able, and without hurting the
picture in any way, to play CinemaScope

at a proportion of two to one, namely sixteen
by thirty-two.

We used an aperture 715x715 and would
open the picture at a proportion of one-to-
one and as the credits were shown we would
gradually spread the picture until it was
thirty-two feet wide. This was accomplished
without any distortion and, needless to say,
the reaction from the public was very good.
As far as quality is concerned; definition,
light, transmission, etc.; it is far greater
than with other anamorphic lenses previ-
ously used.

I pass this information on to you as we
were the experimental theatre to use this
particular device ad thought you would
be interested in knowing its outcome.- -
GEORGE INGHAM, Los Angeles, Calif.

Whole Industry Worked

To THE Editor:

No one denies the great work done by
COMPO on the amusement tax and the in-
dividuals who headed COMPO’s represen-
tation deserve every kind word that has'
been said.

But let us remember that this thing was
universal ; that behind the scenes were ex-
hibitors throughout the land who had their
meetings in the homes and offices of the
representatives in the Senate and House,
and it was at these local sessions that the
pattern was laid which eventually gave re-
lief to the industry.

This thing was something that had to be
engaged in by a great group of people.

Several editorials have appeared in trade
papers, one in particular which took ex-
hibitors to task because they had not banded
together to raise a sum to buy presents for
some of those who directed the campaign.
Probably those people would have been the
most embarrassed.

An army has to have a general and when
the shooting is over it’s the foot soldier
that supplied the go which helped to win
the battle.

Let’s not try to seek out any individual
back-slapping in this great victory which
was won. Many men of the business gave
of time and effort on this. Can’t it be said
that the movie industry won a great victory
and let it go at that so we can all get on
with the business of again working to-
gether to get people back to the movies? —
5" oil them E.vhib itor.

June 5, 1954

INDUSTRY rallies to launch concerted at-'
tack on proposed New York tax on
amusements, carrying fight to Mayor and
into City Council chamber Page 12

CINEMASCOPE schedule calls for new
sound prints by 20th-Fox Page 15

PARAMOUNT plans fifteen new produc-
tions to be made in VistaVision Page 15

PERSPECTA sound demonstrations are ar-
ranged for key cities abroad Page 18

O'DONNELL declares exhibition needs 26
more "A" films yearly Page 20

BALABAN reports company progress to
firm's stockholders Page 20

BRITISH pleased by reaction in U.S. to
liaison of exhibitor units Page 22

BERNSTEIN, British executive, plans pro-
duction for television Page 22

THE WINNERS CIRCLE — the box score on
the box office leaders Page 23

ARBITRATION drafting committee sched-
ules meeting on details Page 23

COLUMBIA reports sharp increase in net
for 39 weeks Page 23

NATIONAL Theatres' purchase of Magna
stock approved by court Page 26

PHONEVISION tests are scheduled by
Zenith for New York Page 26

READE of TOA scores Johnston for re-
marks on fee-TV Page 26

MAKELIM wins new exhibitor support for
sponsored production Page 32

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus-

try personnel across country

Page 33

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising

Page 38

Film Buyers' Rating

3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene

Page 24

Late Feature Review

Page 18

Managers' Round Table

Page 33

People in the News

Page 26

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews

Page 17

Short Subjects

Page 17

Short Subjects Chart

Page 18

The Release Chart

Page 20

'EACH ISSUE BREAKS NEW GROUND "

To the Editor:

The arrival of The HERALD is such an infuser of fresh enthusiasm that I felt like
conveying that to you. Your journal maintains a unique, vigilant eye on current
matters with such astounding clarity that each issue breaks new ground. One never
feels like missing a single copy. In fact, we have asked that you send at least such
of the back numbers as may be available. — P. P. N AMBIAR, Gemini Studios, Cathe-
dral, India.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

On tLe Ot(

opizon

Leonard h. goldenson,

American Broadcasting-Para-
mount Theatres president, is
backing his opinion that there
should be more production with
some action. Having applauded ef-
forts in various sectors of the indus-
try to alleviate the product shortage,
Mr. Goldenson this week said his
company would finance independent
foreign and domestic producers and
even guarantee a specified number
of playdates. He noted that because
of such a guarantee, the producer
would be better able to obtain
financing. Mr. Goldenson soon will
leave New York for Europe where,
it is understood, he will attempt to
persuade producers in England,
Italy, and Germany to use more
American acting and directorial
talent in films designed for the
Arherican market.

► Gerald Shea, head of the Shea
Enterprises, has an idea he feels will
bring back the “lost” audience.
Armed with a picture he feels will
charm them, 20th-Fox’s “Three
Coins in the Fountain,” with stereo-
phonic sound and CinemaScope
(about which Mr. Shea is enthusi-
astic), managers are authorized to
invite 25 patrons, in each house, who
have been attending infrequently.
The managers are to talk to such
patrons preceding the screening.
The subject: the advantages of new
aspect ratios and sound.

► Warner Brothers have been en-
gaging in a philanthropy the details
of which come out with their an-
nouncement that this week they
turned over to the Army Emergency
Relief “God Bless America” fund
the score of the film, “This Is the
Army.” The film itself has earned
for the fund $7,800,000. This was its
profit. The stage show had earned
$2,000,000 for the fund.

► Americans, despite the angry
novelists and commentators, aren’t
the only censors who are arbitrary
and inexplicable. Comes word from
England this week that Dr. John
Kershaw, chief health officer of the
town of Colchester, doesn’t like
Cinderella. He feels her conquest of
Prince Charming is a bad example
for other girls. Previously, “Snow
White and the Seven Dwarfs” was

rejected by censors at Stockport.
And even “Little Red Riding Hood”
was criticized at a national con-
ference of teachers, some of whom
felt it taught deceit.

► A renowned name in producing is
threatened. British Lion Pictures
this week was given a receiver and
manager by the British Govern-
ment’s National Film Finance Corp.,
which has written off an $8,400,000
loan as a loss. The company lost its
entire share capital.

► Allied States Association won’t
enter into any new production deals
like the Makelim deal until reaction
to the Makelim plan becomes defi-
nitely known. Then, if the reaction
is good, look for several others.

► College scholarships soon will be
offered children of workers in our
industry, through the Motion Pic-
ture Salesmen’s Club of New Eng-
land. In Boston, working on the
project, the committee comprises
Maynard Sickles, National Screen
Service local sales manager; Joseph
Wolf, Embassy Pictures; Irving
Farber, Regal Pictures; John Pec-
kos, 20th Fox; and William Ku-
mins, Warners.

► Memorial Day weekend as usual
proved good for the New York first-
run boxoffices. Outstanding were
MGM’s “Executive Suite” at the
Radio City Music Hall, in its fourth
week, which did $127,000; and 20th-
Fox’s “Three Coins in the Fountain”
at the Roxy, which did $76,000 in
the week.

► That “dean” of censors, the re-
nowned Lloyd T. Binford, of Mem-
phis, last week relaxed a bit. He’ll
allow “Jessie James vs. the Daltons”
if he sees it and likes it. He told
Columbia the automatic ban on any
film with “Jesse James” in its title
is withdrawn.

► The Senate Small Business Com-
mittee’s comments on the Loew’s
and 20th Century-Fox stereophonic
sound policies indicates that the
committee is keeping pretty close
tabs on the industry, even if it’s not
having any hearings or full-scale
investigation.

► It’s too late in the session for
action this year on the Bricker bill,
to license radio and television net-
works. But look for a new drive in
that direction in next year’s Con-
gress.

In BETTER THEATRES

Observing that wide-screen technique has set the drive-in field again in motion
toward higher standards, Wilfred P. Smith, a pioneer in that division of the
industry, believes it has now reached a level of development suggesting investi-
gation of yet further areas of "expansion," not only to impress the public, but
to make the property produce more income. He suggests ("New Horizons for
the Drive-In Theatre") adding such recreational facilities as miniature golf and
swimming pools, and submits also that a shopping center would be appropriate
to many situations.

And in pages following that article are described and pictured two new
drive-ins that remarkably anticipate Mr. Smith's vision of a "greater drive-in."

On wide-screen technique itself, two articles are aimed at clarification of the
increasing choice of methods^ — "What You Need for What You Want," and
"Summing Up Theatre Needs for Film Exhibition Today."

motion picture herald, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address,
“Qolgpubco, 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 HOllywood 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
frurnup, 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. JUNE 5, 1954

"THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY,” Warner
Brothers' epic of the air, opens with a glitter-
ing premiere at the Egyptian theatre, Holly-
wood. Among the celebrities arriving at left
are Mr. and Mrs. Charles Vidor and Mr. and
Mrs. Harry M. Warner. Below, Jack L.
Warner is flanked by John Wayne, one of
the picture's stars, and William Orr.

Premieres . . .

above, right and below in Hollywood and New York

"JOHNNY GUITAR," Re-
public's Joan Crawford
Western, opened at the
Mayfair In New York after
an intensive exploitation
campaign. At left Herbert
J. Yates escorts Mercedes
McCambridge, co-star of
the picture, to the premiere.

CHARLES HEATH, right, pro-
jectionist in the screening
room of the RKO Boston ex-
change for 29 years, is retiring.
He started his career In 1906
in Goldwith's Pickle Store, a
nickelodeon which was part of
the old Bowdoin Square Mu-
seum. He Is going to Florida
to fish.

L. J. (Jack) SCHLAIFER,
active in distribution since
1912, has joined United
Artists. At left he is greeted
by B. G. Kranze, left, gen-
eral sales manager.

WALTER BRANSON, RKO
foreign head, visits Cuba.
Left to right: Francisco
Rossi and Michael Havas
of RKO; Mr. Branson; E. de
Carrera, Havana exhibitor;
Jesus Blanco, Astral circuit
manager; and Antonio Cas-
tel. Independent distributor.

SIX of the "seven brothers" kidnap
their brides in "Seven Brides for
Seven Brothers," MSM's new and
different musical which is receiving
critical acclaim. It is reviewed in this
issue of The HERALD, Product Digest,
page 17.

FRANK AYDELOTTE, of the Aggie thea-
tre, Fort Colins, Colo., liked Universal's
two-reel short, "Perils of the Forest," so
much that he felt he ought to pay more
for it. Here he gives a check to Mayer
H. Monsky, Denver branch manager.

AT A SCREENING of Columbia's "On the Water-
front" in New York. Left to right: Malcolm Johnson,
whose Pulitzer Prize-winning articles on the dock wars
inspired the film; Budd Schulberg, author of the
screenplay; and Rev. John A. Corridan, New York
priest active for many years among the dock workers.

AT the anti-trust proceedings in
Buffalo last week involving the Schine
circuit, right, are: Frank S. Raichle,
attorney; J. Myer Schine, John A.
May, Donald G. Schine and Louis W.
Schine.

Industry Pours
Slashing Attack
On New York^s
Admission Tax

THE motion picture industry in New York
mobilized with swiftness, precision, and
astonishing attention to multiple detail this
week in an intensive all-out fight against a
five per cent admission tax proposed sud-
denly by New York City. It was above all
a history-making demonstration of the power
of the organized industry to make itself
heard and, regardless of the outcome, it was
a fight of which every member of the in-
dustry could be proud.

Indication of the effectiveness of the pro-
gram came Wednesday when the Finance
Committee of the City Council, scheduled
to vote on the tax that day and presumably
pass it, postponed action to consider the
feasibility of an exemption on motion pic-
ture theatre tickets costing less than 50
cents. Harry Brandt, speaking for the
emergency committee, immediately chal-
lenged this figure, declaring an exemption
would be useless in preventing the closing
of many theatres unless it was granted on
tickets costing at least $1.

The Finance Committee was to take final
action Thursday with the City Council and
the Board of Estimate taking up the matter
immediately thereafter.

With less than a week to organize. New
York exhibitors planned and executed a
protest the main elements of which included
“Kill the Tax” signs on every marquee in
the city, petitions signed by over 800,000
theatre patrons, display advertising in news-
papers and accompanying editorial help, and
a blackout of marquee and advertising signs
in famed Times Square.

These were climaxed by a rally in front
of City Hall Tuesday morning, preceding a
hearing conducted by the Finance Commit-
tee of the City Council, in which more than
5,000 industry employees marched with pro-
test signs. Following the rally, with the
galleries of the Council room jammed with
supporters and the room itself filled to ca-
pacity, representative speakers presented the
industry’s case in an eight hour marathon
which lasted until after seven o’clock in the
evening.

Mr. Brandt, president of the Independent
Theatre Owners Association opened the

THE campaign against the proposed New York City five per cent admission tax
was an example to the industry everywhere of the organization and dramatization
of the fight against discriminatory taxation. On these pages, in a picture story by
Floyd Stone of The HERALD staff, are shown the multiple aspects of the campaign.
These include the organizational rally held by members of the emergency com-
mittee at the Rivoli theatre last week (below), the marquee slogans broken out
immediately thereafter (above and opposite page), the sidewalk gathering of
petition signatures and the blow-ups of newspaper ads (below), the bannered trucks,
the picket signs and the people at the City Hall rally (opposite page), and the
hearing before the Council Finance Committee (page 14).

THE INDUSTRY RALLY

THE PETITIONS AND THE ADS

hearing with a speech which lasted well
over an hour. He called the measure, if
passed, a “death sentence” for exhibitors in
New York.

“This is only the beginning of the fight,”
he declared at one point. “If this bill is
passed we will take our fight to Albany.”

Mr. Brandt stressed the present and po-
tential theare closings charging that the rate
of closing would increase past the danger
point if the tax were passed and before con-
cluding he named the theatres in each coun-
cilman’s district which had closed.

Robert Coyne, special counsel for
COMPO, pointed out to the Council that
when exhibitors sought repeal of the
Federal admission tax they told Congress
that if the tax were cut only the more pros-
perous theatres would be able to pass the
tax saving on to the public and that many
of them would have to use the money to
stay in business. He said that all the in-
dustry sought then and seeks now is “a
chance to fight for survival. We are not
seeking a subsidy such as is given in some
foreign countres. We want a chance to help
ourselves.”

George Murphy, three times past
president of the Screen Actors Guild,
made a dramatic speech after the hear-
ing had entered its eighth hour. He
told the Councilmen, “You cannot take
away the salesroom of an industry and
expect it to operate.” The industry
throughout the country, he warned,
would be seriously hurt by any further
loss of revenue in New York.

Twenty-four unions, representing 175,000
film employees, were represented with other
groups at the hearing. Richard F. Walsh,
president of the lATSE, warned the com-
mittee: “What happens in New York City
will happen all over the country. If you keep
the tax off, we can survive. We all work
here to make a living. Don't drive us out
with this tax.”

Others of the score of speakers included
Herman Gelber, president of Local 306,
lATSE : Samuel Rinzler of Randforce
Amusement Corp. ; Ralph Bellamy, president
of Actors Equity and Chorus Equity Asso-
ciation; and Tom Murtha, chairman of
Tenth District Theatrical Locals, lATSE.

The campaign was organized by an emer-
gency committee comprising officials of
every circuit and theatrical organization in
the city, most of whom worked day and night
over the holiday weekend.

Klki. THE MOVIE

THE DEMONSTRATION

POLICE LINES prevented
the demonstrators from ac-
tual contact with City Hall
and thereby with the city's
welcome to Ethiopian Em-
peror Haile Selassie — and
so the men and women of
the industry with their
trucks, their placards and
their vehemence circled the
Hall and its park for some
four hours, and their pro-
test seemed even bigger
ffran planned.

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FIGHTING THE TAX {continued)

ON TO THE COUNCIL

THE SCENE in the
Council chambers as the
industry presented its
case.

HARRY BRANDT tells
each of the Councilmen
about the petitions and
the closed theatres in
their districts.

QUESTIONS, as Council-
men inquire about those
closings. The questioner
below is Thomas Mira-
bile, and he has in hand
the industry's newspaper
advertisement.

RICHARD WALSH, lATSE chief, was one of many labor spokesmen.

THE GALLERY, as Harry
Brandt speaks, is rapt. Its
repeated applause for in-
dustry speakers drew re-
bukes— and also made an
impression.

THE MAN WITH THE FIG-
URES, Robert Coyne, of
COMPO, who drew an
over-all picture of the in-
dustry's plight.

THE AUDIENCE, a sam-
pling; Leo Brecher, Max A.
Cohen, Sam Rosen, and
Oscar Doob in foreground.

AND EVEN A RABBI, Isaac Wapner, added his protests. The tax,
he declared, is upon children.

CINEMASCOPE SCHEDCLE
SET FOR 13 PICTCRES

Twentieth Century-Fox’s CinemaScope
news this week was, like Gaul, divided into
three parts. They were;

An announcement detailing the re-
lease schedule of the new single track
magnetic and single track optical
sound prints on 12 CinemaScope pic-
tures, beginning with “The Robe”
June 19 and following with the re-
lease of at least one a week thereafter
through August 28.

An announcement that starting in
July the company would service four
types of trailers on each CinemaScope
production.

An anouncement of a forthcoming
“industry progress report” on Cinema-
Scope, expected to run about an hour,
which will demonstrate the newly im-
proved CinemaScope camera “taking”
lenses and include a full comparison
of four-track magnetic sound with
single track magnetic and single track
optical.

A1 Lichtman, the company’s director of
distribution, announced the following- sched-
ule for the availability of the new single
track sound prints : “How to Marry a Mil-
lionaire,” June 26; “Night People,” July 3;
“Prince Valiant,” July 10; “Hell and High
Water,” July 17; ‘Three Coins in the Foun-
tain,” July 24; “New Faces,” July 24;
“River of No Return,” July 31 ; “King of

the Khyber Rifles,” August 7 ; “Garden of
Evil,” August 14; “Beneath the 12-Mile
Reef,” August 21, and “Demetrius and the
Gladiators,” August 28.

It was in connection with the release of
these new prints that Mr. Lichtman an-
nounced that new advertising accessories
and four different types of trailers would be
made available to exhibitors.

The trailers will include one in Cinema-
Scope with full, four-track magnetic stereo-
phonic sound; one in 2-D with regular opti-
cal sound selling CinemaScope and stereo-
phonic sound; one in CinemaScope with
regular optical sound for use in theatres
equipped with one-track magnetic or for
regular optical sound, and one in 2-D with
regular optical sound for use in theatres
equipped for either single track magnetic
or regular optical sound.

The CinemaScope progress report film,
the editing and scoring of which was sched-
uled to be completed this week at the 20th-
Fox studios on the coast, will be shown
throughout the world later. Dramatizing the
technical advances made in the CinemaScope
medium within one year, the film will place
special emphasis on the new lenses devel-
oped by Bausch & Lomb and which are used
in the production of new attractions.

Presentation of the film will be via spe-
cial theatre showings for exhibitors repre-
senting every size and type of theatre, mem-
bers of the trade and consumer press, and

executives from all branches of the film
industry. Scheduling of the showings, cur-
rently being mapped, will follow the general
pattern established by the initial Cinema-
Scope demonstrations last year.

From Stratford, Conn., Albert M. Pickus,
owner of the Stratford theatre and nation-
ally known as an executive of Theatre Own-
ers of America, announced that he would
be showing MGM’s CinemaScope produc-
tion, “Rose Marie,” with the “big four” of
the new techniques. In his advertising copy,
Mr. Pickus said that he would project the
CinemaScope print through SuperScope
lenses onto his own “Amp-o-Vision” thea-
tre-wide screen. The fourth of the big four
techniques is stereophonic sound, which
Mr. Pickus prefers over conventional sound.

20 More Drive-ins Take
Stereophonic Sound

A postscript to these CinemaScope de-
velopments came in the week from Texas,
where Claude Ezell, circuit operator and de-
veloper of an in-car speaker unit to simu-
late stereophonic sound at drive-ins, an-
nounced that 20 drive-in theatres through-
out Texas will be equipped for CinemaScope
presentations by July 1, including the Ezell-
type speakers. Mr. Ezell said that eight in-
stallation teams currently are working
throughout the south and middle west
equipping outdoor thratres with the equip-
ment.

PARAMOUNT PLANS 15 IN VISTAVISION

HOLLYWOOD: Paramount announced
here this week that it has set a total of 15
pictures, all in VistaVision, including two
now in work, for the balance of this year.
Starting dates have been set for the forth-
coming productions, virtually all of which
will have color by Technicolor. The company
stated that since VistaVision cameras are
fast being made available, the entire schedule
can be filmed in the new medium.

“Strategic Air Command,” starring James
Stewart and June Allyson under the direc-
tion of Anthony Mann and produced by
Samuel J. Briskin, now is in the final stages
of production. Now on location in Colorado
is “Run for Cover,” Pine-Thomas produc-
tion starring James Cagney, Viveca Lind-
fors and John Derek, with Nicholas Ray
directing.

Three productions are scheduled to start
in June. They are “To Catch a Thief,”
starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly, with
Alfred Hitchcock producing and directing
on the French Riviera; “Love Is a
Weapon,” starring John Payne and Mary

Murphy, under the direction of Phil Karl-
son, and “We’re No Angels,” starring
Humphrey Bogart, Joan Bennett and Aldo
Ray, with Michael Curtiz directing and Pat
Duggin producing.

The fast pace will continue with the fol-
lowing productions, all with color by Tech-
nicolor : “Blue Horizons,” the Pine-Thomas
production about the Lewis and Clark ex-
pedition, scheduled to start July 6; Bob
Hope’s next and as yet untitled comedy, to
be produced and directed by Mel Shavelson
and Jack Rose, July 14; Danny Kaye’s “The
Court Jester,” under the producing-direct-
ing-writing team of Norman Panama and
Melvin Frank, August 15; and “Lucy Gal-
lant,” Pine-Thomas production with a top
cast, August.

Also scheduled for the fall and late 1954
are Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in “You’re
Never Too Young,” to be directed by Nor-
man Taurog and produced by Paul Jones,
September; Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten
Commandments,” with a cast headed by
Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner and Sir

Cedric Hardwicke among others, to start
October 11 on Biblical locales, and “The
Vagabond King,” starring Kathryn Gray-
son and the European operatic tenor, Oreste
Kirkop, to be directed by Michael Curtiz
and produced by Pat Duggin, November.

The fall production slate also includes Hal
Wallis’ film adaptation of “The Rose Tat-
too,” starring Burt Lancaster and Anna
Magnani, under the direction of Daniel
Mann. Later this year too, producer-director
William Wyler will put before the cameras
“The Desperate Hours,” from the novel of
Joseph Hayes. Also in preparation for later
this year is another Cary Grant film to be
produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock,
the subject of which will be announced.

Paramount’s latest regional VistaVision
demonstration was held Wednesday in
Chicago at the Chicago theatre. On hand for
the showing, which followed the pattern of
like demonstrations in New York and else-
where, were Y. Frank Freeman, Paramount
vice-president, and Dr. Charles R. Dailey,
technical expert.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5, 1954

Choreography by: Mi’ch3el Kidd • Words 5hd Music b/

SYLVIA m ■

Whiten,

AND SOUD
BUSINESS
HAVE ALREADY
PROVED PARAMOUNT’S
TERRIFIC HIT YOU
CAN BOOK
FOR JULY!

Spectacular and conclusive
results in every one of the six
showcase engagements, many
of which have been extended
indefinitely. Now you can be
one of the fortunate showmen
to play this smash attraction
and cash in on the fun-minded
summer crowds. Date it now
and get the full benefit of the
powerful penetration of Para-
mount’s exactly- timed national
ad campaign... four-color ads in
Life, Look and Amercian Week-
ly, plus full pages in Seventeen
and the entire fan list . . . totaling
forty million readers who’ll be
eager ticket-buyers!

fioduB&i and Directed hy

LATE FEATURE REVIEW

Demetrius and the Gladiators

The tremendous audiences which already have seen “The Robe ’ are conditioned to be
receptive to this film. Seldom, if ever, has there been waiting such a number of “pre-sold’’
patrons. Neither the public nor the exhibitor is likely to be disappointed in the sequel.
In Demetrius and the Gladiators” the CinemaScope medium reaches a certain maturity
of perfection. Absent are some of the understandable technical flaws of the first Cinema-
Scope picture.

20th-Fox — The Robe" Continued

{Color by Technicolor )

For many of its assets this picture has drawn
on the^cast and production team that made “The
Robe. Victor Mature who was the surprising
star of the first attraction continues to make
alive the Greek slave whose career was marked
by a robe and its original owner. Also featured
in the same parts are Jay Robinson, the Em-
peror Caligula and Michael Rennie, Peter. The
characterizations developed in “The Robe” are
broadened by each of the players.

Frank Ross, producer, who worked with “The
Robe” picture project for years, gave the same
lavish mounting to this attraction. Philip Dunne,
familiar with Lloyd C. Douglas’s novel char-
acters through his screenplay, wrote “Demetrius
and the Gladiators.” Unlike “The Robe,” this
filrn has a certain unity of place. All the action
is in or near Rome.

Delmer Daves, the director, did an excellent
job of keeping a reasonable balance between
a human story of broad meaning and a rich
spectacle played apinst the background of
Caesar’s Rome in its declining days. To the
director and to all the performers goes the
credit of having even the small roles well done.

Susan Ffayward, as Messalina, the beautiful,
scheming and voluptuous wife of Claudius, the
Emperor’s uncle and heir, shares with Mature
the principal billing. Debra Paget is the Chris-
tian girl in love with Demetrius. Barry Jones,
Claudius, and William Marshall, playing a giant
African, are fine in supporting roles.

The story opens with the last scene of “The
Robe.” Demetrius is captured by the Emperor’s
soldiers and condemned to be a gladiator. Mes-
salina is fascinated with him. When he fails to
turn against his Christian faith and slay his
adversary in the arena, she tries to arouse his
passion for her. At first he resists her advances.

Demetrius’ faith is shaken when the Chris-
tian girl apparently dies when several of the
gladiators attempt to rape her. He is now ready
to slay men in the arena and also become the

United Artists Sets Four
Releases During June

“Man With a Million,” starring Gregory
Peck, in color by Technicolor, heads the
roster of four United Artists productions
which will be released during June. The
other features comprising the slate are
“Hobson’s Choice,” comedy with Charles
Laughton ; “Gog,” 3-D science-fiction ad-
venture in Eastman Color and “Challenge
of the Wild,” drama of a family expedition
in the Arctic in color by Color Corp. of
America.

Paramount Will Retain
Building in New York

The New York District Court has entered
an order permitting Paramount Pictures to
keep the Paramount Building in New York
City. Originally the company was required
to sell the building under the original Para-
mount Consent decree. The order has con-

favorite of Messalina. After a while Peter
returns from a trip and rekindles the faith in
the former Greek slave. Demetrius repents of
his sins as he recalls the time when he found
the robe at the foot of the Cross. Again con-
demned to the gladiators araia, Demetrius
throws down his sword. Before he can be
killed the Praetorian Guard slays the Emperor.
The new Emperor Claudius, and his reformed
wife Messalina, pledge not to molest the Chris-
tians as long as they are not disloyal. Demetrius
resigns his commission in the Praetorian
Guards and with Peter returns to his friends.

The film includes a number of action shots
of Demetrius and other gladiators in death
struggles with one another and also of Deme-
trius in combat with three tigers. In Cinema-
Scope these scenes have an almost startling
sense of reality and presence. In these scenes
and elsewhere in the film the stereophonic
sound is effective in enhancing the drama. The
arena, the palace, Roman streets, the costumes,
are all attractive in striking color by Techni-
color.

Reviezoed at the home office. Reviewer’s
rating: Excellent. — M. Q., Jr.

Release date, June. 1954. Running time, 101 minutes.
PCA No. 16588. General audience classification.

Demetrius Victor Mature

Messalina Susan Hayward

Peter Michael Rennie

Lucia Debra Paget

Paula Anne Bancroft

Caligula Jay Robinson

Barry Jones, William Marshall, Richard Egan, Ernest
Borgnine, Charles Evans, Everett Glass, Karl Davis,
Jeff York. Carmen de Lavallade, John Cliff, Barbara
Tames, Willetta Smith, Selmar Jackson, Douglas
Brooks, Fred Graham, Dayton Lummis, Robert E.
Griffin, Frank Hagney, Gisele Verlaine, George
Eldredge. Paul Richards, Ray Spiker, Gilbert Perkins,
Mickey Simpson, George Barrows, Paul Stader, Jim
Winkler, Fortune Gordien, Lyle Fox, Dick Sands,
Woodie Strode, George Bruggeman, Jack Finlay, Paul
Kruger, Peter Mamakos, Shepard Menken, Harry
Cording. William Forrest

ditions designed to keep the picture com-
pany from controlling the operations of the
theatre in the building. It provides that if
there is a new lease or modification of the
lease on the theatre portion of the building,
the lease or modification must be negotiated
by an outstanding New York City realtor
acting as an agent of the court. It also
provides that if the Justice Department ever
should feel that the picture company’s con-
tinued control over the building is unreason-
ably restraining competition either in dis-
tribution or exhibition of pictures, it can
notify the company and the company must
then either sell the building within two years
or have the issue settled by the court.

Florida Unit Sets Meeting

MIAMI : A regional south Florida meeting
of the Motion Picture Exhibitors of Florida
has been set for June 17 at the local Bis-
cayne Terrace Hotel, Horace Denning, pres-
ident, has announced.

Planning 40
Exhibitions
Of Perspecta

Within the next three months more than
40 major trade and press demonstrations of
Perspecta sound will have been held in im-
portant centers overseas, Arthur M. Loew,
president of Loew’s International Corpora-
tion, announced in New York this week. All
the demonstrations are being run under the
joint sponsorship of MGM, Paramount and
Warner Brothers, the three companies which
have adopted Perspecta.

Mr. Loew said 12 demonstrations have
been completed abroad; definite dates set
for eight more, while an additional 20 are
planned for the near future. Cities in which
Perspecta already has been shown include
London, Mexico City, Brisbane, Paris, Mar-
seilles, San Juan, Copenhagen, Sydney,
Melbourne, Havana and Cairo. In each
country follow-up demonstrations have been
or will be held in key cities, he said.

Among the demonstrations scheduled are
the following; Bogota, June 9; Bordeaux,
June 10; Lima, June 16; Rio de Janeiro,
June 23; Algiers, June 24; Sao Paulo,
June 30; Montevideo, July 7 ; Santiago, July
14. Demonstrations also will be held in the
following cities, with dates still to be set:
Buenos Aires, Vienna, Brussels, Frankfurt,
Hong Kong, Bombay, Djakarta, Tel Aviv,
Formosa, Rome, Beirut, Singapore, Panama
City, Manila, Johannesburg, Stockholm,
Bangkok and Caracas.

Mr. Loew also announced the signing of
licensing agreements for the manufacture
and sale of Perspecta sound integrator units
with the following firms: Microtechnica of
Turin, and Cinemeccanica of Milan, Italy;
the Brockliss-Simplex Company of France,
and the Japan Victor Company of Tokyo.
Active negotiations were said to be under
way with other manufacturers in other
parts of the world.

20th-Fox Announces Five
Changes in Sales Staff

Five promotion and branch office realign-
ments in 20th Century-Fox’s domestic sales
organization were announced by the com-
pany this week. Martin Moskowitz, for-
merly Empire state division manager, has
been advanced to division manager of the
revised Atlantic division of New York,
Philadelphia and Washington. The Pitts-
burgh exchange, formerly in the Atlantic
division, has been added to the central divi-
sion under T. O. McCleaster, central divi-
sion manager. J. M. Connolly, previously
manager of the Boston exchange, has been
promoted to division manager of the new
northeast division, Boston, New Haven,
Hartford, Buffalo and Albany. John Fel-
oney, formerly sales manager in Boston, has
been promoted to Boston manager, while
John Peckos, salesman in Boston, has been
promoted to sales manager.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5, 1954

THIS IS I HE FIRST OF A SERIES Oh IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM ALLIED ARTISTS

Progress ot
Firm Cited

XEED 36 MORE
A’s: O’DOXXELL

Krim and Broidy Reply to
Circuit Head's Plea for
Additional Product

A call for an addition of 26 “A” pictures
to the 1954-55 production slate has been
sounded by R. J. O’Donnell, executive of
the Interstate circuit of Texas, in a letter
released this week and addressed to the lead-
ing production and distribution executives
of the Hollywood companies.

Mr. O’Donnell said his letter was the re-
sult of a recent meeting of Texas exhibitors,
representing both conventional and drive-in
situations, called to discuss the present prod-
uct situation, and that he had been elected
to inform production and distribution as to
the meeting's results.

Answers Forthcoming

Answers to Mr. O’Donnell were almost
immediately forthcoming from two produc-
tion sources, Steve Broidy, president of Al-
lied Artists, and Arthur Krim, president of
United Artists.

Mr. Broidy’s reply coincided with the Al-
lied Artists announcement that it had con-
cluded a contract with Academy Award-
winning director John Huston calling for
a minimum of three pictures and that the
company soon would conclude similar deals
with Billy Wilder and William Wyler. “It
is our earnest hope and desire,” wrote Mr.
Broidy, "to add no less than six and pos-
sibly as many as eight pictures in the top
“A” category to the supply available for
the year 1954-55.”

The Allied xTrtists executive said his
company had been cognizant of the product
situation for a long time and had been work-
ing over the past 12 months to increase the
supply of top films. Allied Artists, he added,
also was increasing the number of pictures
in its regular program by 15 per cent, in
addition to the big films it expects to re-
ceive from Huston, Wilder and Wyler.

In his answer, Mr. Krim said that in the
1954-55 season, “our delivery of potential
blockbusters will be several times the num-
ber distributed by us this past year and far
more than in any single year in the 35-year
history of United Artists.”

Lists Top U.A. Films

Mr. Krim then listed some of the top re-
leases on U.A.’s schedule and said : “All of
these pictures are m the can or about to
start in the immediate future. We pledge
you this — we will deliver more than 50 pic-
tures at the rate of at least four a month
in 1954-55 and we promise you a prepon-
derance of big ones.”

In his original letter, Mr. O’Donnell took
exception to the view held by some film ex-
ecutives that there should be fewer but bet-
ter pictures. Said Mr. O’Donnell, “This is
understandable but it is not practical in the

smaller areas where saturation is reached in
three or four days, maximum five days.”

The Texas exhibition leader, however,
disassociated the Texans from those exhibi-
tors who “are critical almost to the point
of belligerance toward production because of
lack of product.” He went on to say that
“we have estimated that in Texas we need
26 additional “A” pictures for the 1954-55
season. In our opinion, 26 “A” pictures
would not only eliminate the present short-
age, but they would compound dividends to
production, distribution and exhibition.

“There are now 1,424 theatres operating
full time in Texas; 1,035 conventional and
389 drive-ins ; 685 of these theatres are des-
perately in need of one-half additional pic-
ture each week ; 379 of these theatres are
seriously in need of one-third additional pic-
ture each week; 195 of these theatres are
vitally in need of one-fourth additional pic-
ture each week.

Cites Available Play dates

“Without these additional pictures each
week, there are 27,167 available playdates
in Texas. Since June 1, 1953, through
March, 1954, 45 top “A” pictures released
in Texas have averaged $143.55 each play-
date. This can mean a total of $3,899,722.85
added revenue to production and distribu-
tion for the 1954-55 season. This being
the case,” he said, “it is reasonable to as-
sume that the remaining 47 states are at
least in comparable position.”

In conclusion, Mr. O’Donnell said that by
adding 26 more “A” pictures to the 1954-55
release schedule, production and distribution
would stand to get $74,798,493.65 in addi-
tional income and the box offices of the
nation an additional $200,000,000. “We ur-
gently recommend,” he said, “that you give
all possible consideration to the proposal.”

Besides Mr. Broidy and Mr. Krim, the
letter also was sent to Barney Balaban,
Harry Cohn, Jack Cohn, Walt Disney, Rob-
ert Fellows, Y. Frank Freeman, Samuel
Goldwyn, James R. Grainger, William J.
Heineman, Howard Hughes, Arthur B.
Krim, Harold Mirisch, Edward Muhl, Mil-
ton R. Rackmil, Nicholas Schenck, Dore
.Schary, David O. Selznick, Spyros P. Skou-
ras, Hal Wallis, Harry Warner, Jack War-
ner, John Wayne, Herbert J. Yates and
Darryl Zanuck.

To Discuss Film Censorship

The University of Michigan Law School’s
1954 Institute, to be held at Ann Arbor
June 16-18, will hear a discussion on the
motion picture aspect in a forum on “official
controls versus self-regulation of communi-
cations media.” Hugh Flick, director of the
motion picture division of the New York
State Education Department, and Sidney
Schreiber, general attorney for the Motion
Picture Association, will speak.

By Baiaban

Paramount Pictures’ production policy
for the foreseeable future will be to produce
every picture that “we believe can pay for
itself and return a profit, without limitation
as to number, cost or over-all budget,”
Barney Balaban, president, stated Tuesday
at the stockholders meeting in New York,

He explained that “in our business we can
no longer plan for a volume of pictures to
be delivered at some time in the future. The
public has become most selective in its mo-
tion picture preferences.” He emphasized
that now “each picture must stand on its
own merits. As a result Paramount does not
plan a specific number of pictures nor does
it have a determined over-all budget during
a given fiscal period.”

Reviewing company progress in terms of
new product, current earnings and new
technical developments, Mr. Balaban de-
clared ; “Paramount now finds itself with a
healthy motion picture business and diversi-
fied interests in a number of new and grow-
ing areas.”

In discussing color television, he said the
“21-inch and 24-inch chromatrons, the
‘Lawrence’ color television tube developed
by Chromatic Television Laboratories, Inc.,
are now sufficiently developed to provide the
popular-sized larger pictures to which the
public is accustomed, in high quality color.”

As for Telemeter’s “pay-as-you-see” tele-
vision operations, Mr. Balaban said the ex-
periments conducted at Palm Springs during
the winter “clearly established the technical
proficiency of the system and the willingness
of the public to pay for quality television
entertainment in their homes.”

Mr. Balaban was strongly optimistic about
VistaVision. He cited the enthusiastic re-
sponse to the demonstrations in this country
and said plans are being made for demon-
strations in other cities in the U.S. and in
South America, Europe and the Ear East.

l\Ir. Balaban was deeply gratified by the
company’s schedule of forthcoming product.
He added, “During the second half of 1954
we shall be delivering a greater concentra-
tion of outstanding pictures and potential
box office hits than ever before in the history
of the company.”

RKO Sets 40 Dates for Area
Premiere of "Sins of Rome"

Fortv dates have been set for the Cincin-
nati area premiere on June 23 of RKO’s
“Sins of Rome,” Charles Boasberg, general
sales manager, announced in New York this
week. The Italian-made spectacle, dubbed
in English, will open first at the Palace,
Cincinnati ; the Grand, Columbus ; Colonial,
Dayton ; Palace, Huntington ; Palace, Ham-
ilton ; Grand, Steubenville; Fayette, Wash-
ington Court House, and Paramount, Ash-
land, Ky.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5, 1954

e are all extremely happy to welcome

JOHN HUSTON

into the Allied Artists family. It is a
source of great personal pride to us that
he has chosen our company as the exclusive
producing and distributing organization
for his future productions. We know that
exhibitors throughout the world will find
in our mutual plans a profitable answer
to their most pressing problem — a source of
outstanding product.

PLAX REACTION Bernstein to

STIRS RRITISH

MeievBSEan

CEA Urges U. S. Leaders
Attend Exhibitor Meet
in England June 21

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : The favorable American reac-
tion to the proposal of the Cinematograph
Exhibitors Association for a permanent liai-
son with similar groups throughout the
world has delighted the exhibitors here. The
leaders are particularly impressed with the
suggestion of Ben Marcus, president of Al-
lied States Association, for an exploratory
meeting in Hollywood.

Obstacles in Way of Trip

Nothing would please CEA’s president,
Claude Whincup, and the Association’s
secretary, Walter Reginald Fuller, more
than to make the Atlantic crossing, but there
are obstacles. Negotiations are in progress
on the break-figure dispute with distribu-
tors, which concerns the proportion of enter-
tainment-tax remission to producers, and an
involved wage claim made by NATKE in
behalf of theatre employees.

However, they have another plan, here-
with exclusively disclosed. CEA’s annual
convention opens June 21 at Harrogate in
Yorkshire. It will be attended not only
by delegates to the association’s general
council, but by hundreds of exhibitors from
every corner of the country.

CEA’s executives gladly invite
to their deliberations and at-
tendant functions any American
executive and discuss the outline
at least of the latest proposal.
They would welcome in particular
the opportunity of demonstrating
that CEA is indeed what Abram
F. Myers describes as a “well-or-
ganized, effective association.”

It is understood that private let-
ters in this sense have already
gone to the U. S., but this article
will serve further to make the sug-
gestion as widely known as possi-
ble in American exhibitor circles.

Says Secretary Fuller: “We are excep-
tionally anxious that no misapprehension
should arise in regard to the nature of our
proposal. We do not suggest a sort of supra-
national organization which would super-
sede existing ones. What we do urge most
earnestly is the creation of some instrument
by which viewpoints and needs might be
exchanged immediately and continuously.”

Throughout the stereophonic sound con-
troversy CEA’s leaders were in close though
informal communication with certain Ameri-
can authorities, including Mr. Myers of Al-
lied, and there’s a considerable and grow-
ing body of opinion here that the Spyros
Skouras concession in the matter of stereo-

phonic sound would not have been made
had it not been for the world-wide resistance
to sales conditions spearheaded (so the Brit-
ons claim) by CEA.

Certainly, CEA’s contribution to the de-
liberations of the Union Internationale de
I'Exploitation Cinematographique made a
profound impact on Continental exhibitor
opinion. CEA’s resolution last week in
regard to the availability of conventional
prints of CinemaScope subjects now has
been sent to all known exhibitor organiza-
tions in various parts of the world.

Backstage Work in Progress

The general council will not again assem-
ble until the Harrogate occasion, but much
backstage work is m progress at CEA’s
headquarters in regard to the global pro-
posal. That will figure high on the council’s
agenda. The plan wil be vigorously venti-
lated also at the Forum open to all theatre
men, which has become over the years an
integral part of the convention.

Their British confreres hope devoutly that
some American showmen will find it con-
venient to be present at Harrogate.

MPEA Reelects All
Incumbent Officers

The board of directors of the Motion Pic-
ture Export Association at its annual meet-
ing Tuesday reelected all incumbent officers.
Reelected were Eric Johnston, president;
Ralph Hetzel, Kenneth Clark and G. Griffith
Johnson, vice presidents ; Sidney Schreiber,
secretary ; F. W. DuVall, treasurer ; Her-
bert J. Erlanger, assistant secretary-treas-
urer; and Frank J. Alford, assistant treas-
urer. At the meeting of the stockholder
members which preceded the board meeting,
all of the present directors were reelected.

File Percentage Suits

PORTLAND, ORE.: Six percentage ac-
tions have been filed in Federal Court here
against Carlie S. McNeil. Paramount,
Loew’s, Twentieth Century-Fox, Warner
Bros., United Artists and Universal each
filed a separate action involving the Plaza
theatre.

FPC Votes Dividend

OTTOWA: Famous Players Canadian
Corp. has declared a dividend on its com-
mon stock of 37)4 cents for the quarter end-
ing June 30, payable June 25 to shareholders
of record June 10.

Universal Dividend 25 Cents

The board of directors of Universal Pic-
tures Company, Inc., at a meeting declared
a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share
on the common stock, payable June 25,
1954, to stockholders of record June 11.

LONDON : Sidney Bernstein, chairman of
Granada Theatres, shortly will commence
production through his Transatlantic Pic-
tures Corp. of a series of television films for
world distribution, he has announced.

The films will be made in Britain but
will have stars from both sides. Mr. Bern-
stein, associated with Alfred Hitchcock in
Transatlantic, already has approved a num-
ber of stories and ideas for the series and
has left for New York for discussions with
U.S. television interests. He wil! be joined
by his brother Cecil, and during their stay
they also will survey progress in color tele-
vision.

Labor Members of Parliament still hanker
after a British film-quota in the programme
of the forthcoming Independent Television
service. They moved an amendment in that
sense to the Government’s bill setting up the
new service, arguing that without such
legislative provision old American TV films
would be dumped here wholesale.

The Postmaster General, in charge of the
bill, would have none of that. Fie agreed
that producers and technicians wanted to
protect their interests, but he asked them,
in their own long term interests, not to try
to turn the television industry into a closed-
shop for British-produced films.

The Minister has visions of Britain lead-
ing the world in the TV field. “If we do
not adopt too restrictionist an attitude here
at home, and do not try to protect British
films because they are British films, I believe
any fears they may have about the loss
of a home market will be swept away in the
opportunities that there will be for sending
their products abroad. I see no reason why
this country cannot become the Hollywood
of the television world. I think there are
enormous potentialities here,” he told the
House.

Altec, RCA to Install
Pola-Lite Equipment

The Pola-Lite Company, manufacturer of
the single-track 3-D projection system, has
engaged the services of Altec Service Corp.
and RCA Service Co., Inc., to supervise the
installation of the Pola-Lite single-track 3-D
units on projection machines in theatres
throughout the country. A1 O’Keefe, dis-
tribution vice-president of Pola-Lite, said
that, under this new policy two Pola-Lite
units will be sold for $150 completely in-
stalled to theatre projectors by either Altec
or RCA engineers. Thus the exhibitor’s
only concern will be to widen his portholes
to take care of the larger projection angle
necessary with the Pola-Lite units, and ful-
fill his commitments for the use of 6,000
Pola-Lite 3-D glasses over a stipulated one-
year period.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities for the week end-
ing May 29 were:

Arbitration
Drafters Set
Meeting

The joint distribution-exhibition drafting
committee, appointed at the closing session
of the arbitration m.eeting in New York last
Wednesday to try to adjust differences, was
to have met at a luncheon session this week.
The eight-man committee was to gather for
the purpose of establishing a method of
operation for the task, it was believed.

While both branches of the industry ap-
peared to be in accord on the general prin-
ciples of the proposed arbitration system,
which when formulated, will be presented to
the Department of Justice for approval, in-
dications were that there may be some defi-
nite disagreements when the committee
starts putting the proposals in writing.

The group is composed of Herman Levy,
Theatre Owners of America general coun-
sel; S. H. Fabian, TOA; Leo Brecher,
Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatre Own-
ers Association ; Max A. Cohen, Indepen-
dent Theatre Owners Association ; Adolph
Schimel, Universal general counsel; A.
Montague, Columbia Pictures ; A1 Lichtman,
20th Century-Fox; and A. W. Schwalberg,
Paramount Film Distributing Corp.

Apparently the group planned to waste
no time in preparing a fresh draft, inasmuch
as they are committed to submit a formula
to the over-all industry arbitration commit-
tee in not more than 60 days from last
Wednesday, May 26. The alternate mem-
ber of the committee for distribution is
Charles Feldman, Universal Pictures. No
alternate for exhibition was named.

Although two months appeared to be
ample time in which to prepare an initial
draft, it was pointed out by some committee
members that, because of the pressure of
their own business affairs, a problem may
arise in getting the full eight-man group in
one session at one time.

Also, the four theatre organizations, TOA,
MMPTA, ITOA and Southern California
Theatre Owners Association, will have to
contact each and every member to learn of
individual complaints, disputes and matters
which they term arbitrable. Once the “pro-
posals” are received by the headquarters of
each exhibitor organization, the officers of
each will have to sift them out before for-
warding them to the drafting committee.

Oregon TOA Unit Plans
Convention June 9

PORTLAND , ORE.: Oregon Theatre
Owners, one of the newer units of the Thea-
tre Owners of America, will hold its an-
nual convention here June 9 at the Benson
Hotel. Among the national executives of
TOA who are scheduled to attend are Wal-
ter Reade, Jr;, president ; Herman Levy,
general counsel ; Alfred Starr, board mem-
ber, and Roy Cooper, vice-president of the
TOA western division.

Albany: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Gone With the Wind (MGM reissue)
2nd week; The Naked Jungle (Para.).

Boston: Carnival Story (RKO) 2nd
week. Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd
week, Johnny Guitar (Rep.)

Buffalo: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Johnny Guitar (Rep.), Secret of the
Incas (Para.), Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox).

Cincinnati: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Elephant Walk (Para.)

Cleveland: The Long Wait (UA), River
OF No Return (20th-Fox), 2nd week.

Detroit: Executive Suite (MGM) 4th
week. The Moon Is Blue; (UA) 2nd
week, Pickwick Papers (Kingsley),
PiNoccHio (Disney-RKO), Playgirl
(Univ.), Three Coins in the Fountain
(20th-Fox).

Hartford: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Executive Suite (MGM), The French
Line (RKO) 2nd week. Secret of the
Incas (Para.)

Indianapolis: Dial M for Murder (WB),
River of No Return (20th-Fox), The
Student Prince (MGM).

Kansas City: Elephant Walk (Para.)
holdover.

Memphis: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Johnny Guitar (Rep.), River of No
Return (20th-Fox) 2nd week.

Miami: Executive Suite (MGM) 7th

Naturama Will Be
Shown in Day+on

DAYTON , OHIO: Naturama, a new wide-
screen projection process combined with
single strip 3-D, will shortly be demon-
strated before the trade here by Synthetic
Vision Corporation of this city. The process
already has been shown privately. Pictures
projected in the process have the same as-
pect ratio (2:55 to 1) as CinemaScope, in
addition to being in three dimensions. Regu-
lar projection booth equipment is used and
there is no change in the booth port, accord-
ing to a release from Synthetic Vision. All
that is necessary, besides the special prints,
is the Naturama super-imposing attachment
(measuring less than 11 inches by 10 inches
and only two inches thick) which can be
attached in a few minutes. Naturama was
invented by Col. R. V. Bernier.

Republic Dividend Voted

A dividend of 25 cents on preferred stock,
payable July 1 to holders of record as June
10, has been declared by Republic Pictures’
board of directors.

week. Three Coins in the Fountain
(20th-Fox).

Milwaukee: Carnival Story (RKO),
Johnny Guitar (Rep.) holdover. River
OF No Return (20th-Fox) holdover.

Minneapolis: Prisoner of War (MGM),
Rhapsody (MGM), River of No Re-
turn (20th-Fox).

Oklahoma City: Creature from the
Black Lagoon (Univ.), Make Haste
to Live (Rep.).

Philadelphia: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Johnny Guitar (Rep.), Three Coins
in the Fountain (20th-Fox).

Pittsburgh: Beachhead (UA).

Portland, Ore.: The Carnival Story
(RKO) 2nd week, Miami Story (Col.),
River of No Return (20th-Fox) 3rd
week. Witness to Murder (UA).

Providence: The Naked Jungle (Para.),
River of No Return ( 20th-Fox).

Toronto: Executive Suite (MGM) 3rd
week, Hobson’s Choice (UA) 13th week.

Vancouver: The Living Desert (Disney)
2nd week, Rob Roy (Disney-RKO) 2nd
week.

Washington: Captains Paradise (UA),
Elephant Walk (Para.) 4th week.
Executive Suite (MGM) 4th week. The
French Line (RKO), Johnny Guitar
(Rep.), Knock on Wood (Para.) 6th
week. River of No Return (20th-Fox)
3rd week.

CalutnbiaJSet
tip Sharply

An estimated net profit of $2,664,000 for
the 39 weeks ended March 27, 1954, com-
pared to a net of $310,000 for the same
period in 1953 has been reported by Colum-
bia Pictures.

Earnings per share on common stock
amounted to $3.26 for the 39-week period
this year as against 15 cents for the same
period the preceding year. Net profit before
income tax was $6,296,000 compared with
$1,071,000 for the previous year’s 39 weeks.

Total estimated taxes for the period were
$3,632,000 for this year against $761,000
last year. Earnings per share of common
stock after preferred stock dividends for
both current year and prior year are based
on 757,843 shares outstanding March 27,
1954.

The Federal Government this year took
$2,600,000 and state and foreign govern-
ments profited to the extent of $1,032,000,

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

JOSEPH M. NEWMAN will start June 10
directing “The Police Story,” a Hayes Goetz
production for Allied Artists. His last
previous picture is
the unreleased Uni-
versal - International
“This Island Earth,”
which he packaged
and sold to that stu-
dio, along with his
services, and which
is expected in fore-
casting circles
around here to out-
gross the company’s
high-yielding “Crea-
ture from the Black
Lagoon” by fancy
figures.

His next, after “The Police Story,” will
be one of two he’s been honing to fine edge
for purposes of launching an independent
producing company in partnership with one
of the shrewdest money men in these parts.
None of the four pictures mentioned are go-
ing extra-dimensional (beyond what’s loosely
termed wide-screen) but that isn’t because
Mr. Newman doesn’t think out-sizes are
okay. He does. But he thinks screen sizes
and shapes are, so to speak, beside the
point — says you’ve gotta give ’em enter-
tainment, any way you cut it.

Joe Newman (nobody calls him formal
Joseph M.) was a contract director for
20th Century-Fox until August, 1953 when,
his contract having expired and the studio
having converted to a policy of fewer pic-
tures, he stepped out into the wide world of
independent operation and looked about him
to see what was going on in the theatres.

He found the kiddies were still going to
the movies, especially on Saturdays, and a
carefully varied personal canvass revealed
that science-fiction was outdrawing the cow-
boys two-to-one, not only at the children’s
matinees but at the stands where they buy
their comic-books and the toy counters
where they stock up on flight gear and ray
guns. That’s how come he bought a story
called “This Island Earth” (man goes to a
planet, instead of vice versa, in this one)
and packaged it for sale to U-I.

Had Directed Number of
Independent Productions

Back a good while before he accepted
that 20th-Fox contract Joe Newman had di-
rected a sizable number of independent pic-
tures, notably “711 Ocean Drive,” and while
the war was on he directed 32 productions
in uniform. Before all that he had learned
and performed “every job in production” at
the MGM studio, where he started as office
boy, moved up to directing “Crime Does

Not Pay” features and to contract director.
He was born August 7, 1909, and hasn’t
idled away a minute of his 45 productive
years. He doesn’t intend to.

He says, “I intend to make good, solid
pictures, with fresh backgrounds when pos-
sible— ^genuine locations rather than sets,
in most cases — and with box office personal-
ities in the top roles and good actors in sup-
port. I don’t think I or anybody else can
set out realistically on a policy of making
nothing but multi-mill ion-dollar productions
exclusively, nor that a business can operate
on a policy of showing only that kind of
pictures, because nobody can ever be sure
enough of getting nothing but plus-quality
pictures from plus-budget investments.”

He goes on, “Today’s conditions are hard.
Competition is severe and it wears many faces.
We, in production, and the men in exhibition,
working together, can beat it. We’ve got
to give the exhibitor solid, salesworthy prod-
uct— rounded properties, well written, prop-
erly and provocatively cast, and produced
with style and taste — and the exhibitor has
got to acquaint his public fully, intimately
and impressively with what he’s got.”

Joe Newman approaches his next under-
taking, “The Police Story,” with a com-
pletely informed opinion of its potentialities.
It is a story of policemen and their work as
revealed in the handling of the flow of crime,
large and small, in the life of a contemporary
American city. Unlike nearly all the melo-
dramas on screen or tube these past few
years, this one will not be set forth as hap-
pening in Los Angeles. As many other
differences as can be devised without damage
to the story itself will be provided.

SEVEN pictures were started and six others
were finished at the weekend, bringing the
over-all total of films shooting (the seven
new ones plus 19 others) to a trim 26.

MGM’s Jack Cummings started “Many
Rivers to Cross,” in CinemaScope and East-
man color, with Roy Rowland directing
Robert Taylor, Eleanor Parker, Victor Mc-
Laglen, James Arness, Rosemary DeCamp
and others.

CinemaScope is in use also, this time with
WarnerColor, for Warners’ “East of Eden,”
which Elia Kazan is producing and direct-
ing. with Julie Harris, Raymond Massey
and James Dean as principals.

Technicolor is the pigmentation process
employed by Universal-International on
“Smoke Signal,” with Dana Andrews, Piper
Laurie, William Talman, Bart Roberts and
William Schallert in the cast. Howard
Christie is the producer, and Jerry Hopper
is directing.

“Five Bridges to Cross” is shooting in
Boston for U-I, with Aaron Rosenberg pro-

ducing and Joseph Peveney directing. Tony
Curtis, Julia Adams, George Nader and
Bobby Curtis are principals.

Allied Artists began filming “Killer
Leopard,” in the Bomba series, with Johnny
Sheffield again the jungle boy and with
Beverly Garland, Barry Bernard, Leonard
Mudie and Smoky Whitfield in the cast.

“The Little Red Monkey,” an iknglo-Guild-
Tony Owen production starring Richard
Conte, was launched in London by producer
Alec Snowden, with Ken Hughes directing.

“The $1,000 Bill” is an independent under-
taking by Telecrafts Productions, Inc., which
has Keith Andes, Angela Lansbury, Douglas
Dumbrille and Bill Henry in the cast. Henry
R. McCune is producer ; Paul Guilfoyle
director.

Illlllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllilllllllilll

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (7)

A.A.

Killer Leopard

INDEPENDENT

$1,000 Bill

(Telecraft Prod.)

Little Red Monkey
( Anglo-Gulld-
Tony Owen Prod.)

MGM

Many Rivers to Cross

COMPLETED (6)

A.A.

Jungle Gents

COLUMBIA

Moon Men

INDEPENDENT

Crashout (Palo Alto)

SHOOTING (19)

COLUMBIA

Phffft

Joseph and His Brethren
(CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Return of Columbus
( Paal-Real )

Long John Silver (Kauf-
man; CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

MGM

Jupiter’s Darling

(CinemaScope; East-
man)

Glass Slipper (Eastman)

Deep in My Heart
(Technicolor)

Green Fire
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
(VistaVision; Techni-

(CinemaScope; East-
man)

U-I

Five Bridges to Cross
Smoke Signal
(Technicolor)

WARNER

East of Eden (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

LIPPERT

Thunder Pass (Broidy)

U.A.

Shield for Murder
( Schenck-Koch )

Vera Cruz (Hecht-Lan-
caster; SuperScope;
Technicolor)

color)

Run for Cover

RKO

Conqueror (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)
20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

There's No Business Like
Show Business
(CinemaScope; color)
Woman's World

(CinemaScope; color)

U-I

Destry (Technicolor)

WARNER

Dragnet (WarnerColor)
Helen of Troy (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)
Land of the Pharaohs
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

Supported by NATIONAL MAGAZINE aDSS
NATION-WIDE PROMOTIONS! and the co-
operation of THOUSANDS OF SPORTS CAR
CLUBS and ENTHUSIASTS!

A GREAT
NEW WORLD
OF THRILLS SWEEPS

young

and frivolous-
the double cross-road
danger and romance.

wheel of '“If
a reckless dream m

COtOR BY

blackmer

ACROSS THE SCREEN! ~

It will all be reflected at your Boxofficel

Mel Gold, recently resigned from National
Screen Service, has announced the forma-
tion of Mel Gold Productions, Inc., with
executive offices in New York. The new
unit will produce TV films, educational,
theatrical and training films, and “live”
television programs.

Reville Kniffen has been named western
division manager of 20th Century-Fox,
succeeding Bryan D. Stoner who has
resigned.

R. L. Bostick, southern district supervisor
and vice-president of National Theatre
Supply, has received a commission as
Kentucky Colonel from Governor Law-
rence W. Wetherby.

Alex Eve.love, public relations firm, has
been appointed to represent “Wisdom,”
forthcoming national monthly picture
magazine.

NT Win Buy
Muynu Stock

Federal Judge Augustus Hand has
granted National Theatres’ petition for per-
mission to purchase $1,000,000 of six per
cent debentures of Magna Theatre Corp.
The deal involves 73,300 shares of Magna
common stock.

National previously had submitted its pe-
tion to purchase the debentures to the De-
partment of Justice, which in turn an-
nounced last week that it would not oppose
the action after National, Magna, Todd-AO
agreed to certain conditions on the invest-
ment.

As revealed last week, with the purchase
of $1,000,000 of debentures, National will
receive warrants entitling it to acquire over
a 10-year period up to about four per cent
of the outstanding Magna common, and also
to a four and one-sixth per cent participation
in the profits of “Oklahoma.”

Brewer Announces Slate to
Oppose Walsh of lATSE

HOLLYWOOD : Roy M. Brewer here
Wednesday named the following who will
oppose lATSE president Richard Walsh
and other encumbents in the August 9 elec-
tion. For general secretary-treasurer, James
V. Sipe, Pittsburgh Projectionists Local
171 ; first vice-president, Jerry Galvin, Bos-
ton, Stage Employees Local 11; vice-presi-
dents, not in this order, and with four more
to be named, George Raywood, Miami;
George Barrett, Kansas City; Roy Ruben,
Detroit; Russel Moss, New York. Mr.

Sir Philip Warter, chairman of Associ-
ated British Picture Corp., is en route to
New York from England.

Walter A. Brown, chief barker of the
Variety Club of New England, has re-
ceived the Heart Award of the unit.

Americo Aboaf, vice-president and foreign
general manager of Universal Interna-
tional Films, and Felix Sommer, Uni-
versal International vice-president, left
New York over the weekend for Barce-
lona, Spain, where they will attend the
company’s 1954 European sales conven-
tion, opening June 7.

M. Spence Leve has been transferred from
Eox West Coast Theatres’ northern Cali-
fornia division manager to the Los An-
geles office as assistant to Edwin E.
Zabel, general manager. James Runte,
Sacramento, moves up to replace Mr.
Leve in San Francisco.

Brewer said he has more than necessary
majority of lATSE votes assured to him
“at this minute” and that he’ll spend time
before election touring the country.

Allied Artists Dividend

HOLLYWOOD : Allied Artists’ board of
directors has voted 13j4 cents per share
for the first quarterly dividend on the
per cent cumulative convertible preferred
$10 per stock of the company, payable June
15 to stockholders of record June 5.

READE IS ALARMED AT
JOHNSTON'S REMARKS

Statements by Eric Johnston, presi-
dent of the Motion Picture Associa-
tion of America, before the Omaha
Chamber of Commerce "concerning
the future of home pay-as-you-see
television" were termed "shocking"
and showing "a complete lack of
understanding of the economics of
the motion picture and television In-
dustries" in a statement issued by
Walter Reade, Jr., president of Thea-
tre Owners of America. He said,
"Mr. Johnston has placed all seg-
ments of the Industry in a compromis-
ing position by Implying an increase
in the number of television stations
and the development of home pay-as-
you-see TV will be helpful to produc-
tion, distribution or exhibition. The
results of impartial scientific research
disclosed that Mr. Johnston was badly
Informed concerning the facts," the
release states.

Bhonevision
Tests Betd
In New York

The first private, experimental tests of
Zenith’s Phonevision system of subscriber
television were initiated in the New York
City area Monday under the direction of
Dr. Alexander Ellett, vice-president of
Zenith in charge of research. The tests held
in cooperation with WOR-TV, were au-
thorized recently by the Federal Communi-
cations Commission. The tests were to run
seven days, beginning at 9:30 A.M. and
continuing to 4 :30 P.M. according to Sey-
mour Handy of WOR-TV.

In the operation were seven field camera
crews operating throughout the city with
Phonevision “decoders.” The experiment
was to determine what distances the system
will project, and how it will react to fringe
areas and other technical problems peculiar
to the New York area, according to Mr.
Handy .

No telephone lines were employed and
images were to be received only on test
receivers equipped with air code translators,
station spokesmen said.

In commenting on the tests, Mr. Ellett
said: “In simple essence, a subscription tele-
vision service can be compared with a the-
atrical box office. Phonevision then is a
method for installing a box office in the
home. But as in the case of a theatre, the
program will not be a financial success if
people are able to detour around the box
office and watch the program without pay-
ing for it. So far as we know, the vast num-
ber of codes possible with Phonevision will
eliminate any ‘free passes’ or sneaking in
at the side door,” Mr. Ellett said.

Projectionists Stop "Salt"
Opening in Chicago House

CHICAGO: “Salt of the Earth,” the con-
troversial film made by left-wing elements,
failed to open as scheduled here last week
at the CinemaAnnex. The projectionists
failed to show up for work. The first night
audience had its money refunded to it after
hearing several impromptu speeches from
the stage by theatre owner Mandel Ternian ;
Juan Chacon, actor in the film, and Howard
Biberman, who directed the picture. Mr.
Terman hinted at the possibility of a law
suit against the projectionists union.

June 9 General Release
Date for "Andersen"

Samuel Goldwyn’s “Hans Christian An-
dersen” will open June 9 at the Paramount
theatre, Portland, Ore., in its first general
release playdate, it has been announced by
Charles Boasberg, general sales manager
for RKO, distributor of the film. New ads
and publicity material have been created for
the general release of the Danny Kaye pic-
ture in color by Technicolor.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

President United Paramount Theatres, says:

“A great book has been made
into a greater motion picture.
As with 'Eternity’, Columbia
has done it again with

THE CAINE MUTINY! ’’

STARRING

Humphrey Bogart - Jose Ferrer
Van Johnson - Fred MacMurray

and Introducing

ROBERT FRANCIS 'MAY WYNN .....TECHNICOLOR

Screen Play by STANLEY ROBERTS • Based upon the Pulitier prize winning novel by HERMAN WOUK

Directed by EDWARD DMYTRYK • A COLUMBIA PICTURE • A STANLEY KRAMER PROD. ^

eral years, is now a student salesman in the
local Fox exchange. . . . Herb Gaines, WB
salesman, was to be the guest of honor at
a bachelor dinner in his honor June 7 by
Tent 7, Variety club of Buffalo. . . . Wads-
worth Konczakowski is taking over the oper-
ation of the Capitol, South Buffalo com-
munity house, renting it from the Dipson
circuit. . . . Elmer F. Lux was the guest
speaker at the May meeting of Buffalo
Court, Royal Order of Jesters, one of whom
liked his speech so well that he offered to
give $50 to any charity Elmer named if
Lux would give him a transcript of the talk.
Elmer held forth on the idea that more
citizens should take more interest in their
governments — local, state and federal. . . .
George Sussman, booker at the Columbia
office, is recovering from a heart attack suf-
fered the other day while he was on the job
in the exchange in the Film Building.

CHICAGO

John Balaban, president of Balaban and
Katz, will be honored at a testimonial
luncheon kicking off the amusement division
campaign of the Combined Jewish Appeal.
. . . Sol Cohen, veteran film salesman, has
left Warner Brothers. . . . Sylvan Gold-
finger departed for a short stay in Tucson
before bringing his wife back from there to
spend the summer in Chicago. . . . The ad-
vent of w’armer weather and the annual
spring box office slump has brought about
a junior wave of closings in this area,
among them Bailey Enterprises’ Tazewell,
Washington, Ilk; Abe Werbner’s Princess,
Louistown; A. Tonkinson’s Tampico, Tam-
pico, because of illness; Frank Stewart’s
Rivoli, Danville, for the summer ; and the
Glassford, Glassford.

CINCINNATI

The Capitol theatre box office has been
opened for the advance sale of reserved seats
for the premiere of “This Is Cinerama’’

WHEN AND WHERE

June 8-10: Annual convention Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association,
Chamberlin Hotel, Old Point Comfort,
Virginia.

Ju ne 14-16: An nual spring board meeting
and get-together, Allied Theatre Owners
of Indiana, South Shore Hotel, Lake
Wewasee, Ind.

June 21. . . . unusual interest is being mani-
fested here in the RKO Palace showing of
Warner’s “Dial M For Murder,” because
of the opportunity of comparing the film
version with the stage play appearing here
at the Cox theatre earlier in the season with
Maurice Evans as the star. . . . John Gentile,
who has been covering the Columbus
(Ohio) territory for Paramount, has been
transferred to Detroit as sales manager of
that branch. No successor has been an-
nounced. . . . Jack Finberg, United Artists
branch manager and his wife, are among
the Miami Beach, Florida, vacationists. . . .
At Millersburg, Ky., Leonard Howard has
shuttered his Millersburg theatre. ... Pa
Center, Ky. is to have a new drive-in thea-
tre, on which construction work has already
been started by Clark Smith, who has oper-
ated theatres in the Texas panhandle.

CLEVELAND

The Variety Club gin rummy contest held
this week in the club’s Hollenden Hotel
headquarters, attracted more than 100 din-
ner guests and 68 contestants. Peter Rosian,
U-I district manager, ended in first place.
. . . Nat Walken closed his Grand theatre,
Salem, for the summer, concentrating oper-
ations on the State, the “A” house. . . . All
local exchanges were closed Monday. . . .
Eddie Bergman, U-I salesman and Mrs.
Bergman returned from a Florida vacation.
. . . Eclair theatre, 500-seat neighborhood
house, closed June 1. . . . Seymour Simon,
well-known industry attorney of Chicago,
and Mrs. Roslyn Biel of Cleveland, were
married here this past week. . . . Back from
military service in Germany are Capt. Ger-
ald Albert and his wife, Mrs. Gloria Sogg
Albert, daughter of M-G-M branch manager
Jack Sogg. . . . James Ochs, son of Herbert
Ochs, who operates a chain of Canadian
drive-ins and Mrs. Ochs, was married May
29 to Mary Kilbane in St. Philip and St.
James Catholic Church.

COLUMBUK^

Mrs. Mabel E. Higgins was installed as
president of the Columbus and Franklin
^ County Motion Picture Council at a lunche-
on meeting in the Seneca Hotel. Other
newly-installed officers are : Mrs. James M.
Schooler, first vice-president; Mrs. Carl
Neff, second vice-president; Mrs. H. M.
Moore, recording secretary; Miss Ella
Becker, corresponding secretary and Mrs.
O. C. Daubert, treasurer. Dr. Floyd Faust
was named chairman of the public relations
committee and Mrs. Faust, chairman of the
juvenile delinquency committee.

ALBANY

Metro’s consent to accept bids for three
pictures from Harry Lamont’s Vail Mills
drive-in, near Gloversville, stirred specula-
tion on whether other outdoor theatre own-
ers might try to obtain first-run product that
way. Many observers thought not. Two of
the largest situations, Fabian’s Mohawk,
midway between Albany and Schenectady,
and Kallet’s outside Utica, are said to be
content with later bookings — because, among
other considerations, first-run exhibitions
would hurt their adjacent city theatres. . . .
The Variety Club raised $22,580 in the past
year for Camp Thacher, it was revealed at
a dinner honoring Big Brother Chairman
Saul J. Ullman. Toastmaster Lewis A. Sum-
berg presented the Fabian division manager
with a wrist watch. Gene Robb, publisher
of the Times-Union (which cooperates in
the summer camp project), also presented a
gift to Mr. Ullman.

ATLANTA

George Coburn, owner of the Prattmount
drive-in, Prattsville, Ala., will soon install
CinemaScope. . . . Also another Cinema-
Scope b}f Wil-Kin will be installed at Troy
drive-in owned by Jimmy Gaylord. . . . The
Dixie Theatre Supply Co. of Albany, Ga.
has opened a branch at 95 Walton St., with
Jon Sims as manager. . . . Curt Shreve, for
a few years southern district manager. Man-
ley Popcorn Co. here, has resigned on ac-
count of ill health. . . . Hubert Mitchell and
son, owner of the Ranch drive-in, Hartselle,
Ala., were in for a visit. . . . Mr. and Mrs.
James C. Hoge, Sr., of Lakeland, Fla., six
of whose children are in the theatre busi-
ness in Florida, celebrated their golden wed-
ding anniversary. . . . The Princess theatre.
Cross City, Fla., is undergoing a remodel-
ing program.

BOSTON

Smith Management Company closed the
Natick drive-in for four days to install a
new curved all-purpose screen. . . . Inter-
state Theatres opened its newest drive-in in
Hyannis, Cape Cod, near the airport, man-
aged by Bill Sinnott under the district luan-
agership of Chris Joyce. . . . Six merchants
from North Woodstock, N. H., have built
a new drive-in called Deer Park which will
open in mid-June and will be booked by
Affiliated Theatres Corp. . . . With the re-
port coming from 20th’s home office that
James M. Connolly has been named division
manager for New England, New Haven,
Albany and Buffalo, other promotions have
been announced from the Boston office.
John Feloney is now branch manager, John
Peckos is sales manager and Frank Keller,
former booker has been upped to salesman.

BUFFALO

William Goehrig, Jr., son of the 20th
Century Fox sales executive, and who has
been managing the Dipson Amherst for sev-

June 17-19: Meeting of the executive com-
mittee and board of directors, Theatre
Owners of America, Beverly Hills Hotel,
Los Angeles.

June 27-29: Annual convention, Mississippi
Theatre Owners Association, Edgewater
Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss.

DENVER

As an experiment the Lakeshore drive-in
went first run last week, running “Johnny
Guitar” and “Sun Shines Bright” day-date
with the Denver and Esquire. . . . Paul All-
meyer has resigned as Realart salesman and
is operating the theatres at Grand Lake and

{Continued on page 30)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5, 1954

Big-time advertising, exploitation, TV, radio and gener^
promotional plans aimed at top grosses for a ■
tpp pction- spectacle show! I

Directed by RICCARDO FREDA • Music by RENZO ROSSELINI . Director of Photography GABOR POGANY . Produced by SPARTACUS CONSORTIUM

{Continued from page 28)

Fraser, Colo. ... Joe Clark has resigned
as Lippert salesman and is selling advertis-
ing. . . . Carl Nedley, Metro branch man-
ager, Salt Lake City, was in Denver on a
selling trip. . . . Tom Poulos has installed
wide screen in the Paonia, Paonia, Colo.
. . . M. R. Austin, United Artists branch,
celebrated his 25 years in the film and thea-
tre business by buying a new house, near
Arvada, a Denver suburb. . . . The Cactus
drive-in, Albuquerque, N. M., installs Cine-
maScope and magnetic sound.

DES MOINES

Albia’s new drive-in theatre on Highwav
34 was formally opened last week. Entirely
modern with new plastic speakers, the out-
door house has space for 250 autos. Man-
ager is Robert Morton, who also is chief
of the King in Albia. Kev figures in con-
struction of the theatre were Herb Loefifler,
construction engineer for Central States
Theatre Corp., and M. McClain, president
of the McClain Theatre Co. of Fremont,
Neb. . . . Chuck Elder has returned to Film
Row after a long absence. He’s here in his
new capacity as manager for the Allied Art-
ists exchange, and comes from Kansas City
where he was a salesman with Universal.
When he was last in Des Moines, Elder
was with the Paramount exchange. . . . Vern
Stephens has replaced Lake Tilton, resigned,
as assistant shipper at Warners. . . . Dave
Kramer, Warner salesman, has been trans-
ferred to the Chicago office. . . . Columbia
office employees held a picnic at Walnut
Woods park. . . . Thelma Washburn has
been elected vice-president of the Des
Moines Zonta club. She is booker and office
manager at RKO.

DETROIT

Both the Pontiac and Blue Sky drive-ins
are showing “The Robe” in CinemaScope
with good business. . . . Frank Barbaro is
in business at the Fuller Hotel, booking stage
shows and other entertainment. . . . Bucur
Stoica died after 30 years as an operator at
the age of 68. Stoica built the Davison, Park,
Hazel Park and Cameo theatres during his
Detroit career. . . . Irving Belinsky, local
circuit operator, is extended sympathy in the
recent loss of his wife, Lily. . . . Leonard
Salerno, recently of the Keno, is moving to
San Diego where he’ll operate an art thea-
tre. . . . The Shores theatres in St. Clair
Shores is being managed by Bruce Harsen
who replaces Floyd Hauler. . . . Bert Tighe
has left Republic for Florida. . . . Clair
Townsend has left Dezel Productions.

HARTFORD

Construction of a 600-car capacity drive-
in theatre has been started at South Wind-
sor, Conn., by the newly-formed South
Windsor Realty Corp. A July 1 opening
is planned. Project will be known as the
East Hartford Family drive-in theatre. Site
is one mile north of the East Hartford town
line. . . . Max Finn, general manager of the
E. M. Loew’s Theatres, has concluded a
tour of drive-in theatres in Connecticut and
western Massachusetts, accompanied by
George E. Landers. Hartford division man-
ager. . . . Jack Sanson, manager of the Stan-
ley Warner Strand, Hartford, and Mrs.
Sanson are marking their 43rd wedding an-
niversary. . . . Robert E. Emerson, senior

vice-president of the Springfield Safe De-
posit and Trust Co., has been elected a di-
rector of Nathan E. Goldstein, Inc., real
estate and theatre corporation, headed by
Nathan E. Goldstein.

INDIANAPOLIS

Sixty exhibitors representing 210 theatres
attended the Makelim Plan meeting here
Thursday and gave commitments exceeding
the area’s quota, local Allied officials re-
ported. . . . Ace Berry, one-time general
manager of Greater Indianapolis and a
Warner Bros, theatre executive, was a week-
end visitor. . . . Downtown stores here will
remain open Tuesday as well as Thursday
night for the duration of the transit strike.
. . . Joe Cantor kept his Lafayette Road
drive-in open all night May 30-31, served
coffee and doughnuts for breakfast, and kept
watch on patron’s cars while they went to
the race. It’s a 15-minute walk from the
Speedway.

JACKSONVILLE

Many South Georgia and Florida dealers
and salesmen of the Chrysler Corp. ex-
pressed pleasure over the fine visibility of
a recent TV sales' program telecast for them
from New York to the large TV screen at
the Florida theatre. ... A large group of
exhibitors turned out for the press premiere
of “Magnificent Obsession” which Buford
Styles, U-I branch manager, held at the
Murray Hill theatre. . . . Otis O. Ray, Jr.
switched from his booker’s job at UA to a
similar post at U-I, replacing Marshall
Fling, who has been named manager of
Fred Kent’s new Southside drive-in theatre,
which is scheduled to open in June. Cliff
Hardin, former head booker at Fox, took
over Ray’s work at U-I. . . . Danny Deaver,
manager of the Normandy Twin Outdoor,
was usip" a series of teaser ads on his com-
ing CinemaScope opening. . . . Mabel B.
Leventhal, former manager, San Marco the-
atre, replaced Clarice Hall at Florida State
Theatres when Mrs. Hall was called to West
Englewood, N. J., by a death in her family.

KANSAS CITY

The general committee of the City Coun-
cil, Kansas City, Mo., has recommended
killing the proposed curfew ordinance, un-
der which persons under 17 years old would
be required to be off the streets and away
from public places between midnight and
5 a.m. . . .“The French Line” will close its
engagement at the Roxy with its sixth week.

. . . One drive-in has a single bill. The rest
have double bills and most of the two-fea-
ture drive-ins have extra midnight shows at
no extra charge. . . . Senn Lawler of Fox
Midwest has been elected a director of the
Kansas City Press Club. . . . Very little is
being published in newspapers on the trend
toward more openings of retail stores on
Sunday, but a campaign to combat the trend
is active — the churches participating but not
conducting it. . . . Special series of events,
and clubs, for children are being set, as
vacation approaches.

LOS ANGELES

The Sky View Drive-in has been opened
in Las Vegas by Howard Cahoon. . . . Plan-
ning to middle-aisle it August 1, is Jerry
Sheftel, IFE office manager, and Barbara

Porkas, 20th Century Fox clerk. . . . Re-
signing to await the arrival of the stork is
Sandra Moskovich, Realart bookkeeper. . . .
The closed Cairo theatre has been re-opened
by Charles L. Allen. . . . Fox West Coast
added another first run to their circuit here
with the opening of the new Fox theatre in
Hollywood. House was formerly known as
the Guild and had not been operating as a
motion picture theatre for the past few
years. . . . Cicille Reynolds, Realart secre-
tary, is leaving for Las Vegas on her honey-
moon and plans to resume her duties at the
Realart exchange. . . . The Wilshire Ebell
theatre was once more the site of the L. A.
Motion Picture Salesmen’s Annual Laugh
Show, which was attended by many repre-
sentatives of exhibition and distribution.

MEMPHIS

Strand theatre, Memphis, has been trans-
ferred from Tenarken Paramount Corpora-
tion to Paramount-Gulf. The position of
general manager of Tenarken has been abol-
ished and Jack Katz, who has held that
position for two years, is awaiting assign-
ment elsewhere with ABC-Paramount. Car-
roll Beasley remains as manager of Strand.
. . . R. L. (Bob) Bostick, National Theatre
Supply Co. southern district manager, Mem-
phis, has been named a Kentucky colonel
by Gov. Lawrence Wetherby of Kentucky.
. . . W. F. Ruffin, Jr., Ruffin Amusements
Co., announced CinemaScope equipment had
been installed in Ruffin theatre at Coving-
ton, Tenn. . . . Paul Beisman, manager of
St. Louis Municipal Opera, was a Memphis
visitor. . . . Mrs. W. B. Smith was elected
president of Memphis Better Films Council
and “Elephant Walk” was selected by the
council as the month’s best picture.

MIAMI

Sidney (co-owner of Wometco) Meyer
and his wife were in New York recently on
a two-week trip. . . . Mitchell Wolfson, the
other half of the Wometco circuit, was de-
layed a few hours in Chicago, when he
missed a plane there after attending the Na-
tional Radio and TV Broadcasters conven-
tion. . . . Jack Miller, manager of the Shores,
has an extra added Saturday drawing card
with the on stage appearance of the Amaz-
ing Maurice who broadcasts the show over
radio station WKAT. . . . Don Tilzer, of
Claughtons, is on vacation and spending it
getting acquainted with his infant daughter.
Fern Janice. . . . John S. Allen, vice-presi-
dent and “general sales manager of WTVJ,
announced the appointment of Carl Harold
to the post of regional national account ex-
ecutive, where he will work with Stan Gor-
doni, national sales manager.

MILWAUKEE

“Magnificent Obsession” was screened for
the press and exhibitors at the Fox-Varsity
theatre here May 24. . . . Mrs. A. W. Nagle,
Crescent theatre, Shawano, was among those
attending the screening. . . . Mrs. H. 01-
shan, wife of the branch manager of the
Columbia exchange here, has returned home
from the hospital. . . . Arnold W. Brumm,
part owner of the Ritz theatre here, has
been appointed general manager of the new
Dezyn Rollar division of E. Z. Paintr
Corp., manufacturer of paint rollers and
supplemental materials. Mr. Brumm was

{Continued from opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5. 1954

{Continued from opposite page)

formerly purchasing agent for the firm, and
has been with them for four years. . . . The
Juno theatre, Juneau, Wis., is not closing.

MINNEAPOLIS

Several outstate bookings of “The French
Line” were announced by the RKO ex-
change here. . . . Saul Malisow, branch
manager of 20th-Fox, was in northern Min-
nesota with salesman Bob Levy working the
territory. . . . Don Swartz, operator of the
Independent-Lippert exchange, was in Chi-
cago for the national television convention.

. . . John Thompson, exploiteer for Colum-
bia, was in for “Indiscretion of an Ameri-
can Wife” which is opening at the Or-
pheums in both Minneapolis and St. Paul.

. . . Ethel Curtiss, contract clerk at Colum-
bia, vacationed in Washington, D. C. . . .
Walt Disney’s “The Living Desert” opened
at the World theatres in both Minneapolis
and St. Paul on June 4. Picture originally
was scheduled to play the RKO Orpheums
in both cities. . . . Charlie Wiener, sales
representative for IFE, is in the IFE Chi-
cago office substituting for Harry Walders,
who has gone with Columbia.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Fire destroyed the Frontier theatre here
May 23. Damage was estimated as high as
$50,000. . . . Barton Theatres has added an-
other theatre to the chain. It is the Circle
drive-in. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Combs are
managing the theatre temporarily. This is
the ISth theatre in the Barton chain in
Oklahoma City. . . . Emery Duncan, man-
ager of the Skytrain theatre here, is on his
vacation for the next two weeks. . . . The
Ritz theatre, Ardmore, Okla., was closed
May 26 for complete remodeling. . . . K. T.
Harris of Tyler, Texas has leased the Edge-
wood theatre at Edgewood Texas. . . . The
Tivoli theatre, Ardmore, Okla., is completing
installation of the equipment for Cinema-
Scope.

OMAHA

Omaha theatres felt the effects of the 1954
horse racing season last week and receipts
took a dive as crowds flocked to the open-
ing week of races at Ak-Sar-Ben. Opening
day crowds and betting were higher than
last year’s mark. . . . Paul Webster, for-
merly with Republic, has joined the United
Artists sales staff, replacing Sol Reif, who
resigned. . . . Jackson Jorgens, 11-year-old
son of MGM salesman Jack Jorgens, was
featured in a half-p^o-e layout as a typical
School Safety Patrol captain in the Sunday
paper. He heads the junior traffic patrol
crew at Jefferson School. . . . Glenn Van
Wey has installed CinemaScope and stereo-
phonic sound at the Sun, Gothenburg, Neb.
. . . Carrying the movie industry’s banner
in the Omaha Centennial Whisker Derb
are Sam Deutch, Universal office manager,
and Ray Nielsen, MGM booker.

PHILADELPHIA

The Bucks County drive-in in suburban
Willow Grove, Pa., opening this week, will
have its booking and buying handled by
Claude Schlanger, Tr. . . . Mrs. R. Friedman
is now managing the suburban Yeadon her-
self. . . . Jerry Caghan, amusement editor
of the “Philadelphia Daily News,” has left
{Continned on following page)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

(Continued front preceding page)

the newspaper. . . .“John Wesley” had its
local premiere in a church, the Arch St.
Methodist Church, with only an offering
taken to defray expenses. . . . Roy Sul-
lender’s National Service Corp. is now han-
dling the buying and booking for the Tre-
mont, Tremont, Pa. . . . Ray O’Connell
temporary manager of the Capitol as well
as managing the Strand, both in York, Pa.,
with Francis Anthony leaving the Stanley
Warner’s Capitol. ... A sign was erected
heralding the S. W. Cor. Juniper and Vine
Streets as the future home of United Art-
ists, with David Supowitz, theatre architect,
and Shander Berger, the architects for the
new building.

PITTSBURGH

Downtown theatre operators are hopeful
that the prolonged transit strike will soon
be ended, now that negotiations are reported
to be progressing favorably. The strike,
idling 2,700 streetcar operators and bus
drivers, began May 9. . . . Both the Stanley
and the Harris reported a brisk advance sale
for their telecast of the Marciano-Charles
fight on June 7 at a $3.50 top, with special
reserved seats in the lodges at $5. . . . The
Post-Gazette, daily morning newspaper, re-
sumed publishing after a two-day strike
brought on by a jurisdictional dispute be-
tween two unions, which finally agreed to
arbitrate the argument. . . .“Them” has been
added to the Stanley booking chart to be
followed by Danny Kaye’s “Knock On
Wood.”. . . The Greater Pittsburgh drive-
in theatre, the first local drive-in with Cine-
maScope, opened on Route 30 with “The
Robe” on a curved 100 by 75 foot screen
and with stereophonic sound.

PORTLAND

Stars of screen, stage, TV, and radio will
appear here for the 1954 annual Rose Fes-
tival June 9-13. Roy Rogers, accompanied
by wife Dale Evans and their horses Trig-
ger & Buttermilk, will be grand marshal
of the floral parade. . . . Oregon exhibitors
have been invited to attend a luncheon June
9 to meet Theatre Owners of America ex-
ecutives Walter Reade, Herman Levy, Al-
fred Starr and Roy Cooper. Art Adamson,
Vancouver, Wash., circuit owner has been
set as host. . . . Hamrick’s city manager,
Marvin Fox, is back at his desk after a
two week vacation. . . . Evergreen’s engi-
neer, Carle Mahne, is here from Seattle to
look at Fox theatre advancement. Plush
showcase is set to open July 7.

PROVIDENCE

E. M. Loew’s drive-in theatre baseball
team got off to a flying start in the Pro-
vidence Amateur League, top sand-lot or-
ganization, as Jim Anderson hurled a 4-hit
shutout, defeating the Club 888 outfit 7 to 0.
This year’s Loew’s entr’' boasts many out-
standing amateur players, and their sights
have been set on the league championship.

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. . . The Avon Cinema offered the first
Providence showing of Audrey Hepburn in
“Young Wives’ Tale.”. . . Record-breaking
spring rainstorms have been hampering
open-air theatres which got off to a good
start. With something like 14 out of 17 days
in May being wet, all existing records for
rainfall have been shattered. Pleasure-seek-
ing moviegoers, naturally, have been pack-
ing ‘indoor’ houses.

ST. LOUIS

A new wide screen has been installed at
the Imperial theatre, Marianna, Ark. . . .
Mrs. J. Dozier Stone, owner of the Mis-
souri theatre buildin? in Columbia, Mo.,
died at her home in that city. Mrs. Stone
was the widow of a well-known business
man of Columbia and was known in civic,
community and business circles of the city.
. . . Miss Evelyn Steimle, private secretary
to Russell Bovim of St. Louis division man-
ager of Loew’s Theatres, is on her annual
two-week vacation which she will spend in
Evansville, Ind. ... A new panoramic
screen has been installed at the Logan thea-
tre, Paris, Tenn. . . . Boyd Sparrow, man-
ager of Loew’s Warfield theatre, San Fran-
cisco, stopped off in St. Louis several days
on his way to Washington, D. C., to visit
with his family. . . . The University theatre
and Concert Hall at the University of Ar-
kansas at Fayetteville, Ark., is being air
conditioned at a cost of $25,000.

TORONTO

Markham Developments Ltd. has gained
the right by a Supreme Court of Canada
decision to construct a drive-in at Scarboro,
Ont., a suburb. They have fought the town-
ship through three courts in order to have
the right to construct their ozoner. . . . New
appointments by Famous Players Canadian
Corp. include that of Don Edwards, present
manager of the Nortown here to be man-
ager of the Tivoli, Hamilton, replacing
James P. McDonagh who has been named
Maritimes district manager. Filling in for
Edwards will be Mike King from the Al-
hambra. . . . Theatre Properties (Hamilton)
Ltd. showed a gross profit of $77,597 for
1953, with a net of $35,105. The report in-
dicates a total surplus of $1,529,172.

WASHINGTON

Alvin Q. Ehrlich, vice-president of Kal,
Ehrlich & Merrick Advertising, in charge
of TV and Radio, was elected to the board
of directors of the Advertising Club of
Washington. Ehrlich is also on the Board
of Governors of the Variety Club of Wash-
ington, and is first assistant chief barker of
Tent No. 11. . . . Sam Galanty, mid-east
division manager for Columbia Pictures,
celebrated his 25th year with the company
May 25. . . . Harold Saltz, Universal branch
manager, has transferred his Variety Club
membership to Tent No. 11, from the Vari-
ety Club of Connecticut, Tent No. 31. . . .
Joseph Gins, Universal district manager,
will be given a testimonial cocktail party
and buffet supper June 18, in the Variety
Club. . . . Martha Raye opened a nine-day
stav at Loew’s Capitol theatre May 28. . . .
Newest Variety Club members to be in-
ducted by membership chairman Orville
Crouch on June 14, are; Emanuel Lerner,
president of Store Radio, and Jack S. Con-
nolly, motion picture dept, newsreel editor
at the Dept, of State. . . . The Variety Club
had a Spring Dance on May 29.

MMai 3€akelim
CotBtinues ta
liVin Support

Hal Makelim, originator of the Makelim
plan to produce 12 films under exhibitor
sponsorship and designed to relieve the cur-
rent production shortage, continued his
travels into exhibitor territories the past
week.

In Baltimore representatives of three
exhibitor groups, the Allied Motion Picture
Theatre Owners of Maryland, Theatre Own-
ers of Washington and the Independent Ex-
hibitors of Virginia, last Saturday approved
the plan. They attended a meeting called by
the Maryland group and heard Mr. Makelim
discuss his plan.

As the assembly adjourned several ex-
hibitors immediately signed contracts. The
meeting was attended by approximately 100
exhibitors and most of them “were in a re-
ceptive mood toward the Makelim plan.”

In Indianapolis last Thursday, meeting
with 60 state exhibitors, Mr. Makelim de-
clared, “the pictures will be made.” He said
that commitments have been so encouraging
that he positively will go ahead with pro-
duction. Exhibitors attending represented
210 theatres.

Commitments were made in excess of the
quota for the Indianapolis area, W. A. Car-
roll, secretary of the Allied Theatre Owners
of Indiana, reported.

Altec Field Men Hold
Division Meetings

A series of meetings called by C. S. Per-
kins, manager of Altec Service northeastern
division, was held at New York division
headquarters last week. The meetings, pre-
sided over by Mr. Perkins and Fred Hall,
New York branch manager, were attended
by all Altec territory engineers and field
representatives for discussions of Perspecta
sound installations. Also in attendance were
S. N. Trent, F. A. Brown, H. Lateltin, and
field engineers J. McGinley, P. Capone, M.
Kenely, L. Davies, H. Neuberger, H. Neill
and J. Silberstein. Marty Wolf, assistant
general sales manager of Altec Service, pre-
sided at a brief meeting dealing with fea-
tures of the Altec stereophonic service con-
tract available for exhibitors.

Radio, TV Aid "Them!" in
Record 2,000 Bookings

Warner Brothers has set what the com-
pany calls “the most ambitious daytime and
nighttime television and radio spot penetra-
tion campaign in industry history” to help
launch the mass saturation release of its
science-fiction film, “Them !”, in 2,000 play-
dates across the country June 15. The cam-
paign is designed to blanket every distribu-
tion area in the United States, with an excess
of 600 prints, a new high for the company,
being made available to handle the saturation
bookings.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

An International Association of Motion Picture Showmen — Walter Brooks, Director

'^eaMnal Pfpjuct JSan Hfen4el

A T this time of year we suddenly be-
come aware that we are not alone
■^'in the business of purveying enter-
tainment to the masses. . . . Circus posters
stare at us from every billboard . . . our
newspapers are filled with a dozen types of
added competition, summer theatres, stock-
car races, sporting events and what not. . . .
The golf courses and trout streams beckon.
. . . Everybody, it seems, has his hand out
for at least a portion of that elusive enter-
tainment dollar.

Even nature seems to be agin’ us. . . .
Thousands of amateur horticulturists spend
that extra hour of daylight in a never-ending
struggle with the dozens of garden pests
which are the bane of every gardener. But
. . . they like it, and keep it up right through
the summer and well into the fall . . . and it
will take more than a casual newspaper ad
to cause them to drop everything and go
scurrying to their nearest movie palace.

That should be the signal for a revitaliza-
tion of all of our selling efforts. . . . The
more competitive our business becomes, the
harder we should hammer away . . . the
louder we should shout our wares . . . the
more tricks we should pull out of that
beaten-up old hat.

“Festivals” seem to be the order of the
day . . . Spring festivals . . . Summer festi-
vals ... Fall festivals. They’re no strangers
with us. Dress up your front and lobby in
keeping with the season. . . . Use your imagi-
nation plus the many seasonal accessories
available from most of the distributors we
do business with. . . . Slant your campaigns
at the women folk. . . . Create an urge to
see your attractions. They’ll drag the old
man along . . . never fear.

You can’t do all this sitting at your desk
punching buttons. . . . Get out on the floor
. . . greet your customers . . . talk to them
. . . gain their interest. Emphasize what you
say with good selling displays.

Get your Spring festival under way, and
start planning your Summer festival. . . .
Have something doing all the time. ... You
can’t keep people from buying other forms
of amusement or recreation . . . but you
CAN, with the proper effort get your fair
share of business. GO AFTER IT!

ALL BUSINESS IS LOCAL

Round Table members will recognize and
remember the slogan of the American
Newspaper Publishers Association, above,
which we have often repeated in this space
to point up the fact that every business
result which may be counted on a national
basis is actually accomplished on a local
level, or not at all. The statisticians may
assemble the total figures, but the basic
results are secured at the grass roots, re-
gardless.

Right now, New York City is fighting a
5% tax levy, and they are doing it right
down to the curb stones in front of the the-
atres that are involved. It's no more than
a demonstration of the continuing fact that
"all business is local" and that tax fights
must be fought on the home grounds. A
grand idea, which will get results, is the
darkening of theatre marquees at nine
o'clock to show the public and the business
neighborhood what happens when these
lights go out, on Main Street.

New York City needs revenue, and it's
likely, and logical, that they should figure
they could tap the theatres for the tax re-
lief we've just obtained from the Federal
Government — probably on the theory that
it's a place where we'd feel no pain, since
the spot is numb from years of beating by
tax gatherers. But such a considered and
collective resistance as has been put into
effect here will slow down, and perhaps
stop, the eagerness with which the munici-
palities tax film theatres.

(We borrowed all the foregoing, right off
the front page of Dan Krendel’s “Ballyhoo”
— because it fits in so well with what we’ve
been thinking and is stated in so many well
chosen words. Hope that Dan doesn’t mind
the pilfering — and this entitles him to award
himself 500 points in his own contest for
getting stuff in the trade press, with extra
honorariums for landing the top position at
the head of the Round Table for this
meeting.)

^ COMBO’S committee of advertising ex-
perts, assembled in New York to plan for a
national audience poll for the choice of the
best picture of each month, is headed by
Mrs. Alice Gorham, Quigley Grand Award
winner, from United Detroit Theatres ; with
Senn Lawler, advertising and publicity di-
rector for Fox Midwest Theatres, Kansas
City; Paul Levi, of American Theatres
Corporation, Boston; Emil Bernstecker, of
Wilby-Kincey Theatres, Atlanta; and Ralph
W. Russell, manager of the Palace Theatre,
Canton, Ohio, all of whom are long-time
Round Table members, and from areas
where local theatres have had substantial
experience with audience polls.

Our best suggestion is that this is a
variety of sales approach which can be
worked best with the cooperation of a daily
newspaper, who can share in the sponsor-
ship of such enterprise. It reminds us of
the long-established and highly successful
audience poll conducted for many years by
the London Daily Mail, a national news-
paper in England, where ballots cut from
any copy of the paper were deposited in
boxes placed in theatre lobbies, thus making
it necessary for participants to (a) buy the
paper and (b) visit the theatre, in order to
enter their ballots.

^ SPEAKING OF CANADA, as we are
this week in several places, the boys of
Odeon gave a “Welcome Home” luncheon
to Archie Laurie as he took over as adver-
tising and publicity head for United Artists
Corporation, in Toronto. Present were Max
Chic, Hye Bossin, Wannie Tyers and Jim
Hardiman of Odeon Theatres; Tommy
Knight, of J. Arthur Rank ; Sam Glassier of
20th Century Fox; Irving Herman, of
Warner Brothers; Win Barron of Para-
mount ; Chet Friedman of MGM ; Bert
Wilkes, Jimmy Nairn, of Famous Players;
Jack Karr, Ken Johnson; Jim Harrison,
Larry Stevens, A1 Perley and Walter Ken-
nedy, of Universal. It was a nice home-
coming and reunion of press and promotion
people, with accent on the new deal for
Canada, along advertising and accessory
lines. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS’ ROUND TABLE SECTION. JUNE 5, 1954

Another Jacques Martin
original! He planted an
usher photographer in the
lobby, taking pictures of
contestants who wanted to
look prettiest with Vic
Damone, as promotion for
"Riches, Jeunes et Jolies"
at the Mercier, Montreal.

Elliott Brown, manager of
the Odeon theatre, Vic-
toria, B. C., held a "Ma
and Pa Kettle" contest, and
these were the lucky win-
ners with the fortunate re-
semblance. You'll have to
admit, this is a promotion
idea that can be used any-
where in the U.S. or
Canada.

STOUT SHOWMEN here, from coast to
coast, as proven by these pictorial examples
of their promotional skills, from prize-win-
ing campaigns, in the Quigley Awards.

Jacques Martin, manager
of the Odeon Mercier the-
atre, Montreal, had this
really animated lobby dis-
play, with dancing girls from
a local studio, in action
every quarter-hour, at no
cost to the theatre except
taxi fare for girls in cos-
tume.

Al Jenkins, manager of
the Odeon Vogue theatre,
Vancouver, offered free ad-
mission, paid for by the
sponsor, for every child who
brought in 10 end-labels
from a popular baker's
bread.

ODEOX of Canada

Unlimiied!

Jacques is a jacque of all
trades, at the Mercier the-
atre in Montreal, and here
is the Martin touch, han-
dling a give-away program
of bags of groceries on
stage, tor those who guess
correctly on a quiz pro-
gram which is simultaneous-
ly broadcast to a listening
audience.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

owmen in

Joe Real, manager of the Midwest the-
atre, Oklahoma City, submits campaigns on
“Glenn Miller” — “Rose Marie” and “Rhap-
sody” as his current entries for the Quigley
Awards. All containing good window tieups
with record and music shops.

▼

Mark Ailing and Bill Blake had Helene
Stanley in person, and models wearing Anne
Baxter’s swim suits, as premiere publicity
for “Carnival Story” at the Golden Gate
theatre, San Francisco. A “barker’s” con-
test was a sidewalk radio stunt.

▼

Bill Trambukis, manager of Loew’s State
theatre. Providence, placarded every other
seat-back with notice that these were re-
served for “Rose Marie” two weeks in ad-
vance.

▼

Tom Pappas, manager of the Indiana the-
atre, Indiana Harbor, Ind., had a Cinema-
Scope float, with new dimensions to attract
attention as street ballyhoo for “The Com-
mand,” and a feature of the local Loyalty
Day parade.

▼

J. P. Harrison, manager of the Campus
Theatre in Denton, Texas, may have visi-
tors, for at least two other Quigley Grand
Award winners are headed his way — Charlie
Doctor and Charley Hacker, both on pro-
longed coast-to-coast automobile trips.

Charles Gaudino, manager of Loew’s Poli
theatre, Springfield, Mass., held a special
meeting and screening of “Executive Suite”
for 50 women of the Motion Picture Coun-
cil and 50 members of the local chapter of
the National Association of Secretaries.

▼

Richard De Bow, manager of the Trans-
Lux theatre at 85th and Madison Avenue,
New York, was one who held a coloring
contest on “Heidi” — and Miss Faith Bowie,
age 10, of his audience, won the Grand
Prize, a trip to Switzerland, over 14,000
contenders.

▼

Pearce Parkhurst is now publishing the
Lansing Drive-In Theatre News, a well-
printed, four-page newspaper of -what’s new,
and is soliciting advertising in preferred
position to pay the costs. Free classified ads
are accepted from patrons who turn in their
copy just this side of the ticket wicket.

From Canada comes a copy of the To-
ronto Globe & Mail, containing fine coopera-
tive ads for MGM’s “Executive Suite” —
which we’ll credit to Chet Friedman in the
absence of any information.

▼

Harold C. Jenkins, manager of the Coosa
theatre, Childersburg, Ala., distributed
2,000 sticks of Beech-Nut Gum to advertise
“a double treat” — the gum and the theatre.

Take a look at those winners in the “Ma
and Pa Kettle” contest on the opposite page,
and think of the oldest father in your audi-
ence who could be especially honored on
“Father’s Day.”

▼

Harold Jenkins, manager of Martin’s
Coosa theatre, Childersburg, used a postcard
gimmick, sponsored by an insurance agent,
who olfiered coverage in case you laughed
all your buttons off, at “O.K. Nero.”

R. A. Keeter, manager of the Littleton
theatre, Littleton, N. C., sends a photo of his
flash front for “French Line” with 3-sheet
and marquee display.

Elaine S. George, owner-manager of the
Star theatre in Heppner, Oregon, says she’s
glad to get the tip from Jeff Jefferis of
mimeographing her personal chat to poten-
tial patrons on the back of her monthly pro-
gram, and will do, foi'thwith.

Wendell Jones, manager of the Cameo and
Lee theatres, Bristol, Va., files an interesting
report on a complete campaign for “Little
Caesar” and “Public Enemy” as a double
bill. Says that no matter what the screen
size, a good program always pays off, if
served with plenty of courtesy.

Sol Sorkin surrounding his cashier with
more scenery — this time to ballyhoo “The
Phantom of the Rue Morgue” with stills,
slogansi and stuff, at the RKO Keith’s
theatre, Syracuse.

▼

Ted Davison, city manager for Walter
Reade’s Majestic theatre in Perth Amboy,
N. J., had a tremendous pair of red-gar-
tered legs in a window display for “Red
Garters” — using 24-sheet art.

Paul R. Anderson, city manager of the
Schine’s Strand theatre, Lexington, Ky.,
had a long, long trailer, as long as the
theatre itself, as street ballyhoo for “The
Long, Long Trailer” and full cooperation
from New Moon and Mercury dealers.

Jim Bradley, manager of the Fox theatre,
Huntington Park, Cal., is spearheading a
drive to put the popular and very successful
“All-Night Graduation Show” in effect, in
Fox West Coast theatres, since the idea is
accepted with great favor.

Lou Singer, credited in Fox West Coast
Showtime bulletin as being extra alert,
revenue-producing, has been ring leader in
providing special religious shows for Easter
and other church holidays.

James Boyd, manager of the Dixie thea-
tre, Scotland Neck, N. C., stirred up a lot
of talk in his community, having a man in
convict stripes walking the streets to adver-
tise “Riot in Cell Block 11.”

▼

Dale Baldwin, who is one of R. E. Agle’s
champions with Statesville Theatres at the
Parkway theatre, Jefferson, N. C., enlarged
his screen, enlarged his publicity, enlarged
his showmanship, all to conform to the new
dimensions.

Lou Cohen and Norm Levinson, at Loew’s
Poli theatre, Hartford, had a beautiful dupli-
cate of Lana Turner (at least, in some de-
partments) as street ballyhoo for “Flame
and the Flesh” — and it seemed in character
with the title.

▼

Tom Grace, manager of the Perakos
circuit’s Eastwood theatre. East Hartford,
Conn., has been appointed to the five-mem-
ber Chamber of Commerce committee to
study the parking problem.

Bill Miller, manager of Miller’s State
theatre, Elkhart, Ind., did a grand job with
“Beachhead” — using all the military tieups
as an ingredient with his showmanship.

Herb Royster, publicity director for J. J. Parker Theatres in Portland, Ore,, checks
a display of the poeketbook edition of "Executive Suite" — on sale, adjoining the refresh-
ment counter, in the lobby of the Broadway theatre; at right, Al Plough's display of lucky
numbers, good for admission, and the attractive dcncing girl who supervised the lobby
display at the Stanley Warner Stanton theatre, Philadelphia.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JUNE 5, 1954

A Drive Fer
A Drive-In

Frank D. Rubel, manager for Central
States Drive-In Theatres, Des Moines, sub-
mits with pride some examples of a drive
from the new S. E. 14th Street Drive-In,
operated by the Central States Theatre Cor-
poration, and managed by Art Farrell, who
got out the special sales kit that is involved.
It’s a combination of a survey and a direct
sales approach, and aimed at housewives,
since there’s a gift pearl necklace included-
in each kit. Art refers to the girls who go
out on this assignment as “movie casters”
and says they are authorized to present
passes and other inducements to the “gen-
eral manager” of each home they visit.

Chief among the advantages for showmen
in a check list of items which the S. E. 14th
Drive-In offers, which is to be referred to
in conversation with potential patrons, and
a thorough questionnaire, which the “movie
caster” fills out as the result of each call.
This questionnaire asks whether or not the
patron has ever visited a drive-in theatre,
if not, why not or how often and goes into
detail as to their preferences in pictures, and
what they read in advertising, or what in-
fluences them to go to the movies. The
final question is, do you just go, without
knowing what show is on, or are you selec-
tive as to the program?

A map of the Des Moines area to show
the driving time from all parts of the city
is included in the kit and given to each pros-
spective customer. The weekly program is
a four-pager and has a page of cooperative
advertisers to underwrite costs.

Gives Away 1000 Bananas In
"Top Banana" Promotion"

Robert E. Rosen, manager of the Bis-
marck and Dakota theatres, Bismarck, N. D.,
promoted 1000 bananas from a local dealer,
gave them away as ballyhoo for “Top
Banana” — and this is not banana country.
For the return engagement of “From Here
to Eternity,” he had an Army tieup, and a
local ten-piece band out. On “Beat the
Devil” he used two drummer boys, who
really beat the devil out of this ballyhoo.
For “Ma and Pa Kettle,” the John Deere
company furnished a tractor tieup, and “Ma”
banged on a kettle to call attention to it,
as street ballyhoo. He sends pictures to
show the manner in which this display
caught the attention of the people along
Main Street and in front of the theatre. It’s
a lively promotion from a new contributor
to the Round Table.

LOOK TO

FILMACK

FOR THE FINEST
ANNOUNCEMENT

TRAILERS

1327 S. WakHh - Chicago, III. 630 Ninth Ait. • New York. N. Y.

British Baund TtEbte

■ I Desmond McKay, manager of the Play-
house, Galashiels, Scotland, deserves more
space than we have available to report his good
exploitation on recent programs. Outstanding is
the amount of newspaper space he promoted.

. . . C. G. Manhire, also from Scotland, who is
manager at the Savoy cinema in Edinburgh,
says his Savoy Queue Service — supplying um-
brellas to those in line — is the culmination of
building up business to get the queues in the
first place. The local paper ran the story. . . .
S. V. Murdoch, manager of the Gaumont the-
atre in Anfield, Liverpool, had a live donkey
in his lobby during the run of “Francis Covers
the Big Town.” A concealed tape recorder did
the talking. . . . R. W. Parker, manager of the
Regal cinema, Torquay, contacted swimming
and yacht clubs, with special emphasis on the
water skiing climax in “Easy to Love.” . . .
E. H. Reed, manager of the Regal cinema,
Bicester, tied up with the local Fire Service
to carry out their rescue demonstrations from
the theatre roof on the opening night of “Quo
Vadis,” with a giant banner on side of building
plainly in sight. . . . Numerous and very good
campaigns from Harold Shampan who manages
the Odeon theatre in Woolwich, London. To
pave the way for his showing of “The Glenn
Miller Story,” he staged a dance band com-
petition with selections from the picture. His
Boy Scout exhibit covering all types of scout-
ing won good press space. . . . Charles Smith,
manager of the Ritz cinema, Luton, had a boy
in western outfit accompanied by a dog similar
to the one ip the picture tour the streets to
advertise “Hondo.” . . . John L. Smith, manager
of the Palace cinema in Arbroath, centered his
campaign on “From Here to Eternity” on the
book, with a special display in the library.

▼ ▼

W I R. A. Squires, Odeon theatre, Bilston,
arranged an effective shop window dis-
play for “Houdini,” with a full size dummy
suspended from the ceiling encased in a straight-
jacket, and padlocks, chains and ropes to com-
plete the display. . . . J. W. Turner, manager
of the Savoy cinema. Sale, promoted an effec-
tive lobby display from a local burglar alarm
firm, a natural for “The Intruder.” He also
sends clipping about his Kinematograph Week-
ly’s “Man of the Month” award for overcoming
difficulties facing managers of suburban cinemas.
. . . L. G. Webster, manager of the Savoy
cinema, Northampton, tied in his showing of
“All the Brothers Were Valiant” with the local
Sea Cadet recruiting campaign, including lobby
display and hoisting of the colors as a pro-
logue to the film. . . . Quotations from Shake-
speare tied in the cooperative ads obtained by
D. H. Western, assistant manager at the Regal
cinema, Torquay, which were topped with his
free ad for “Julius Caesar.” . . . G. C. Williams,
who manages the Regent cinema in Chatham,
promoted the use of an amplification outfit from
a local music shop and played numbers from
the film from the front of the house. . . . L. G.
W ebster, manager of the Savoy cinema,
Northampton, had a full window display of
stills of “From Here to Eternity” in the
prominently situated local press. . . . A. J.
Mitchener, assistant manager of the Trocadero
cinema, Leicester, believing the way to a
patron’s heart is through his children, had a
donkey derby as a special stunt for “Calamity
Jane,” with children in cowboy garb. Thousands
of children were entertained, with the parents
happy onlookers. ... A. Atkinson, manager of
the Ritz cinema, Brighouse, promoted a lobby
display from the editor of the local press for
“Front Page Story,” which showed the various
steps taken to make a front page story, together
with photographs of the presses. . . . C. F.
Brodie, manager of Regal cinema, Barrow-in-
Furness, played up to good advantage nearby
Jubilee Bridge with banners advertising “Jubilee
Trail.”

€A. Buckley, assistant manager of the
Regal cinema, Halifax, created a gratify-
ing amount of interest for “All the Brothers
Were Valiant” — his first wide screen presenta-
tion— by sending postcard invitations to two
dozen local dignitaries. . . . Another assistant
manager, P. A. Cowin of the Regal cinema,
Stirling, distributed a thousand overprinted
headbands with feathers to children a week in
advance for “The Charge at Feather River.”

. . . R. L. Cook, manager of the Savoy cinema,
Swindon, sends photos of his striking lobby
and marquee for “Band Wagon.” . . . A. S.
Cooke, manager of the Regal cinema, Ciren-
cester, arranged special morning showings of
“Julius Caesar” for local schools with prizes
for the best reviews in different age groups.
R. White, who manages the Globe cinema in
Stockton, had butcher, dairy, bookshop and sta-
tionary stores use over-printed bags for their
wares to exploit “Beat the Devil.” . . . A. J.
Evans of the Savoy cinema, South Shields,
another manager who tied in a local recruiting
drive with “All the Brothers Were Valiant.”
Sea Cadets were on duty at the theatre evenings,
with a fanfare by the buglers on opening night.

. . . Tony Ewin’s all-out exploitation for
“Mogambo” at the Grand cinema in Banbury,
where he is assistant manager, included gorilla
costumed man giving out handbills, which
caused quite a stir. . . . Douglas Ewin’s fine
campaigns on “Dangerous When Wet,” “Mo-
gambo,” etc., from the Savoy cinema, Stour-
bridge, are being entered in the second quarterly
competition for the Quigley Awards. . . . James
E. Walker, assistant manager at the Hippo-
drome theatre, Liverpool, arranged with the
leading local photographer to show a trailer of
“From Here to Eternity” at lunch time.

T T

€D. Hughes, manager of the Regal
cinema, Cheltenham, promoted sample
packages of cereal overprinted with credits for
“The Torch Song” and given away at chil-
dren’s shows. ... 1. Klein, manager of the
Tower theatre, Peckham, used the balcony over
the foyer entrance to depict a scene from “All
the Brothers Were Valiant,” with props and
models made by the theatre staff. . . . D. E.
Lacey, assistant manager of the Savoy cinema.
South Shields, held a “Mogambo” girl beauty
contest and sends photos of the beautiful
finalists. . . . L. Lovell, manager of the Regal
cinema in Edinburgh, realizing that queues of
people on a Saturday night would not see the
start of “Calamity Jane,” told the waiting
patrons he would screen the first thirty minutes
of the film after normal closing time, with
resulting letters of appreciation in the local
papers. . . . G. Lennox, assistant manager at
the Regal cinema, Hamilton, Scotland, tied in
with a local travel agency who displayed stills
from “The Man Between,” with emphasis on
travel on the continent to the places portrayed
in the film. . . . J. Norman Longley, manager
of the Imperial cinema, Walsall, arranged a
good tieup vvith a local hairdressing salon for
“Androcles and the Lion.” Their window had
stills of Jean Simmons and displays of the con-
trasting ancient and modern hair styles. . . .
Sidney L. Sale, manager of the Granada, Dover,
had a mammoth ball, with “ ‘So Big’ at the
Granada” in 18-inch letters, rolled on the field
prior to a local football match and also adver-
tised the picture over the loud speaker at the
game. . . . L. F. Holman, manager of the Ritz
cinema, Hereford, arranged a road safety com-
petition for “Genevieve” with resulting good
space in the local press. . . . P. H. Gaston,
assistant manager of the Savoy cinema. Sale,
arranged a “Torch Song” contest, and had por-
traits of six stars with faces blanked out dis-
played in the lobby. . . . Noel Briggs, assistant
manager of the Lyric cinema, Wellingbrqugh,
concentrated on window displays in exploiting
“The Band Wagon.” — W. T.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, boxnumberand address. Minimum insertion $1.50. Four
insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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)

HELP WANTED

WANTED: MANAGER WITH EXPLOITATION
and promotional experience by theatre chain situated
in eastern states. Top salary paid, vacation, group
insurance, and hospitalization. Please answer giving
qualifications, experience, and salary expected.
BO’X 2791, MOTION PICTURE, HERALD.

THEATRES

CLEAN, COMFORTABLE, MODERN THEATRES
wanted to lease or buy in N. Central U. S. area by
two ambitious showmen! Immediate purchase for
promising situations. CONTACT THEATRES. 815
Donovan Bldg., Detroit 1, Mich. Phone WO' 3*1212.

MOTION PICTURE THEATRE— MARNE, MlCHI-
gan (near Grand Rapids) building and equipment.
This is a modern theatre, built about five years ago.
Seating capacity 408. Radiant heat. Air-conditioned.
Motiograph projectors and sound. Large capacity park-
ing lot. Situated in good agricultural area. Phone
9-6221, Real Estate Department, THE MICHIGAN
TRUST COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich.

FOUR HUNDRED SEAT, AIR CONDITIONED,
only neighborhood theatre, easily converted, wide
screen. Ten thousand, half cash. LAKESHORE THE-
ATRE, Jacksonville, Florida.

USED EQUIPMENT

IKW LAMPHOUSES AND RECTIFIERS, Ex-
cellent condition, $495 pair; D'eVry dual projection
and sound, rebuilt $895, Holmes $495. Buy on time!
S.O.S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W.
52nd St., New York 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

CF-NTURY “CC” DRIVE-IN OUTFIT ONLY $3495,
others from $1595 (send for lists). Incar speakers
w/4" cones $15.50 pair w/junction box; Underground
cable $65M. Time deals arranged. S.O.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORPO'RATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New
York 19

SEATING

HERE’S A DELUXE CHAIR BUY! 1500 AMERI-
can Bodiform fully upholstered, rebuilt like new $12.50;
others from $4.50. Send for Chair Bulletin. S.O'.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
St., New York 19.

NEW EQUIPMENT

MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS. FITS WAG'-
ner, Adler, Bevelite Signs: 4” — 35c; 8” — 50c; 10” — 60c;
12"— 85c: 14”— $1.25; 16”— $1.50. S.O.S. CINEMA

SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New
York 19.

MIRRO-CLARIC REPRESENTS BEST VALUE
in metalized all purpose screen — only $1 sq. ft. Welded
seams absolutely invisible! Kollmorgen wide angle
lenses, special apertures immediately available! S.O.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
St., New York 19.

WANTED TO BUY

WILL PAY 50c EACH FOR OLD LANTERN
slides used for theatre advertising. J. KOREN, 4201
Schiller Ave., Cleveland 9, Ohio.

VENTILATING EQUIPMENT

BEAT THE HEAT BUT NOT THESE PRICES
— ball-bearing bucket blade exhaust fans 12" — $25.50;
16" — $37.50; 18" — $45. Prompt deliveries blowers and
air-washers. Send for details. S.O.S. CENEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

CAPITALIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE — SHOOT
local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries.
Arrange advertising tie-ups with local merchants.
Ask for Film Production Catalog. S.O.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New
York 19.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS,
photo-offset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING COt,
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-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 PROJECTIO'N.
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.

M(XriON PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMA-
nac — 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 BOO'KSHO'P. 1270 Sixth Avenue,
New York 20, N. Y.

S. L Oakley, 49, Dies;

Was Exhibitor Executive

DALLAS : S. L. Oakley, 49, prominent in-
dustry executive, and former resident of
Dallas, died at his home in Beaumont May
27 following a lingering illness. He was
vice-president and general manager of Jef-
ferson Amusement Co., and vice-president
and general manager of East Texas Thea-
tres, Inc. He was associated with these
companies 27 years, starting his career with
Jefferson Amusement in 1927 as a theatre
manager. Among other affiliations he was
an honorary member of the lATSE and
also was a director in Jefferson Amusement
Co. and East Texas Theatres, Inc. He is
survived by his wife, Katherine, a daughter
and a son.

Leo Weissberg

Leo Weissberg, 61, general manager of
American Display Company, died in New
York May 31, following an emergency oper-
ation. Born in Cleveland, Mr. Weissberg

had been with National Screen Service, the
parent company, for 20 years.

Prosecutor Asks Houses
Ban "French Line" Show

INDIANAPOLIS: Six theatres, including
three drive-ins, which had “The French
Line” booked for simultaneous first run
showings Wednesday, had been “requested”
to call it off by Marion County Prosecutor
Frank H. Fairchild. The official acted after
complaints by PTA representatives, who had
seen a screening. He threatened proceedings
under a 1905 state law banning distribution
of obscene literature and devices, which he
considered broad enough to include pictures.
Manny Marcus, owner of the Ambassador,
only downtown house among the six, in-
dicated he would ignore the ban, stating that
RKO attorneys had advised him to show the
film. Rex Carr and Peter Fortune, owners of
two neighborhood houses involved, and
Walter Ely, drive-in operator, were un-
decided.

Greek Orthodox Pastor
Attacks Legion "Line"

Objections of the Legion of Decency to
the showing of “The French Line” at the
Lafayette theatre in Buffalo were criticized
by the Rev. John Pallas, pastor of the
Hellenic Eastern Orthodox Church of the
Annunciation in that city. According to the
Buffalo “Courier-Express,” Rev. Pallas told
his congregation that opposition to the pic-
ture by the Legion had “infringed upon the
rights of free legal enterprise” and he
praised the . . . “operators of the Lafayette
for refusing to bow to the autocratic dic-
tates of a religious group.” The Greek
Orthodox pastor, according to the paper,
criticized the representatives of the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Buffalo for refusing in-
vitations to view the picture and said, “From
my personal observation I can testify . . .
that it was a lively and tuneful picture with
no more harm in it, if as much, then in other
works of literature and art that are available
to everyone everywhere.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menting the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

Candy Manufacturers
Seek New Coating Types

Intensive research to de-
velop new types of candy coatings was
called the “only immediate solution” to the
present scarcity of chocolate facing confec-
tionerv manufacturers by William E.
Brock Jr., president of the Brock Candy
Company, Chattanooga, Tenn., in an
address before a special research committee
appointed to study the problem in Chicago
recently.

This committee composed of representa-
tives of the candy, chocolate and edible oil
refining industries, will study all types of
confectionery coatings which might be used
as a substitute for chocolate. A preliminary
report of the committee’s work is to be

made at a joint session of the National
Confectioners’ Association and the Asso-
ciated Retail Confectioners on June 9th in
Chicago.

IVIr. Brock, the chairman of the com-
mittee, pointed out that the “catastrophic
rise in the price of cocoa beans from 5c a
pound in 1941 to 69c at present is forcing
candy manufacturers to search for new
types of coating to fill the enormous
demand for confections.” He said that
while some chocolate will be available it
will be at considerably increased prices due
to the severely short supply of beans.

Serving on the special committee with
Mr. Brock are Clifford Clay, Stephen F.
Whitman & Son, Inc., Philadelphia; John
Henry, De Witt P. Henry Company, Phila-
delphia; Robert B. Schnering, Curtiss
Candy Company, Chicago; John M. Whit-

SNACK STAND DISPLAY TO BOOST FILMS

moit

Conning film attractions at the United Artists theatre in San Jose, Calif., are currently being plugged at
the refreshment stand by manager Bob Helm through a new large display on the back wall which he
recently had installed. The display was arranged to accommodate four of the standard 40x60 posters
available from National Screen. Note also the cases built into the front of the stand for displays of
refreshment products.

taker. New England Confectionery Com-
pany, Boston; Otto Windt, E. J. Brach &
Sons, Chicago; Henry Blommer, Blommer
Chocolate Company, Chicago; Norman
Bruce, Durkee Famous Foods, Chicago;
Norman Kempf, Walter Baker Chocolate
and Cocoa, Division, General Foods Corp.,
Dorchester, Mass. ; Peter Kalustian, E. F.
Drew & Company, Inc., Boonton, N. J. ;
and Dr. Lawrence F. Martin, head. Sugar-
cane Products Division, Southern Regional
Laboratory, U. S. Dept, of Agriculture, as
government advisor.

BRM also means

Better Recognition for Managers

Get your light from under
that bushel by qualifying for
Special Merit Awards in better
refreshment merchandising —
and gain nationwide recogni-
tion.

Send in reports indicating
how you are promoting busi-
ness, improving stand service
and appearance, displaying
products more effectively. In-
clude photos and any other
pertinent material.

Published reports will be
credited to the contributor and
will qualify for citations. Cita-
tion holders are eligible as
entrants for the annual Special
Merit Award judging.

Send in as many reports as
you desire from time to time.
Address them to: The Editor,
Better Refreshment Merchan-
dising Dept., Motion Picture
Herald.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5. 1954

FILM BUYERS RATING

Film buyers of imlepeinieuf circuits in the U. S. rate current
product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This
report covers 117 attractions, 5,373 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.

Act of Love ( UA)

1 1

Alaska Seas ( Para.)

...

1 1

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)

■ . -

Back to God’s Country (U-l)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

...

1 1

(Bait (Col.)

. . . .

Beachhead (UA)

...

Beat the Devil (UA)

1 1

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox)

Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

. .

Border River ( U-l )

1 1

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Carnival Story, The (RKO)

Casanova's Big Night (Para.)

. . . .

Cease Fire! ( Para.)

... -

Charge of the Lancers (Col.)

. .

Command, The (WB)

Conquest of Mt. Everest (UA)

Crazylegs (Rep.)

...

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l)

Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

1 1

Dragonfly Squadron (AA)

. . . 1

Duffy of San Quentin (WB)

.... -

Easy to Love (MGM)

1 1

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

...

Elephant Walk (Para.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM) .

. . . .

Executive Suite (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

1 1

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Female (Para.)

French Line (RKO)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

Geraldine (Rep.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

. 10!

Go, Man, Go ( U A)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

Gypsy Colt (MGM)

....

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Hell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox) .

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail ( Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)

Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

Living Desert, The (Disney)

Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)
Lucky Me (WB)

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)
(Mad Magician, The (Col.)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)
Martin Luther (de Rochemont)
Miami Story, The (Col.)

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)
Money from Home (Para.)

Naked Jungle, The (Para.)
Nebraskan, The (Col.) .
New Faces (20th-Fox)
Night People (20th-Fox)

Paratrooper (Col.)

(Personal Affair (UA)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)
Pinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

Rails into Laramie (U-l)

Red Garters ( Para. )

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l)

Riders to the Stars (UA)

Riding Shotgun (WB)

Riot in Cell Block I I (AA)

(River of No Return (20th-Fox) .

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (U-l)

Shark River ( UA)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)

Siege at Red River (20th-Fox) .

Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l)

Tennessee Champ (MGM)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox) ...
Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( UA)

Tumbleweed (U-l)

Veils of Bagdad (U-l)

Walking My Baby Back Home (U-l)

War Arrow ( U-l )

Wicked Woman (UA)

Wild One ( Col.)

(Witness to Murder (UA)

Yankee Pasha ( U-l )

1 1

PRESIDENT

THEATRE OWNERS OF AMERICA
AND WALTER READE THEATRES

vevsaliWy

n acWe''®*

fine
ocns^ 1

distortion •••
an ontstnnd"'^

development-

The /Coyye^ price, for
any Anamorpliic device
on the market today!

a^H// 7(P^

NATIONAL SCREEN SERVICE

*Trode Mgrk Reg. ond Patents Pending

1^^

JUNE ISSUE

M June 5, 1954-

^ Section 2 of Motion Picture ifer<

■■

n-nlj

f5«n^

[

)0N’T E

IE SOLD A

BILL OF GOODS!

The proponents of CinemaScope insist that the light distribution at all
viewing angles to the screen, and across the screen, be uniform through-
out the theatre. That the only way to accomplish this result is with a
“special” high reflective screen is not true.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO BUY ONE OF THE
NEW ''SPECIAL'' SCREENS FOR CinemaScoPE
IF YOU HAVE SUPER "135" PROJECTION

ARC LAMPS AND YOUR INDOOR SCREEN
IS UNDER 50 FEET WIDE!

Experience has proved that uniform light distribution can be accom-
plished by the use of a matte white screen in conjunction with a good
“Strong” lamp. You will have the ultimate in picture brillianc<2 with no
perceptive fall-off in efliciency at the sides. It is a fa,ct universally
accepted by leading motion picture engineers that no screen equals a
matte white screen for affording maximum light distribution through-
out the theatre.

HERE’S PROOF!

A Super “135” Lamp, burning at 135 amperes, projects 16,000 lumens
to the screen through a CinemaScope aperture and an anamorphic lens
with the shutter running, and produces 15 foot lamberts at the center
of a matte white screen 50 feet wide by 19*/^ feet high. The Society
of Motion Picture and Television Engineers* Standard is 9 to 14 foot
lamberts for 35 mm indoor projection. Accordingly, if you have Super
“135” lamps, you can use an inexpensive matte screen and get excellent
results.

GET THIS STRAIGHT!

Strong does not manufacture screens of any type but does manufac-
ture lamps for efficient use with all types of screens. As a service to
the industry we feel that we should explode the fallacies set forth in
advertising matter by certain screen manufacturers that with their
“special” screens the powerful modern-type projection arc lamps which
are made by several dependable lamp manufacturers become unneces-
sary. The theatre owners who, unfortunately for themselves, fell for
this story, have found themselves betrayed.

THE FACTS ARE THAT THE MOST PERFECT

CinemascopC projection is being

ACCOMPLISHED WITH THESE MODERN LAMPS!

We’ll be glad to give you a list of theatres, if you want it.

THE STRONG ELECTRIC CORPORATION

“The World’s Largest Manufacturer of Projection Arc Lamps’’

1 CITY PARK AVENUE TOLEDO 2. OHIO

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Loaded with

“COME BACK AGAIN” Appeaii

iflhut people

the ykeatfe

Projection Lenses

WRITE for new catalog E-123.
Bausch & Lomb Optical Co., 679 30
St. Paul St., Rochester 2, N. Y.

Scene from "Prince Valiant,” 20th
Centnry-Fox CinemaScope production

Sharpest image*
uniform brilliance
. . . edge-to-edge
. . . on any screen!

Patrons enjoy your movies more
because they see them better . . .
when you use the new fj 1.8 Su-
per Cinephor lenses. They keep
coming back to your theatre for
today’s clearest, sharpest, bright-
est movie images;

Normal 2D-3D, Expanded
2D-3D, and CinemaScope.

BAUSCH & LOMB

SINCE WW 1853

AND OF BUSINESSES SERVING THEM

The Motor-Vu Drive-In theatre of Billings,
Mont., has been equipped for CinemaScope by
the B. F. Shearer Company of Seattle with
projectors, sound, arc lamps, generators and in-
car speakers furnished by Motiograph, Inc.,
Chicago.

George JV. Ingham has been elected vice-
president in charge of production by the directors
of the United States Air Conditioning Corpora-
tion, Minneapolis, according to IV . J. Peoples,
president. Mr. Ingham joined the company in
1950 as assistant to the works manager. He
had previously served as general superintendent
in charge of air conditioning at the Worthington
Corporation plant in Holyoke, Mass. Educated
in England, he came to this country during the
first world war as a technician for Rolls-Royce
and in 1929 was named production superintend-
ent for that firm.

Dominick J, “Dom” Capano has been named
vice-president in charge of Television Studio
and Film Production Sales for the S. O. S.
Cinema Supply Corporation, New York. Ex-
cept for three year’s service in the Army, he
has been with S. O. S. since 1936. Another
recent promotion is that of William H. Allen,
who has been named production manager for
the firm after 19 years in the electrical, elec-
tronic and mechanical divisions of the company.

E. S. Gregg, vice-president and general man-
ager of the Westrex Corporation, has returned
to New York City after visiting Westrex sub-
sidiary company offices in England, France,
Sweden and Denmark.

T. Kevin Mallen, chairman of the Board of the
Ampex Corporation, is currently on an extended
trip in Europe to establish a sales organization
for full exploitation of all markets for the com-
pany’s magnetic recording and reproducing
equipment. Mr. Mallen reports a “constantly
increasing interest in Ampex equipment on the
part of European users.”

Adolf R. Schwartz, who has been managing
director of Westrex Australia Pty. Ltd. in Syd-
ney for the past two years, will leave there
for Bombay in August to assume new duties
as manager for Westrex in India. William E.
Kollmyer, presently manager in India, will re-
turn to New York early in September He will
be assigned to the post of managing director
in Australia after taking his home leave and
undergoing a period of special training at head-
quarters in New York.

Joseph Caplan was recently named president
of Local No. 182, lATSE, Boston, Mass. Other
officers named in the annual election include
Frank Sullivan, vice-president; Benjamin Bear-
man, financial secretary; James Gibbons, record-
ing secretary; Jack Rosenberg, treasurer, and
Ralph Frazier, business representative. The
Executive Board elected consists of the above
named officers and Morris Goldman, Henry

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

IN THE FINEST THEATRES

^lizalre Sl

CONTINUOUS-DUTY
MOTOR

GENERATORS

The choice above all other
theatre equipment by the projec-
tionist and managers who know. In
theatres where a ticket buys a perfect performance you’ll
always find Motiograph, the finest in all sight and sound equipment.

"Whete “tc Suif jft

MOTIOGRAPH DEALERS

CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES: B. F. Shearer Company

1964 S. Vermont A\/e

SAN FRANCISCO; 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 Equii}.

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: Vincent M. Tate

- .< 1620 Wyoming Ave

TENNESSEE

MEMPHI.S: 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

Gleken and Frank Laby. The Seniority Board
is made up of Albert G oldman, Fred Jones,
Morris Myers, Henry Perry and Alexander
Tradd. Michael Keller was elected trustee. At
the same time the following were elected as
delegates to the International Convention: Wal-
ter F. Diehl, Joseph Ntizzolo, Joseph Caplan
and Ralph Frazier.

Remodeling of the Criterion theatre in Okla-
homa City, including new seats for the main
floor auditorium, is reported by Gordon Leon-
ard, manager of the theatre for the Cooper
Foundation circuit, Denver.

John S. Bernard has been re-elected president
of Local 277, lATSE, Bridgeport, Conn. Other
ofticers renamed include Leslie C. Blakeslee,
vice-president; Merrick Parrelli, financial secre-
tary; Fred Lewis, treasurer; John A. Martin,
business agent; Thomas E. Cowell, recording
secretary; and John C. Lynch, sergeant-at-arms.
The executive board consists of Harold Ryck-
man, Frank Gorman, Joseph Kaplan, Jerome
Conboy; trustees, Mr. Blakeslee, Mr. Gorman,
Mr. Kaplan, Mr. Lynch and Mr. Conboy.

Jack Sanson, manager of Stanley-Warner’s
Strand theatre, Hartford, Conn., who started in
the film industry as a projectionist in Jersey
City, N. J., is marking his 47th year in show
business. He first became a theatre manager
in Bristol, Conn., in 1915, later progressing to
other theatres and cities in the northeast. He
was city manager in Manchester, Conn., for
Stanley-Warner prior to taking over at the
Strand.

Plans for remodeling the Clark Theatre in
Chicago in conjunction with its Spring Film
Festival are reported by general manager Bruce
Trinz. The theatre has already installed a
larger screen, a new name sign, and new slim-
line fluorescent marquee lighting. The renova-
tion program is to be extended throughout the
theatre and will include a new terrazzo lobby
floor, new carpeting, new glass doors, and a
smoking room off the lobby. The upstairs
lounges have already undergone extensive re-
decorating. The Clark has been operating con-
tinuously since 1932.

The new Cherokee theatre in Sweetwater,
Tenn, was opened recently with Mrs. Edith
Brower as manager.

Remodeling of the Lyric theatre in Gastonia,
N. C., is reported by manager Ed Pierce.

The Varsity theatre, a neighborhood house in
Des Moines, has been purchased by B. C. (Bev)
Mahon and Robert L. Eridley from Iowa Uni-
ted Theatre, Inc. The 600-seat theatre is to be
redecorated and equipment installed. The new
owners have been in the industry for some 15
years, Mr. Mahon having a theatre at Pella,
Iowa, and Mr. Fridley operating theatres at
Ida Grove and Rockwell City, Iowa.

John Newcomer of Lawrence, Kan., has as-
sumed management of the Page theatre at
Shenandoah, Iowa, replacing Don Nutter.

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.

A new drive-in theatre with a capacity of 815
cars is being constructed at Meriden, Conn.,
by Nick Kounaris and Paul Tolls. The drive-
in is to have a screen measuring 120 feet wide.
It is located adjacent to the first-run Meriden
theatre, which the two men also operate to-
gether.

Harry Rush has resigned as manager of the
Triple A theatre in Los Angeles.

JOINS COLDE MANUFACTURING

Ernest Goldberg (right), president of the GoldE
Manufacturing Company, manufacturers of slide
projectors and other equipment, is shown con-
gratulating Jack Robinson, upon the latter's ap-
pointment as vice-president and general manager
for GoldE. Mr. Robinson is president of the Acme-
Lite Manufacturing Company and has had a quar-
ter century of manufacturing skill and sales experi-
ence in the field of light projection. Mr. Goldberg
stated that the new association heralds the start
of an intensive schedule of product development,
sales promotion, and advertising for GoldE. It was
stressed by both men that no merger between the
two companies is being considered at this time.

The Arizonian theatre in Tucson, operated by
A. F. and R. L. Belcher, was totally destroyed
in an explosion last month, which occurred early
in the morning.

Ed Winslow has been transferred from his
position as manager at Fox West Coast’s Gate-
way in Glendale, Calif, to the same post at the
circuit’s Fox theatre in Santa Paula.

The Beaumont theatre has been reopened by
Harry Kunneiger in that California city, which
has been without a theatre for the past two
years.

Dewey Fuquay has been named manager of
the Coral theatre in Miami, Fla. He was for-
merly a manager in North Carolina

John Mowry has reopened the Time theatre
in Kenyon, Minn., after installing a new wide-
screen.

C. L. Baldwin is now managing the Strand
theatre in Oshkosh, Wise., for Standard Thea-
tres Management, Milwaukee. He owns the
Gem theatre in Gillette, Wise., which he oper-
ates on a part-time basis.

R. Lewis Barton has purchased the Capitol
theatre in Oklahoma City from the Cooper
Foundation Theatres, Denver. Verrol Johnson
has been appointed manager of the Capitol.

The Strand theatre, Berwick, Pa., was re-
cently refurnished and redecorated by the Para-
mount Decorating Company, Philadelphia.

The Star-Lite drive-in at Muncy, Pa., has
been purchased by Paul Shaffer, who also owns
the Lycoming drive-in located at Williamsport,
Pa.

The Stanley-Warner Corporation has sold the
Cambria theatre in Johnstown, Pa., to the Trans-
America Theatre Corporation, Washington, D.C.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

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baked enamel.

Sold by theatre equipment dealers everywhere.^

WA6tt£R SI OH SBHVICS, tHC.

ITffVfri- ® CHICAGO 12. ItLINOlS

218 S. HOYNE AVENUE

. Wanner show-selling equipment.

Please send BIG free cotolog on Wag

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Insta!

illed by

Name

City & Stale,

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

"We didn’t have a single
sneaker failure all last season”.

Says Drive In Owner Louis A. Arru
of Louisville/ Kentucky

4015

Critlenden

, KENTUCKY

12,

1954

1^12 JacVcson

to «lto ‘//.r tS*

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somethlns ^ ^o «rite

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Sincerely x!5C.

The heart of the Ballantyne magnetic sound system is this com-
pact easy to install soundhead. Every part is of the finest
quality. For ease of threading and minimum maintenance,
simplicity is a feature of the design. Complete flutter-free film
speed is obtained through balanced stablization methods em-
ploying latest principles. All tension roller arms are anti-fric-
tion mounted. Standardized sprockets and pad rollers are
interchangeable.

Get full information from

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, I954

Lightmaster M 4570 Arc Lamps
• — 80-85 amperes provides bril-
liant light using new carbon trims.
Variable controls permit use in
even smaller drive-ins.

Royal Soundmaster Model 9
Soundheads — Simplified design
with many new, advanced engi-
neering features. Gives you flaw-
less fidelity and years of trouble
free operation.

MX Series Deluxe Amplifier System
— Complete packaged amplifier for
400-1200 cars. RX Series System also
available for 400-800 cars. Single or
dual channel.

Prefabricated giant flat or curved
towers are now available up to 96 feet
in width. Special prefabricated end
sections to widen your present Boyer
tower are also ready. Approved for
use in states where approval required.

1712 JACKSON ST.

OMAHA, NEBRASKA

...for

new

Single Track CinemoScope in Drive-Ins

BALIANTYNE Dub’l-Cone

Nowhere will you find more faithful reproduction at all volume levels. The
famous patented double cone principal gives perfect tonal resonance as well
as weatherproof protection. Every point in the speaker is protected against
moisture and corrosion. The voice coil is Aluminum and will not buckle
or warp. A heavy 1.47 oz Alnico V magnetic gives 3-5 times the power
of previous magnetic materials. Hundreds of thousands are in use and as
Mr. Arm says in his letter about the only complaint is that his speaker re-
pair man has nothing to do.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

AMERICAN

/fppJmed

PLAYGROUND

EQUIPMENT

Unsurpassed in Design,
Safety and Performance

• It’s the ph/s factor that makes
American the most respected name
in Playground Equipment . . . F/us
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

Seen at SMPTE Meeting

The principal speaker at the opening lunch-
eon of the SMPTE convention was W. Wal-
ter Watts, executive vice-president of the
Electronic Products Division, Radio Corpora-
tion of America. Mr. Watts told the dele-
gates of RCA's new color television film
system, which, he said, "will be of major
significance to motion picture producers
and exhibitors as well as TV broadcasters."

Hostess Pat Atherton greets C. E. Beachell,
technical research director of the National
Film Board of Canada (left), and John
Norling, at the entrance to the RCA Coffee
Club, a popular rendezvous for SMPTE dele-
gates at the Statler. Miss Atherton gave
each visitor a flower for his lapel; and re-
freshments served Included fruit juice, cof-
fee and doughnuts.

VistaVision, Paramount's new wide-screen process, was shown to the SMPTE delegates at a
special demonstration attended by (left to right) John R. Bishop, head of Paramount's camera
department: Ralph E. Lovell, member of the SMPTE Board of Governors and NBC kinescope
recording supervisor; Dr. Charles R. Daily, Paramount studio optical engineer of Loren L.
Ryder's staff; John W. DuVall of E. I. DuPont and program chairman of Pacific Coast Section,
SMPTE; and Edwin W. Templin, supervisor of electronic development, Westrex Corporation,
and secretary-treasurer. Pacific Coast Section, SMPTE.

Among the social events during the 75th semi-annual convention of the Society of Motion
Picture and Television Engineers held last month at the Statler Hotel in Washington, D. C.,
was the pioneer dinner attended by the group above Including (left to right) John G. Frayne,
director of engineering and research for the Westrex Corporation and toastmaster at the
dinner; John A. Norling, of Louchs & Norling Studios, Inc.; John I. Crabtree, of the Eastman
Kodak Company, a past president of SMPTE; and C. A. Dentelbech of the Famous Players
circuit of Canada. The pioneer dinner was held at the Columbia Country Club in Chevy
Chase, Md.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

tor JUNE 1954

GEORGE SCHUTZ. Editor

Let's Not Stall
the Progress
So Well Begun

EDITORIAL INDEX:

Page

NEW HORIZONS FOR THE DRIVE-IN THEATRE, by Wilfred P. Smifh 12

DRIVE-IN BUILT WITH AUDITORIUM FOR OPERATION ALL YEAR: THE WADS-
WORTH, DENVER. COLO 14

TWIN DRIVE-IN DESIGNED FOR EXTRA RECREATIONAL FACILITIES: THE
CENTENNIAL. DENVER. COLO U

THE DRIVE-IN COMES TO AUSTRALIA: THE SKYLINE, BURWOOD 18

WIDE-SCREEN TECHNIQUES— PART TWO: SOUND REPRODUCTION 20

VISTAVISION SOUND AND BOOTH OPERATION, by Loren L. Ryder 21

NEW 1,250-SEAT SHOWPLACE BUILT FOR WIDE-SCREEN: THE CENTRE,
DENVER. COLO 25

VENDER VANE: Refreshment Market News 28

BETTER PROJECTION department:

SUMMING UP THEATRE NEEDS FOR FILM EXHIBITION TODAY, by Gio

Gagliardi 29

ABOUT PRODUCTS 37

METHOD IN MANAGEMENT department:

A DICTIONARY OF MAINTENANCE IParf Five), by Curtis Mees, Sixteenth

Article of a Series on Motion Picture Management 42

CHARLIE JONES SAYS: Good Public Relations Are as Vital as Good Product. .. 44

ABOUT PEOPLE OF THE THEATRE 4

is published the first week of each month, with the regular
monthly issues, and an annual edition, the Market Guide Number, 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.

NOW THAT exhibitors can play any
CinemaScope product without being com-
pelled to install magnetic soundheads and
three speaker systems, stereophonic sound
may enjoy a more friendly atmosphere in
which to develop. It is human nature to
rebel against compulsion, even when it is
for one's own ultimate good. And the
haste with which multiple-track sound was
at last put to commercial application left
a lot of room for argument, if one was of
a mind to argue.

Many of those who think of the motion
picture also as an art, with the fortunes of
the business dependent upon consistent
effort to realize its fullest possibilities, now
hope that the number of theatres equipped
for stereophonic reproduction, said to be
as many as 4,000, plus receding prejudice,
will keep multiple-track sound an active
part of the art's technology, for continued
conditioning of the public, and further de-
velopment of the technique Itself.

•

At a recent gathering of exhibitors with
some equipment people, what the theatre
men wanted to know added up to: "What
projection and sound equipment must 1
buy to play the new pictures?" The an-
swer is: Carbons.

The new policy of 20th Century-Fox has
put the absolute essentials of motion pic-
ture exhibition right back where they were
in 1952, which were about the same as in
1932 — except for sound, the same as in
1922. Or 1912?

But a bigger, wider picture is wanted?
The absolute essentials then amount to
only (I) one pair of projection lenses of
shorter focal length, and (2) a new screen.
That's all, not to count an item like aper-
ture plates. New lamps and d. c. power
supply might have to be added — depends
on how much bigger the new picture is to
be, and whether the new screen is "white"
or metallic.

To think, however, in terms of bare es-
sentials is to miss the whole point of the
current effort!

The question is otherwise answered in
this issue on page 20 and page 29.

— G.S.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

By WILFRED P. SMITH

The new ll6-foo<’ picture of Perakos Theatres' drive-in at Plainville, Conn.

New Horizons for
the Drive-In Theatre

With more impressive pictures, outdoor operation
moves yet further from “cow pasture” standards. And,
this article submits, there are also other areas of expan-
sion which can provide greater service and income.

. . . who entered the drive-in field in 1933,
has been an executive of a drive-in circuit,
now has his own drive-in at Ledgewood, N. J.

EGINNING its third decade, the drive-
in theatre has advanced to a standard of
screen program, and a degree of popular
demand for its unique recreational service
to suggest consideration of further develop-
ment.

Although outdoor exhibition still has its
“nickelodeons,” in the “cow pastures” that
are more or less reminiscent of its early
days, it typically has facilities which are
comparable, according to its own peculiari-
ties, to indoor theatres of good standards,
while it is not without its “deluxe” opera-
tions. Many of them are attractively land-
scaped, drives and ramps built to state high-
way specifications are not uncommon, play-
grounds with at least the equipment found
in city parks are the usual thing, ref esh-
ment service has been extended and better
organized, while even before the “new tech-
niques” came along, improvements in pro-
jection and sound equipment were being
made especially with the drive-in theatre in
mind.

To this progress the public has re-
sponded with patronage that has brought

Elaboration of the refreshment service could be developed around an at- similarly equipped. If the building were at the rear ramps, the projection

tractive building with a landscaped terrace with tables, and a "root garden" room could be above a glassed-in room tor service or tables. — W.P.S.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

the number of drive-ins on this continent
up to about 4,000, and it is still on the
rise. The need for an outdoor recreational
service of this kind, with its convenience
and the natural comfort of informality, has
been established.

So far so good. But what of the future?
Where the drive-in is no longer a novelty,
and with an increase in the number of op-
erations, competition with other forms of
amusement, and within the outdoor field
itself, becomes keener. Availability of newer
and better pictures hike film rental. Stand-
ards of service and of operation necessary
to maintain patronage consistently at a
profitable level mean higher costs generally.
This adds up to a growing need of ways to
increase volume of patronage, to get more
money spent on the grounds, and to expand
as much as possible the months and the
hours in which the property can produce
income.

The main attraction, of course, is the
screen performance, and the drive-in field
now is in motion to take advantage, again
according to its own conditions, of the new
techniques. This is a first step in the line
of development for a greater drive-in.

At my own drive-in the picture width has
been increased from 54 to 74 feet. That
seemed to me the limit for a bright enough
picture without considering CinemaScope.

Since then a number of drive-ins have
shown CinemaScope productions with three
channels of sound, and now those and other
anamorphic pictures are to become available
for standard sound reproduction. Whereas
the largest picture at a drive-in has been
around 60 feet, there are a number of opera-
tions today which have shown CinemaScope
productions more than 100 feet wide. As
more pictures with anamorphic prints be-
come available, screen widths of from 80 to
100 feet are likely to become the rule at
outdoor theatres, so that the drive-in per-
formance will be keeping pace with techni-
cal improvements of indoor operation, and
perhaps surpassing them in the achievement
of a “panoramic” effect, particularly when
the booking is one of those spectacular “ac-
tion” pictures which are the drive-in’s
bread-and-butter.

BEYOND THE SCREEN

This more impressive screen performance
that is now developing for the drive-in
sends the imagination into other directions
of expansion. We have gone this far from
the “cow pasture” how much farther can
we go?

Well, let us consider one of the more
obvious divisions of drive-in operation —
the refreshment service. Already some oper-

Instead of a minimum of acreage for a
theatre and drives, which Is idle during most
of the 24 hours and often part of the year,
it might be better to develop a larger plot,
adding play area for adults as well as chil-
dren— perhaps also a "shopping center."
The above sketch indicates a building for a
limited number of stores of modest dimen-
sions: some locations would warrant more
liberal shopping facilities, and this area
might even have a skating rink. Additional
recreational facilities could include a minia-
ture golf course, and a swimming pool (top
of sketch). — W.P.S.

ators have expanded this by building a
terrace in front of the refreshment building
and placing benches or chairs there, some-
times also tables. More drive-ins could do
this to advantage, we think, perhaps adding
“supper” items in the meat line, for ex-
ample, with tray or carton service in “box
lunch” style to make table service conve-
nient. Just recently we learned that Joe
Hart, Jr., plans to offer a complete dinner
in disposable containers at his drive-in near
Nashville, Tenn., following installation of
a wider screen.

Another idea comes to mind : Projection
booths can be much farther back than they
used to be, largely because of the 4-inch
diameter lenses. Wider pictures make even
a greater distance practicable. This sug-
{Continued on page 34)

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

Architects's drawing of
the Wadsworth, showing
location of the screen
tower and main building
housing the auditorium.

Winter Operation

. . . C. K. Lee’s new Wadsworth drive-in
in Denver, with a car capacity of 850 and in-
side seating for 502 for “year ’round’’ business.

Drive-In Built with
Auditorium for

Six drive lanes provide access to three box-offices at the Wadsworth's entrance.

PROCEEDING Oil the theory
that the drive-in theatre can be a “year-
round” operation, despite the whims of
winter weather, C. K. Lee, head of Lee
Theatres, Inc., Denver, has constructed the
new Wadsworth drive-in in that city with
an auditorium section in the main building
from which patrons can view the picture

on the drive-in screen tower. Employing a
double ramp system, the drive-in has a ca-
pacity of 850 cars, and the auditorium
seats 502.

The new drive-in is located at 5050
Wadsworth, a main thoroughfare in North-
eastern suburban Denver. The location
should soon become even more strategic

due to plans for a proposed clover-leaf val-
ley highway extension to transcontinental
routes 6 and 40 on the drive-in’s right (see
sketch at top of page). The drive-in is also
just south (on the left) of a proposed by-
pass to the Boulder Turnpike, the only
toll road in the state.

The approach to the theatre from the
roadway (see sketch) is 630 feet long and
275 feet wide. There are three box-offices
at the entrance arranged for two lanes of
traffic each. The drive-in covers 14 acres
in all, and parking space is set aside behind
the main building for the “indoor” patrons.

In addition to a playground inside the
drive-in’s grounds, three acres in front of
the entrance will be used as a site for a
“Kiddieland Karnival of Rides” for which
the admission will be 9c. This attraction
will be run independently of the theatre.
Two picnic areas are being constructed in
the front also.

The main building of the theatre houses

tmooft ^ THE ATRf / ##

vlarquee placed by the highway at the entrar

\A/a/J«u/rtr+k nroc^n + e

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

The front of the main building (above) is enclosed with glass to provide view-
ing from the enclosed auditorium (right) which seats 502. Air conditioning
and heating have been arranged to keep frost and steam off the glass.

the auditorium, refreshment section, rest
rooms and manager’s office on the main
floor arid the projection booth and a pent-
house apartment for the manager and his
family on the second. Constructed of ma-
sonry and wood, this building has a front of
glass through which the “indoor” patrons
w’atch the film. The auditorium walls are
of sandblasted surfwood and acoustical tile,
which is also used for the ceiling. Illumina-

Refreshment facilities of the Wadsworth showing one
cafeteria line at right top (note special trays under
counter); cooking equipment at right below and snow
cone bar (below) by steps leading into auditorium.

tion is by- neon tubing from wall fixtures
on each side. Seating is in a three-bank,
two-aisle plan with 502 American chairs.
The carpeting is an Alexander Smith pat-
tern in burgundy, beige and green. A cry
room is in the rear of the auditorium.

Exits at the rear of the auditorium lead
to stairs to a lobby area, off of which at
opposite ends are the men’s and women’s
rest rooms. This lobby also leads to the re-
freshment . section, where service is in a
cafeteria system. Patrons are offered a

choice of a large variety of foods, includ-
ing pizza pies, shrimp, chicken, popcorn,
sandwiches, soft drinks, coffee, ice cream,
snow cones, frankfurters, etc.

The refreshment equipment includes
{Continued on page 33)

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

Twin Drive-In Designed for
Extra Recreational Facilities

The new Centennial drive-in at Denver is shown during its construction In the aerial view above
before completion of the playground in front of the main building and before installation of the
marquee in front of the entrance. The aerial view below is a close-up of the entrance area.

An elaborately furnished playground,
equipped with a small children’s
“theatre” for special cartoons, and a
modern swimming pool are additional
attractions planned for Denver’s new
Centennial twin drive-in theatre.
With a capacity of 1200 cars, the
drive-in is operated by Television
Theatres of Colorado, Inc. of Denver.

FURTHER PROOF that the
drive-in theatre is rapidly adding to its ap-
peal as a community recreational center is
provided by the new Centennial twin
drive-in at Denver, operated by Television
Theatres of Colorado, Inc., which now has
under construction a children’s playground
with facilities far beyond the ordinary
and soon will add a swimming pool which
may see double duty as a winter skating
rink. The drive-in is located on the South-
western fringe of metropolitan Denver,
with mile-high elevation and the Rocky
Mountains for a backdrop, and has taken
for its slogan “CinemaScope in the Sky”
(reported to be copyrighted by the owners).

Adjacent to the drive-in (and thus pro-
viding another source of entertainment in
the immediate vicinity) is a horse track,
property of Centennial Horse Racing

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5. 1954

Artist's sketch of the swimming pool planned for the Centennial drfy<»4n.

In the Centennial's cafeteria located in the main building (see photos on facing page) patrons
are offered a large variety of foods, including complete tried shrimp and chicken dinners.

Track, Inc., which also owns the diive-in.
Operating the latter under a lease is Tele-
vision Theatres, which also owns the Web-
ber (indoor) theatre in Denver. The new
theatre corporation is headed by Tom
Bailey, president ; Ralph Batschelet, execu-
tive vice-president; and Albert N. Wil-
liams, treasurer.

Mr. Bailey is an independent motion
picture distributor in Denver with fran-
chises of Lippert and Filmakers for the
Rocky Mountain area and he also oper-
ates the Victory theatre in Denver. Mr.
Batschelet has been a theatre manager in
the Denver area since 1932. Mr. Williams
is a Denver businessman currently chair-
man of the Board of Directors of the U. S.
National Bank there. Appointed manager
of the drive-in was Bob Dempsey, formerly
with Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres.

Opened in the middle of April, the Cen-
tennial twin drive-in has a total capacity
of 1200 cars. Patrons enter through two
lanes on either side of double box-offices,
depending on their choice of film program.
Both sections of the drive-in have ten ramps
each, and the ground surface is gravel with
oil topping.

The main building of the Centennial is
located mid-way in the ramp plot and
houses the refreshment section and rest
rooms on the first floor with the projec-
tion booth on the second level above the
rest rooms. There is also an area for “walk-
in” patrons equipped with 100 American
stadium chairs. In front of the main build-
ing is a fenced-in area in which the play-
ground is being constructed. The swimming

pool (see artist’s sketch accompanying the
story) is to be on the opposite side of the
main building from the playground.

The playground, in addition to a num-
ber of free rides, will also feature a “Pro-
motional Hut” where 16mm cartoons will
be a pre-show attraction for the children.
An admission charge of I5c for this film
program will include a ride on a minia-
ture electric train with 100 feet of track.

This attraction will be manned by “Mr.
Zero,” a talented dwarf Avho also makes
local television appearances to attract the
children. A paid merry-go-round and whirl-
aw’ay are planned for the future.

Each screen structure is of wood truss
construction with asbestos sheathing, and
the screen, 100 feet wide, is asbestos board
painted flat white. With a throw of 540
{Continued on page 41)

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

The Drive-In Comes to Australia

The relaxation and informality afforded
motion picture patrons by the drive-ih
theatre have now penetrated to Australia
with the recent opening there of the Sky-
line drive-in in Burwood, a suburb 10 miles
out from the Victorian capital of Mel-
bourne. The drive-in’s capacity is 600 cars.

The Skyline's screen (above) is 50 by 34 feet, and the throw from the projection booth is
260 feet. The sound system and in-car speakers are RCA. The projectors were especially
built for the theatre and the main components include a Super Standard projector; English
"BTH” lamphouses; and heads made by R. C. Siddons of Adelaide. The children's play-
ground (visible in front of the screen) has proved extremely popular, and since the open-
ing several additional facilities have been added, including Disney and fairy book char-
acters for decorations.

Patrons arriving after the program has started are guided
to the ramps by ushers on motor-driven bicycles (above).

Among the special services offered patrons by the Sky-
line is the cleaning of their windshields (see below).

Entrance to the Skyline drive-in is made through two runways on either side of the box-office
(above). The admission for adults is 4 shillings (about 44c) and for children 1 shilling.

Various hot and cold refresh-
ments are available at the
drive-in's snack stand adjacent
to the playground and candy
and soft drinks are also sold
by attendants from trays
brought to cars (right). The
building is visible below.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

The Speaker Designed for
the Years Ahead

.o;-,

RCA's basi^
DRIVE - 1^

package

Here’s your No. 1 buy for years of
dependable performance — the fa-
mous RCA Drive-in Speaker — the
most imitated speaker on the mar-
ket— still unmatched for down-
right economy and quality.

More than a million RCA

New Beam Power

for the New Types of Films

basic Drive-In needs

New ‘'Button-On” Soundhead for
Magnetic-Track Films

Here’s the easy solution to the new mag-
netic films — RCA’s "Button-On” Sound-
head. Buy it now in preparation for the
new films — or add it at any time to your
present projectors.

contact

RCA “Proved-Performance” Sound Systems

THEATRE EQUiRMEHT

RADIO CORPORATION of AMERICA

eMGIMECRIMG PRODUCTS eAMDSM.M.J.

In Canada: RCA VICTOR Company Limited, Montreal

When you select your sound system — make drive-in operation. Make sure it’s a "proved
sure it’s engineered and proved in use for performance” RCA Sound System.

Dependable RCA Projectors

Automatic lubrication and long-
life mechanical design make the
RCA " 1 00” your best buy for de-

pendable, trouble-free service.
For the last word in economy,
check the RCA "60” projector.

Wi4eScteeH yecknique^

q WHAT YOU NEED ^ ^ J W%

FOR WHAT YOU WANT 2“ SOIlflCI KCptOuUCtlOn

Methods now available briefly summarized especially to clarify equipment requirements

The technical movement which
began last year may have recently
become, as suggested under the
above general heading in Better
Theatres for May, even more con-
fusing than it has been “to exhib-
itors trying to decide on a course
of action immediately adapted to
their particular operation.” Con-
sideration of that possibility, the
basic methods of achieving a rela-
tively larger and wider screen
image — aperture cropping and ana-
morphic photography — were sum-
marized last month in the light of
latest developments. A similar ef-
fort is here applied to sound.

STEREOPHONIC SOUND:

As so far introduced into the art
(Cinerama and CinemaScope),
stereophonic sound reproduct' .^n is
from magnetically recorded tracks
(in the past optical tracks have
been used). True stereophonic
sound calls for special recording
procedures with microphone set-
up in specific relationship to a num-
ber of sound tracks and corres-
ponding reproduction channels.
Other devices, available in the dub-
bing process, are also employed to
achieve “auditory perspective”
through such use of more than one
reproduction track and speaker
channel (preferably at least three).

CinemaScope productions have
been (and at least those of 20th
Century-Fox, according to current
policy, will continue to be) avail-
able with three magnetic screen
speaker tracks, plus an auditorium
speaker system track, requiring at
least three screen speaker channels
(auditorium effects optional).

ONE TRACK, THREE SPEAKERS:

Various American producers
have announced their intention to

provide release prints with a single
optical track having inaudible fre-
quencies for variable actuation of
three screen speaker systems by
means of Perspecta equipment.
(Track otherwise conventional.)

A theatre equipped for stereo-
phonic sound (as in multipl.;-track
CinemaScope) has the necessary
three channels required for Per-
specta sound. It needs only to add
a Perspecta “Integrator” (a modi-
fied variable gain amplifier with
cert -in automatic control features).
Theatres with only the conven-
tional one-channel installation must
add two more (assuming the exist-
ing equipment can be properly
matched) .

Otherwise, the sound equipment
is the same as for conventional
single optical track reproduction,
and operation is comparable. (Au-
tomatic switching from one to three
channels, and vice versa, is pro-
vided for in the design i f the
Integrator.)

Paramount’s VistaVision prints
are among thos which are to have
a single optical track with Perspecta
control frequencies.

ONE TRACK, ONE SPEAKER:

The conventional sound installa-
tion for reproduction of one optical
track through one screen speaker
system can be used for exhibiting
pictures of major producers begin-
ning July 1st, when 20th Century-
Fox will make prints of its Cinema-
Scope product ’ons available for
such sound reproduction.

Param-'unt’s V’ taVision prints
will have optical tracks capable of
being reproduced in this conven-
tional manner.

CinemaScope productions of 20th
Century-Fox will also be available
in prints with a single magnetic
track for one-channel reproduction

(all other print specifications same
as for 4-track print, with single
magnetic composite record on No. 2
stripe). Such prints require a pent-
house magnetic reproducer for each
projector. Amplification and speak-
er equipment remains conventional.

CHOICE OF METHODS:

NON-SQUEEZE PRINTS—

In the light of recent announce-
ments on CinemaScope and Vista-
Vision, it is now indicated that sub-
stantially all productions of major
American producers will continue
to be available in prints allowing
projection and sound reproduction
according to traditional practice
(4-to-3 aspect ratio, single-channel
sound from an optical track).

The only exception now in view
is product of 20th Century-Fox, the
reduction (non-anamorphic) prints
of which may require, because of
cropping limitations, an aspect ratio
no smaller than 1.8/1.

All major American productions
(not photographed anamorphically)
will continue, however, to be (as
they have been for some time) pho-
tographed with picture composition
favoring wide-screen projection, in
ratios of not less than about 1.66/1
(upper limit, in general, has become
approximately 2/1, with best com-
position at around 1.8/1).

All of these prints will have
frames allowing use of standard
aperture width (825 mils), picture
height to be determined by use of
full available height (600 mils) or
less, according to aspect ratio de-
sired.

All will have single optical tracks
for conventional one-channel re-
production. At least some product
will be available with the optical
track also carrying Perspecta con-
(Continued bottom opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

VistaVision Sound
and Booth Operation

The third and concluding article on the new Paramount system by
the head of that producer’s engineering and sound recording.

By LOREN L. RYDER

PICTURE-WISE, Para-
mount’s VistaVision embodies all the ele-
ments required for putting entertainment
in the right height and width on every
screen for better motion picture presenta-
tion (the subject of depth, clarity and
resolution have been covered previously
in this series). Sound-wise, VistaVision
gives the theatre owner additional advan-
tages in normal or stereophonic sound
reproduction.

It has been emphasized before that
VistaVision does not require any extra
equipment to be shown successfully any-
where, and this includes sound. With a nor-
mal optical soundhead, the standard re-
lease print can be played on any projection
unit. While we feel that in the average
theatre, a single horn system is satisfactory ;
yet for the exhibitor who believes that
multi-horn reproduction will add to the
effectiveness, it will be available with each
VistaVision release print. We call this a
directional, or “stereophonic-type” print
and all soundtracks will be made with a
Perspecta sound integrator unit.

This produces a standard optical com-
posite sound-track to which there has been
added sub-audible control signals. If
a theatre is equipped with a Perspecta
sound control unit together with left and
right screen speakers, directional or “stereo-
phonic” sound results in this manner :

The control unit takes sound and speech
from the single optical track and distributes
it to the three-channel system in accordance
with control information recorded on the
sound track in the form of three low ampli-
tude sub-audible carriers. This means that
the viewing audience will hear sounds from
three sources behind the screen in any
combination of direction and intensity re-
quired by the content of the picture.

When a non-controlled conventional
optical sound track is being reproduced, an
automatic switching device normalizes the
sound into the center channel only and the
side channels are, in effect, made in-
operative.

In preparing the optical track release
print, a normal negative is recorded in
typical release dubbing manner, but with

the addition of 30-, 35- and 40-cycle con-
trol tones. The amplitude of the control
tones, recorded at a maximum amplitude
16db below the 100% sound level, control
the sound to the left center and right
speakers.

For example, the sound playing at nor-
mal volume into the center speaker would
be so placed by a 35-cycle control tone of
“-16db” level. If the 35-cycle tone were
to be gradually reduced, and a 30-cycle tone
to be gradually increased in level to
“-16db,” the sound would shift from
center to left-screen. Similarly a shift to
40 cycles would shift the sound to right-
screen. If all three tones were at “— 16db”
the sound would fill the screen from all
three speakers.

It can be seen that each of the three
speakers may receive all or a portion of
the sound in proportion to the recorded
control tones whose amplitudes were
dubbed in accordance with the sound de-
mands of the accompanying picture.

The equipment required for this type
ot recording and theatre reproduction will

{Continued from opposite page)
trol signals (which allow choice of
one- or three-channel reproduction,
if theatre has three screen speaker
systems installed).

ANAMORPHIC PRINTS—

Theatres equipped with expan-
sion lenses will be able (beginning
July 1st, when the new 20th Cen-
tury-Fox policy goes into effect) to
exhibit any GinemaScope product
by the anamorphic method, with or
without stereophonic sound.

With ‘White Christmas,” due in
October, Paramount (as recently
announced) will make anamorphic
prints available for VistaVision.

Cylindrical anamorphic lenses

(Bausch & Lomb, Bell & Howell,
Futter Vidoscope) and reflector
anamorphic lenses (Old Delft, Hol-
land), which were designed for
GinemaScope, are capable of 2-to-l
expansion exclusively.

VistaVision prints will have a
compression requiring lens attach-
ments capable of V/z-to-l expan-
sion. Prismatic anamorphic lenses
(Tushinsky, Gottschalk) are adjust-
able to both 2-to-l and 1 '/2-to-l ex-
pansion (and other rates).

Choice of sound reproduction
methods with anamorphic prints
have been discussed above.

Frame dimensions for anamor-
phic prints with single optical track
(whether adapted to Perspecta

sound or not) will be .868 x .735
(according to recent Research
Council recommendations), allow-
ing an aperture up to 839 mils wide,
and up to 715 mils high. Full frame
projection (aperture) for Cinema-
Scope anamorphic optical - track
prints would thus give a picture
with an aspect ratio of 2.35/1. Simi-
lar projection of VistaVision ana-
morphic prints would give a picture
with an aspect ratio of 1.75/1.
(Compare with above discussion of
non-squeeze prints.)

All anamorphic prints with single
standard optical track will have
standard sprocket perforations and
frame centerline same as for stand-
ard Academy print.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

The Tushinsky Anamorphic System in Printing and Projection

The series of articles on Vista-
Vision which is concluded in the
adjoining article, has discussed the
way in which Paramount intends
also to make anamorphic prints
available by means of the prismatic
anamorphotic lenses developed by
Joseph and Irving Tushinsky of the
RKO Radio camera department.
While applicable in cinematogra-
phy, such a prismatic system has
been especially noted for the rela-
tively convenient technique it pro-

photograph, an area adapted to a
maximum aspect ratio of 2/1 can be
selected, and the VistaVision nega-
tive frame, with its width of 1.472-
inch, would allow an area of some-
thing like 1.400 X .700 to be selected
in such manner as to provide most
desirable pictorial composition.

Producing an anamorphic print
from film conventionally photo-
graphed requires enlargement of
the original photograph, and the ac-
companying drawing refers to this.

ORIG-IMAL
NEGATIVE FRAME
— 0.999 >

BLOW-UP FOR RECOMPOSITION
AT 1.50/1 COMPRESSION
-APPROX. 1.200-
(1.190)

refers to the width of the picture on
the screen. To use this adjustable
feature to change picture width is
to resolve the film image otherwise
than normally. The result is distor-
tion, however little it might be no-
ticed if the variation from compres-
sion were very slight.)

Also to be noted is that the print
photograph is so composed as to
advise a projection aperture not
less than regular Academy release
print standard — that is, .600-inch.

SQUEEZE FRAME
(APERTURE)

vldes for producing a squeezed
print photograph from a normal one
exclusively through optical print-
ing.

Steps in the process of producing
an anamorphic print in this manner,
and how the squeeze photograph is
resolved in projection, are shown
in the accompanying drawing. This
is a representation applying to the
Tushinsky method basically — a
process which the inventors call
“SuperScope.” Use of it is in pros-
pect for product in addition to
VistaVision pictures.

Inasmuch as VistaVision is char-
acterized by original photography
in a frame extending the long way
of the film (longitudinally) rather
than across it, with each photograph
thus much wider (1.472 x .997) than
the film width would allow, the
Tushinsky printing process has
available at the beginning a nega-
tive picture enlarged and funda-
mentally composed for compression.

From the VistaVision negative

EQUIVALENT
OPTICAL IMAGE
OF EXPANSION IN
PROJECTION

ADDITIONAL
FRAME HEIGHT
AVAILABLE FOR
REDUCTION OF
ASPECT RATIO FROM

2/1 (DOWN TO 1.75/0

'ti 8

I'i

mnmnmnzmim

H EIGHT AT

2/1

ASPECT

RATIO

1.200-

more complete, application of the
Tushinsky system.

It is to be noted that in projec-
tion, the Tushinsky anamorphotic
attachment is always set for lateral
magnification of the compressed
film image at an aspect ratio of 2/1.
(The adjustability of a prismatic
anamorphotic lens refers only to
the amount of compression; the
optical characteristics of the prism
system can be changed to normalize
a photograph which has been com-
pressed 50% or 33%, or 25%, or
some other amount. It in no way

This will give an aspect ratio of 2/1.
If a smaller ratio is desired, an
aperture of greater height than .600
is recommended, and the frame
height (.715-inch) supplies vertical
information permitting an aspect
ratio down to 1.75/1 with an aper-
ture width of .825.

The drawing, originally made
with a squeeze print aperture width
of .825, gives this width as .839. The
latter is the width recently recom-
mended by the Research Council
for anamorphic prints with single
optical track. — G. S.

consist of so-called “integrator” units for
recording, and similar units for theatre
reproduction. The integrator unit of Per-
specta Sound is 19 inches wide by 10^4
inches high and 17 inches deep. Mounted
in a standard 19-inch rack, it weighs 39^^
pounds. The accompanying power supply
is 19 X 5% X 10 inches deep, weighs 10 lbs.

In theatres that do not have auxiliary
loudspeakers, it will of course be neces-

sary to purchase extra loudspeakers and
amplifiers. All houses that have been
equipped for stereophonic reproduction can
use dimensional sound by merely purchasing
the Perspecta Sound control unit.

Paramount does not intend to make use
of any magnetic stereophonic sound tracks
for release purposes, since optical direc-
tional sound will give the desired effect.
It will be optional with the exhibitor as to

the use of stereophonic-type sound since
Paramount does not insist on exhibitors
purchasing special sound reproducing equip-
ment.

Booth Operation is simplified to the
bare essentials in all theatres that use the
VistaVision standard prints and single-
channel sound. VistaVision also offers the
simplest and most flexible system for those
theatres that wish to play squeezed prints

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

Projection of

lNEMASCOP^

PROJtCTlONARClAMPS

For Huge Drive-In Screens

National's new Reflect-O-Heat Unit permits
a ^reat increase in volume of liglit at tlie
screen without a corresponding increase
in lieat at the aperture.

For Presenting 3-D

The Excelite ''135 ” delivers the
necessary increased volume
of li^ht and also the extended
running time required on
a single trim.

The color value and inten-
sity of the light at the screen
is maintained constant
throughout a full trim without
manual adjustment hy an auto-
matic arc crater positioner.

Distributed by

NATIONAL

THEATRE SUPPLY

“THERE’S A BRANCH NEAR YOU

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

WHAT’S Ail THE EXCITEIWEHT

ABOUT

pfmcfji srmPHom som?

A FRANK DISCUSSION OF THE FACTS!

Is Perspecta Stereophonic
Sound really here?

A* It sure is! M-G-M, Paramount
and Warners are releasing all future
productions with Perspecta Sound.
Other studios are following.

Will it be the industry standard
for years to come?

A* Yes, it will— because, from the
producers’ viewpoint, it’s the compati-
ble system — yet offers exhibitors the
finest stereophonic sound at the low-
est installation and operating cost.

How soon should theatre
owners install it?

A* The sooner, the better. All
Loew’s theatres are being equipped
now and hundreds of others here and
abroad bave ordered! Be first in your
community. Order now!

How many Fairchild Perspecta
Integrators does a theatre need?

A* Only one! A single Fairchild Per-
specta Integrator serves all projectors
in a booth and controls the sound
through any three-channel sound sys-
tem of standard-make.

What about costs and installa-
tion time?

A* The Fairchild Perspecta Integra-
tor costs $990. A complete installation
can be made in less than a day — with-
out loss of showing time and, inciden-
tally, without continued maintenance
and replacement of magnetic heads!

Where do I go to find out more?

A» Call —write — or wire Ray Crews
at Fairchild. He understands exhibi-
tors’ problems — can answer your
questions immediately.

through variable prismatic expander lenses.
VistaVision, with its directional sound,
simplifies operation in theatres equipped
for multi-speaker reproduction.

Another innovation with VistaVision is
the framing marks (shown in the upper
right-hand corner of the picture frame in
Figure 1.) These markings are to be made
less apparent than changeover markings
and are to be used by the projectionist in
gaining proper framing in the projection of
VistaVision pictures.

The framing marks appear only at the
head end of the 2000-foot reels. The first
such marks will appear approximately 5

Tiimik

MOTION PICTURE SOUND DIVISION • WHITESTONE 57, NEW YORK

RECORDING,

EQUIPMENT^

BY-PASS WHEN CROWDED!

Many theatres with new wide screens have very
little space for opened curtains to clear the screen.

Vallen, the originator of modern curtain operating
equipment, has successfully solved this problem, too.

VALLEN BY-PASS TRACK

* Fan-folds curtains into unbelievably small space. Easily installed.

* Requires but one operating line. All-Steel, Efficient, Moderately
priced.

Write for specification print. Consult Vallen for
curtain operating equipment suited to your needs.

VALLEN. Inc., Akron 4, Ohio, U. S. A.

feet in from the start of the reel ; and the
second set of marks will appear 8 feet in
from the start of the reel. In framing for
a 1.33/1 picture, the projectionist will
frame just above the top frame line in
keeping with past practice. If the picture
is being projected in the aspect ratio of
1.66/1, the top frame line of the picture,
as seen on the screen, should just cut the
top dot. For a 1.85/1 picture, the top of
the picture as seen on the screen should
just cut the line. For a picture projected
in the aspect ratio of 2/1, it should be just
possible to see the bottom dot at the top of
the screen.

In operation the projectionist will com-
plete his changeover operation, and while
he is looking through the port he will ob-
serve the position of the first set of dots.
If the framing is incorrect, he will make
a correction and gain a check observation
by viewing the second framing signal.

Framing on all squeeze prints will be at
the top of the frame.

Drive-Ins can use the VistaVision stand-
dard release prints and project them in the
same manner as any standard release print.

Paramount will conduct a series of tests
in drive-ins using the following outlined
procedure which we feel will be helpful for
drive-in presentation (we are not prepared
to make a definite recommendation now) :

It seems to the writer that drive-ins can
best be served by using a screen in the ratio
of 2/1 and using the VistaVision squeezed
prints along with variable prismatic ex-
pander lenses working at the expansion
ratio of IP2/I, as established for Vista-
Vision prints. In this case the drive-ins
should gain in screen illumination and also
gain slightly by the larger projected images
{^Continued on page 34)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

New 1250-Seat
c Showploce Built
for Wide-Screen

ITH t-he construcfion by the Fox Inter-
Mountain Amusement Corporation, headed by Frank H. Ricket-
son, Jr., of the new Centre theatre in Denver, Colo., that city
has its first playhouse built especially for the new film tech-
niques. The screen is 60 feet wide, and auditorium speakers
for stereophonic sound are built right into the side walls.

Architect: Walter H. Simon, Denver.

Construction supervised by:

Melvin C. G/otz, Fox Inter-Mountain general purchasing agent.

THEATRE PLAN AND FRONT: The Centre
theatre is located in the heart of downtown
Denver on Sixteenth Street and is bounded
on either side by stores. With a basic
structure of brick and concrete, the thea-
tre has three levels, including a basement.
The finish on the two sides above the store
windows on either side of the theatre's
tower is stucco marked out as stone and
painted grey-green with "Zolatone," a
splatter paint which gives it the appear-
ance of precast terrazzo. The main tower
of the theatre rises 100 feet high and it is
flanked on either side by four large pylons
topped by scrolls; these are made of sheet
metal with neon tubing. The pylons are
painted a medium pink with "Zolatone,"
which gives a dull finish rather than a high
gloss and thus cuts down reflections from
the waviness of the sheet metal. The sec-
tions in between the pylons are of a per-
forated metal (called metal cane) with
about 50% open area and painted in light
grey-blue. Approximately I foot behind
the metal cane is a sheet metal background
painted a deep blue. On the main tower
the background behind the word "Centre"
is the same pink with white lights. The
edges are trimmed with maroon; the nose
is of a deep chartreuse. The scrolls are
worked out in shades of red, yellow and
gold. Two name signs in script with neon
tubing are mounted on either side of the
triangular marquee; they are painted in
light turquoise with a deep maroon edge.
In all cases the neon tubing is the same
color at night as the painted backgrounds
— the pylons have rose colored tubing; the
script words have turquoise; the nose, light

green. The attraction panel letters are Bevelite. The marquee soffit is a sand-plastered
surface painted a pale green, and it has recessed Pittsburgh glass reflector fixtures.
Following the outline of the changeable letter panel on the ceiling are recessed fix-
tures containing par 38 150-watt bulbs, placed 9 inches on center. The lower face of
the theatre's front is of precast terrazzo in a main background of pink with white
marble chips. Mounted on both sides are four poster display cases with frames of
stainless steel about 9 inches deep. The box-office, located in the center of the
entrance area, has an upper portion made of staff plaster, which has been gold-
leafed, and the top is finished in aluminum leaf. The base of the box-office is stainless
steel with cast-aluminum rosettes and metal mouldings. The floor here is terrazzo.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

LOBBY-FOYER: Four pairs of plate glass doors pro-
vide entrance into the lobby-foyer and give visibil-
ity of the interior from the street. A short distance
beyond these doors, on both the right and left, are
stairways leading down into the main lounge and
the rest rooms. Immediately beyond the stair rails
on each side are archways to ramps leading up into
the standee area of the auditorium. At the rear of
the lobby-foyer, and directly ahead as the patron
enters, is the refreshment stand. The walls in the
lobby-foyer are plaster painted a green which is
lighter in shade than that of the celling, which con-
tinues the color of the marquee soffit. The ceiling
In the area shown at left below follows the rise of
the stadium and is rimmed by a hung coffer struc-
ture of ornamental plaster finished in gold leaf
forming a light cove containing neon tubing. The
ceiling over the refreshment stand is sprayed-on
acoustical asbestos fiber painted a pale yellow, and
the same material Is used for the hung ceiling which
forms a soffit over the stand except that it Is
painted light grey. Neon tubing over the stand is
gold, green, blue and rose. It is also lighted by
recessed reflector lamps. The stand itself is finished
In aluminum with an etched design. The top of the
bar is Lamlnart in a walnut finish. Storage facilities
for the refreshment stand are located in a room
behind It entered through a door on the right. To
the left of this room is the manager's office and to
the right is the cashier's room, both of which are
entered from doors In the lobby. Except for a short
strip of terrazzo in front of the stand, the lobby-
foyer Is carpeted throughout with an Alexander-
Smith pattern In red, three shades of gold, and
black. The furniture In this area is coral-colored.
The green walls In the lobby are continued up into
the ramp area, and just beyond the archways there
Is a large poster case on each side trimmed in orna-
mental plaster, front-lighted with adjustable spots
recessed Into the ceiling and back-lighted with blue
neon tubing. Heating and air conditioning are regu-
lated by a MInneapolis-Honeywell control system.
Air conditioning Is by a Westinghouse unit.

THE LOUNGE: Approached from stairs off both
sides of the lobby-foyer, the main lounge (left) is
on the basement level. From this area doors lead
into the men's lounge, which Is decorated with wall-
paper In an outdoor hunting motif; and the women's
lounge (above), which has a long mirror covering
the entire length of one wall and six swivel-type
vanity stools in coral and with a gold fringe.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

THE AUDITORIUM: The side walls in the audi-
torium, which has a stadium design, are of sprayed-
on acoustical asbestos fiber, in chartreuse, above a
wainscot in a swirling design painted in green.
Star decorations of gold ornamental plaster are
placed on the upper side walls and large ones are
used to border the "surround" speakers for stereo-
phonic sound. At the front of the auditorium are
two large plumes of ornamental plaster in gold and
silver rising all the way to the ceiling; they are
backed by drapes in brilliant crimson which are
an extension of the material for the proscenium
contour curtain. The auditorium ceiling is deeply
coffered through the middle with an area border-
ing the recess finished in hard plaster and the
coffered section finished in sprayed-on acoustical
asbestos, both in an ivory color. The latter forms a
cove at the border containing neon tubing in a
variety of color. These lights are dimmed to a low
glow and by controlling the burning and intensity
of the neon circuits the color values can be changed
to various atmosphere quality according to the sea-
son or even program themes. Seating, totaling
1,250, is almost equally divided between the main
level and the stadium with 602 in the former and
648 in the latter. The main floor seafing is arranged
in a three-bank, two-aisle plan and the stadium has
three banks. All chairs are American "Deluxe Loge"
upholstered in mohair; spaced 38 inches back-to-
back. Aisle carpeting is the same pattern as in the
lobby-foyer. The screen is a curved "Miracle Mirror"
60 feet wide and 28 feet high. The distance from
the screen to the first row of seats is 27 feet and
162 feet to the last row in the stadium, giving a
maximal viewing factor of 2.7 W. Projectors are
Simplex "XL" lighted by National "Excelite" lamps
with 10mm. positive trim, operated at 135 amperes,
and powered by Hertner generators. The regular
sound system is also Simplex with stereophonic
sound equipment Ampex. The anamorphic lenses
are Bausch & bomb. The booth is 40 feet wide.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

looking for

HONEST
INJUN
Value?

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First-American is the "happy
hunting ground”! Here is
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k THEATRE OWNERS MANUAL

Handy file-size portfolio enables you to
keep clippings, literature, articles, etc.
in neat easy-to-find order. Nine expand-
able pockets cover all theatre operation
and equipment subjects. $1.50 value,
yours for the asking!

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1717 Wyandolle St., Kansas City 8, Ma.

^ VI

^-VANE

News and Comment about
Merchandise Sold in the Theatre

Prefabricated Refreshment Stand
Installed in Maryland Theatre

THE BETHESDA theatre in
Bethesda, Md., an operation of Sidney
Lust Theatres, Washington, has installed
a prefabricated refreshment stand unit
made by the Master-Kraft Fixture Com-
pany, Baltimore. The unit has been placed
against the standee rail in the rear of the

The back wall of the stand features
stylized decorations and two illuminated
display cases on either side. The stand’s
canopy is illuminated by recessed hi-hat
light fixtures and fluorescent fixtures in a
cove. The candy case is also lighted.

Materials used in the stand include lac-

The snack stand of the Bethesda theatre is located by the standee rail in the auditorium.

auditorium. The Bethesda has a seating
capacity of 1200.

The new stand (see illustration) is 16
feet long and contains a 3-foot ice cream
counter ; a glass-enclosed candy case ; a 3-
foot counter for the “Buttermat” dis-
penser; and a counter base for a Pronto
popcorn warmer. A cash drawer and a
storage cabinet are behind the counter. An
entrance door is on the right side.

quered birch hardwood for the cabinets;
a Formica top for the ice cream cabinet;
and a lower front panel of leatherette.

The stand was installed in the Bethesda
overnight, without interrupted operation.

While the prefabricated stands are
designed by Master-Kraft to be placed
against theatre standee rails or set into
them, the company points out that they
can be adapted to other locations.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

Met Projection

A Department on PHDJECTIDM & SDUIVD

Summing Up Theatre Needs
For Film Exhibition Today

By CIO CACLIARDI

THE DAY when picture
presentation in a theatre was a series of
fairly simple routines quite definitely is
gone. Today, more
than at any time in
motion picture history,
theatre operators and
their technical staffs
must be alert and
quick - thinking, and
armed with authorita-
tive information to be
so constructively.

It is, or ought to
be, axiomatic that in
the main theatres should be equipped with
all the necessary tools and materials to
exploit film product to the full extent of
its possibilities. Regardless of the intrinsic
merits of any of the individual techniques,
one basic change has emerged from the
welter of claims and counter-claims. The
larger, wider picture has supplanted the

pictures are made available for wide-screen
presentation.

The problems confronting the exhibitor
are manifold. Their solutions require a
study of each individual case in order to
prevent serious and costly mistakes. Before
any problem can be solved it is necessary
to investigate the following variable con-
ditions :

1. What forms and shape of picture can
be made available to the screen.

2. What type of lenses and projector
apertures are necessary to project these
pictures.

3. What light sources and arc power
equipment are necessary to illuminate these
pictures.

4. What screens and frames will give
the best results luitli these pictures.

5. What form of variable masking, if
any is needed, will be most suitable for the
different types of pictures.

The five items above are all interrelated
and one will often depend on the other;
but all of them should be studied carefully
before entering upon an installation.

With the coining of the VistaVision

Projection

Aperture

Aspect

Pro/. Lens

Anamorpft.

Pro/.

Iprinfl

Plate

Ratio

Foe. Lgth.

Attaehm't

Fed.

Standard

.825 X .600

1.33-1

Medium

None

Normal

Cropped

.825 X .482

1.66-1

Short

None

Normal

Cropped

.825 X. 457

1.75-1

Short

None

Normal

4. Cropped

1.85-1

Short

None

Normal

Cropped

.825 X. 400

2.00-1

Short

None

Normal

Cinemascope Regular (4-
track) or 1 mag. track. .

.91 2 X. 71 5

2.55-1

Long

2-to-1

Shifted

Cinemascope opt. track.

.839 X. 71 5

2.33-1

Long

2-to-1

Normal

VistaVision Squeeze

.825 X. 600

2.00-1

Medium

1.5-to-l

(approx

Normal

(Max.)

FIGURE I: Comparison of eight projection systems using standard, and cropped and
squeezed frames.

original format. Already, it seems safe to
say, over 6000 theatres in this country alone
have installed larger, relatively wider
screens, and that the remainder of the
theatres will follow suit as more and more

process, the problem of projection has been
complicated to some extent, but it must be
realized that the projection progress
implied is the VistaVision blown-up picture
will go very far towards giving large-screen

ORLUX SUPER- CHARGEI

the most

VERSATILE

CARBONS

WIDE SCREEN

PROJECTION

1 Amper-

1 age

Posi-

tive

Grade

Nega-

tive

Grade |

1 65-75

9x14

544 c

7x9

545 c

75-85

9x14

544 c

8x9

545 c

75-90

9x20

552-09

5/16x9

557 c

85-105

10x20

552-09

1 1/32x9

557 c

100-120

10x20

552-09

3/8 x9

557 c 1

120-135

13.6x22

553-01

7/16x9

557 c 1

135-160

13.6x22

553

1/2 x9

555 c 1

160-180

13.6x22

583-08

1/2 x9

555 ci 1

CARBONS, Inc.

Boonton, N. J.

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

pictures the desired effectiveness in all
theatres.

Before we go further in this discussion
let us establish some definitions firmly in
our minds. First —

The aspect ratio of a picture on the
screen : This is the ratio, or relationship,
of the width to height. This is commonly

stated as 1.33-to-l (4-to-3), or 1.66-to-l,
or 1.85-to-l, 2.55-to-l, and so on. Some
of these aspect ratios can be produced by
selecting the correct aperture plate and
standard projection lenses. Some of these
aspect ratios can only be produced by using

squeezed photographic prints with the
proper aperture plate, projection lens, and
anamorphic attachment.

Anarnorphic projection attachments are
optical devices, which when used in com-
bination with regular projection lenses,
will expand the horizontal linear magnifica-
tion of the film photograph by a predeter-

mined amount. There are three types of
anamorphic devices available.

1. The cylindrical lens type (introduced
with CinemaScope) .

2. The cylindrical reflector type made
by “Old Delft” of Holland.

3. The prismatic type (Tushinsky,
Gottschalk, etc.).

The first and second types have fixed
expansion ratios of anamorphic magnifica-
tion which has been suited to Cinema-
Scope. This lateral magnification is 2-to-l.

The third type has been made with a
variable expansion ratio so that these
attachments can range from zero up to a
lateral magnification of 2-to-l. This pris-
matic type may be used with the new
VistaVision squeeze prints requiring an
anamorphic lateral magnification of 1.5-
to-1.

SQUEEZE PRINTS

A “squeeze print” uses standard 35mm
film. On each full frame of this print,
there has been photographed, or printed, a
wide picture which has been “squeezed”
optically into the lateral limits of the film
frame. All objects and characters on this
frame appear abnormally thin because of
the lateral squeeze or compression. Only
with this type of print is an anamorphic
projection attachment used.

New complications have arisen because
VistaVision must use an attachment with
1.5-to-l magnification, while CinemaScope
uses an attachment with 2-to-l magnifica-
tion. The variable anamorphic devices may

Type of Plate Rafio Size Proj. Anamorph, Screen Screen

Projection Aperture Aspect Picture Lenses Attachm't Surface Bright.

Standard 825 x .600 1.33 to 1 20.5' xl5‘ 4.75" None "White" 14 vt.-

' lamb.

Cropped 825 x .457 1.75 to 1 26.3' x 15' 3.75" None Metallic Same

CinemaScope . 850 x. 71 5 2.4 to 1 34.5' x 15' 5.75" Expansion Metallic Same

(Anamorphic) 2 to 1

VistaVision .825 x .600 2 to 1 30.7* x 15' 4.75" Expansion Metallic Same

(Anamorphic) 1.5 to 1

FIGURE 2: Example of four different size and type pictures which may be installed in a theatre
with a 36' x 20' proscenium arch — using fixed top and bottom masking and moveable side
masking pieces. The figure for screen brightness, 14 foot-lamberts, is approximate. While there
has been an agreement on an aperture width of .839 for Anamorphic prints with single optical
track, the standard width of .825 is indicated for VistaVision as a practical dimension for the
purpose of the table.

330 Lyell Ave., Rochester, N. Y.

GLenwood 3993

^rH£ PRIME Lms
IS STILL THE

HEART OF YOUR

PROJECTION

Since the advent of CinemaScope hundreds of pro- .. , ,
gressive theatre operators have equipped their projec-
tors with Hilux and Super-Lite projection lenses — for use
as prime lenses with their anamorphic attachments.

Your patrons, too, will appreciate the superior quality that over
30 years of lens craftsmanship have engineered into the Hilux fj 1.8
and Super-Lite lenses.

ERLITE me

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

i i ift ^na^fectlm i4> <*

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irs A

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UP TO 90 FT. WITHOUT A SEAM — ANY SIZE WITHOUT A
STREAK AND WASHABLE FOR ECONOMICAL LONG LIFE

PLUS DOUBLE WEIGHT SCREEN FOR ADDED STRENGTH

^hbS any TYPi FILM PROJECTION

« ^ 20 - 30 ANO WlOE SCREEN

BODDE SEAMLESS SCREENS ARE
AVAILABLE IN 3 REFLECTING FACTORS
TYPE A (For narrow theatre)

has 4:1 GAIN FACTOR
TYPE B (For medium width theatre)
has 3:1 GAIN FACTOR

TYPE C

(For wide theatre or steep balcony)
has 2 'A GAIN FACTOR

* CAST IN ONE PIECE — NO WELDED SEAMS

* DOUBLE SCREEN SIZE WITHOUT INCREAS-
ING PROJECTOR LIGHT OUTPUT

* TOPS FOR COLOR REPRODUCTION

* LOWEST DEPOLARIZING FACTOR FOR 3D

* SURFACE DOES NOT CRACK OR FLAKE OFF

* WASHABLE WITH SOAP AND WATER

* SURFACE DOES NOT DISCOLOR

SEE YOUR LOCAL SUPPLY DEALER (or contact us direct for further information)

BODDt SCRIEN COMPANY * 8829 VENICE BIVD. ‘ tOS ANGELES 34, CALIFORNIA

Call RCA for SERVICE

on ^TERBopHO^IC sound

be used for both systems with proper
adjustment.

In order to compensate for this require-
ment, 20th Century-Fox announced re-
cently that special corrective elements
would be made available to provide for
magnification also of 1.5-to-l with Cinema-
Scope cylindrical lenses so they can be used
to project VistaVision squeeze prints.

Let us examine the various projection
systems which are now in use, or which
should be in use in the very near future.
Figure 1 shows a tabulation of eight pro-
jection procedures. In system No. 1 the
standard Academy aperture of .825 x .600
is used. With this aperture we can obtain
the familiar 1.33-to-l picture proportions,
and the picture sizes may easily be chosen
from standard projection tables published
by lens manufacturers.

FIGURE 1 APPLIED

In order to develop a study of the vari-
ous systems and the changes which are
required, let us assume a typical example
and follow it through the various stages
of development.

Consider a theatre with 1200 seats on
one floor, a proscenium opening 36 feet
wide and 20 feet high, and a projection
throw of 120 feet. Using a 4.75-inch
projection lens, the “standard” picture has
been 15 feet high by 20.5 feet wide. It is
desired to equip this house so that all the
new forms of projection pictures may be
shown as effectively as possible, and so that
total costs may be kept to a minimum.

This theatre originally had a diffusive
(“white”) screen 17 x 22 feet, mounted
on a flat wooden frame ; and it was
equipped with suprex carbon trim lamps
using 8mm positives and d.c. generators
capable of delivering 70 amperes to the arc.
Normally the arc was operated at 63-65
amperes and gave a well-lighted picture on
the diffusive screen.

Case 1 in Figure 1, then, is represented
by the original conditions, giving a picture
size of 20.5 X 15 feet, and an aspect ratio
of 1.33-to-l. Now assuming we install a
metallic (specular) screen with an average
light gain of 1.75, it is obvious that we can
increase our picture size to between 26 and
27 feet in width and still maintain the same
screen brightness with the same carbon
trim. If we install a 3.75-inch lens with a
120-foot throw, we will get a 26.3-foot
picture.

If we now crop the aperture height to
.457, we will get a picture on the screen
approximately 26.3 feet wide by 15 feet
high, giving an aspect ratio of 1.75-to-l
with the same picture brightness. This
corresponds to Case 3, and we find that the
only changes were a metallic screen and a
new pair of lenses.

Now we want to adapt our theatre to
CinemaScope. We have a 36-foot pros-

More than 25 years of knowledge and
experience in the installation and main-
tenance of all kinds of theatre sound
systems assures you top standards of

performance in Stereophonic Sound.

In addition, thoroughly dependable,
prompt and courteous service are yours
when you call in RCA Theatre Service.

RCA Service Company, Inc

A Radio Corporation of America Subsidiary
Camden, N. J.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

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3— D

PROJECTION
SYSTEMS

A dependable, effi-
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In the motion pic-
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Model K 150
100 Amps.

Model K 100X40
60 & 100 Amps.

Model K 100
135 Amp!..

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

J. E. ROBIN, INC.

Alo/ion Picture Equipment Specialists
267 Rhode Island Avenue
EAST ORANGE, N. J.

Manufacturers of

REaiFIERS • MOTOR-GENERATORS
SCREENS • PROJEaiON LENSES

cenium arch, and for maximum ease of
operation we want to minimize the neces-
sity of changing screen masking. It has
been found that the easiest method is to
make fixed bottom and top masking, then
to have side masking which is readily
moved towards and away from screen
center, as required by the picture width
desired. This type of masking, in conjunc-
tion with a stage curtain which may be
manually opened to any position, produces
the simplest form of stage masking
mechanism.

With this in mind, we are going to keep
our picture height 15 feet; and we find that
for a CinemaScope anamorphic print with,
however, a single optical track for conven-
tional one-speaker sound, we can get a 34.5-
foot picture, using a 5.75-inch lens and the
anamorphic lens attachment. This corre-
sponds to Case No. 7.

If the four-track CinemaScope film is
used, as in Case No. 6, then the projector
aperture plates will have to have a width
of opening to contain the picture within
the 36-foot proscenium width.

Because the CinemaScope attachment
utilizes the projection light to better advan-
tage, it will be possible to produce on the
same metallic screen a picture approxi-
mately 35 feet wide by 15 feet high, with
the same average screen brightness of the
original carbon trim and amperage.

We now are able to reproduce a well
lighted CinemaScope picture by having
added only a new pair of lenses and a new
screen, plus a set of anamorphic lens
attachments.

Now let us see how we adapt our thea-
tre to VistaVision. Since, with the Vista-
Vision squeeze print, we can use a standard
aperture of .825 .x .600, we can go back
to our original set of 4.75-inch projection
lenses, which gave us a picture 20.5-feet
wide; and by using an anamorphic attach-
ment which will magnify the film photo-
graph laterally 1.5 times, we can obtain a
picture on the screen 30.7 feet wide by 15
feet high. This corresponds to an example
of the system used in case No. 8, and the
screen brightness would still be the same
as with the original small picture at 1.33-
to-1 aspect ratio.

SIMPLIFYING MASKING

A summary of the above discussion may
be seen in the tabulation of Figure 2. As
mentioned above, moving masking panels
on a curved screen is a very difficult and
hazardous procedure. The cost, labor and
maintenance involved can be reduced tre-
mendously if the lower and the upper
masking can be made out of fixed panels.
The side masking may then be moved
manually to pre-selected positions, or it
may be motorized on short track sections.

It can be seen that by proper choice of
lens sizes, by using a slight compromise in

Good Judgment Dictates

that you use the

CRON-O-MATIC

Fully Automatic

CARBON SAVER

on Ashcraft "D" and "E," Brenkert-
Enarc, Peerless Magnarc, and Strong
Mogul lamps.

AVERAGE CARBON SAVING
$400 A YEAR

Burns average lengths (31/4”) down to
3^", saving 21/2" or 22.2% of carbon
costs.

Uses positive carbon stubs of any
length, without preparation. When
entirely consumea, the new carbon
goes into use without losing the light,
or otherwise affecting lamp opera-
tion.

Only $42.50

If your dealer can't supply you, order direct.

DEALER INQUIRIES INVITED

PAYNE PRODUCTS CO.

Division)

2451 W. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor, Mich.

□ Send literature on the Cron-O-Matlc.

□ Ship Cron-O-Matio Carbon Saver:

□ C.O.D., including postage.

□ Remittance herewith.

NAME

THEATRE

STREET

CITY and STATE

EXPORT: Frazar & Hansen. Ltd.

San Francisco. New York. Los Angeles

EQUIPMENTS. SUPPLIES

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5. 1954

picture size, and by careful selection and
filing of aperture plates, a variety of pic-
ture sizes may be presented.

Let us assume, for example, that a
CinemaScope picture is to be featured. The
impact created on the audience becomes
imposing when the masking is moved from
20.5 feet to 34.5 feet. For standard pro-
jection the 26.3-foot picture may easily be
selected. Then when VistaVision becomes
available, a quick change can be made to a
width of 30.7 feet.

All the above combinations in the thea-
tre here used as an example, may only be
made, however, when the theatre has
become equipped with the following new
devices :

1. A good metallic-surfaced screen at
least 36 feet wide by 18 feet high.

2. A curved frame at least 37 x 19 feet
from lacing hooks to lacing hooks, this
frame to be curved at a radius equal to the
projection throw.

3. Upper and lower fixed masking,
curved to the screen surface ; side masking
preferably motorized for quick motion to
selected positions.

4. Front screen curtain motorized for
opening and closing to any desired position.

5. Three pairs of projection lenses of
proper focal length.

6. One pair of variable anamorphic
attachments.

7. The necessary aperture plates.

When the above equipment is supple-
mented with stereophonic sound apparatus,
and is given into the hands of competent
projectionists, any type of picture may be
exploited to its fullest possibilities.

•

Wadsworth Driye-ln

{Continued from paffe 15)

Magic Chef ranges; a J. J. Connolly roll-
er grill ; a Toastmaster bun and food
warmer; a Hot Point deep freeze; J. H.
McKie coffee-makers ; Cretors’ popcorn
machines; Frigidaire ice cream cahinets;
and snow cone equipment by the General
Manufacturing Company, Dallas. The
walls in the refreshment area are of Ma-
sonite and Celotex, and the ceiling is Celo-
tex in pink and green.

The Wadsworth’s screen tower, 103 by
69 feet, has a basic coat of sprayed-on Gun-
ite covered with white enamel and white
sand and then Bondex. The picture pre-
sented is 96 feet wide, and the throw from
the projection booth is 360 feet. Projec-
tors and sound are Simplex with lighting
by National “Excelite” lamps with 10mm
positive trim, operated at 135 amperes. The
in-car speakers are also Simplex, and the
theatre has been wired for an eventual
change-over to reproduction of Cinema-
Scope’s four-channel sound.

Mr. Lee, owner of the theatre, also has
two Colorado Springs drive-ins and the
Monaca, Denver.

At Your Service

All of the department editors of Better Theatres welcome letters from readers,
either of comment or of inquiry concerning matters of theatre planning and
physical operation. If the subject of an inquiry is one likely to have general
interest, it may be dealt with in the proper department (without identification
of the source of the inquiry should omission of the name be requested). Other
inquiries will be answered by mail. Merely write to Service Department, Better
Theatres, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y.

now offers you a complete diversified line of
STOP . . . START and REVERSE machines

NEW MANUALLY OPERATED

. . Start . . . 6l Reverse"
CURTAIN MACHINE

Now— at the LOWEST COST EVER— you can “stop,
start and reverse” your curtain at ANY POINT
ALONG THE TRAVEL. Movement continues as long
as finger is held on the switch (toggle type). Every
control is at the operator’s fingertips. Easy to install
and maintain — virtually tamper-proof. Especially
practical for WIDE-SCREEN and CINEMASCOPE
presentations . . . and wherever a variety of screen
openings is desired. Write immediately for complete
specifications.

'A. 'A. 'h H.P.

Models now available
for

immediate delivery!

WATCH NEXT MONTH ★

for our advertisement announcing a brand new
AUTOMATIC “Stop. Start and Reverse^’ machine
at BY FAR THE LOWEST PRICE EVER
OFFERED!

For further information and prices, write Dept. AB-6

AUTOMATIC DEVICES CO.

116 N. 8th St. Allentown, Pa.

Designers and manufacturers of the world's leading curtain tracks and controls.

We are new supplying especially designed CURVED
TRACK for Cinemascope — available in medium and
heavy duty models for installations of over 3S' radius.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

New Horizons for Drive-Ins

{Continued from page 13)

gests locating a general utility building at
the rear of the ramp system with the roof
used as a refreshment-viewing gallery.

Elaboration of the refreshment service
along such lines, while worth consideration
for show hours, takes on further interest
in connection with game and sport facilities
for adults as well as children. A large
number of drive-ins already offer children
such extra fun as rides on ponies, miniature
trains, etc. Few, however, offer adults
means of enjoying themselves while the
children are having a good time in the play-
ground.

POSSIBLE ADULT SPORTS

Quoits, shuffle board, badminton or ten-
nis are among the adult sports that can be
offered with a small investment. A swim-
ming pool is not too costly, especially when
it is perfectly reasonable to make a charge
for its use. This is especially acceptable dur-
ing the daylight hours, making the pool
available during the afternoon, perhaps
with the pool admission stub good for a
small reduction in the price of a ticket to

ALTHOUGH all film prod-
uct, including CinemaScope pictures, will
soon be available in optical prints for stand-
ard sound reproduction, some observers be-
lieve that drive-in operators who have made
installations for multiple-track sound will
continue to use them, while others may be
induced to make similar installations by the
experience of those who have found two-
speaker and triple-unit reproduction su-
perior to that of single channel. Although
triple-unit speakers may seem more con-
venient to some patrons, there is opinion

the theatre that evening. Miniature golf is
another installation that could be operated
in that manner.

Now we come to a direction of “expan-
sion” which may cause an eyebrow or two
to lift. Shops on the drive-in grounds? You
got headaches enough? But you’ve got ex-
penses enough, too. And think how all that
acreage and its installations function only
a few hours a day !

Some drive-ins already have enough plot
space for at least a few shops in a single
building compactly designed. We have seen
rural shopping centers within five or ten
miles of a fair-sized city that had a half-
dozen different kinds of stores in space no
larger than some drive-ins have alongside
their entrance drive. And the beauty of it is,
that regardless of climate, a shopping center,
located between the theatre proper and the
highway, would be helping to pay taxes
and overhead all the year round.

The possibility of expanding drive-in
facilities along these lines deserves serious,
authoritative investigation. We think it be-
longs on the agenda of drive-in operator
associations.

that two individual speakers, allowing more
separation, give a more realistic effect.

VistaVision Sound
And Booth Operation

{Continued from page 24)
of the players. They may take a height
loss in picture composition as compared to
the 1.85/1 aspect ratio, but this compromise
may be justified in drive-ins.

As stated above, standard sound is avail-
able on all VistaVision release prints so
that no change will be required in handling
VistaVision sound for drive-ins.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

The VistaVision process is an overall
process, and the big quality gain in standard
print presentation is in no way dependent
on any other system. The VistaVision
system is also flexible and can be used with
the best features of other systems and meth-
ods, such as the Tushinsky lens system,
Perspectasound and the Technicolor new
dye transfer imbibition process.

An interesting note is the use of the
VistaVision camera in aerial work, espe-
cially during the filming of scenes for
“Strategic Air Command,” starring Jimmy
Stewart and June Allyson. Air shots over
sections of Texas, Florida and other points
reveal ground detail with exceptional
clarity.

“White Christmas,” starring Bing
Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney
and VTra Ellen, will be the first completed
VistaVision production to hit the screens
of the country followed by Martin and
Fewds in Hal Wallis’ “Three Ring Circus,”
filmed mostly in the Phoenix, Ariz., area
where beautiful scenery enhances the zany
antics of these two comics. These three are
now' complete in Technicolor. Meanwhile,
additional stories are in preparation, both
for color and black-and-white photography.

Summing up the foregoing series of
articles, one can readily see that Vista-
Vision’s numerous advantages embrace the
exhibitor and the public in one bold move
whereby better entertainment is obtained
w'ith minimum theatre requirements. Ex-
ceptional interest has been displayed in and
out of the industry, especially by the Audio-
Visual Department of the Los Angeles
School system and the Los Angeles County
Optometric Association. For the exhibitor,
these facts bear repeating:

VistaVision does not require the pur-
chase of any additional equipment.

VistaVision can be shown in any aspect
ratio from 1.33/1 to 2/1.

In conclusion, I wish to take this op-
portunity of expressing appreciation to
Better Theatres and its Editor for the
invitation to explain VistaVision to the
industry.

Four Motiograph speakers mounted on a Motiograph "Rainmaster" junction box (upper right) and a pair
of speakers mounted in a car. The three sets of signals are distributed to the two speakers through a
blender. Simplest wiring is usually possible, using one wire of a two-conductor cable for the No. 2
speakers, and either laying a No. 12 bare wire or grounding to a copper rod in ground at each post.

Two-Speaker Drive-In Sound

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5. 1954

THE

MART

Index to Products Advertised
61. 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
name for proper reference number where
more than one kind of product is advertised.

Reference Adv.

Number Page

1 — Adler Silhouette Letter Co 41

Changeable letter signs: Front lighted pa-nels for
drive-ins (lA), back-lighted panels (IB), and
changeable letters (1C) All dealers.

2 — American Playground Device Co 10

Drive-in playground equipment. Direct.

3 — American Seating Co 40

Auditorium chairs. NTS and direct.

Sound system. Direct.

5 — Ashcraft Mfg. Co., C. S 38

Projection arc lamps. Unaffiliated dealers.

6 — Automatic Devices Co 33

Curtain controls (6A), curtain tracks (CB). Un-
affiliated dealers and direct.

7 — Ballantyne Co 8-9

Drive-in equipment package. Dealers 3, 8. 10, 18,

21, 22 , 23 . 37. 39, 44 , 57 , 66, 69 . 75 , 79 . 89 . 91,

96. 98, 102, 105, 110. 113, 121, 127. 131.

8 — Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. 4

Projection lenses. Direct, branches and dealers in
all major cities.

9 — Bodde Screen Co 31

Projection screens. Direct.

10 — Carbons, Inc 29

Projection carbons Franchise dealers.

11 — F & Y Building Service 41

Architectural design and building service.

12 — Fairchild Recording Equipment Co 24

Sound equipment. Direct.

13 — First-American Products, Inc. 28

Wide-screen frames (I3A). drive-in in-car speakers
(I3B), prefabricated screen towers (130, screen
surfacing (I3D), directional signs (i3E), screen
paint (I3F). porthole and lamphouse blower (I3G),
refreshment counters (I3H). Direct.

14 — Griggs Equipment Co 43

Auditorium chairs. Direct.

l5_Huff Mfg. Co., Hal L 40

Carbon coolers. Direct.

16 — Ideal Seating Co. 41

Auditorium chairs. Unaffiliated dealers.

17 — International Projector Corp 4th Cover

Sound equipment. NTS.

18 — LaVeizi Machine Works 41

Projector parts. All dealers.

19 — Manley, Inc 28

Popcorn machines (I9A), popcorn (I9B). frankfurter
and bun warmer (I9C). Offices in principal cities.

20 — Motiograph, Inc 5

Projectors (20A), motor-generators (20B), in-car
speakers (200. sound system (20D). Dealers 8, 10,
14. 26 29, 34, 36. 38. 42, 52. 54, 58, 60. 69, 74,
84, 89, 98, 102, 108, 112, 115, 121, 127, 128, 130.

21 — National Super Service Co., Inc 39

Vacuum cleaners. All dealers.

22 — National Theatre Supply 23, 32

Distributors.

Reference Adv.

Number Page

23 — Pacific Optical Corp. 39

Projection lenses. Direct.

24 — Payne Products Co 32

Carbon savers. Dealers 13. 2Q. 25, 40. 45, 59,

68 , 81. 107, III, 113, 116, 121. 128. NTS branches
Denver, Albany, N. Y., Memphis.

25 — Projection Optics Co 30

Projection lenses. Distributor: Raytone Screen Corp.

26 — Radio Corp. of America 19

Drive-in equipment package. Dealers marked *.

27 — Raytone Screen Corp 33

Drive-in screen paint. Direct.

28 — RCA Service Co. 31

Projection and sound equipment maintenance service.

29 — Robin, Inc., J. E 32

Motor-generators (29A), rectifiers (29B), projection
screens (29C), projection lenses (29D). Direct.

30 — S. O. S. Cinema Supply Corp 40

Distributors.

31 — Schlanger, Ben 39

Plan and specificatioii service for screen installa-
tions.

32 — Strong Electric Corp., The 3

Projection arc lamps. Dealers I. 2. 3. 4. 7. 8. 9. 10.

14. 15. 19, 21, 22, 23. 24. 26, 27. 28. 29. 30.

32, 34, 36, 37. 38. 39. 41. 42, 43. 45, 46. 48,

49. 50, 51. 52. 54. 55. 56, 57. 58, 59. 60, 61. 63,

64. 66, 67. 69, 71. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 83.

84, 85, 89, 90, 91. 95. 96. 97. 99. 101, 102, 103.
104. 105. 106. 107, 108, MO, III. 112, 113, 114,

115. 118, 120, 121, 123. 127, 128, 129. 130, 131.

33 — Theatre Seat Service Co 43

Theatre chair retiabllitationi service.

34 — Vallen, Inc 24

Curtain tracks (34A), curtain controls (34B).
Direct.

35 — Wagner Sign Service, Inc. 7

Changeable letter signs: Front light panels for drive-
ins (35A). back-lighted panels (35B), and change-
able letters (35C). Dealers I. 8, 10. 14. 15. 16. 17.

19. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28, 30. 31. 32, 34. 36. 37.

38. 42, 44. 45. 46, 52. 54, 57. 58. 60. 61, 64, 66.

67. 68. 69,. 71. 72. 73. 74, 77, 78. 79. 83, 85.
88. 89. 90. 96. 98. 99, 102. 104. 106. 107. III. 112.
115. 116. 118. 121. 123, 128, 129 and NTS Detroit
branch.

36 — Westrex Corp 4|

Foreign distributors.

37 — Williams Screen Co 38

Projection screens. Direct.

EDITORIALLY . . .

STEREOPHONIC SOUND, page 37.

New low-cost 4-channel stereophonic sound sys-
tem tor theatres of 1,000 seats or less from Motio-
graph, Inc. Also new 3-channel system. Postcard
reference number 20E.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER, page 38.

Two-quart capacity stored air pressure vaporiz-
ing liquid fire extinguisher. Marketed by the Pyrene
Manufacturing Company. Postcard reference num-
ber E38.

FOLDING CAR TABLE, page 38.

Portable folding table to be mounted on the
back of front seats in autos for various uses, in-
cluding food snacks. Marketed by the Honorof
Specialty Company. Postcard number E39.

WALL SOAP DISPENSER, page 39.

Chrome-plated Universal dispenser designed to
dispense all powdered soaps, including some hand
cleaners with lanolin, announced by Bobrick Dis-
pensers, Inc. Postcard reference number E40.

QUICK-DRYING PAINT, page 40.

Enamel coating designed to dry in 20 minutes
when applied to floors, walls or machinery. An-
nounced by the Steelcote Manufacturing Com-
pany. Postcard reference number E4I.

DRIVE-IN IN-CAR HEATERS, page 40.

Improvements made in National in-car heaters,
recently taken over by the Thermolator Corpora-
tion. Postcard reference number E42.

GAS UNIT HEATERS, page 41.

A line of gas-fired unit heaters, including pro-
peller fan and blower types, each produced in 14
models by the United States Air Conditioning
Corp. Postcard reference number E43.

TO BETTER THEATRES Service Department:

Please have literature, prices, etc., sent to me according to the following
reference numbers in the June 1954 issue —

'ill:

NAM^l

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 Inde^ of Advei|iser^ on preceding page

ALABAMA

1— Onw Fwtur* Mtirlt Av*.. Blralnghaiii.

ARIZONA

2— GInrB TtMtr* Supply, tS2 W. Vaa Buna St., Pbomlx.

ARKANSAS

3 — Arkamas Tbaatra Supply. 1008 Mala St., Llttla Roak.

4 — Thaatra Supply Ca., 1021 Gnad Ava.. Fort Smith.

CALIFORNIA

Fresoo:

5— MIditata Thaatro Supply. 1906 Thomaa.

Lot Angeles:

6— John P. Fllbart. 2007 S. Vermont Avo.*

National Thaatra Supply, 1961 S. Vermont Ava.

7 — Pambrax Thaatra Supply, 1969 S. Vermont Ava.

8 — B. F. Shearer, 1964 S. Vermont Ave.

Son Francisco:

National Theatre Supply, 255 Golden Gate Ave.

9 — Preddey Theatre Supplies. 187 Golden Gate Ave.

10 — B. F. Shearer. 243 Golden Gate Ave.

12 — United Theatre Supply. 112 Golden Gate Ava.

13 — Weetera Theatrical Equipment, 337 Golden Gate Ava.*

COLORADO

Denver:

National Theatre Supply, 2111 Champa St.

14 — Service Theatre Supply. 2054 Broadway.

15 — Weotoni Service & Supply, 2120 Broadway.*

CONNECTICUT
New Haven:

National Thaatra Supply, 122 Meadow St.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA (Washington)

16— Orient & Sens, 925 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

17 — Ben Lust 1001 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

18— R A S Theatre Supply, 920 New Jersey Ave., N.W.

FLORIDA

19 — Joe Hornsteln. 329 W. Flagler St, Miami.

20 — ^utheastern Equipment, 6^ W. Bay St, Jacksonville.*

21 — United Theatre Supply, 110 Franklin St., Tampa.

22 — United Theatre Supply, 329 W. Flagler St., Miami.*

GEORGIA

Albany:

28— Dixie Theatre Service & Supply, 1014 N. Slappey Dr.

Atlanta:

24— Capitol City Supply. 161 Walton St. N.W.

National Theatre Supply. 187 Walton St, N.W.

21^— Southeastern Theatre Equipment. 201-3 Luckie St, N.W.*

26— WII.KIn Theatre Supply, 301 North Ave., N.E.

ILLINOIS

Chicago:

27 — Abbott Theatre Supply. 1311 Si. Wabash Ave.*

28 — G. C. Anders Co., 317 8. Sangamon St

28 — Gardner Tbeatrs Service, 1235 S. Wabash Ave.

30 — Movie Supply, 1318 S. Wabasb Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 1325 S. Wabash Ave.

INDIANA

Evansville:

SI — Evansville Theatre Supply, 2900 E. Chandler Ave.

Indianapolis:

32— Ger.Bor, Ins.. 442 N. Illlaols St

33 — Mid. West Thsatrs Supply Company, 448 N. Illinois St*
National Thoatre Supply. 438 N. lllluols St

IOWA

Des Moines:

34 — Dos Holaea Thaatra Supply, 1121 High St
National Theatre Supply, 1102 High St

KANSAS

Wichita:

35 — Southwest Thsatrs Eqalpmeat P. 0. Boa 2188.

KENTUCKY

Louisville:

36— Falls City Theatre Equipment 427 8. Third St

37 — Hadden Theatre Supply. 209 8. Srd St

LOUISIANA
New Orleans:

38 — Hodges Theatre Supply, 1309 Cleveland Ave.

39 — Johnson Theatre Service, 223 S. Liberty St
National Theatre Supply, 220 S. Liberty St.

40— Southeastern Theatre Equipment 214 S. Liberty St.*

Shreveport:

41 — Alon Boyd Theatre Equipment P. 0. Box 362.

MARYLAND

Baltimore:

42— J. F. Dusman Co.. 12 East 25th St
National Theatre Supply, 417 St. Paul Place.

MASSACHUSETTS
Boston: \

43 — Capitol Theatre Supply, 28 Piedmont St.*

44 — Independent Theatre ^pply, 28 Winchester St.

45— Major Theatre Equipment 44 Winchester St

46 — Massachusetts Theatre Equipment 20 Piedmont St.
National Theatre Supply. 37 Winchester St

47 — Standard Theatre Supply. 78 Broadway.

48 — Theatre Service A Supply. 30 Piedmont St

MICHIGAN

Detroit:

49 — Amusement Supply, 208 W. Montcalm St

50 — Ernie Forbee Theatre Supply. 214 W. Montcalm St.

51 — McArthur Theatre Equipment, 454 W. Columbia St.
National Theatre Supply, 2312.14 Cass Avo.

Grand Rapids:

52 — Ringold Theatre Equipment 106 Michigan St. N.W,

MINNESOTA

Minneapolis:

53 — Elliott Theatre Equipment 1110 Nicollet Ave.

54 — Frosch Theatre Supply, 1 11 1 Currie Ave.*

55 — Minneapolis Theatre Supply, 75 Glenwood Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 56 Glenwood Ave.

56 — Western Theatre Equipment 45 Glenwood Ave.

MISSOURI
Kansas City:

57 — Missouri Theatre Supply, 115 W, I8tb St*

National Theatre Supply, 223 W. 18th St

58 — Shreve Theatre Supply. 217 W. 18th St

59 — Stebbins Theatre Equipment 1804 Wyandotte St

St. Louis:

60 — McCarty Thoatre Supply, 3330 Olive St
National Thaatra Supply, 3212 Olive St

61 — St Louis Theatre Supply Co., 3310 Olive St*

MONTANA

62 — Montana Theatre Supply. Missoula.

NEBRASKA

Omaha:

National Theatre Supply, 1610 Davenport St.

63 — Quality Theatre Supply. 1515 Davenport St

64 — Western Theatre Supply. 214 N. 15th St*

NEW MEXICO

65— Eastern New Mexico Theatre Supply, Box 1009, Clovis.

NEW YORK
Albany:

66 — Albany Theatre Supply, 448 N. Pearl.

National Theatre Supply, 962 Broadway.

Auburn:

67 — Auburn Theatre Equipment, 5 Court St

Buffalo:

68 — Eastern Theatre Supply, 496 Pearl St*

National Theatre Supply, 490 Pearl St.

69 — Perkins Theatre Supply, 505 Pearl St.

70— 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

{ Sec. 34.9, P.L&R.)
PERMIT NO. 8894
NEW YORK, N. Y.

BkMnaKijriiin

New York City:

71 — Amusement Supply, 341 W. 44th St

72 — Capitol Motion Pietura Supply, 630 Ninth Avo.

73 — Crown Motion Picture Supplies, 354 W. 44th St

74— Joe Hornsteln, 6W Ninth Ave.

National Theatre Supply. SM W. 44th St

75 — Norpat Sales, Inc., 113 W. 42nil St

76— S.O.S. Cinema Supply, 602 W. S2nd St

77 — Star Cinema Supply, 447 W. 52nd St.

Syracuse:

75 — Central N. Y. Theatre Supply, 210 N. Sallna St

NORTH CAROLINA
Charlotte:

78 — Bryant Theatre Supply. 227 S. Church St.

79 — Charlotte Thoatre Supply, 227 S. Church St

80 — Dixie Theatre Supply, 213 W. 3rd St
National Theatre Supply, 304 S. Church St.

81 — Southeastern Theatre Equipment, 209 S. Poplar St*

82 — Standard Theatre Supply, 219 S. Church St

83 — Thoatre Equipment Co., 220 S. Poplar St

84 — WII-KIn Theatre Supply, 229 S. Church St.

Greensboro:

85 — Standard Theatre Supply, 215 E. Washington St

86 — Theatre Suppliers, 304 S. Davie St

OHIO

Akron:

87 — Akron Theatre Supply, 120 E, Market 8t

Cincinnati:

88 — Mid-West Theatre Supply, 1638 Central Parkway.*
National Theatre Supply, 1657 Central Parkway.

Cleveland:

National Theatre Supply, 2128 Payne Ave.

89 — Ohio Theatre Equipment, 2108 Payne Ave.

90— Oliver Theatre Supply, E. 23rd and Payne Ave.*

Columbus:

91 — American Thoatre Equipment 165 N. High St

92 — Mid. West Theatre Supply, 962 W, Third Ave.

Dayton:

93 — Dayton Thoatre Supply, III Volkenand St

94 — SlMldoo Theatre Supply. 627 Salem Ave.

Toledo:

95— Amerioan 'Pheatre Supply, 439 Dorr St

96— Theatre Equipment Co., 1206 Cherry St

OKLAHOMA
Oklahoma City:

97 — Century Theatre Supply Co., 20 N. Lee St.

98 — Howell Theatre Supplies, 12 S. Walker Ave.

National Theatre Supply, 700 W. Grand Ave.

99— Oklahoma Theatre Supply, 628 W. Grand Ave.*

OREGON

Portland:

100 — Modem Theatre Supply, 1035 N.W. Kearney St*

101— Portland Motion Picture Supply, 916 N.W. I9tb St

102— 8. F. Shearer, 1947 N.W. Kearney St

103 — Inter.Stata Thaatro Equipment 1929 N.W. Koamay St.

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia:

104 — Blumberg Bros., 1305.07 Vine St*

National Theatre Supply Co., 1225 Vine St

105 — Superior Theatre Equipment 1315 Vine St

Pittsburgh:

106— Alexander Theatre Supply, 84 Van Bramm St*

107 — Atlas Theatre Supply, 402 Mlltenbergor St
National Theatre Supply, 1721 Blvd. of Allies.

Wilkes Barre:

lD8~Vinoent M. Tato, 1620 Wyomlog Av».» Faiiy-Fort.

RHODE ISLAND

lO^Rhode Island Supply, 367 Westminster St, Providence.

SOUTH DAKOTA

no — American Theatre Supply, 316 Sw Mala St. Sioux City.

TENNESSEE

Memphis:

III — Monarch Theatre Supply, 492 8. Second St*

National Theatra Supply. 412 S. ScicgikI SL
M2— Trl-Stata Theatr* Supply, 820 S. Stmud 8t

TEXAS

Dallas

1 13 — Hardin Theatre Supply, 714 South Hampton Rd.

114— Herber Bro«., 408 S. Harwood St.

118— Modern Theatre Equipment. 1918 JaBksoo St.

National Theatre Supply. 300 Sw Harwood St.

116 — Southwestern Theatre Equipment, 2010 Jaekson St.*

117 — Sterling Saiea & Service, 2019 Jackson St.

Houston:

118 — Southwestorn Tbeatro Equipment 1622 Anstln St*

San Antonio:

119 — Alamo Theatre Supply, ISOS Alimotoo St

UTAH

Salt Lake City:

120— Interroountaln Theatre Supply, 264 S. East First St

121 — Service Thoatre Supply, 256 S. East First St

122 — Wsstsm Sound 4. Equipmoat S. East First St*

VIRGINIA

123 — Norfolk Thoatro Supply, 2700 Oollay Avo., Norfalk.

WASHINGTON

Seattle:

124 — American Theatre Supply, 2300 First Ave., at Ball St

125 — Inter-State Theatre Equipment Co., 2224 Second Avo.

126— Modern Thoatre Supply, 2400 Third Avo.*

National Theatre Supply, 2319 Second St.

127 — B. F. Shearer, 2316 Second Avo.

WEST VIRGINIA

128 — Charlstton Theatre Supply, 606 Loo St, Cbarlootea.

WISCONSIN

Milwaukee:

29— Manhardt Co.. 1705 W. Clyboum St*
National Theatre Supply, 1027 N. Eighth St

130— Ray Smith, 710 W. State St

131— Thoatre EqnIPBMM & SupolT. 941 N.

about Products . .

^ news and views nf the market and its sources nf supply

tjouu jfttOHatm tc the 19S4 ~Tra4e ^hou>

Automatic Air Filter
With Glass Fiber Media

AN AUTOMATIC self-clean-
ing air filter using a glass fiber filtering
media, designed for use in ventilating and
air conditioning systems to clean both out-
side and recirculated air has been announced
by the American Air Filter Company, Inc.,
Louisville, Ky. It is called the “Roll-O-
Matic.”

The new filtering media is a continuous
length of fiber glass material, similar, the
manufacturer states, to that used in his
“AMER-glas” filters, except that it is sup-
plied in rolls of approximately 70 linear
feet. The material from the roll of clean

media, mounted at the top filter casing, is
transported on a continuous screen that
rotates over top and bottom sprockets, down
the face of the filter and is rerolled at the
bottom after collecting its dust load.

A pressure switch sensitive to the resis-
tance differential across the filter curtain
actuates a drive motor that rotates the
screen and feeds a certain amount of clean
media into the filter curtain when the re-
sistance reaches a predetermined point. In
this wav. it is nointed out. media usage is in
direct proportion to dust conditions and
hours of operation. The manufacturer states
that under normal operating conditions a
single roll of media should be a year’s sup-
ply per 10,000 cfm of filter capacity.

The glass fiber filtering media was de-

veloped by the company’s research engi-
neers. The material is composed of con-
tinuous strands of slightly curled and inter-
laced glass fibers held in place at each
point of contact by a thermo-setting plastic
bond to form a thick resilient mat. These
mats measuring some 70 feet in length are
trimmed to the corresponding widths of the
filter section, then sprayed with a special
non-flammable Viscosine and rolled on
spools having an outside diameter of only
13 inches.

Portable Coin Counter
And Packaging Unit

A PORTABLE Coin counter
that folds compactly, weighs only 14^^
pounds and is equipped with a carrying
handle has been developed by Klopp Engi-
neering, Inc., Livonia, Mich.

The unit counts pennies, nickels, dimes
and quarters and packages them for bank
deposit. It has two adjusting knobs, one of
which is set for counting. If the coins are
being packaged, a second knob is turned to

the number of coins per pack and the coin
flow and count are automatically cut off
when the stipulated number of coins have
been packaged.

Monograph Stereophonic
System at Low Cost

THE DEVELOPMENT of a
new, low-cost 4-channel stereophonic sound
system for theatres of 1,000 seats or less
has been announced by Motiograph, Inc.,
Chicago. Availability of the new system
was first disclosed by Fred C. Matthews,
vice-president of the equipment corpora-

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

THE ASHCRAFT

HYDRD-ARC

designed to produce

MDRE LIGRT at LESS EDST

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.

ASHCRAFT MANUFACTURING

36-32 Thirty-Eighth Street long Island City 1, N. Y.

WILLIAMS
SOLID PLASTIC
SILVER FINISH
SCREENS

Widely used everywhere for

CinemaScopC

ALL WIDE SCREEN
TECHNIQUES and 3-D

• Assures the brightest pictures because it returns the most

light. Unusually high reflective efficiencies (better than
3.1 to I as compared to a flat white screen).

• Superior light distribution permits perfect viewing through*

out the theatre.

• Imperceptible electronically-welded seams.

• Perfect polarization. No streaks or “patterns.”

• True color reproduction. Clearly defined black and white.

• Extremely strong and tough. Permanently flexible.

• Unaffected by moisture.

• Guaranteed fire-resistant. Beware of unsupported fire-proof

claims. Insist on actual PROOF!

• Perforations are of the diameter and spacing recommended

by SMPTE. clean-cut and with no projecting fibres to
impede sound or collect dirt.

Now installed for Cinemascope by Stanley Warner Theatres:
Paramount Inter-Mountain Circuit; United Theatres. New
Orleans; Basil Brothers, Buffalo; Wm. Goldman Theatres,
Philadelphia; Long Theatres, Texas.

Write today for details and sample. Orders given
prompt attention.

uiiiiinms

siREER company

( 1675 SUMMIT LAKE BLVD., AKRON 7, OHT^

Originators oj All-Plastic and Seamless Plastic Screens.

tion, in a letter to A1 Lichtman, 20th Cen-
tury-Fox director of distribution.

Components of the system include two
penthouse soundheads; four preamplifiers
with tubes and cabinet ; four 20-watt power
amplifiers with three tubes and cabinet;
one suppressor amplifier ; one equalization
and changeover switch ; one system selector
switch ; one horn switching panel ; one
ganged fader ; one power unit ; one monitor
amplifier; six auditorium speakers; and
three Altec Lansing speaker systems plus
cables and cordage.

Motiograph also has a new 3-channeI
system, according to Mr. Matthews.

2-Quart Air Pressure
Fire Extinguisher

.4 2-quart capacity stored
air pressure vaporizing liquid fire extin-
guisher of modern design has been mar-
keted by the Pyrene Manufacturing Com-
pany of Newark, N. J.

The unit has a new combination carry-
ing handle and squeeze-type operating
valve that has been center-balanced for easy

manipulation. In operation one hand holds
the extinguisher and starts or stops the dis-
charge leaving the other hand free to direct
the 30-foot hose stream that is effective on
Class C (electrical) and Class B (flam-
mable liquid) fires. It may be recharged
immediately by refilling with Pyrene liquid
and pressuring from a factory, garage or
gasoline station air hose.

An outer chamber holding the Pyrene
liquid is constructed of stainless steel, and
an inner chamber holds the air under pres-
sure. The head and base are bronze
painted red. The unit is equipped with a
liquid level glass port and air pressure
gauge for quick visual inspection. A wall

hook is also supplied while a clamping
bracket for mounting on a vehicle is
optional.

Seating Rehabilitation
Seen on the Increase

INCREASED interest among
exhibitors in reconditioning of seating, ap-
parently under the impetus of installations
for improvement of the screen presentation,
is reported by the Theatre Seat Service
Company, Nashville, Tenn.

The seating rehabilitation service offered
by the company (an example of which was
described in Better Theatres for May)
begins with a survey of the chairs in the
theatre, all major parts being thoroughly
checked. Next a work order is entered at
the firm’s plant where all upholstery is pre-
cut, sewn and fabricated along with all
new felt, which is pre-cut and boxed ac-
cording to size. These materials are shipped
to the theatre with full instructions for
the company’s repairmen to follow.

The work of the repairmen also includes
complete removal of all paint, rust and
scales from the metal portions of the seats,
and replacement of all broken or missing
parts. The work is performed on an as-
sembly-line basis during non-performance
hours so that there is no interference with
normal operation of the theatre.

Car Folding Table for
Drive-in Premium Use

A PORT.VBLE folding table
constructed so that it can be mounted over
the back of the front seat in automobiles
for the serving of food snacks (see photo)
and other uses has been marketed by the
Honorof Specialty Company, Chicago. The
table may also be employed for playing
games, doing office work, drawing, writing,
typing, sewing, conferences, etc. It is sug-
gested that drive-in operators might offer
the tables to patrons as awards in special
promotional contests or in other premium
schemes.

Call “Kar-Table” the unit has a top 12
by 30 inches, which is made of resin-treated
hardwood fibre board, finished in red. The
hangers, legs and supports are black-
enameled steel.

The table is installed in the car by hook-
ing its metal straps over the back of the
front seat, adjusting the legs to the proper
spread, bringing the table top into position
and securing the support pieces. When not
in use, the table may be folded down and
out of the way. It can also be stored in
the luggage compartment, if desired.

The manufacturer points out that the
metal straps may be moved inwardly or
outwardly, thus allowing the table to be
mounted in cars with one door without

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

interference with the free movement of the
folding front seat. In this way neither the

driver nor the front seat passenger is put
to any inconvenience. In addition the legs,
which are an extension of the steel strap-
hooks, rest snugly against the back of the
front seat and do not interfere with the feet
of passengers.

The table is designed to fit all cars, in-
cluding many foreign models. It comes
packaged in a carton.

New Wall Dispenser for
Various Powdered Soaps

A CHROME-PLATED Uni-
versal dispenser, designed to dispense all
powdered soaps including some hand clean-
ers with lanolin, has been announced by
Bobrick Dispensers, Inc., of Brooklyn and
Los Angeles.

Called the “Bobrick 38,” the unit has an

adjustable output-per-stroke valve designed
to permit regulation of the mechanism to
change the type of powdered soap used,
should that be desired. The unit also has

Easy Cleaning, Fast Cleaning,
Full Value of Your Cleaning Dollar

# Shampoo carpets "on location”.

# Clean and brighten grimy upholstery.

U Clean curtains, drapes, wall decorations without
removal; walls, box fronts, without climbing.

# Keep pictures bright and clear by Super
cleaning screen.

% Clean 100 air filters in 15 minutes.

0 Blow rubbish out from under seats.

These and many other theatre cleaning jobs can be
done with a Super and just one employe. The Super
is built and tool-equipped especially for
theatre cleaning jobs. Four models to
choose from. Ask your distributor.

Model JS—

Quiet, compact,
low-priced.
Same power,
pick-up, perFor-
mance as all
Supers.

Model BP-1 —

Quiet cleaner
for both wet ,j
and dry

NATIONAL SUPER

1941 N. 13th Street

o o

SERVICE CO., INC.

Toledo 2, Ohio

Sales and Service in Principal Cities
In Canada: Plant Maintenance Equipment Co., Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver

"Once Over Does It"

SUPER SUCTION

SINCE 1911 (§)

“THE DRAFT HORSE OF POWER SUCTION CLEANERS"

The size, shape and position of
a screen must be suited to the
particular seating pattern and
projection optics of each thea-
tre. The motion picture screen
requires a setting designed to
enhance the presentation. Avail
yourself of the benefits of cus-
tom design and engineering to
assure your patrons of the best
in large screen presentation
through the professional service
which I offer. Qualified experi-
ence in projection engineering,
screen presentation and theatre
design will provide for you the
best technical and artistic re-
sults. This service is offered at
a cost which makes it available
to all exhibitors and can be
furnished to theatres throughout
the United States for Cinema-
scope, Standard Wide Vision,
VistaVision and Stereoscopic
projection.

BEN SCHLANCER |

ANNOUNCES A PLAN AND ^
SPECIFICATION SERVICE ^

for

New ALL-SYSTEMS |

SCREEN INSTALLATIONS |

and SURROUND |
SETTINGS 1

address all inquiries to

BEN SCHLANGER

35 WEST 53rd STREET
NEW YORK 19, N. Y.

Il-

ONE Projection
Lens For ALL
Aspect Ratios

PACIFIC OPTICAL CORPORATION

5965 West 98th Street
Los Angeles 45, California

New Xpansa lens gives
continuous focal length
variation. Added to your regular
projection lens, it lets you show
all standard (non-anamorphic)
release prints regardless of
aspect ratio. It also provides
rapid and perfect matching for
3D projection. This eliminates
the need for several lenses and
gives you wider program
variety. The Xpansa lens gives
picture quality equal to your
present system, is easily
installed, and requires no booth
modification. See your local
theatre equipment distributor or
write for free literature.
Distributor inquiries invited.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

huff

THE ORIGINAL

Hydro Carbon Cooler

Concentrates all the heat at the gas ball

When you install the Huff Hydro Positive
Carbon Cooler, you save carbons no mat-
ter whai size carbon you use. You can
draw more amperage from any type car-
bon. You have less heat at the film. You
get more screen light. The new Cera-Cop
Nozzle has a high refractory ceramic in-
sert which gives longer life.

See your Dealer or write to

HAL I. HUFF MFC. CO.

3774 SELBY AVENUE
LOS ANGELES 34, CALIF.

EXPORT DIVISION

301 Clay Street San Francisco. Calif.

American

Bodiform

AMERICAN SEATING COMPANY

Grand Rapids 2, Michigan
Branch Offices and Distributors in Principal Cities

BE PREPARED FOR

ALL New Screen Presentations

with

MIRRO-CLARIC ALL-PURPOSE SCREEN

Some of the features:

• Excellent for VistaVision, SuperScope, CinemaScope,
2D and 3D.

Welded invisible seams — will not
LOWEST PRICE ANYWHERE

show in picture!

On/ySl.OO

Sq. Ft.

Prompt Shipments — Kollmorgen
Wide Angle Lenses — Order Now!

ESTO,

S.O.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORP.

Dept. A, 602 W. 52 St., N. Y. 19

Ptione;PLaza7-0440 CablerSOSOUND

YOUR QUESTIONS ARE INVITED. If you have a
problem of design or malnfenance the editors of
BETTER THEATRES will be glad fo 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.

a precision push-up valve designed to direct
soap to the palm of the hand and minimize
spillage. An apron protects the valve
against water splashes. The valve has no
slide mechanism or fixed small opening to
clog, the manufacturer states, and there is
no continuous flow at any position of the
plunger.

New Company Purchases
National Inkar Heaters

ALL PATENTS, machinery
and equipment for the in-car heater for
drive-in theatres of the National Inkar
Heater Company, Glendale, Calif., have
been purchased by the Thermolator Corpo-
ration of the same city. National Inkar
was headed by Sam Shure.

The Thermolator Corporation is com-
posed of a group of Glendale manufac-
turers who organized the new company for
the purpose of manufacturing and distribut-
ing the “Inkar Heater,” the “Mount-N-
Aire Deororizer” and space heaters. It
is headed by Robert W. Jencks, president;
E. L. Parr, chief of engineering and C. C.
Chatham, director of sales.

In announcing acquisition of the “Inkar
Heater,” the new distributors, who were

previously active in the heater manufac-
turing business, state they have incorporated
a number of improvements in the drive-in
equipment in both efficiency and ruggedness
of construction. They have also established
a repair department which will follow a
policy of “bringing all repaired units up to
new specifications, permitting them to ap-
pear and operate like the new improved
models now being shipped.”

New Quick- Drying Paint
Far Flaars and Walls

AN ENAMEL Coating de-
signed to dry in 20 minutes when applied
as directed to floors, walls or machinery
has been marketed by the Steelcote Manu-
facturing Company, St. Louis.

Called “Steelcote Quick-X,” the prod-
uct can be applied to wood, concrete, ter-

“HILUX” LENS IN PRODUCTION

Considerably Increased production of its new t/1.8
"Hilux" projection lenses (above) is reported by
the Projection Optics Company of Rochester,
N. Y., due to the fact that orders are being
received at a much greater rate than originally
anticipated. The "Hilux" series was especially
designed for wide-screen application and Is avail-
able at present in focal lengths from 2.00 fo 3.50
inches with more to come.

razzo, magnesite and mosaic tile floors and
walls or with a proper primer to metal.
The manufacturer states that it dries to a
wax-like gloss, is not affected by cleaning
compounds, soaps and detergents and is
resistant to grease, oil, gasoline, alkali and
salt water. It is made in black, white,
clear, and five colors.

The coating can be applied with a brush,
applicator or roller. It is packed in quarts,
gallons or drums.

Perspecta Integratars
Sent ta 15 Natians

Fairchild “Perspecta Integrators,” the
units designed to produce three-speaker
sound from a single optical sound track,
have been shipped to 15 nations, according
to an announcement by Sherman M. Fair-
child, president of the Fairchild Recording
Equipment Company, Whitestone, Long
Island, N. Y. Initial shipments have been
made to Canada, France, England, Sweden,
Denmark, Australia, Japan, Brazil, Italy,
Finland, Peru, India, Egypt, South Africa
and Germany, he said.

Among many other Installations, the in-
tegrator was successfully demonstrated re-
cently before the Prime Minister of Aus-
tralia and at the Cannes, France Film
Festival where it was used with the MGM
film, “Rights of the Round Table,” Mr.
Fairchild reported.

MAT PLANT MODERNIZED

Modernization of the Lima, Ohio, plant
which produces “Gro-Cord Counter-Tred”
and “Neo-Cord Counter Tred” matting
for the American Mat Corporation, Tole-
do, was recently completely, according to
D. W. Moor, Jr., president. Installation

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5, 1954

of new molds will permit production of
30-inch widths, an average back counter
width for which there has, until now, been
an unfilled demand, he said. These mats
are made from 80% cotton cord, bound
together with rubber compounds, and are
designed to provide a resilient, “non-skid
walking surface. The ridged bottom affords
aeration and drainage. The mats are ^-
inch thick and come in rolls of up to 60
lineal feet.

NEW LITERATURE

Gas Unit Heaters: A 12-page technical
bulletin describing its complete line of
“Series 23A” gas-fired unit heaters has been
issued by the United States Air Condition-
ing Corporation of Minneapolis. The line
includes propeller fan and blower type
heaters, each produced in 14 models, rang-
ing in capacity from 55,000 to 500,000
B.T.U. per hour and burning all types of
gas at the rated capacities. The illustrated,
two-color booklet (No. 23-3) includes
capacity tables and roughing-in dimensions,
as well as structural and operational de-
scriptions of the entire line. Copies of the
literature can be obtained from the company
at 33rd and Como Avenues, S.E., Min-
neapolis, 14.

•

TWIN DRIVE-IN

{Continued front page 17)

feet, projection lenses for non-anamorphic
prints are 5^-inch Bausch & Lomb; for
CinemaScope they are 10-inch Kollmorgen
“Snaplite” in 4-inch diameter. The four
projectors are Simplex X-L and lighting is
by National “Excelite” lamps with 10mm
positive trim operated at 135 amperes.
Power is supplied by two Hertner trans-
verters. The sound system is also Simplex,
including button-on soundheads and 4-inch
in-car speakers (two for each car).

In the refreshment building, where serv-
ice is in four-line cafeteria style, patrons
are offered a large variety of goods, includ-
ing popcorn, hamburgers, fried shrimp din-
ners, fried chicken, soft drinks, etc. This
building is also of concrete block finished
inside and out with “Zolatone” multi-color
paint. The cafeteria is lighted by fluorescent
tubing.

The refreshment equipment includes
Buckingham orange drink units ; Selmix
drink dispensers; Scotsman ice-makers;
Manley popcorn machines; Dairy Service
butter dispensers; Hot Point cooking units;
and a Parco electric potato peeler and
cutter.

The overall design and supervision of
construction and installation for the Cen-
tennial were by Joe Stone of the Denver
branch of National Theatre Supply.

ARE YOU CONVERTING TO

CINemaS

SVJ PE/t?

seRvict.

REG. U.S. PAT. OFF.

1 1 w i 1 1 pay
to investigate the
possibilities of converting your
present equipment — see your dealer
or write for list of kits available for
converting all models of Projectors and
Sound Reproducers.

LaVezzi Machine Works

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

m EIGHTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 11, N. Y.

HOUYWOOD DIVISION: 6601 ROMAINE STREET, HOLLYWOOD 38, CAL.

Research, Distribution and Service for the Motion Picture Industry

The F & Y Building Service is the outstanding
agency in Theatre Design and Construction in
Ohio and surrounding territory.

THE F 6l Y BUILDING SERVICE

319 East Town Street Columbus 15, Ohio

"The Buildings We Build Build Our Business”

YOU'LL SAVE TIME

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.

1 1 843 b W. Olympic, Los Angeles 64, Calif.
30 West Washington, Chicago, III.

BETTER THEATRES SECTION

method in

Manddcntent

★

staff supervision
institutional advertising
exploitation equipment
hnusekeepinq & maintenance
and related activities

A DICTIONARY OF MAINTENANCE

Sixteenth Article in the Series:

MOTION PICTURE THEATRE MANAGEMENT
By CURTIS MEES

For those who may
not have noted previ-
ous explanations of the
form in which this
series is dealing with
maintenance, it is
pointed out that sub-
jects are arranged al-
phabetically according
to particular designa-
tion rather than grouped according to
general classification, so that only the name
of the item itself may need be known for
convenient reference. And so to continue —

MIRRORS — Mirrors are expensive items of
theatre equipment serving a dual purpose, gen-
erally— ornamentation and utility. Young women
patrons appreciate their presence in various
parts of the theatre so they may steal a glimpse
of their reflection as they pass by; and when
properly framed and placed, a beautiful mirror
adds immeasurably to good interior decoration.
Care should be taken to see that such mirrors
are installed with very sturdy hangin;^s, for
plate glass is very heavy and can cause con-
siderable damage if it breaks, with potential
injury to anyone nearby. The glass should be
cleaned daily with clean cloth after being
sprayed or wiped with glass cleaner.

•

MOTH CONTRO^-Moths lay their eggs
on wool fabric, and their larvae eat greasy fibres.
Frequent, effective vacuum cleaning will reduce
the danger of such damage. Carpeting and
other fabrics should be checked for evidence
of moth larvae; if there are tiny holes, spray
the entire fabric thoroughly with a solution ap-

proved for such pest control ; or call in an ex-
terminating service to go over all fabrics in the
area of the damage. Before fabrics are stored,
they should be sprayed with one of the com-
mercial moth-prevention products.

•

MOTORS — Every theatre has a number of
different motors which require regular servicing,
ranging from the smallest fractional horsepower
motors to some of the heaviest made. The
electrician (or stagehand) should be given the
responsibility of servicing such equipment. A
schedule of periodic inspection and regular
maintenance should be outlined, with strict ad-
herence required. Wiring diagrams for all mo-
tors should be stored in a central location, as
should instructions for their servicing as well
as locations and sizes of all fuses connected
with this equipment. A local electrician should
be listed for emergency calls on repairs and
trouble shooting which are beyond the facilities
or training of the theatre personnel.

When trouble occurs, first steps to he taken
to determine whether (1) fuses are good and
delivering current to motor block, (2) all wir-
ing is firmly connected, (3) controls are func-
tioning properly, (4) coils are not burned out —
smoke and odor usually show this up first, (5)
brushes in proper contact with commutator, (6)
bearings oiled and greased properly. If these
all check positive and your electrician cannot
correct the trouble, it is time to bring in out-
side technical assistance.

NEON — Neon lighting, employing tubes of
various gases, is powered by current of relative-
ly high voltage. Persons working around mar
quees having neon lighting should be cautioned
against touching tubing and wiring near connec-
tions. It is advisable to cut off the current
during marquee changes. When tubing becomes
cracked, the only remedy is replacement. When
available, a neon service is of value for periodic
inspection, replacing transformers when needed,
guarding against short circuits, etc

ODORS — The primary treatment for offen-
sive odors is to find the cause and remove it.
Improperly cleaned water closets and urina s
are common offenders. Check for faulty drains.
See that ventilating fans are properly operating.
Pending correction of the cause the foul odor
can sometimes be minimized by spraying the
area with some commercial deodorants, such as
pine oil ; or by using blocks or pellets of deo-
dorant compounds. “Para” blocks or crystals
are often employed (sometimes as a substitute
for adequate cleanliness!); these give off a
strong odor which to some people is almost as
offensive as the odor they are used to overcome.

Popcorn storage and disposal of waste corn
may cause undesirable odors in indoor theatres.

Stench bombs are sometimes put in theatres

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 5. 1954

by vandals or pranksters. If the exact point
of origin of the bomb can be located, it may
be possible to remove the major portion of it,
burying the remainder under moist sand or
similar substance to smother the odor. Over
this, then, can be sprinkled a strong deodorant.
Whatever this rank substance has touched
should be thoroughly scrubbed with strong soap
and water. If the bomb cannot be located at
once, open as many doors as possible and put
the blowers on full, but do not re-circu!ate the
air.

•

OIL BURNERS— BOILERS.

PAINTS — (1) Oil Paint: For really perma-
nent work, oil paint should be used. It is more
expensive and a bit more difficult to apply, but
in the long run the extra time and expense is
more than justified through longer life and the
ease with which oil painted surfaces can be
cleaned. Before painting (with either oil or
water) the surfaces should be thoroughly
cleaned and smoothed (by sanding or filling
cracks with a good filler).

In first applications to new wood or walls, a
primer or sealing coat should first be laid on,
followed by the finishing coat, or coats. To
cover a fairly dark oil paint with another color,
it is economical to lighten the existing color
with an inexpensive paint in white, or a shade
like the new color, before applying the finishing
coat.

Exterior painted surfaces around the theatre
should be checked every six months, not only
for appearance, but for deterioration of the
paint as a preservative. After a number of suc-
cessive paintings, it is advisable to remove the
old paint prior to re-painting. The easiest way
is to soften it with a paint remover and to
scrape it off.

Restroom and other areas that are brightly
lighted and frequently washed should be painted
with a glossy oil paint; or better still, with
enamel. Most other parts of the theatre should
be painted with flat inside paints which do not
reflect much light.

(2) Water Paint; The new water paints are
greatly improved over the first calsomine paints
introduced years ago. They are especially suited
to amateur application; most of them dry with-
out brush marks showing. Some water paints
can even be washed; however, it is just about
as economical and convenient to apply another
coat of water paint. With light pastel shades,
one coat of a slightly different shade will usu-
ally cover it over completely, but if a darker
shade is to be covered by a lighter color, two
applications are usually required to prevent the
darker color from “bleeding through.”

•

PAINT BRUSHES — Good paint brushes are
expensive. They should be chosen according to
the job. It is wasteful to try, for example, to
paint a big wall area with a 3-inch brush, or to
use a 5-inch brush to touch up some small spots.
After use, brushes should be thoroughly brushed
out with turpentine, for oil paints; or with
water, for water paint. Some painters like to
finish cleaning with a commercial brush cleaner,
others use kerosene or cool water. To dry a
brush after cleaning, hang it so the brush does
not rest on the bristles. There are compounds
on the market (check your paint store) which
will salvage paint brushes even after paint has
dried on them. Wrap the dry brush in clean
paper and store it flat in a dry place.

•

PAPER CUP DISPENSERS— Maintenance
of cup dispensers for water fountains are too
simple for notice here; those of automatic drink

machines are less so. Two switches may actu-
ate the mechanism, which causes the turret to
revolve and maintain a continuous supply of
cups. These switches are located inside the
base of the cup well, one above the other. The
top switch operates the motor on the turret,
causing it to revolve when cups fall below its
level. Should the turret be empty of cups, the
second switch goes into action. This lower
switch cuts off the entire vending mechanism
and lights up the “sold out” sign.

Generally the turret is in an off-center posi-
tion when it runs out of cups completely, and
it will have to be removed so a few cups can
be put in the well by hand, depressing both
switches. Return the turret to its position, fill-
ing the next tube, which is to revolve in posi-
tion; then cut the “cut-off” switch back on again,
after which vending can be resumed. The other
tubes in the turret are refilled when it has re-
volved into the proper place.

Should this not put the unit back in operation,
check the electrical supply to see no fuses are
blown; or that the micro-switches are not
burned out. Motor and gears should be in-
spected and oiled periodically.

•

PAPER TOWEL AND TISSUE HOLDERS
— These should be painted or polished accord-
ing to the material, and kept well filled. Holders
should be maintained firmly mounted on the
wall.

•

PEST CONTROL — Many different kinds of
insects and bugs like to live in theatres. Their
control may well be left to an exterminating
service if one is available. Bedbugs, lice,
roaches, clothes moths, carpet beetles and sil-
verfish are among the more common insects
found in theatres, though ants, fleas, mosquitoes
and weevils are not to be overlooked.

Cleanliness and sanitation are most important,
since the removal of the food source will elim-
inate a large portion of these pests. Setting out
insect powders, and using the residual or space
sprays, as well as complete fumigation, may be
necessary to bring severe cases under control.
Particular attention must be given to the prompt
removal of all candy wrappers, popcorn boxes
and discarded drink cups. Storage of edibles
must be thoroughly protected against pests.

Should a theatre be so thoroughly Infested
with pests as to require over-all spraying or
fumigation, it might be advisable to go to night
cleaning of the premises so that refuse will not
be available to insects and rodents all night
long.

•

PHOTO MURALS — Some theatres have
photo murals as part of the interior decoration.
These should be carefully dusted with soft
cloths, or feather dusters, to prevent accumu-
lation of fogging dirt and to minimize scratch-
ing of the surface. Adequate lighting is 50% of
the secret of photo-mural effectiveness.

•

PIANOS — Pianos used on stage should have
the legs strongly braced to protect the instru
ment against rough handling. When not in use
they should be covered with a protective cloth.
They should be tuned at regular intervals
whether used or not. They should be stored
where the sounding board will not be subjected
to sudden and extreme changes in temperature.
•

PIN RAIL — The pin rail, on stage level or
perhaps raised, controls the raising and lower-
ing of all scenery lines. It should be kept clear
of odds and ends, and be securely bolted to the
wall so there is no danger of it coming loose
and releasing lines without warning. Gheck
occasionally for loose screws, broken pins and
tie-pins which clamp them down.

(To be continued in July issue.)

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Belton, Texas

BEHER THEATRES SECTION

Good Public Relations Are
as Vital as Good Product

says

NORTH WOOD, I A.

there’s no doubt about
it, this is the best ad page in the book! The
ink was still “icky” on the closing words,
“You wanna sell?” in last month’s article
when my phone started ringing and my
post office box started bulging Avith offers
from people Avho wanted to sell. I made
the mistake of saying something about
having half a hide left after the fire in
Elma, and it’s amazing to see all the “skin
hunters” that pop up out of nowhere
when you declare the hunting season open
on yourself.

It took only seven weeks to get back in
business, and this place where I’ve set up
shop didn’t come from one of the above
mentioned deals. Sometimes you run into
things just by accident. That’s what hap-
pened in my getting started in this town.

A great preacher once said, “The greatest
day in a man’s life is when he turns a
corner and runs face to face into a new
idea.” Literally, that’s hoAv I landed in
Northwood. Had I not turned left at a
certain corner and run face to face into
its former owner, I’d probably still be
sitting by the phone answering calls, cards
and letters.

•

Besides the usual difficulties of starting
in business in a new community. I’m also
having speech trouble. I’ve moved from
Bohemian to Norcvegian. You only have to
jump about 50 miles in this part of Iowa
to get from Prague to Oslo, and if you
think it’s easy to learn to call Soren
Skjeveland and Ulrica Huus by their first
names on sight after eight years of wrestl-
ing with Stanislav Ptacek and Theresa
Vircechek, then you should go into the
radio and TV business where one so
nimble of tongue can make a million a
week selling the virtues of soap, beer and
pomades to people who can’t live without
such things.

Actually the language barrier is not so
much my fault as it is one of the producers
of pictures. (There’s a Avay of blaming
production for everything in this business
if you just dig deep enough.) You see, my
new house, like most theatres, has been
playing out the Indian cycle of every third
picture a feathers-and-arrow epic, and like
most theatre patrons, the people are chang-
ing their speech to Choctah so they too can
enjoy all the pictures flowing from today’s
big silver screen. But when they speak

Choctah Avith a NorAvegian accent, it gets
darn rough on the receiving end.

You think it is unnecessary to know
those first names? Of course you don’t.
I’ve just jumped into the boots of one of
the best shoAvmen in the country, and one
of his main assets always has been that he
knoAvs his people by their first names. He’s
lived here all his life and that of course
gives him a big advantage ; but he not only
kiioivs them, he speaks them.

He asks about their cousins and calls
the?n by name. He knoAvs that their
nepheAv’s little girl 18 miles in the country
had an appendectomy last week and he asks
about her health. He knoAvs the fellow
in the neighboring toAvn recently put in
neAv pumps in his gas station and that the
ncAV neighbors of the Bjergo’s are the
Gundvangen’s and that they live on the old
Liljedahl farm.

He knoAvs his people, talks to them and
endears himself to them in a manner better
than that of any shoAvman I’ve ever seen.
If those who think there are not good
shoAvmen left in the country would investi-
gate the hinterlands, they’d run into a lot
of shoAvmanship that isn’t Avrapped up in
lithographs, shoAV card paint and newspaper
mats. It’s the personal touch that counts
ten times over the store-bought showman-
ship.

In my book, Lincoln Whitcome, the
former manager of the Nortlnvood theatre,
is a real shoAvman.

Next month we’ll get back to such
Aveighty things as how you can afford to
reach the unscratched market of deaf mutes
Avith your advertising, the most efficient
ways of stifling crying babies, and a few
choice tips on how to live in a Cadillac on
10% of the gross for a profit. In the
meantime —

•

I almost dropped dead with surprise
after I’d quietly made a neAA'spaper an-
nouncement that we’d kick off our necv
OAvnership with a “Let’s Get Acquainted”
free shoAV and the local Chamber of Com-
merce sounded out its “action stations”
and came up Avith an emergency meeting to
help put it over. They Avere liberal Avith
their praise and appreciation over Avhat the
event Avould do for the rest of the mer-
chants as a stimulator of trade for the tAvo

days during Avhich Ave’re running the show.

We all knoAV Avhat a free shows does in
the Avay of getting a croAvd. It’s good to be
in a town that also knows the value of its
theatre in so doing. We all make hay at
the annual Christmas time free shows, but
“one on the house” to celebrate openings
and anniversaries is no more than good
relations. Good public relations are as im-
portant as good product.

•

This is one of America’s hardy, produc-
tive communities, with the result that a
theatre must operate in terms of family
attendance. They come in groups of elevens
and eights to “The Kettles,” “Long
Trailer,” “Glenn Miller,” etc. But they
sure left us alone on “Sadie Thompson,”
Avhich emphasizes again the things Ave’ve
been griping about for years, that we want
family pictures.

To make pictures of the type indicated
above should not be too difficult for even
the most “artistic” in the production field.
And such pictures have repeatedly proved
that wholesome, human entertainment pays
off at the box-office. There has been a
gradual rise of distasteful subjects and
dialogue creeping into pictures of late. In
my book it is not family entertainment to
depict drunkenness, beastiality, etc., and to
hear Avords like “harlot” and “prostitute”
bantered about.

I soldiered long enough to be able to
SAvap gaudy stories with the best of ’em,
and certain four-letter words are part of
the great American scene. But they are not
part of family entertainment! I’d rather
have some of that family silver in my jeans
than add my screen to the display of stark
reality. That’s not the purpose of movies
in the first place. Movie life has got to be
a little nicer than stark reality, or Avhat’s
the use of having movies?

Now if I some day get out of the hole,
and if some day all the small tOAvn theatres
pay someAvhere close to the rentals that dis-
tribution seems intent on collecting, we
will have to have some product that will
please our families. Remember, it doesn’t
have to be overpowering. All it has to
be is human. A few laughs, a fecv tears and
a reasonable plot about some people you
can like.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 5, 1954

Whether the picture
was made in:

C inemaScop

VistaVisLon

Superscope

3"0 (^s well as 2-1))

Whether prints are
available with:

Stereophonic sound

(4-track magnetic)

Perspecta sound

S ingle-track sound

(magnetic

optical)

3'0 (dual prints
or

single strip)

The Release Chart
shows it
at a fflance

CHE tow

Now, Mr. Exhibitor, you con give your theatre all the "pulling
power" of wide screen plus high-fidelity magnetic sound. You can give your patrons
the wide screen features they've been flocking elsewhere to see. And the necessary
starter equipment costs unbelievably little. Whether yours is an indoor or drive-ln,
investigate the "Simplex plan" for equipping your theatre now. It's as simple as this:

You can buy what you want — even start with a one-track
magnetic sound system ... so that your patrons and your
boxoffice will enjoy all the "extras" of wide screen showings.

Here's another plus — without disturbing your new equipment
in any way, you can add the extra equipment necessary to
complete your stereophonic sound system, any time you want!

So, don't wait — get on the bandwagon — join the thousands of successful exhibitors
who've given their houses the wide screen "magnetic treatment!"

LOOK TO

FOR A

T.M.sec.vJ.vPM Off.

SOUND SYSTE

MANUFACTURED BY INTERNATIONAL PROJECTOR CORPORATION • DISTRIBUTED BY NATIONAL THEATRE SUPPLY

L-arry on

PAA to

THIS WEEK:

Beti€*r .
Treii^is t.

■ ' 'I nm"

*€»fr^sh men t 3^i€*rvhnit€lism€j
ifl Brinks ant! lee t'renm

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In Produc^<"'i

UEVIEWS

ADVENTURES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE.
THE ROCKS, GIRLS MARKED DANGER,

ItK CAINE MUTINY, THE UNCONQUERED, HOBSON'S CHOICE, GOG.
Is A BRIDE, TANGANYIKA, CHALLENGE OF THE V/ILD, SCOTCH ON

V.ntercd as sccottd-eJass matter January 12, 19SI.
tished weekly by\r^mi)lcy Pabtishing Co., /iit’i
a year In tUe Ar^^cas, S 10.00 a year Forciyns

it Office, at A’ lAjrJ’ City, V. S. A., niidey the act ,>/ starch 1, liJ". , pffby
fli^y^Jrenne. Itoek, feller Cente;, Su'U Vort 20, N. Snbseri/'tuin /rrrees-ytff.fj^
?5 cents. .411 contents enpyrighted !')?( by C’at--iey Pnbtislir. r

717N£ 12, 1914%:

ATLANTA !

BEATS EVERY
SHOWING OE
'GWTW”
EXCEPT THE
FIRST-WHICH
WAS THE
FAMOUS
WORLD
PREMIERE !

Press-Time Flash!

2nd Week in Atlanta beats New

Year’s Week of "Knights of the
Round Table." Tops 2nd week
"Ivanhoe" and "Quo Vadis."

Af/d Stereophonic — what a tonic! — Sound I

America loves GWTW again and again

FRISCO!

GONE WITH
THE WIND ”
TAKES SAN
FRANCISCO
BY STORM!
TOPS EVERY
OTHER
GWTW”
RE-ISSUE!

Press-Time Flash!

Business continues sensational !
Holds over!

NEW YORK!

(Astor Theatre) {Capitol Theatre)

NOW!

FIRST 6 DAYS AT STATE
THEATRE TOPS COMBINED
GROSS OF ORIGINAL
RELEASE {which -played at
Christmas) IN 2 THEATRES,
ASTOR AND CAPITOL!

Press-Time Flash! Business SRO! Long Run!

PRESS-TIME FLASH!

Every New GWTW Opening Terrific!

HAPPY HOUSTON TOPS ORIGINAL RELEASE!

Imagine! The fifth time around beats the very FIRST! Opening day tops
'"Quo Vadis,” "Show Boat” and other M-G-M Big Ones!

SYRACUSE SENSATIONAL!

Crowds thrilled by Wide-Screen "GWTW”! Opening day tops M-G-M’s
very Biggest: "Knights of the Round Table/’ "Show Boat” and others!

KANSAS CITY VERY PRETTY!

They’re beating record-breaking "Ivanhoe” business and so can you/

and again and again AND AGAINl

BUSINESS HITS

THE RAVES ARE

k. WarnerColor

PAUL KELLY SIDNEY BLACKMER DOE AVE°D0n" KAREN SHARPE JOHN SMITH SCREEN PLAY BY ERNEST K. GANN

Dcrvt^

IRiPOIRirilR-

‘‘THE HIGH AXD THE MIGHTY
RANKS WITH ALL-TIME
GREAT PRODLCTIONS

The high and the mighty is highly

entertaining, widely appealing and hand-
somely mounted— high, wide and handsome
in every sense of the word. This is one of the
great pictures of our time. Played with fast
pace, steadily mounting suspense, it con-
tains every successful dramatic ingredient —
from uproarious farce to literate tragedy.
It combines physical thrills, tender passion
and hard-boiled realism to make a picture
that will appeal to everyone.

With this production, the young Wayne-
Fellows company leaps to the front ranks
of producing organizations. But the achieve-
ment is more important than that. “The High

and the Mighty" will benefit not only Wayne-
Fellows, who made it, and Warners, who
distributes it; its benefits will be felt by the
entire motion picture industry — including
every exhibitor. For this is one of those
films that the screen cannot live without.
It will satisfy millions and it will be widely
talked about. Beautifully photographed in
WarnerColor and using the breadth of
CinemaScope with sure and skillful dra-
matic effect, it gives the public something
it cannot get on television. It makes a trip
to the movies a big event for any family
and it restores to the screen a place of
importance in our national experience.

oPHONic Sound

ed by Dimitri Tiomkin A

WAYNE-FELLOWS PRODUCTION o„ectedb, WILLIAM A. WELLMAN

r WARNER BROS.

&ENT$ WOULD PREMIERE TONit^

AND THE MICH

20th Century-Fox invites you to

Soon we will announce the dates of preview

screenings of THE ROYAL TOUR OF QUEEN
ELIZABETH AND PHILIP, a truly amazing motion
picture made possible only by GinemaScope.

This is the only complete, feature-length pro-
duction of the thrilling six -month, 50,000 -mile journey of the
British royal couple, photographed by GinemaScope cameramen
who were on the spot to record every glorious moment of this
historic tour by land, sea and air.

You will visit far“flung strange and exciting places, take part in
colorful ceremonies and watch unusual native rituals, many of
them never before filmed. You will travel with Elizabeth and
Philip from London Airport to span great continents, sharing
every wonderful mile of the way.

Watch for the date in your exchange center, and be sure to see

this superb entertainment. Then book it and play it in your thea-

tre to the everlasting delight of your patrons.

and for the greatest news in industry history.. . see pages 12 to 18

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor

1^1

Vol. 195, No. II

June 12, 1954

As New York Goes . . .

ONE of the national political barometers has been
the vote in Maine ; hence the saying, “As Maine
goes, so goes the nation.” It is to be hoped that
there will be no application of the slogan to New York
and the admission tax.

It does not necessarily follow that if New York City
persists in imposing its unfair, discriminatory — and
highly political — five per cent admissions tax, other com-
munities will do so. However, it will be a most danger-
ous precedent.

The seriousness of the situation is shown not only by
the extensive campaign organized in a few days by New
York exhibitors and union leaders but also by the de-
cision of the board of the Motion Picture Association of
America to fight the measure. Eric Johnston, MPAA
president, discussed the matter with the board members
at a special meeting June 9.

Mayor Wagner and his associates hit upon the admis-
sions tax for two reasons: First — to raise additional
funds for the city treasury from a source expected to
kick up the least opposition (and the least number of
potential adverse votes) ; and second — to find an addi-
tional weapon in the City Administration’s fight with
Governor Dewey. Theatres were judged fair game on
both counts. Many other forms of taxes, including a tax
on free admission to TV and radio shows, were sug-
gested. The “New York Times” has repeatedly advo-
cated a $5 per month tax on those who regularly park
cars overnight on city streets.

There are two aspects to the political situation. On
the one hand Governor Dewey and New York State
financial officials — Republicans — assert that the New
York City budget can be balanced easily by accounting
for hidden resources and by eliminating waste. On the
other hand the Mayor and his associates — Democrats —
want the motion picture industry to join them in an
effort to obtain special fiscal relief for the City of New
York. Joseph T. Sharkey, president of the City Council,
openly said, “Let the exhibitors fight the city admission
tax in Albany.”

The industry can and must oppose the measure on its
merits. It cannot enter the ring of partisan politics.
Whether the Mayor or the Governor is correct about
the financial state of the city is immaterial. A city levy
cannot be protested at the state level.

The city tax is unfair and discriminatory. It is a burden
on those least able to pay. It is the exact opposite of taxa-
tion in proportion to the capacity to pay. Imagine this
tax being suddenly imposed after the Congress twice —
first in the ill-fated measure vetoed by President Eisen-
hower and then in the bill passed April 1 — held extensive
hearings and agreed that exhibitors were entitled to re-

lief ! The city politicians presumably assume that they
are wiser than the members of Congress.

The Founding Fathers of our country knew and pro-
claimed that the power to tax is the power to destroy.
Taxation must not be allowed to destroy this industry.
Exhibitors and others concerned should solicit in this
and in every other tax fight the active assistance of
merchants who prosper on trade attracted to their area
by theatres. Also groups interested in combating
juvenile delinquency and promoting good entertainment
should be invited to cooperate in opposing admission
taxes.

@ e @

Challenge of Fee TV

Reports from Washington indicate that the Fed-
eral Communications Commission plans to tackle
- soon the problem of whether fee TV is to be au-
thorized as a means of assisting struggling UHF televi-
sion stations. (The principal stations thus far on the air
are VHF stations. Comparatively few receivers have been
adapted to receive UHF.) This means that fee TV as
proposed by Phonevision, Telemeter and Subscriber-
Vision will be examined not alone on its merits but also
in its possible relationship to UHF television. The FCC
hopes for local TV in every community are based on its
blueprint proposing some 2,000 UHF stations.

Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Asso-
ciation, referred to this situation in an address recently
in Omaha as follows: “You are likely to hear a great deal
more about home-pay-as-you-see television in the period
immediately ahead. It can bring to home audiences for
a modest fee top quality product of movie makers, some-
thing which the economics of advertiser-sponsored tele-
vision will not now permit. It can multiply the potential
audience many fold and at the same time permit the
operation of more television stations in communities
which can not today support competitive stations.”

Amidst the problems of the new techniques of the
screen, the admission tax campaign and trade practice
matters, most exhibitors recently have given little
thought to “pay-as-you-see” television. The situation
seems to be on the point of decision. Interested individ-
uals and organizations in all branches of the industry
should formulate their positions and prepare for FCC
hearings on the subject.

The time for the motion picture industry to study the
problem is now and not at the last moment. The problem
is basic because, of all the actual and known potential
forms of competition to motion picture theatres, fee TV
is the only one which may eventuate in competition with
theatres for first run product.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

Subsequent Runs

To THE Editor:

I write this letter as a movie patron, but
one not without some familiarity with the
motion picture industry. 1 write with re-
spect to subsequent runs in conventional
theatres.

Subsequent run theatres have their prob-
lems— -sometimes fancied, often real, with
respect to matters outside their control.
These may range from lengthy pre-releases
to the more conventional clearance or print-
shortage problems. But in an industry which
depends upon imagination for its livelihood,
the writer has noted little imagination on
the part of subsequent run theatres. Whether
this is because the subsequent run theatre
owner so often has first run or drive-in in-
trests may be debatable, since the situation
does not appear to vary much where that
situation does not exist.

1. Since the Paramount Case, it has be-
come common for a considerable number of
subsequent run theatres to play the same
picture at the same time. Yet, joint imagina-
tive advertising with corresponding low unit
cost is rare. How often do subsequent run
theatres play up in advertising favorable
reviews of critics, ballyhoo particular aspects
of a picture, etc. ? While newspapers would
be the focus of such advertising, a one-
minute commercial on a local radio and/or
TV station could be had at low cost.

2. While theatre parties in recent years
have been encouraged and proved helpful
in the theatrical field, one almost never hears
of such parties in connection with the mo-
tion picture theatre. But why not encourage
such parties at reduced admissions, especially
when the manager believes a good picture
is going to be played? In some suburban
areas there may be from six to twelve civic
organizations which meet fairly regularly.
As a member of such an organization, I can
vouch for the fact that a dearth of interest-
ing programs arises from time to time and
resort is had to some dull 16mm film. Such
organizations could be approached, in addi-
tion to making a standard offer for birthday
parties, etc.

3. Subsequent run theatres which depend
for their patronage on residents in particular
local areas might have filmed from time to
time a local event of considerable interest
and play it along with their regular pro-
grams. This might well attract people.

4. Instead of local advertising on the
screen, which I for one abhor, the theatre
might once a week show on the screen for
thirty seconds a bulletin of future civic meet-
ings in the area.

5. At PTA meetings it is not uncommon
to give rewards to the particular school
room which has the most parents in attend-
ance. With this goal, children make a de-
termined effort to get parents out of their
easy chairs and to a PTA meeting. It might

be worthwhile trying to offer monthly
prizes to children who bring the most other
persons with them to the local motion pic-
ture theatre during the month.

I am sure there are other ideas worth try-
ing. I feel certain that some of the ones
suggested have been tried here and there,
and probably will be less suitable in one
area than in another. But as a friend of
the industry and as a patron, I think sub-
sequent run theatres could do more than
they are doing to retain their position and
encourage increased patronage.

Yes, I agree that a sustained diet of good
pictures would do more for the exhibitor
than any or all other suggestions that might
be made. Having been brash enough to
make suggestions to exhibitors on how to
run their business if this is printed without
a consequent deluge of brickbats, I might
venture to use The HERALD to throw
out some ideas on how to make good pic-
tures. . . . After all, my experience in mak-
ing pictures matches my experience in ex-
hibiting pictures! — PHILIP MARCUS,
Wheaton, Md.

Exhibitor Alliance

The the Editor;

I am convinced that a close touch between
exhibitors in Europe and the U.S.A. would
be a great advantage to all parties concerned
especially under the present circumstances,
and I have reason to believe all members of
the Danish organizations will join me in
this. I shall therefore be very pleased if you
will inform us of the future prospect for the
realization of an international alliance
among exhibitors. — E. GREGERS , Bio-
grafteater Foreningen, Copenhagen, Den-
mark.

All the Information

To THE Editor:

The HERALD gives you all the informa-
tion that is necessary to operate your thea-
tre. It tells you about the new types of
sounds, equipment, 3-D and etc. I have
found the Release Chart to be one of my
greatest helps. When I do not receive press-
books, or even if I do receive them, I get
more enjoyment in reading your promotions
and reviews. — Paul Brown, Manager,
Warner Bros. Theatres, Pacific Coast Divi-
sion, Fresno, Calif.

An Honor

To THE Editor :

Your HERALD does much to encourage
Showmanship, and other aspects of theatre
management, and I would look upon it as
an honor to qualify as a member of the
Managers Round Table. — /. GILLIES,
Manager, Seamore Cinema, Glasgow, Scot-
land.

June 12, 1954

INDUSTRY pledges an all-out battle on
New York tax gouge Page 19

TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com-
ment on matters cinematic Page 20

TV Firestone program to be broadcast from
Paramount theatre Page 21

STEVENS declares Production Code an In-
dustry bulwark Page 21

WARNERS reports net profit for six months
of $1,618,000 Page 21

PATRON selection national poll plan sub-
mitted by committee Page 24

PARAMOUNT calls series of local regional
sales meetings Page 24

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— the box score on
the box office leaders Page 25

U-l convenes meeting of its European sales
forces Page 25

READE, TOA president, hits product short-
age on eve of meet Page 28

BRITISH "Royal Tour" film to be screened
here by 20th-Fox Page 28

GOVERNMENT bank blamed in failure of
British Lion company Page 30

BOX OFFICE Champions for the month of
May Page 31

"GONE With the Wind" expected to have
large teen-age audience Page 31

EDITOR cites value of screen at Installation
of WOMPI Page 33

DISNEY company reports sharp increase in
net for six months Page 33

WIDE SCREEN Installations found up
markedly in Far East Page 34

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on Indus-
try personnel across country Page 35

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising Page 44

Film Buyers' Rating 3rd Cover

Hollywood Scene Page 32

Managers' Round Table Page 39

People In the News Page 34

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews Page 25

Advance Synopses Page 27

Short Subjects Page 27

The Release Chart Page 28

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

On tLe

orizon

IF LAST weekend’s ruling of the
9th U. S. Court of Appeals in
the Roy Rogers and Gene Autry
suits against Republic Pictures is
[ not reversed on further appeal there
I appears to be little or no legalistic
reason left why Republic or any
other company cannot sell old pic^
tures to television virtually at will.
Both cowboy stars had won deci-
sions in lower courts, on different
F but similar grounds, preventing Re-
j public from selling to television,
without their agreement. Appeals
. court upset those decisions, holding
that the broad clause in contracts
written before television had be-
come a factor in talent-^employment
considerations, supervened,

► There is belief on both coasts, un-
confirmed, that election of Roy M.

^ Brewer to the presidency of the,

} lATSE, succeeding incumbent
Richard F. Walsh, might lead in
time to a shift in the seat of power
from New York, present headquar-
ters,, to Hollywood, where Mr.
Brewer, first I ATSE International
Representative artd subsequently as
chairmari and leader in group and
organizational, a c t i v i tie s— AFL
Film Council, Permanent Charities ,

^ CommitteCi Motion Picture Alliance,

: MPIC, Others— rose to prominence.

Whether this ve^ould bode ill or well
p for the over-all industry interest de-
pends, it would appear, on individ-
ual point of view,

► Allied States Association will go
- slowly in any proposals for an in-
ternational exhibitor organization.
Lea^ers*^ are prepared to exchange
information with organizations in
other countries and talk over prob-
lems, but are shy of any formal
i organization.

► Anti-trust legislation still remains
stalled on Capitol Hill, with most
lawmakers awaiting the report of
the Attorney General’s special com-
mittee studying the anti-trust laws.

- This committee’s report will have
great influence on anti-trust legis-
lation next year.

► Harold Lasser, for the past ten
years special assistant and trial atr
^ torney for the anti- trust division of
the U. S. Department of Justice, has
joined the legal staff of Universal
Pictures under Adolph Schimel, *

vice-president and general counsel.
Mr. Lasser, while with the Depart-
ment of Justice, was active in many
motion picture anti-trust suits. He
is a graduate of the University of
Michigan.

► “Ivory Hunter,’’ African jungle
thriller, was playing at the Grand
Island Drive-In, Grand Island, Neb.,
when manager Wally Kemp heard
a commotion near the screen.
Blinker, largest monkey ift the
drive-in’s zoo, had escaped by means
not stated in the news reports. For
a while patrons watched a real
jungle chase until six attendants,
captured the escapee in a nearby
field. Only casualty was Blinker-
one black eye.

► Paramount Pictures will under-
take for the Government the over-
seas distribution of a two reel short
showing Vice-president Nixon’s re-
cent round-the-world , tour, accord-
ing to A. W. Smith, Jr., head of the
film section of the United States
Information Agency. Title of the
picture is “Vice-President Nixon,
Ambassador of Friendship.’’

► The Army at last has decided for
stereophonic sound. Its theatres
service chief Fred Bund said in
Washington last week some 90 of
its larger houses probably would get
the equipment.

TERRY RAMSAYE
SAYS...

Terry Ramsaye, consulting editor
of Quigley Publications, who has
been ill since late last winter, is
now recuperating, and this week
resumes his column of comment on
industry events. In this week's col-
umn, on page 20, he discusses with
his usual acuity the COMPO audi-
ence poll and the role of the drive-
in in industry evolution.

► Arthur Larson, Under Secretary

of Labor, this week urged Congress !
to extend the Federal Unemploy- 1
ment Insurance Act to any employer j
of one or more workers. At present
only employers of eight , or more
workers are" subject to the act and
need pay the unemployment insure
ance tax. Many small theatre oper-.
ations would be affected by the i
change.

► The Senate this week passed and y !

sent to the White House a bill to : '
permit the Government to take a
comprehensive census of business
and manufacftirlhg next year. The
census, which would include der
tailed inforniation on film produc-
tion, distribution and exhibition, ^
would be based on 1954 business.
The last such census was taken in ;
1948. '

► Pathe Laboratories, Inc., inde- i
pendent film processing laboratory j
owned by Chesepeake Industries, .
Inc., Tuesday asked the Federal
Trade Commission to halt “use by
Technicolor Motion Picture Corpo-
ration of the word ‘technicolor’ for. :
pictures made by the Eastman Color ■
process.” PatKe charged that use
of the word for pictures made not in 1
Technicolor’s own dye transfer im-
bibition process but actually in ‘
Eastman’s negative-positive process
constituted “deception” and “unfair
competition.”

► Some television statistics. There

now are 300 stations receiving net-
work programs. They are in 191.
cities. They use more than 54,000 1

miles of coaxial cable. There are 380
stations in 250 cities. Their poten-
tial audience is 109,000,000. Sixty
more stations will be added to net-
works before jthe year’s end.

► The Commerce Department is
discontinuing its figures on the
number of firms in the motion pic-
ture industry. The series had been j
falling further and further behind in
recent years.

motion picture herald, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address,
"Qoigpubco, 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;
Roy Gallagher, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Telephone HOllywood 7-7145';
CWcago, 120 So. LaSalle St., Urben Farley, advertising representative. Telephone, Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams
Bvrnup, 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 li of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Dally, Motion Picture and Television Almanac and Fame.

ii '■1". ir-;-— - ' j

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12, 1954

CINEMASCOPE: ttlW AiD;TIIE Mma I I Jli WAillEKCOiOR ;
JOHN m¥NE LARAfNE OAf JAE STKLWO . ROBERT MEWtOSti
CLAIRE TREfOR ROBERT STACK '.PHli HARRIS BAilD: BRIAN :

THE SAN FRANCISCO OPENING of Warners’ "High
and fhe Mighty" resounded with fanfare equivalent to the
Los Angeles premiere. At the Paramount Theatre are, at
the right, Jerry Zigmond, Paramount circuit division man-
ager, with author Ernest K. Gann, center, and Rear
Admiral Raymond T. McElligott.

ON THE SET of Para-
mount's "Strategic Air
Command," Gordon Leon-
ard, manager of the
Criterion Theatre, Okla-
homa City, and his wife,
chat w ith James Stewart,
the picture's star.

THE MEN at the left
helped organize the new
Variety Club, Tent 45, in
New Orleans. They are
Harold F. Cohen, who was
chairman of the coordinat-
ing committee and who was
elected assistant chief
barker; Dan Brandon, act-
ing chairman of the organi-
zational meeting June I,
elected property master;
and Page Baker, chief
barker. Other officers are
William Brianf, second as-
sistant barker; and Henry
Plitt, dough guy.

HELPING THE PROMO-
TION of Universal's "Mag-
nificent Obsession," actress
Barbara Rush met with ex-
hibitors the other day in
the Cleveland exchange.
She is seen at the left with
Jim Shulman, Shulman cir-
cuit; Leon Enken, Jr.,
Robins circuit, of Warren,
O.; and Jerome Levitt,
Universal salesman.

SAM G. ROSE, president of
the Victor Animatograph
Corp., Davenport, la., has been
cited by the Society of Motion
Picture and Television Engi-
neers, for more than 30 years
service to the industry. He is
one of 26 original members of
the SMPTE.

by the Herald

THE HAPPY MAN above
is Frank Ross, producer of
"The Robe" and now, of
its sequel, "Demetrius and
the Gladiators." Talking to
writers of the trade press
Monday in New York be-
fore taking off for Europe
to help promote the latest
CinemaScope epic, he
opined there'll be no stand-
ardization; that theatres
should be able to show
films in all formats; that
more producers will film
overseas.

b; the Herald

IT'S 40 YEARS of direct-
ing for George Mar-
shall, posing on the set
of Universal Internation-
al's "Destry," with star
Marie Blanchard.

THIS GIVES YOU AN IDEA
of the way MGM's "Gone
VYith the Wind" is doing in
New York. The scene is in the
lobby of Loew's State, on the
eighth day. The outside lobby
also was packed, and a line
ran around the corner. The
picture is doing well and hold-
ing up in Houston, Kansas
City, Syracuse, San Francisco,
and Atlanta.

by the Henild

N. C. LAHARRY, general man-
ager of Columbia Pictures of
India, visited The HERALD in New
York last week. He had been at
the Chicago convention of Rotary
International, of which he is a
vice-president.

EDWARD C. DOWDEN,
assistant director of pub-
licity and advertising for
Loew's Theatres, this week
received one of the highest
honors the Pope may be-
stow upon a layman — the
Knighthood of St. Gregory.
He was commended for an
"edifying life of practical
Catholicity." Mr. Dowden
is a director of the Roman
Catholic Orphan Asylum
Society of Brooklyn; the
Angel Guardian Home for
Foundling Children; and
the Emerald Association.

HAL DANSON, the new director of
advertising, publicity and television for
National Screen Service, at his desk
Monday, in New York. Mr. Danson has
been trailer production head for Para-
mount, and also that company's assistant
national advertising manager; advertis-
ing manager tor Eagle Lion; and, re-
cently, general sales manager tor Adler
Communications Laboratories, builders
of television stations and equipment.

20th Century-Fox
the industry’s f

A STEADY WEEK - IN,
PRODUCT ... THE ORE
BOXOFFICE LINE-UP
IN 20ih'. HISTORY!

Motion Picture P'eratd phutoi by Ficyd Stone

puts a smile on
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Color by Technicolor • starring Marilyn Monroe • Betty
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NIGHT PEOPLE

Color by Technicolor • starring Gregory Peck • Broderick
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Color by Technicolor • starring Richard Widmark

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RIVER OF NO RETURN

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KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES

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Color by Technicolor-Deluxe • starring Tyrone Power

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Color by Technicolor • starring Gary Cooper • Susan
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Color by Technicolor • starring Robert Wagner • Terry
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AUG.

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Color by Technicolor • starring Victor Mature • Susan
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Color by Deluxe • starring Spencer Tracy • Robert
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GOING FOR A YEAR!

THE ROCKET MAN

starring Charles Coburn
Spring Byington • Anne
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George "Foghorn" Winslow

SAILOR
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starring Jeffrey Hunter
Michael Rennie • Wendy
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MAN ON
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starring Fredric March
Terry Moore • Gloria
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RACING BLOOD

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NIGHT WITHOUT
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starring Linda Darnell * Gary
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starring Jack Palance with
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Debra Paget • Robert New-
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Lee Marvin • Tommy Rettig

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Anne Bancroft with Lee J.
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Christine White • Irene
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starring Jeanne Crain * Jean
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Jean Peters • Gary Merrill

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PLEDCE ALL-OET BATTLE
OIV NEW YORK TAX GOEGE

JOHNSTON PLEDGES AID TO
NEW YORK EXHIBITORS

To Seek Repeal as Ticket
Levy Seems Sure to Be
Signed by Mayor

A fight to the finish — to prevent Mayor
Wagner signing the bill instituting a five
per cent tax on theatre admissions in New
York City or, in the event that fails, for
repeal of the law — was pledged this week
by members of all branches of the motion
picture in New York. As the result of events
which followed in quick succession last
week, it appeared that repeal-of-the-law
would be the inevitable campaign.

Chronologically, this is what happened :

On Thursday the City Council
passed by a vote of 22 to 3 the bill
(without any amendment ex-
empting tickets of 50 cents or
less) and sent it on to the Board
of Estimate.

On Friday the Board of Esti-
mate passed the bill unanimously
and sent it on to Mayor Wagner.
His signature, expected within a
few days, will make the bill law,
effective July 1.

This week the industry drew
up its forces for a long-range
campaign. Eric Johnston, presi-
dent of the Motion Picture Asso-
ciation of America, joined New
York City’s exhibitors and union
leaders in the fight, calling an
emergency meeting Wednesday
morning of the MPAA board of
directors. With Mayor Wagner
expected to sign the bill at almost
any time, Mr. Johnston said the
mobilization of the industry would
begin immediately and continue
until the tax is repealed. Exhibi-
tors still have one more chance to
present their case to the Mayor,
at another open hearing scheduled
for sometime next week.

The tax, said Mr. Johnston, would have
a serious effect on all branches of the New
York film industry, including producers and
distributors whose home offices are in the
city. In announcing the meeting of the
MPAA board, which includes the presidents
of all the producing-distributing companies,
Mr. Johnston called the crisis “unexpected”
and said that earlier assurances had been
given by the Mayor and his advisers that
they recognized the plight of the motion
picture business.

The MPAA chief pointed to the Congress,
the Treasury and the President, who saw
fit to give partial relief to theatres by reduc-
ing the 20 per cent Federal tax to 10 per
cent on all admissions over 50 cents, and
exempting those below that amount.

At a special meeting attended by company

The Motion Picture Association of
America goes along wholeheartedly with
New York exhibitors in their tax fight, Eric
Johnston, MPAA president, announced to
the trade at an interview late Wednesday
after heads of the leading motion picture
producing and distributing companies had
met with New York exhibitor leaders.

'This is our fight,” Mr. Johnston said.
"We are going to do whatever we can
do.” He said the question of financial aid
would be discussed later. His aides then
issued a statement in behalf of the com-
pany heads and exhibitor leaders, reading
in part:

"We strongly urge Mayor Wagner to
veto the five per cent admissions tax. We
urge it not alone to prevent havoc in our

presidents and theatrical union officials Mon-
day, a statement was issued emphasizing that
“Mayor Wagner’s proposed five per cent
movie tax — now awaiting his official signa-
ture to become law — will definitely and
positively be passed on to the movie-going
public.”

“We have no choice; we cannot ' afford
to absorb this, or any other tax,” said Eman-
uel Frisch, president of the Metropolitan
Motion Picture Theatres Association.

“If City Hall thinks that theatre owners
will absorb this tax and that the public
will accept it in their stride, they are as
wrong as they are about the amount they
expect to raise by this unfair tax. There
isn’t a neighborhood movie in town making
a five per cent profit. How can any one
of them absorb this levy?” Mr. Frisch asked.

Tax to Be Labeled
‘‘Wagner City Tax!"’

In all discussions at the meeting, the
admissions tax was referred to as the “Wag-
ner City Tax.” “That term will become one
of the best known and most disliked among
the millions of New York moviegoers,” said
Harry Brandt, president of the Independent
Theatre Owners Association.

It was resolved at the meeting that the
fight against the city tax would be continued,
not only with another rousing hearing before
the mayor, but even after the tax passage,
if necessary.

Joining with the theatre owners and union
workers at Monday’s meeting were industry

business. We urge if to prevent grave
damage to the city's economic life gener-
ally. We urge It in behalf of the people of
New York who rely on motion pictures for
needed relaxation.

'There is one thing we want to make
emphatically clear, it the Mayor should
sign the tax, let no one think that the fight
will be over. We cannot stand idly by in
the face of either creeping or galloping
economic disaster. . . . From City Hall we
heard a lot of talk but we have heard no
sound arguments. ... In fact, Instead of
trying to justify it, they apologize tor It.

"We don't believe that apologies will
satisfy the millions of citizens of New York.
Movie goers must ultimately bear the brunt
of the tax.”

leaders like Barney Balaban, president of
Paramount Pictures; Nicholas M. Schenck,
president of Loew’s Inc. ; Jack Cohen, vice-
president of Columbia Pictures; Arthur
Krim, president of United Artists, John
O’Connor, vice-president of Universal Pic-
tures, and A1 Lichtman, vice-president of
20th Century-Fox.

“Before the full benefits of the Federal
tax reductions have been felt by the New
York picture houses,” said Mr. Johnston in
announcing the MPAA meeting, “this city
administration, in its frantic search for
revenue sources, has turned its back on its
promises to industry representatives and has
decided to extract from the city’s theatres
money which is not there to be taken.

“New York is already collecting a three
per cent tax on film rentals and a one-fifth
per cent gross receipts tax. The Wagner city
tax would gouge a tliird slice of five per
cent out of the revenue from admissions.

“Industry statisticians estimate,” he con-
tinued, “that the administration cannot re-
ceive more than $3,000,000 in revenue from
the neighborhood theatres, and an additional
million from the Broadway theatres. If a
full $4,000,000 could be collected, which is
unlikely, it would be less than one-fourth
of one per cent of the huge $1,600,000,000
city budget. It is impossible to believe that
such a paltry percentage is indispensable,
especially when it will result in the closing
of more than 100 theatres, the loss of
thousands cf jobs, a falling off in the receipts
of stores adjacent to theatres, and the des-
truction of other sources of revenue.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12. 1954

Ter'r'^ Sa^s

PRODUCT RESEARCH— Th e announce-
ment and the plannings of COMPO for
a national audience poll for a choice of
the best picture of each month, quarter
and year, draws from this observer a smile
at the fact that that poll is now conducted
hour by hour and day by day by the thea-
tre box office and that the bookkeepers
have a set of answers every night. But it
is probably a constructive agitation of in-
terest to have this sort of activity alive in
the consciousness of the industry. Also
indubitably the ever figure-hungry com-
mentators will be getting what sound like
authoritative statistical findings. And cer-
tainly no industry is more skillful in the
production in whatever statistics it may de-
sire at the moment.

Meanwhile it would seem as though a
somewhat more important research for the
industry's ultimate purposes would be ad-
dressed at finding out why and where the
missing customers are going for what. The
screen product which gets the money re-
quires no research and very little analysis.
What our industry needs much more seri-
ously is to learn more about what the cus-
tomers do not want to see.

At the moment with "Gone With the
Wind" going into its fifth reissue, it would
not be surprising if the COMPO com-
mittee found out that it represented the
kind of picture the customers wanted most.
Of course, that would only partially solve
the problem.

Incidentally, there is a possibility that
even on its fifth time around GWTW will
afford evidence that there really was not
anything seriously the matter with the old
techniques. That picture, while indisputably
a classic of the art will stand, over-rated
for all time, as a great motion picture,
rather than for what it is — a great success
in sheer merchandising of showmanship.
It has already achieved a total box office
gross in uncounted millions and it has been
estimated that the picture has been seen
by more than 100 million persons, which
seems plausible enough. That means a pro-
foundly general entertainment quality. In
point of fact, despite the many claims that
are made for the production, it actually
contains very little indeed beyond old
standard melodrama.

Its purveyance of history and interpre-
tations of its people and period are trivial
and extremely limited. It is also impossible
that the great audience which has paid for

it, which means the great audience which
pays for all motion pictures, went to see
Clark Gable as the swash-buckling Rhett
Butler, a non-typical adventurer, and Vivien
Leigh, as Scarlett O'Hara, a non-typical
adventuress, with anything but passing
emotional interest, certainly with no studious
or cultural appeal. Having passed over into
its niche in the Hall of Fame as the great
money-making classic this doesn't matter at
all, save that the answer is as always — -en-
tertainment only. That is what Mr. Selznick
set out to do, and what he achieved with
success beyond precedent in the annals.
If the promotions could tell the customers
that they would be more interested.

It would seem that COMPO's research
should be taking cognizance most particu-
larly of the changing place of the motion
picture and the theatre on the total scene.
Never before in the motion picture's 50
years have the competitions been so con-
tinuously and increasingly important.

The public preference means that the
customer there seated up in the loge is
there because that is where he would
rather be than anywhere else in town at
that time. The research problem is not
why he came, but why he does not come
to the theatre.

RE-MAKING THE MAP — Under the title
of "New Horizons for the Drlve-ln Theatre"
the June 5 issue of "Better Theatres" pre-
sents a compact little survey of develop-
ments in that field which are related to the
entire social and industrial structure now
so persistently under reconstruction and
decentralizations. The theatre is to be ob-
served as a significant point of focus and
re-crystalizatlon as the rising population
takes to the open places for elbow room.
It is by Wilfred P. Smith, drive-in exhibitor
at Leogewood, New Jersey.

Mr. Smith argues for taking a diversity
of goods and service out where the cus-
tomers are, rather than trying to lure the
customer in. That is obviously enough not
new in merchandising practice, but it be-
comes, as he presents it, impressive when
it evolved into a shopping center-packaged
enterprise reaching in so many directions
at once. The theatre is put into perspective
as a part of community service rather than
as an Independent undertaking. The
broader viewpoint can help.

Set Standard
On Apertnre

HOLLYWOOD : W^'iHiam F. Kelley, execu-
tive secretary of the Motion Picture Re-
search Council, last week sent out to princi-
pal exhibitor organizations the council-
approved dimensions for the single standard
aperture size for the projection of Cinema-
Scope prints equipped with single optical
sound tracks, along with the reasons for
selecting these dimensions after protracted
experiments.

The council recommends 0.715 inch in
height and 0.839 inch in width. Among the
reasons advanced for these dimensions are;
the best quality is obtained by utilizing the
greatest negative and positive film areas
available; the larger projection aperture
allows utilization of the light available in
the projector.

Mr. Kelley pointed out that the ‘‘aperture
provides the theatre with the maximum
amount of picture information available on
the negative, resulting in no cropping in
height and only about 8 per cent cropping
in width in relation to the regular Cinema-
Scope aperture.” Additionally, Mr. Kelley
said, “the center line of this 0.715 by 0.839
aperture is centered on a standard 0.600 by
0.825 aperture; therefore the projector does
not have to be shifted in changing from
this CinemaScope picture to standard pro-
jection.”

Dowling, Korda Set
Nine Picture Deal

Robert Dowling, president of City Invest-
ing Corp., is expanding his amusement in-
dustry interests to include participation in
financing of nine pictures on the schedule
of Sir Alexander Korda’s London Films.
The picture lineup involves $15,000,000, ac-
cording to Morris Helprin, London Films
president. The nine pictures will be made
in the next 18 months in England, India,
and other foreign locations. The schedule
consists of “The Man Who Loved Red-
heads,” “The Time of the Cuckoo,” “Rich-
ard III,” “Arms and the Man,” “Noah,”
“Taj Mahal,” “Around the World in 80
Days,” “The King’s General” and a produc-
tion with Vivien Leigh.

National Film Board to
Move to Montreal

TORONTO : A vote by the Canadian House
of Commons has assured the removal of
the National Film Board from Ottawa to
Montreal. Meantime, in debate, it was re-
vealed that the NFB and spent $260,000
with private industry in 1952-53, as com-
pared with $81,000 in 1950-51. This money
covers expenditures for complete films, par-
tial production, processing and printing pur-
chases with Canada’s private film industry.
The information was tabled by R. H. Win-
ters, Minister of Public Works, who had
the NFB as part of his responsibility which
now lies within the domain of Walter Har-
ris, Minister of Citzenship and Immigration.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

TV Program from Paramount Theatre

A milestone of sorts in the history of motion picture
exhibition in New York City will be reached June 21
when the first class Broadway show case, the Paramount
theatre, goes to a policy of one evening per week devoted
to a free admission, simultaneous radio-television broad-
cast of “The Voice of Firestone,” over the facilities of the
American Broadcasting Company radio-TV networks.

The deal, whereby the first run house will become the
outlet for the weekly, 30-minute Monday night program,
was announced in New York this week by Raymond C.
Firestone, executive vice-president of Firestone Tire &
Rubber Company, and Robert E. Kintner, who is presi-
dent of the American Broadcasting Company. It will in-
terrupt the theatre’s regular film policy only for the one
day per week — the rest of the time audiences will have
to pay for their entertainment at the theatre.

The program, featuring the Firestone Symphony
Orchestra and soloists in selections both classical and
semi-classic, has been on the air 25 years. Its June 14

broadcast will originate, as heretofore, from the ABC net-
work’s television center in New York, 8:30 to 9 P.M.,
EDT. The following week’s program will be the first from
the Paramount theatre. Both the theatre and the radio-
television network are affiliated with American Broadcast-
ing-Paramount Theatres, Inc.

The theatre facilities will allow a studio audience of
over 3,500 persons to be on hand to view the broadcast
each week. Many of the city’s legitimate theatres have
been taken over for the exclusive use of television inter-
ests, but this is perhaps the first time that one of New
York’s top film outlets has gone over to a “dual” policy.

The Paramount will be closed Mondays until 4 :30 P.M.,
at which time its regular film program will go on. Patrons
purchasing admission at any time before the 8:30 P.M.
broadcast will be permitted to stay for the broadcast, after
which the film program continues. Some 300 seats will be
reserved for the guests of the Firestone Company, who
may stay on to see the film program at no charge.

$1,618,000
UVarner JVei
In 6 Months

Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., and sub-
sidiary companies report for the six months
ending February 27, 1954 a net profit of
$1,618,000 after provision of $1,700,000 for
Federal taxes on income and after a provi-
sion of $250,000 for contingent liabilities.
Film rentals, sales, etc., amounted to $34,-
059,000. The net profit is equivalent to 65
cents per share on the 2,474,346 shares of
common stock outstanding or reserved for
exchange at February 27, 1954.

The corresponding operations of the old
Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., after eliminat-
ing net profit on domestic theatre operations,
for the six months ending February 28,
1953, resulted in a net profit of $1,333,000
after provision of $1,784,000 for Federal
taxes on income and other provision of
$100,000 for contingent liabilities.

King Says Films Open Up
Foreign Markets to U.S.

Despite diplomatic distractions, Ameri-
can films continue to increase in stature and
importance as a “global common denomina-
tor which cross all boundaries and all fron-
tiers,” director Henry King said this week
in Hollywood on his return from African lo-
cation filming on 20th Century-Fox’s forth-
coming “Untamed.” Wherever civilization
spreads, films are in the advance guard,
opening up rich new markets for our other
products, said Mr. King. He reported that
Durban, South Africa, probably has “more
movie theatre seats per each 1,000 of the
population than Los Angeles.”

Shift Tenarken House
To Paramount-Gulf

MEMPHIS : A change in the organization
of American Broadcasting-Paramount The-
atres has brought the Strand theatre here
under Paramount-Gulf Theatres. Exact fu-
ture status of Tenarken Paramount Corp.
which has operated the Strand and other
theatres in Tennessee, Arkansas and Missis-
sippi from its Memphis headquarters, has
not been decided but the position of the
Tenarken general manager has been abol-
ished. Jack Katz, who has held the position
since Tenarken was formed about two years
ago, is awaiting another assignment with
AB-PT. Alex Thompson, district manager
of Tenarken, continues in that capacity with
Paramount Gulf, and G. Carrolls Beasley
continues as Strand manager.

"Pioneers" Annual Meet
Set for November 17

Annual dinner of the Motion Picture Pio-
neers will be held November 17 at the Hotel
Astor in New York. A dinner committee
which will be announced shortly will plan
details of the event. The dinner this year,
it was stated, will have a “new look,” capi-
talizing on the current increased interest in
motion pictures. The committee charged
with the election of the “Pioneer of the
Year” will announce its candidate shortly.

UA Gets Fight Film

United Artists has acquired the world-
wide distribution rights to the film of the
world heavyweight title fight between un-
defeated champion Rocky Marciano and for-
mer title-holder Ezzard Charles at the Yan-
kee Stadium, New York, Thursday, June
17, it was jointly announced by James D.
Norris, president of the International Box-
ing Club, and William J. Heineman, vice-
president in charge of UA distribution.

Code Strong
**Bnttvnrh ”
"•Stevens

HOLLYWOOD: “The Production Code
has been the industry’s greatest bulwark
and strongest protection against censorship
incursions by individuals and groups whose
aims and purposes could be motivated
by self-interest,” producer-director George
Stevens told 1,500 delegates to the 63rd
national convention of the General Federa-
tion of Women’s Clubs in Denver June 4.

Mr. Stevens said the Production Code
Administration and the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences share the major
credit for influencing high standards of
taste, entertainment quality and public
prestige enjoyed by the motion picture art-
industry today.

Praising Code Administrator Joseph I.
Breen and his staff, Mr. Stevens said, “the
Code is not the opinions or rules of a group
of people, but rather a year-to-year yardstick
of social behaviour and good taste. It is
public opinion itself. Beyond this, it is the
audience’s protection and security that when
they go to the movies they will not be
affronted, embarrassed or insulted by what
transpires on the screen.”

Lauding Academy President Charles
Brackett and executive director Margaret
Herrick for their work in connection with
the Academy, he said, “the industry receives
general benefit in increased revenues, since
the Academy incentive influences all films
for the better all the way down the line,
not just those nominated and selected.”

The organization presented Mr. Stevens
with a plaque for “Shane” as an outstanding
demonstration of the American heritage.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12. 1954

her Academy Award
triumph, '^Come
Back, Little Sheba”

The winner of the "'Oscar/' the
New York Film Critics Award
and scores of other tributes, is
the most honored actress of our
time. Her new, eagerly awaited
smash hit is

Coming

AL WALLIS

production

Directed by DANIEL MANN
Screenplay by KETTI FRINGS and HAL KANTER
From the novel by vina delmar
A PARAMOUNT PICTURE

Co-starring

P MILLAR • ALEX

NICOL^^H

And Paramount backs up
Shirley Booth’s ticket- selling
name with a 90-million-reader
ad campaign in

Broadway salutes Shirley Booth at the
STAR-SPANGLED WORLD PREMIERE
VICTORIA THEATRE, NEW YORK

Sunday Evening, June 27th

Admission scale: $5.00— 3.00— 1 .50

Sponsored by Actors’ Equity Association to
benefit the Actors’ Fund of America. Stars
of‘Stage, screen, radio and TV will be there!

LIFE

WOMAN’S HOME
COMPANION

REDBOOK
TRUE STORY

WOMAN’S DAY
SATURDAY REVIEW

SEVENTEEN
MODERN SCREEN

SCREEN STORIES
SCREENLAND

SILVER SCREEN
PHOTOPLAY

MOVIELAND
MOTION PICTURE

MOVIE LIFE

MOVIE STARS PARADE

CPiai^ •*

.r.'

Audience B a Hot
Plan Submitted

THIS W4S THE SCENE, in New York last weekend, as the Council of Motion Picture
Organizations audience poll committee met at the Hotel Jlstor. Chairman of the com-
mittee is Alice N. Gorham, seen at the right, center. Wilbur Snaper, of the C'OMPO
governing committee, and Robert Coyne, special counsel, both at the head of the table,
welcomed the group.

Detailed plans for an annual national au-
dience poll to determine the public’s choice
of the best picture of the preceding year,
the best performance, and the male and
female personalities giving the greatest
promise were submitted this week to the
Council of Motion Picture Organizations
triumvirate by the special committee of the-
atre advertising executives named to ex-
plore the possibilities of such a poll.

In a statement issued through COMPO,
the poll committee, which met all day Satur-
day and Sunday, gave enthusiastic support
to the idea of an annual audience poll, stat-
ing the belief that such an expression of
movie patrons’ opinions would stimulate
public interest in films and have a pro-
nounced beneficial effect on the box office.

Would Use Television

Quarterly television shows as well as tele-
vision coverage of the annual awards are
included in the committee’s recommenda-
tions. Although it declined to make public
the complete details of its recommendations,
pending apiiroval of the over-all plan by the
COMPO triumvirate, the committee indi-
cated in its statement that the plan calls for
the first balloting to be held next January
1-15 inclusive.

Emphasizing the poll must lie given time
in which to attain its full possibilities, the
committee expressed the hope that 5,000

theatres would participate in the first ballot-
ing next January. Also stressed was that
the cost to the participating theatre would
be nominal, consisting largely of expend!;
tures for minor accessories and printed bal-
lots.

“We wish to make it absolutely plain,’’
said Mrs. Alice N. Gorham of United De-
troit Theatres, elected chairman of the poll
committee, “that this is in no sense a con-
test. It is a free untrammeled vote express-
ing the choice of the movie theatre patrons
of America in the five categories designated
on the ballot. ■ There will be no gimmicks,
and the only prizes will be the symbolic
awards that will be given the winners.’’

Poll Committee Named

Besides Mrs. Gorham, the audience poll
committee consisted of Ralph W. Russell of
the Palace, Canton, O., elected committee
secretary ; Emil Bernstecker of the Wilby-
Kincey Service Corp. of Atlanta ; Paul Levi
of the American Theatres Corp., Boston ;
Senn Lawler of the Fox Midwest Amuse-
ment Corp., Kansas City, and William A.
Carroll, executive secretary of Indiana Al-
lied, who represented Roy E. Kalver of the
Adams theatre, Decatur, Ind., named to the
committee as representative of National
Allied.

At its opening session Saturday morning
the committee was welcomed by Wilbur

Snaper, one of the COMPO governing com-
mittee; Robert W. Coyne, COMPO special
counsel, and members of the COMPO press
relations committee, consisting of Harry
Mandel, chairman ; Harry Goldberg, Oscar
A. Doob, Kenneth Clark and Jerry Pick-
man. Charles E. McCarthy, COMPO in-
formation director, also attended the com-
mittee sessions.

Paramount
Opens Ijocai
Sales Meets

A series of local level sales conferences
was launched during the week by Paramount
Film Distribution Corp. The meetings,
which will be held for the 32 branches in
27 cities over a three-week period, call for
the division of the home office executive
echelon inro a num.ber of teams which will
conduct the local sales conferences at a
particular time during the period.

A. W. Schwalberg, company president,
explained the meetings are designed to
coordinate local merchandising with national
campaigns, thereby enabling theatres in
small towns to reap the henefits of national
advertising and promotions as well as the
local campaigns. Each meeting, he explained,
will set plans for the surveying of theatres
in the territory with a view to gathering
as much information as possible so that it
may be disseminated among exhibitors to
help guide them in the proper presentation
of VistaVision.

The conference teams will be made up of
executives of three departments as follows:
Sales: Mr. Schwalberg; E. K. (Ted)
O’Shea, distribution vice-president; Hugh
Owen, executive assistant to the distribu-
tion vice-president, and Sidney Deneau,
sales assistant to Mr. O’Shea. Advertising-
publicity-exploitation : Jerry Pickman; Sid
Blumenstock, assistant national director of
advertising-publicity-exploitation, and Herb
Steinberg, national exploitation manager.
Technical : Dr. Charles R. Daily, aide to
Loren L. Ryder, head of technical research
at the Studio ; Cy Baer, studio technical
aide, and Frank LaGrande, home office tech-
nical representative. Robert J. Rubin, as-
sistant to Barney Balaban, president of
Paramount Pictures, will join the teams at
a number of the branch meetings.

E. M. Loew Circuit to
Install Wide Screens

HARTFORD : The E. M. Loew circuit is
installing wide-screen facilities throughout
its Hartford division. A screen measuring
43 by 76 feet has been installed at the Hart-
ford Drive-In, Newington, Conn., with simi-
lar units planned for outdoor theatres at
Milford, Farmington and Norwich, Conn.,
and West Springfield, Mass. A large screen
will also be installed at the downtown first-
run E. M. Loew’s, according to Hartford
division manager George E. Landers.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12. 1954

U^IHatds

Sales Meet
In Europe

BARCELONA : Milton R Rackmil, presi-
dent of Universal Pictures ; Americo Aboaf,
Universal-International vice-president and
general sales manager, and Dave Lipton,
vice-president, were among those here from
the United States as the company Monday
opened its 1954 European sales convention.
Mr. Lipton, in Europe on a tour of the
company’s branches, was guest of honor.

Included in the home office contingent
were Felix Sommer, U-I vice president and
Fortuat Baronat, director of foreign pub-
licity. The New York and studio executives
met with U-I supervisors, district managers,
branch managers, distributors and publicity
heads representing 22 countries in Europe
and the Near East.

Heading the list of representatives from
continental headquarters in Paris is Harry
Novak, European general manager. Also
included are John Spires, Mr. Novak’s
executive assistant; Dick Brett, head audi-
tor; John Marshall, middle Europe super-
visor; Marion Jordan, Southern Europe
supervisor; Andre Salib, Near East district
manager, and Bernard Goldman, district
manager for France, North Africa and
Switzerland.

High on the convention agenda is the
screening of a number of the latest produc-
tions from the U-I studio which have been
set for European release during the coming
year. Host at the convention was Enrique
Aguilar, the company’s manager for Spain.

MFE A-ims at
Erire^ins

Operators of neighborhood theatres and
drive-ins are the target of the current selling
drive of I.F.E. Releasing Corporation spot-
lighting 11 Italian produced, American lan-
guage productions. Responsible for the
focussing of attention on these types of situ-
ations, according to an I.F.E. spokesmen,
are reports from several of the nation’s lead-
ing circuit operators that they have found
“full audience acceptance” of a considerable
number of dubbed films.

The I.F.E. representative said that “pro-
gramming of these entertaining and exploit-
able attractions can help many situations to
overcome the usual summer doldrums which
threaten to become more acute than ever this
coming season because of the continuing
product shortage from Hollywood.” The
films feature many of Italy’s now well pub-
licized female stars.

The list available for summer bookings
from I.F.E. includes: “Sensualita,” starring
Eleanora Rossi Drago ; Gina Lollobrigida
in “The Young Caruso” ; Ingrid Bergman in
“The Greatest Love”; “Anna” and “Lure

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities tor the week end
ing June 5 were:

Albany: Elephant Walk (Para).

Atlanta: Casanova’s Big Night (Para.),
Gone With the Wind (MGM, reissue)
3rd week, Johnny Guitar (Rep.).

Baltimore: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Johnny Guitar (Rep.).

Boston: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox).

Buffalo: The Long Wait (UA), Make
Haste to Live (Rep.), Mii’Mi Story
(Col.), Three Coins in the Fountain
(20th-Fox) holdover.

Cleveland: Johnny Guitar (Rep.), Stu-
dent Prince (MGM).

Columbus: Executive Suite (MGM),
The Moon Is Blue (UA) 5th week.

Detroit: Executive Suite (MGM) 5th
week. The Long Wait (UA), Pickwick
Papers (Mayer-Kingsley) 2nd week.
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox), 2nd week.

Hartford: Executive Suite (MGM) 2nd
week. Indiscretion of an American
Wife (Col.), Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox), Top Banana
(UA).

Indianapolis: Dial M for Murder (WB)
2nd week, Johnny Guitar (Rep.),
River of No Return (20th-Fox) 2nd
week. The Student Prince (MGM) 2nd
week.

Kansas City: Dial M for Murder (WB)
holdover, River of No Return (20th-
Fox) holdover.

Memphis: Dial M for Murder (WB) 2nd
week, Johnny Guitar (Rep.), 2nd week.

Miami: Men of the Fighting Lady
(MGM), Three Coins in the Foun-
tain (20th-Fox), 2nd week.

Milwaukee: Dial M for Murder (WB),
Elephant Walk (Para.), holdover. The
Long Wait (UA).

Minneapolis: Dial M for Murder (WB).

New Orleans: Dial M for Murder (WB)
holdover, Johnny Guitar (Rep. j, 2nd
week. Three Young Texans (20th-Fox).

Oklahoma City: Carnival Story (RKO),
Secret of the Incas (Para.) 2nd week.

Philadelphia: Dial M for Murder (WB)
holdover. The Long Wait (UA), Three
Coins in the Fountain (20th-Fox)
holdover.

Pittsburgh: The Student Prince

(MGM), Three Coins in the Foun-
tain (20th-Fox).

Portland Ore.: Elephant Walk (Para.),
Johnny Guitar (Rep.), Three Coins
IN THE Fountain (20th-Fox).

Providence: Executive Suite (MGM),
French Line (RKO), Carnival Story
(RKO).

Toronto : Carnival Story ( RKO ) 2nd
week. Executive Suite (MGM) 4th
week. River of No Return (20th-Fox)
3rd week.

Vancouver: Executive Suite (MGM),
The Living Desert (Disney) 2nd week.

Washington: Captain’s Paradise (UA)
2nd week. Dial M for Murder (WB),
Elephant Walk (Para.) 5th week,
French Line (RKO) 3rd week, Knock
ON Wood (Para.) 7th week.

of the Sila,” both starring Silvana Man-
gano; Fernandel in “The Little World of
Don Camillo”; “Three Girls from Rome”;
“The White Hell of Pitz Palu”; “O.K.
Nero,” starring Silvana Pampanini ; “Girls
Marked Danger,” starring Miss Pampanini,
Miss Drago and Sophia Loren, and “Raiders
of The Deep,” starring Miss Drago and
Pierre Cressoy.

"Con+essa," "Vera Cruz" to
New York Capitol

“The Barefoot Contessa” and “Vera Cruz,”
two United Artists releases, have been
booked for the Capitol theatre in New York
in that order following “The Caine Mutiny,”
which opens June 24. Announcement was
made by Eugene Picker, executive in charge
of Loew’s theatres in New York, and Wil-
liam J. Heineman, U.A. distribution vice-
president. They observed the three bookings
would “lock up” the theatre for at least nine
months.

Milwaukee Braves Honored
By Wisconsin Variety

Wisconsin’s Variety Club, Tent 14, last
week honored the Milwaukee Braves with
dinner at the Pfister Hotel in that city. Pro-
ceeds went to the tent’s charity, the Mar-
quette University heart clinic. Some 400
members attended and were introduced to
the ball team. Speakers were Ben Marcus,
chief barker, who also is president of Na-
tional Allied; Lou Perini, owner of the
Braves, who also is an honorary Variety
Club member, and Col. William McCraw,
executive director of Variety International.

U.A. Gets India Film

“The Tiger and the Flame,” spectacular
color by Technicolor adventure epic filmed
entirely in India, has been acquired for re-
lease by United Artists, it is by Arthur B.
Krim, M. A. president. It was produced
and directed by Sohrab M. Modi, with Er-
nest Haller as director of photography.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12. 1954

iiliiivi.L

The August National Release of

MNrT

...will be hCTalded
of the most powerful

National Magazine
Campaigns in
Industry History!

ncluding the entire woman appeaV^ market
through all the leading womens magazines!
In the home .,,in the beauty parlor. . . in the
shopping centers ...all women ...all ages
. . . everywhere . . . will feel the pre-selling
impact of this great campaign!

45,089,226 COPIES OF 26 NATIONAL MAGAZINES
with a COMBINED READERSHIP OF OVER 100,000,000!

LIFE • LOOK • WOMAN'S HOME COMPANION • McCALL'S • WOMAN'S DAY • FAMILY CIRCLE • CLUBWOMAN
REDBOOK • PARENTS' • SEVENTEEN • COSMOPOLITAN • TRUE STORY • PHOTOPLAY • GOOD HOUSEKEEPING

Pre-release World Premiere, R.K.O. Palace Theatre, Cleveland, July 15

with AGNES MOOREHEAD • OTTO KRUGER • GREGG PALMER

Directed by Douglas. Slrk r .Screenplay by Robert Blees • Produced by Ross Hunter

JANE WYMAN

TRUE CONFESSIONS • MOVIE LIFE • MOVIE STAR'S PARADE • MODERN SCREEN • SCREEN STORIES • SCREEN
MOVIELAND • SCREENLAND • SILVER SCREEN • MOVIE WORLD • SCREEN WORLD • MACLEAN'S (CANADA)

READE DECRIES
FILM SHORTAGE

Stresses Problem on Eve
Of TOA Coast Meeting
With Studio Executives

“No sooner do we cope with one crisis
in our efforts for survival than we encounter
one equally difficult — the current shortage
of product,” Walter Reade, Jr., president
of Theatre Owners of America, said in New
York this week prior to leaving for the
west coast and a series of meetings with
various TOA regional units and next week’s
special summer meeting of the TOA execu-
tive committee and board of direcotrs in
Los Angeles.

Mr. Reade said that the latter
meeting, to be held June 17-19 at
the Beverly Hills Hotel, may well
be the most important in the his-
tory of TOA. “Our TOA lead-
ers,” he said, “plan to sit down
with production heads of major
companies to discuss as intelli-
gently as possible our mutual
problems and to seek a solution.

“Certainly we recognize the fact that new
processes as well as an increased number
of epic pictures have caused a decrease in
the number of pictures produced — and, just
as certainly, we are not pleading for quan-
tity rather than quality. But if we feel that
there are practical answers if we have co-
operation and understanding from our sup-
pliers, and we are convinced that once a
closer liaison is established between the
producer and the exhibitor, we can have a
sober and sincere meeting of the minds
that will bring hope and prosperity back
to the industry.” Some companies, he added,
have already expressed a desire for such
“across the table” discussions. Others are
expected to do likewise.

On the evening before the opening of the
meetings, June 16, the members of the ex-
ecutive committee and board of directors
will be guests at a cocktail party sponsored
by Universal at the Universal studio com-
missary.

At Local Meetings

This week Mr. Reade, Herman M. Levy,
TOA general counsel, and Albert M. Pickus,
TOA vice-president, were to attend special
meeting of the Theatre Owners of Wash-
ington, Northern Idaho and Alaska, at the
Olympic Hotel, Seattle, Tuesday; Oregon
Theatre Owners at the Benson Hotel, Port-
land, Oregon, Wednesday, and Northern
California Theatres Association at the St.
Francis Hotel, San Francisco, Thursday.

Mr. Levy Tuesday in Seattle said that
under the arbitration provisions, as now pro-
posed, competitive bidding may be used by
distributors only when it is requested in
writing by exhibitors. Referring to the re-

cent New York discussions for the establish-
ment of an arbitration system, he asserted
that “one of the greatest accomplishments of
the arbitration conferences, both in 1952 and
last week, was the area of agreement on the
arbitrability of competitive bidding.”

He said, “there is little doubt that com-
petitive bidding has been used by distributors
in many instances for the sole purpose of
obtaining increased film rental. Distribution
for the most part has not been able or has
not wanted to realize, that in the long view
competitive bidding is unfair and economi-
cally unsound; that it can be justified only in
those very, very rare instances where it will
avoid a law suit, and where no other method
of avoiding a law suit is available,” Mr.
Levy declared.

He praised the spirit of cooperation in
which the delegates to the arbitration con-
ference worked.

JVHt ScreewB
^Mioyat Tour’

Twentieth Century-Fox will introduce
“The Royal Tour of Elizabeth and Philip,”
in CinemaScope and Eastman color, to the
exhibitors of the United States and Canada
via a series of sneak previews schedule to
get under way later this month, A1 Licht-
man, director of distribution, announced in
New York this week.

The special showings of the one hour
and 36-minute feature will be held in thea-
tres in every exchange city in the U. S.
and Canada. Showings are planned to give
exhibitors an advance look at the film cap-
turing highlights of the six-month, 50,000-
mile journey of the British ruler and her
consort, and to facilitate the setting of long-
range promotional plans. Showings will be
during regular show hours with audiences
in attendance. Also on hand will be rep-
resentatives of the trade and consumer press,
TV and radio comm.entators and other
opinion makers.

Photographed by British Movietone,
“Royal Tour” shows the Queen visiting Eiji,
Tonga, New Zealand and Australia, the
Cocos Islands, Ceylon, British Southwest
Arabia, Uganda, Malta and Gibralter, and
concludes with the triumphant return to
England.

Form Producing Firm

HOLLYWOOD: Bert E. Friedlob, pro-
ducer, and Casey Robinson, writer, have
announced the formation of Friedlob-Robin-
son Productions, for the purpose of produc-
ing eight features, starting in October. The
first probably will be Charles Einstein’s
novel, “Bloody Spur.” A distribution chan-
nel has not yet been set.

Theatres in
Canada Cp

TORONTO : Number of theatres in Canada
has grown by 100 in a year, according to a
summary by Clare Appel, executive director
of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors
Association.

His scoreboard shows, as of April 1, there
were 2,163 theatres, including 207 drive-ins.
His summary is prepared from reports of
Eilm Boards of Trade in Canada’s six dis-
tribution territories.

Further extension of these figures shows
26 drive-ins under construction at April 1,
and deducting this number and the 45 closed
theatres from the 2,163 total, leaves 2,092 as
of April 1. Since then, three drive-ins and
four standard houses have opened, so the
latest figure is 2,099.

Some observers of the Canadian theatre
scene predict that by the end of 1954, there
will be 2,200 theatres in operation in this
country. This prediction is based on the
fact that during the 13-month period between
the issuance of the 1953 and 1954 summaries,
figures compiled show that 79 new drive-ins
and 55 auditorium theatres started oper-
ations.

Also that there are 38 drive-ins and 20
standard-type houses under way at the pres-
ent time, with 12 drive-ins and 21 regular
houses in the projected stage. The summary
reveals that the 1,965 theatres had seats
for 1,000,329 patrons and the 207 drive-ins
had accommodation for 76,831 cars. Both
are all-time highs.

Chicago "American" to
Increase Ad Rates

CHICAGO : Amusement advertising rates
will be increased by the “Chicago Amer-
ican,” according to a notice sent to adver-
tisers last weekend, with downtown theatre
line charges going from $1 on weekdays and
$1.05 on Sundays to $1.10 and $1.15, re-
spectively. Neighborhood theatre charges
will rise from 95 cents and $1 to $1 and
$1.05. The notice explains, “Once again
production costs have forced this necessary
move which we feel is more than offset by a
constantly enlarging circulation and edi-
torial excellence.” Minimum size of ads that
will be accepted still remains three lines for
neighborhood theatres, five lines for down-
town theatres.

Chesapeake Sells Ten
Old Films to Samba

Chesapeake Industries, Inc., has an-
nounced the sale of five-year theatrical and
television distribution rights for the U. S.
and Canada for 10 feature pictures to Samba
Pictures, Inc., of New York, for $300,000,
according to William C. MacMillen, Jr.,
president of Chesapeake, which acquired the
films from its old Eagle-Lion subsidiaries.
Samba is headed by Jerome Hyams, who
also is president of an affiliated firm, Hygo
Television Films, a TV motion picture dis-
tribution company.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12. 1954

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

trs' ;■

REVENGE erupts into a
frantic man-hunt... in this
starkly dramatic picture
of the Pioneering West!

JOHN nWNE ’ UZABEIH StOIT DAN DURyEA

^%T£Cm/CO^

WI.N DOLORES MORAN • EMILE M CAREY, Jr. - ALAN HALE, Jr.

Mrecty by ALLAN DWAN • story and Screenplay by KAREN beWOLf^* Prodocodt, BENEDICT BOGEAUS

Distributed by

R K O
RADIO
PICTURES

BLAME BAXK IIV
STIJBIO FAILIJBE

British Lion Foreclosure
Seen Blow to Prestige of
Industry in England

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : Announcement last week of
the National Film Finance Corporation’s
dramatic foreclosure on British Lion’s oper-
ations— following consultation with the Gov-
ernment— is looked upon here as the worst-
ever maladroit handling of public relations.
Certainly it has brought the country’s film
production prestige to a low nadir.

The fault, so the best informed aver, lies
not with unhappy British Lion but with the
Whitehall architects of the ill-digested Film
Bank project and its present operators. The
latter (at least) after five years’ working
of the Finance Corporation should have be-
come aware that the scheme, so far as Brit-
ish Lion was concerned, was doomed to
failure unless the now notorious £3 millions
loan were treated not as a loan but as an
irredeemable subsidy.

Designed to Help British Lion

The creation of NFFC was heavily criti-
cised as a hastily improvised Whitehall de-
vice to stave off the evil day threatening
the production end of the industry. But
even the manner of its inception was at-
tended by disingenuousness if not downright
bad faith on the part of Whitehall.

The then president of the Board of Trade
— Socialist Harold Wulsoii' — -inferred to the
House of Commons that NFFC might be
accepted as a short-term expedient to help
the industry in its temporary difficulties.
On the other hand, the primary if not major
purpose of the design was the sustenance
of British Lion.

The Company had sprung from relatively
small though highly successful origins un-
der the shrewd auspices of the late Sam
Smith. The latter was able to pay a regular
annual dividend of 50 per cent to his Ordi-
nary shareholders and, on his death, bids
flowed in from many^ sources for the “Ordi-
nary” control-holding. That passed to inter-
ests closely associated with Sir Alexander
Korda and financial promotions were imme-
diately embarked upon, including the forma-
tion of a subsidiary under the name of
British Lion Studio Company with an is-
sued stock capital of £280.000 and an addi-
tional mortgage debenture burden of around
£1 million.

Into Deeper Water

The spectacular financial operations ac-
companied by a large-scale production pro-
ject in the newly acquired Shepperton Stu-
dios brought the newly reformed British
Lion quickly into exceedingly deep and
troubled water. A renowned trust corpora-
tion authority who had been associated with

the Government in a number of quasi-official
post-war financial corporations — Mr. Har-
old C. Drayton — was brought in as chair-
man of the company.

Cardinal principle at the time in Govern-
ment thinking on film distribution was that
it was desirable if not vitally necessary that
a major but independent distributing con-
cern should be kept in being as a buttress
against the operations of the “vertically in-
tegrated combines” represented by the Rank
Organization and ABPC (Associated Brit-
ish Picture Corporation).

House of Commons Objected

Shortly thereafter the National Film
Finance Corporation was formed in the face
of strong House of Commons objections —
it was at the instance of Sir Wilfrid Eady,
then Second Secretary to the Treasury, that
Mr. James Haldane Lawrie was put in
charge — and the organizing committee in-
formed by Sir Wilfrid that it should “im-
mediately and in particular consider the
terms on which it could, as a matter of
urgency, make a substantial loan to British
Lion Film Corporation.”

Mr. Drayton originally estimated that £2
millions would be required to finance a pro-
duction programme already planned. Be-
fore any money was lent, an independent
investigation by accountants was required ;
meantime a temporary loan of £1 million
was made. The investigation showed the
estimate to be quite inadequate and the loan
was eventually agreed at £3 million.

No provision was made for the repayment
of any part of the loan and indeed the clear
understanding was that the £3 millions
should "turn over” within the Company ;
namely, that it should be used to finance a
continuing flow of production at Shepper-
ton. “Any permanent repayment of the
working capital loan could only come from
a curtailment of production,” said NFFC’s
report for the year ending March 31, 1953.

“Substantial” Losses Reported

It became clear that British Lion was
carrying on at a loss, due largely to a
withdrawal from its distribution organiza-
tion of Republic’s American product. What
are described as “substantial” losses are re-
ported for the current year although the
amount thereof is not disclosed. They are
none the less the excuse for NFFC, on
Government instructions, putting the sheriffs
in on the Company.

British Lion had admittedly been respon-
sible for a notable line of product in the
last few years, including pictures like
“Wooden Horse,” “Sound Barrier,” “The
Third Man,” “Hobson’s Choice,” “Spring
in Park Lane” ; all of them great box-office
winners. It is ironic that an impression
should have been allowed to get abroad that
the quality and entertainment value of Brit-

ish pictures were at fault ; whereas the rea-
son for the melancholy occurrence was the
failure of the Government’s plan artificially
to support that buttress against the combines.

A reorganized British Lion company will
take over the present company as soon as
NFFC’s Receiver — respected accountant
William Halford Lawson — completes his
examination. The existing stockholders lose
the whole of their investments, but it is
understood that the staff of the present
company, including managing-director Sir
Arthur Jarratt, will remain. The Company,
however, will no longer be permitted to
engage directly in production. Its opera-
tions will be confined to normal distribution
working; namely, it will give distribution
agreements to approved independent prop-
ositons, leaving others, presumably NFFC
itself, to find the end money.

Studio Future Uncertain

The future of Shepperton Studios is as
yet not clear. The studio is the property
of British Lion Studio Company Limited,
the major part of whose Ordinary shares
is held by the parent Company and thus
will pass to NFFC’s nominees.

Current productions will keep the studio
running until the middle of August by which
time suitable arrangements will have been
made. It is considered likely that NFFC
will set up a separate financial entity to
operate Shepperton as- a “letting” studio,
giving preference to those independent pro-
ducers who take advantage of British Lion
distribution facilities.

From the British Lion scene disappears
entirely Sir Alexander Korda. Sir Alex-
ander overtly has never figured in the Brit-
ish Lion control but he has acted as the
Company’s production adviser and much of
its product has gone out under the pi educ-
tion aegis of his London Films Ltd. The
latter, he declares, will undoubtedly continue.

Events march swiftly towards a resolve-
ment of the “break-figure” dispute between
exhibitors and distributors. The latter have
produced a formula which, they claim, would
put exhibitors and their share of the net
box-office take in a position at least equal
to that obtaining before the Chancelloi of
the Exchequer made his tax concession.

In other words, distributors are prepared
to forego a portion of the increased revenue
which would otherwise accrue to them under
the new tax-scale. The formula will at least
make the basis of exhibitors-distributoi s
negotiations and lead to the overall con-
sideration as to who takes what of the en-
tertainment tax largesse.

Title Canada Spy Film

“Operation Manhunt” is the final title for
the forthcoming United Artists release for-
merly called “Igor the Spy,” filming of
which has been completed on locations in
Canada. The feature is based on the experi-
ence of ex-Soviet code clerk Igor Gouzenko
since he went into hiding nine years ago
under Canadian government protection. It
was produced by Ered Eeldkamp.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

B ox Office Champions
For May^ 19S4

The Box Office Champions are selected on the basis of the gross revenue at key city
theatres throtighout tlx country.

Claim Teens
Anxious to
See ^^WintC*

Through the actual questioning of 34,723
high school girls and 31,328 high school
boys, in 2,000 high schools, MGM has come
up with the prediction that at least 6,000,000
teen-agers are eagerly awaiting the return
of David O. Selznick’s “Gone With the
Wind.” In preparation for the fifth release
of the production, Howard Dietz, advertis-
ing and publicity vice-president, set up a
special research department which conducted
a nationwide survey of high schools.

There are 7,500,000 high school students
in 28,000 public, private and parochial high
schools in the U. S. The poll indicates
that more than 90 per cent of them never
have seen the picture, but the vast majority
know about it. Those who have seen it ex-
press keen desire to see it again on wide
screen with stereophonic sound.

Of all the girls questioned, 92.4 per cent
said they wanted to see the film. Of all
the boys questioned, 88 per cent said they
wanted to see it. MGM also conducted sur-
veys among adults and as a result anticipates
a potential adult audience exceeding 20,000,-
000 with half of them repeat customers.

A competition, without prizes, is being
launched by the Loew circuit in connection
with the fifth re-release. The suggestion
came from Joseph R. Vogel, vice-president
in charge of theatres. The fourth time
around the production did big business. Mr.
Vogel challenges the circuit to Iieat the
record with the fifth re-running.

Loew’s State in New York has been show-
ing the pre-release of the film with stereo-
phonic sound and wide screen techniques.
The optical sound track has been re-recorded
for Perspecta sound and installations. The
Fairchild Recording Equipment Company
Perspecta Integrator has been installed at
all Loew theatres and was used in this
first major Perspecta re-release.

Former CinemaScope Critic
Now Is Installing It

MINNEAPOLIS : One of the most out-
spoken critics of CinemaScope since it was
introduced by 20th Century-Fox last Fall
is now buying it. The former critic is Ben-
jamin Berger, president of North Central
Allied, who now is reported to have ordered
installations of complete CinemaScope equip-
ment, including stereophonic sound, in
three theatres of his circuit. The theatres
are in Fergus Falls, St. Peter and Hastings,
Minn.

Academy Pictures Opens

Academy Pictures has opened new offices
and a studio at 588 Fifth Avenue, New
York. The firm is producing animated color
spots for TV. Its principals are Ed Gers-
hamn, president; Moray Foutz, vice-presi-
dent; and Bill Tytla, creative director.

CARNIVAL STORY

(RKO)

Produced by Maurice King and Frank
King. Director; Kurt Neumann. Written by
Kurt Neumann and Hans Jacoby (based on
a story by Marcel Klauber and C. B. Wil-
liams). Agfa Color-Technicolor print. Cast:
Ann Baxter, Steven Cochran, Lyle Bettger,
George Nader, Jay C. Flippen, Helene
Stanley, Adi Berber.

ELEPHANT WALK

(Paramount)

Produced by Irving Asher. Directed by
Vv'iliiam Dieterle. Written by John Lee
Mahin (from a novel by Robert Standish).
Technicolor. Cast: Elizabeth Taylor, Dana
Andrews, Peter Finch, Abraham Sofaer,
Abner Biberman, Noel Drayton, Rosalind
Ivan.

EXECUTIVE SUITE

( Metro-Goldivyn-Mayer )

Produced by John Houseman. Directed
by Robert Wise. Associate Producer, Jud
Kinberg. Written by Ernest Lehman (based
on the novel by Cameron Hawley). Cast:
William Holden, June Allyson, Barbara
Stanwyck, Fredric March, Walter Pidgeon,
Shelley Winters, Paul Douglas, Louis Cal-
hern. Dean dagger, Nina Foch, Tim Consi-
dine, William Phipps, Lucille Knoch, Edgar
Stehli, Mary Adams, Virginia Brissac, Harry
Shannon.

Sweden's Pet+ersson
Cites Business Swing

HOLLYWOOD: Eric A. Pettersson, presi-
dent of the Swedish Motion Picture Exhib-
itors Association Monday told a press lunch-
eon that theatre business in Sweden is “tre-
mendous” as the annual two-month summer
letdown season approaches. Most Swedish
exhibitors will take advantage of the summer
lull to install larger screens or expand pres-
ent ones, he declared. In America to inspect
projection systems and related technological
developments, Mr. Pettersson, whose 42
years in the film industry embrace produc-
tion and distribution as well as exhibition,
said VistaVision satisfies all his require-
ments.

Reade Drive-In Showing
Fight on Television

Large screen television will be used at
drive-in theatres the night of June 17, when
Walter Reade’s 9W Drive -in, at Kingston,
New York, and others present the Rockv

THE FRENCH LINE

(RKO)

Produced by Edmund Grainger. Directed
by Lloyd Bacon. Written by Mary Loos
and Richard Sale (from a story by Matty
Kemp and Isabel Dawn). Technicolor. Cast:
Jane Russell, Gilbert Roland, Arthur Hunni-
cutt, Mary McCarty, Joyce MacKenzie,
Paula Corday, Scott Elliott, Craig Stevens,
Laura Elliot, Michael St. Angel, Steven
Geray, John Wengraf, Barbara Darrow,
Barbara Dobbins.

KNOCK ON WOOD

(Paramount)

Produced, directed and written by
Norman Panama and Melvin Frank. Techni-
color. Cast: Danny Kaye, Mai Zetterling,
Torin Thatcher, David Burns, Leon Askin,
Abner Biberman, Gavin Gordon, Otto
Waldis, Steven Geray, Diana Adams.

RIVER OF NO RETURN'

(20th Century-Fox)

(CinemaScope)

Produced by Stanley Rubin. Directed by
Otto Preminger. Written by Frank Fenton
(from a story by Louis Lantz). Technicolor.
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Marilyn Monroe,
Rory Calhoun, Tommy Rettig, Murvyn Vye,
Douglas Spencer, Ed Hinton, Claire Andre,
Jack Mather, Edmund Cobb.

Marciano-Ezzard Charles world’s heavy-
weight championship bout. The Kingston
theatre will be the nearest location to New
York where the fight may be seen on televi-
sion. Other Reade theatres showing the af-
fair will be the Lawrence Drive-in, near
Trenton; the Atlantic Drive-in, near Atlan-
tic City ; and the St. James Theatre, Asbury
Park.

Gregory and .Goldstein
To Associate Efforts

Paul Gregory and Leonard Goldstein, who
individually have United Artists releasing
deals for their motion pictures, have agreed
to associate their efforts, it was announced
this week. “The Night of the Hunter,”
which marks Paul Gregory’s first venture
into motion pictures, will utilize the physical
organizational and production facilities of
Leonard Goldstein Productions, on the RKO
Pathe lot in Hollywood. Robert Mitchum
is the first star to be announced for the film,
which will be directed by Charles Laughton
and produced liy Mr. Gregory.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12, 1954

i -S

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

FREDERICK BRISSON, back in Holly-
wood, to produce “The Girl Rush,” from
eight weeks in New York where he produced
“The Pajamas Game” for the footlighted
medium, let go of some L]uotes concerning
interviews with circuit executives and in-
dividual exhibitors conducted in preparation
for the former project whilst executing
the latter.

“Exhibitors,” said the returning president
of Independent Artists Pictures, Inc., “have
no safety pins on their wallets. They’re as
eager to renew the public’s movie-going
habit as are the producers. Like all good
business men, they know that you have to
spend money to make money. They want
to invest in new-dimension screen and pro-
jection equipment, but they’d also like to
entertain the feeling that their investments
aren’t being poured into novelties that be-
come obsolete overnight.

“They feel,” the quotes continue, “that
the industry is getting back on the track
again, and are fully aware that they must
share with the producers the responsibility
—and its attendant costs — of giving the pub-
lic entertainment of a quality and proportion
that can’t be offered by any other medium.
In the past I’ve heard about exhibitors who
thought their jobs consisted mainly of light-
ing up their marquees. It may have been
true at one time; it certainly isn’t so today.”

Outside of quote marks Producer Brisson
said he’s going to film “The Girl Rush”
in VistaVision because it seems to him to
be the system most promiseful of leading
the trade toward the standardization which,
he says, most exhibitors believe it must at-
tain before it can proceed efficiently.

The VistaVision system so highly eval-
uated by Frederick Brisson in the foregoing
item appears to be in similarly favorable
regard throughout Hollywood, if report from
a responsible quarter is believed. The same
Frederick Brisson is one of the reported
purchasers of VistaVision cameras now com-
ing into general availability, and it is to
be noted in this connection that independent
producers do not ordinarily buy cameras of
any kind, finding it more convenient, in-
expensive and practicable, generally, to rent
cameras, along with other equipment and
facilities, from the studios where they rent
production space. But there are, of course,
no VistaVision cameras standing around
idly, or reposing in reserve vaults, awaitiing
renters, at this early point on the Vista-
Vision calendar. So the way a Brisson can
be surest of having a VistaVision camera
at hand when he starts shooting “The Girl
Rush” is to own one.

Other reports concerning VistaVision
cameras, which are on the point of coming to
market now from several manufacturing

sources, due to the Paramount policy of
making specifications available to all comers,
have Warner Brothers, and MGM studios
acquiring two each, Columbia and Universal-
at least one apiece, and others in line.

For the first time in many and many a
year a major studio — the major-est, so to
speak — has been advertising in the help-
wanted columns of the daily newspapers
for carpenters and electricians. Normally
a studio places its calls for craft workers
with the studio unions with which it holds
basic contracts, and the required number
are assigned, out of the pool. But the car-
penter and electrican pools have been at
such low ebb lately that there weren’t enough
of these craftmen to go around. Not — be it
said at once — ^because of a condition of
overemployment. No, but largely because
so many of them have found steadier work.

Weekend witnessed nine new pictures added
during the week to the list already in shooting
stage and seven others taken from stages to
editing rooms. It is a good while since that
many new undertakings were launched.

Warner Brothers and Paramount started two
pictures each.

“The Silver Chalice,” Warner, is the long-
planned enterprise of producer-director Victor
Saville, and it is going in CinemaScope and
WarnerColor with Virginia Mayo, Jack Bal-
ance, Paul Newman and Pier Angeli among
the principals.

Jaguar Productions, releasing through War-
ners, launched “Drum Beat,” in CinemaScope
and WarnerColor, with Delmer Daves direct-
ing Alan Ladd, Audrey Dalton, Charles Buch-
insky, Robert Keith, Pat Lawless and others.

Producer-director Alfred Hitchcock went to
work on “To Catch a Thief,” Paramount, in
France, with Cary Grant, Grace Kelly and
Jesse Royce Landis in leading roles. It is
going in VistaVision and Technicolor.

Paramount’s “Love Is a Weapon,” Vista-
Vision and Technicolor, has John Payne, Mary
Murphy, Francis L. Sullivan and Eduardo
Noriega in the cast directed by Phil Karlson.
It’s a Pine-Thomas production.

“That Lady,” an Atlanta Films production
in CinemaScope and color for 20th Century-Fox
distribution, began shooting in Spain, with
Olivia de Haviland, Gilbert Roland, Dennis
Price, Robert Harris and Peter Illing among
the players.

“The Bob Mathias Story,” the biography of
the Olympics champion, went before the cameras
in his home town, Tulare, Calif., under the
corporate banner of Mathlon Productions and
set for Allied Artists release. Mathias plays
himself, naturally, and the cast includes, in
addition to Mrs. Mathias, playing herself. Ward
Bond, Diane Jergens, Howard Petrie and Paul
Bryar. William E. Selwyn is the producer,
and Francis E. Lyon is director.

Filmakers started cameras turning on “Pri-
vate Hell 36,” with Ida Lupino, Steve Cochran,
Howard Duff and Dean Jagger, Collier Young
is producing, Don Siegel directing.

Corona Productions, releasing through Lip-
pert channels, started “Adventure in Rio,”
abroad, with Kurt Neumann directing a cast
headed by Scott Brady, Raymond Burr and
Johanna Matz.

“Day of Triumph,” independent, is a J. F. K.
Productions feature directed by Irving Pichel

(co-directed by John T. Coyle) under producer-
ship of Dr. James K. Friedrich, founder-presi-
dent of Cathedral Films, from which organiza-
tion he is taking leave of absence to supervise
production of this, his first film intended for
straight theatrical release. “Day of Triumph,”
described as “a feature-length dramatization
of climactic incidents in the life of Christ,” goes
in Eastman color.

“Walk the Dark Street,” independent, is a
Valor Pictures project, with Wyatt Ordung
producing and directing, and with Don Ross,
Regina Gleason, Ewing Brown and Vonne
Godfrey in the cast.

Illlllllllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllliltlllllllllill

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (10)

A.A.

Bob Mathias Story
(Mathlon Prod.)

FILMAKERS

Private Hell 36

INDEPENDENT

Walk the Dark Street
(Valor Prod.)

Day of Triumph
(J-F-K Prod.)

LIPPERT

Adventure in Rio
(Corona)

COMPLETED (7)

A.A.

Killer Leopard

INDEPENDENT

$1,000 Bill

(Telecraft Prod.)

Little Red Monkey
(Anglo-Guild-
Tony Owen )

SHOOTING (19)

COLUMBIA

Phffft

Joseph and His Brethren
(CinemaScope:
Technicolor)

INDEPENDENT

Return of Columbus
( Paal-Real )

Long John Silver (Kauf-
man; CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

MGM

Many Rivers to Cross
(CinemaScope;
Eastman)

Jupiter's Darling
( CinemaScope:
Eastman)

Deep in My Heart
(Technicolor)

Athena (Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Run for Cover

PARAMOUNT

Love Is a Weapon
(VistaVision; Techni-
color)

To Catch a Thief
(VistaVision: Techni-
color)

20TH-FOX

That Lady

(Atlanta Prod.;
CinemaScope; color)

WARNER

Silver Chalice (Cinema-
(Scope; WarnerColor)

Drum Beat (Jaguar
Prod.; CinemaScope:
WarnerColor)

MGM

Glass Slipper (Eastman)
Green Fire
(Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Strategic Air Command
(VistaVision; Techni-
color)

WARNER

Dragnet (WarnerColor)

RKO

Conqueror (Cinema-
Scope: Technicolor)
20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

There's No Business Like
Show Business
(CinemaScope; color)
Woman's World

(CinemaScope: color)

U-l

Five Bridges to Cross
Smoke Signal
(Technicolor)

Destry (Technicolor)

WARNER

East of Eden (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)
Helen of Troy (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)
Land of the Pharaohs
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllillllllllllllll

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12, 1954

Disney JVei
Deubled few
Six Months

LOS ANGELES : Earnings of Walt Disney
Productions in the first half of the current
fiscal year substantially exceeded those of
the corresponding period last year, and con-
tinued profitable operations are expected
during the next six months, Roy O. Disney,
president, said in a letter to shareholders.

Consolidated net profit for the six months
ended April 3, 1954, was $283,662, equal to
43 cents a share on the 652,840 common
shares outstanding. This compared with
$142,723, equal to 22 cents a share in the
first half of the 1953 fiscal year.

The current reissue of “Pinocchio” is
doing excellent business and the feature-
length True Life Adventure, “The Living
Desert,’’ is producing sizable revenue and
promises to earn a substantial profit, Mr.
Disney reported. The two most recent live
action pictures, “The Sword and The Rose”
and “Rob Roy, The Highland Rogue,” while
not up to expectations at the domestic box-
office, are doing well in many foreign ter-
ritories.

Retired Pete Smith to Make
Four More Shorts for MGM

MGM announced this week that it had
prevailed upon the recently retired Pete
Smith to come out of that retirement to make
four additional “Pete Smith Specialties” for
1954-55 release. The subjects to be made are
“Global Quiz,” “Historical Oddities,” “Ani-
mals in Action” and “The Fall Guy.” The
scripts are to be written by Joe Ansen who
has done a number of them for the short
subjects producer.

MGM Cartoons Now
In CinemaScope

HOLLYWOOD : MGM’s cartoon studio
has completed the conversion of its stand-
ard cameras to CinemaScope, according to
producer Fred C. Quimby. A backlog of
four painted and inked subjects awaiting the
wide-scope camera treatment are “Touche,
Pussy Cat,” “Southbound Duckling,”
“Brave Little Mouseketeer” and “Pet
Peeve.” They comprise the quartette of
new-angle cartoons now being sold to ex-
hibitors for the 1954-55 season.

Virginia Exhibitors
Form New Organization

WITHEVILLE, VA.: With the objective
of effecting a major saving in film delivery
costs, exhibitors here have formed a group
to be called “Southwest Virginia Exhibitors’
Association.” At a recent meeting some 20
exhibitors were present. Elected were the
following committeemen : T. D. Field,
George Snidow, Cecil Curtis, Cole Flannery,
John Lester, Clarence Hurt. The last was
elected secretary of the new organization.

EDITOR CITES SCREEN’S VALUE
AT INSTALLATION OF WOMPI

Guest speaker at the second anniversary /unebeon in Dallas recently of the Women of
the Motion Picture Industry was Felix McKnigbf, at left, managing editor of the Dallas
"Morning News." With him on the dais are, left to right: Fairfax Nisbet, of the amuse-
ment page staff of the "Morning News"; Verlin Osborne, of the Paramount exchange
and retiring president of WOMPI; Maxine Adams, of Frontier Theatres and new presi-
dent of WOMPI, and Dr. W.. A. Criswell, pastor of the First Baptist Church, Dallas.

DALLAS : Everything is big in Texas, in-
cluding the participation of the distaff side
in industry affairs. This was strikingly in-
dicated at the recent second anniversary.
Women of the Motion Picture Industry
luncheon at the Baker Hotel, to install new
WOMPI officers, allow the girls to honor
their bosses and, not so incidentally, to pro-
vide for a pleasantly informal exchange of
views.

In a highlight speech, Felix McKnight,
managing editor of the Dallas “Morning
News,” likened the newspaper business to
the film industry and expressed some of the
respect which the former industry has for
the latter.

“The day has passed,” Mr. McKnight
pointed out too, “when the motion picture
theatre has simply been one man’s business.
It is a social force and the whole community
should honor and encourage the exhibitor
who undertakes to run a theatre. A bright
show row downtown, playing the latest re-
leases,- is a value for the merchants and
bankers too. The neighborhood theatre and
the drive-in are among the factors that en-
able a realtor to develop a suburban sub-
division.

“Dallas owes more than ordinary thanks
to its exhibitors. Our theatres were fast
to bring the new film techniques, the vari-
ous wide screens, the several new lenses,
the new directional sound and third dimen-
sion, of course. What this did to the met-
ropolitan name and prestige of Dallas
cannot be overstated.”

Mr. McKnight, also, was bullish about
the future: “We, of the ‘News,’ think the
motion picture is entering a new and won-
derful era. If your own figures are correct,
more people are going to the theatre than
attended before the war. So you have been
adjusting to the new post-war times from
the theatre to the studio.

Presiding was Jerry Johnson, KRLD-TV
star. New officers installed were: Maxine
Adams, Frontier Theatres, president; Lor-
ena Cullimore, Columbia, first vice-president
and program chairman; Billie Webb, 20th
Century-Fox, second vice-president and
membership chairman. Sue Benningfield,
Texas COMPO, v/as reelected recording
secretary, and Rosemary White, MGM, cor-
responding secretary. Mildred Fulenwider,
Claude Ezell & Associates, is the new
treasurer.

National Theatres Gets
Divestiture Extension

WASHINGTON : The Justice Department
has agreed to a six-month extension of
National Theatre’s divestiture deadline. The
divestiture previously was to have been
completed by June 7, of this year. The
Justice Department has agreed to extend
this to Dec. 7, 1954. Approximately 16
theatres still remain to be disposed of, out
of some 110 that were to be divested under

the original 20th Century-Fox consent
decree, according to Justice Department of-
ficials in Washington.

Paramount Names Stoner

The appointment of Bryan D. Stoner as
central division manager to succeed James
J. Donahue, who recently resigned, has been
announced by A. W. Schwalberg, president
of Paramount Film Distributing Corp. He
previously has been with MGM.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12. 1954

Eric A. Johnston, Motion Picture Asso-
ciation of America president, was briefed
by President Eisenhower last Eriday on
the latter’s mission to the Near East. Mr.
Johnston was to leave Thursday as the
President’s personal emissary.

Steve Broidy, president of Allied Artists,
is in New York from Hollywood.

C. J. (Pat) Scollard has resigned as ex-
ecutive aide to Herman Robbins, Na-
tional Screen Service president.

James J. Donohue, Paramount midwest
division manager, resigned because of ill
health, was tendered a farewell luncheon
by his associates in Chicago last week.

Miss Ellen L. Love has retired as chief

of the Federal Trade Commission’s Divi-
sion of Export Trade.

Merle Chamberlin, chief of projection at
the MGM studio, has been named to serve
on the staff of the lATSE Official Bul-
letin.

Walter Reade, Jr., president of Walter
Reade Theatres, has been awarded a gold
plaque for outstanding community service
by the Jewish War Veterans of Asbury
Park.

Major Leslie E. Thompson, for many
years in charge of labor relations for
RKO Theatres until going on a consulta-
tive basis recently, has opened his own
office in the Capitol Theatre Building in
New York.

Medicat College Awards
Degree to Skouras

Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th Cen-
tury-Pox, last week was awarded an hon-
orary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters
from New York Medical College, Flower-
Fifth Avenue Hospital, at its 96th annual
commencement ceremonies. Mr. Skouras,
who also delivered the commencement ad-
dress, was chosen as speaker to emphasize
New York Medical College’s credo that a
professional man should be a well-rounded
citizen actively interested in community af-
fairs. The topic of his address was "The
Graduate’s Responsibility as Citizen and
Physician.”

All Officers Reelected
By Paramount Board

Barney Balaban and Adolph Zukor, presi-
dent and chairman of the board of Para-
mount Pictures, respectively, were reelected,
as well as all other officers, at a meeting
of the board of directors last weekend in
New York. Other officers elected are Stan-
ton Griffis, chairman of the executive com-
mittee; Y. Frank Freeman, Austin C.
Keough and Paul Raibourn, vice-presidents ;
James H. Richardson, treasurer ; Austin C.
Keough, secretary ; Russell Holman, Jacob
H. Karp, Arthur Israel, Jr., and Louis A.
Novins, assistant secretaries.

M-G-M TRADE SHOW POSTPOHED!

(Former Date, June 18th has been cancelled!)

"VALLEY OF
THE KINGS'

NEW DATE!

FRIDAY • JULY 2nd

Same Hour and Place As Originally
Advertised For Each Branch City.

HVide Screen
Widely Used
In Fnr Enst

Approximately 50 per cent of the first run
theatres in the Far East are already equipped
with “some sort of wide screen,” it was ob-
served in New York by William Osborne,
assistant expert manager for Allied Artists,
in describing the “general movement” to the
new medium in that part of the world. Mr.
Osborne has just returned from a trip to the
Orient.

Mr. Osborne cited the lack of television
Tokyo are fully equipped for screening Cin-
emaScope productions. However, “stereo-
phonic sound has made no impression be-
cause of technical difficulties,” he added.

Mr. Osborne cited the lack of television
competition in the two main Ear Eastern
countries as a definite advantage to the in-
dustry there. In Japan, he said, there are
two stations, one of which is government
controlled, both operating on a small budget
and thus cannot afford the product to offer
serious competition. Australia has not
licensed TV, but Mr. Osborne indicated that
there was one station fully equipped for
transmission and that this was being met by
a “well organized movement” of theatre men.

In the way of disadvantages, he pointed
out the increased expenses in Australia
caused by liigh tariffs, and the outmoded im-
port restrictions in Japan.

Phnnevisien
Test Ended

Zenith Radio Corp., in cooperation with
WOR-TV, completed its initial Phonevision
testing in the New York area last weekend.
The tests were termed “highly successful”
by Dr. Alexander Ellett and they took only
five days although it had been expected to
require approximately two weeks.

The test covered more than 150 locations
throughout the station’s coverage area.

Using a team of 15 engineers from Zen-
ith’s Phonevision research laboratories. Dr.
Ellett had test receivers spotted throughout
the area of 10,000 square miles served by
WOR-TV. Included were such diverse
locations as Southhampton, L. L; Trenton,
N. J. ; Easton and Philadelphia, Pa. ; King-
ston, N. Y. ; Hartford, Conn, and other
sections of the New York Metropolitan area.

“We were particularly pleased,” Dr. Ellett
said, “to find that throughout this vast area,
including many fringe locations, our ‘jittered’
picture was transmitted dependably and
decoded reliably by our test receivers.”

Dr. Ellett said that the New York test
had been specifically authorized by the Fed-
eral Communications Commission. It was
not a test in which the public was involved,
he added, but was strictly for technical pur-
poses.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12. 1954

ALBANY

Proof that a substantial city second-run
market for the early CinemaScope releases
is seen in the patronage attracted to the
Madison by “The Robe” and “How To
Marry a Millionaire,” presented with an
intervening period of less than two weeks.
The results from the initial showings of
CinemaScope in a neighborhood theatre of
the exchange district are described as satis-
factory, not only financially but also tech-
nically. . . . Incidentally, the Madison’s
manager, Oscar J. Perrin, was praised in
a letter to “The Times-Union” for having
“the cleanest theatre in the city,” with “no
rowdy roughnecks to annoy those who come
to see a good show” and with “lighting in
perfect harmony with the picture.”. . . Stan-
ley Warner zone manager Charles A. Smak-
witz has been appointed co-chairman of a
Colonial Ball at the Washington Ave. Ar-
mory, June 25, capping a week-long celebra-
tion of Albany as “Cradle of the Union.”
. . . Visitors included: Sam Davis, of
Fleischmanns ; Peter Dana, Universal-Inter-
national division manager Louis W. and
Donald G. Schine, of Gloversville.

ATLANTA

Miss Julia Tamney has announced plans
to construct a $100,000 drive-in on High-
way 50, Orlando, Fla. The theatre will have
a 100 X 60-foot screen, making it one of the
few drive-ins in the state equipped for Cine-
maScope. A children’s playground is in-
cluded in the plans. It will be known as
the Colonial drive-in. . . . Gay Stinett, owner
of the King’s Mountain drive-in, Kings
Mountain, N. C., has installed stereophonic
equipment which includes two speakers for
each car. . . . Dick Mullens, manager of the
Capital drive-in, Tallahassee, Fla., is the
new manager at the Capital theatre. Plant
City, Fla. He replaced the late Byron
Cooper, who died recently of a heart attack.
. . . D. W. Fuquay has been appointed man-
ager of the Coral theatre, Coral Gables,
Fla. He replaced Bill Watts, who resigned.
. . . The Cherokee theatre, Gaffney, S. C.,
has installed a wall-to-wall Raytone Screen.
. . . The Cloud theatre, St. Cloud, Fla., is
being renovated at a cost of $20,000.

BALTIMORE

The Stanley Sterns, Town theatre man-
ager, celebrated their seventh wedding an-
niversary. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Kantor,
Warner salesman, are in Honolulu. . . .
George Hoover, Variety Clubs International
from Florida, was in town. . . . Mother of
Newell Howard, Ulhnan Theatres, Salis-
bury, Md., passed away recently. . . . Capitol
theatre. Ocean City, Md., recently reopened
for the summer season, has installed Cinema-
Scope. . . . Fred Schanberger, Jr., Keiths,
is recuperating at Bon Secours Hospital
after stomach surgery. . . . Hal Marshall,
20th Century Fox representative, in town
from Philadelphia. . . . Jack Sidney, Sr.,
father of Loew manager. Jack Sidney, in
town from California. . . . George Hen-
dricks, Mayfair manager, is vacationing in

Atlantic City. . . . Lauritz Garman, Gar-
man Theatres, continues in Union Memorial
Hospital. . . . C. Elmer Nolte, Jr., Durkee
executive, joins a commitee of distinguished
citizens formed to raise funds to help Police
Department continue operating Police Boys
Club. Clubs have until recently been spon-
sored by the Variety Club.

BOSTON

Metro exchange office personnel threw a
farewell party for Mrs. Elizabeth Dervin,
who retired after 34 years as cashier and
Miss Enez Squillaro, who resigned, follow-
ing ten years as head of the contract depart-
ment. Miss Squillaro is Europe-bound for
a seven-week tour but Mrs. Dervin’s plans
are unsettled. . . . Irving Sussman, Metro-
Premium, following a three-month sojourn
in Nebraska, has returned to his Boston of-
fice. . . . Jack Hill has replaced Jack Mc-
Carthy as WB salesman, the latter resign-
ing to enter the insurance business. . . .
Frederick Fedeli, Jr., son of the owner of
the Rialto, Worcester, graduated from the
Tuck School, Hanovei', N. H., recently. . . .
Carole M. Yarchin, daughter of Abraham
Yarchin, insurance broker well-known in
the district, was married to Farley M.
Marcus at the Sheraton-Plaza recently. . . .
Jerry Callahan, AA city salesman, has re-
cuperated from a minor operation and is
back covering his (downtown) beat. . . .
Metro’s “Pep Club” outing will be held at
the Cliff Hotel, Scituate June 28.

BUFFALO

Mike Simon, well known in Buffalo ex-
change area exhibitor and distributor cir-
cles, who for many years was manager of
the local Paramount exchange and who just
recently resigned as manager of the Detroit
branch of the same company, is now a mem-
ber of the local UA sales staff covering the
Albany territory out of the local UA branch,
according to an announcement by Stanley
Kositsky, exchange manager. . . . Business
at drive-ins in this neck of the woods is up
20 to 30 per cent over last season. It is all
part of the general over all improvement in
the exhibition end of the industry. . . . The
Community theatre, owned by Jack Zurich

WHEN AND WHERE

June 14-16: Annual spring board meeting
and get-together, Allied Theatre Owners
of Indl ana, South Shore Hotel, Lake
Wewasee, Ind.

June 17-19: Meeting of the executive com-
mittee and board of directors. Theatre
Owners of America, Beverly Hills Hotel,
Los Angeles.

June 27-29: Annual convention, Mississippi
Theatre Owners Association, Edgewater
Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss.

in Solvay, N. Y., was heavily damaged by
fire last week. . . . Stanley Kozanowski has
put the Rivoli, East Side community house
on a half week policy for the summer. . . .
The Capitol in South Buffalo has reopened
under the management of Wadsworth Kon-
cakowski who is leasing the house from the
Dipson circuit. . . . The Rialto, a Schine
theatre in Lockport, has been closed and so
have the State and Lake in Rochester. The
West End theatre in Rochester is on a part
time basis. . . . The Shea circuit has closed
the Park in Jamestown. . . . George Suss-
man, booker at the Columbia exchange, who
recently suffered a heart attack, is on the
mend and is expected back on the job soon.

CHICAGO

“Executive Suite,” M-G-M’s all-star dra-
ma of big business, combined with three day
Memorial Day holiday, proved to be big
business for several key neighborhood houses
showing the film. . . . The Vogue, 1,600-seaL
northside house, reported “sensational busi-
ness, 8,000 patrons over weekend.”. . . Re-
cent rabies scare here produced a rush of
dog license business, tying up city collec-
tor’s office to the extent of delaying a tally
of theatre tax collections. But final figures
indicate that May, 1954, was better by $13,-
575.29 over that of May, 1953. . . . Walt
Disney’s re-issued “Pinocchio” continues to
draw strongly in its 9th week at the small
Loop theatre in downtown Chicago. . . .
Lester Stepner, former Jones, Linick and
Schaefer press agent and theatre manager
for 17 years, is in Illinois Masonic Hospital
with an old back injury and heart condition.

CINCINNATI

An unusual procedure for an ozoner was
staged recently by tbe Twin drive-in, oper-
ated by Rube Shor and associates. The the-
atre, the only outdoor operation within the
city limits, had on display a “Rocket Man”
Space Ship, advertised as a 35,000 exhibit,
showing an atomic cannon, radar, turbo-
booster selectors, bomb sights, space tor-
pedo, charts and crew quarters. The display
attracted city-wide attention. . . . The Para-
mount theatre, larger of the two Northio
operations in nearby • Hamilton, Ohio, has
reduced its prices for CinemaScope show-
ings from a top of 90 cents and more to
the regular house scale of 50 cents for ma-
tinee and 70 cents evenings. The move is
designed as a business stimulant. . . . The
Sky Top drive-in, featuring a modern and
complete restaurant, has been opened by Mr.
and Mrs. Orien Smith, at Sebrea, Ky. . . .
At Ashland, Ky., Mrs. Dorothy Sexton
Dawdon and Mrs. Juanita Sexton Best have
disposed of their Alftom theatre to an east-
ern chain syndicate, and the building, used
as a theatre since 1938, will be converted
into a business room.

CLEVELAND

A new low attendance over the long holi-
day weekend was reported by majority of
subsequent run indoor theatre operators.

(Continued on following page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

{Continued from preceding page)

Downtown theatre attendance was spotty,
but drive-ins reportedly benefitted by the
fine weather. ... It is reported that Norbert
Stern of Pittsburgh is going to build an
1,800-car drive-in between Youngstown and
Canfield. . . Jack Gertz of Jack L. Gertz
Enterprises is in Saluda, North Carolina,
preparing the opening of his Mountain
Manor resort hotel for the season. ... Nat
L. Lefton, retired territorial distributor,
was subjected to emergency surgery while
vacationing m Hawaii. . . . Mrs. Howard
Roth, widow of the late Paramount head
booker, has returned from Texas to re-es-
tablish her home in Cleveland. . . . Jim
Levitt, U-I city salesman, is vacationing.

. . . Jack Armstrong, circuit owner with
theatres in Toledo and surrounding area,
attended the VistaVision demonstration in
Chicago. Harry Buxbaum, Paramount
branch manager, also attended. . . . Irwin
Pollard, former local Republic branch man-
ager, has moveil his family to Detroit where
he is now with United Artist in a sales
capacity.

COLUMBUS

“The Moon Is Blue” continues to draw
large crowds at the World in its si.xth week.

. . . Mrs. Nancy Franklin won the title of
“Perfect Secretary” in the “Executive Suite”
contest conducted by Loew’s Broad and the
“Columbus Citizen.”. . . New members of
the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio
announcetl by Robert Wile include William
Onie, Mariemont and Rialto, Cincinnati and
Miami-Western, Oxford; Virgil Pfau, Star-
lite drive-in, Fostoria; Sante Macci, Wayne,
Greenville; Charles A. Williams, Tala-
wanda, Oxford, and Earnest Bunnell, Crist,
Loveland. Wile also announced return of
several former members including Lester
Shultz, Speedway drive-in, Greenville ; Mrs.
Mary Semelroth, owner and James Herb,
general manager, Semelroth circuit in Day-
ton and Franklin. . . . Loew’s Broad has
installed auditorium speakers which are be-
ing used for the first time during the show-
ing of “Three Coins in the Fountain.”

DENVER

Eddie Specht, recently named as manager
of the Ritz, and a top-flight organist, has
instituted daily organ recitals at the theatre.
The Denver Cinema Study club gave $600
to Variety to be used in their support of
a child’s speech clinic at the University of
Denver. . . . Speakipg before the Rotary
Club Arthur H. DeBra, director Community
and Exhibitor Relations, Motion Picture
Assn of America, told them Denver needed
an active Motion Picture council with plenty
of participating housewives. . . . Helen
Spiller, manager, and Robert Nelson, em-
ploye, of the Esquire, \vere forced to give
a gunman $50, but convinced the man they
did not know how to open the large safe.
. . . Kelly Baione, manager the Cottage,
Tempe, Ariz., formerly in this territory,
was visiting friends here during his vaca-
tion.

DETROIT

The Variety Club plans its big annual
bust to be held at the Tam ’O Shanter Golf
Club June 28. . . . The Ambassador theatre
in St. Louis and the Capitol in Cincinnati
have been added to the Detroit Cinerama

territory under the direction of Frank Up-
ton. . . . P'urther explorations into unique
advertising methods have Cinerama ads run-
ning Tuesdays and Thursdays on the tele-
vision page with the twin themes, “Can
Never Be Shown on Television” and
“There’s Nothing Like It on Television.’'
Bill Green believes that he’s in the eye of
persons already in an entertainment mood
as they turn to the TV programs. . . . The
hat trick has been worked again by the
Krim brothers with Sol going to New York
to look at product and brother Mac coming
in from the coast to fill the manager’s chair
at the Krim. . . . Because of his recent heart
attack, Eddie Loye, RKO office manager,
has taken a year’s leave. . . . Adams house
manager. Forest Thrasher and wife, Ann,
will visit her folks in Kansas.

HARTFORD

Jack Keppner, son of the Morris Kepp-
ners, Burnside Theatre Corp., East Hart-
ford, is recovering from hip surgery. . . .
Sperie Perakos, general manager of Perakos
Theatre Associates, New Britain, has been
elected president of the Yale Clul) of that
city. He is a member of the Class of 1938.

. . . The Starlite drive-in theatre, Stamford,
Conn., turned over proceeds of the June 8-
10 performances to the widow and children
of Nelson Maruca, 27-year-old projectionist,
who died suddenly last month of cerebral
hemorrhage. William Sobel, theatre man-
ager, said that fellow projectionists of the
Stamford Projectionists Union, for the past
month, have been voluntarily performing
Maruca’s shift and turning the income over
to his family. . . . Sam Harris, partner.
State theatre, Hartford, has been recuperat-
ing from surgery. ... Nick Kounaris, part-
ner, Kounaris-Tolis Theatres, Meriden and
Newington, Conn., has returned to his New
Britain home, following an extended vaca-
tion stay at Boca Raton, Fla. . . . Joseph
Quattrocca has been named manager of the
E. M. Loew’s Lynn drive-in, Lynn, Mass.

INDIANAPOLIS

A five-year lease on the Coliseum at the
state fair grounds has been awarded to Mel
Ross, who manages the Murat here. . . .
Trueman Rernbusch spoke for the industry
on a radio panel discussing “The French
Line” controversy Sunday night. . . . Wm.
A. Carroll, secretary of the Allied Theatre
Owners of Indiana, left Friday to attend a
COMPO meeting in New York. . . . Open-
ing of stores on Tuesday nights (in addi-
tion to Thursday ) last week to counter the
transit strike helped their business, down-
town exhibitors think. . . . Manager A1
Hendricks has lined up the Marciano-
Charles fight telecast June 17 for the In-
diana. . . . Four attractions are currently
playing second weeks here, “Dial M. For
Murder,” “The Student Prince,” “River of
No Return” and “Little Fugitive.”

JACKSONVILLE

Many faces were missing from Film Row
as vacation time arrived with June. . . .
Harvey Garland, head of Florida State The-
atres booking office, reported a big catch
of black bass at Orange Lake. In his party
were Byron Adams and “Buck” Robuck of
United Artists and Bill Beck, manager, Five
Points theatre. . . . Sylvia Lindsey moved
from FST to the Columbia office. ... Ed
Riley, manager of FST’s real estate in the

Miami area, was on annual leave. . . . Arv
Rothschild, National Theatre Enterprises
general manager, and Sheldon Mandell,
manager of the St. Johns Theatre, are ac-
tive in social affairs of the city’s new Beau-
clerc Country Club. . . . Col. John Crovo,
manager. Arcade theatre, was re-elected sec-
ond vice-president of the Motion Picture
Council. He is the industry’s only repre-
sentative in this civic group. . . . Florida
outlets for the Marciano-Charles fight tele-
cast on wide screen TV are the Carib thea-
tre, Miami, and the Florida Theatre, this
city. . . . Clara Bowers, former Palace
cashier, is now Mrs. William Harmon. . . .
Carol McCutcheon, ex-sergeant in the Ma-
rines’ women’s corps, has joined the FST
office force.

KANSAS CITY

The board of directors of the Kansas-
Missouri Theatre Association will hold its
monthly meeting June 16 at the Hotel Phil-
lips. . . . The “Vacation Movies” series of
Fox Midwest theatres, 12 consecutive weeks,
will start June 16 at ten theatres. The series
is sponsored and approved by the Kansas
City, Mo., Council of Parent-Teachers’ As-
sociations, and the Federation of Catholic
Parent-Teacher groups. . . . After two or
three weeks during which holdovers were
few, this phenomenon again appears rather
prominently. The CinemaScope “River of
No Return” is being held over at the four
Fox Midwest first runs and “Dial M for
Murder” stays at the Paramount.

LOS ANGELES

C. E. Davis, is owner of the new Three-
Way drive-in, which is being readied for the
opening June 16, in Clifton, Ariz. Ozoner
will have a capacity of 500 cars, and will
be handled by the Earl Johnson office. . . .
Joe Goldschlag, who is an assistant shipper
at Warner Bros., became a naturalized
citizen of the U. S. on May 28, and had
his family name changed to Wayne. . . .
J. Harry Agron has opened his 600 car
drive-in in Tucson. . . . The Circle theatre,
after being shuttered for almost a year, was
reopened by A1 Hanson, who heads the
South-Lyn circuit. . . . Bert Lenz, former
Columbia salesman, who was on sick leave
for the past year, paid a visit to Film Row.
... Ted Karatz of the Cinema Park drive-
in, Phoenix, departed on a trip combining
both business and pleasure to his home town,
Minneapolis. . . . After a swing through
the mid-west, Harold Wirthwein, Allied
Artists western division chief, returned to
his offices at the studio. . . . Harry Rush
resigned as manager of the Triple-A theatre
in order to undergo an operation.

MEMPHIS

Leon Roundtree, owner of Holly at Holly
Springs and Valley at Water Valley, Miss.,
underwent major surgery at Baptist Hos-
pital in Memphis. Mr. Roundtree is recov-
ering nicely. . . . Ben Cammack, district
manager, RKO, Dallas, .and Ed Williamson,
district manager, Warner Bros., Dallas,
were Memphis business visitors. . . . Arthur
Groom, manager of Loew’s State theatre,
is vacationing in Mississippi. . . . V. E.
Crawford, owner of Jeran theatre, Boone-
ville. Miss., is seriously ill at Baptist Hos-
pital in Memphis. . . . Howard C. Nelson,

(Continued on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

{Continued from, opposite page)

who was recently promoted to salesman by
National Theatre Supply Co., and trans-
ferred to Oklahoma City from Memphis,
was back in town on a visit with Mrs.
Nelson and their 5-months-old son. . . _ .
Johnny Barnes, 27, was engaged by Loew’s
State Theatre to live in a display window
at Goldsmith’s department store — across the
street from the theatre — for a week to ad-
vertise "The Long Wait,” current State film.
The window attracted much attention. It is
on the Main Street side of the department
store.

MIAMI

Robert Williamson, manager of the Dade,
reports a new assistant, Tom Braun, for-
merly with RKO in New York City. . . .
The Lincoln, on Miami Beach’s famed Lin-
coln Road, will be minus its popular man-
ager, Gordon Spradley, for a few weeks
while he enjoys a well-deserved vacation.

. . . The annual June wedding bell has pealed
for the following: WTVJ’s legal director
Richard Wolfson and Elaine Reinherz,
Frank Wilcox, staff announcer at WTVJ
and Donna Kirby; Betty Bramble, artist at
WTVJ, and disc-jockey Peter Cole; and
Bernard Rosen, producer-director, and Tacy
Hiatt, continuity editor, both of WTVJ. . . .
“The Men of the Fighting Lady” landed
in town with much fanfare which included
a preview for press and radio on board the
navy destroyer U.S.S. Darby. . . . Gene
Bryant, of RKO, has a crew of cameramen
in Nassau, shooting underwater seciuenccs
for “The Big Rainbow.”

MILWAUKEE

Friends are wishing Doug Mellin, sales-
man for Romar Vide, theatre advertising,
a speeding recovery. Doug underwent an
emergency operation at St. Luke’s hospital
here last week. He is coming along nicely
now. His wife Vera, works in Wisconsin
Allied office. . . . Mr. Harmon, manager of
the Fox-Uptown theatre, rented out the
house to Koehler’s Tot and Teen Dance
Studio for their Annual Dance Recital
“Stars of Tomorrow,” June 10. Incidentally,
Betty LaVerne’s two daughters, Diann and
Sharon, were in the show. . . . Orville Pet-
terson, office manager at Universal, and his
four teenage daughters attended Wisconsin
Variety’s Special Dinner Party honoring
the Milwaukee Braves. . . . Gordon Hewitt,
buyer and booker, Fox-Wisconsin Amuse-
ment Corp., came to the Braves dinner with
his young son, who was busy getting auto-
graphs of all the players.

MINNEAPOLIS

Construction of a new two-story exchange
building for Universal Pictures on film row
is expected to start in about one week. The
building is expected -to be ready for occu-
pancy by October 1. . . . Jack Cohen, one-
time branch manager, has rejoined the sales
staff of 20th-Fox. Until recently he was
operating a greeting card company. . . .
LeRoy Miller, Universal branch manager,
was in Milwaukee conferring with the
Swirnoff & Marcus circuit. . . . Forrie
Myers, sales manager for Paramount, cele-
brated his 25th year with the film company.
He started in 1929 as a biller. . . . Ralph
Pielow, Jr., of Quad-States Theatre Service,
was in Pittsburgh to visit his father, branch

manager of MGM there, who is hospitalized
following surgery. . . . Bill Soper, of North-
we'st Theatre Service, is sporting a 1954
Ford convertible. . . . J. T. McBride, Para-
mount branch manager, Harry French,
president of Minnesota Amusement Co.,
and exhibitors Lowell Smoots of Little Falls,
Minn., and Freeman Parsons of Sauk Cen-
tre and St. Cloud, Minn., attended the Vis-
taVision demonstration in Chicago. . . .
Helen Lammi is the new biller at Universal.

NEW ORLEANS

M. Campbell has taken over operations of
the Robertsdale, Robertsdale, Ala., from
Mrs. Harry Bye and Mrs. Florence Handlin.

. . . Paramount Gulf Theatres will close the
Alberta, a second run situation in Meridian,
Miss., July 16. . . . Joy’s Theatres, Inc.,
shuttered the New Joy, Jackson, Miss. . . .
Mrs. Selma Kinerd after many years in the
inspection department at Warner Bros., re-
signed to give all her time to home duties.

. . . Chas. Waterall, Sr., operator of a chain
of theatres in Alabama, on his visit here
announced that the construction of his drive-
in, Grove Hill, Ala., is well under way. . . .
Mrs. Fannye Phillips, who deserted Film
Row a few years ago for domestic duties
after more than 15 years cashiering for
Monogram Southern, has taken a part time
position with Lippert Pictures.

OKLAHOMA CITY

The Will Rogers theatre was closed June
1 for a private screening. ... The Warner
theatre is closed temporarily, but will reopen
soon. . . . The Rialto theatre, Tulsa, Okla.,
held a talent contest on stage May 28 and
29. Twenty acts were presented. . . . The
Campus theatre, Stillwater, Okla., closed
after the Saturday night performance, May
29. Will reopen next September. . . . The
Gregg theatre, at Caney, Kan., was damaged
hy fire May 30, causing damage estimated
at $15,000. The theatre is the only year-
round house in Caney. . . . Both the Sky-
view drive-in and Starlite drive-in, Ard-
more, Okla., had bargain nights June 2
when the price of admission was 50 cents
a carload.

PHLADELPHIA

Melvin J. Fox, president of the indepen-
dent chain of Fox Theatres, Inc., and chair-
man of the Theatre Division of the 1954
Allied Jewish Appeal, announced a 15 per
cent increase in gifts this year by his divi-
sion. . . Leonard Mintz, in addition to his
independent distribution duties, is now sales
representative for the Superior Theatre
Equipment Company. . . . Honorary life
memberships in the lATSE were presented
in Easton, Pa., to the three remaining active
charter members of Local 203 there — James
Dowling, chief projectionist at the State;
Edward Black, projectionist at the Embassy,
and Harry Mcllroy, assistant carpenter at
the State. . . . Fern Rock, local neighbor-
hood house now under owner management
of Herbert Elliott and Elmer Risley, re-
opened this week with CinemaScope screen.
. . . Exeter Township, near Reading, Pa.,
renewed its 10 per cent amusements ticket
tax for another year in its 1954 school l)udg‘-
et. . . . E. M. Loew’s, Inc., Boston, pur-
chased an 18-acre tract near Allentown, Pa.,
for the erection of an 1,100-car West End
drive-in, which John S. Scully, Jr., owner
of the Midway, Allentown, Pa., will book

and manage on a contemplated July the
Fourth opening. Also in Allentown, the
Fabian Circuit leased the Boulevard and
Airport drive-ins from David Milgram, of
Philadelphia.

PITTSBURGH

In spite of top product, the downtown
houses are still nose-diving, thanks to the
transit strike which began May 9, and con-
tinues despite constant mediation by Fed-
eral, state and city officials. Even such
quality product as “Dial M For Murder,”
"The Student Prince” and “Three Coins
in the Fountain” did only ordinary business
in the face of the prolonged strike. How-
ever, “The Student Prince” and “Three
Coins” both rated second weeks. . . . “This
Is Cinerama” perkir.g up a bit at the Warner
after a tie-in with Yellow Cabs during the
strike. Patrons using Yellow Cabs to reach
home get a dollar reduction. . . . The final
Variety Club Tuesday luncheon of the sea-
son honored the Roselia Telethon committee,
responsible for collecting $209,000 for the
new annex at the Roselia Foundling Hos-
pital. Attorney 1. Elmer Ecker presided.

PORTLAND

Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, Gordon MacRae,
Ed Sullivan, Tex Ritter, David Rose, Gloria
Greenwood, and Homer Welch were to
headline the 1954 Rose Festival musical here
June 10-12. . . . Oregon exhibitors had a
big luncheon June 7 with touring National
TO A executives as guests. . . . Sherbie
Gutokoff purchased the Selwood theatre
from the Tommy Moyer Circuit June 1. He
is giving the spot a facelifting. . . . Ever-
green’s ace showmandiser Oscar Nyberg is
off on a vacation. He will be new manager
of Evergreen's soon-to-be-reopened Fox
theatre. . . . Former San Francisco district
manager for the Fox West Coast Theatres,
C. E. MacDonald, has hypoed the famous
Multnomah Falls Inn. He lives here and
commutes. . . . Marriam Holtz, Sr., has set
up an office and will distribute film to Alaska
from here. . . . Evergreen brass William
Thedford and Carl Mahne were in from
Seattle to confer with Oregon district man-
ager Russ Brown about the opening of the
Fox theatre.

PROVIDENCE

E. M. Loew’s drive-in theatre, Rhode
Island’s pioneer open-airer, located at the
Providence-Pawtuclvet city line, recently
lost its gigantic, electrically-lighted display,
when the property it was on was sold. This
huge “spec,” which heralded current and
forthcoming attractions, was discernable
from great distances, and motorists driving
both to the northern and southern sections
of the State were impressed by its size. . . .
Cornelia Otis Skinner made one of her rare
local appearances when the World Affairs
Council of R. I. sponsored her “International
Night” for a single performance. . . . Many

{Continued on. follozving page)

UniSurface SCREEN FACING

for Drive-ins. SEAMLESS, JOINTLESS!
PictUVes as flawless as indaors. Ideal
light efficiency and viewing quality
from all angles. Law cost! Saves upkeep!

American

1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

(Continued from preceding page)

of Hollywood’s brightest stars will trek to
this vicinity to fulfill personal appearances
as guest-stars at the Newport Casino theatre.

. . . E. M. Loew’s drive-in baseball entry in
the Providence amateur league, fastest or-
ganization in this sector, continued to dom-
inate the pennant contenders when Jim An-
derson pitched and hatted the team to a 2 to
1 triumph over Colonial Novelty.

ST. LOUIS

Robert Bishop, assistant manager of the
Majestic theatre, East St. Louis, 111., across
the Mississippi River from St. Louis, made
the first donation to the St. Clair county
cerebral palsy fund drive. . . . The Rex thea-
tre, Sikeston, Mo., has been presenting three
days of western thrillers and all have been
well received. . . . Mrs. Frank Henson, the
wife of Loew’s city manager in St. Louis,
has fully lecovered from a recent serious
illness. . . . The Hoo-Hoo theatre, Gurdon,
Ark., has installed a huge new Magni-Scope
screen. . . . The Cowtown drive-in theatre,
St. Joseph, Mo., observed its anniversary
May 30 with a variety of activities. “Texas
Carnival’’ and “Girls of Pleasure Island”
were shown. . . . Russell Bovim, of St. Louis,
division manager for Loew’s Theatres, spent
a week in New Orleans, La., and Houston,
for the opening of “Gone With the Wind.”

TORONTO

Joe Cardwell, manager of the Bloor, has
moved over to the Alhambra, following the
promotion of Mike King to the Nortown. . . .
Local Famous Players managers entertained
Don Edwards prior to his departure to

Hamilton, where he is to become manager
of the Tivoli. He has been manager of the
Nortown here. . . . Film publicity men and
press gathered at the Variety Club club-
rooms to welcome Archie Laurie back to the
city. Archie, formerly manager of the Se-
ville, Montreal, was recently appointed pub-
licity director of United Artists for Canada.

. . . The Variety Club executive entertained
sportswriters and radio personalities at the
clubrooms to indicate to them the importance
of the Variety Baseball Night at the Maple
Leaf Stadium.

VANCOUVER

The Provincial Government Tax Depart-
ment is planning to inspect “buck nights” at
B. C. drive-in theatres to ascertain if there
is any evasion of taxes in the system. In
other words, they want their pound of flesh
on all admissions under the tax law. . . .
Jack Donnelly, of the Strand, is in military
hospital for surgery on his leg from a old
war wound. . . . Mary Brown, Orpheum
cashier, is on vacation south of the border.
... Nip Gowen, of the Dominion, away to
Mexico for a month’s holiday. . . . Mickey
Stevenson, Paramount office manager who
went to Toronto for a sales meeting, bought
himself a new car in Windsor and saved
himself a few hundred dollars by driving it
back the 3,000 miles to Vancouver. . . . Lily
Brewer, formerly at the Capitol, is now in
the box office at the Odeon-Vogue. . . . Jack
Senior, Paramount shipper, joined the Har-
lan Fairbanks pop-corn concession outfit.
He was replaced by Harvey Levin, formerly
with Famous Players Art shop. . . . Leth-
bridge City Council is looking over plans
advanced by local interests to build a $250,-

Altec service men . . . 200 skilled,
sound-wise field engineers . . .
Altec-trained technicians equipped
with Altec-designed precision tools
and instruments ... at work in
theatres from coast to coast . . .
installing stereophonic systems . . .
servicing . . . repairing . . . replacing . . .
counseling exhibitors . . . solving difficult
problems . . . assuring perfect
performance day in and day out . . .
for 6,000 Altec-serviced theatres!

You can put an Altec service man
to work for you tomorrow. Let us show
you how. . . today!

000 theatre in downtown Lethbridge, Al-
berta. . . . T. W. Towriss, who operates the
320-seat Capitol, Princeton, B. C., will build
a new 450-seater this summer in the mining
town which has a population of 3,800.

WASHINGTON

John O’Leary, sales manager for 20th
Century-Fox, has two talented dancing
youngsters, John and Maureen. Recently
8-year-old Maureen appeared with the Na-
tional Ballet at the Washington Festival of
Arts. . . . CinemaScope equipment is being
installed at the Pulaski drive-in, Dublin, Va.

. . . Joe Gins, former branch manager of
Universal-International here, and now dis-
trict manager for the company with head-
quarters in Boston, was given a party by
his Washington oflice staff. He will also be
honored by the Variety Cluh on June 18,
with a cocktail party and buffet supper. . . .
Max Cohen, Mineiva Film Exchange, who
has been confined to his home for several
months with a heart condition, now is able
to have occasional visitors. . . . Earl Taylor,
a patient at the Will Rogers Memorial Hos-
pital at Saranac Lake, New York, has writ-
ten to several of his Washington friends
lauding the excellent hospital conditions.

Court Enjoins Union
Seeking Two in Booth

ST. LOUIS: Circuit Court Judge Douglas
L. C. Jones, St. Louis County, has upheld a
theatre owner’s plea that union picketing not
force him to hire two operators in the place
of one. Judge Jones issued a permanent
injunction sought by Hugh Graham against
picketing of the La Cosa theatre, St. Ann,
Mo., by Local 143. “This court will go as
far as the law permits to encourage and help
labor ameloriate its condition, but it cannot
join with defendants in denying Graham the
opportunity to secure a livelihood for him-
self without being forced to hire an un-
wanted man, when this man will not be of
any service to him,” Judge Jones said in his
ruling. An appeal is expected.

General Precision Votes
Dividends on Five Stocks

Directors of General Precision Equipment
Corporation have declared the following
dividends on the company’s stocks : 40 cents
per share on the common stock; a regular
quarterly of 72j4 cents per share on the
$2.90 cumultative convertible preferred; a
regular quarterly of $1.25 per share on the
$5 dividend cumulative preferred stock, se-
ries A, 1952; a dividend of 62j4 cents per
share on the $5 dividend cumulative pre-
ferred stock, series A, 1954, for the period
April 30, 1954, to June 15, 1954; a regular
quarterly of $1.25 per share on the $5 divi-
dend convertible preference stock, series B,
C and D. All dividends are payable June 15,
1954, to stockholders of record June 7.

To Move Reade Offices

Walter Reade circuit offices in New York
will be vacated beginning in July and will
move to Asbury Park, N. J., where the cir-
cuit will make its headquarters in the re-
converted home of the late Walter Reade,
Sr.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12. 1954

Z7S Pa^eS ^kputnan^kijii ^eaf

Every once in a while, someone asks
us for a text book on exploitation or
showmanship, and we are compelled
to reply that the best such text book is
contained in the pages of the Managers’
Round Table, which amount to a total of
more than 275 pages of concentrated show-
manship in every 52 issues of the Herald.

It isn’t very practical to publish a text
book for showmen, for there are so many
variable factors involved, such as compara-
tive abilities to utilize such information, the
differences in bookings and playdates, and
the basic dissimilarities in each different
situation. Good managers must study the
progress of their trade, week by week, and
they must read, and remember, their text.

The best book on “The Management of
Motion Picture Theatres” was written by
Frank H. “Rick” Ricketson, president of
Fox Intermountain Theatres, and published
by McGraw-Hill Book Co., in 1938. It has
long since been out of print, although we
have hoped that “Rick” would reissue it in
revised form, some day. The only other
book in prospect is along similar lines,
written by Curtis Mees, which has been
appearing in chapter form in Better Thea-
tres, as part of the Herald. This valuable
and up-to-date information is available to
every subscriber to keep on file.

But the fact remains that nobody can
hope to be a showman by what he reads in
a text book, by itself. There is no course
of instruction, the professional aspects of
showmanship are not taught in any school
or college. You have to be born with a
knack for doing showmanly things, and you
can cultivate that basic skill by attending to
business along lines that are constantly
revealed, and constantly changing, in the
daily pursuit of business at the box office.
It is a peculiar fact that the majority of
good ideas are adaptations — something you
see done elsewhere, which you make over
to fit your particular need and circumstances.

The Round Table is a reciprocal organi-
zation of motion picture showmen, the
world over, who exchange their good ideas
in our weekly meetings. There are no dues

THIRTEEN IS UNLUCKY

The theatre owner and manager pays
twelve different kinds of taxes — and a
municipal admission tax would be No. 13,
unlucky for all parties concerned.

No other type of business has so many
tax bites to worry about — so many varia-
tions, from so many directions. It is the
popular idea to tax the movies. Entertain-
ment must be luxury, for it costs too much
to take the family out. If legislators lived
like their constituents, they would know.

Charlie Jones says, in his new Northwood
theatre, in Iowa, that "the families come
out, in eights and elevens" — and he prays
for more family pictures. We have too
much pressure in this industry from the top-
level, and not enough voice for these family
groups who just want to go to the movies.

The industry at large can return thanks
for the elimination of taxes on admissions of
less than 50(1. This was always basic, and
remains so. We have lost ground, losing
sight of this vital fact. But the greatest
good for the greatest number will follow
such a rule. If they relieve the tax burden
on the family), we will find the tax relief
we need for film industry, in municipalities
and boroughs, throughout the land.

When we start fighting for the family —
and stop crying for the "poor" film indus-
try, which nobody will believe anyway —
then our tax problems will be resolved.
Business is good and can get even better.
Nobody has any complaint except the
multiplication of taxes on top of taxes.
That's our bad luck.

or fees; it costs something less than 10c
per week to read your copy of the Herald
at your own desk. The 275 pages of show-
manship, if bound between covers and sold
as a book, would cost three times the sub-
scription price. We urge those who seek
textbooks to use the Round Table, and
contribute to it, as their proper share in
making this a better business.

^ EXHIBITOR organizations around the
world are seeking acquaintance and coopera-
tion on grounds of mutual interest, and the
Allied States Association of Motion Picture
Exhibitors, in this country, have been in-
vited to attend the annual convention of the
British Cinematograph Exhibitors Associa-
tion which opens at Harrowgate, England,
on June 20th. It is a healthy sign and will
produce an interesting chain reaction, in our
conviction and belief.

For instance, it would be revealed to our
visiting delegates that the British are ac-
complished showmen, and have been doing
their jobs professionally and well, for more
years than we have over here. There’s
nothing stuffy about British showmanship,
and they are quite able to point the way, in
any international meeting. The Round
Table has more than 500 members in En-
gland, and we know how distinctly profes-
sional and competent they are in the business
of selling tickets at the cashier’s box.

We’ve often suggested to our domestic
readers that they study the condensed show-
manship in the British Round Table, which,
for lack of space, is literally compressed to
an idea in every line of type. You’ll find
these items no different than your problems,
and their solutions are so saleable that we
wonder why our eager beavers don’t observe
and copy more to their advantage.

^CURIOUSER and curiouser, things
become, as they tear down the new and
beautiful Center Theatre in Rockefeller
Center, most modern in New York City,
because they couldn’t find broadcast sponsors
enough to support it as a theatre for free
admission — and now it is said that the
Paramount Theatre on Broadway will turn
over its Monday performances to the Fire-
stone Tire & Rubber Company, who will,
of course, admit the audience for free. A foot
in the door, a small thing creeping out
of the woodwork in this business, but it
signals a change in policy that isn’t pleasant
to contemplate. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS’ ROUND TABLE SECTION, JUNE 12, 1954

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12. 1954

PietorUtl Prttof
Of Promatians

Eggs-ploitation for The Egg
and I" in Omaha took realistic
form in a series of window and
lobby displays, arranged with
the cooperation of numerous
hens and chickens, plus pla-
cards to tell the story of the
reissue picture in Tri-States
Theatres.

Carl J. Ferrazia, manager
of Keith's theatre, in Cin-
cinnati. posed with this
lobby display to promote
a local disc-jockey tieup
tor "Three Coins in the

Fountain" —which picture,

by the way, is a trip to
Italy for those who will
never get there.

Deane Brown, manager
of the Lyric theatre, In-
dianapolis, conjured up
this display of trains and
stuff as promotion for
■'Ralls Into Laramie"—
there are a lot of folks who
like railroading even better
than riding the range with
lonesome cowboys. Who
doesn't have a nostalgia
for the engines that used
to whistle in the night?

What comes first — the
hen or the egg is an old
question, but there s no
question which comes first,
the promotion or the
profit. Here you see what
managers are doing to
promote pictures, and you
can calculate their interest
in the transaction.

MllSHIi

OFiAR

Maurice Druker, manager of
,ew's Midland theatre, Kansas
ity used this 40x60 blow-up

a 'nice letter from a veterans
ganiiation to prove the popu-

rity of "Prisoner of War
om those who knew what they
ere talking about; and below,
obert T. Murphy, manager ot
,e Century theatre, Buffalo,
lows his ingenious lobby dis-
lay device for "Riot in Cell

Inr.lt II.*

^Ve swore we would never
use another picture of a
ballyhoo gorilla on "^hls
page, since we've seen too
many of them from all over
the world, but this time,
we'll relax the rule, in honor
of the United States Ma-
rines, and Betty Anderson,
publicity director for the
Downtown and Hollywood
Paramount theatres, for the
test engagement ot "Gorilla
at Large."

(

owmen in

^^cti

J. W. Beach, manager of the Appalachian
theatre, Boone, N. C., sold his insurance
agent on the idea of sending out birthday
cards to customers, each one good for a
guest ticket.

George Krevo, manager of the Palace the-
atre, Jacksonville, trimmed his lobby with
very authentic tropical vegetation obtained
where “Naked Jungle” was filmed.

C. A. Matthews, district supervisor for
Alliance Theatre Corporation, really made
hay when the sun shines by advertising a
return date of “The Moon Is Blue” for
drive-in patrons who had previously missed
the picture.

Dale Baldwin ran a “movie marathon” —
an eight-hour show, and we don’t approve of
the idea for general use — but it brought in
customers who sat from 7 p.m. until 3 :30
a.m. and that’s endurance, but not anything
else. It’s cutting the potential audience
down to size. No showmanship !

A. C. Vallet, manager of Interboro’s Par-
sons theatre, Flushing, L. L, had a Punch
and Judy show for the youngsters in his
neighborhood theatre.

▼

Ingenious advertiser in this neighborhood
is stapling three approximately 9x12 display
cards around a street light post — they can’t
blow away and they can be seen three-ways.
No complaints as yet, and they do show up
fine on street corners.

John DiBenedetto, manager of Loew’s
Poli theatre, is using stair-risers to advertise
“Gone With the Wind” — putting a strong
sales message in a prominent place where it
repeats as you climb.

Bob Nelson, manager of the Broadway
theatre, Timmins, Ont, had an ingenious
display for “Francis Covers the Big Town”
— with patrons pinning tails in the right
place. For “Cruel Sea” he had his staff in
borrowed naval uniforms.

Bill Burke had an outstanding lobby dis-
play for “Beyond the 12-Mile Reef” — most
of which was a 24-sheet cut-out and the rest
a build-up borrowed from Naval sources to
show deep sea diving apparatus and nauti-
cal things.

Geo. T. Forhan, manager of the Bele the-
atre, Belleville, Ont., illustrated his marquee
lettering for “Lili” with a cute cut-out of
that Leslie Caron character.

▼

Sperie Perakos, general manager, is ad-
vertising a new children’s playground at
the Plainville, Conn., Drive-In, as well as
the largest drive-in screen in the world.

Yma Sumac, who sings in five octaves,
and stars in “Secret of the Inca,” made a
personal appearance in Hartford in con-
junction with the opening of the picture at
the Allyn theatre. Ray McNamara knows
what she gets for her concert dates, so it’s
a substantial profit for picture and theatre.

Harry A. Rose pretty proud of his pro-
motional window displays for “Rose Marie”
at Loew’s-Poli Majestic theatre, Bridgeport,
where he does some over-all thinking along
showmanship lines.

▼

John G. Printz, manager of the Odeon
Christie theatre, Toronto, is a new member
of the Round Table, with an exhibit of his
skills as an entry for the Quigley Awards
in the second quarter.

Harry Boesel, manager of the Fox Wis-
consin Palace theatre in Milwaukee, is an
eager beaver in the Quigley Awards com-
petition, anxious to match his top record of
several years ago with new examples of his
good showmanship.

C. H. Stuart, manager of the Waco thea-
tre, for Interstate, at Waco, Texas, had an
“Early Bird” matinee — at 6 o’clock in the
morning, so business girls could see “Execu-
tive Suite” before going to work, with cabs
and breakfast furnished.

Irving Mack’s “Inspiration” says (among
other things !) that “When you’re only aver-
age, you’re as near the bottom as you are
the top !” He has some other good quotes,
not for this column.

Howard Fiegley, manager of the Rivoli
theatre, Toledo, used special advertising
during a recent bus strike, offering to re-
fund 25c from the admission price to all
adults who came in taxis.

Leonard Gouin, manager of the Capitol
theatre, Peterboro, Ont., had a special dis-
play on his mezzanine for “Mission Over
Korea,” using model planes and news pic-
tures with poster materials.

▼

Michael King, manager of the Alhambra
theatre, Toronto, obtained excellent display
results for “Quo Vadis” — illustrating his
marquee with a poster cut-out and planting
the pictorial part of a 24-sheet inside the
theatre.

▼

D. E. Daniel, manager of the Gregory
theatre, Oakville, Ont., borrowed newspaper
photographs from the Oakville Record, to
add value to his 3-dimensional display for
“Terror on a Train” — using a shadow box
as the basis of the presentation.

▼

Paul W. Wenzel, manager of the Strand
theatre, Newbury port. Mass., accomplished
something quite out of the ordinary when he
landed a cooperative advertisement com-
memorating the 100th anniversary of a local
bank, with an invitation to see “Conquest
of Mt. Everest” and “Alaskan Eskimo” as
guests of the bankers.

Paul Jacobs, at left, manager of Warner's LaRoy theatre in Portsmouth, Ohio, submits
visual evidence of his tieup with the American Legion, for the benefit of the "Crusade tor
Freedom" and Radio Free Europe., The support of civic leaders and the approval of Moe
Silver, division manager, was boosted with a Proclamation by the Mayor, and the theatre
designated as Crusade Headquarters. A Marine color guard, a 15-minute broadcast from
the lobby, and a short-wave radio demonstration as part of the display, resulted in $350
in lobby donations, and 1,000 signatures on the Freedom Scroll. All of which is duly
entered as proper material for the Quigley Awards.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION. JUNE 12, 1954

As ^^Gone With the Wind^^
Mieturns #o Peachtree St.

tj,

Hljp ^

ilitif

roKfl

MGM’s second world premiere of “Gone
With the Wind" at Loew’s Grand theatre in
Atlanta, and the 15th Anniversary of the
film on these home grounds, got off to as
exicting a demonstration as was obvious
with the original presentation, at the same
theatre, all those years ago. As you can see,
the crowds acclaimed the return to Peach-
tree Street, and all Atlanta stood at atten-
tion for the re-preview, in new dimensions.
The picture looks even bigger on the new
wide screens, although the theatre, and the
setting, remains very much the same. A
street banner, stretched across in front of
Loew’s Grand, brought the new presentation
in focus, at original point of attraction.

Taxis cruising the streets of the Georgia
capitol were tagged with due notice to At-
lantians for an event of historical impor-
tance, and local papers gave it the original
treatment, plus the veneration of the years.
Ann Rutherford was present, from the MGM
studio, and greeted with typical Southern
hospitality, for a beautiful girl, which is the
approximation of 100 per cent in either de-
partment. George Murphy was there to in-
troduce her, and to act as master of cere-
monies on various and sundry programs,
including both radio and TV. There were
other pretty girls, you may be sure, and
Cammie King came on from Hollywood, for
the Southern handicap race of jeunes filles.
It was a big night on Peachtree Street.

“Gone With the Wind” is re-opening at
Loew’s State theatre, on Broadway, to the
kind of turn-away business that was typical
of the original run at the Capitol. It’s in

new dimensions, on wide-screen and it’s new
in any form to a new audience that missed
it in 1939. You can’t match or equal GWTW
as an audience attraction and the story will
live forever. MGM has gone to lengths to
provide new sales approach to match the
new dimensions and you can do it all over
again. Boyd Fry, manager of Loew’s Grand,
is doing the job in Atlanta, with the benefit
of the local branch field staff and some ap-
plause from Emery Austin, in New York. At
the same time, the picture is opening on the
Coast, and will have equally deluxe re-open-
ings in other key cities. The campaign from
Atlanta is already scheduled as an entry for
the Quigley Awards in the second quarter.

It’s a good idea to recall the history of
GWTW, which remains the industry’s big-
gest picture, even on the fifth time around.
It’s just as long as it used to be, but wider.
Don’t ask how they did it, but now it has
new dimensions, to better see the grandeur
of such spectacular scenes. As Rhett Butler
says in the picture, “Take a good look, my
dear, you can tell your grandchildren you
watched the old South disappear one night.”
Nothing has ever matched the film in history
of the film industry.

Statistically, the film has grossed over
$40,000,000 as the distributor’s gross income,
for David O. Selznick, the producer, and
Loew’s, Incorporated. That means about as
much again as the e.xhibitor’s share of the
total gross at the ticket windows. It is now
playing for the first time in countries abroad,
and commands as much attention as it ever
did on Main Street, U.S.A.

Anybody Who Can't Read
This, Stay After School

Jacques Martin had an interesting contest
for “Rich, Young and Pretty” which is
shown on last week’s Round Table picture
page, as one of his prize-winning entries for
the Quigley Awards. And so, we thought
you would like a caption in French, and it
you can’t read it, stay after school and con-
sult teacher: “Jeunes Filles, paraissez
‘Riches, Jeunes et Jolies,’ faites pretendre
votre photo avec Vic Damone, en evant de
ce theatre . . . et gagnez de nombreux prix.
La quelle Choisirioz-vous !” The pictures
were posted in the lobby and the prizes were
( 1 ) Un magnifique Costume de Bain ; (2)
Un set, collier bracelet et boucles les d’ori-
elle; (3j Des permanentes, et produit de
Beaute; (4) Une photo 8 x 10; en coleur;
(5) Banquet de Corsage; (6) Ln magni-
fique Gateau; (7) Une magnifique Jupe;
and (8) 3 laisses-passers bon pour 1 mois
au theatre Mercier.”

Makes Money Selling
Movie Shots to Folks

E. C. Lamoureux, manager of the Palace
theatre, Windsor, Ontario, writes his thought
that if Round Table members want to get
their money back after a big parade, find
an amateur photographer who will take
movies and then sell the 16-millimeter shots
of folks who want their pictures, enlarged
to snap-shot size. Besides that extra revenue,
the full-length parade picture is an attraction
in itself, and everybody wants to get in the
act. The idea of making local movies al-
ways creates good will, and usually costs
little — in these days, almost anybody can do
it. This year, in Windsor, they had 45,000
in the parade.

Free Movie Tickets
In Sponsored Page

Rufus C. Neas, manager of the State the-
atre, Mooresville, N. C., submits a tear sheet
of a newspaper page on “The Glenn Miller
Story,” in which eight cooperative mer-
chants offer free guest tickets for his current
attraction, with very large display for the
pressbook mat, the idea and the playdates.
One thing that strikes us that if you find it
hard to sell a group of merchants on a full-
page cooperative ad, it might come easier if
you tied in some ducats, which after all, are
introductory, and you need ways and means
to get the right distribution for the right
number of free tickets at the right time to
make friends and influence people to believe
that the movies are better than ever, and
their best entertainment. Know any more
slogans to combine in one sentence ?

ALWAYS]

GOOD!

LOOK TO

FILMACK

FOR THE FINEST
ANNOUNCEMENT

TRAILERS

1327 S. Wabash - Chicago. III. 630 Ninth Aft. - Now York N. Y.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12. 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy.Count initials, box numberand address. Minimuminsertion $1.50. Four
Insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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)

HELP WANTED

POSITIONS WANTED

EXTREMELY EXPLOITATION MINDED MAN-
ager, thoroughly experienced, circuit trained, desires
good connection. BOX 2792, MOTION PICTURE
HERALD.

THEATRES

MOTION PICTURE THEATRE— MARNE, MICHI-
gan (near Grand Rapids) building and equipment.
This is a modern theatre, built about five years ago.
Seating capacity 408. Radiant heat. Air-conditioned.
Motiograph projectors and soimd. Large capacity park-
ing lot. Situated in good agricultural area. Phone
9-6221, Real Estate Department, THE MICHIGAN
TRUST COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich.

FOUR HUNDRED SEAT, AIR CONDITIONED,
only neighborhood theatre, easily converted, wide
screen. Ten thousand, half cash. LAKESHORE THE-
ATRE, Jacksonville, Florida.

THEATRE FOR LEASE — 450 SEATING CA-
pacity, in industrial and tourist city, central west coast
of Florida, population 5,500. Excellent opportunity
on small investment. Theatre located in heart of busi-
ness district. Write, P. O. BOX 202, Tarpon Springs,
Fla.

FOR SALE: aTY ISLAND. NEW YORK, O'NLY
neighborhood theatre, 590 seats, population 7,000. BOX
2793, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

VENTILATING EQUIPMENT

BEAT THE HEAT BUT NOT THESE PRICES
— ball-bearing bucket blade exhaust fans 12” — $25.50;
16” — $37.50; 18” — $45. Prompt deliveries blowers and
air-washers. Send for details. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

USED EQUIPMENT

IKW LAMPHOUSES AND RECTIFIERS. Ex-
cellent condition, $495 pair; DeVry dual projection
and sound, rebuilt $895, Holmes $495. Buy on time!
S.O.S. CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W.
S2nd St., New York 19.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

CENTURY “CC” DRIVE-IN OUTFIT ONLY $3495,
others from $1595 {send for lists). Incar speakers
w/4” cones $15.50 pair w/junction box; Underground
cable $65M. Time deals arranged. S.O.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St.. New
York 19

SEATING

HERE’S A DELUXE CHAIR BUY! 1500 AMERI-
can Bodiform fully upholstered, rebuilt like new $12.50;
others from $4.50. Send for Chair Bulletin. S.O.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION. 602 W. 52nd
St., New York 19.

NEW EQUIPMENT

MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS. FITS WAG-
ner, Adler, Bevelite Signs: 4” — 35c; 8” — 50c; 10” — 60c;
12”— 85c; 14"- $1.25; 16”— $1.50. S.O'.S. CINEMA

SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New
York 19.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

CAPITALIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE — SHOOT
local newsreels, TV commercials, documentaries.
Arranere advertising tie-ups with local merchants.
Ask for Film Production Catalog. S.O.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St.. New
York 19.

SERVICES

WINDOW CARDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDS,
photo-oflfset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CD.,
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-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 B(X>K-
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 reprSduction-
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 ALMA-
nac — 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
vour copy today. $5.00, postage included .Send remit-
tance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP. 1270 Sixth Avenue,
New York 20. N. Y.

WANTED TO BUY

WILL PAY 50c EACH FOR OLD LANTERN
slides used for theatre advertising. J. KOREN, 4201
Schiller Ave., Qeveland 9, Ohio.

"Line" Stirs New Legal
Row in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS : A week of controversy
spearheaded by Marion County Prosecutor
Frank H. Fairchild has failed to stop show-
ing RKO Radio's “The French Line.” But
the legal maneuvering has brought it reams
of publicity resulting in crowds at all four
Marion County theatres playing it.

Most drastic step was the filing of affi-
davits against Russell Brentlinger, RKO
branch manager, and four exhibitors charg-
ing them with possessing and exhibiting ob-
scene pictures. The exhibitors include
Manny Marcus, Ambassador; Rex Carr,
Ritz; Peter J. Fortune, Tuxedo; and Forest
Sanger, Westside Outdoor. Two other
drive-ins outside Marion County also are
playing the picture.

RKO Radio meanwhile obtained a tem-
porary injunction from Superior Court Jus-
tice John Niblick enjoining the prosecutor
from interfering or threatening to interfere
with the exhibition of the film. The hearing

was continued to next September. Earlier
the court issued a restraining order to re-
strain Mr. Fairchild from preventing the
showings. William Evans, Jr., of Flays &
Hays, is representing RKO in Indianapolis.
The law firm was founded by the father of
the late Will H. Hays, former president of
the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu-
tors of America. Mr. Hays and his brother,
Hinkle Hays, headed it until the former’s
death this spring.

Legion Classifies Three;
Condemns French Film

The National Legion of Decency this
week classified three new films, rating one
C, condemned. In Class A-1, morally un-
objectionable for general patronage was
“Challenge of the Wild.” In Class A-II
was “Waterfront.” Mayer-Kingsley’s “Le
Plaisir” was given the C rating because it
“present in both theme and treatment a
sympathetic portrayal of immoral actions.
Morever, it contains material morally un-

suitable for entertainment motion picture
theatres and is offensive to religion.”

Screen Extras Guild
Elects Administration

The administration’s ticket of officers and
directors were elected and reelected by ma-
jorities of up to three-to-one, at the annual
voting in Hollywood last week, of the
Screen Extras Guild. Among reelected offi-
cers are Richard H. Gordon, president, and
Jeffrey Sayre, treasurer.

Jacques Dicharry Dies;

New Orleans Exhibitor

NEW ORLEANS : Jacques A. Dicharry,
68, New Orleans theatre operator, died here
June 3. At the time of his death he was
president of Jadal Theatres, Inc., and Lin-
coln Theatres, Inc. He constructed the Lin-
coln theatre in 1921 and operated it for 33
years. He is survived by the widow, two
sons and a daughter.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

What’s left after customers buy their tickets at your
box office? Coins to jingle m their pockets ... or extra
profits to show in your ledger? It all depends on you.
Theater patrons have proved from coast to coast that
they enjoy delicious Coca-Cola when they come to see
the show. It will pay you . . . handsomely ... to
make Coke available in your house. For details
on a variety of vending equipment, write
The Coca-Cola Company, P.O. Box 1734,

Atlanta, Georgia.

yifh

for extra
profit

*<COKE’» ts A REGISTERED TRADE-MARK.

THEATRB

SALE

GEORGE SCHUTZ, Director
CARL R. MOS, RICHARD GERTNER, Associate Editors

Better Equipment tor Ccl4 hrink

and Jfce Cream Sales

Q Summarizing and picturing lat-
est developments in devices for
preparing and serving beverages and
ice cream novelties at theatre refresh-
ment stands, with a pictorial review of
dispensers and cabinets (next page).

THE RAPID strides in pop-
ularity made in the past few years by soft
drinks and ice cream among patrons of the-
atre refreshment stands — both indoor and
outdoor — have been paralleled by tremen-
dous improvements in the equipment avail-
able to dispense these products. There is
now on the market a variety of machines
in both categories, geared to do a job meet-
ing the requirements of every type of thea-
tre from the small town to the metropoli-
tan operation. The evidence is offered in a
pictorial review of this equipment, includ-
ing specifications, which begins on the next
page.

Though traditionally thought of as re-
freshments for the summer time, soft drinks
and ice cream have been proving their abil-
ity to win profits for theatre operators on

Installations of automatic coin soft drink dis-
pensers continue to increase in theatres as attested
by the recent addition to refreshment facilities
at the Capitol theatre in New York City (shown
at right). The machines are all Apco "Soda
Shoppes," the center one having a capacity of
six flavors and the two on either side serving
three different drinks each. (Also see next page.)

a year-round basis. Cold beverages
are now sold all year at approximately
75% of the indoor theatres and vir-
tually all drive-ins in the country. Ice
cream is offered at 90% of the out-
door and at about 50% of the indoor
refreshment stands.

In dispensing soft drinks the majority of
theatres (regardless of type) offer them to
patrons in cups from manually operated

units either placed conveniently on the
counter, where they have the additional ad-
vantage of providing display, or in a floor
model behind the stand. Continual im-
provements are being made in their ma-
chines by manufacturers of both types, in-
cluding changes designed to increase the
draw rate, the refrigerating mechanism and
the appearance and utility of the cabinet
itself. For an example of the latter, one

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

l-R

cumpaii\’ has added a superstructure to its
1954 door model with a case on the front
which can be used for ad\ertising display.

More and more theatres are also install-
ing automatic coin drink dispensers, in some
cases placing them adjacent to the stand to

provide additional revenue and in other in-
stances using them exclusively. Major im-
provements have also been made lately in
these machines, and deluxe models are now
available to dispense non-carbonated as well
as carbonated beverages, hot drinks along

with cold, and beverages of variable car-
bonation. Most of these machines are now
multi-davor units with models including 1,
2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 davors and capacities rang-
ing from 250 to 2,000 cups.

In the ice cream field there is also evident

^ Beverage Equipment in Review

THE SODAMASTER, equipped to
serve three flavors of carbonated
drinks plus continuous supply of soda.
Special self-cleaning faucet designed
to prevent intermingling of flavors.
Model D4H (above) serves four
flavors and up to 2,500 finished
drinks without refilling. New super-
structure has illuminated case for
display cards and plastic medallions
on either side for flavor identifica-
tion, both being changeable. Car-
bonic Disp enser, Inc., Canfield, Ohio.

THE SODASHOPPE, line of auto-
matic dispensers with models rang-
ing in capacity from 3 to 8 drinks.
All selective. 6-drink model (left)
serves 4 carbonated and 2 non-car-
bonated drinks. Cup capacity, 1,200;
syrup, 2,500. Standard equipment on
all models includes changemaker and
dual C02 regulator with illuminated
mirror standard on 3 and 4-drlnk
models. "Junior" Sodashoppe avail-
able for 2 carbonated and I non-
carbonated drinks. Apco, Inc., New
York City.

THE COLE SPA, automatic dispenser
(right) equipped to serve six drinks.
Capacity 1,200 cups; over 2,400
drinks in four large syrup tanks. M-12
hermetic system. Dimensions: 29 by
24 Inches. All-welded steel chassis.
Mlcrothermic refrigeration. New
"Tru-M ix" drink throw. Interior ser-
vice light. Other models available
for 3, 5 or 8 drinks. Equipped with
illuminated display sign of plastic
in bright colors or mirror it desired.
Automatic change maker. Cole Prod-
ucts Corporation Chicago.

THE SELMIX DISPENSER, made for
Coca-Cola. Models feature rede-
signed counter and rail bases to
which the dispenser cabinet may be
attached interchangeably. Designed
to deliver a 6-ounce drink in four
seconds. Increased insulating effi-
ciency. Pre-set to provide 115 drinks
to the syrup gallon. Dimensions: 9
inches, width; 19% inches, length.
Both rail and counter models rise
17% inches above counter. Coca-
Cola Company, Atlanta, Ga.

THE DAD'S PERLICK UNIT, to serve
Dad's Root Beer from an 8-gallon
barrel mounted on top, plus two
olher flavors from Bastian-Blessing
faucets. Entire unit is self-contained
and completely carbonated and re-
frigerated. Models include Standard
and Deluxe Stainless Steel; "A" units
for 2 carbonated and I non-carbon-
ated drinks; "B" units for 3 carbon-
ated. Dimensions of all models:
length, 34 inches; width or depth, 26
inches. Dad's Root Beer Co., Chicago.

THE EVERFROST SODA BAR, a
three-faucet dispenser. Equipped with
three 2-gallon capacity syrup tanks
with stainless steel covers. All dry
refrigeration; 1/2 h.p. hermetic com-
pressor. Three models available. One
with all stainless steel finish; one
baked red dulux with stainless steel
capping on base section; one stain-
less steel top section, red dulux base.
Formica syrup tank cover, black on
two models, red on one. Everfrost
Sales Inc., Gardena, Calif.

I HE KESTENBAUM DRINK DIS-
PENSER, a two pump unit. Stainless
steel throughout. Cork insulated. Ca-
pacity 6 gallons each pump. Size: 17
by 30 by 1 5^/2 inches high. Can be
set flush into counter or on top. Ice
or mechanical refrigeration. Also
available one pump or three pump
unit. The company reports that it can
also supply units of any capacity to
suit individual purposes, including
large drive-in theatres. W. Kesten-
baum, Inc., New York City.

2-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

a remarkable activity among equipment
manufacturers directed toward increasing
the ease with which frozen confections can
be dispensed in theatres and also in helping
to promote the product itself.

In the latter respect one notable advance
has been in the introduction of display cabi-
nets which can be placed right into the
counter for self-service by the customer.
One unit of this type is equipped with an
advertising sign on top and lighting and

multiple-angled mirrors to magnify the dis-
play. This unit is also provided with spoon
trays for cups and sundaes mounted on the
side arms. Refrigeration is thermostatically
controlled, and the condensing unit is her-
metically sealed. A rear storage compart-
ment allows attendants to refill the service
section quickly and can also be used to over-
load the service and display area prior to
intermissions or peak periods.

Advances have also been recorded in the

development of automatic ice cream ven-
dors. These machines dispense coated stick
confections (of which a chocolate-covered
ice cream bar is most popular) and several
can also vend ice cream sandwiches. The
product is usually priced at 10c and the
3- to 4-ounce “novelty” products are
usually bagged. Most of the machines are
one-flavor units.

The most popular ice cream with both
{Continued on folloiving page)

THE MAJESTIC JUICE DISPENSER,
Model II20-R. Equipped for coun-
ter display with "fountain of juice,"
which sprays the beverage to the
illuminated pastel dome and showers
it down over the cascades. Stainless
steel cabinet. Capacity I I gallons.
Counter space: I T'/j by 18/2 inches.
Height, 33 inches. Removable Incite
bowl. Heavy-duty Tecumseh hermeti-
cally sealed condensing unit. Other
models with capacity ranging all the
way from 3 to I ! gallons. Majestic
Enterprises, Ltd., Los Angeles.

THE MANLEY ICE-O-BAR, designed
to serve up to 1,500 cold drinks. May
be equipped with three dummy dis-
play heads for various flavors. Form-
ica top. Stainless steel faucets for
any desired combinations of two or
three flavors and of carbonated or
plain water. Dimensions: 33i/2 Inches
wide; 45 inches high; 24 inch es deep.
Model 3603 shown above. Cabinet of
white baked-on enamel. Pre-cooled
syrup is gravity fed and syrup can be
rofilled from top. Manley, Inc., Kan-
sas City, Mo.

THE PEPSI-COLA COUNTER DIS-
PENSER, Model No. 3825. Capacity,
5 to 6 drinks per minute, total ca-
pacity about 250 drinks. Holds I gal-
lon syrup can. Dimensions: cabinet
v/i dth, 9 inch es; height above coun-
ter, 131/2 inches; overall height, 19%
inches; length, 15% inches. Ice ca-
pacity: 10 pounds. Cabinet has

pressed steel exterior, painted blue
on top, white below, plus red-white-
and-blue Pepsi insignia. Made by
Selmix Dispenser, Inc., for the Pepsi-
Cola Company, New York City.

THE SELMIX CASCADE, Model No.
8500, available in two models with
either the fast-fill valves and per-
forated cup cover for cafeteria oper-
ation or with permanently mounted
valves and a solid cover for more
conventional operation. Capacity: 24
6-ounce drinks per minute at 40° or
less from 80° incoming water. Syrup
system: pressurized with 5 gallon
stainless steel syrup containers. Cab-
inet stainless steel. Dimensions: 36
Inches wide; 22% dee p; 39 high.
Selmix Dispensers, Long Island City.

THE LYON VENDER, automatic dis-
penser (left) for a choice of 3 car-
bonated or 2 carbonated and I plain
beverages. Capacity: 1,400 drinks,
one syrup tank dispenses 600 drinks;
the other two 400 each. Front con-
structed of marble. New coin selector
system has separate slots for each
flavor, eliminating buttons or dials.
Each flavor has its own "sold out"
button; if one flavor runs out, ven-
der keeps selling. Coin changer also
available. Model shown No. I400-3F.
Lyon Industries, Inc., New York City.

IHE SPACARB "8" (right) auto-
matic drink dispenser for 4 individ-
ual flavors, 2 flavor mixes and 2 non-
carbonated drinks. Standard features
include Select-O-Carb" (dual car-
bonation ) offering high carbonation
for colas and low for fruit flavors.
Fluorescent light fiber-glass 4-color
sign to illuminate face of machine.
Cup capacity: 1,000; syrup storage:
20 gallons. Color, two-tone green.
Coin changer standard. Size: 72%
inches high; 33 inches wide; 25%
inches deep. Theatre canopy avail-
able. Spacarb, Inc., Stamford, Conn.

THE UNIFLOW DISPENSER, a cab-
inet type with two faucets supplying
t./o flavors each and one faucef for
£oda water. Carbonator is "Liquid
Carbonic" with refrigeration by a
% h.p. Servel sealed unit. Cabinet
finished In pebble tone. Fittings are
stainless steel. Side cabinet {not
shown) detachable for remote in-
stallation. Also available in a variety
of models with three-way faucets on
the front, model shown No. S2A4.
Uniflow Mfg. Co., Erie, Pa.

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

3-R

drive-in and indoor theatre patrons is re-
ported to be that on a stick (probably be-
cause of youngster demand) with sand-
wiches, cups, cones and bon bons following
in that order. However, frozen custard
and soft ice cream products have long been

particular favorites at drive-ins, and a few
indoor operators have also found this to be
profitable when facilities permit installation
of the necessary equipment. The latest mod-
els of freezers are pictured in this issue,
including equipment whereby a shake or

malt may be drawn from a spigot ready-
mixed except for flavor.

Whatever the size or requirements of the
theatre the equipment is available for all
operators to cash in on the profits afforded
by soft drinks and ice cream.

^ Ice Cream Equipment in Review

THE COLSNAC, automatic vendor
to dispense ice cream bars-on-a-stick
or ice cream sandwiches. Capacity:
100 bars or sandwiches in vending
mechanism; 100 in storage, ready for
vending. Heavy gauge steel cabinet
on steel super-structure. 4-inch thick
insulation on all sides. Dispensing
chute 341/2 inches from floor. Dome
light over coin slot. Coin changer
standard equipment. Atlas Tool and
Manufacturing Company, St. Louis.

AUTOMATIC MALT AND SHAKE
DISPENSERS: Left, the Freez-King
shake dispenser, designed to serve
one shake in 10 seconds, 360 an
hour using the company's special
formula mix. Size: 20 inches wide;
26 inches deep. Stainless steel front.
The Freez-King Corporation, Chi-
cago. "KWIK-SHAKE" (above)
counter model malt and shake freezer
using special mix. Holds 5 gallons.
Kwik-Shake D ispenser Co., Chicago.

THE MILLS SHAKE AND MALT
MACHINE, constructed with built-in
refrigerated syrup pumps so three
flavors (including basic vanilla) may
be produced without the operator
having to leave the machine. Mix
container, freezer barrel and syrup
pumps are stainless steel contained
in separate insulated refrigerated
chamber, Top and tray are light blue
plastic. % h.p. condensing unit. Mills
Industries, Inc., Chicago.

THE COLDISPLAY, self-service mer-
chandiser with four separate com-
partments for various ice cream nov-
elties. Large mirror, hinged for ser-
vice from rear, amplifies upper dis-
play and service section. Plastic front
is rubber mounted and unbreakable.
Case lighted from rear. All metal
cabinet finished in mahogany. Dimen-
sions: width, 35y8 inches; depth, 24%
inches; over-ail height, 52% inches.
Supurdisplay, Inc., Milwaukee.

THE ROWE ”180" automatic ice
cream vendor. Capacity: 180 ''pops"
or sandwiches. Equipped with illu-
minated display sign. Fully automatic
with change-maker as standard equip-
ment. Finished in Hammertone green
enamel. Dimensions: 53 inches high;
44 inches wide; 30 inches deep. %
h.p. Nash-Kelvinator refrigeration
unit with temperature control. Cab-
inet of heavy-gauge cold rolled steel.
Rowe Corporation, New York City.

THE CHALLENGER BT 84 BOBTAIL, dual-service unit designed for oper-
ators requiring fountain facilities to handle larger than normal service dur-
ing peak hours. Features two draft stations and two separate sets of syrup
pumps and crushed fruit facilities — all accessible to two operators at the same
time. A large refrigerated storage compartment (approximately 15 cubic
feet capacity) for bottled and packaged goods is likewise accessible through
large lids (15 by 15 inches) on either side. In the center section of the unit
there is a chipped ice pan, which can be reached by either operator through
a large 8 by 15-inch lid. Fischman Company, Philadelphia.

[PICTORIAL REVIEW CONTINUED ON PAGE 6-R]

4-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

The movies

have helped to make her

CMdClBiL<>

Pcpsi-Cola's national advertising program appeals to today’’ s
/ignre-con scions ivomen. That's why Pepsi-Cola is today more
papular than ever. Cash in on Pepsi's growing popularity for
mare soft drink sales in your theatre.

When she goes to the movies

she prefers to refresh without filling

Hollywood’s idea of beauty is the slender
figure. And the movie fan’s greatest dream
is to be like a Hollywood star. That’s
why your woman patron’s taste is for the
modern, light refreshment. And this
modern idea sells more Pepsi-Cola in
more and more theatres ... in
whatever lorm it’s served.

THEATRE

SALtS

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

5-R

Ice Cream Equipment in Review CONTINUED

THE CRAIG ICE CREAM VENDOR,

for automatically dispensing ice
cream bars at lOc each. Available
in tv/o sizes: Model No. 6 with a
capacity of 252 bars and coin
changer. Model No. 4 with capacity
of 132 bars and coin changer. Steel
cabinet with white enamel finish.
Craig Machine, Inc., Danvers, Mass.

THE SWEDEN SYSTEM OF AUTOMATIC FOUNTAIN OPERATION (above)
for preparing and serving soft ice cream products employs two machines: a
"Sott-Serv" freezer in which is made soft ice cream for use in cones and in
preparing sundaes, sodas and floats; and the "Frigidmixer" in which is made
a milk shake base that needs only the addition of flavoring and a few seconds
on the mixture mixer before serving. The machines are completely automatic
in operation and require only toe pressure on a foot switch to draw the
product. The new system is available in several sizes of combinations depend-
ing upon requirements. The Sweden Freezer Manufacturing Company, Seattle.

THE SANI-SERV, automatic-continu-
ous dairy freezer for ice milk, soft
ice cream, frozen custard and sher-
bet. Automatic mix feed in full view
of operator. Adjustable capacity con-
trol tor slow and peak periods. Re-
circulating dispensing spigot. Two
temperature controls. General Equip-
ment Sales, Inc., Indianapolis, Ind.

Boosting Ice Cream Profits Through
Self-Service and Selling in the Aisles

A considerable increase in Ice cream sales has been effected at the Capitol
theatre In Windsor, Ontario, an operation of the Famous Players Canadian
circuit, through two devices — installation of an enlarged self-service cabinet

at the stand (see left) and Introduction
of aisle sales (above). Manager J. J. Lefave
reports that stand sales jumped 50% after
the new self-service unit was placed in
operation. The cabinet, a Universal cooler,
affords full view of the flavors available —
cherry, malted milk and vanilla. Even better
results are reported through the aisle sell-
ing by Mr. Lefave, who states that the lat-
ter sales are now 50% over those done at
the stand. The bars are sold by ushers dur-
ing a five minute program Intermission.

6-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

by Carl R. Mas

• • •

A SMART TIE-UP
is reported by Ardley,

Inc., makers of reflec-
tive signs. Seems the
Empire drive-in at
West Webster, N. Y.,
is used as a church on Sunday morn-
ings. So, where local ordinances prohibit
erection of the theatre’s directional signs,
“Drive-In Church"' signs are put up. An
example of constructive cooperation.

•

Switch; Gene Kilburg, general manager of
Supurdisplay, has resigned to become g.m. of
Stevens Candy Kitchens, Chicago. Patricia Gar-
diner, sales manager of Supurdisplay, likewise
shifted to the candy company in an exec capac-
ity. Gene and Pat did a great job for Butter-
cup, and they’ll be missed at the popcorn meets.
•

OBSERVING . . .

That Pepsi-Colas Alan Finley promises
some surprises for visitors to the Pepsi
booth at the 1954 Tesma Trade Show. . . .
That the “Rainbow Light," Spacarb-8 soft
drink dispenser, is proving a real bell-
ringer (reported by Howard Richardson).
. . . That an upswing in demand for soft
drinks is predicted by N. Y. financial
house, Francis I. DuPont & Company, in
a study showing that there has been a 7
per cent increase per year since 1937.
Listed alphabetically, Canada Dry, Coca-
{Continued on page 10-R)

Not to forget (assuming you have noted the
parade of soft drink dispensers in preceding pages)
the ultimate instrument of the sale — the paper cup,
as it is fashioned nowadays to assure not only
sanitation, but convenience and the original flavor
of the contents. Here is a grouping of sturdy Lily
Tulip cups of dispenser type, which can carry the
name of product or retailer, or be had plain.

DOUBLE FEATURE

For Vending
Machines

There’s the right
size and type
Lily Cup for every
dispensing job —
Hot and cold drinks
. . . Cola . . , fruit
juices . . . milk!
Available in 6 oz.,
7 oz., 10 oz. sizes.

For Over
The

Counter

There’s a v/ide
selection of special
Lily Cups ranging
from Lily6 oz. Cola
cups to Lily 24 oz.

Milk Shake cups.
Available too . . .

Lily Sundae Dishes.

-•/

Lily* has two long run
attractions that
guarantee top drawer
take at every type of
refreshment operation in
every type of theatre.

Mail the coupon today
if you'd like to see samples.

*T,M. Reg. U.S. Pof. Off.

LILY-TULIP CUP

CORPORATION

122 East 42nd Street, New York 17, N. Y.

Chicago • Kansas City • Los Angeles

Toronto, Canada

San Francisco • Seattle

Lily-Tulip Cup Corporation, Dept. MPH-6
122 East 42nd Street
New York 17, N. Y.

I'd like to see samples of Lily Cups for . . .

Vending Use . . . Over The Counter Use . . .

Name . .
Address
City . . . .

Zone. . . . State.

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

7-R

Merchandise Mart

★ news of products for the theatre
refreshment service and their manufacturers

of the famous

SANITARY

Sno-Master

ICE SHAVER!

Let Us Prove to You That
Sno-Master Can Make You
$100.00 a Week Profit!

Here's a plan for aggressive thea-
tre owners and drive-in managers 1
Try the SNO-MASTER at your
counter for a few weeks. SNO-
MASTER makes SNO-BALLS and
SNO-CONES — shaved ice, fla-
vored, in a cup — that go over BIG
wherever they're introduced! See
if SNO-MASTER doesn't make you
$100.00 a week profit — and morel
If you decide not to keep SNO-
MASTER there's no obligation. If
SNO-MASTER proves itself as we
know it will, convenient payment
plans can be arranged. . . . Write
today for free-trial plan!

Contact Your

National Theatre Supply Branch,
or write to

SNO-MASTER

124 HOPKINS PLACE
BALTIMORE 1, MD.

Trailers Called One of
Best Sales Stimulants

TRAILERS WERE called one
of the most effective media of theatre re-
freshment sales promotion, and even greater
use of them was forecast by J. O. Hoover
of Martin Theatres, a leading circuit of
the South, in an address delivered at the
1954 convention in Chicago of the Inter-
national Popcorn Association. As reported
by the Popcorn Merchandiser , Mr. Hoover
said that “no circuit disputes the effective-
ness of trailers as a sales stimulant.’’

“Some circuits are so wholeheartedly sold
on refreshment trailers,” he stated, “that
they use them in all ‘A’ houses and ‘B’
houses and drive-ins regardless of whether
there is an intermission between features.”

While he has found some theatre opera-

tors reluctant to insert refreshment trailers
into the programs of “A” houses, Mr.
Hoover expressed the opinion that “as the
quality and technique of refreshment trail-
ers continue to improve, more of them will
be shown in ‘A’ houses.”

Circuit executives from whom he sought
opinion in preparation of his address un-
animously agreed, he said, that refreshment
trailers “should be short, in color, animated
and musical.” Other comments reported by
Mr. Hoover were;

Cartoon type trailers in color amuse
while “making the concession pitch.”

Trailers should be humorous, clever, give
the message in jingles.

There should be institutional trailers on
popcorn, candy, etc., sponsored by the na-
tional organizations of those fields.

Mr. Hoover urged variety in the use of
refreshment trailers. “To run the same

PEPSI -COLA EXPLOITATION AT NEW YORK ROXY

As Pepsi-Cola is now exploited at New York's famed Roxy theatre, in the installation recently completed
with special service facilities given soft drinks because of their increasing popularity as theatre refresh-
ment items. On the counter (at left) is the Pepsi-Cola Company's new illuminated display lamp (cata-
loged FG-48), which produces continuously changing color and light effects by means of a 100-watt bulb
that shines through two heavy gauge acetate drums. The bulb projects the lines and colors of the drums
upon an outer shade of white fiberglas. The sign is further identified with the words "Pepsi-Cola" on the
surmounting button. The display can be bolted either on a counter or to a wall. Its overall height is 25
inches: the height to the top of the shade Is 18 inches. Its width is II inches; depth, 13 inches. Other
materials used in its construction include steel and solid wood.

8-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 12, 1954

trailer week in and week out not only de-
stroys its appeal,” he said, “but becomes
monotonous and commonplace.”

Sno-Cone Equipment
Offered on Free Trial

A FREE TRIAL of “Sno-
Master” ice shavers, to make sno-balls and
sno-cones in a test of the profitable exploita-
tion of those frozen confections, is offered
by the Sno-Master Manufacturing Com-
pany, Baltimore, to all retailers in the re-
freshment field. Arrangements for the trial
should be made through authorized distrib-
utors. In the theatre field this equipment

is available through branches of National
Theatre Supply.

It is pointed out that the items produced
by the machine, which requires only one
square foot of counter space, give a profit

Nationally

Advertised

HENRY HEIDE, INC. • NEW YORK, N.Y.

of 8c on every 10c sale, and 12c on every
15c sale.

The “Sno-Master,” shaves ice at the
touch of a lever, powered by a General
Electric % h.p. motor, with an 8-foot rub-
ber-covered wire and ground connection.

The base of the unit is aluminum, fin-
ished with baked crinkled enamel.

Holding 25 pounds of ice, the hopper is
constructed of 18-gauge brass. It is chrome
plated and insulated with 2 inches of Fiber-
glass. The mercury switch is rubber-dipped
and has rubber-covered leads. The switch
lever is equipped with a rubber bumper to
protect glasses from breakage. The three
tool blades are fixed.

14 NATURAL For Movie Theatres!

CONNOLLY
AUTOMATIC

ROLL-A-GRiLL|

Now operating in thousands of;

• INDOOR THEATRES

• DRIVE-INS

. . . Boosting Frankfurter Sales and Profits!

• NO WASTE — Standby Switch

permits all rollers to rotate — heat
bypasses half of rollers, enabling
full frankfurter display, in continu-
ous rotary motion without cook-
ing, even during slow periods.

NO SMOKE-NO ODORS

No Installation needed — just Plug Ini
Saves time and labor — No attendant
to watch or turn franks — no scraping
of grill. And it’s EASY to CLEAN I
Gleaming stainless steel ROLL-A*
GRILL remains bright, attractive-
grills clean, w h o I e so m e • I ook i n g
franks!

STOPS TRAFFIC with its
fascinating slow rotvy 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 delicious barbecued franks per
hour.

WAWV

Mfr

Consult your
local dealer
or use coupon
for further
information.

457 W. 40th St., N. Y. 18, N. Y.
Phone: CH 4-5000 Cable JAYCONLEY

J. J. Connoriy Inc., 457 W. 40th St., N. Y. 18
Dept. BT-6

Send Connolly Automatic Roll- A-Grilla literature to:

N ame

Theatre .I

Address

City.

The ONE popping^

"" that does

EVERYTHING!

the liquid seosoning with
BUTTER-LIKE FLAVOR AND COLOR

IT’S AMERICA’S MOST USEFUL hviNG OIL FOR DRIVE-INS!

a^ i.yC. F.SIM0inN'S sons.

Jla.34,IHl

POPPING OIL SPECIALISTS TO THE NATION

BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING

9-R

PEOPLE AND PRODUCTS

{Continued from page 7-R )

Cola, Dr. Pepper, Charles F. Hires, Nehi
and Pepsi-Cola are given the nod as mo t
likely to benefit. The report points out
significantly, that “given proper presenta-
tion,” the per capita consumption coul I
increase from the present half-a-bottle daily
to three bottles — a five-fold gain. Refres.i-
ment merchandisers please note !

PROMOTIONS . . .

. . . reported by Apeo pre.xy Sam Kres'-
berg: Alel Rapp made exec v.p. ; “Buddy ”
Rosenthal upped to v.p.; and Stan Roeh-
ling, formerly manager of Nehi’s syrup
sales and fountain division, joins Apeo as
v.p. in charge of new Western division,
headquartering in Los Angeles. Stan’s
appointment further extends Apeo’s policy
of establishing its own branches for better
local handling of sales, service and direct
contact. The company also has distribution
facilities in Chicago, Washington, D. C.,
Minneapolis and Miami, Fla.

The Coca-Cola Company was well represented at the recent testimonial dinner for William J. German,
prominent Eastman raw stock distributor, given by the New York Variety Club at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Pictured here are (seated) Mrs. M. Seider, James Loeb, concession director of Walter Reade Thea-
tres, and Mrs. Loeb; Charles Okun, Coca Cola theatre representative; Mrs. Okun and Mrs. L. G.
Hanna; (standing) M. Seider, vice-president of Prudential Playhouses; L. G. Hanna and C. A. Bour-
delals, Jr., Coca-Cola national representative.

Index of Advertisers and Inquiry Coupon

ADVERTISERS' PAGE AND REFERENCE NUMBERS:

* If the service available through the coupon below is preferred for obtaining fur-
ther information concerning products advertised, those of interest may be indicated
simply by writing in the Reference Number given in the first column of the listing
Inumbers in right hand column indicate pages on which advertisements appear I .

Ref. No.

1— THE COCA-COLA COMPANY .

2— J. J. CONNOLLY, Inc

3— HENRY HEIDE, Inc.

4— LILY-TULIP CUP CORPORATION

5_THE PEPSI-COLA COMPANY . .
6— C. F. SIMONINS' & SONS, Inc..
7_SN0-MASTER

INQUIRY COUPON

To BETTER REFRESHMENT MERCHANDISING Department:

Motion Picture Herald, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y.

I am Interested in products as indicated by the reference numbers written Jn
below, ant^would like ta receive literature concerning them.

Name • , .Theatre

A^ress , . . i

Page No.
... I-A
. . . 9-R

. . . 9-R

7-R
. . 5-R

... 9-R

. 8-R

FOR GENERAL INQUIRY:

• Classes of products on which in-
formation is desired may also be in-
dicated in the coupon by the num-
ber preceding the item in the fol-
lowing list;

100 — Beverage dispensers, coin

101 — Beverage dispensers, counter

102 — Butter dispensers

103 — Candy bars

104 — Candy Specialties

105 — Candy machines

106— Cash drawers

107 — Cigarette machines

1 08 — Coffee-makers

109 — Custard freezers

NO — Films, snack bar adv.

I I I — Food specialties
112 — French fryers
I 13 — Gum, chewing
115 — Gura machines
I 16— Ice cream cabinets

117 — Mixers, malteds, etc.

118 — Popcorn, raw

I 19 — Popcorn machines

120 — Popcorn warmers

121 — Popping oils

122 — Scales, coin-operated

123 — Soda fountains

124 — Soft drinks, bottle

125 — Soft drinks, syrup

126 — Showcases

127 — Vending carts

128 — Warmers, buns, etc.

lO-R

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 12, 1954

FILM BUYERS RATING

Filvi buyers of independent circuits in the U. S. rate current
product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This
report covers 119 attractions, 5,67} playdates.

Titles rtin 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; AY — Average;
BA — Below Average; PR — Poor.

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Jubilee Trail ( Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)
Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Act of Love (UA)

1 1

Alaska Seas (Para.)

1 1

All the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)

Back to God's Country ( U-l )

Bad for Each Olher (Col.)

1 1

Bait (Col.)

(Battle of Rogue River (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

1 1

Beneath the 12-Mlle Reef (20th-Fox)

Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Border River (U-l)

1 1

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Carnival Story, The (RKO)

Casanova's Big Night (Para.)

1 1

Cease Fire! (Para.)

Charge of the Lancers (Col.)

Command, The (WB)

Conquest of Mt. Everest (UA)

Crazylegs (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l)

Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO)

Diamond Queen, The (WB)

1 1

Dragonfly Squadron (AA)

(Drums of Tahiti (Col.)

Duffy of San Quentin (WB)

Easy to Love (MGM)

1 1

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

Elephant Walk (Para.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Executive Suite (MGM)

Fighter Attack (AA)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Female (Para.)

French Line (RKQ)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

Geraldine ( Rep.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

. 107

Go, Man, Go (UA)

1 1

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

Gypsy Colt (MGM)

1 1

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Hell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)
Living Desert, The (Disney)
Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)
Lucicy Me (WB)

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)
Mad Magician, The (Col.)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

Martin Luther (de Rochemont)

Miami Story, The (Col.)

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)
Money from Home (Para.) .

Naked Jungle, The (Para.) .
Nebraskan, The (Col.)

New Faces (20th-Fox)

Night People (20th-Fox)

Paratrooper (Col.)

Personal Affair (UA)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)

Pinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue) .

Quo Vadls (MGM) (Reissue)

Rails Into Laramie (U-l)

Red Garters (Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l) . .
Riders to the Stars (UA)

Riding Shotgun (WB)

Riot in Cell Block I I (AA)
River of No Return (20th-Fox)
Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The ,(20th-Fox)

Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (U-l)

Shark River (UA)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)
Siege at Red River (20th-Fox).

Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l)
Tennessee Champ (MGM) . .
Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)
Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)
Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana (UA)

Tumbleweed (U-l)

Veils of Bagdad (U-l)

Walking My Baby Back Home (U-l)

War Arrow (U-l)

Wicked Woman (UA)

Wild One (Col.)

Witness to Murder (UA)

Yankee Pasha (U-l)

1 1

- - 3 I I

- 21 13 4 4

-411

- 9 18 5

President RKO Theatres, says:

“THE CAINE MUTINY

is the answer to a
theatre man’s dream.”

THE CAINE MUTINY

STARRING

Humphrey Bogart - Jose Ferrer
Van Johnson - Fred MacMurray

and Introducing

ROBERT FRANCIS • MAY WYNN ... JECHNICOLOR

Screen Play by STANLEY ROBERTS • Based upon the Pulitzer prize winning novel by HERMAN WOUK

Directed by EDWARD DMYTRYK • A COLUMBIA PICTURE • A STANLEY KRAMER PROD,

-^4

echmque

OF THE LANCERS. MONTE CARLO

K«*± City, U. S. A., uiuter tie

Center, ATero York 2t, N... Y ^'..S&m^ptiotr'^siAce^
copyri^ttsd 19^ by iCotfP^ji

"NORTH TO EAST TO WEST TO SOUTH !

LISTEN TO THAT WORD-OF-MOUTH !

SEVEN BRfDES

FOR SEVEN BROTHERS

MUSICAL THAT TOPS ALL OTHERS!"

Is,, i- , • “

BOOKED AT
RADIO CITY
MUSIC HALL!

M-G-M presents in

CinemaScope

SEVEN BRIDES FOR
SEVEN BROTHERS”

Starring

JANE HOWARD
POWELL KEEL

with

JEFF RICHARDS
RUSS TAMBLYN
TOMMY RALL

Screen Play by

ALBERT HACKETT & FRANCES GOORICH
and DOROTHY KINGSLEY

Based On the Story "The Sobbin' Women" by
Stephen Vincent Benet

Lyrics by JOHNNY MERCER
Music by GENE de PAUL
Choreography by MICHAEL KIDD

Color by ANSCO
Directed by STANLEY DONEN
Produced by JACK CUMMINGS

CALEB KIDNAPPED RUTH

BEN BORROWED DORCAS

EPH ENCIRCLED MARTHA

OH BROTHER!

Read the reviews I Keep them for advance lobby!

"Excellent. M-G-M, always noted for its lavish sweep. Outstanding
musical, rich in imagination and entertainment premiums to show
CinemaScope to its fullest advantages. A boxoffice bulls-eye.”

-MOTION PICTURE HERALD

"Delightful entertainment. It stands apart!” —FILM DAILY

"Happy, entertaining musical with all the slickness of a Broadway show.
A delightful package that word-of-mouth could talk into solid business

at the boxoffice.” -VARIETY

"Lavish musical treat! Outstanding entertainment!”— MOTION PICTURE DAILY

"Top musical bound to slide into top place among the season’s money-
makers. It will bring raves and enthusiastic word-of mouth.”

—SHOWMEN’S TRADE REVIEW

"Melody, mirth and magnitude head the long list of assets of this
delightfully different filmusical.” —BOXOFFICE

"An M-G-M honey which will sweep the boards at the boxoffice. This
socko film is proof indeed that M-G-M figures to stay right on top
when it comes to big money-making film musicals. Nominated for
Laurel Award!” -MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR

"A smash musical show. Three sequences in a row bring forth house-
rocking applause. If you see this picture once, you’re bound to want to
see it again.” -HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

"On merit alone, it rates sturdy returns and can be sold almost without
qualifications.” -DAILY VARIETY

"Hearty, happy, bountiful chunk of pure entertainment. Will have
audiences permeated with good feeling, Sends them out with a smile.”

—FILM BULLETIN

"Ticket sales should be gloriously high at all situations, for this feature
literally abounds in entertainment value.” —INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL

Watch for widely promoted M-G-M Records Album of tunes from the
Sound Track. Variety calls it ”a trailer for the picture 2 months ahead!"

GIDEON GRABBED ALICE

DAN DECOYED LIZA

FRANK FETCHED SARAH

ADAM ABDUCTED MILLY
in the Love-making Musical
with the Shot-gun Wedding!

“Ranks with all-time great productions! Its benefits will be felt by the entire
motion picture industry— including every exhibitor. This is one of those films
the screen cannot live without— a picture that will appeal to everyone!”

HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

WILLIAM miMAN’S

“This is one of the best! An un- “An event in the history of the screen that the
doubted winner and a well nigh public will long remember as superb entertain-
perfect accomplishment!” ment, and the industry as a boxoffice great!”

FILM DAILY

M. P. HERALD

mil

HARR

£very^dy's recording terrific titiepong by Dimitri Tiomkin!
MG|^ RECORDS: L^roy Holmes Korchestra • A^Whistling Chorus by Fred Lowery '
CORAL RECORDS: Johnny DesnM * Georgie Aijl^ Orch. • Dimitri Tiomkinj^/^ T
CAPITOL RECORDS: Les Baxter & Orchestral; 'Mhd more coming!

WITH I

PAUL KELLY ■ SIDNEY BLACKMER • !

SCREEN PLAY BY ER I

Directed by

Music Composed and Conducted byDimitri

place high on the want-to-see list
of every patron ! A cinch to he among
the top hoxoffice entries of the year!"

M. P. DAILY

"A socko entertainment! ^
Hearty grosses should ^
be the rule!"

VARIETY

Let the customers i V name whatever emotions they most relish in
their screen fare, and ^is masterfully made production supplies it!
Should be among the year\most profitable attractions!"

BOXOFFICE

■y

W|,.

)R AND STEREOPHONIC SOUND

AND INTRODUCING

DOE AVEDON KAREN SHARPE JOHN SMITH

NEST K. GANN A WAYNE -FELLOWS PRODUCTION

WILLIAM A. WELLMAN

.WARNER BROS.

Tiomkin DISTRIBUTED BY 1

MIGHTY IT IS!

NEW HIGHS DAILY IN
2-CITY PRE-RELEASE!
BREAKING RECORDS
IN L. A - BREAKING
RECORDS IN FRISCO!
GENERAL RELEASE

Original sin...drawing them like a magnet...to this pla(e...to each other!

AVAILABLE FOR JULY4«h! See Your 20th Century- Fox Branch Manager How!

looker struck a match... and the
light fell on Leah^ to reveal her as she
really was... so deceptively innocent,
so inwardly bold... and then the
flame slowly flickered to mirror Fiske, ^
the gambler, who was now
playing for the highest

stakes of all... the woman! iW

Rita Moreno

Hugh MARLOWE -Cameron MITCHELL- Victor Manuel Mendoza

Produced by Directed by Screen Play by

Charles BRACKETT-Henry HATHAWAY- Frank FENTON

From a story by FRED FREIBERGER and WILLIAM TUNBERG

Color by TECHNICOLOR

Available in GENUINE

4-TRACK MAGNETIC
HIGH-FIDELITY DIRECTIONAL
STEREOPHONIC SOUND

1 -TRACK HIGH-FIDELITY
MAGNETIC SOUND

•

1 -TRACK OPTICAL SOUND

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

MARTIN QUIGLEY,

JR., Editor

Vol. 195, No. 12

I^^F June

19, 1954

Big Product Coming

ALTHOUGH many exhibitors are far from happy
about the total number of pictures on current
X jL release schedules, there are grounds for cheers
about the quality of forthcoming product. Seldom has
such a large number of promising attractions been on
the market or about to be released. Summer and early
Fall box office returns should reflect a marked increase in
attendance.

A random and by no means complete selection of “big
money” films available now or soon for patrons of all
varieties of tastes includes : “The Caine Mutiny,” “High
and the Mighty,” “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,”
“Knock on Wood,” “Dragnet,” “Black Shield of Fal-
worth,” “The Egyptian,” “Adventures of Robinson
Crusoe,” “The Conquerors,” “On the Waterfront,”
“White Christmas,” “Sabrina,” “Apache,” “Three Coins
in the Fountain,” “Executive Suite,” “Barefoot Con-
tessa,” “Demetrius and the Gladiators,” “King Richard
and the Crusaders,” “Johnny Guitar,” “Living It Up,”
“Adventures of Hajji Baba,” “Dial M for Murder,”
“1 rancis Joins the Wacs,” “Brigadoon,” “A Star Is
Born,” ‘Magnificent Obsession,” “Bridges at Toko-Ri,”
“Man With a Million,” “The Student Prince,” “Beau
Brummel,” “Garden of ^vil,” “Ulysses” and “Gone with
the Wind.” That is a remarkable list.

The industry’s job is to make sure that the maximum
number of potential patrons actually see each of the
pictures listed and many others to be released in the next
several months. No community has in it people old
enough to attend pictures and physically able to do so
who will not be entertained to an eminently satisfactory
degree by the product available in film theatres.

The Summer motto should be — “Every prospect a
regular theatre patron.”

■ ■ ■

Castle in the Air

For many months Eugene W. Castle, founder of
Castle Films, 8mm and 16mm home movie business
sold to Universal’s United World in 1947, has been
carrying on a vigorous campaign against the motion pic-
ture activities of the U. S. State Department. Mr. Castle
is one of those individuals who apparently believes in a
surgical approach to all problems. If there is something
wrong, he wants the offending member cut off. The
United States Information Agency’s film activities have
seemed to Mr. Castle to be wrong; he wants them all
abolished.

Irrespective of the rights and wrongs of the USIA
film program (and doubtless, as most governmental
operations, it has both), few agree with Mr. Castle that
the way to improve the activity is to suspend it. The

U. S. Congress has voted nearly four million dollars
for the overseas film division for the next fiscal year.
In an apparent effort to block the appropriation and em-
barrass the operating personnel Mr. Castle this week
called upon the Senate Appropriations Committee to in-
vestigate an alleged arrangement under which Cecil B.
DeMille saved $2,000,000 of the production cost of “The
Ten Commandments” in a deal with the Egyptian Gov-
ernment. Mr. DeMille is honorary consultant to the
USIA film division.

Mr. Castle is up in the clouds. As a veteran of the film
industry he should know that the use of some 10,000
Egyptian soldiers as extras and permission to use locales
of the country are factors that make Mr. DeMille’s film
project feasible. The American motion picture serves an
international market. “The Ten Commandments” could
have been filmed on the Paramount lot with some saving
of the time and energy of Mr. DeMille. He, however, is
to be complimented on undertaking the more arduous
and dramatically effective way of shooting the picture in
Egypt. Millions of theatre patrons everywhere will
benefit. It is absurd to say, as Mr. Castle does, that actors
and technicians are being deprived “of at least $2,000,-
000.” The production by Mr. DeMille of a great motion
picture, embellished by thousands of extras and other
facilities available only in Egypt, will do its part to
strengthen the motion picture industry and indirectly
make more secure the jobs of the professionals and tech-
nicians of Hollywood. After all, it is only the exceptional
picture that justifies investment of millions in filming
abroad, while the life blood of the industry flows week
after week from Hollywood.

■ ■ ■

^ Paramount at its VistaVision demonstrations has
been stressing the importance of good screens, lenses
and sound. The company’s position is summed up in a
booklet by Loren L. Ryder, head of Paramount’s engi-
neering and recording department: “If the theatre is to
take full advantage of the improved quality of the Vista-
Vision print, the theatre must have good projection
equipment and a large seamless screen. Motion picture
studios expend hundreds of thousands of dollars in a
meticulous effort to deliver the best possible technical
quality along with good entertainment. The theatres
should accept their responsibility and make an equal
effort in exhibition.”

■ ■ ■

€| One exhibitor’s recipe for product : “It doesn’t have
to be overpowering. All it has to be is human. A few
laughs, a few tears and a reasonable plot about some
people you can like.” — Charlie Jones, Northwood, Iowa,
in his column on page 44 of the June issue of “Better
Theatres.”

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

EDITORIAL RINGS BELL

An editorial by Martin Quigley entitled “Anything Goes,” emphasizing the
dangers of the present trend toward licentious advertising of motion pictures,
appeared in The HERALD June 5. Herewith are some of the reactions from
industry leaders to the editorial.

To Martin Quigley:

I take issue witli your editorial in The
HERALD of June 5, 1954, titled “Anything
(ioes.’’ You didn’t go far enough!

't our arguments were on too high a plane
for the knuckle-heads we have in our busi-
ness. Let’s face it, the Almighty Dollar
alone influences these fast buck boys. Well,
the fast buck boys are going to be in for
one of the worst beatings of their lives be-
fore long and the intelligent exhibitor is go-
ing to have to suffer right along with the
knuckle-heads. Who is going to administer
the beating? The state legislatures of our
states. How ? Through all kinds of new
censorship laws, enabling tax laws, admis-
sion tax laws, license fees and any other
kind of vindictive legislation that can be
aligned against the Motion Picture Industry
by the foolish acts of a minority of industry
memhers.

P’or instance — ^“The Lrench Line.” It is
rumored that when the advance man for
RKO came to Indianapolis to publicize the
showing of the picture first run, day and
date, in several subsequent run houses (the
first runs were smart enough not to show
it ) he made it a point to see that the local
Legion of Decency, the Association of Cath-
olic Women, the Parent-Teachers' Associa-
tion, the Marion County Prosecutor's Office,
Women’s Clubs and organizations of all
kinds were alerted to the booking of the
picture. Lor over three weeks now the local
newspapers have been lambasting the entire
Motion Picture Industry.

Important groups of people have taken up
the cudgels and are directing their ire not
at “The Lrench Line” or the exhibitors
foolish enough to play it, but are directing
that ire at everyone in the Motion Picture
Industry. Judge Niblack of the Superior
Court publicly called the Motion Picture
Industry a pernicious influence upon the
morals of the youth of our community, etc.,
etc. Last night I appeared, and I admit
most reluctantly, on WIBC, a 50,00n-watt
radio station, and tried to undo some of the
damage that has been done to the industry’s
already poor public relations.

Of course, I could not defend “The Lrench
Line” or the exhibitors showing it but I
could defend the industry and condemn those
people who are continually using the entire
Motion Picture Industry as a whipping post
because of the irresponsible acts of a few

industry members. Mow during that panel
discussion, the prosecutor, who also ap-
peared, held forth about the new bills he
would introduce in our next legislature to
police the industry. Other important local
business men appearing on the panel told
me after that meeting: “If we don’t slow
the industry up one way we will do it an-
other, namely, by taxation, etc.”

When COMPO spearheaded the tax cam-
paign you know that 1 was one of the foot-
men who pounded the halls of Congress
going from one Congressman’s office to
another and from one Senator’s office to
another. Invariably, when we found anta-
gonism in these offices toward the motion
picture industry, and we often found it, we
traced it back to situations paralleling “The
Lrench Line.”

And to the fast buck boys in our industry
— when the state admission taxes begin hit-
ting you, don’t come crying to this simple
soul who labored for COMPO and the in-
dustry, in Washington, to help rescue the
situation. And if the fast buck boys think
I am voicing a lot of silly drivel I call their
attention to the way New York City slipped
in their Mickey Linn ta.x deal on the in-
dustry. The very manner in which the offi-
cials of New York City launched their drive
surreptitiously, shows in what poor esteem
they hold our industry, and their attitude
stems from one thing only — those fast buck
boys in our industry who see only as far
as their noses and fail to see that the fast
bucks are going to cost them dearly over
the long pull. Contrast the industry’s treat-
ment by New York City with the treatment
other industries received earlier in New
York’s drive for more revenue.

Wliy doesn’t the MPA A act? They have
fined RKO because of the violation of the
Code on “The Lrench Line.” I understand
the fine has not been collected and that RKO
is coming out with another violation of the
code in their picture “Sinbad.” Why doesn’t
MPA A expel RKO from the MPA A nest
that it is spoiling by its ' salacious produc-
tion excretions? Time is already late, very
late, if we are to prevent the avalanche of
harmful legislation that is going to hit the
industry.

If this letter sounds like I am mad take
it as such, for I sure as hell hate to think
of paying taxes in my theatres because a
few exhibitors and one producer choose to

drag the whole Motion Picture Industry
down into the mud. — TRUEMAN T. REM-
BUSCH, Secretary - Treasurer, Syndicate
Theatres, Inc., Franklin, Ind.

To Martin Quigley:

I think the article by you (Editorial,
“Anything- Goes !” in The HERALD, June
5, 1954) is most timely and certainly one
in which I am in thorough accord. I have
on many occasions tried to say what you
have said so much better in this article.

I congratulate you on it and hope you
will keep up the good work. Members of
the motion picture industry have accepted
a public trust and they have no right to
betray it — either in the type of pictures that
are produced or in the improper exploita-
tion of these pictures bv disgraceful adver-
tising.—F. FRANK FREEMAN, Vice-
President, Paramount Pictures Corp., Holly-
zvood, Calif.

To Martin Quigley:

I was extremely excited by your editorial,
“Anything Goes,” and I want to express
my admiration for the comprehensive man-
ner in which you have focused the atten-
tion of those responsible on the way they
have permitted the status of the motion pic-
ture industry to deteriorate in the eyes of
the public. My admiration for you is in-
creased that much more by your courage in
stating the facts with such candor.

Long ago I recognized the responsibility
of the theatre to its community and I have
been very severely criticized for it. I have
seen this pornographic advertising allowed
to flourish too long — in our newspapers, in
our theatre lobbies and in our signs.

I thank God for helping you and inspir-
ing you to write such a fine editorial, and
I hope those responsible will come to under-
stand the need of correcting their ways.

I salute and applaud you ! — GEORGE P.
SKOURAS, Nezu York.

To Martin Quigley:

I read your article, “Anything Goes”
(June 5, 1954) and I agree wholeheartedly.

■Some of the exploitation techniques used
are disgusting. I notice the difference in
The HERALD and . . . (name of paper
deleted) ... in this week’s issue.

No doubt you’ve seen the ... ad adver-
tising . . . Someone refused it for publica-
tion in your firm, thank heaven !

Yours is a magazine of taste and wisdom.
I guess you can’t point out some really ap-
parent facts to some “stoneheads.”

Thank you for the fine article. ... I think
it almost hit home. I am afraid that some
unscrupulous people will continue to make
some blemishes on the industry. The reputa-
tion of our industry needs some face-lifting.
—THOMAS ED PATRONITE, Cleveland.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

June 19, 1954

ALLIED STATES remains firm in stand on
arbitration Page 12

MAKELIM reports continued good response
to production plan Page 12

INDUSTRY in last ditch fight to halt New
York tax Page 1 3

TERRY RAMSAYE Says— A column of com-
ment on matters cinematic Page 14

CINEMASCOPE "new look" heralded by
one-hour film trailer Page 19

PARAMOUNT'S VistaVision demonstra-
tions started Page 19

ROGERS Hospital at Saranac Lake re-
ports on past year Page 20

ALLIED ARTISTS will make its share of big
films, says Broidy Page 22

WALTER READE, JR., talks to Industry
Council Page 22

TAX cut split hottest topic at CEA annual
meeting in Britain Page 26

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— The box score
on box office leaders Page 27

CARL CHRISTIAN has a recipe after fifty
years as a showman Page 30

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT— Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 35

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising Page 46

Film Buyers' Rating Page 39

Hollywood Scene Page 32

Managers' Round Table Page 41

People in the News Page 34

IN PRODUCT DIGEST SECTION

Showmen's Reviews Page 33

Advance Synopses Page 34

Short Subjects Page 34

What the Picture Did for Me Page 35

The Release Chart Page 36

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-Presi-
dent; 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, Tele-
phone Hollywood 7-2145; Chicago, 120 So. LaSalle St.,
Urben _ Farley, advertising representative. Telephone
Financial 6-3074; Washington, J. A. Otter, 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; Molion Picture Daily, Motion Picture and
Television Almanac and Fame.

On tLe Ort

onzon

HESITATION

Last week, AB-Paramount Thea-
tres appeared to have pulled a
sensational coup. It lured "The
Voice of Firestone" away from
NBC, and promised to use its
gigantic Paramount Theatre in
New York, for the telecasts. This
week, it appeared not so easy.
The program from the theatre,
which was to begin Monday eve-
ning, has been postponed, in-
definitely; instead it will ema-
nate from the ABC studios in New
York. Firstly, it appears tele-
casting from the theatre would
mean eliminating permanent fix-
tures valuable in the theatre's
normal operations. Secondly,
film distributors were report-
ed upset over possible gross
losses. For instance, within a
short while. Independence Day
and Labor Day will be observed
Mondays (holiday rates). The
original plan was to delay open-
ing of the house until 4 ;30 p.m. ,
after which patrons would then
see regular shows and also the
Firestone program from 8 :30 p.m.
to 9 :00 p.m.

mAIiY_^ DIVORCE

The last of the major com-
panies to divorce exhibition
from production - distribution,
Loew's, Inc. this week began
the physical moves which under
court order must be completed
in August of this year. The ad-
vertising department of Loew's
Theatres Monday moved from the
fourth floor of the Loew build-
ing at 1540 Broadway to the
seventeenth floor. Sometime
next month the executive of-
fices will be moved. The new
Loev/ Theatre company will oc-
cupy the top four floors of the
building and the production-
distribution company will have
the lower floors. Thus, the be-
ginning of the end.

YEAR ' S CONTRACT

One company at least appears
to have taken and accepted tele-
vision advertising as permanent .
20th-Fox this week was disclosed
as a buyer of a year's time on
New York station WNBT. The com-
pany is said to have committed
itself for a minimum of $140,-
000. It will advertise not only
its Broadway runs, but also

those in neighborhoods. It is
enabled to advertise on any pro-
gram available, and at any time
it chooses. TV audiences lin-
doubtedly will hear of Cinema-
Scope .

NO FOREIGN TAX AID

Odds now are that there'll be
no provision in the final tech-
nical tax revision bill easing
the tax treatment of foreign in-
come. The Senate Finance Com-
mittee knocked such a provision
out of the House bill, and aides
say the Senators didn't sound
as though they'd like any other
version. The big problem is to
work up a definition to include
exporters, like film companies,
in the scope of the foreign in-
come provisions.

SE^ICK AT WORK
David 0. Selznick will pro-
duce again. His picture will
be Tolstoy's "War and Peace."
The announcement from Holly-
wood Wednesday said he has
completed the screenplay out-
line. His associates there
added the producer of "Gone
with the Wind" intends to make
of his new picture an even big-
ger and better epic. Mr. Selz-
nick had this to say about it:
"A large percentage of critics
regard it as the greatest novel
even written. Its sale has
reached literally millions of
copies ; new editions are appear-
ing regularly; interest in it
has never diminished. I regard it
as one of the greatest stories
for motion pictures. It con-
tains many of the things found
in 'Gone with the Wind. ' I have
thought about making it for al-
most 20 years." He also said he
is considering a major company
offer of "association," and al-
so has not decided which new
process to use.

HEAVIER FINE

A Senate Judiciary subcommit-
tee has scheduled hearings early
next month (July) on a House-
passed bill to boost from $5,000
to $50,000 the maximum fine for
anti-trust law violations found
by the courts.

James D. Ivers - Floyd E.

Stone - William R. Weaver-

J. A. Otten

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

Id wee
in mctured

WAITING FOR THE CUS-
TOMERS at the Paramount,
New York, are executive
manager Robert Shapiro
and an usher, ready to
answer questions about
RCA Victor - Warner
Brothers contest on "Them."
The "I Like 'Them' because
. . contest is in 25 cities.

JAY ROBINSON, Cali-
gula in "The Robe" and
"Demetrius and the
Gladiators," tells writers
in New York how he has
been popularizing the
films — and himself — by
doing dramatic bits tor
high school and other
audiences.

by the Iteralh

by the Herald

THE HAPPY PAIR at the
left are Charles Skouras,
National Theatres presi-
dent, and Mrs. Skouras, as
they arrived in Honolulu,
for a week's pleasure.

LACY W. KASTNER is
now executive vice-
president of Columbia
International. He will
have charge of all for-
eign operations, under
Joseph A. McConville,
president.

SEND-OFF, above. The scene
occurred at the conclusion of
the Motion Picture Association
of America meeting last week
on the New York amusements
tax. Eric A. Johnston, MPAA
president, and Nicholas M.
Schenck, Loew's president, part
the best of friends.

by the Herald

JOHN H. STEMBLER Is
the new president of
the Georgia Theatre
Company. He succeeds
William K. Jenkins, who
with the late Arthur
Lucas headed the 35-
house circuit. He is a
lawyer and once was an
assistant U. S. Attorney
In Florida. He joined
the firm in 1946.

CHECK IN
HERE

Film Industry
Golf Tournamen+

/25‘

All pliotos by the Herald

PUTTING

CONTEST

Onllie Putting
Green Directly
^fter Lunch

FairDay — Fairway

CINEMA LODGE, B'nai B'ri+h, held its third annual
golf tournament June 10, for the men of the New
York industry. Lodge president Burton Robbins
presided at the banquet, and along with tourna-
ment chairman Martin Levine, awarded prizes, at
Vernon Hills Country Club, Tuckahoe, N. Y.

-CARDS, OF COURSE

FOURSOMES: top, George, Bernard and
Richard Brandt, and Michael Levy;
middle, William Heineman, Frank Mar-
shall, Frank Damis, Hugh Owen; bottom,
Irving Sochin, Mr. Heineman visiting and
the rest of the foursome, Gordon Crad-
dock, James Velde, Herman Wintrich.

AND THE PLAYERS ARE Bernard AND ALSO Joe Ingber, Lou
Kranze, Skip Weshner, Frank Damis, Fischler, Saul Trauner

Maury Miller, Fred Meyers.

EVEN THIS

WAS A PRIZE. George Brandt
sits for his portrait In oils.

TOP PRIZE

was won by Al Fitter,
Paramount, with low net
score. He holds the
trophy.

AND MORE PRIZES

AT LEFT, Mitch May fishes for raffle
winner, as Al Robbins, Martin Levine,
Burton Robbins and Marvin Kirsch
help him. CENTER, BELOW, Bob
Sherman receives the Alicoate
Trophy: RIGHT, BELOW, Len Gruen-
berg receives the Joe Hornstein
Trophy.

ALLIED IS FIRM
ON ARBITRATION

Myers Says First Draft
Showed Concern With
Policies, Not Rentals

News from the arbitration front tliis week
was higlilighted by a claribcation of Al-
lied States Association’s stand on the arbi-
tration of fdni rentals, contained in a bulletin
to members from the association’s general
counsel, Abram F. Myers.

Commenting on the recent New York con-
ferences on a proposed arl)itration system,
Mr. Myers pointed out that exhibitor rep-
resentatives at the parleys “had to accede”
to the film companies’ advance agreement
that the arbitration of film rentals would
not be open for discussion. Allied was not
represented at the meetings.

In this regard, Mr. Myers wrote:

“If patient study had been
made of Allied’s proposal for all-
inclusive arbitration and the ex-
planations made thereof, these
conferences would have realized
that Allied was more concerned
with the incidences of the dis-
tributors’ sales policies than with
‘the amount of money that an ex-
hibitor shall pay for a picture.’
But in order that there might be
no misunderstanding, Allied did
not attempt to disguise the fact
that arbitration of selling policies
on a national and regional basis
would involve, or at least affect,
film rentals.”

Colonel H. A. Cole, Allied leader, recently
charged that the distributors were reaping
the benefits of the admission tax reduction
and on that particular score, Mr. Myers
continued :

“Colonel Cole’s disclosure of the tax grab
will make it necessary for the arbitration
conference to decide whether complaints of
alleged tax grabbing can be arbitrated, even
though Allied is not there to press the point.
The exhibitors will want to know. Specifi-
cally they will want to know what is wrong
about taking the judgment of an impartial
tribunal on an exhibitor’s complaint that tax
remission alone, and not the picture, has
raised the gross into a higher percentage
bracket which enables tbe distributor to ab-
sorb from two-tbirds to four-fifths of the tax
relief.

“Also they will want to know why the dis-
tributors are unwilling to take the judgment
of such a tribunal on an exhibitor’s com-
plaint that whereas prior to April 1 his top
flat price with a certain company was (say)
$100, the company thereafter raised its price
to $150 or more for compatible motion pic-
ture product.

“Tbe average exhibitor will find it bard
to understand why such a trilnmal could not

as properly compute and order a fair divi-
sion of tax benefits as l)etween distributors
as it could compute and assess damages
against a distributor and in favor of an ex-
hibitor for granting unreasonable clearances
or abitrarily denying runs, which the film
companies in approving the 1952 arbitration
draft, agreed that tbe arbitration boards
might possibly do.

Boards Can Judge Policies

“And if arbitration boards can assess dam-
ages in such cases, with no definite yardstick
for the guidance, why cannot they just as
properly decide whether or not the selling
policies on certain pictures are too drastic
for certain classes of exhibitors in certain
areas to enable them to operate profitably
and to prescribe modifications when neces-
sary to keep those theatres going?

“The film companies should realize that
the exhibitors are pondering these questions
aiul they had better come up with some bet-
ter answers than they have given hereto-
fore.”

Meanwhile, there were indications this
week that there would be an extension in the
60-day deadline before which the joint draft-
ing committee is to report on arbitration
progress to the full exhibition-distribution
committee, since the eight-man subcommit-
tee has not yet gathered due to the individual
business of its members.

Some members of tbe exhibitor group
have l)een engaged in fighting the five per
cent admissions tax bill in New York City.
Others have been attending regional meet-
ings around the country and still others
were at the Theatre Owners of America
summer meeting which was held in Los
Angeles this week.

Others Active Elsewhere

Members of the distributor group also
have been engaged. Adolpb Scbimel, general
counsel for Universal Pictures and a mem-
ber of tbe subcommittee, was in Europe on
a tax matter. A1 Lichtman, 20th-Fox dis-
tribution chief, was at the company’s Holly-
wood studios for conferences. A. W. Schwal-
berg, president of Paramount Film Distribu-
tion Corporation, is engaged in conducting
regional sales conferences. Comprising the
joint drafting committee are Herman Levy,
Max A. Cohen, Leo Brecher, S. H. Fabian,
Mr. Lichtman, Mr. Schimel, Mr. Schwal-
berg, A. Montague and Charles Feldman,
alternate.

In Washington, the staff report of the
.Senate .Small Business Committee, which
last year recommended arbitration as one of
tbe ways toward “increased prosperity” for
the industry, called the attention of the com-
mittee members to the fact that new arbitra-
tion talks had begun in New York at the in-
vitation of the Motion Picture Association
of America.

3€akelim
Mteports Big
Response

Hal Makclim, the producer who with na-
tional Allied blessing has been garnering
contracts for playdates and hence the money
for forthcoming productions, said in New
York this weekend after further travels to
key cities, that the response continues to be
entbusiastic. He proposes to make 12 pic-
tures per year.

Mr. Makelim said in Dallas he had signed
the Jefferson Amusement Company, Rowley
United Circuit, Fels Theatres, Newman
Theatres, Tri-State Theatres, and 100 inde-
pendent theatres ; and he quoted Robert J.
O’Donnell, Interstate Circuit general man-
ager as “favorable.” In Oklahoma, Mr.
Makelim continued, he signed the Video In-
dependent Theatres, and that area was 14
per cent over its quota.

He was in New York this week to talk
with Sidney M. Markley, vice-president of
American - Broadcasting - Paramount Thea-
tres, and also to make arrangements for film
processing with DeLuxe Laboratories. He
added he would be on the Coast later in the
week to confer with Walter Reade, Jr., The-
atre Owners of America president, and set-
tle some production questions. He will meet
with exhibitors in Atlanta, Chicago, Mil-
waukee, St. Louis, Buffalo, Albany, New
Haven, Philadelphia, Charlotte, and Jack-
sonville in coming weeks, he said.

Wiihdraw Hayworth Film
Suit Against Columbia

The $4,000,000 damage suit by the De-
fense Film Corp. against Harry Cohn, presi-
dent of Columbia, Columbia Pictures, and
the Beckworth Corp., has been withdrawn
from California Superior Court. The de-
fendants signed a stipulation they will not
interfere with distribution or exbibition of
“Cbampagne Safari.” Tbe picture, being
released by Defense, will open soon in San
Francisco, and then play in other cities. It
was to have opened April 16 at the Fox
West Coast Cinema, in San Francisco, and
was canceled, an action which brought the
suit. It is a recording in color and with
sound of the wedding trip of Rita Hayworth
and her then husband, Aly Khan, through-
out Africa.

RKO Holds Regional
Sales Meetings

RKO Radio Pictures will hold regional
sales meetings in New Orleans June 21-22
and in Chicago June 24-25, it was announced
this week by Charles Boasberg, general
sales manager for the company. James R.
Grainger, president of RKO Radio, will at-
tend both conferences. Top sales executives
from the home office will meet with re-
gional sales managers and office managers of
the southern and western districts. Forth-
coming product will be screened.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19, 1954

INDUSTRY IN LAST DITCH
FIGHT ON NEW YORK TAN

Gov. Dewey to Study Tax
Yield; Move Is Hailed
By New York Trade

The efforts of the New York City ad-
ministration to levy a five per cent admis-
sions tax this week gave promise of break-
ing into an all-out political fight between
the Democratic city regime and the Repub-
lican state administration.

This was indicated Tuesday
when Governor Thomas E.
Dewey informed leaders of the
film industry’s anti-tax campaign
that he would appoint a commit-
tee to investigate the probable
yield to the city of such a tax and
determine whether it would be
propitious for the state to invali-
date the levy by withdrawing the
city’s authorization to enact an
admissions tax.

Thus a good, old-fashioned, two-party
political squabble offered the first ray of
hope to the New York industry, which for
three weeks has been fighting the tax bill
as it progressed from the City Council, to
the Board of Estimate and finally to the
desk of Mayor Wagner. The industry was
schedjuled to have its last open hearing
before the Mayor Friday morning, after
which it was assumed he would sign the
bill into law effective July 1.

Governor Dewey’s message was in re-
sponse to a plea for help sent to him by
the New York industi-y’s emergency man-
agement and labor committee Monday in the
form of a telegram. The telegram, reprinted
in full in paid ads in all the city’s news-
papers, advised the Governor that passage
of the tax would be “tantamount to con-
fiscation.”

The estimated yield of the tax has been
a major point at issue for the past several
weeks. The city budget director told the
mayor that it would produce about $9,000,-
000 from the theatres. Later he denied this
and cut his estimate in half.

Say Yield Estimate Was
Unreasonably High

The industry has contended that the
estimate was based on 1947 grosses and that
a more accurate yield would be around
$3, 500’, 000. The industry’s figure would
show that, according to the city’s own
statements of needed revenue, the admissions
tax would leave its budget unbalanced and
therefore is no solution to the city’s alleged
fiscal problem. Help from the state, if it
were forthcoming, probably could not be
realized for six months or more — that is,
until the legislature meets in 1955.

The Governor’s commission to examine
the tax yield would require time for its

OTHIR LOCALITIES
HAVE TAX PROBLEM

Despite all the excitement in New
York City these days, that is not the
only municipality plagued by amuse-
ment tax problems. Latest figures in-
dicate that some 380 Pennsylvania
local government units have adopted
amusement taxes In some form. And,
to keep the record straight, Seattle
exhibitors also have been waging a
fight for repeal of that city's five per
cent tax on admissions. Bright spot: a
special taxation committee of the
Milwaukee Common Council early this
year rejected a proposal for a three
per cent municipal tax on all amuse-
ments.

investigation and study of evidence. If it
is recommended, or the Governor sees fit
to recommend the invalidation of the Wag-
ner tax, the necessary action would be taken
by the state legislature presumably in the
form of termination of the state’s authoriza-
tion to the city to levy a tax on admissions
to amusements.

Governor’s Action First
Sign of Public Sympathy

Regardless of the time element involved,
the emergency committee was heartened by
the first evidence of public sympathy in the
city’s theatre industry plight and the assur-
ance that some action would be taken. Late,
Tuesday the committee issued a statement,
saying in part:

“We feel confident that if Mayor Wagner
had not been supplied with erroneous data
he would never have contemplated such a
levy. Pending the commission’s report.
Mayor Wagner should veto the bill now
before him. If our facts and figures are
not confirmed by the commission, the bill
could then be reintroduced in City Council.
We rest our case with the commission’s
findings and hope Mayor Wagner will do
the same.”

Sparked by last week’s pronouncement
from the Motion Picture Association of
America of its solidarity with the New
York exhibitors, the local industry indicated
its determination to continue the anti-tax
fight even if the measure is signed into law
by Mayor Wagner.

The bill would tax all theatre admissions
“in excess of 10 cents.” However, the first
10 cents of every taxable admission would
fall under the five per cent levy as well.
Therefore only admissions of 10 cents or
less would be tax free under the law. The
major fraction provision also will apply to
the new tax. Where one-half or more cents

is concerned, the city will collect the full
amount.

New York State Senator Fred G. Moritt,
Brooklyn Democrat and a partner in Mac-
Donald Theatres, said in Albany last week
that “the motion picture industry has at its
command means for the dissemination of
opinion greater than those of any other busi-
ness.” If the industry cannot bring about
admissions tax relief, he added, “this means
the public is apathetic to its (the motion
picture industry’s) appeal.”

The presiding officers of both the New
York Senate and Assembly previously ruled
as “out of order” all three of Mayor Wag-
ner’s proposed bills which, if enacted, would
purportedly make unnecessary the levying
of the controversial five per cent admis-
sions tax by the city.

Meyer to Produce for
WB After "Dragnet"

Stanley Meyer and Jack Webb will ter-
minate their association upon completion of
the “Dragnet” feature-length motion picture
for Warner Bros. Amicable ending of the
association between the two men was at-
tributed by Mr. Meyer to the fact that future
motion picture plans are being held in
abeyance due to the necessity of Mr. Webb
resuming television production. In the
meantime Mr. Meyer is negotiating a three-
picture production program for Warner
Bros, to be produced at Warner Bros.
Studios.

"The Robe" Opens at
Kansas City Drive-In

Twentieth Century-Fox’s “The Robe”
opened last week at its first drive-in theatre
in the Kansas City area, the Heart Drive-in,
Kansas City. The screen is 130 feet wide,
and flat, and the equipment comprises a
mixer for the four track sound, using ad-
ditional speakers, but an additional rectifier
to get up to 135 amperes on lamps with
11mm carbons.

"King Richard" for Egyptian

“King Richard and the Crusaders,” a
Warner CinemaScope picture in Warner-
Color, will play the Hollywood Egyptian
Theatre after the run of “The High and
the Mighty.” The latter run is so success-
ful no opening date for “King Richard” is
being announced.

AB-Paramount 25c Dividends

Twenty-five cents per share on the out-
standing common and the same on the out-
standing preferred were declared by the
directors of American Broadcasting-Para-
mount Theatres last week, in New York.
The dividends are payable July 20 to share-
holders of record June 25, 1954.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

JohnstoMB to

LION— Wh en on June I the Government
threw British Lion, their largest film dis-
tributing company, into bankruptcy, an-
nounced in London, It was a documentation
of a semi-official forecast of 1952 when the
British Film Institute, a "grant-in-aid" body
set up to encourage the nation's picture
industry caused the publication of a vol-
ume entitled "The British Film Industry."
In that remarkable book, noted In these
pages, there was the finding. In substance,
that: "no solvent picture industry can be
operated against the competition of the
American industry bulwarked by its great
home market, the greatest single market
in the world."

The book stands as of more than ordin-
ary documentary importance. It was pre-
pared by a curiously reticent organization
known apparently only as "P.E.P." which
stands for "Political and Economic Plan-
ning," at 16 Queen Anne's Gate, London,
S.W.I. Its contributors Included an array
of experts, including a considerable num-
ber of highly placed authorities of the
British industry, anonymous contributors of
authentic charts and data from corporation
records.

Just what the particular significance of
this volume of financial revelations may have
been was not made manifest. It is possible
that it was In preparation for surprises to
come and such developments as those In
the case of British- Lion now. The Govern-
ment loan to the Lion was In the emer-
gency year of 1948. The official report
has It that British Lion has lost "its entire
capital" of $3,382,400. This does not of
course mean that the British government
is going out of the film business. It has
other irons In the fire and other loans to
make.

Meanwhile that volume flatly asserted on
the basis of elaborately assembled world
wide figures that the insolvency of film
production "Is an international phenome-
non," with kindred reactions such as spe-
cial taxations, quotas and Impounded
earnings.

Policy for now and tomorrow, as held
among the contributing experts, was
stated, thus: "If the public desires for
political, cultural or enconomic reasons that
British films should be produced, then it
must be prepared for the Government not
only to protect the Industry Indefinitely,
but also to aid It financially as far ahead
as can be seen."

In view of this situation the wide influ-
ence of the American Industry, especially
as a source of product to keep the the-

atres of Important foreign markets open
and functioning, is made manifest. This
puts another concern of large consequence
on the American interest in the new tech-
niques used for its top box office product
which Is thereby rendered unavailable for
the overseas mass-markets, certainly for a
long period of adjustment yet to come.

A certain minimum flow of standard 35
mm. product of box office quality must be
long continued, while the world is made
over — or else.

PENNY-PINCHING— It is with mingled
feelings of sympathy and appreciation that
one reads a newspaper plaint from John
Foster Dulles that there is "penny pinch-
ing" In the Department of State and . . .
"a high percentage of breakdowns" among
that nation's diplomatic officials "because
they are working much too hard. . . ." He
is quoted as saying that the Soviet Union
Is spending "vast sums," and making "very
considerable progress" in the Cold War.
Some very wearied readers and tax payers
hear such complaints about "penny pinch-
ing in Washington" come over the transom
like the chatter around a stud poker table.
We have many statesmen who are closely
related to our own "Lady Hollywood."
We'd better be learning to pinch billions.

GERMANY A-BUILDING — Reports just
made available indicate that the West
Germans continue, as part of their pro-
gram of reconstructing a nation, to de-
velop a motion picture industry. Figures
for 1953 report a total of 103 feature films
as compared with 82 in the year before.
The German process seems cautiously con-
ducted with level eyes on the long view.
They command great skills In all depart-
ments. Meanwhile they are eagerly Inter-
ested patrons of the Hollywood product.
They seem not to be jealous, but they'll be
heard from later.

CRITICS — Reporting upon a Broadway of-
fering, says Bosley Crowther: "It is such a
pander to unintelllgence. . . . The notion
that a person might don the costume of
a gorilla and go around killing is as high as
It goes." One may wonder what he, with
all his experience, expects when he walks
under a marquee proclaiming one of those
gorilla titles? The readership of Mr.
Crowther's essays probably does not In-

Italy on Deal

by ARGEO SANTUCCI

ROME: Eric Johnston, president of the
Motion Picture Association of America, is
sclieduled to arrive here June 22 for final
discussions concerning the new MPAA-
ANICA film agreement, which is expected
to be signed before the end of the month.

According to reports here the new agree-
ment contemplates a quota reduction from
250 to 175 American films dubbed in Italian
annually. As a counterpart, American dis-
tributors may receive a yet to be established
share of the dollars earned in the United
States by Italian Films Export to be inte-
grated with the American companies’ remit-
tances from Italy, which are now limited to
40 per cent of their profits.

The American companies’ frozen balances
were almost entirely transferred or used up
as of the time negotiations on the new pact
began. Accordingly, the new proposals seem
intended to reduce American production in
Italy, into which much of the frozen money
has gone heretofore.

Broaden Seattle's
Censorship Powers

SEATTLE : A measure broadening the
powers of the Board of Theatre Supervisors
over motion picture showings and other
forms of public entertainment was adopted
here last week by unanimous vote. The new
ordinance, drafted after consultations with
Frank Ursino, board chairman, and other
members, repeals the ordinance which
created the board. The new measure makes
it illegal for theatre operators to show films
which have not been seen by the board.
The board is given power to recommend
that objectionable films not be shown pub-
licly or that cuts be made or the films
shown only to adult audiences.

Sidney Heads SDG
For Fourth Term

HOLLYIVOOD : George Sidney, president
of the Screen Directors Guild, was reelected
unanimously for his fourth term in the or-
ganization’s annual election. Rouben Mam-
oulian was reelected first vice-president and
Lesley Selander treasurer. King Vidor was
named second vice-president, Willis Gold-
beck secretary. Assistant Directors reelected
Emmett Emerson, president ; Dock Moder,
first vice-president; Ridgeway Callow sec-
ond vice-president. Mark R. Sandrich is
secretary and Henry Brill treasurer.

dude the gorilla audience, and as for the
"Times" It could in such cases do as well
with a notice If need be for the reader,
written by some cub and left unsigned.
Meanwhile every day's edition of every
newspaper engages In much more serious
"panders to unintelligence," the founda-
tion of many a great career and many a
great industry.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

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You’ll love Joan as the legendary
v^oman knov^n as Vienna...

...She >vas the Dancing Kid’s girl
and rode with Lonergan’s bunch...
...Yet Johnny was her man, a
roving troubador who looked
naked in a lawless country
without a six-gun!

JOAN’S GREATEST TRIUMPH

IN THIS TURBULENT, IMPASSIONED DRAMA!

HERBERT J. YATES

presents

JOAN CRAWFORD

JOHNUYGuam

starring

STERLING HAYDEN SCOTT BRADY MERCEDES McCAMBRIDGE

... BEN COOPER • ERNEST BORGNINE - WARD BOND • JOHN CARRADINE

Screen Play by PHILIP YORDAN • Based on the novel by ROY CHANSLOR

Associate

Producer-Director

NICHOLAS RAY • a republic picture

HERBERT J. YATES

=» pmentf H

sUrrIni . Ve«A JOAN r ' _ FORREST JOHN ' RAY PAT

RALSTON • LESLIE :- TUCKER • RUSSELL • MIDDLETON • O’BRIEN

with BUDDY BAER • JIM DAVIS • BARTDN MacLANE ' ' Setmilar kr liocE HANNiHt

huR H tiH Rinl k| CWCRII IlinOW • tonliti Pi«4acu tid OIricIH lOSCPH INMIN KtllE ^ REPUBLIC PICTURE

HERBERT J. YATES

presents

UUntl ‘tVELllT l\tltO*ELSALANCm with MARIE WINDSOR • NANCY GATES
Written by STEVE FISHER • Associate Producer and Director JOHN H. AUER

A REPUBLIC PICTURE — 1||■|| - nfjBi -

starring

HERBERT J. YATES

HERBERT WILCOX
presents w

story by JOSEPH CONRAD • Screen Play by PAMElT BOWER
PRODUCED AND DIRECTED BY HERBERT WILCOX

WENDEll MAEGAtET

FOlHiEST

inlroduclng RONALD

A REPUBLIC PICTURE

HERBERT J. YATES

presents

th IVIAKT lYlUKrtlT • EDGAR BUCHANAN • JOHN HOWARD • RON HAGERTHY
Screen Play by WARREN DUFF • Based on the Novel by THE GORDONS • Associate Producer-Director WILLIAM SEITER

A REPUBLIC PICTURE

HERBERT J. YATES

presents

starring JOHN DEREK * JOAN EVANS with JIM OAVIS • CATHERINE McLEOO - BEN COOPER

Screen Play by JOHN X. BUTLER and FICHARD WORIdSER • Based upon an Esquire Magazine story by TODHUNTER BALLARD • Directed by WILLIAM WITNEY

A REPUBLIC PICTURE

lERBERT J. YATES
and

lERBERT WILCOX

j present

MARGARET ORSON FORREST VICTOR JOHN

LOCKWOOD • WELLES • TUCKER " "‘"‘"‘’McLAGLEN * McCAUUM

Screen Play by FRANK S, NUGENT • From the story by MAURICE WALSH • Produced and Directed by HEWBW WILCOX

A REPUBLIC PICTURE

ARCHIE '
DUNCAN

MARGARET

McCOURT

featurinf

sUrrint

Om THE GRAND HOTEL OF THE ORIENT. ..NOW A BRUTAL CONCENTRATION CAMP!

HERBERT J. YATES

presents

KUm KUIVIAIN • LUIVlUINU U'bKItIN with RICHARD JAECKEL basil ruysdael . ianine perreau • barry keieey • phiup ahn

Screen Play by SETON t. MILLER and STEVE FISHER • Based on the story by LESTER YARD • Associate Producer-Director FRANK UOYD A REPUBLIC PICTURE

SPECIAL FILM HERALDS
CINEMASCOPE NEW LOOK

Shown Internationally, It
Runs One Hour; Opens
** Royal Tour** Next Week

Simultaneous showings next Tuesday
morning at the Roxy theatre in New York
and the Chinese theatre in Los Angeles will
launch 20th Century-Fox’s international se-
ries of exhibitor and press demonstrations
of “The Advancing Techniques of Cinema-
Scope,’’ a film subject describing the “new
look” in CinemaScope photography and
stereophonic sound.

The scheduling of the showings followed
a series of meetings at the studio last week
between Spyros Skouras, president ; A1
Lichtman, director of distribution ; Darryl
Zanuck, production head ; Murray Silver-
stone, president of the International Cor-
poration ; Joseph H. Moskowitz, vice-presi-
dent, and many other company executives
who saw a completed print of the hour-long
subject.

The company made two other announce-
ments of importance in the week. They
were ;

^ That bookings for one-track
magnetic and one-track optical
prints of “The Robe” within the
past two weeks have totaled 400.
Mr. Lichtman had announced
earlier that these single track
prints would be available for ex-
hibition on June 19.

^ That “The Royal Tour of
Queen Elizabeth and Philip,”
feature-length film in Cinema-
Scope and Eastman color of the
highlights of the recent royal
tour of the world, will have its
American premiere at the Globe
theatre in New York next Tues-
day. On Wednesday evening this
week the film was previewed at
the 20th-Fox home office for
prominent members of the diplo-
matic corps from England and the
Commonwealth nations.

The initial West Coast showing of “The
Advancing Techniques of CinemaScope” at
the Chinese theatre will be for members of
the press, wire services and nationally syn-
dicated columnists, with the first exhibitor
showing scheduled in that area at the Boule-
vard theatre, Los Angeles, June 28.

The demonstration, Mr. Skouras said, will
make “evident the tremendous improvement
achieved in the presentation of this great
medium.”

“We are believers in theatre entertain-
ment. We are convinced that neither televi-
sion nor any other entertainment medium
can equal motion pictures in theatres for
diversity of theme, dramatic range and ex-

PARAMOUNT'S VISTAYISION
DEMONSTRATIONS STARTED

Demonstrations Wednesday of this week
at the Plaza theatre, London, and the Ernie
Pyle theatre, Tokyo, kicked off Paramount’s
two-month series of presentation abroad of
VistaVision, the company’s new production
and screen presentation process. Showings
will be held in 15 cities on four continents,
with representatives from the company’s
studio on hand for each.

VistaVision already has been shown in
many key U. S. cities, including New York,
and in Toronto, Canada, before theatre op-
erators and trade figures.

Some or all of the demonsti ations in
Europe will be attended by Barney Balaban,
president of Paramount Pictures, who was
due to arrive in England Tuesday from New
York. Loren L. Ryder, head of technical
research at the Paramount studios, will be

in charge of the demonstrations in Europe.
Louis Mesenkop, VistaVision expert, will
handle the demonstrations in Asia and
Australia, and Frank LaGrande, home office
VistaVision engineer, will be in charge of
the demonstrations in Latin America.

Other VistaVision demonstrations will be
as follows: Manila, Avenue theatre, June 20;
Paris, Paramount theatre, June 21 ; Rome,
Supercinema theatre, and Singapore, Cathay
theatre, both June 25; Frankfurt, Turm
Palast theatre, June 30; Bombay, Eros thea-
tre, July 3; Sydne}', Metro theatre, July 11;
Melbourne, Metro theatre, July 15; Mexico
City, Mexico theatre, July 16; Havana,
Payret theatre, July 21 ; Caracas, ^^enezuela,
Castellana theatre, July 27; Sao Paulo,
Brazil, Marrocos theatre, August 3, and
Lima, Peru, Tacna theatre, August 7.

citing production values, for viewing com-
fort and pure enjoyment,” he concluded.

The demonstration reel will contain a full
comparison of four-track magnetic direc-
tional stereophonic sound and regular op-
tical sound ; footage showing scenes from
several upcoming CinemaScope produc-
tions utilizing new “taking” lenses developed
by Bausch and Lomb ; and other technical
information relating to the new entertain-
ment medium. Mr. Zanuck narrates.

The Roxy demonstration, before an in-
vited audience of leading circuit and inde-
pendent theatre owners, drive-in operators,
exhibitor organization leaders, executives
from production and distribution as well as
the motion picture and consumer press rep-
resentatives, will signal the start of .showings
in all 32 domestic exchange cities.

Exchanges of the company’s sales organi-

UNIVERSAL TO DO 2
IN CINEMASCOPE

Universal's next two top budget
productions, due to go before the
cameras within the next two weeks,
"Chief Crazy Horse" and "Captain
Lightfoot," will be filmed in Cinema-
Scope and in color by Technicolor, it
was announced this week. Two addi-
tional CinemaScope productions,
"The Black Shield of Falworth" and
"Sign of the Pagan," have been com-
pleted by Universal and now are be-
ing prepared for early release.

zation have been broken down into five geo-
graphical routes in which five prints will
be rotated on a day-and-date basis to cover
the United States offices by July 9. Demon-
trations in Canada will follow at dates to be
announced shortly. Home office sales execu-
tives and field sales heads will be hosts.

Demonstration route number one will en-
compass the company’s Atlantic and newly-
created north-east divisions. Eollowing the
Roxy showing, programs will be held at the
Poll theqtre. New Haven, June 23; Palace,
Albany, June 24; Metropolitan, Boston, June
25; Fox Philadelphia, June 28; Capitol,
Washington, June 30, and Carolina, Char-
lotte, July 2.

Demonstrations in route number two will
be as follows: Fox, Atlanta, June 29; Flor-
ida, Jacksonville, July 1 ; Saenger, New Or-
leans, July 6; Malco, Memphis, July 6;
Palace, Dallas, July 8, and the Criterion,
Oklahoma City July 8.

Showings in route number three are as
follows : State Lake, Chicago, June 29 ; Wis-
consin, Milwaukee, June 30; Radio City,
Minneapolis, July 2; Des Moines, Des
Moines, Iowa, July 7 ; Orpheum, Omaha,
July 6; Orpheum, Kansas City, July 9, and
the St. Louis, St. Louis, July 9.

The reel will be shown in route number
four as follows : Boulevard, Los Angeles,
June 28; Fox, San Francisco, June 29;
Oriental, Portland, July 1 ; Fifth Avenue,
Seattle, July 2; Villa, Salt Lake City, July
6, and the Centre, Denver, July 8. Route
number five is as follows : J. P. Harris
theatre, Pittsburgh, June 29; Albee, Cin-
cinnati, July 1 ; Indiana, Indianapolis, July
2; Fox, Detroit, July 6; Hippodrome, Cleve-
land. Julv 7, and the Buffalo, Buffalo,
July 9.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19, 1954

fVilt Miagers Haspital

A-i Your Serrice

Photos by Metropolitan

THE GUESTS of the Will
Rogers Memorial Hospital, on
their annual inspection. Above,
Abe Montague, Ned E. Depi-
net, Richard Walsh, Marjorie
Lewis, Sam Rosen, Jack Cohn,
M. A. Silver, Robert Mochrie,
Robert J. O'Donnell. Right,
Mr. Walsh is a speaker at
luncheon. Shown with him are
Mr. Rosen, Leopold Friedman
and Herman Robbins. The
luncheon was dramatically
highlighted by the brief but
poignant words of gratitude
of Jake Batts of Raleigh, N. C.,
industry member and patient
at the hospital, who spoke for
all his fellow-patients.

by CHARLES S. AARONSON

THE splendid manner in which show busi-
ness "takes care of its own,” was once
again emphasized at the annual meeting of
the board of directors of the Variety Clubs-
Will Rogers Memorial Hospital, Saranac
Lake, N. Y., during the past weekend. The
undertaking may he described as in excellent
health.

The officers and the board, following an
annual custom established several years ago,
held their meeting in the heart of New York
State's beautiful Adirondack Mountain
country, journeying with press representa-
tion, from New York City. A visit to the
hospital, surmounting a high hill at Saranac
Lake, chosen for the value of its climate to
tuberculosis victims, was followed by the
board’s annual meeting.

Guests of Herman Robbins

For this, board and press were as usual
the guests of Herman Robbins, president of
National Screen Service, and vice-president
of the Hospital, at his sumptuous Edgewater
Motel on nearby Schroon Lake. Mr. Rob-

bins’ already legendary bounty as a host is
shared by his three sons. Burton, Norman
and Allan. There was ample justification
for the board’s vote of thanks to Mr. Rob-
bins and his sons for their hospitality.

Highlighting an active agenda was the
announcement at luncheon at the Hospital,
where any member of the family of anyone
in the amusement industry may be treated
for tuberculosis entirely without charge, that
the Motion Picture Association of America
was contributing $50,000 tow'ard expenses.

The Hospital is for all show business
personnel, but the film industry thus far has
carried the ball almost all the w'ay.

The group examined the hospital’s ex-
panded, costly and most modern facilities,
inclusive of new equipment for the all-im-
portant X-ray room and laboratory, new
kitchen apparatus, completely refurbished
lobby, lounge room and the building gener-
ally, new heating plant and surrounding
grounds. Reports from the Hospital’s staff
heads cited marked gains in therapy.

The board and guests participated in the
dedication of a wing at the Hospital and a
bronze platpie to the late Charles E. "Chick”

Lewis, executive vice-president of the Hos-
pital and a moving force in its rehabilitation,
who died last year. Mrs. Lewis and a fam-
ily group attended.

The high degree of successful discharge
of cured patients was emphasized, as well as
the remarkable success in shortening to a
marked degree the period of hospitalization
at Will Rogers today as compared to several
years ago. At the board meeting at Edge-
water, the need for increased contributions
and the requirement for an intensified drive
to bring that about, were noted. It was pro-
posed by Fred J. Schwartz, chairman of the
fund raising committee, that a goal of
$400, OOO be set for this year.

The board meeting was presided over by
Robert J. O’Donnell, chairman ; Abe Mon-
tague, president, and Max A. Cohen, secre-
tary. Reelected w^as the current list of vice-
presidents, including Harry Brandt, Charles
h’eldman, Robert Mochrie, Mr. Robbins,
Sam Switow, Richard WMlsh and Joseph R.
V'ogel, with the addition of Mr. Schwartz.

Trade Press Lauded

The cooperation and assistance of the
trade papers of the industry w'as cited by
Mr. Schwatrz and Ned Shugrue, executive
secretary. Sam Rosen, reading the treasur-
er’s report in the absence of the treasurer,
S. H. Fabian, reported a balance of $181,064
as of June 1, 1954.

Directors were reelected, with these addi-
tions : George Hoover, international chief
barker of the Variety Clubs; Ben Kalmen-
son, Ben Marcus, Allied States president,
replacing Wilbur Snaper; Arthur Mayer,
Eugene Picker, Walter Reade, Jr., TOA
president, replacing Alfred Starr ; Charles
Reagan, A1 Schwalberg and Arthur Krim.

The board meeting followed an earlier
session of the corporate members, compris-
ing Mr. O'Donnell, Mr. Montague, Mr.
Cohen, Mr. William J. German, Mr. Moch-
rie, Mr. Fabian, Richard F. Walsh, Mr.
Robbins and Mr. Mayer, all represented
either in person cr by proxy.

Mr. Mayer was named chairman of the
executive committee.

List Board Members

Continuing members of the board of di-
rectors include :

Jack Beresin, Maurice A. Bergman,
Charles Boasberg, Harry Brandt, Max A.
Cohen, Tom Connors, George Dembow, Gus
S. Eyssell, S. H. Fabian, Charles J. Feld-
man, William J. German, Leonard H. Gol-
denson, Maurice Goldstein, Samuel Gold-
wyn, John H. Harris, William J. Heineman,
J. Robert Hoff, Harry M. Kalmine, Paul N.
Lazarus Jr.; A1 Lichtman, Robert Mochrie,
A. Montague, R. J. O’Donnell, Sam Rinzler,
Herman Robbins, William F. Rodgers, Sam-
uel Rosen, Fred J. Schwartz, Sol A.
Schwartz, Sam J. Switow, Morton Thal-
himer, Joseph R. Vogel, Richard F. Walsh,
Murray Weiss, William White and Herbert
J. Yates, Sr.

It was determined that Charles J. Feld-
man of Universal, and M. A. Silver of Stan-
ley Warner, again would serve as distribu-
tor and exhibitor chairmen, respectively, for
the 1954 Variety Clubs-Will Rogers Mem-
orial Hospital Christmas Salute.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

Great Reviews Every-
where It Plays! M-G-M’s
Great Drama in COLOR !

A FEW OF MANY PROMOTION IDEAS!

Contact your nearest Naval installation for complete cooperation: (a) Navy-
sponsored opening, (b) Display of, Naval equipment, (c) Swearing in
ceremonies on stage, (d) Make up "A” board posters for Navy recruiting
boards, (e) Screen the picture aboard ship if one available, (f) 40x60 poster
with Admiral Parks’ endorsement.

Tie-up with aircraft plants, sell them block of tickets for employees. Display
model airplanes in department store windows. Conduct a search for veterans
of USS Princeton, carrier on which picture was filmed. Arrange for PA on
stage, radio and TV interviews, etc. Utilize many tie-up stills as illustrated
in press book.

MEN OF THE
rTFIGHTING LADY

"Thrilling dramatic saga of Navy
fliers. All the impact of a high-
powered rocket. It is strong fare
with a high emotional impact.
Realistic, dramatic and thrilling.”

—New Orleans Item

"Cracking good aviation melo-
drama. Some of the best aviation
footage yet filmed.”

—Minneapolis Sunday Tribune

"Story of adventure, patriotism,
danger, spine-tingling suspense. Has
touch of spiritual.”— M/ami Daily News

"Truth makes the best movie plots.
'Men of the Fighting Lady’ hits target
as a salute to jet pilots.”— Aliami Herald

"The climax is an excellent job of
suspense and movie making.”

—New Orleans State

M-G-M PRESENTS THE YEAR’S MOST UNUSUAL DRAMA!

"MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY"

Starring

VAN WALTER LOUIS DEWEY KEENAN FRANK
JOHNSON ■ PIDGEON * CALHERN • MARTIN ■ WYNN • LOVEJOY

Screen May by ART COHN

Based on JAMES A. MITCHENER’S "Forgotten Heroes of Korea” ond COMDR. HARRY A. BURNS’ "Cose of the Blind Pilot"
Photographed in ANSCO COLOR * Print by TEC HNlCOLOR

Directed by ANDREW MARTON • Produced by HENRY BERMAN

"Action of jet pilots over Korea
Well-made and effective
— Chicago Sun-Times

thrilling.

film.”

"Film on Korea carrier pilots ca-
pably done. Many taut scenes. The
action has genuine tension.”

— Chicago Daily Tribune

"Dramatic picture. Rare action. An
enjoyable evening’s entertainment.”

— The Detroit Times

ALLIED ARTISTS
PLANS 38-40

Broidy Says Company Will
Try to Make Share of
Needed Big Pictures

Allied Artists will produce a total of 38
to 40 pictures next year as compared with
26 delivered this year, Steve Broidy, presi-
dent, declared in a New York press con-
ference this week.

He pointed out the need for more big
pictures and said his company would “make
an honest, sincere effort to produce its share
of them.”

Morey Appointed

The company president announced the ap-
pointment of Edward Morey as chief in
charge of all operations in the east. Citing
the progress the company has made, Mr.
Broidy made reference to the recently an-
nounced contract that John Huston has
signed with the company calling for a mini-
mum of three pictures. He also indicated
that negotiations are practically completed
with William Wyler and Billy Wilder.

Mr. Broidy said he agreed to give Mr.
Huston 25,000 shares of Allied Artists com-
mon stock for each of three pictures at the
rate of one film per year. In addition Mr.
Huston will get a percentage of the gross
and will be allowed a budget in excess of
$800,000 per picture, Mr. Broidy said. The
first Huston picture will probably be “The
Man Who Would Be King.” The picture,
according to Mr. Broidy, would be shot
on location in two countries, Pakistan and
England.

Mr. Broidy also pointed to the loan-out
to the company of John Derek and Debra
Paget to co-star in “Annapolis Story.” He
declared he was hopeful that these recent
acquisitions “will be productive of great re-
sults and will be conducive to further get-
ting the kind of talent that will make top
motion pictures.” He said the company was
trying to build up product, first qualitatively
and then quantitatively, and that he was in-
terested in any deals that could add to this
fulfillment.

Mr. Broidy also revealed that he was
talking with two other people of the same
caliber as Mr. Wilder and Mr. Wyler, but
he refused to reveal their identity.

To Cost $800,000

In order to solidify his opinion on what
kind of pictures the exhibtors want, the
Allied Artists president announced that he
had cancelled his scheduled trip to Europe
and was flying back to the coast to attend
the Theatre Owners of America board of
directors meetings.

He said that the Huston, Wyler and
Wilder efforts will cost in the vicinity of
$800,000; eight to 10 productions will be
made with a budget in the $350,000 class ;

Photos by the Herald

"More good pictures are needed, and we will do
our share to fill the void."

"The company is in the process of developing loan-
outs of talent."

"I look forward to happy collaboration with major
industry talent."

10 to 12 are planned with an average cost
of $250,000; and the same number of stories
will be filmed on a $150,000 to $175,000
budget.

Company policy on CinemaScope will be
strictly on an individual basis with the deci-
sion depending on the needs of each picture,
he said.

JiefBde Asks
Coopera Horn
On Product

HOLLYWOOD : Declaring “it is true and
unfortunate that self-perpetuating heads of
distribution have the power to turn on or
off the faucet of production,” Walter Reade,
Jr., president of Theatre Owners of Amer-
ica, appealed to the production branch of
the industry Wednesday night to join ex-
hibition in “a positive, strong, well-planned,
cooperative effort” directed by conditions
he described as “unsatisfactory, undemocra-
tic, economically unsound and impractical.”

Mr. Reade addressed a meeting of the
Motion Picture Industry Council here on
the eve of the TOA board of directors meet-
ing scheduled to open Thursday.

He said in part: “Distribution has adopted
a policy of releasing fewer and fewer films
at higher and higher rentals so that our
position today is precarious. Distribution
extracts 30 to 35 per cent of the total an-
nual gross box office receipts. ... In his
capacity as producer it controls when pic-
tures are to be released, how they are to
be released and how many. It also stipulates
exploitation procedure, advertising budgets,
types of bookings and film rentals. Finally
it controls what you folks in production are
to earn and when you are to earn it.”

The speaker cited “an all-time high of
$4,000 a week” as indicative of the salaries
paid to distribution executives who “know
little about production and less about run-
ning theatres, yet draw larger and larger
salaries and have stronger and stronger
retirement plans, while you and the theatre
owners are less secure than ever before.”

Urging cooperative efforts to produce
medium or low budget pictures, Mr. Reade
said, “Phony overhead and prohibitive costs
of distribution must be reduced and changed.
Existing methods are chaotic and will not
do.”

German Films Cut
U. S. Screen Time

WASHINGTON : German films are cutting
into the popularity of Hollywood films in
West Germany, according to Commerce De-
partment film chief Nathan D. Golden.

Screen time for U. S. films in West Ger-
many fell from 42 per cent in the 1951-52
year to 37 per cent in the 1952-53 year. At
the same time, German films were rising
from 31 per cent in the 1951-52 year to 36
per cent in the 1952-53 year.

Distributors of U. S. films reported they
had some difficulty in finding screen time in
first-run theatres during the past year, Mr.
Golden reported.

The Commerce report added that total re-
ceipts for U. S. films during the 1953 year
were somewhat lower than during 1952, but
that a rise in the value of the blocked mark
gave U. S. firms a better opportunity to
withdraw profits from West Germany.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19. 1954

f7-/ Foreign
Sales Heads
Convene

With key addresses from Universal Pic-
tures president Milton Rackmil, U. 1. vice-
president and foreign general manager
Americo Aboaf and vice-president David
Lipton, the U. I. 1954 European sales con-
vention was held last week in Barcelona,
Spain.

President Rackmil told fifty delegates from
Europe and the Near East that the company
was experiencing an upsurge in business
in Europe and throughout the world due
mainly to the product plus the company
spirit and organization. Commenting on re-
cent technical developments, he said “Peo-
ple don’t buy systems — CinemaScope, 3-D,
etc. — they buy entertainment. Expansion
and progress is our security for the future
in a highly speculative industry.”

In his address, Mr. Aboaf emphasized that
the company could not consider itself suc-
cessful unless the exhibitor made a profit.

Vice-president David Lipton, guest of
honor at the Convention, elaborated on U-Ps
slogan “Pictures with that Universal Ap-
peal” by outlining in detail the coming prod-
uct with particular emphasis on diversifica-
tion.

A highlight for the delegates was playing
of a recorded message from executive vice-
president A1 Daff flown from the Studio.

Other speakers were vice-president Eelix
Sommer ; Kenneth Hargreaves, managing
director of General Pilm Distributors, of
the United Kingdom; and John Marshall,
Middle Europe supervisor.

Collectors Back Stamp
For Legitimate Theatre

The Cinema Stamp Collectors, meeting in
New York recently, voted to promote the
issuance of a commemorative stamp honor-
ing the legitimate theatre. Leon Bamberger,
its president, has petitioned the Postmaster
General for positive action. The stamp has
been proposed by the Council of the Living
Theatre.

Japan Sets Limits on
Film Remittances

WASHINGTON : Commerce Department
film chief Nathan D. Golden this week gave
full details of the current Japanese Govern-
ment regulations affecting imports of U. S.
and other foreign films.

Compared to 146 licenses allocated to the
dollar area in 1953, only 121 will be allo-
cated to the dollar area in 1954. In addition
there’ll be 15 allocated to the sterling area
and 24 to the open account area. This total
of 160 will be available only to persons who
have records of allocations in 1953.

In addition to this basic quota of 160, four
will be allocated to traders with records of
allocations in 1951 or 1952 but not 1953;
six as a bonus for superior foreign films ;

STRONG PRODUCT OF PAST
FATTENS SUMMER CROSSES

Spearheaded by MGM’s release of David
O. Selznick’s lusty “Gone with the Wind,”
powerful reissues are currently riding a
wave of popularity. To get the pictures over,
new advertising and promotional campaigns
have been devised, and in some instances
such contemporary innovations as stereo-
phonic sound and wide screen have been
added.

At the close of last month Universal-
International held a national pre-release pre-
miere in Omaha and Des Moines of “The
Egg and I,” which launched 50 dates in the
territory. The picture, which was the most
successful one the company ever had till
“The Glenn Miller Story,” and which started
the Kettle series, drew in domestic rentals
$5,300,000. It goes into national release in
July.

A striking example of a sturdy re-release
is Walt Disney’s “Pinocchio.” According
to Charles Boasberg, RKO Radio general
sales manager, the film’s national release
“is outdrawing its original 1940 gross by 20
per cent.” An unprecedented demand for

the film has resulted, with the adavnce re-
quests currently up to 460 for the summer.
It now is in its third month in Chicago at
the Loop theatre. It generally is setting
records in every section of the country it is
playing.

“Gone With the Wind” is a phenomenon
in itself. Now in its fifth reissue, it has out-
grossed every one of its previous re-releases.
At Loew’s State theatre in New York, where
it is being shown with stereophonic sound
and on wide screen, the picture drew a
whopping $140,000 in its first two weeks.
Before going into national re-release, it cur-
rently is playing, besides New York, in Kan-
sas City, Houston, Atlanta, Providence and
San Francisco. In each city it is registering
potently.

Samuel Goldwyn’s Academy-A-ward-win-
ning “Best Years of Our Lives, ’ currently
enjoying a healthy re-release, has to date
been played in 2,000 theatres. According to
a Goldwyn spokesman, at least 8,000 dates
are expected for the film in its current en-
gagement.

and 10 as a reserve quota, to be used to
promote the export of Japanese films
throughout the world.

For films imported under a percentage
rental system, remittances will be limited to
25 per cent of the distribution income when
the non-resident’s share of the receipts is not
more than 60 per cent, and to 20 per cent
when more than 60 per cent. For films im-
ported under a flat rental system, allocations
of foreign currency will be approved at the
time permission is given to the import con-
tract. Accumulated earnings in excess of al-
lowed remittances must be deposited in a
blocked account and used only with Govern-
ment permission.

Cook Is Hayward's Assistant

Norman Cook has become executive pro-
duction assistant to Leland Hayward, head
of a new producing organization in Holly-
wood. Mr. Cook has been general manager
for Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Okla-
homa.” The first Hayward production will
be “Mr. Roberts,” for Warners, with John
Ford directing.

University Making Feature

With the help of some 400 students, Bob
Jones University, Greenville, S. C., is mak-
ing a two-hour feature in color, “Wine of
Morning,” a religious film.

Alexander Sets First

A two-reel short, “Location Arkansas,”
to be made in CinemaScope and Eastman
Color, will be the first film produced by
Robert Alexander Productions.

Canadian Court Rules
On Television Copyright

In what is believed to be the first judg-
ment relating to the involved problem of
television program copyright, the Exchequer
Court of Canada in Ottawa recently awarded
$300 in damages and an injunction to Can-
adian Admiral Corporation for infringe-
ment of copyright in films of football games
telecast over CBFT, Montreal, in 1952.
The Court found there was no copyright
infringement in live telecasts ot football
games relayed by the defendant. Rediffusion,
Inc., a community antenna service, to
private homes because they were not per-
formances in public. However, showings
of the relayed pick-up in Rediffusion’s show-
rooms were held to be an infringement of
Admiral’s copyright interest in the films
telecast.

Davis Plans Drive-In

Dan Davis, president of the Norwood
Theatre Company, Florence, Ala., has an-
nounced he will begin constructing the
Wheeler Drive-In Theatre, on the Joe
Wheeler Highway, two miles west of Tus-
cumbia, Ala., shortly. It will house 44 cars.
It also will have a 100 seat viewing room,
for winter usage.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

“St. Patrick’s Day Parade,” a featurette in
color, began a run this week at the Baronet
theatre, New York, in association with Cel-
tic Films feature there, “The Spell of Ire-
land.” It is a filming of the New York
parade.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

Isdied’ tmi ^

Since the top sergeant
started kissing Donald
maneuvers have never
been so much fun!

DONALD O’CONNOR JULIA ADAMS CHILL Wl

LYNN BARI • ZASU PITTS with Allison Hayes

Directed by ARTHUR LUBIN • Screenplay by Devery Freeman and James B. Allardice • Story by Herbert Baker • Based

LLS • MAMIE Van DORENtJ^aift^lS

• Mara Corday • Karen Kadler and > The Talking Mule

on the character “Francis” created by David Stern • Produced by TED RICHMOND • A UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL PICTURE

TAX CUT SPLIT
HOT CEA TOPIC

Annual Exhibitor Meeting
Monday Seen Evoking
Some Crisp Fireworks

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : The Cinematograph Exhibitors
Association opens its annual convention —
certainly one of the most momentous in its
forty-year history — on Monday at the in-
land watering resort of Yorkshire’s Harro-
gate, chosen in tribute to this year’s CEA
president, Claude Whincup, himself a dedi-
cated Yorkshireman.

High on the agenda of the Association’s
general council deliberations and at the now
traditional open forum, to which any of the
hundreds of exhibitors attending the con-
vention may contribute, will be the resolve-
ment of the division of the recent entertain-
ment tax remission.

Exhibitors Want Revision

The Chancellor of the Exchequer made it
clear that in making his concession he had
in mind not only assisting exhibitors but
putting producers on a firmer financial basis.
The latter happy issue could only be arrived
at through an increase in the rates of the
seat-levy paid into the Eady Fund by ex-
hibitors. But theatre men would not agree
to the increase until the third party to the
arrangement, namely distributors, consented
to a revision in the existing break-figure
formula.

Following an acid dispute, the Renters’
Society brought forward a formula which,
it was claimed, would put exhibitors in a
])osition at least equal to that obtaining in
regard to their net boxolfice take before the
Budget concession. But having won that
point- — and even intransigent exhibitors ad-
mit that it was a step in the right direction
— CEA’s officers still press for a radical
revision in the break-figure formula as the
pre-requisite for their coming talks with
producers in regard to the scale of the Eady
Eevy.

With some shrewdness, the officers have
now elected to leave the decision to the rank-
and-file at Harrogate. Everyone agrees that
the Renters put their formula forward as
at its lowest a basis for negotiation. But
there’s no doubt that CEA’s executive will
get a whole-hearted mandate at Harrogate
to continue the battle with the distributors
in an endeavour to achieve that complete
revision of break-figure practice.

Wage Demands an Issue

But looming menacingly over the general
council’s debates will be the latest wage
demands of Tom O’Brien’s National Asso-
ciation of Theatrical and Kine Employees.
Despite the fact that the last agreement be-
tween Mr. O’Brien and CEA was nego-

SCREEN FIGURES ARE
HONORED BY QUEEN

LONDON: Members and those closely
associated with the motion picture
industry figured prominently in the
Queen's Birthday Honours announced
here last week. Knighted was Beverly
Baxter, Member of Parliament, but
perhaps better known as the film
critic of the "Evening Standard." The
Order of the British Empire was given
to Tom Stobart, cameraman tor "The
Conquest of Everest," while Denis
Wratten, head of Eastman Kodak's
motion picture division, was named a
Commander of the Order of the
British Empire. W. Somerset Mau-
gham, many of whose novels and
short stories have furnished material
tor films, was named a Companion of
Honour, practically the country's
highest honour. Poetess Edith Sitwell,
who wrote the script for Columbia's
forthcoming "Fanfare for Elizabeth,"
was named Dame Commander of the
Crder of the British Empire.

tiated only a few months ago, the union
now seeks wage increases of 15 per cent up
to and including wages of £7 a week; and
10 per cent on wages in excess of that.

To the demand CEA has countered — apart
from the short time which has elapsed since
the negotiation of the present agreement —
that its theatres (even with the remission)
cannot support the latest demand and that in
any event the cost-of-living index has re-
mained virtually static over the last year.

Mr. O’Brien has now engaged in a vio-
lent newspaper and public-platform cam-
paign of denunciation of CEA’s cynical
bosses. The latter will undoubtedly receive
the mandate they seek at Harrogate from
realistic theatre men accustomed to similar
O’Brien demonstrations over the years.

Wage demands and the break-figure dis-
pute, not to speak of the Eady levy scale,
undoubtedly will keep delegates mighty busy
in the four days of the convention.

Plan Ad Film Festival

Significant witness to the rapid growth of
the newly-formed International Screen Ad-
vertising Services is seen in the fact that
membership of the new organization now
extends to 20 countries. Ernest Pearl,
chairman of the film-advertising firm of
Pearl & Dean, Ltd., and a founder member
of I.S.A.S., announced this last week in
revealing that an Advertising Film Festival
will be held in Venice, Italy, for four days
beginning September 28, 1954.

Entries of films for the Festival, said Mr.

Pearl, will not be confined to members of
the Association. The Festival will be open
to any producer of advertising films. Early
indications are that there will be not less
than entries of 200 films, including 75 from
the U. S.

Entries, limited to three minutes in length,
will be divided into four classes : cartoon ;
puppets, marionettes, or models ; live ac-
tion, and film series entered for the same
advertiser.

Founder-rules of I.S.A.S. permit one
member only from each constituent country.
Alexander Film Company is the American
member of the Association’s Executives.

Louis de Rochemont’s “Martin Luther’’
will be distributed here through British
Lion, although no arrangements have yet
been set for the picture’s public screening.
It is considered likely that it will be shown
at the Leicester Square Rialto which ca-
ters normally for specialized audiences, and,
thereafter, at similar provincial houses. No
circuit deal is in contemplation for the pic-
ture.

Columbia’s latest British production,
“Father Brown,” starring this land’s famed
Alec Guinness who already is widely popular
in the U. S., got off last weekend to out-
standing success at Paramount’s Plaza
theatre.

Promote Kastner to
New Columbia Post

LONDON : The promotion of Lacy W.
Kastner to the position of executive vice-
president, was announced this week by
Joseph A. McConville, president of Colum-
bia Pictures International. Mr. McConville
made the announcement here Monday at the
21st birthday sales convention of the
United Kingdom and Eire organization.
Under the new assignment Mr. Kastner will
assume charge of all foreign operations
under Mr. McConville’s supervision. Mr.
Kastner, a Columbia vice-president for the
last several years, has been, since January
general assistant to Mr. McConville in
New York.

UA to Release Rank's
"Romeo and Juliet"

“Romeo and Juliet,” the J. Arthur Rank
Organization’s new million-dollar film pres-
entation in color by Technicolor, has been
acquired for release by United Artists, it
was announced jointly this week by John
Davis, managing director for Rank and
Arthur B. Krim, president of United Artists.
The picture was filmed in Verona, Italy
and at locations mentioned in the original
play. Laurence Harvey and Susan Shentall
portray the title roles. It was adapted for
the screen and directed by Renato Castellani.

UA Selling "Victory"

United Artists will sell “Victory at Sea”
to the theatres, Arthur Krim, president of
the company, disclosed in New York last
week. The film is a documentary condensed
from the NBC-TV series of the same title.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

Iw§dia Code
Ltihened to
American

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities for the week end
ing June 12 were:

The text of the new directive of the Cen-
tral Board of Film Censors in India — in
effect the production code for India — re-
veals a striking similarity to and influence
by the Production Code of the U. S. film
industry.

The Indian directive, like the U. S. Code,
has three general principles, basically the
same in both Codes. The three Indian gen-
eral principles are :

“1. No picture shall be certified for pub-
lic exhibition which will lower the moral
standards of those who see it. Hence the
sympathy of the audience shall not be thrown
on the side of crime, wrong-doing, evil or
sin.

“2. Standards of life, having regard to
the standards of the country, and the people
to which the story relates shall not be so
portrayed as to deprave the morality of the
audience.

“3. The prevailing laws shall not be so
ridiculed as to create sympathy for violation
of such laws.”

The general principles of the U. S. Pro-
duction Code are :

“1. No picture shall be produced which
will lower the moral standards of those who
see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience
shall never be thrown on the side of crime,
wrong-doing, evil or sin.

“2. Correct standards of life, subject only
to the requirements of drama and entertain-
ment, shall be presented.

“3. Law, natural or human, shall not be
ridiculed, nor shall sympathy be created for
its violation.”

Under the heading “Particular Applica-
tions,” the U. S. Code goes into extended
ramification and elucidation of the three gen-
eral principles.

The Indian code, under the same heading
also goes into extended explanation and
breakdown. The body of taboos is roughly
the same as those in the Code of this
country.

MGM Promoting Kartoon
Karnival, A "Package"

MGM will make available to the exhibitor
a Kartoon Karnival, for which it has already
made a special Technicolor trailer, and a
four-tone one-sheet. The company’s various
series of cartoons, “Tom, Jerry, and Nib-
bles,” “Spike and Tyke,” “Barney Bear,”
“Lucky Ducky,” and “Droopy” will be open
to exhibitors so they may make packages.
William B. Zoellner, sales head for shorts
and newsreels, also announced five new sub-
jects coming up: Pete Smith’s “Safe at
Home,” and “Sleepytime Squirrel,” a Tech-
nicolor cartoon, in June; and “Homesteader
Droopy,” “Bird Brain, Bird Dog,” and
“Baby Butch,” all color-by-Technicolor car-
toons. Release of the latter three will be
in July.

Albany: Three Coins in the Fountain
(20th- Fox) .

Atlanta: Carnival Story (RKO), Dial
M for Murder (WB), Gone ahth the
Wind (MGM, reissue) 3rd week.

Baltimore: Dial M for Murder (WB)
2nd' week. The Long Wait (UA).

Boston: Dial M for Murder (WB) 2nd
week. Student Prince (MGM), Three
Coins in the Fountain (20th-Fox)
2nd week.

Buffalo: Arrow in the Dust (AA), The
Long Wait (UA) holdover. Siege at
Red River (20th-Fox), Three Coins in
THE Fountain (20th-Fox) 3rd week.

Cincinnati: Carnival Story (RKO), The
Long Wait (UA).

Cleveland: Bait (Col.) and Battle of
Rogue River (Col.) double bill. The
Moon Is Blue (UA) 3rd week. Three
Coins in the Fountain (20th-Fox).

Columbus: Student Prince (MGM).

Denver; Indiscretion of an American
Wife (Col.), Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox).

Detroit: Dial M for Murder (WB),
The French Line (RKO), The Long
Wait (UA), Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox).

Hartford: Drums Across the River
(U-I), Men of the Fighting Lady
(MGM), Three Coins in the Foun-
tain (20th-Fox) 2nd week. Witness to
Murder (UA).

Indianapolis: Men of the Fighting
Lady (MGM), Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox).

Kansas City: Gone with the Wind
(MGM, reissue) holdover.

Memphis: Dial M for Murder (WB),

African Explorer Film
For Republic Release

Lewis Cotlow, explorer, is en route to
Africa where he will make an authentic full-
length color film featuring the big game and
primitive tribes of Equatorial Africa.

The picture, which will encompass a six-
month expedition through Kenya, Tan-
ganyika, Nigeria, Union of South Africa
and other parts of Africa, will be released by
Republic Pictures.

Defense Subject to Be
Delivered Without Fee

The Department of Defense short subject
about women in the Armed Forces, “The
Price of Liberty,” will be delivered gratis
to theatres, Charles Boasberg, chairman of
the general sales managers’ committee of

Johnny Guitar (Rep.), The Long
Wait (UA).

Miami: Dial M for Murder (WB).

Milwaukee: Elephant Walk (Para.),
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox) .

Minneapolis: Dial M for Murder (WB)
holdover, The Living Desert (Disney),
Men of the Fighting Lady (MGM),
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox).

New Orleans: Indiscretion of an Amer-
ican Wife (Col.), Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox).

Oklahoma City: E l e p ii a n r Walk
(Para.), Secret of the Incas (Para.).

Philadelphia: Dial M for Murder
(WB) 3rd week. Flame and the Flesh
(MGM) 2nd week. Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox) 3rd week.

Pittsburgh: The Long Wait (UA),
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox) 2nd week.

Portland: Elephant Walk (Para.) 2nd
week, Johnny Guitar (Rep.) 2nd week,
Three Coins in the Eountain (20th-
Fox) 2nd week.

Providence: Executive Suite (MGM)
2nd week.

Toronto: Men of the Fighting Lady
(MGM), Wild One (Col.)

Vancouver: Hobson’s Choice (UA) 8th
week. Red Garters (Para.).

Washington: Captain’s Paradise (UA)
3rd week. Dial M for Murder (WB)

2nd week. Flame and the Flesh
(MGM), French Line (RKO) 4th
week. Knock on Wood (Para.) 8th week,
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox) .

the Motion Picture Association, announced.
All distributors are handling the physical
distribution of the film, which was produced
by Warner Pathe News under the auspices
of COMPO.

Casablanca Office for UA

United Artists has opened a sales branch
in Casablanca, French North Africa, it
was announced by Arnold M. Picker,
foreign distribution vice-president. The of-
fice will be managed by Andre Aubuouet,
who has been associated with the company’s
Paris office for the last four years.

Boston Bars "Line" Dance

The Boston Board of Censors this week
ruled that the solo dance performed by Jane
Russell in RKO’s “The French Line” mu t
be cut from the film before it can be shown.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19. 1954

TIME

LOO

spre

Starring

HUMPHREY BOGART • lOSE FERRER

and

introducing

ROBERT FRANCIS • MAY WYNN r technicolor

Screen Play by STANLEY ROBERTS • Based upon the Pulitzer prize winning novel by HERMAN WOUK

Directed by EDWARD DMYTRYK • A COLUMBIA PICTURE • A STANLEY KRAMER PROD.

CARL CHRISTIAN HAS RECIPE
AFTER 50 YEARS A SHOWMAN

There’s nothing like the direct approach,
Carl Christian believes. Owner of the Cozy
theatre, Tuckerman, Ark., he knows that to
know your neigh-
bors— who are the
customers — you
have to let them
know you. And Carl,
after 30 years in the
business, is not at
all reticent. He tells
the people of Tuck-
erman just what he
thinks ; he lets them
share his problems;
and certainly it pays
off.

Carl Christian, in 1912 Last year, he pub-

licly celebrated his
50 years with a redecoration of his theatre,
a personal message to his public, a recapitu-
lation of his early days as a demonstrator
of the Edison Talking Machine, and an
invitation to see the machine and some of
the records he used.

This year, right after the partly success-
full tax fight, he printed and distributed
leaflets bearing another personal message

calling attention to a letter he had written
to trade papers. The message was headed
“Taxation And Real Life Drama !’’ ; and it
noted the abolition of the tax on admissions
of less than 50 cents, that the period of the
tax covered his years in Tuckerman, and
that he admits taxes are for the purposes of
government.

It also carried a synopsis of his letter to
the trade, in which he commented that ten
years ago he had some eight small town
theatres, and now has “little more than
one”; and that their assets were $60,000,
and now the sum is less than $40,000. He
also quoted his letter thus :

“Anyway, I still retain, I hope, my full
mentality intact, and still have those price-
less and indispensable assets of a showman
— Courage, Imagination, Enthusiasm, Initi-
ative, and a lot of know-how, gained from
a wide and varied experience, and, after
72 years of life, over 50 of it spent in Show
Business, I believe I have fully acquired
that wonderful and sustaining philosophy
to take life in stride.

“I have no regrets, no alibies, and I
know, too, that an old showman never quits
■ — so here I go, again.”

San Francisco Museum Takes
Modern Art's Film Library

The San Francisco Museum of Art will
become the west coast center for circulating
motion pictures from the Museum of Mod-
ern Art Film Library, beginning September,
1954, it was announced in New York and
San Francisco recently by the boards of
trustees of both institutions. Under the new
agreement, which aims at cutting transpor-
tation costs for organizations on the west
coast, 16 mm prints of 34 programs of mo-
tion pictures from the collection of the
Museum of Modern Art will be circulated
by the San Francisco Museum of Art to
schools, colleges, universities and film study
groups in the western states of the U. S.
and Hawaii and Alaska.

Expect Increase in
Argentine Production

WASHINGTON : Increased supplies of
rawstock. Government loans and possible
increases in admission prices combine to
brighten the outlook this year for Argentine
film producers, according to Commerce De-
partment film chief Nathan D. Golden.

Mr. Golden said that at least 60 films
were expected to be produced this year,
compared with 39 last year. The 1948-51
average was about 50 features per year.

In the last quarter of 1953, the Industrial
Credit Bank liberalized its policies for grant-
ing loans to Agentine producers, Mr. Golden
reported. Moreover, recently representatives
of all branches of the industry have been

pleading with the Government to boost ad-
mission prices and so increase production
revenues from exhibition. Finally, rawstock,
long in short supply, is being imported from
Italy, Germany, Japan and the United King-
dom.

Invite Exhibits for
TESMA-TEDA Meet

Invitations were sent this week to compa-
nies who may wish to exhibit at the com-
bination exhibitor-supply company conven-
tion at the Conrad Hilton Hotel, Chicago,
October 31 through November 4. According
to Fred Matthews, president of the Theatre
Equipment and Supply Manufacturers Asso-
ciation, one of the participants, 72 of 144
booths allocated to members already have
been sold. Other participants are the Theatre
Owners of America, the Theatre Equipment
Dealers Association, and the International
Popcorn Association.

Western Germany
Production Up

WASHINGTON : Film production in

Western Germany last year hit 103 features,
compared with 82 in 1952, Commerce De-
partment film chief Nathan D. Golden re-
ported. He said 14 of the 103 features
produced last year were co-productions, in-
cluding two U. S. -German features. An
estimated 200 documentary films and short
subjects were produced in 1953, compared
to 264 documentaries and short subjects in
1952, the Commerce official said.

70 Theatres
Carry N. Y.
Fight an TV

Some 70 theatres throughout the United
States were prepared to accommodate 200,-
000 spectators to see the Marciano-Charles
heavyweight championship fight which was
to be held Thursday night at the Yankee
Stadium in New York, according to Theatre
Network Television, Inc. Motion picture
prints of the bout were to be distributed
by United Artists on Friday morning to
first-run metropolitan New York theatres,
and to others throughout the country over
the weekend.

Sixty-one theatres and nine drive-ins were
set for the closed-circuit telecast, according
to Nate Halpern, president of TNT. Ticket
prices for the theatre telecast varied from
$3.30 to $4.80 per person in the closed and
outdoor theatres, with loge seats in the same
situations costing $5.

The theatres are located in 45 cities from
coast to coast with metropolitan New York
and all of New England blacked out.

Mr. Halpern stated that “90 per cent of
all available closed circuit installations have
A. T. & T. long line clearances for Thurs-
day.” The Marciano-Charles telecast was the
69th closed circuit event presented by TNT
and its affiliated company, Tele-Sessions,
Inc.

Apart from the theatre telecast of the
fight. United Artists contracted to distribute
a film of the event, and at mid-week was
preparing to rush prints to theatres over
the weekend.

The fight was to be broadcast by radio
but not by television except for the exclusive
closed circuit transmission to theatres.

Boston Salesmen's Unit
Reelects Gubbins Head

BOSTON : At the annual election of officers
of the Motion Picture Salesman Club of
Boston, Jack Gubbins, Paramount, was re-
elected president. Others elected were John
Peckos, vice-president; Irving Farber, treas-
urer; Louis Josephs, secretary; Joseph Ra-
hilly, sergeant-at-arms. The six directors are
Arthur Gerome, William Kumins, “Bud”
Lewsi, Maynard Sickles, “Jud” Parker and
Joseph Wolf.

Reopen in Albuquerque

The Coronado theatre, Albuquerque,
N. M,. which has been closed for six months
and was formerly operated by Mrs. Dolly
Best and Jack Michelson, has been reopened
by Alex Provas and Tiburcio Villalobos.

Ellis Gets "Temptress"

Ellis Films has acquired the Italian film,
“The Temptress,” Jack Ellis, president, has
announced. Anna Maria Ferrero stars in
the film. Associated with Ellis Films in
the production is George Chasanas.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19. 1954

in this bed
will make
the whole
wide world

DICK POWELL* DEBBIE REYNOLDS

color by

ECHNICOLOR rwio

co-starring

ANNE FRANCIS • Directed by frank tashlin

Screenplay by ALEX GOTTLIEB • Produced by HAR R I ET PARSONS

J s.

cene

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

HoUyivood Editor

ANY seeming relationship between the pro-
duction upsurge of the past fortnight and
the impending visit of Theatre Owners of
America board and executive committee
members intent upon inquiring into reasons
for a product shortage is as purely coinci-
dental as it is fortuitous. Nevertheless, the
start of 17 pictures within the fortnight —
nine in one week and eight more the next —
creates a climate distinctly favorable to the
success of the discussions that Exhibition
and Production are preparing (as this is
written) to devote to a clarification of what-
ever misunderstandings of each by the other
may be found to prevail.

A production upsurge is always the best
possible answer to most of the questions the
production community is ever called upon to
confront. It is not, of course, an easy an-
swer to arrange, because nobody can simply
order an upsurge and count on its springing
into instant presence, but the producing com-
panies, major and independent, are happily in
the grip of one at just the right moment to
make the meeting of exhibitor minds and
producer minds congenial. IMuch good can
come of that.

Technical Confusion
Straightening Out

Although there is no single conspicuous
cause for the sudden decision of a good many
producers to start shooting pictures, here,
abroad and wherever, it cannot be denied
that developments in the technological de-
partment of the industry have been of a kind
to lift some of the restraints under which
producers have had to plan and perform
since extra-dimensionalism set in. Policy
decisions in several quarters have made it
practicable, rather suddenly, for an inde-
pendent producer, for instance, to film a pic-
ture in such wise that it can be exhibited,
with benefit of laboratory ministrations, in
just about whatever dimensions and shapes
any individual exhibitor may require.

This development is sweet music to the
ears of the externally-financed producer and
his banker friends who’ve been rvorking the
other (television-film) side of the investment
street more diligently than this one lately.
Of course it is pleasant listening, also, for
the production heads of major studios, sub-
ject always to the flickering fancy of their
notably fickle public and subject addition-
ally, the past year or more, to the dictates of
the research department and laboratory.

To be sure, the curtain is far from down
on the technological stage. There are new
contentions about color and color processes.
There is a whole wilderness of optics still
largely unexplored. The conflicting claims
set forth by champions of the principal
shapes are far from reconciled. It will be
a long time before, if ever, the processes of

production are standardized, but there is a
growing belief around Hollywood that it will
be a long time, too, before anybody intro-
duces system or style or means or manner
as far from common practice as some of
those that have been introduced in the 18
months since Arch Oboler and Milton Gunz-
burg pitched “Bwanna Devil” into the pro-
duction hopper and set it to hopping as never
before in the memory of the eldest native
son. But the time has come, it appears, when
a producer can plan a picture without fear
of its becoming structurally obsolete before
release date, and can produce it in a form
that will still be in general use when it gets
into the theatres. So, we noted, production
is on the upsurge.

Four of the eight pictures started during
the week are in color. Two of the four are
in CinemaScope. One is an independent
enterprise with no distribution channel set.

The 20th Century-Fox use of CinemaScope
is entitled “The Black Widow,” which Nun-
nally Johnson is both directing and produc-
ing. It has Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin,
Gene Tierney, George Raft, Reginald Gard-
ner and Peggy Ann Garner in its cast, and
is being photographed by Charles G. Slarke,
one of the great camera men of an industry^
that gives its cinematographers far too little
note for the miracles they perform.

CinemaScope is in Warner Brothers use,
along with WarnerColor, on “Track of the
Cat,” a Betjac Production, which has Rob-
ert Dlitchum, Teresa Wright, Diana Lynn,
Tab Hunter, Beulha Bondi and William
Hopper in the cast. Robert Fellows is the
producer, William A. Wellman directing.

Producer Tobert Stillman is using Tech-
nicolor on “The Americano,” foi* RKO re-
lease, which has Glenn Ford, Ursula Thiess,
Frank Lovejoy and Cesar Rome’;o as prin-
cipals. Sam Wiesenthal is executive pro-
ducer, and William Castle ife directing.

Eastman color is being used by Ohio
Films, independent, on “Fresh from Paris,”
which is being directed by Les Goodwins for
Buck Houghton, associate producer. For-
rest Tucker, Margaret Whiting, Barbara
Whiting, Martha Hyer, Dick Wesson, Wally
Cassell and Bill Henry are in the cast.

Steady idack-and-white was chosen with
pointed purpose by producer Hayes Goetz
and director Joseph Newman for “Police
Story,” an Allied Artists production in the
level-eyed tradition of that company’s “Riot
in Cell Block 11,” which it in no wise re-
sembles save as its straight photography may
impart to it the ring of realism. Principal
players in it are Gary Merrill, Jan Sterling,
Paula Raymond, Emile Meyer and Regis
Toomey.

The incomparable Bud Abbott and Lou
Costello got going on “Abbott and Costello
Meet the Keystone Cops,” the title of which
tells its own story, for Llniversal-Internal-

tional. Fred Clark and Lynn Bari, two of
the surest talents in show business, head the
supporting cast. Howard Christie is pro-
ducer ; Charles Lamont is directing.

“Tall Man Riding” is a Randolph Scott
vehicle, for Warner release, under produc-
tion of David Weisbart, one of the leaders
in the younger phalanx of producers, and
directed by Lesley Selander.

Mickey Rooney went to work in “The
Atomic Kid,” for Republic, with Robert
Strauss, Elaine Davis, Bill Goodwin and
Whit Bissell in the cast. Maurice Duke is
producing and Leslie Morrison is directing.

Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll>l

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

STARTED (8)

A.A.

Police Story

INDEPENDENT

Fresh from Paris

(Ohio Films; Eastman)

REPUBLIC

Atomic Kid

RKO

Americano (Robt. Still-
man; Technicolor)

COMPLETED (2)

COL.

Phffft

20TH-FOX

Black Widow (Cinema-
Scope; color)

U-l

Abbott & Costello Meet
Keystone Cops

WARNER

Track of the Cat
(Batjac; Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)
Tall Man Riding

MGM

Athena (Technicolor)

SHOOTING (26)

A.A.

Bob Mathias Story
(Mathlon Prod.)

COL.

Joseph and His Breth-
ren (CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

FILMAKERS

Private Hell 36

INDEPENDENT

Walk the Dark Street
(Valor Prod.)

Return of Columbus
( Paal-Real )

Day of Triumph

(Century; Eastman)

Long John Silver (Kauf-
man; CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

LIPPERT

Adventure in Rio
( Corona )

MGM

Many Rivers to Cross
(CinemaScope; East-
man)

Jupiter's Darling
CinemaScope; East-
man)

Deep in My Heart
(Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Love Is a Weapon
( Pine-Thomas; Vista-
Vision; Technicolor)

To Catch a Thief

( VistaVision; Techni-
color)

RKO

Conqueror (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea ( Disney;
CineScope; Techni-
color)

20TH-FOX

That Lady (Atlanta
Prod.; CinemaScope;
color)

There's No Business Like
Show Business (Cine-
maScope; Techni-
color)

Woman's World (Cine-
maScope; Techni-
color)

U-l

^ive Bridges to Cross

Smoke Signal (Techni-
color)

Destry (Technicolor)

WARNER

Drum Beat (Jaguar;
CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

Silver Chalice (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

East of Eden (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

Helen of Troy (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)

Land of the Pharoahs
( CinemaScope;
WarnerColor)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19. 1954

Westrex Mas
J\eu7 JLine

The Westrex Corporation, and its sub-
sidiary companies in 36 countries abroad,
this week announced the availability of a
complete new line of theatre sound repro-
ducing equipment.

The Westrex multi-channel sound systems
are composed of the following main units :
the W’estrex R9 stereophonic reproducer for
magnetic sound tracks; an integrator for
optical directional sound tracks ; the R7 op-
tical sound reproducer for high quality
optical sound; the T454 power amplifier;
the T604A pre-amplifiers for good magnetic
reproduction ; new cabinet assemblies with
associated switching equipment and which
allow servicing of equipment from the front
of the cabinets’, and new high and new low
frequency assemblies to be used with the
new T570A network.

Telemeter Demonstrates
Closed Circuit Hook-up

Possibilities of “closed circuit” television
in hotels were explored this week by Ampli-
Vision, a division of the International Tele-
meter Corporation. There were daily tele-
casts Monday through W^ednesday to re-
ceivers located among the 1,600 rooms of
the Park Sheraton Plotel. They were sent

from 7;30 to O;!)!) p.m., and comprised
Paramount short subjects and cartoons.
They were in conjunction with the annual
convention of the Natonal Community Tele-
vision Association, and also included a
“telephone message” service for NCTA
registrants whereby listed names on a call-
board were televised to the rooms, and then
those responding were enabled ro converse
"face to face” with their callers.

Ontario Theatres Study
Attack on Ticket Tax

TORONTO : The amusement tax, particu-
larly as it affects the small theatre owner in
Ontario, is being looked into by a special
committee set up by the Motion Picture
Theatres Association of Ontario and non-
MPTAO independents. The study author-
ized by the executive board of the MPTAO
is asking the co-operation of all individuals
and groups in exhibition. Joint discussions
resulted in complete support for the M PTAO
as the representative of all Ontario exhibi-
tors Committee for Amusement Tax relief.
Lionel Lester has been named chairman of
the special committee and its presentation to
ih'emier Leslie Frost of Ontario, who is also
Provincial Treasurer. Members of the com-
mittee are R. W. Bolstad, C. R. B. Salmon,
IP C. D. Main, William Summerville Jr.
and Angus Jewel. Among those who met
with them were such non-MPTAO Inde-
pendents as Ben Freedman, Morris Ritten-
berg and A1 Daniels.

Reelect Buck and O'Brien
To Catholic Actors Unit

At the annual meeting of the Catholic
Actors Guild of America, Gene Buck and
Pat O’Brien were reelected president and
vice-president. Those elected to other posi-
tions were; Jay Jostyn, second vice-presi-
dent; Ed Begley, recording secretary; Jane
Taylor, historian; Frank McNellis, chair-
man of the executive board; Ann Sullivan,
social secretary (theatrical), and Madeleine
Larkin, social secretary (non-theatrical j.
Members of the executive board were chosen
as follows ; Matt Briggs, Audrey Egan, Lil-
lian Eallon, Mrs. J. P. Gallagher, Jason
Johnson, Fred Kelly, Paul Lilly, Robert
Dale Martin, J. Joseph McDermott, Harry
Oldndge, Pat O’Shea and James Sauter.

Brewer Group Invites
Walsh to Meeting

HOLLYWOOD: The Southern California
committee for “Brewer for president of
lATSE’’ has invited international president
Richard Walsh to attend a dinner at the
Hollywood Athletic Club on July 8 so that
“delegates to the coming convention could
be given as much information as possible
regarding campaign issues.” Tlie extended
invitation to Mr. Walsh, signed by C. V.
(Pat) Offer, secretary of the Southern
California committee, stressed the point that
despite differences between factions, all
parties should hold "the welfare of the in-
ternational” in common interest.

COLUMBIA PICTURES ANNOUNCES THAT PRINTS OF THE FOLLOWING
PICTURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE IN OUR EXCHANGES FOR SCREENING

with DOROTHY MALONE

Screen Play by ROY HUGGINS • Produced by JULES SCHERMER
Directed by RICHARD QUINE

STARRING

SCOTT BETTA

BRADY ST. JOHN

story and Screen Play by JOHN T. WILLIAMS
Produced by SAM KATZMAN • Directed by WILLIAM CASTLE

General Release: August

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

Joseph I. Breen, director of the Production
Code Administration; Charles P. Skou-
RAS, president of National Theatres, and
Y. Frank Freeman, vice-president of
Paramount Pictures, each have received
honorary degrees of Doctor of Laws last
weekend. Mr. Skouras was honored by
Loyola University ; Mr. Breen by his
Alma Mater, St. Joseph’s College of Phila-
delphia, and Mr. Freeman by the Uni-
versity of Southern California, of which
he is a trustee.

Stephen Edward Seadler, son of MGM’s
advertising manager Silas F. Seadler,
has become engaged to Ingrid Linnea
Adolfsson. The wedding will take place
this summer in Stockholm.

George Roth has resigned as general sales
manager of Fine Arts Films, Inc., and has
opened New York offices where, under the

Terry Announces Two
Cartoons Per Month

Paul Terry, producer of 20th Century-
Fox’s Terry toons, announced over the week-
end that starting this month there will be
two all-purpose Terrytoons characters avail-
able to exhibitors on a monthly basis. The
short subjects will be adaptable for projec-
tion in CinemaScope proportions through
ananiorphic lens, or in standard or wide-
screen proportions through regular 35mm
lenses. Mr. Terry said eight Terrytoons
will be available through September. How-
ever, between June and the end of the year
Terrytoon will release a total of 14. The
announcement comes on the eve of the
launching by 20th-Fox’s 38 branches in
the U. S. and Canada of a six-month testi-
monial to Mr. Terry.

New Variety Club
Appoints Officers

NEW ORLEANS: Page M. Baker has
been named temporary chief barker of the
newly formed Variety Tent No. 45. Other
officers of the unit are Harold Cohen, first
assistant chief barker; W. A. Briant, second
assistant chief barker ; Don Brandon, prop-
erty master and Henry Plitt, dough guy.
Members of the board of directors are Mr.
Barker, Carl Mabry, Mr. Briant, William
Holliday, Mr. Brandon, E. A. MacKenna,
Mr. Cohen, Louis Boyer, L. C. Montgomery,
Mr. Plitt and Joel Bluestone.

Dallas Variety Club
Honors Two Texans

DALLAS : The Variety Club was filled to
capacity here June 7, with a local and state-
wide audience gathering to honor Lynn

newly organized Atlantic Pictures Corp.,
he will engage in the distribution of for-
eign and domestic films.

Mort Blumenstock, Warner Bros, adver-
tising and publicity vice-president, is in
New York from the coast.

Bernard McCarthy has been promoted
from I.E.E. sales representative to Mid-
west district manager.

Fred Quimby, head of MGM’s shorts de-
partment, has joined the company’s “30
Year Club.’’

Arthur H. Lockwood, treasurer of Lock-
wood and Gordon Theatres, by unanimous
vote, has been elected president of the
Children’s Cancer Research Foundation,
succeeding Martin J. Mullin, president
of New England Theatres, who has been
president for the past five years.

Smith from Gonzales and H. A. Daniels
from Sequin. R. J. O’Donnell, in behalf
of the Texas Council of Motion Picture
Organizations, presided over the lionor
ceremonies. Variety International chief
barker George C. Hoover was principal
speaker. He was introduced by executive
director William McCraw. The induction
ceremonies for eight new members were
conducted by Wallace Walthall.

Film-Papers' Mutual Interests

The mutual interests of motion picture
theatres and newspapers were highlighted in
talk recently by George Atton, district man-
ager for Golden State Theatres at Santa
Cruz, before the Advertising Managers As-
sociation in San Erancisco. The talk later
was published in “Editor & Publisher.’’

OOPS, MY DEAR!

Last week RKO announced that the
Southern California Motion Picture
Council had awarded a certificate of
merit to the King Brothers for their
RKO release "Carnival Story.” "In
lauding this . . . drama for its general
excellence,” t/x announcement said, "it
was recommended as a picture for fam-
ily audiences.” Presentation of the cer-
tificate was made by Mrs. William A.
Burk, president of the organization.
Two days later Mrs. Burk said her
organization would "re-evaluate” the
picture and that a correction would be
carried in the next issue of "Fox West
Coast Unbiased Opinions,” the circular
in winch the original appraisal was
carried.

Film Board
For India

by V. DORAISWAMY

BOMBAY : The Government of India plans
to set up in the near future a National Film
Board which will be directed to supervise
the activities of a Film Production Bureau
and a Film Institute, according to a state-
ment made recently in Parliament by the
Minister for Information and Broadcasting.
It is understood the Board also would take
over the functions of the Central Board of
Film Censors.

In another development, the 1948 ban on
theatre construction has been lifted.

As now contemplated, the Production Bu-
reau would provide a library and research
service to producers, advising on the artistic
quality of scripts as well as helping to esti-
mate production costs. The Film Institute
will be set up to train directors, camera-
men, sound engineers and editors.

Discussions on how the Board will be
financed and who will be its members now
are under way.

Motion Picture Pioneers
Elect 1954 Directors

The Motion Picture Pioneers and the
Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation met
in New York last week and elected a board
of directors as follows: Jack Alicoate, Bar-
ney Balaban, Harry Brandt, Jack Cohn,
Sam Dembow, Jr., Ned Depinet, Gus Eys-
sell. Si Fabian, William German, Abel
Green, William Heineman, Marvin Kirsch,
John O’Connor, Robert O’Donnell, Martin
Quigley, E. V. Richards, Jr., Sarn Rinzler,
Herman Robbins, Gradwell Sears, Ben
Shlyen, Spyros Skouras, Harry J. Takiff,
Joseph Vogel, and Major Albert Warner.

Grand Rapids Variety Club
Receiving Heart Award

The Grand Rapids Variety Club, Tent 27,
was given the 1953 Heart Award Citation
and Plaque this Tuesday, as part of its
observance of Variety Club Week. The af-
fair was a cocktail party, sponsored by
the Pepsi Cola Company ; and entertain-
ment ; and a dinner. It was held in the Pant-
lind Hotel. George Hoover, International
Chief Barker, presented the citation.

Simonelli to Speak

Charles Simonelli, eastern advertising and
publicity department manager of Universal
Pictures, will be the principal speaker at
the Butterfield Circuit’s annual managers
convention in Lansing, Mich., June 23-24.
Participating in the meetings will be
Butterfield’s executives headed by M. F.
Gowthorpe, president and treasurer; H. E.
Stuckey, vice-president in charge of buying,
and Paul W. Seippel, vice-president in
charge of booking.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19. 1954

ALBANY

“From Here To Eternity,” “The Glenn
Miller Story” and “The Long, Long Trailer”
have demonstrated potent box office appeal
at exchange district drive-ins, just as they
did in conventional theatres. . . . J. M.
Connolly, division manager of the new
northeast 20th Century-Fox grouping, made
his first visit in that capacity. Connolly,
well known here, conferred with branch
manager Nat S. Rosen and others. . . . Ad-
ditional visitors included: Louis W. Schine,
of Gloversville ; Sidney Kulick, Bell Film
Exchange, New York; Don Gilson, operat-
ing theatres in Canton, Massena and Alex-
andria Bay; Tony Scalise, of Alexandria
Bay ; George Thornton, of Saugerties and
Windham; Rube Cantor, of Syracuse, buyer
and booker for Star-Lit drive-in, Water-
town ; Sam Davis, of Fleischmanns. . . . The
annual Variety Club golf tournament will
be held at the Shaker Ridge Country Club,
Colonie, June 28, as first announced. Harry
Alexander and Aaron Winig are co-chair-
men.

ATLANTA

John Stembler, president of Georgia Thea-
tre Company, and his wife spent the week-
end in Washington, D. C., visiting Mr.
and Mrs. Phillips Graham. Graham is
president and publisher of the Washington
“Post and Times Herald.” . . . Mrs. Joan
DeLoach, Jacksonville, Fla., and Mrs.
Elimor Brown have been added to the book-
ing department of Republic Pictures. . . .
Jimmy Wilson has been transferred from the
Memphis branch of Manley Popcorn Co. to
the Atlanta branch. . . . Homer Clark, for-
merly sales representative, Columbia Pic-
tures, is now with the ABC Booking Service
as booker. He replaces Eddie Atkinson, who
resigned. . . . James Karantious has applied
for a permit to build a drive-in at Titusville,
Fla. . . . Leslie D. Swaeba, manager of the
Montgomery drive-in. Savannah, Ga., plans
to install CinemaScope. . . . The Atlanta
Variety Club held an “Old Newsboy Victory
Party” which grossed more than $65,000.
. . . A. B. Padgett, Wilby-Kincey Service
and chief barker of Variety Club, is back
at his office after an operation.

BALTIMORE

M. Robert Rappaport, son of 1. M. Rap-
paport, Rappaport Theatres, has returned
from a month’s vacation in Europe. . . Phil
Isaccs, Paramount branch manager, in town
visiting local exhibitors. . . . Mr. and Mrs.
J. Lawrence Schanberger, Keith’s Theatres,
celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary.
. . . Mark Silver, Allied Artists represen-
tative, has left Sinai Hospital and is re-
cuperating at home. ... Joe Einbinder,
Hagerstown, Md., has opened his new Ed-
mondson drive-in on route 40, three miles
west of Edmondson Village shopping center.
. . . Morton Gerber, District Theatre head,
in town visiting the Royal theatre and man-
ager Jack Barton. . . . Son of “Bud” Rose,
UA salesman, is flying in from California
this week to spend the summer vacation

with his father. . . . Mrs. Walter Gettinger,
wife of Howard theatre owner, is in
Lutheran Hospital. . . . Jack Whittle, Ave-
nue theatre in Ocean City, at his summer
home. . . . John Miller, Hancock, Md., ex-
hibitor, in town visiting.

BOSTON

George Kraska, foreign film importer who
brought “Miracle On Skis” to this country,
has another short subject in preparation for
a fall release called “Ski Flying Dare
Devils.” Jacob Asadorian has opened the
gates of his newest drive-in, the Wamesit
in Lowell. . . . Nat Ross has resigned as
salesman for Relston, Inc., candy conces-
sionaires, to take a summer vacation and will
announce his new business connection this
fall. . . . C. J. (“Connie”) Russell, Maine
exhibitor, and his wife celebrated their 50th
wedding anniversary at a buffet supper party
in Bangor hosted by their two children and
their families. . . . Boston-born A. R. Nunes,
who is a Hollywood producer, visited his
family here and flew back to Hollywood to
produce “Cry Vengeance” to be distributed
by Allied Artists.

BUFFALO

Buffalo Bill, in the person of Richard
T. Kemper, zone manager, Dipson Theatres,
was on hand to welcome Bill Kutz, national
president of the Saints and Sinners when
he arrived at Buffalo airport to preside at
the National convention of the organiza-
tion last week-end in Hotel Staffer, . . . Pat
Swift has resigned as sales manager of
WBUF-TV to take over a sales post with
his alma mater, WGR-TV which will start
in a few weeks to telecast the NBC program.
. . . The Center telecast Thursday night of
the Marciano-Charles battle was a sell-out
two days before the event and manager Leon
Serin sold standing room only tickets. All
tickets were $3.50 and no seats were re-
served. . . . George Gammel, head of Gam-
mel Theatres circuit, and the Mrs. are hav-
ing a swell time visiting throughout Europe.
. . . Stanley Weber, former Buffalo exhibi-
tor, is back at the Fort Erie race track,
which he will again manage this season,
getting things in shape for the opening on
July 3. ... A heavy schedule of syndicated
film programs is being offered by CHCH-
TV across the border in Hamilton, Ont.,
which has started telecasting on Channel 11.

CHICAGO

Four-Screen Drive-in, 138th and Halsted,
$325,000 installation that ran into projec-
tionists trouble and remained closed last

WHEN AND WHERE

June 27-29: A nnual convention, Mississippi
Theatre Owners Association, Edgewater
Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park, Miss.

November 17: Annual dinner, Motion Pic-
ture Pioneers, Hotel Astor, New York.

season, reopened June 18 with a single huge
screen measuring 50 by 90 feet. The out-
door theatre has been renamed the Halsted
drive-in. . . . U. S. Navy, 9th Naval District,
is offering full cooperation to Columbia for
“Caine Mutiny” ballyhoo. Film opens here
June 30. . . . Sid Blumenstock, Paramount
advertising manager, was here June 14 to
plan campaign for local premiere of “Knock
On Wood.” . . . Jack Thoma, Chicago pub-
licist and one-time Columbia Picture ex-
ploitation man, joined B and K managerial
staff recently. He’s assigned to the United
Artists theatre. . . . Jimmy Gilliam, young
son of 20th Century-Fox division manager,
Tom Gilliam, is learning the business from
the ground floor up. He has joined B and
K as assistant manager trainee assigned to
the Roosevelt theatre. . . Sam Lesner, “Daily
News” film critic, discusses film news and
reviews on “Movie Editor’s Desk,” Tues-
day, Friday and Saturday 6:15 p.m., over
station WNMP.

CINCINNATI

Some of the local suburbans and drive-ins,
as well as a few in the territory, are offer-
ing appreciable competition to the downtown
first runs. Locally, five suburban houses
have installed CinemaScope equipment,
while the Twin drive-in, a 2,000-car project
within the city limits, is playing and ex-
tensively advertising first runs. In the area,
some drive-ins also are playing first run
product. . . . The Cincinnati Variety Club,
Tent No. 3, is planning to run a boat ex-
cursion on July 17, with complete details
to be announced soon. . . . The Liberty
theatre at Pikeville, Ky., which has been
shuttered for the past two years, again has
been relighted, although the house will be
open only one night per week during the sum-
mer months, it was announced by Robert
Tarbeck, city manager for Elmart Theatres,
which has this house and the Weddington
theatre here. The town also has a drive-in
theatre which recently opened for the season.
. . . James Doyle, Paramount salesman, has
been assigned to the Columbus, Ohio, terri-
tory. He previously covered West Virginia,
which hereafter will be under jurisdiction of
Vincent Kramer. . . . A. J. Sexton has an-
nounced the permanent closing of his Alfon
theatre, at Ashland, Ky.

CLEVELAND

Herman Goldberg, in charge of Warner
properties, was in town. . . . Mary Maxwell
of Modern Theatres and her hubsand are
back from a Florida vacation. . . . George
Stevens, former theatre manager, is seri-
ously ill in Euclid-Glenville Hospital. . . .
Mrs. Agnes Seitz, Columbia inspectress,
died suddenly. . . . Ed Ramsey has leased
his Plymouth theatre, Plymouth, to a church.
. . . Jack Schlaifer, newly appointed United
Artists special representative, spent a couple
of days here renewing old associations. . . .
Marie Roessell, U-I cashier, is vacationing
on an Ohio River boat trip. . . . Irving Field
is donating the film and use of his Cort-

(Continned on follozmng page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19. 1954

(Continued from preceding page)

land theatre, Cortland, for a benefit per-
formance for his projectionist, John Fee,
who suffered severe injuries in a motor cycle
accident. . . . Virginia Beard, liead of the
film division of the Cleveland Public Library,
succeeds Mrs. William G. Sullivan as presi-
dent of the Motion Picture Council of
Greater Cleveland. Other newly elected of-
ficers are: vice-president, Mrs. Joseph W.
Chase; recording secretary, Mrs. James
Prutton ; corresponding secretary, Mrs. L.
F. Williams; treasurer, Mrs. Fred W.
Chapman.

COLUMBUS

John Barer oft, former chief barker of
the Columbus Variety Club, Tent No. 2, was
appointed chairman of the reorganization
committee for the club at a luncheon meet-
ing at the Virginia Hotel. Members of the
committee include Jim Bushman, WTVN ;
Ben Hayes, Columbus ‘‘Citizen" columnist;
Paul Frank, WHKC newscaster; Charles
Sugarman, World theatre; Homer Mee-
chum, WTVN and Bob Hutchinson, WLW-
C. Two more members will be named by
Barcroft. Show business people are invited
to a dinner meeting June 21 at a location
to be announced. Officers will be elected
and a petition prepared for reactivation to
be presented to Variety International. . . .
Miles auto theatres have inaugurated special
summer Saturday midnight shows with re-
issues featured. Free coffee and doughnuts
will be given midnight show patrons. . . .
Bernard Ginley, manager of the Southern,
announced start of the summertime policy
of 10-cent weekday matinee admissions for
children under 15.

DENVER

The Rex, Brighton, Colo., (740 seats)
was burned to the ground in a fire thought
to have been started by defective wiring in
the air conditioning unit. Starting about
5 a.m., the fire gained headway rapidly, and
the manager and his wife, Mr. and Mrs.
Shelby Doty, escaped with their six-month-
old son, about five minutes before the apart-
ment was in flames. Owned by Atlas Thea-
tres, Denver, the house will be rebuilt on
a deluxe scale as soon as possible. . . .
George C. Hoover, chief barker of Variety
International,, was here conferring with
local Variety officers. . . . A1 Kolitz, district
manager for RKO, became a grandfather
the first time when his daughter, Mrs.
Joseph F. Pells, gave birth to a son, Mark
Stephen. . . . Wendell Bjorkman, western
representative for Disney Prod., was here
on business.

DES MOINES

The annual Variety Club golf-stag, held
at Hyperion Club on June 7, was pronounced
a success by the throng which attended. A
number of exhibitors who attended the day’s
events stayed over in order to see a screen-
ing of ‘‘Magnificent Obsession" shown by
Lou Levy at the Ingersoll. . . . Ben Marcus,
Columbia district manager, was in the city
for a few days. . . . Waverly Edgington, vet-
eran Row inspectress, is working at the
Columbia exchange during the vacation sea-
son. . . . .T^lorence Muse, Columbia inspec-
tress, is vacationing in Michigan. . . . Phyllis
Redman is the new bookers steno at Uni-
versal. . . . Two from Universal on vacation
are Pat Patrick, salesman, and Irene Lind,

REGIONAL SALES MEETING

A7 THE LOCAL LEVEL. One of the sales meetings conducted by Paramount home office
executive teams around the country. Above, the scene is Buifalo, as personnel from
there and Albany conferred. Seated are A, W. Schwalberg, president of the Paramount
Fiim Distributing Corporation; John E. Moore, assistant eastern division manager; Dan
Houlihan, Albany branch manager, and Ed C. DeBerry, Buffalo branch manager. Stand-
ing, in order, are Francis Lynch, Albany booker; Howard Smidt and Howard Bugle,
Albany salesmen; Frank Saviola, Buffalo salesman; Tony Mercurio, Buffalo booker; Sid
Blumensfock, assistant national director of advertising, publicity and exploitation; and
E. J. Wall, Buffalo field representative.

biller. . . . Mildred Davis was away from the
Universal exchange a few days because of
illness. . . . A. H. Blank, president of Tri-
States, has begun remodelling of the store
building at the southwest corner of Seventh
and Walnut streets, which he owns. The
building houses several women’s apparel
stores. . . . The majority interest in the Star-
lite and SkyVue drive-in theatres at Water-
loo has been sold by Philip E. Wdnslow to
the Central States Theatre Corp. S. A. Oel-
lerich, also of Waterloo, retains his minority
interest in the two houses "and will continue
active in the management.

DETROIT

The Eox theatre previewed "Demetrius”
Friday evening as an added feature. David
Idzal, managing director, says the added
business the blind billing brings plus the
word-of-mouth circulating a week or so be-
fore the actual opening more than balances
time spent. . . . Nick George, a Disney artist,
toured Pontiac schools, hitting six in six
hours, plugging “Pinocchio.” . . . Many a
chunk of turf will fly June 28th when the
Variety Club of Detroit takes to the links at
their golf party and dinner at Tam O’Shan-
ter. . . . Thomas Ryan, Rouge theatre in
suburban River Rouge, was awarded a cita-
tion by the Veterans of Foreign Wars
Henry A. Dennison post. . . . Abe Schiller
who used to book here is doing public rela-
tions in Las Vegas. . . . Wayne Brenkert is
selling coffee to drive-ins. He formerly
operated the Brenkert Light Projection Co.

HARTFORD

Ben Rosenberg, ex-district manager. New
England Theatres, and now general manager
of Penn-Paramount Theatres, Wilkes-Barre,
Pa., and Mrs. Rosenberg, passed through the
territory, enroute to Brown University grad-
uation of their son at Providence. . . .
George Smith, purchasing manager, Hart-

ford Theatre Circuit, and Mrs. Smith are
marking their 25th wedding anniversary.
... Ted Harris, managing director, State
theatre, Hartford, and family are enroute to
Miami on a three- week vacation. ... New
"Get Home Early” policy, with main feature
screened at 8:40 p.m., is in effect on Monday
and Thursday nights at the Manchester
drive-in, Bolton Notch, Conn.

INDIANAPOLIS

More than 100 exhibitors were expected
at the Indiana Allied spring convention at
Lake Wffiwasoo Tuesday and Wednesday,
according to ATOI secretary W^m. A. Car-
roll. . . . The six-week bus strike finally
ended Sunday morning. Greater Indianapo-
lis immediately announced a 25-cent admis-
sion until 1 p.m. Monday and Tuesday to
start the downtown shoppers coming in
again. . . . Marion County Prosecutor Frank
H. hMirchild has dropped charges against
four exhibitors arrested for showing ‘‘French
Line.” Two of the six theatres that opened
it are plaything it a second week. . . . True-
man Rembusch was in Kansas City, Mo., on
legal business last week. He won’t get home
until after attending the ATOI convention.
. . . John L. John, MGM field man recently
transferred from here to Pittsburgh, is back
for a special job on "Gone With the Wind.”

JACKSONVILLE

Bob Anderson has assigned H. S. Stewart
to assist Marshall Fling in managing the
new Southside drive-in, a de luxe, 600-car
outdoor theatre which will be equipped for
CinemaScope. . . . With remodeling com-
pleted, a decorating firm was readying the
Variety Club quarters in the Roosevelt Hotel
for an early opening. . . . Buford Styles, U-I
branch manager, advanced O. O. Ray, Jr., to
office manager, leaving a vacancy in the
chief booker’s post. . . . Jerry Wexford,
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MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19, 1954

{Continued from opposite page)

J. Arthur Rank sales representative, surveyed
the Palm Beach-Miami territory. . . . Inde-
pendent booker Evelyn Hazouri was back
from a south Florida tour. . . . Jerry Solak,
U-I steno-booker, resigned to join her hus-
band in Boston upon his discharge from the
Navy. . . . Bill Murphy, Walt Disney Pro-
ductions, was here with plans to move into
a local office. . . . Auditors at branch offices
included Frank Zuplan, RKO, who later left
for Charlotte, N. C., and A1 Goldberg, Para-
mount, in from New York. . . . Bob Tylo
has been added to the RKO booking staff.
. . . Roy Smith’s plant in Tampa has begun
the production of tropical drink syrups for
the drive-in trade.

KANSAS CITY

“Quo Vadis” returns to Kansas City, its
first time here at popular prices and first
time on wide screen. It is at the Paramount,
Tri-States first run here. . . . The Esquire,
downtown, Fox Midwest, after an extended
run of “The Moon Is Blue,’’ continues as a
first run — -“Top Banana’’ to be followed by
“Heidi.” . . . The Roxy, downtown theatre
of the Durwood circuit, went on a first run
policy with “The French Line,” showing
several weeks; and continues as first run,
with “Secret of the Incas.” . . . “Gone With
the Wind” had a strong start at the Midland.
. . . “Hondo” was shown at six drive-ins
simultaneously, promoted by large joint ad-
vertising.

LOS ANGELES

The Film Row Club’s “Get Acquainted
Spring Dance,” held at the Hollywood Ath-
letic Club, was a huge success, with more
than 400 members and their guests attend-
ing. . . . Sam Klein, Film Row theatre
broker, suffered minor injuries in an auto-
mobile accident. . . . Back on the job after
undergoing surgery, was popcorn salesman
Bill Spencer, Manley Co. . . . Retiring to
devote all her time to being a housewife
was Charlene Gaxiola, Warner bookkeeper.
She will be succeeded by Harriet Charles-
worth, who has been upped from general
clerk, while a ned employee, Mitzie Kostrub,
has been engaged to take over the general
clerk’s duties. ... In from New York was
John Wolfberg, who operates the Imperial
and Newsreel theatres here. . . . Bakersfield
theatre owner Roy Lemucchi and his wife,
June, are celebrating the arrival of a blessed
event who weighs six pounds, seven ounces.
The new arrival has been christened Joseph
Richard. . . . Bill Alford, Desert Hot Springs
exhibitor, was in town to buy and book.

MEMPHIS

Fire, believed to have been caused by de-
fective wiring, was responsible for several
thousand dollars damage to Savannah thea-
tre, Svannah, Tenn. About 100 patrons were
in the theatre when the fire started and filed
out in an orderly manner. All escaped un-
hurt. J. W. Foster, 35, projectionist, was
singed by the flames but was not hospital-
ized. . . . Herrod Jimmerson, owner, re-
opened the Airway theatre. Little Rock,
Ark., June 11, booking and buying out of
Memphis. . . . Pat Flemming, owner, has
closed Gail theatre, Round Pond, Ark. . .
John Rhea, manager of Bob Burns theatre at
Van Bruen, Ark., is vacationing in Mem-
phis. ... A son was born to Mr. and Mrs.
Adolph Baker, Owensboro, Ky., where Mr.

Baker is manager of Malco and Strand
theatres. . . . Floyd Harvey, salesman for
Universal, Memphis, and Mrs. Plarvey are
parents of a son born at Baptist Hospital.
. . . N. B. Blount, manager of Monarch
Theatre Supply Co., is on a business trip to
Camden, N. J.

MIAMI

Don Tilzer reported the Royal had a
world premiere showing of “Silver Lode.”
. . . Marty Wucher, manager of the Town,
is very proud of his beautiful and versatile
wife, Jeanne Moore, cafe society entertainer,
who is a regular performer on the WTVJ
Thursday program, “At Jackies House.”
. . . The Lincoln theatre and Wometco per-
sonnel were saddened by the recent death of
Harry Goldminz, who had been an affable
addition to the staff for several years. Sym-
pathies went to the wife and son who sur-
vive him. A round robin of staff changes
was necessitated by the resignation of Jerry
Evans, as manager of the Lake in Lake
Worth. Replacing him was Dewey Fuquay,
who vacated the post of manager of the
Coral where A1 Panetz now takes over. Al’s
spot as assistant at the Olympia has been
filled by Dave Kay. At the Paramount,
manager Charlie Whitaker gets David
Payne as his assistant and Ralph Puckhaber,
manager of the Florida, now has Tom Braun
as his aide.

MILWAUKEE

Bill Anderson is taking over all activities
for the National Film Service and Milwau-
kee Film Center it was announced by Oliver
Trampe. . . . The Fox-Venetian theatre here
is now showing art pictures, as is the Fox-
Downer. One theatre is on the East side
the other on the West side of town. Both
theatres are first run. . . . The 800-seat
Badger theatre, Oconto, open last week
with CinemaScope and stereophonic sound.
Peerizo Bros, own the house. . . . Tony La
Porte’s (Avalon theatre) daughter, Dolores,
graduated from Messmer High tliis week.
. . . Mr. Bates, office manager at Republic,
spent his vacation in Indianapolis.

MINNEAPOLIS

The 7-Hi drive-in is installing a 100-foot
screen and CinemaScope. So is the Minot
outdoor theatre at Minot, N. D. The two
are the first outdoor stands in the territory
to install CinemaScope. . . . Stan McCul-
loch, booker at RKO, was in Syracuse,
N. Y., to attend the funeral of his father.
. . . Joe Carrier is opening a new blaster-
type drive-in at Hallock, Minn. . . . Genne-
vieve Donnavan, cashier at Columba, cele-
brated her 25th year with the company. . . .
Fay Dressell, RKO branch manager, was in
northern Minnesota, contacting key situa-
tions with salesman Bill Winter, s. . . . Bill
Danelz has installed a wide screen in his
Border theatre at Elmore, Minn. ... Fol-
lowing the suggestion of a patron, Harry
Katz, manager of the suburban World, is
bringing back old classics to the theatre. . . .
Harry Weiss, RKO Theatres district man-
ager, visited situations throughout Iowa. . . .
Darlene Peterson, booking stenographer at
Paramount, will marry Louis Nelson on
June 26.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Allied Independent Exhibitors held a
meeting at the Biltmore Hotel in the Der-

rick room, June 2. . . . The Criterion theatre,
which has been closed for remodeling, will
reopen in about two weeks, it was an-
nounced. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Leonard
have returned from their vacation. Mr.
Leonard is manager of the Criterion theatre.
... A screening of “Magnificent Obsession”
was held recently at the Will Rogers theatre.
Film was well received with a full house of
exhibitors and visitors. . . . Warner Brothers
had a special screening of “High and
Mighty” at the Plaza theatre. . . . School
children in Oklahoma City were given a
free movie June 7 by Oklahoma City theatre
owners. By presenting a clipping from the
Sunday or Monday “Oklahoman” any child
under 15 was admitted free from the time
the theatres opened its doors until 4 p. m.
Each movie house showed its current film
attractions, and in some cases showed special
cartoon features, and a few of the houses
offered special prizes and future tickets of
admission.

NEW ORLEANS

Earl J. Baker, Fox, Pollock, has reopened
the Princess, Tullos, La. . . . Mrs. Alma
Campo, Warner Bros, bookkeeping machine
operator, is slowly recovering after an emer-
gency appendectomy. . . . W. O. Williamson,
Jr., Atlanta, Warner Bros, district manager,
was a caller at the local exchange. . . .M. H.
Brandon, president of Film Transit, Mem-
phis, visited with his son Dan, general man-
ager of Transway, and his staff. . . .
Rebel Productions’ headquarters report that
“Naughty New Orleans,” their initial pic-
ture, is registering excellent grosses. . . .
Harold Cohen, Jr., a novice in the Jesuit
Order, currently a teacher in Jesuit College,
Tampa, Fla., is here on a two-weeks visit
with his parents. . . . Frank H. Heine re-
places Ed Constantine as manager Stevens
Picture Exchange. Mr. Constantine re-
signed. . . . G. E. Wiltse, Dallas, owner of
St. Bernard drive-in, Arabi, La., took over
the reins while manager C. M. Jones and
family were on a pleasure jaunt.

PHILADELPHIA

Barney Sackett, who had been managing
the Keystone, weekend operation of the
Stanley Warner Circuit, left the company
and was succeeded by Del Jones. Other
managerial changes in the circuit has Dave
Kaplan, former manager of the Virginia,
Atlantic City, N. J., going to the Stanley in
that city, with Edward Shickman, assistant
manager of the Warner there, moving up as
manager of the Virginia. ... A new screen
and a new generator has been installed at
the Trans-Lux World. . . . Gene Plank,
manager of the Reading drive-in, Reading,
Pa., became the father of a son born last
week. . . . Walter Reade Theatres announced
giant screen installation at the Lawrenceville
drive-in near Trenton, N. J. . . . 1. J. Se-
gall’s Theatre Management Associates is
now handling the Easton, Easton, Pa., and
the Strand, Gettysburg, Pa. . . . Muhlenberg

(Contimted^ on following page)

Tops in IN-CAR SPEAKERS!

Super Chief 4" and Chief Vh" . For new
or replacement. Baked enamel 2-tone
finish matches many existing drive-ins.
Insulated volume control, weatherproof

fir si ‘American jiWucfa ■ inc.

1717 Wyandotte St., Kansas City 8, Mo.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19, 1954

(Continued from preceding page)

Township, largest borough in the county
outside of Reading, Pa., has scheduled the
amusement tax to bring in $33,000 or more
this year. . . . Carl Herman resigned as man-
ager of the Hollywood, Pottsville, Pa., to
take over the ownership and management
of the Little, Littleton, Pa. . . . Courts in
New Cumberland, Pa., dissolved a prelim-
inary injunction against a group of pickets
holding up construction of a drive-in being
built by Shore Drive-In Theatre, Inc., near
the Municipal Airport in Harrisburg, Pa.

PITTSBURGH

Although there’s still no sign of a truce in
the five-week-old transit strike and down-
town theatre business is still spotty, the pub-
lic is beginning to patronize the hard-hit film
houses better now than any time since the
strike began on May 9. . . . Bill Elder,
manager of Loew’s Penn, got on the Mar-
ciano-Charles theatre TV fight bandwagon,
after he was flooded with requests from
patrons who couldn’t buy ducats at either
the Stanley or Harris. . . . “La Ronde’’
seems set for a healthy run in the Art
Cinema. . . . The Harris has finally set a
definite date for “The Caine Mutiny,” July
23. . . . The fathers of Henry Burger and
Phil Katz, Stanley Warner publicists here,
are both hospitalized. . . . Contractor Dom
Navarro was appointed committee chairman
for the new Variety Club wing to be erected
this fall at the Roselia Foundling Hospital.

PORTLAND

Merriman Holtz, Sr., has just returned
home after a flying trip to his Pictures, Inc.,
film exchange in Anchorage, Alaska. . . .
Jack Braxton has resigned his position as
manager of the Bagdad theatre and headed
for California. Owner A1 Meyers is now
managing the spot along with his Academy
theatre. . . . Guy Parks in as manager of
the Star theatre. . . . Roy Rogers, Gordon
MacRae, Tex Ritter, and Ed Sullivan were
here for the Annual Rose Festival. Dale
Evans bowed out the last minute due to ill-
ness and sent her 14-year-old daughter in as

a sub. . . . Oscar Nyberg, Oriental theatre
manager, is on vacation.

ST. LOUIS

The Paramount Pep Club of the Para-
mount Film Distributing Corporation of St.
Louis is holding a series of screenings, Jim
Castle, Midwest special representative, has
announced. . . . The Esquire theatre. Cape
Girardeau, Mo., is installing 35-foot-wide
screen. . . . Lucius B. Morse, president of
the St. Louis “Daily Record,” has been
elected president of the Volunteer Film As-
sociation of St. Louis. . . . The El-Fran
theaters, of Illinois, with houses in Jackson-
ville, Centralia, Mt. Vernon, Benton, Marion
and West Frankfort, observed their first
birthday during June. . . . Star Vue drive-
in theatre, a new one at Cape Girardeau,
Mo., has opened for business, and is attract-
ing large crowds. . . . The youth fellowship
groups of the First Methodist Church at
Cameron, Mo., went to St. Joseph, Mo., to
see the premiere showing of the John Wes-
ley film.

TORONTO

During the month of May, the Ontario
Board of Censors put nine pictures in the
“Adult Entertainment” class. . . . Theatres
in the city will be allowed to stage a mid-
night show Dominion Day, July 1. Plans
are being made by most of the houses to take
advantage of the opportunity. ... A sug-
gestion has been made by Arch H. Jolley,
executive secretary. Motion Picture Thea-
tres Association of Ontario, to theatre man-
agers that they take advantage of the tourist
business by placing window cards welcom-
ing the tourists in various windows. . . .
Odeon, Edmonton, is scheduled to open July
1 with the North American premiere of
JARO’s “A Man In a Million.” . . . Five
Toronto Odeon houses played “French
Line” day and date. . . . Zeke Sheine, for-
merly with JARO, has moved over to Odeon
Theatres head office booking department. He
will replace Guy Upjohn who has been made
assistant to Harvey Hunt, chief circuit
buyer. . . . Robert Campbell, formerly as-

sistant manager at the Capitol theatre, Sud-
bury, has been named manager of the Bloor,
Toronto, in a switch of managerial posi-
tions in the Famous Players circuit. . . .
Jack Labow and wife are the proud parents
of a son Mr. Labow is RKO general man-
ager in Canada.

VANCOUVER

FPC has installed CinemaScope in the
Stanley and Broadway suburban theatres.
. . . The Odeon Victoria installed KB Brit-
ish equipment. There are ten installations
to date, with two drive-ins planning the
new equipment. . . . Ralph Connor of the
Odeon Trail is leading Canada in the sev-
enth week of the big contest for showman-
ship. . . . Misak Aivazoff, 78, a pioneer in
Vancouver business and financial life, died.
He built and operated the first motion pic-
ture theatre at Prince Rupert, northern Brit-
ish Columbia, which is now part of the
FPC chain. . . . New assistant to Ivan
Ackery of the Orpheum is Clarry McCarthy,
replacing Harry Hargraves who will live
in California for health reasons. . . . Roger
Maddison, contract clerk at 20th-Fox, has
left for Calgary where he will be a booker
for United Artists. . . . Bob Foster, business
agent of Theatre Employees Union, will at-
tend the national convention at Cincinnati
in August. . . . Lou Tisman has sold his
485-car drive-in at Chilliwack to Clark
Brothers (formerly in the lumber business
in that area) for a reported $200,000. Mr.
Tisman will remain at the operation as man-
ager and broker.

WASHINGTON

Eartha Kitt was in Washington at Uline
Arena on June 15 for the benefit of the Na-
tional Council of Negro Women. . . . Sidney
Eckman, MGM salesman, and Mrs Eckman,
are parents of a son. . . . The Super-Chief
drive-in theatre, with the cooperation of the
Dept, of Interior, is sponsoring an exhibit
of Indian arts and crafts. . . . Two local
theatres contracted to show the Marciano-
Charles Fight on TV — the Lincoln at $3.50
per seat, and the Hillside drive-in theatre,
also at $3.50. . . . Sherman Adams, Assistant
to President Eisenhower, became a Variety
Club Tent No. 11 honorary member. . . .
Harold Saltz, Universal branch manager,
has transferred his Variety membership
from the Variety Club of Connecticut, to
Tent No. 11, Variety Club of Washington.

Saskatchewan Revises
Drive-In, Projection Rules

TORONTO : Radical revisions in the Prov-
ince of Saskatchewan rules on the location
of drive-ins and examinations for projection-
ists were effective June 5. As to location
of the drive-ins, none to be erected within
two miles of a present operation, while
projectionists handling 16mm arc light
equipment must now take examinations.
Twenty-five drive-ins were in operation in
the province at the beginning of the season
and several are under construction. There
are 120 16mm situations in Saskatchewan.
The fact that a projected drive-in would not
be on the same highway as on in operation
is not a factor in licensing. Other important
changes affect heating systems, classes of
projection licenses and date of payment of
fees.

M-G-M TRADE SHOW-

JUNE 28

HEI

iLVE

MEN'

ALBANY

20th- Fox Screen Room

1052 Broadway

6/28

2 P.M.

ATLANTA

RKO Screen Room

195 Luckie St., N. W.

6/28

2 P.M.

BOSTON

M-G-M Screen Room

46 Church Street

6/28

2 P.M.

BUFFALO

20th- Fox Screen Room

290 Franklin Street

6/28

2 P.M.

CHARLOTTE

20th- Fox Screen Room

308 S. Church Street

6/28

1 :30 P.M.

CHICAGO

Warner Screen Room

1307 S. Wabash Ave.

6/28

2:15 P.M.

CINCINNATI

RKO Palace Theatre Bldg.

16 East Sixth St.

6/28

8 P.M.

CLEVELAND

20th- Fox Screen Room

2219 Payne Avenue

6/28

1 P.M.

DALLAS

20th-Fox Screen Room

1803 Wood Street

6/28

2:30 P.M.

•DENVER

Paramount Screen Room

2i00 stout Street

6/29

2 P.M.

DES MOINES

20th-Fox Screen Room

1300 High Street

6/28

1 P.M.

DETROIT

Max BlumenthaTs Sc. Rm.

231 0 Cass Avenue

6/28

1 :30 P.M.

INDIANAPOLIS

20th- Fox Screen Room

236 No. Illinois St.

6/28

1 P.M.

JACKSONVILLI

Florida State Screen Room

128 East Forsyth Street 6/28

2 P.M.

KANSAS CITY

20th-Fox Screen Room

1720 Wyandotte St.

6/28

1 :30 P.M.

LOS ANGELES

United Artists’ Screen Rm.

1851 S. Westmoreland

6/28

2 P.M.

MEMPHIS

20th-Fox Screen Room

151 Vance Avenue

6/28

12 Noon

MILWAUKEE

Warner Screen Room

212 W. Wisconsin Ave.

6/28

1 :30 P.M.

MINNEAPOLIS

20th- Fox Screen Room

1015 Currie Avenue

6/28

2 P.M.

NEW HAVEN

20th- Fox Screen Room

40 Whiting Street

6/28

2 P.M.

NEW ORLEANS

20th-Fox Screen Room

200 S. Liberty St.

6/28

1 :30 P.M.

NEW YORK

M-G-M Screen Room

630 Ninth Avenue

6/28

2:30 P.M.

OKLAHOMA CITY

20th-Fox Screen Room

10 North Lee Street

6/28

1 P.M.

OMAHA

20th- Fox Screen Room

1502 Davenport St.

6/28

1 :30 P.M.

PHILADELPHIA

M-G-M Screen Room

1233 Summer Street

6/28

2 P.M.

PinSBURGH

M-G-M Screen Room

1623 Bivd. of Allies

6/28

2 P.M.

PORTLAND

B. F. Shearer Screen Rm.

1947 N. W. Kearney St.

6/28

2 P.M.

SALT LAKE CITY

20th- Fox Screen Room

216 E. First St., So.

245 Hyde Street

6/28

1 P.M.

SAN FRANCISCO

20th- Fox Screen Room

6/28

1 :30 P.M.

SEATTLE

Jewel Box Preview Thea.

2318 Second Avenue

6/28

1 P.M.

WASHINGTON

RKO Screen Room

932 N. Jersey Ave., N.W. 6/28

2 P.M.

• LAFAYETTE. LA.

Nona Theatre

_ 6/29

10 A.M.

1 *fxcepf Denver and tofoyeMe w/ii'ch ore 6129

M-G-M presents GREER GARSON • ROBERT RYAN in “HER TWELVE MEN” co-starring BARRY SULLIVAN • with Richard Haydn
Barbara Lawrence • James Arness • Rex Thompson • Screen Play by William Roberts and Laura Z. Hobson • From the story by
Louise Baker • Photographed in Ansco Color • Print by Technicolor • Directed by Robert Z. Leonard • Produced by John Houseman

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19. 1954

FILM BUYERS RATING

Film buyers of independent cirmits in the U. S. rate current
product on the basis of its performance in their theatres. This
report covers 125 attractions, 6,027 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 winch are listed for the last time.

EX means Excellent; AA — Above Average; AY — Average;
BA — Below Average; PR — Poor.

Aci of Love (UA)

Alaska Seas Para.)

Ail the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM) .

Back to God's Country (U-l)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Bait (Col.) •

Battle of Rogue River (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil (UA)

Beneath the 12-Mlle Reef (20th-Fox)

Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue).

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Border River ( U-l )

Boy From Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Carnival Story, The (RKO)

Casanova's Big Night (Para.)

Cease Fire! (Para.)

Charge of the Lancers (Col.)

Command, The (WB)

Conquest of Mt. Everest (UA)

Crazylegs (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l)

Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO)

fDial M for Murder (WB)

*Diamond Queen, The (WB)

Dragonfly Squadron (AA)

Drums of Tahiti (Col.) r

Duffy of San Quentin (WB)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

Elephant Walk (Para.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Executive Suite .(MGM) . .

Fighter Attack (AA)

tFiame and the Flesh (MGM)

Flight Nurse ( Rep.)

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Fema le (Pa ra.)

French Line (RKO)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

Geraldine (Rep.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

Go, Man, So (UA)

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

Gun Fury (Col.)

Gypsy Colt (MGM)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Hell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox) ....

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

EX AA

1 10
9

2
1 1
18

1 1
5
14

4
9

2
3
7

4
56

17
3

5
3
I

33
42

6
6

1 1
I

23
6
! I
12
22
6

1 1
1 1

I i
3
6

5
19

I I

1 1
1 1
I

13
21
20

4
2

14
3

3
1 1

4
I

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.) . . ,

Jivaro (Para.)

t Johnny Guitar (Rep.)

Jubilee Trail ( Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox).

♦Kiss Me Kate (MGM)

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

Living Desert, The (Disney)

Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)

Lucky Me (WB)

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)

Mad Magician, The (Col.)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

Martin Luther (de Rochemont)

Miami Story, The (Col.)

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)

Money from Home (Para.)

Naked Jungle, The (Para.)

Nebraskan, The (Col.)

New Faces (20th-Fox)

Night People (20th-Fox)

Paratrooper (Col.)

Personal Affair (UA)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)...

Pinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

fPlaygirl (U-l)

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)

Private Eyes (AA)

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

Rails Into Laramie (U-l)

Red Garters (Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l)

Riders to the Stars (UA)

Riding Shotgun (WB)

Riot in Cell Block II (AA)

River of No Return (20th-Fox)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (U-l)

Shark River (UA)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)

Siege at Red River (20th-Fox)

fSouthwest Passage (UA)

Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l)

Tennessee Champ (MGM)

fThree Coins in the Fountain (20th-Fox)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Fox)

Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( U A)

Tumbleweed (U-lj

Veils of Bagdad (U-l)

Walking My Baby Home (U-l)

War Arrow ( U-l )

Wicked Woman (UA)

Wild One (Col.)

Witness to Murder (UA)

Yankee Pasha (U-l)

1 1

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy.Count initials, boxnumberandaddress. Minimuminsertion $1.50. Four
insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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)

HELP WANTED

USED EQUIPMENT

THEATRES

WANTED; MANAGER WITH EXPLOITATION
;ind promotional experience by theatre chain situated
in eastern states. Top salary paid, vacation, group
insurance, and liospitalizatien. Please answer giving
qualifications, experience, and salary expected.
BOX 2791, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

THEATRE CIRCUIT SUPERVISOR-GOOD Op-
portunity for executive type — experienced in all phases
of motion picture theatre circuit. Some accounting
experience necessary. Chicago area. Submit resume
and salary desired to: II. SCHOENSTADT & SONS,
1118 South Michigan Avc., Chicago 5, 111.

PROJECTIONIST - MAINTENANCE MAN FOR
small town theatre. Can use wife at concession stand.
Permanent positions. LYON THEATRE CIRCUIT,
Franklin, Va.

DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

MU'! ION PICTURE THEATRE— MARNE, MICHI
gan (near Grand Rapids) building and equipment
This is a modern theatre, built about five years ago
Seating capacity 408. Radiant heat. Air-conditioned
Motiograph projectors and sound. Large capacity park
ing lot. Situated in good agricultural area. Phone
9-6221, Real Estate Department, THE MICHKIAN
TRUST COMPANY, Grand Rapids, Mich.

FOR SALE; OTY ISLAND, NEW YORK. ONLY
neighborhood theatre, 590 seats, population 7,000. BOX
2793, MOTION PKTTURE HERALD.

FOR SALE; TUNKHANNOCK THEATRE AND
building which includes restaurant, jewelry store and
two large apartments. Worth investigating. Write;
THE WESTFALL AGENCY, Prince Hotel, Tunk-
hannock. Pa.

HOUSE MANAGER. EXPLOITATION AND PRO’-
motion experience, small town theatre. Permanent.
Write BOX 538, Franklin, Va.

POSITIONS WANTED

EXTREMELY EXPLOITATION MINDED MAN-
ager, thoroughly experienced, circuit trained, desires
good connection. BOX 2792, MOTIO'N PICTXJRE
HERALD.

SERVICES

WINDOW Chf^RDS, PROGRAMS, HERALDs.
photo-ofFset printing. CATO SHOW PRINTING CO.
Cato, N. Y.

NEW EQUIPMENT

MASONITE MARQUEE LETTERS. FITS WAG-
ner, Adler, Bevelite Signs; 4" — 35c; 8" — 50c; 10" — 60c;
12"— 85c; 14"— $1.25; 16"— $1.50. S.O.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New
York 19.

CENTURY “CC” DRIVE-IN OUTFIT ONLY $3495,
others from $1595 {send for lists). Incar speakers
w/4" cones $15.50 pair w.Junction box; Underground
cable $65M. Time deals arranged. S.O.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St.. New
York 19

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

VENTILATING EQUIPMENT

BEAT THE HEAT BUT NOT THESE PRICES
— ball-bearing bucket blade exhaust fans 12" — $25.50;
16" — $37.50; 18"— $45. Prompt deliveries blowers and
air-washers. Send for details. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19.

SEATING

BOOKS

“NEW SCREEN TECHNIQUES” — THE NEW
book th.at 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 sinpe
1911. 662 pages, cloth bound, $7.25 postpaid. QUIGLEY
BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue, New York 20, N. Y.

MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMA-
nac — the big book about your business — 1953-54 edition.
Contains over 12,000 biographies of important motion
picture personalities. Also all industry statistics. (lora-
plete listing of feature pictures 1944 to date. Order
vour copy today. $5.00, postage included .Send remit-
tance to QUIGLEY BOOKSHOP, 1270 Sixth Avenue.
New York 20. N. Y.

Screen Actors Guild Agrees
With Artists Managers Guild

Regulations to govern agents’ representa-
tion of Screen Actors Guild members in
tlie television film field were agreed upon
tins week itetween that union and the Artists
Managers Guild. Tlie field was not covered
in the last negotiations, in 1949, between
the two groups, because of a jurisdictional
dispute, 'idle agreement is described in a
four page report mailed to SAG members.
It binds members and agents to lionor pro-
visions exclusively following expiration of
existing contracts.

Legion Reviews I I ,

One in Class C

The Legion of Decency this week re-
viewed 11 features and found one condemn-
able and two to whicli it objected. The
condemned picture is “Le Plaisir” in which
the Legion found “sympathetic portrayal
of immoral actions,” material “morally un-

suitable for entertainment motion picture
theatres” and also “offensive to religion.”
“Sabrina” and “Sins of Rome” were placed
in Class B for “light treatment of marriage”
and “suggestive sequences,” respectively.
Morally unobjectionable for adults are
“Demetrius and the Gladiators,” “The High
and the Mighty,” “Magnificent Obsession,”
and “On the Waterfront.” Moially unob-
jectionable for general patronage are “Ad-
ventures of Robinson Crusoe,” “Challenge
of the Wild,” “The Diamond Wizard,” and
“Scotch on the Rocks.”

Chesapeake Files Appeal
In ELC Suit Dismissal

Chesapeake Industries Monday filed an
appeal from the dismissal of its $15,000,000
suit against major companies and RKO and
Loew’s theatres on tlie ground tliat Federal
Judge Hand liad erred in ruling for a dis-
missal. Chesapeake, wliicli controlled Eagle-
Lion Classics, charged that ELC product
liad been denied first run engagements in

the New York City area because of a con-
spiracy among the defendant distributors
and circuits.

Gordon Elected Head
Cf Virginia MPTC

RICHMOND : Leonard Gordon of Newport
News was elected president of the Motion
Picture Theatre Owners of Virginia at tlie
annual convention held at Old Point Com-
fort last week. Other officers elected are :
R. H. Flanary, Jr., first vice-president; Sey-
mour Hoffman, and W. F. Westfall, vice-
presidents; Jack Rumsen, treasurer; Morton
G. Thalheimer, Jr., secretary; Wade Pear-
son, sergeant-at-arms. The convention was
addressed by M. L. Simons, MGM director
of trade relations.

Joseph J. Kelly Dies

Josepli J. Kelly, manager of the Broad
theatre, Pliiladelphia, an A. M. Ellis house,
died June 3, at 64 years.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19. 1954

ytaiHeliH^ /lunlfaMaJcf ^cc4 WiU

Mike SIMONS, who stepped into the
seven league boots of the late Hen-
derson M. Richey as head of Metro’s
department of exhibitor relations, does about
as much traveling as John Foster Dulles,
even if not as far afield, and he is also a
diplomat. He is a salesman without port-
folio of contract forms, but with just the
proper enthusiasm for Metro product.

He is hard to get hold of, these days,
even on the short wave. As this is written,
he’s in Old Point Comfort, Va., attending
the annual convention of the Virginia Thea-
tre Owners Convention, and next week,
he’ll be at Lake Wewasee, Indiana, for the
annual Spring meeting of the Allied Theatre
Owners of Indiana. Last month, he was at
Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, for an ex-
hibitor meeting; then in Minneapolis for
the annual convention of North Central
Allied; in Kansas City for a theatre owners’
meeting; in Little Rock, Arkansas, for an-
other convention, and in Omaha, for still
another Allied convention.

The point is, he gets around to many
places, and his presence is reassuring to so
many friends across the nation. Mike calls
us up occasionally, to give us regards from
many whom we came to know, traveling the
same circuit in other days. It’s nice to have
him say that Glenn Caldwell sends regards
from Aurora, Mo., or with greetings from
some other old friend we haven’t heard
from in too long. We know his routines,
and we know how he works, on the scene
of action. Mike doesn’t go for the boat
rides, but he is convivial. His fountain pen
is not for dotted lines, but to make many
personal notes of long-time and new-found
friends, their families, their problems and
their interchange of good wishes to many
others. He dispenses showmanship, for
Metro’s exhibitor relations department has
always been a showmanship section.

Metro has long been known as “the
friendly company” — a phrase coined by
William F. Rodgers, and cherished through
the years. They have found that it pays
to keep an ambassador of good will, on tour.

LET'S PLAY BALL

With the newspapers, we mean. After
all, for a variety of good reasons, the news-
papers have more and better opportunity
to be on our side than other media. We
are among their best customers, they cater
to our folks and vice-versa, without com-
peting with us for any part of a dollar. If
we play ball, they can be on our team.

Or, if they take sides, they can play
against us, to score heavily in public opin-
ion. Too many publications take too many
cracks at motion pictures, either knowingly
or otherwise, and it requires some thinking
and planning on our part to gain their co-
operation. If a thousand managers culti-
vated 1,000 newspaper editors, across the
board, it would be worth a million dollars
in public relations.

There's been some attempt to put out
throwaway or community advertising sheets
in some places, with the theatre a prime
mover in the proposition. Nothing could
put us farther off base with a potentially
friendly newspaper man than to create a
visible form of competition against him,
and for slight rewards, if anything really
tangible. The newspaper man has his prob-
lems too, and "free'' newspapers are like
"free" shows when it comes to cutting into
revenue to meet payrolls, for either party.

By the way, newspapers quite often par-
ticipate in the operation of radio stations
In the same area. But did you ever hear
of a newspaper that went into theatre busi-
ness? It might mean that they are willing
to remain non-competitive, and conse-
quently helpful.

with the same measure of service to satisfied
customers. Mike follows through on a pro-
gram in which we have personally taken
part, and we can speak with sound knowl-
edge of his performance in the field.

^ ONE THING we can be fairly happy
about, in motion picture industry, is that
few of the new CinemaScope films will be
available for television, very soon. This
phase of new dimensions is reassuring to ex-
hibitors, for it strengthens the belief that we
have something that is ours alone and won’t
have to be shared with a competitive medium.
Your patrons know when they come to the
theatre to see the new wide screen that it
is something quite different than their TV
set at home, and the station operators know
right now that they can’t broadcast films
made with the new techniques — at least, not
until the films, or the stations and thirty mil-
lion TV sets are remade to fit.

A recent court decision has turned over
all the Gene Autry and Roy Rogers films
belonging to Republic Pictures for television
purposes, but there’s a catch in it. They can
now be televised, but only in the original
.length of 53 minutes, which alters the broad-
caster’s desire to shorten them to 27 min-
utes, thus conforming to TV time schedules.
That will slow ’em down, somewhat, but
the fact remains, we’ve lost the cowboy
stars, and it’s a better policy to find some-
thing new, of our own, to replace them, as
a theatre attraction. We built this before;
we can do it again.

^ JIM HARDIMAN invented the novel
twist for his Odeon “Big Show” contest,
now current in Canada, whereby wives of
managers are also eligible to win prizes, as
added incentive towards results. And now
we see, in the business news, that others are
taking up this idea. Time reports the in-
ternational Cellucotton Products as putting
out a 48-page book on how a wife can help
her salesman husband, in “an unbeatable
three-way partnership: Wife, Husband and
Company.” And Clary Multiplier Corp.
have a new gimmick. 'The president of the
company phones wives at home, and if they
know their husband’s sales standing, they
win a free household appliance of their own
selection as his gift. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION. JUNE 19. 1954

WHE VrtB

TBS «!»

UNCHwi«»

High, wide and hand-
some is the California
world premiere for "The
High and the Mighty" at
the Egyptian theatre,
Hollywood, which was a
dual presentation with the
Paramount theatre in San
Francisco, to complete a
coast campaign.

MKgh^ JVide &

Miandsamel

Harry Shaw, relieving
Boyd Sparrow at Loew's
Warfield theatre, San Fran-
cisco, sends these life-size
replicas of Rhett Butler
and Scarlett O'Hara,
posed with display for
"Gone With the Wind."

David Lackie, manager
of the Fox Riverside thea-
tre, Riverside, California,
had these marching figures,
tall and handsome, to pro-
vide lobby displays for his
new CinemaScope picture,
which is really wide and
handsome. It's a 24-sheet
cut-out, and that "foun-
tain" in the foreground is
activated by a Maytag
washer!

Paul Brown, manager of
Warner's Fresno theatre,
Fresno, California, used
this giant-size dial tele-
phone in merchant displays
around town to sell "Dial
M for Murder."

XECOI^C'S

Boyd Sparrow, just be
fore taking off, left this
evidence of his showman-
ship in a series of great
window displays for "Rose
Marie" — current attraction
at Loew's Warfield, San
Francisco.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 19, 1954

Fabian^s

Fabulous

owmen In

ciion

Fortieth

Harry Goldberg sends us an impressive
pressbook with the announcement of the
showmanship contest among Stanley-War-
ner theatre managers, to celebrate four
decades of exhibition leadership and com-
munity service. It is a mark of high dis-
tinction for Si Fabian, and will be a mark
to meet by his men, in competition for a
total of 121 prizes, to be given at the con-
clusion of 14 weeks. Si Fabian himself has
filled every post, on the way up, and he is
the man who knows and appreciates the
work of good men.

Top prize is a two-weeks’ trip to England,
for two persons, reciprocal with the prize
which Douglas Ewin won with the Associ-
ated British Cinemas and which brought him
promotion, as well as a visit to New York
this year. The champion showmen of the
Stanley-Warner circuit will have the red
carpet rolled out in a return of hospitality,
and a wonderful experience. The rest of
the prizes are bonds, ranging from a second
prize of $1,500, a third prize of $1,000, and
numerous prizes of $500 and less, including
district manager’s awards. Also, there will
be separate monthly prizes given by the
major companies, each of whom has offered
a $500 bond for the best campign on any
of their pictures. A special feature in the
over-all contest is a series of awards for
the solving of community problems, parking,
and public relations, and there are still other
awards for kiddie shows, theatre rentals, and
the creation and adaptation of stage events
and giveaways.

The idea of “Summer Film Festivals” is
featured, and various sure-fire stunts are
suggested in the elaborate pressbook. Cin-
erama is in the picture, with its new and
different dimensions for showmen, and the
book concludes wtih a “must” list of forty
different items, one each for the forty
fabulous ideas for Fabian Theatre opera-
tion, which promise “something doing” every
day for Stanley-Warner managers during
June, July and August.

Bill Burke, manager of the Capitol thea-
tre, Brantford, Ontario, presented the Public
Schools Symphony Orchestra on stage as a
half-hour prelude to the opening of “Rose
Marie” with wonderful local newspaper and
public relations results. The forty young-
sters did themselves proud — and the theatre
a favor.

▼

Murray Spector concentrated on the dis-
posal of ten thousand special discount
student tickets for “Julius Caesar” in ten
surrounding communities, and says it paid
off handsomely for his run of the picture at
Skouras Plaza theatre, Englewood, N. J.
He’s still busy answering inquiries about
more of the same.

Irving Mack has a special bulletin, filled
with fireworks, to sell special trailers for the
promotion of July 4th, as a drive-in attrac-
tion— and it listens well at the cash register.

▼

F. W. Smith, manager of the Center thea-
tre, Monroe, N. C., a Stewart & Everett
Theatre, reports a deal whereby a local
dairy company pays the theatre 10c for each
bottle cap that is brought in and used as a
ticket of admission at special matinees. He
says he gets 1,000 children ever Saturday
morning for this show.

E. Hatfield, manager of the Capitol thea-
tre, Yarmouth, N. S., reports bold use of
that “Red Garters” stunt, whereby the gals
revealed they wore ’em, before getting in
free. This world is full of sin and wicked-
ness, but lots of fun at the box office.

▼

Paul Brown’s huge dial, telephone, in
giant size, to “Dial M for Murder” — as a
street display stunt, was used by more than
15,000 persons, who “dialed” to hear a play-
back recording over a loud speaker. Picture
in this week’s Round Table.

Paramount’s national magazine campaign
for Danny Kaye in “Knock on Wood” timed
to coincide with playdates, with pages break-
ing in Life for June 25th, Look for June
29th, and American Weekly for June 27th,
in addition to the fan magazine schedule for
June and July issues.

Harry Shaw’s display for GWTW, photo-
graphed and submitted during Boyd Spar-
row’s vacation from active duty at Loew’s
Warfield theatre, San Erancisco, are really
“gone” in the sense of all-out exploitation.

▼

Sid Kleper, manager of Loew’s College
theatre. New Haven, created a giant six-
sheet display for “Flame and the Flesh”
using a poster right out of the pressbook that
seems to be ideally suited to the purpose.
Exactly right poster-quality.

George Atton, well known in the Round
Table is now a district manager for Golden
State Theatres at Santa Cruz, California,
but a regular at these meetings in the
Herald. He likes his new job, and a talk
he made was recently reported in “Editor &
Publisher.”

▼

Girls wearing plastic raincoats, with very
colorful shorts showing through, carried
placards, “If you think this is indiscreet,
you should see “Indiscretion of an American
Wife” at Loew’s State and Orpheum thea-
tres, Boston.

Charles Simonelli, eastern advertising and
publicity manager for Universal Pictures,
will be the principal speaker at the annual
manager’s convention held by the Butter-
field Circuit, in Lansing, Michigan, on June
23-24. More than sixty circuit showmen
will see a preview of “Magnificent Obses-
sion.”

▼

A1 Swett, manager of the Avon theatre,
Utica, N. Y., has been named winner of
the monthly Showmanship Award in the
Stanley-Warner Theatres northeastern zone,
and given the title “Manager of the Month”
Ijy Harry Feinstein, zone manager.

▼ .

Children of Kansas City are invited to
buy $1 strip tickets, good for 12 special
summer “Vacation Movies” shows, in a
joint newspaper advertisement placed by
Fox Midwest Theatres, with the cooper-
ation of the Motion Picture Council, Parent-
Teachers and Federation of Catholic P.T.A.
groups.

▼

John G. Corbett, manager of the Glove
theatre, Gloversville, collected a co-op ad
for “Dial M for Murder” by having each of
the sponsoring merchants print their own
telephone numbers, with the word “Dial”
followed by the number listed for their busi-
ness places. First 25 to guess the numbers
correctly were given free tickets.

That busy staff at 20th Century-Fox piles up examples of v/indow display in New York,
as promotion for upcoming pictures — current and coming at the Roxy theatre. Jit left,
Pan American Airways, on Fifth Avenue, realiy built a replica of the fountain in Rome
which is the inspiration tor "Three Coins in the Fountain" — and at right, the actual robe
used in the production of the CinemaScope picture is the center of interest in a display
for the benefit of "Demetrius and the Gladiators" — which follows info the Roxy.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JUNE 19. 1954

Miss Phoio"tfenn"Ic Makes
Goad far ^Mofuwtny Guitar^*

Five Macy stores in the greater New York
area held a contest, in cooperation with Re-
public Pictures, to locate “Miss Photo-Jean-
Ic” as promotion for “Johnny Guitar” —
opening at the Mayfair theatre on Broadway.
The contenders were to appear in their jeans
— explaining part of the title designated —
and the winner was to get a screen test
in Hollywood, as the guest of Herbert J.
Yates, president of Republic Pictures. Above,
you see the winner. Miss Sheila Stampler,
who is photogenic without her jeans, but
even more so in this western costume. Mr.

Theatre Tieup Raises $20,000
For Korean Relief in Detroit

Howard Pearl is credited with a tieup
with General Motors as part of his promo-
tion of United Artists’ “Man With a Mil-
lion” that will raise $20,000 for Korean
Relief, with the cooperation of the Detroit
Women’s Clubs, who are out selling tickets.
In addition, he landed 2,200 posters on
Detroit’s busses and street cars, which was
a victory won after one rebuff by the transit
authorities. (Note to our Detroit correspon-
dent— we’d very much like to be told the
name of the theatre and the manager ! You
know the formula — who, when, where, what,
and why?)

Lou Cohen, manager of Loew’s Poll
theatre, Hartford, seems to have a perma-
nent display board in his lobby, “Inside
Hollywood” — which bulletins the headline
news of the MGM studios and upcoming
MGM releases scheduled in advance.

Yates is presenting her with what-it-takes
to get to Hollywood on his say-so, and have
the courtesy of the studio. At right, a quin-
tette of contenders, each a regional winner
in the five Macy stores, line up at the May-
fair opening. Below, attention-getting lobby
display and the placard that sold the idea to
those who thought they had a chance to win,
and finally, the winner is congratulated by
the judges, who are left to right, Royal
Dano, Dort Clark, Scott Brady, Mercedes
McCambridge and Richard Carlisle of the
motion picture and television scene.

Two Kinds of Indians

Harry Wilson, manager of the Capitol
theatre, Chatham, Ontario, had very con-
vincing Indians around for “Rose Marie” —
and why not? They were real Indians ! And
then he had staff members wearing feathers,
not so convincing but good-natured promo-
tion for tbe picture in advance of playdates.
His co-op ads were sensational, and the
newspaper comment on the Indian costume
contest conducted for a nearby reservation
was excellent public relations. First time in
bistory that a theatre tieup has created such
good comment for the Indian colony on
Walpole Island, to the satisfaction of all
concerned.

Three agencies, the Hartford Theatre
Managers Assn., the Citizen’s Traffic Safety
Committee and the Police Traffic Division,
are cooperating in a weekly tieup through
the summer months, to select “The Courte-
ous Driver of the Week.”

JPetienyill

Pinpoints

Promotion

Howard Pettengill, advertising and pub-
licity director for Florida State Theatres in
Jacksonville, doesn’t wait for things to hap-
pen. He makes ’em happen — as for instance,
when he started runs of Republic’s “Johnny
Guitar” before he had received the prepared
promotion material from New York. He
merely rolled his own, putting out a package
that is now a model for the rest of the
country. Florida State managers are quite
used to getting pressbooks and advertising
manuals that originate no farther away than
Jacksonville.

This one is a substantial book, properly
printed to indicate that it is a circuit oper-
ation. There are photographs, song sheets,
a guitar novelty, press material, and adver-
tising mats in three sizes, all included, to-
gether with a thick mimeographed brochure
of exploitation ideas, and two additional
brochures, to outline two separate plans for
selling approach — the western angle, and the
star romance angle. Approach “B” is con-
centrated on the idea of selling Joan Craw-
ford in her role in this picture.

Interesting feature of such a circuit job is
that Howard pinpoints his promotion and
aims it directly at managers in various spots,
where he knows exactly what is suited to the
situation. This plan of calling your shots
can’t be done for the country at large, but
it is certainly effective when you’re aiming
at eighty theatres in a single state. The
regional differences are strictly local — and
all business is local.

Tacoma Managers Show
Style in Ballyhoos

Russ Schmidt, city manager for John
Hamrick’s Tacoma theatres, sends some
photos to show how these managers get bal-
lyhoo results with small expenditures and
simple devices. It is typical of Tacoma to
use constumed characters, usually staff mem-
bers, and Bob Corcoran, at the Blue Mouse,
had one for “The Blue Lagoon” — terrifying
to beholders, but tossing out throwaways.
Another of Bob’s was a Royal Mounty in
uniform for “Rose Marie” — very effective,
and more of his showmanship was seen in
window displays around the city. Bill Hupp,
manager of the Roxy theatre, had a depart-
ment store window for “Jubilee Trail” and
David Westfall, another of the same de-
scription, at the Rialto theatre.

As added promotion for “Dial M for
Murder,” Jim Tobin, manager of the War-
ner and Merritt theatres, Bridgeport, and
Irving Hillman, at the Sherman theatre.
New Haven, refused to admit patrons dur-
ing the last 10 minutes of the performance,
with the argument: “Because this is one of
the best mystery hits of the year, we urge
you to see it from the beginning.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19, 1954

Seiiina

ina ^y^ppifoaCi

En tries Frown
Riehwnond

One of the best, and most consistent,
showmen, in the Round Table, is George
Peters, manager of Loew’s theatre, Rich-
mond, Va. Scarcely a week passes but there’s
an exhibit of his skills from just across the
Mason-Dixon Line. We must see this guy
in action, some day, but every time we’ve
seen Richmond, we’re too high up (12,000
feet) or it’s too late for visiting (at 4 o’clock
in the morning). The airlines or the train
schedules don’t encourage stopovers.

George has a swell campaign on “Execu-
tive Suite’’ — just entered for the Quigley
Awards in this quarter — with a dozen tieups
to prove the thinking he put behind this pro-
motion. A collection of teaser ads intro-
duced the large cast to the Richmond audi-
ence. On “Julius Caesar,’’ he had one of the
preview campaigns, prior to the general re-
lease this Fall, and he put everything he had
behind it, to get school as well as public
acclaim. Very good newspaper display ad-
vertising, in very generous space with good
use of the “Photoplay Studies’’ booklet, and
the special souvenir book (for cash).

“Rhapsody’’ and “Rose Marie’’ are in
form, following a generous pattern of large
display for a key theatre in a territory that
adapts the showmanship of a leader in a
first run. If there is anything we can say,
it is that George Peters represents Loew’s
in Richmond — and that’s a large order, well
handled in circuit style.

Rose Marie*
Exploitation

Sam Gould, manager of the Penn theatre,
New Castle, Pa., sends an outline of his
campaign on “Rose Marie” which is unusual
because he had a letter of praise from his
local radio station, on the mutual coopera-
tion offered and used in the exploitation of
picture and music. If you don’t believe the
radio station has as much or more to gain
in such tieups, you should try it, with the
kind of response that comes in New Castle.
They say that Sam “bought a few spots”
— but generally they liked the deal for the
live interest in “Rose Marie” and its famous
songs.

A local music shop, a local florist, a jew-
elry store, and the newspaper, gave with
good breaks, while a local club— The Golden
Age Group — consisting of folks past 65 —
were guests at the opening, and aroused the
keen interest of both radio station and news-
paper. The City Recreation Board of the
Y. W. C. A. also came through with praise
for the invitation to old people, who are most
appreciative of little attentions, and very
talkative, when it comes to word-of-mouth
advertising. Newspaper advertising and
routine handling of the attraction usually
above par.

THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN—
20th Century-Fox. CinemaScope, In color
by DeLuxe, with high-fidelity stereophonic
sound. Clifton Webb, Dorothy McGuire,
Jean Peters, Louis Jourdan, Maggie Mc-
Namara. Photographed In Italy In Cinema-
Scope, and they say. If you can never see
Italy any other way, this will satisfy. It's a
triumph of new dimensions portraying the
scenic backgrounds of Italy. 24-sheet and
other posters give you cut-out materials of
the stars for lobby and marquee display.
The herald keys the campaign with the idea
of the picture. Newspaper ad mats are
generous and assorted for size and style —
we like one in particular. No. 314, that is
unique and intriguing, but No. 214 is also
good. You can find a change of pace in
these newspaper ads; there are new styles
as well as the conventional old styles that
you're jolly well used to, so have as much
fun as you like, trying something new and
different. The complete economy mat for
small theatres, at 35c, gives you six ad mats
and two publicity mats in conventional
style, but a lot for the money. Try those
dark backgrounds, and see if they don't
stand out in contrast with other amusement
advertising. The theme song, "Three Coins
in the Fountain," is sweeping the country,
and no less than six great recordings are
on the market.

THE STUDENT PRINCE— MGM. In color
and CinemaScope. The new and exciting
production of fhe world's greatest love
musical. With Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom
and the singing voice of Mario Lanza. The
royal, racy, riotous romancing of fhe beau-
tiful barmaid and "The Student Prince" —
in old Heidelberg. 24-sheet, all posters
and all newspaper ad mats are over-
crowded, as is usually the case with MGM

accessories In this department. They should
provide folding camp chairs so fhose who
run may sit down to read all the copy.
Newspaper ads are in the spirit of the
famous Shubert show, which has pleased
audiences for thirty years. Sigmund Rom-
berg's great music is known to everybody,
and the stage attraction has been seen by
millions. The complete campaign mat, for
which fhe industry owes MGM a great deal
of gratitude, gives small situations an
assortment of fen ad mats and slugs, two
publicity mats and a piece of linotype
border to surround your space — all for fhe
price of one ordinary mat, 35c, at National
Screen. Also, another to Metro's credit is
the set of color stills, best the industry
offers, fo sell color with color.

ELEPHANT WALK — Paramount. In color
by Technicolor. Romance, action, danger!
Filmed In vast, mysterious Ceylon. There's
nothing bigger fhan "Elephant Walk" —
you'll never forget these exciting scenes of
desfruction. Rebellion of wild elephants in
the jungles of Ceylon. Two 24-sheefs, and
one of fhem is fhe biggest photographic
poster ever made. The other contains art
work for cut-oufs and flash displays. All
posters are strong and the pressbook sug-
gests posting a long row of them in front
of your theatre to drive home the idea of
"Elephant Walk." That photographic 24-
sheet will make an extraordinary inner-lobby
display. Newspaper ad mats are strong,
and varied, from a series of eye-catching
teasers to a striking 5-column display with
life-sized elephants. The complete cam-
paign mat, selling for 35c at National
Screen, is well-selected and provides nine
ad mats and slugs for small theatres, plus
two publicity mats for good measure.

Cartoonist Roy Williams, of fhe Walt Disney staff at the Hollywood studio, has been
making personal appearances, and fast crayon sketches fo illustrate the promotion of
"Pinocchio" on its return dates. The pictures above show his appeal fo grown-ups and
children, at schools or on theatre stages. At right above, he's with Walter Gutterridge,
assistant manager of the RKO 23rd Street theatre, in New York, and Ephriam Weston,
principal of P. S. II. Hard to tell whether students or faculty enjoy Disney most.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JUNE 19. 1954

WEEKLY Report

. . . Timely news supple-
menting the special
monthly department cov-
ering all phases of re-
freshment service.

LESS POPCORN ACREAGE;

HIGHER PRICES

LESS POPCORN acreage and
higher raw popcorn prices are generally
foreseen at this time in the popcorn indus-
try. This view has been voiced consistently
at the regional meetings this year sponsored
by the International Popcorn Association,
Chicago. At one of the latest J. A. Mc-
Carty of the McCarty Seed Company,
Evansville, Ind., told the theatre operators,
jobbers and manufacturers assembled at the
Plaza hotel in San Antonio, Tex., that
most processors had had sizeable carry-overs
from the 1953 crop, but that the market is
now showing evidence of strengthening and
that buyers could expect to pay higher
prices.

“There is no substitute for good quality
popcorn,” Mr. McCarty declared, “and
buyers should beware of bargain prices. For
the theatre operator each point of volu-
metric expansion over 30 is worth $5 in
gross sales, so why cheat yourself by buy-
ing cheap corn of inferior quality which
will not give the proper expansion. Be
quality-minded — it will repay you in great-
er profits.”

Speaking on popping oils, both peanut
and coconut, Wales Newby, of the Ope-
lousas Oil Company, Opelousas, La., told
the theatre operators that high heat is detri-
mental to these oils and that best results
are obtained if the thermostat of the oil
well in a popper is kept as low as 85° F.,
day and night, rather than using high heat
during daytime hours and turning off the
heat at night when the machines are not in
operation.

Most grades of packaging paper are not
in short supply and thus no major price
increases are foreseeable in the immediate
future, according to Irving Singer, vice-

FORESEEN

president of the Rex Specialty Bag Cor-
poration, Brooklyn, N. Y. He displayed
his firm’s new “pillow-type” popcorn bag
made of aluminum foil and other bags for
sandwiches, frankfurters and French fries.

•

The advantages of paper cups were out-
lined by F. R. Hoeltzel of the Dixie Cup
Company, San Antonio, who said that “im-
printed cups give theatre operators com-
plete control by preventing cup substitution
by employees and build firm or theatre
brand name identification.”

Ways and means of boosting buttered
corn sales were discussed by Kendall Way,
of Sterling Sales and Service, Inc., Dallas.
It is not an “impulse item,” he declared,
and must be pushed by stand attendants.
He recommended an attractive back-bar
display to attract c-ustomers and empha-

sized that buttered corn does not compete
with other items at the stand.

•

It is only through quality that repeat
sales can be achieved at the refreshment
stand, the delegates were told by Ellis Ford
of the Delman theatre, Houston. “I buy
only the very best grade of popcorn, oil
and salt no matter what the price,” he ex-
plained, “because I have found that I never
make any money purchasing — I make it
selling.”

In the merchandising of candy, Mr. Ford
advised theatre men to stock 5c items for
children but emphasize sales of 10c items.

•

“Drink dispensing equipment should have
animation, color and lights,” the delegates
were told by J. B. Cooper of the Orange-
Crush Company, Chicago, and “machines
should be kept as close to 50 % full as pos-
sible, because this has the best psychological
effect on the customers.” He also suggested
that operators with 3-drink machines make
one a plain water beverage just in case the
carbonator fails. That way, he explained,
“you’re still in business if there is a me-
chanical failure.”

Latest of the popcorn regional meetings to be sponsored by the International Popcorn Association,
Chicago, was one held at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Canada, under the chairmanship ot
J. J. Fitzgibbons, Jr. (left, above) of Theatre Confections Limited, Toronto, and president of IPA. Also
in attendance were (left to right) J. V. Blevins, of the Blevins Popcorn Company, Nashville, Tenn.;
Sydney Spiegel, Super Puff't Popcorn Company, Toronto; and Thomas J. Sullivan, executive-secretary, IPA.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 19. 1954

A simple statement of fact . . .

THE ALMANAC is referred to far more often, by far more
people in the motion picture and television industries — and also
by more writers for the public press — than any other reference
book. There are obvious reasons for that:

The data in the most-often-used parts of the ALMANAC is
not to be found in any other reference book.

THE ALMANAC is not given in combination with any other
publication. It is purchased for itself alone. Its unique
features make it indispensable — worth many times its price — -
to thousands in the motion picture and television industries.

It is the only accepted "Who's Who and What's What" for the
entire field. There just isn't anything like it!

Edited by

Chares S. Aaronson

$5 postpaid-
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1955

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD

MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Vol. 195, No. 13

MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR., Editor

June 26, 1954

The Woman's Viewpoint

For an industry which depends so much on
women’s patronage (and women influencing ticket
buying by men) it is strange that so little attention
is given to the woman’s viewpoint in both the selection
of screen material and in advertising and promotion.
Other industries which depend much less on women long
have given numerous examples which the motion picture
might well emulate. Today virtually all design of prod-
ucts and their merchandising campaigns are directed
primarily to the female taste. Look at the advertisements
in any national magazine ! The one-time glamour of
movies is now a dominant characteristic of the selling of
everything from cigarette lighters to motor cars.

Many in Hollywood and elsewhere in the industry
seem to feel that the only picture that is a “woman’s
picture” is one that is sad and \.'eepy. Box office returns
on successful pictures — all of which were seen by more
women then men — belie that assertion. Women don’t
just go to the theatre “to have a good cry.”

However, one facet of the explanation of why theatre
attendance is not what it should be is that enough
women are not attracted. Fewer are going (and bringing
fewer of their menfolk) than in the 1930s when the popu-
lation of the country was much less. Methods that would
extend theatre-going by women would seem to offer the
greatest hope of increased revenues. However, some of
the current story selections and a good deal of current
advertising methods seem almost to be calculated to
repel a good percentage of the potential women patrons.

While women can stand much more suffering than
men, they — in general — shun violence. Yet the stock-in-
trade of so many films is violence. Romantic love appeals
to women. Yet so much of the love feature in recent films
is sordid. Blatant sex is repellent to most women. Yet
many pictures — and more advertising — feature sex-for-
the-men with little or no regard for the tastes of the
much larger and more influential body of women patrons.

One type of product apparently in some favor these
days, prides itself on being called “sex and slaughter”
— a nice combination to attract the women ! It goes with-
out saying that no picture is a good family picture if the
woman of the house is not interested in seeing it.

While criticism may be directed against some of the
stories selected for production and against the absence
of sufficient pictures of special appeal to women, the
most serious problem — and the one susceptible of the
most prompt correction— is the method of advertising
and promoting pictures. Too many pictures are sold,
or rather insufficiently sold, on the basis of similar cam-
paigns. Too much theatre advertising looks like it is on
the same picture. Automobile companies have pretty
much the same basic product to sell year after year, yet
their advertising copy has more variety of appeal and

freshness than many theatres that have a new and differ-
ent picture to present at frequent intervals.

There should be more selling of pictures on the basis
of their individual and unique merits rather than by
means of the same kind of art illustration and copy lines
used to sell many other pictures.

The woman patron (and the man, too) is not interested
in seeing the same picture again and again as so many
of the advertising campaigns would indicate is to be
expected.

Robert Young last week took control of the New York
Central from its century-old family of Vanderbilt-
Whitney management after a campaign which had
special feminine appeal, even to the extent of proposing
a woman director. He could not have won without get-
ting the votes of the majority of the women stockholders.
The woman’s touch certainly should be much more in-
fluential in picture making and promoting than in rail-
roading.

■ ■ ■

TOA on Product Stimulus

The Hollywood meeting last week of the board of
directors of the Theatre Owners of America was
devoted primarily to exploring ways and means of
increasing the flow of quality pictures to the theatres of
the country. While it would be difficult to predict what
concrete effects the pleas of the theatre owners may have
on production schedules, Hollywood listened attentively
to the exhibitor spokesmen.

Hollywood and exhibition should keep in much closer
touch with each other than they have done in the past.
Exhibitor meetings held on the West Coast help in a
small way to compensate for the fact that to many in
Hollywood the rest of the United States is a void to be
flown over on infrequent trips to New York made for the
purpose of seeing the new plays or en route to Europe.

The concentration on the new techniques has in-
evitably led to preoccupation with “big” pictures, espe-
cially spectacles and others which lend themselves to
effective outdoor photography. The industry probably
could use a considerably increased supply of outstanding
“medium” pictures. The contemporary story, the mys-
tery story, the good intimate comedy, the small novelty
musical (in contrast to the big revue) should not be
passed up. Even first run theatres in middle and small
size towns require more new features than have been
on recent release schedules.

Implied with the requests of TOA and other exhibitor
groups and individuals for more product, it should be
noted, is a commitment by exhibition to do all necessary
on its part to promote effectively all engagements to the
common benefit of exhibitor and producer-distributor.

— Martin Quigley, Jr.

Castle Replies

To THE Editor :

You are quite correct when you clearly
indicate in your signed editorial, “Castle
in the Air” (The HERALD, issue of June
19) that I do not speak for the motion pic-
ture industry.

You are equally correct when you state
that I advocate the cutting out of the United
States Information Agency’s propaganda
film program for foreigners. After exten-
sive personal observations throughout the
Near East, Europe and South America, I
firmly believe that these propaganda film
activities are totally unnecessary. Moreover,
I believe that they harm American prestige
abroad and I also believe that, eventually,
the speech-making and press release cam-
paign of Propaganda Director Streibert
which “thanks the industry” for efforts and
activities that the industry has carried on
in behalf of our country and in its own
behalf for nearly fifty years, will, in the end,
prove to be a “kiss of death” for the indus-
try and especially in the foreign field where
the competition from foreign producers is
reducing the playing time for American
features in the theatres of some countries
overseas.

For nearly five decades the American
motion picture has proved to be the most
effective salesman for our countr}' and our
way of life wherever free men and women
gather to be entertained. I underscore the
word entertained because foreigners, like
Americans, do not like propaganda in their
movies, or in any other form. Only Mr.
Streibert and his self-serving documentary
film crew seem not to understand that the
American motion picture industry has grown
to be one of our country’s greatest because
the product of the Hollywood studios has
remained propaganda-free.

David O. Selznick. on a coast-to-coast
television program recently, said: “Let
Western Union carry the messages and
Hollywood will continue to carry entertain-
ment to all the world.” To this sound advice
may I add : Let no Government propaganda
official or agency make a “carrier” out of
the motion picture industry, for their self-
serving advantage.

Despite what once appeared to be insur-
mountable problems, including the headaches
of television competition, the American mo-
tion picture producers have, by their great
courage, proved to their fellow countrymen
and to the world that they have what it
takes to keep our country great ! Instead
of throwing in the sponge and crying towel,
they put their shoulders to the wheel, and
what happened? Today, “Movies are Better
than Ever” is no longer a mere slogan. It
is a grand reality ! And all the world knows
and applauds this fact. Let’s not con-
taminate this great force for global good,
and especially at a time when our nation

desperately needs this force to aid it in
winning and keeping friends everywhere
throughout the world. Let’s instead, con-
stantly urge our Government to aid in ex-
panding the showing of American non-
propaganda motion pictures everywhere
throughout the world where people gather
to be enlightened and to be entertained by
the medium.

Let’s do this even if the entertainment
producer and genius, Cecil B. DeMille, ad-
vocates a “sprinkling” of propaganda with
entertainment from the great industry to
which he has for so long made such an out-
standing personal contribution. Let’s keep
the movies greater, and free. Free to
serve, to inspire and to give courage to
free men and women everywhere on earth.
—EUGENE W. CASTLE, New York,
N. y.

[Editor’s Note: The HERALD always has
maintained that Hollywood entertainment
motion pictures should not he propaganda
vehicles. The point at issue is the activities
of the Motion Picture Division of the State
Departmenifs Infommtion Agency. Mr.
Castle wishes those activities abolished. The
HERALD recognizes that operations of
the State Department reflect United States
policy. The HERALD would like the Mo-
tion Picture Division to be run as effectively
and with as little cost as is possible. Mr.
Castle’s fine work in ferreting out, at his
own e.rpense, abuses in the program has
been handicapped in this instance by the
charge he made against Cecil B. DeMille
to which our editorial was principally
directed.^

Public Reaction

To THE Editor:

I have just finished reading your excellent
“Anything Goes” editorial in your issue of
June 6 and herewith enclose clipping from
the May 27 issue of the “Oregonian” (see
below) covering another facet of our busi-
ness, and I wish you would write another
“Availability” or “Whither, Producers?”.

To the Editor: The movie houses complain of
poor business and blame it on television. In look-
ing for a movie that a normal Portland family might
attend on a Saturday night, the following were ad-
vertised for its choice: the Century, sexational
"Striporama": the United Artists, usually a theatre
of first class movies, “Problem Girls," not recom-
mended for children; the Paramount, "Carnival
Story," sexy sizzler, plus "The Saint's Girl Friday,"
blondes, bullets and blackmail, and, at midnight, a
show called "She Shoulda Said No." The Orpheum
presents "River of No Return”; the Broadway is
showing "The Miami Story," how Miami smashed
the mob, and the Liberty has "Witness to Murder."
The Oriental has on its screen "Intimate Rela-
tions,” a strictly adult show, and the Hollywood
screen crawls with "The Creature from the Black
Lagoon." After reading these titles one feels like
washing out one's mouth with a good strong mouth-
wash.

Why should we complain about our teen-agers

WHEN AND WHERE

June 27-29: Annual convention of the
Mississippi Theatre Owners Association,
Edgewater Gulf Hotel, Edgewater Park,
Miss.

July 15 : Annual meeting of the International
Federation of Film Producers Associa-
tions, Locarno, Switzerland.

August 22: Opening of the Fifteenth An-
nual International Film Festival at Venice,
Italy. Three U. S. films, "Three Coins in
the Fountain," "The Caine Mutiny ' and
"Executive Suite" will represent United
States product.

October 10-11: Allied States Association
Fall board meeting, Schroeder Hotel,
Milwaukee.

October 12-14: National Allied States con-
vention, City Auditorium, Milwaukee.

October 17-24: Seventy-sixth semi-annual
convention of the Society of Motion
Picture and Television Engineers, Ambas-
sador Hotel, Los Angeles.

October 3 1 -November 4: Annual combined
convention of the Theatre Owners of
America, Theatre Equipment Supply
Manufacturers Association, Theatre
Equipment Supply Dealers Association,
and International Popcorn Association,
Conrad Hilton Hotel, Chicago.

November 17: Annual dinner of the Motion
Picture Pioneers, Hotel Astor, New York
City, N. Y.

being reckless, when adults permit such trash and
rubbish to be CinemaScoped, three-dimensioned
and Technicolored on our movie theatre screens.
Where is the censor board we use to have?

I might add that this “Screen Fare Hit”
was printed on the editorial page, in a box,
“The People’s Own Corner,” and that the
Paramount theatre, largest in our city, seat-
ing 3,600, played sex release, “She Shoulda
Said No” on a Saturday midnight show for
Adults Only at $1 per head. — B. R. KEL-
LER, Secretary-Manager, Powell Blvd.
Drive-In Theatre, Inc., Portland 66, Oregon.

From India

To THE Editor:

It is over two years now that I have
been reading every issue of The HERALD.
I am delighted to offer my sincere opinion
about it.

Today your magazine is acknowledged
to be the best magazine imparting first hand
knowledge to exhibitors and custodians of
show business. The journal contains usually
lots of useful information on latest film in-
ventions. Your latest Market Guide Num-
ber is outstanding and a most up-to-date
volume. I congratulate you and wish you
all success. — A. R. VARMA, Secretary, All
India Pictures, Cadell Road, Bombay, India.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

MOTION PICTURE HERALD

June 26. 1954

On tlie Ori

orizon

TOA directors aim at more and better
supply of product Page 12

CINEMASCOPE recounts the story of its

development in film Page 13

TERRY RAMSAYE Says — A column of com-
ment on matters cinematic Page 16

CHURCHES and other exhibitors hit Reade
attack on Code Page 18

PRODUCTION CODE value upheld at

Michigan U. forum Page 18

NEW YORK tax still target of concerted
industry attack Page 20

U.S.-FRENCH film pact is signed for a two-
year period Page 20

TODD-AO process is demonstrated at

showing on West Coast Page 22

TV stations ask Government aid in getting
films for programs Page 22

BRITISH films finding wider world market,
John Davis says Page 24

THE WINNERS CIRCLE— The box score
on box office leaders Page 25

20TH-FOX plans release of twelve films to
end of December Page 25

ALLIED STATES unit studying Cole charges
against distributors Page 26

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT — Notes on indus-
try personnel across country Page 31

SERVICE DEPARTMENTS

Refreshment Merchandising

Page

Film Buyers' Rating

Page

Hollywood Scene

Page

Managers' Round Table

Page

People in the News

Page

IN PRODUCT DIGEST

SECTION

Showmen's Reviews

Page

Short Subjects Chart

Page

The Release Chart

Page

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-Presi-
dent; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Martin Quigley, Jr., Editor;
Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor; James D. Ivers, News
Editor; Charles S. Aoronson, Production Editor; Floyd E.
Stone, Photo Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager;
Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Bureaus: Hollywood,
William R. VVeaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building, Tele-
phone Hollywood 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.

COORDINATING

If the TOA board succeeds next
October 31st in getting ap-
proval by the membership of its
plan to employ an "industry
coordinator" with Exhibition,
Distribution and Production
within his orbit of authority,
can Allied do less? And then
who'll coordinate the coordi-
nators?

MILLIONS

Publicists, those industry
sentinals who are ever-watchful
for exploitation possibilities,
had a creative feast last week.
Someone clever at United Art-
ists actually brought millions
out to a special screening of
"Man With A Million." The
method: He thumbed through the
Manhattan telephone directory
and invited all those listed
under the name Million. Heading
the delegation was Professor
Elmer Million of New York Uni-
versity, who is the father of
E. Z. Million. In Washington,
Columbia's "The Caine Mutiny"
stole the spotlight in the Army-
McCarthy hearings. (See page
10) .

PRODUCTION

Another exhibitor has jumped
in, and so far, the water's
fine. Fred Schwartz, New York
exhibitor, head of the Century
circuit there, has been in
Hollywood the past several
weeks, and is said to be forming
a company for production and
distribution. Its first pic-
ture would be "Long John
Silver," now being made in
Australia.

FIFTH TI^ ROUND

It's the fifth round for the
renowned "Gone With the Wind" —
yet its draw still is phenome-
nal. MGM reports this week the
picture has collected at its
seven runs approximately $500,-
000. It brought $200,000 at the
State Theatre, New York, during
three weeks.

SAGA OF A TITLE

Even the trade sometimes gets
a little confused about film
titles. Martin Smith, exhibitor
of Toledo, Ohio, questioned the

title of the upcoming MGM at-
traction, "The Last Time I Saw
Paris," based on the novel by
F. Scott Fitzgerald. Mr. Smith,
who had read a book or two, re-
membered a book of reminiscences
of the same title by Elliot Paul
and that Mr. Fitzgerald's novel,
laid in Paris, was called "Baby-
lon Revisited." Out of Dan Ter-
rell, via Mike Simons, came an
explanation: MGM decided to

make "Babylon Revisited" into a
film; people thought the title
sounded like a Biblical epic ;
MGM owns rights to the song,
"The Last Time I Saw Paris ;" MGM
decided to use latter title and
scrap the former. Mr. Terrell
adds: "If we ever decided to
make a picture out of Elliot
Paul's 'The Last Time I Saw
Paris' we will call it, of
course, 'Babylon Revisited.' "
And he concludes: "Comme on dit
a Paris, quel confusion !" Trans-
lation on request to Mr. Terrell.

QUICK SUIT

It didn't take long for this
theatre to find the going tough
— and to do something, immedi-
ately. The Towne Theatre, Levit-
town. Pa., opened June 16. On
June 17 it brought an anti-trust
suit against distributors. In
Philadelphia Federal Court, it
charged the majors with un-
reasonable clearance. Its con-
tention is, that it doesn't
compete with Philadelphia thea-
tres, 30 miles away, nor with
Trenton theatres, 10 miles
away.

WASHINGTON LANDMARK

"President Wilson's Box" at
the RKO Keith theatre in Wash-
ington has disappeared. The
theatre, just a block from the
White House is being completely
renovated, preparatory to the
opening of "The Caine Mutiny"
July 7. The alterations in-
cluded tearing down the boxes,
including one in which Mr. and
Mrs. Wilson were almost weekly
visitors when he was President.
President Wilson particularly
loved vaudeville and Keith's was
a vaudeville house at that period
of its career.

Vincent Canby-Mandel Herbst-

man-Floyd E. Stone-J. A. Otten

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26. 1954

FRED C. QUIMBY, who runs MGM's shorts
department and makes its cartoons, is mark-
ing his 30th year with the company.

liy tlie IleraUl

HIS FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE
since leaving 20th-Fox. Robert Bassler,
right, producer of "Suddenly," a
United Artists release, and Richard
Sale, writer, speak in the U.A. New
York office. CInemaScope creates
problems and Is "not the last word,"

Mr. Bassler opined.

DEGREES, of Doctor of Laws. It's now "Dr." Charles
Skouras, for the National Theatres president, seen in the
top picture receiving his honor from Cardinal James
Francis McIntyre at Loyola Universtiy, Los Angeles. And
it's "Dr." Y. Frank Freeman. In the lower picture, the
Paramount studio head is invested at the University of
Southern California by Fred G. Fagg, Jr., president, in
the presence of Fred G. Gurley, president of the Santa Fe
Railway. Mr. Gurley sponsored Mr. Freeman tor the degree.

Id wee
in pictured

THE MODEL SHIP below is of "The Caine,"
and the scene was telecast to perhaps 25,000,-
000 persons- — veritably a press agent's dream.
The men are Columbia exploiteer Sid Zins, and
Senator Karl Mundt, acting chairman of the
committee which Investigated the McCarthy-
Army dispute. Mr. Zins presented the model,
said it was used in making the Columbia pic-
ture, and invited the hearing participants to a
s~ecia! sc.'eening.

A. R. "CUBBY" BROC-
COLI, producer with Irving
Allan of features for Co-
lumbia, emphasizes a point
in his New York interview
in which he talked about
his latest, "Hell Below
Zero." He believes strong-
ly in producing abroad.
Also, in helping personally
to sell his product. He will
accompany the film for
four weeks during initial
openings, and "feel out"
exhibitor opinion.

by the Berali)

HAROLD LASSER looks up from his desk at Uni-
versal Pictures, in New York, where he now is on
the legal staff. Mr. Lasser for these past 10 years
was trial attorney with the Department of Justice
Anti-Trust Division.

THESE ARE THE NEW OFFICERS of the Virginia
Motion Picture Theatre Association. Seated are
Wade Pearson, sergeant-at-arms, and Leonard Gor-
don, president. Standing are F. M. Westfall, vice-
president; Jack Rumsey, treasurer; Morton Thal-
himer, Jr., secretary, and R. G. Flanary, Jr., and
Seymour Hoffman, vice-presidenfs.

THAT PLAQUE which "Dragnet" cop Jack Webb,
center, is receiving, is from the "Fraternal Order
of Police." And it says he's one of the best friends
a cop could have. The scene was at Warners,
where Mr. Webb is producing a film version of the
air program. The man giving him the silver plaque
is executive producer Jack L. Warner. The others
are, in order, John J. Quinn, the group's national
secretary; Richard Breen, writer, and Carl C. Barr,
the organization's legislative chairman.

by the Henid

THEY ARE HERE TO SELL JAPANESE FILMS.
Reading from right to left, Masaichi Nagata, presi-
dent of Daiei; A. Tamura, ifs publicity director;
Kenji Mizoguchi, director, and M. Miyagawa, pho-
tographer— as they told reporters Tuesday in the
Samuel Goldwyn New York office of two films they
brought with them. One is "Hell's Gate," the first
Japanese picture in Eastman Color; the other is
"Sansho Dayu." Another example of fheir "quality"
product, which they hope to export because their
domestic market doesn't support such ventures, is
"Golden Demon."

MORE, BETTER PRODECT
AVOWED AIM OF TOA

Board, at Coast Meeting,
Plans on “Coordinator*^ ;
to Seek Close CEA Tie

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

HOLLYWOOD : Discussion of ways and
means to stimulate more and better produc-
tion highlighted the three-day meeting here
last week of the board of directors and the
executive committee of Theatre Owners of
America. Meeting at the Beverly Hills
Hotel, near the heart of all film production,
the TOA leaders also voted:

To present to the membership
at the forthcoming fall convention
in Chicago a plan whereby TOA
would employ an “industry co-
ordinator” to perform a variety
of functions leading to closer co-
operation between the production,
distribution and exhibition branch-
es of the industry.

To authorize Walter Reade, Jr.,
TOA president, to appoint a com-
mittee to seek a stronger and
closer tieup with the Cinemato-
graph Exhibitors Association of
England and other exhibitor or-
ganizations throughout Continen-
tal Europe and the world.

In respect to the latter proposition, Her-
man Levy, TOA general counsel, reported
that in the last eight months a strong and
effective liaison had been developed between
the CEA and TOA. Alfred Starr, chairman
of the TOA board, and possibly R. J.
O’Donnell will meet shortly in London with
CEA representatives to explore the possi-
bility of periodic meetings of representatives
of the two groups for the exchange of in-
formation on problems common to both.

The duties of the proposed coordinator
apparently will be broad. The TOA leaders
directed that the officers and executive com-
mittee “prepare and execute the plan defin-
ing” the functions of the liaison officer.
Such plan, the TOA executives ruled, will
be “to comprehend all matters relating to
the exhibition, production and distribution
of motion pictures and the financing thereof,
whether the financing be direct or indirect,
and whether it be by way of support to
independent producers or through a company
in broad principles substantially similar to
those of the original Eirst National Pic-
tures.”

Consider Other Plans
To End Product Shortage

The TOA leaders heard various plans
proposed for expanding the supply of prod-
uct. They ranged from the pre-production
guaranteeing of playtime, as in the Makelim
plan, to outright entry into the production
field as in the case of the First National

EXHIBITION and distribution. Walter Reade,
Jr., president of the Theatre Owners ot
America, and Al Lichtman, distribution head
for 20tfi-Fox, at mealtime during the TOA
meeting.

Exhibitors Associations, an undertaking of
some 40 years ago.

The suggestion for action along the lines
of the former association was made by
Charles P. Skouras, president of National
Theatres and honorary chairman of the
TOA directorate, in an address analyzing
the causes of product shortages, present and
past. He stressed the fact that he considered
the method as “the best way to handle the
present crisis.”

Steve Broidy, president of Allied Artists,
and his associates, Walter Mirisch and G.
Ralph Branton, addressed the directors on
the product situation, with Mr. Broidy say-
ing that “the gamble in production is much
greater than in exhibition. We can’t pre-
view a script the way you preview a pic-
ture. The solution of the present situation
is at the exhibitor’s end.”

Mr. Broidy said that his company did not
need or want help in financing, but that it
can go far toward increasing the product
if the exhibitors will supply a sufficient num-
ber of playdates.

Lippert Sees Future
In ‘‘Middle Brackef’ Film

Robert Lippert, president of Lippert Pic-
tures and himself an exhibitor, told the di-
rectors that “the little picture” is approach-
ing the end of its era, but that a good middle
bracket film is a sure-fire investment. He
added that there are enough capable pro-
ducers, writers and directors available in
Hollywood to make 50 or 60 pictures in that
category annually.

Other speakers at the three-day meeting
included Hal Makelim, principal in the pre-
producing financing plan bearing his name
and which is being sponsored by Allied
States Association; Fred Schwartz, presi-
dent of Century Theatres and a substantial

investor in “Long John Silver,” now being
shot in Australia; Irving Levin and Harry
Mandell, of Filmakers, Inc., and Earl Hud-
son, vice-president of American Broadcast-
ing-Paramount Theatres, western division.

TOA leaders attending the meeting in-
cluded: Roy Martin, Columbus, Georgia;
Carl E. Anderson, Kalspell, Montana ; L. S.
Hamm, San Francisco; Harold Field, Min-
neapolis; Daniel Field, Los Angeles; Tom
Bloomer, Belleville, 111.; Jesse Jones, Port-
land, Oregon; J. J. Rosenfield, Spokane;
Art Adamson, Portland, Ore. ; A. H. Blank
and Myron Blank, Des Moines ; John Row-
ley, Dallas; Alfred M. Pickus, Stratford,
Conn. ; Robert L. Livingston, Lincoln,
Nebr. ; John Lavery, Los Angeles; Julius
Gordon, Beaumont, Texas; Leo Pallay,
Portland, Oregon; Charles Gilmour, Den-
ver ; Nat M. Williams, Thomasville, Geor-
gia; Robert Bryant, Rock Hill, South Caro-
lina ; Jerry Zigmond, Los Angeles, and Sol
Schwartz, New York City.

No Comment from
Sales Managers

NEW YORK: Commenting on the speech
by Walter Reade, Jr., president of Theatre
Owners of America, before the Motion Pic-
ture Industry Council in Hollywood last
week, urging producers to beware of dis-
tributors’ “self-interest,” the general sales
managers committee of the Motion Picture
Association of America this week said that
the matter “was purely one for individual
company consideration.” The committee met
Monday in New York, at which time a
variety of subjects were considered.

Broadcast Music Sends
Contracts to Exhibitors

In its initial move to collect performance
rights fees from theatres. Broadcast Music,
Inc., this week in New York sent contract
forms to exhibitors. The fees are being
asked only for the playing of intermission
music. The contracts will become effective
on July 1 and the rates range from $5 to $15,
depending on seating capacity.

In addition, according to the BMI con-
tract, the license includes the use of BMI
copyrighted music by live talent during one
evening in any calendar week as an inci-
dental portion of a film program. If a thea-
tre, the license reads, is operated for a pe-
riod of not more than 26 weeks during a
contract year, applicable rates are cut in
half.

The rates for conventional houses are :
up to 600 seats, $5; 601 to 1,200 seats, $7.50;
1,201 to 1,500 seats, $10, and over 1,500
seats, $15. For drive-ins: up to 200 cars,
$5; 201 to 400 cars, $7.50; 401 to 500 cars,
$10, and over 500 cars, $15.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26. 1954

CINEMASCOPE RECOUNTS OWN
STORY OF ITS GROWING UP

NEW LENSES and new sound and what they
mean io the theatre man and to his customers.
Along with an extended, and impressive peek,
at coming attractions. That's what happened
at the big Roxy theatre in New York eariy Tues-
day morning. Speaking to the showmen from
the screen was chief producer Darryl F. Zanuck,
sfiown above in CinemaScope. At the right, dis-
tribution chief Al Liehtman, who introduced the
hour-long "trailer." And, above, exhibitor Walter
Brecher, Paramount sales executive Monroe
Goodman, and the Paramount theatre's manag-
ing director. Bob Shapiro.

by VINCENT CANBY

THE LATEST chapter in the CinemaScope
story, a serial which now promises to go on
forever, was presented to the members of the
industry, and representatives of the con-
sumer and trade press Tuesday morning at
simultaneous showings in New York and
Los Angeles of “The Advancing Techniques
of CinemaScope.”

The hour-long 20th Century-Fox film,
scheduled to be shown in 32 exchange cities
between now and July 9, is divided into two
parts : the first perhaps the first public
“side-by-side” comparison of four-track
magnetic stereophonic sound with single
track magnetic and - single track optical
sound, and the second portion a comprehen-
sive trailer of forthcoming 20th-Fox product
all of which has been shot wholly or in part
with the new CinemaScope camera lenses
developed by Bausch and Lomb.

Subject Wins Rating
On Merit of “Excellent”

As another example of 20th-Fox show-
manship, “The Advancing Techniques of
CinemaScope” wins a Herald rating of
“Excellent.” And, as is the case with any
film of consequence, “The Advancing Tech-
niques of CinemaScope” gives rises to opin-
ion, four of which are :

^ That magnetic stereophonic sound
is undoubtedly superior to single track
magnetic or single track optical sound
for the most effective presentation of
CinemaScope. There would seem to be,
too, a richness and range in magnetic
high fidelity sound, as compared to
optical, which many laymen would
come to know and appreciate.

^ That directors, editors and sound
technicians are learning how to use
stereophonic sound so as to avoid those
sharp switches from one horn to an-
other of a single voice, liable to occur
as the camera moves in one scene.

^ That the new Bausch and Lomb
camera lenses give the CinemaScope
director quite as much freedom as he
had B. C. (before CinemaScope), and
that there is, with the new lenses, a
very marked improvemment in clarity
of image and depth of focus.

And that, despite all public and pri-
vate pronouncements as to Cinema-
Scope’s adaptability to any type of
story, the vast majority of forthcoming
CinemaScope films will be spectacles,
historical dramas having a strong
pageant flavor and outdoor or action
dramas. Of six films dealt with at
length in “The Advancing Tech-
niques,” only one, the comedy, ‘A Wo-
man’s World,” could be described as
“contemporary.” Of the 25 scheduled

for early production, only about six or
seven are conceivably “contemporary.”

Approximately 1,000 members of the New
York trade were on hand for the Tuesday
morning showing at the Roxy theatre. They
were welcomed by 20th-Fox director of dis-
tribution Al Liehtman, who dispensed with
the usual extensive greetings and salutations
and let the film speak for itself.

The sound portion of the film featured a
20th-Fox technician who explained some-
thing of the principles behind stereophony
and then proceeded to illustrate just what
the aural differences were between four-
track magnetic, single track magnetic and
single track optical sound. Used were clips
of jet fighter planes approaching the camera
and disappearing overhead, a shot of the
Vesuvious Express rattling down the track
toward the camera and disappearing off
screen left, and a clap of thunder which in
single optical was acceptable, but in four-
track magnetic made one look for shelter.

The climax of the film’s first half was a
bouyant rendition of Tcliaikowsky’s “Waltz

of the Flowers,” by the 20th-Fox Symphony
orchestra under the direction of Alfred New-
man.

Twentieth-Fox production chief, Darryl
Zanuck took over as master of ceremonies
and narrator of the second half of the pro-
gram, featuring footage shot with the new
camera lenses.

Shown in detail were scenes from “Broken
Lance,” a western drama starring Spencer
Tracy, Robert Wagner and Richard Wid-
mark; “A Woman’s World,” a modern
comedy with Clifton Webb, June Allyson,
Van Heflin, Lauren Bacall, and Fred Mac-
Murray; “Untamed,” a spectacular drama
starring Susan Hayward and filmed partly
on location in the wide open spaces of South
Africa; Irving Berlin’s musical extrava-
ganza, “There’s No Business Like Show
Business,” starring Ethel Merman, Donald
O’Connor, Marilyn Monroe and Dan
Dailey ; “Garden of Evil,”- a drama of gold-
hunters in Mexico starring Gary Cooper,
Susan Hayward and Richard Widmark, and

{Continued on page 16, Column 3)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

~WcM^vj

'7»

BEN THE BELLIGERENT— Liveliest of the
current divertisements is the hell raising by
the able Ben Hecht on the subject of and
in behalf of matters discussed in his snorty
new book entitled "A Child of the Cen-
tury." It appears that Mr. Hecht, who has
been so capable a contributor to the cul-
tural, literary and moral nature of some
of our most exciting pictures, has given out
with the opinion that motion pictures are a
destructive social influence.

One is not disposed entirely to disagree
with him, because it Is obvious that any
widely popular product of expression must
please so many inferior people that it is
liable to result In levelings of all standards,
which inevitably means compromise that is
not In behalf of the best. Dynamic Mr.
Hecht is one of our most capable ob-
servers of the so-called civilized scene as
It Is visible amid the perspectives of ruth-
less, melodramatic journalism through the
atmosphere of that astonishing cultural
community, known as Chicago. This state-
ment is made In the most kindly delibera-
tion by your editor who was so earnestly a
practitioner there through a most dynamic,
and let us say educational period of his
journalistic career.

A typical, but always Interesting mani-
festation appears in such cases and the air
of comment has been filled with sharp
criticisms and resentment of Mr. Hecht's
outgivings. This is entirely standard, normal
development always to be counted upon
when in quest of publicity. The super sensi-
tive quarrelsome folk of cinemaland rise
vociferously to what they think is the de-
fense at every provocafion. They ought
long ago to have noted the obviousness
and transparency of the device. One of
the screen's most capable and resourceful
producers has not for many years delivered
a major effort for distribution without
at the same time kicking up a great gust
of dust, feathers and baloney calculated
to draw attention to him, even though the
subject might have no relevancy to his
picture.

Neither Chicago's journalism, Mr. Hecht's
sociology, or the tawdry unfaith of so
much movie representation of life seem to
have done the race, the natton, or the
people much damage. There Is no indica-
tion in comparison of today's tacts with
the annals of yesterday to Indicate that we
are any better or any worse than our fore-
bears, back until when.

Meanwhile, suckers are still suckers and
publicity fishermen never have to change
the bait.

The motion picture would perhaps be
quite as well off if it were not so con-
tinuously on the defensive about every-
thing. Is it possible it has something on
its conscience?

PROMOTIONAL AMBITIONS— One sees
by the papers that the periodic agitation
for a Canadian feature picture Industry has
appeared again. This has been occurring at
a varying rate of intermittency since the
motion picture was born. There have been
some short-lived and In the main most un-
profitable experiences. Many of the enter-
prises of the past have taken their origin
solely in the personal ambitions and pur-
poses of promoters who thought they saw
Important access to capital just waiting to
be utilized.

That there never has been and is not
now a great feature motion picture pro-
duction center In Canada is for the reason
that it offers no special advantage in re-
sources and opportunities on the world map
for such a concentration of resources,
equipment and talent as is necessary to
compete with the great production centers,
especially Hollywood.

As a market for motion pictures Canada
is substantially identical in interests, tastes
and cultural demands with the so very ad-
jacent United States. If either Canada or
the world market afforded genuine oppor-
tunity for a Canadian motion picture In-
dustry on such a scale it would already
have one.

PEOPLE ARE COSTS — Obviously the great
factor of cost of the motion picture, tele-
vision and related arts is the money paid
to people for performance, all the way
from the laboratory to the auditorium. The
cost of employing these persons has been
established by competition, by fair means,
and sometimes devious devices. They are
paid by persons who expect to, and fre-
quently do, make a profit on the resultant
product. Believe It or not, there is an ulti-
mate factor of control which can im-
portantly cut those costs. That arrives the
day when the pursuit of policy no longer
pays off.

CINEMASCOPE PICTURE
LIST IS GROWING

Supplementing the list of 30-ocld forth-
coming CinemaScope features from 20th-
Fox, production chief Darryl Zanuck, in the
film subject, "The Advancing Techniques of
CinemaScope," lists 30 additional Cinema-
Scope productions in work at other studios.
Among these are Columbia's "Jubal
Troop," "River of the Sun" and "Man from
Laramie." Besides the 30 listed by Mr.
Zanuck, MGM is reported to have "Green
Fire," "Many Rivers to Cross" and
"Athena" upcoming. This week Universal
added another CinemaScope production
to its roster, "To Hell and Back," the story
of Audie Murphy in World War II. Uni-
versal also now is shooting "Captain Light-
foot" and "Chief Crazy Horse" in Cinema-
Scope and has two more completed and
awaiting release.

CINEMASCOPE

{Continued from page 13)

Mr. Zanuck’s personal production of “The
Egyptian,” with an all-star cast headed by
Jean Simmons, Victor Mature and Gene
Tierney.

The scenes from “Broken Lance,” “Un-
tamed” and “Garden of Evil,” all shot on
locations emphasizing the vastness of open
countrysides, pointed up most effectively
Cinemascope’s ability to bring unusual vis-
ual sweep to the screen. In all, action in
the foreground was just as sharp as the
furthest horizons — in one case, a mountain
range 25 miles distant. The “Untamed” clip,
perhaps the highlight of “The Advancing
Techniques,” featured a (visually) magnifi-
cent attack by 4,000 be-costumed and be-
plumed natives on a wagon train of Dutch
settlers. The pomp and pageantry of Phar-
aoh’s Egypt, along with the uninhibited man-
ners of some of his subjects, were graphi-
cally illustrated in “The Egyptian” scenes.

At the conclusion of these scenes, Mr.
Zanuck listed 25 properties as forthcoming
CinemaScope productions.

“We at 20th Century-Fox,” said Mr. Za-
nuck, “will continue to fight for the best in
entertainment. We refuse to settle for some-
thing secondary, or something somebody
claims is almost as good as CinemaScope.”

The CinemaScope story, he said, “has all
the ingredients of a success story. A dark,
uncertain beginning. A struggle for exis-
tence against unfair odds. A triumphant cli-
ma.x. A happy ending. And, what is more
important, a very bright future.”

Something of his enthusiasm was ob-
viously shared by members of the board of
directors and the executive committee of
Theatre Owners of America. Having been
treated to a preview of “The Advancing
Techniques” in the course of their summer
meeting in Los Angeles last week, they as
individuals recorded their reactions for the
Fox Movietone cameras, which reactions
were screened Tuesday at the Roxy.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

December 195^

"...ALLU*! I

including any I

IN CINEMASCOPE

h^^eversionsj
acpeCT rat\o^’

UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL
PURSUING ITS
FREQUENTLY-STATED
POLICY OF SUPPLYING
ALL OF ITS PICTURES
TO ALL THEATRES,
ANNOUNCES
'THE BLACK SHIELD
OF FALWORTH” WILL
BE RELEASED
IN CINEMASCOPE
AND WILL ALSO BE
MADE AVAILABLE TO
THEATRES WITH
ALL OTHER TYPES OF
CONVENTIONAL
PROJECTION...

CINEMASCOPE PRINTS AVAILABLE WITH FULL STEREOPHONIC
4-TRACK SOUND, DIRECTIONAL SOUND OR WITH CONVENTIONAL SOUND TRACK

CHURCHES, OTHER EXHIBITORS
HIT READE ATTACK ON CODE

Prompt action against the Walter Reade
circuit for showing, and in particular for
their method of advertising RKO's "The
French Line" was taken by church authori-
ties in south New Jersey last v/eek. The
Roman Catholic Bishop of Trenton, Most
Rev. George W. Ahr, speaking at a high
school graduation in Perth Amboy, at-
tacked "perverted and immoral" motion
pictures and reminded his audience of the
Legion of Decency pledge to "remain
away altogether from places of amuse-
ment which as a matter of policy" show
such films.

Other exhibitors in the area last week
were reported to be disturbed by the
attacks and the advertising which brought
them about. Their feeling is that any gen-
eral denunciation of the Reade theatres
will hurt their attendance also.

Bishop Ahr did not mention the Reade
theatres or "The French Line" but he indi-
cated that his remarks were occasioned by
the appearance of an advertisement in the
Perth Amboy "Evening News" for Satur-
day, June 12, which featured a slug line,
cut into a pressbook mat of the Jane Russell
dance, reading: "Condemned by the Legion

of Decency! Refused a Production Code
seal! BUT WE SAY let our audience de-
cide!" The ad announced the opening of
the picture at Reade's Majestic theatre in
Perth Amboy, Tuesday, June 15.

The following day a slightly different
version of the same ad, in quarter-page
size, appeared with the same slug line but
with the Legion of Decency condemnation
reference excised. The Production Code
seal refusal was still featured, Thursday,
June 17, the "News" carried a quarter-
page ad signed by the pastors of 16
churches in the Perth Amboy area, reading
"A Reminder to AIL Accept the Challenge.
Remember the Legion of Decency pledge!
Uphold the Moral Code."

A separate but smaller ad on the same
theme appeared in that issue of the paper
also, signed by San Salvador Council 299,
Knights of Columbus.

Walter Reade, head of the circuit bear-
ing his name, is president of the Theatre
Owners of America, which in recent months
has issued statements praising the principles
of the Production Code and urging indus-
try-wide support of the principles of self-
regulation under which it operates.

Jack Warner to Italy
For "Troy" and "Pharaohs"

HOLLYWOOD: Jack L. Warner, vice-
president of W'arner Brothers, was to leave
this week for New York enroute to Rome,
Italy, where he will confer with Howard
Hawks, producer-director of “Land of the
Pharaohs,” and with Robert Wise, director
of “Helen of Troy,” films characterized by
the company as two of the most important
in the history of the organization. Mr.
Warner will view the full footage and first
assembly of the two CinemaScope and
WarnerColor productions. He will also wit-
ness the filming of some of the spectacle
scenes for “Helen of Troy.” During his
brief stop in New York enroute to Italy,
Warner was to meet with home office e.xecu-
tives on the production program now in full
swing at the Burbank studios.

Warner Trailer
CircHng Globe

Warner Brothers estimates some 80,000,-
000 persons in this country will shortly have
seen its 20 minute trailer announcing prod-
uct. Another 40,000,000 may see it abroad.
The short subject in CinemaScope and
WarnerColor, is a compilation of highlights
from pictures completed or in production,
and is narrated by Jack L. Warner, execu-
tive vice-president in charge of production.
Mr. Warner is photographed making his
announcements and descriptions.

Pope Urges Firm Stand
On Immoral Pictures

ROME: Roman Catholic film commissions
were urged by Pope Pius XH to be firm in
condemning immoral films and not to be
dissuaded by artistic merits or the interest
of their subjects. The Pope’s message was
sent to the International Cinema meeting in
Cologne, Germany by Vatican secretary
Giovanni Montini.

PEN WOMEN'S GROUP
ENDORSES FILM CODE

The National League of American
Pen Women, at its executive board
meeting In Washington last week,
unanimously endorsed the Motion Pic-
ture Code of the Motion Picture
Producers Association.

In a letter to Eric Johnston, presi-
dent, Motion Picture Association of
America, league president Helen Orr
Watson said: "They believe that this
is the only safeguard for the Amer-
ican public to be assured of safe and
wholesome enjoyment on the screen."

The letter concluded, "for the sake
of our young people, drastic meas-
ures must be used to prevent motion
pictures from Inciting the young
people to commit either moral or
physical offenses."

JMichigan tl.
Speakers
Upheld Cade

The Motion Picture Production Code —
its history, operations, the factors affecting
its efficiency, and its present status in the
face of criticism — was the subject of intense
scrutiny last week, at the University of
Michigan 1954 Summer Institute, in Ann
Arbor. Two speakers brought the subject
in detail to the attention of the Institute.

John A. Vizzard, of the Hollywood Pro-
duction Code Administration, remarked how
divorcement had succeeded in breaking the
unity which strengthened the enforcement.
“Once theatres were cut off,” he said, “it
was no longer possible to guarantee that
the great theatre chains controlled by studios
would refuse to play films not bearing a
Code seal.”

Dr. Hugh Flick, director of the Motion
Picture division of the New York State
Education Department, suggested films
with special characteristics bear special
licenses to allow their public showing. “In
a sense, this is called classification,” he said,
“and a labelling of categories whereby under
a contract system or special provision, each
problem motion picture would be subject
to its own particular set of conditions.”

The three decisions by the Supreme Court
weakened Code Administration unity and
created a public atmosphere on which en-
emies of the Code could capitalize, Mr.
Vizzard declared. He then pointed out that
industry executives instead of then “bailing
out” of the Code system, reunited behind
their own proved system of self-regulation.
Mr. Vizzard also, in explaining Code
operations, stressed its flexibility, its appeal
system, and its desirability in view of con-
stant interference by state systems of cen-
sorship.

Mr. Flick emphasized the industry is
dependent upon public opinion ; “and it is
simply good business to regulate even
though it illustrates both a strength and a
weakness of self-censorship.” Tie agreed
divorcement had weakened the Code, paid
it tribute for its tremendous contribution,”
and declared the picture today “does mean
pressure groups and vigilantes are not
enough.” Arguing for official censorship, he
said that in theory the official censor is
“not only less susceptible to the force of
vigilante action than the self-censor, but
more judicious and more representative of
an entire community.”

Greenspan in MPIC Post

Lou Greenspan, acting executive secre-
tary of the Motion Picture Industry Council
for the past two months, will permanently
succeed Art Arthur, it has been announced
by Edward J. Ralph, president of the MPIC.
Mr. Arthur was granted a leave of absence
two months ago to join Ivan Tors Films as
executive associate, and last week requested
full resignation.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

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NEW YORK TAX

Industry Asks Governor
Aid in Repeal by State
of City Enabling Act

Mayor Robert Wagner of New York
last week signed into law, effective July 1,
the controversial bill imposing a five per
cent admissions tax on all the city’s theatres.
The signing came immediately after a last,
stormy public hearing at which representa-
tives of New York’s film industry vehe-
mently criticised what they now call “the
Wagner tax” and made preparations to
“fight to the end” for repeal.

With the tax now a reality, ex-
hibitors are directing their efforts
toward Albany in the hope that
Governor Dewey will supply aid
in repealing the state’s “enabling
act,” which empowers the city to
levy the tax on amusements. In-
dustry spokesmen indicated that a
series of strategy meetings was to
be held this week to map plans
to repeal the “enabling act” and,
eventually, the tax.

The spokesman said exhibitors plan to
make more use of their screens throughout
the city to inform the public about the tax.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Committee of
Labor and Management, made up of leading
exhibitors and union executives, has been
sponsoring an “anti-Wagner tax” ad which
has appeared in metropolitan newspapers
for several weeks.

Frederick L. Bird, chairman of the Tem-
porary State Commisson on Fiscal Affairs
of State Government, reported this week
that his staff has been receiving cooperation
from the film industry. The Bird committee,
appointed by Governor Dewey June 15 to
look into the fiscal aspects of the amusement
tax after a plea for aid from exhibitors, is
accumulating data on the figures used by
the city in drafting the bill, as well as those
used by the industry in its fight to have
it repealed.

Just how long before the commission con-
cludes its investigation and presents its find-
ings to the Governor, said Mr. Bird, depends
“upon the nature and quality of the figures
we get.”

Wagner Blames Dewey

After signing the tax bill last Friday,
Mayor Wagner reiterated his charges that
Governor Dewey’s administration was to
blame for the tax. Speaking of Mr. Dewey’s
recent rejection of a Wagner proposal to
raise funds for the city in place of the
amusement tax. Mayor Wagner told those
witnessing the signing, “The Governor, in
typical fashion, has denied consideration to
the city’s needs.”

"MAJOR FRACTION "

MAY AID TAX FIGHT

New grounds on which may be won
fhe repeal of the Wagner five per
cent tax on New York City admissions
were brought to light this week. The
clue is the law's major fraction pro-
vision, whereby any fraction involving
one-half or more cents results in the
city's collection of the full amount.
The state's "enabling act," empower-
ing the city to impose the tax, says
that an admission tax, "of up to five
percent," may be levied on amuse-
ments. However, with the major trac-
tion provision, the city may levy as
much as six per cent on certain ad-
missions. A notable example involves
an admission of 50 cents. The tax on
a 50-cent admission would total two
and one-half cents; five per cent.
With the major fraction, however, the
tax would actually amount to three
cents, or six per cent. Industry coun-
selors are looking into the problem
with a view to challenging the seem-
ing irregularity.

At the final public hearing, which lasted
six hours. Democratic Congressm.an Eman-
uel Celler from Brooklyn, who also is coun-
sel for the Independent Theatre Owners
Association, warned of Federal reprisals if
the Mayor signed the bill. He spoke of
“grave discontentment in Congress” at what
he called the city’s “negating and flouting
the will of Congress.” He warned, too,
of “substantial reductions in Federal grants
to states and muncipalities imposing the
admissions tax.”

Sees ‘‘Grief and Troubles”

Addressing the Mayor personally. Con-
gressman Celler predicted: “You are open-
ing a Pandora’s Box of grief and troubles
for New York City and other cities.” Fed-
eral tax experts are now studying the New
York City tax law, he continued. “They
will check taxless sources in the city for
possible Federal revenues,” he added.

Following the Congressman’s talk, a
technical and heated wrangle ensued be-
tween City Budget Director Beame and
Martin Newman, vice-president of Century
Theatres, and Albert Sindlinger, statistical
expert and president of Sindlinger and Com-
pany. Also conspicuously present was Harry
Brandt, president of the ITOA, who made
a dramatic speech in which he named seven
of Broadway’s leading houses as “today
struggling to keep open.” Other speakers
represented major league baseball teams,
merchants’ organizations and civic groups.

Agreement on a two-year Franco-Ameri-
can film pact, retroactive to July 1, 1953,
was reached in Paris last weekend, climax-
ing extended negotiations conducted by Eric
Johnston, Motion Picture Association of
America president, it was reported by the
MPAA office in New York.

The first year of the new contract, which
will expire June 30, allowed 109 permits
for MPAA member companies. It is indi-
cated that France, for the second year, will
consider giving up to 20 additional permits
over the 109 already allowed.

The French Government, the MPAA
office said, has allowed six of eight permits
that were under consideration during the
1952-53 negotiations, to be valid now.

U. S. film companies, under the new
terms, will be allowed to remit $200,000 per
month, an increase of $80,000 over what
they had been taking out. The remittances
are also retroactive to July 1, 1953.

In connection with the settlement over
reserve funds which were set aside under the
terms of the 1952-1953 agreement, the pres-
ent deal provides slightly less than 32 per
cent over the reserve fund will be turned
over to the French Government for motion
picture purposes. In return, the French offi-
cials will ' allow remittance through capital
account of slightly more than 47 per cent
of the reserve fund. The disposition of the
balance is still under discussion.

Cinerama's Twelfth
Opening in Cincinnati

The Capitol theatre in Cincinnati this
week became the twelfth Cinerama installa-
tion in the world. The opening brought
officials of the tri-state area (Indiana, Ken-
tucky and Ohio) together. Headed by Ohio’s
Governor Frank Lausche, Lt. Gov. Harold
Handley of Indiana, Frank Jessup, State
Superintendent of Police for Indiana,
Charles O’Connell, Secretary of State for
Kentucky, Cincinnati’s social set made the
event the official opening of the summer
season. The Cincinnati Club sponsored the
opening.

Walter Reade and Altec
Sign Service Contract

A contract has been signed in New York,
between Walter Reade Theatres and Altec
Service Corp. covering all theatres in the
Reade circuit. The pact, which is effective
July 5, and which was negotiated by Marty
Wolf, assistant general sales manager of
Altec, and Edwin Gage, vice-president of the
Reade organization, provides for the serv-
icing of optical and stereophonic sound
equipment in all of the 26 Reade houses,
which are located in New Jersey and New
York. The Reade circuit includes 20 regu-
lar type theatres and six drive-ins.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

What’s a lily
to a lady?

Address:

Motion Picture Film Department

EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Rochester 4, N.Y.

East Coast Division

342 Madison Avenue
New York 1 7, N. Y.

This particular lily may not
"toil"— but it certainly does

an important yarn for the
processor.

Are the colors in balance?
the flesh tints correct?

How about gray scale values?

These together with many
other questions, “the lily"
answers quickly, authoritatively.
For it is the test standard for tone
values in release prints, a step
wed g e with colo r p a tches a d d ed .

In areas like this — how best to
use various devices and tests,
how to set up systems and
controls, the Eastman Technical
Service for Motion Picture Film
is working with the industry —
helping make today's motion
picture production increasingly
efficient — adding thus to the
effectiveness of both black-
and-white and color.

Midwest Division
I 37 North Wabash Avenue
Chicago 2, Illinois

West Coast Division
6706 Santa Monica Blvd.
Hollywood 38, California

TODD-AO SEEX TV Stations

AAD CONQUERS

Despite Poor Conditions,
Process Is Contender in
Battle of Systems

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

HOLLYWOOD: Tuesday afternoon in
Culver City, on the MGM sound stage
doubling as a theatre, tire long-sheltered
Todd-AO system of extra-dimensional mo-
tion picture presentation met the press and
took it over.

Nearly everything was against this hap-
pening.

Old, ramshackle Ernemann projectors tied
together with baling-wire subbed for new
$4,000 American Optical Company macbines
not yet freed by the factory for use. Egg-
shell white muslin none too taut on a wooden
stretcher batted for the lenticular screen still
in making.

Odds Against Success

Unprofessional travel film and profes-
sional test footage without benefit of editing
had to be used — and it broke.

But neither handicap nor hard luck could
keep the newspress columnists and wire ser-
vices from discovering Todd-AO’s con-
spicuous fitness to confront Cinerama, Cine-
maScope, VistaVision, SuperScope, Super-
Panatar and all comers in cleancut competi-
tion for supremacy.

Oscar Hammerstein III opened the
demonstration with the explanation that the
first three subjects, photographed informally
by Mike Todd without benefit of controlled
conditions, were not made primarily as a
challenge to comparison with any other sys-
tem but they happened to be, nevertheless, a
roller-coaster ride, a bull ring episode, and
a gondola-tour of Venice. Whereupon the
lights went down, the deep-curved screen
scooped you up and whisked you off again
on that unforgettable Cinerama coaster-ride
— but this time without seams. Back on
terra firma, you were inside a sun-drenched
bull ring, dust-ridden, flat-lighted, dirty.
And then you glided again over green
waters lietween aged buildings and under
broad, bridges while laconic Venetians
watched you wonderingly. Some present
said this was better than Cinerama had
done it, some said it wasn’t but clearly it was
comparable within the narrow range of con-
tention— and it was coming, seamlessly,
from one projector.

Dr. O’Brien in Charge

Chiefly in charge of the demonstration
was Dr. Brian O’Brien, head of American
Optical Company’s research staff, who
pointed out, during the interval when the
film broke, that the Todd-AO objective is
to “simply knock out the fourth wall,” or
seem to, so that the audience can participate
in what goes on wdien the screen, covering

the entire frontal space, is filled with the
subject being showm.

For the second section of the demonstra-
tion test footage shot in preparation for
making “Oklahoma,” which goes before the
cameras next month, was used. Unex-
pectedly enough, these w'ere at their best
wdien wdde views of the Oklahoma range
land w^ere reproduced with extreme realism
as to depth and distances, and again when
faces were brought into the most intimate
possible close-up, with skin pores, men’s
wdiiskers, w-omen’s hair, as sharply defined
as in the finest standard-dimension photog-
raphy. These last w'ert stressed in connec-
tion with widespread speculation as to
wdiether this tvpe medium could he used
successfully for a narrative motion picture,
and seemed to prove it beyond question.

Exhibit Three Camera

Three cameras now in use w'ere made
available to the press for examination fol-
lowing the screening, two being equipped
with a closely-guarded "bug-eye lens,” con-
tained in a sealed unit, wdiich Dr. O’Brien
said is responsible for the excellence ob-
tained in the panoramic scenes.

All cameras pull down thirty frames per
second, instead of the usual 24, "w-hich gives
us a great gain in effectiveness when using
the camera on the move or in dolly or pan-
ning shots,” according Dr. O’Brien.

Over-all wddth of the film is 65 mm, image
area is 52.6 mm by 23.75. Dr. O’Brien said
this gives three-and-one-half times as much
image space as standard 35 mm film. The
film carries seven soundtracks. There are
five sprocket holes per aperture. The film is
standard thickness.

Eastman Color was used on the footage
used in the demonstration, wdiich had not
been color-balanced. The scenes showm w'ere
shot with lenses ranging from 37 degrees up
to 148.

All-Purpose Projectors

American Optical Company projectors,
being manufactured by the Phillips Company
of Holland, are all-purpose mechanisms, ca-
pable of accommodating standard 35 MM
films and all systems photographed on stand-
ard films, and will be put on the market in
competition wdth all present projectors. Dr.
O’Brien said “waist type sprocket wheel de-
sign” accounts for the projectors’ unique
adaptability and that the swdtch from wide
film to standard can be made so quickly and
easily that theatres can use both widths on a
single program with no delay or inconveni-
ence in changing from one to the other.

The screen improvised for tests now un-
der way and used for Tuesday’s demonstra-
tion is 51 feet wide, edge to edge, with
curvature taking the middle back 13 feet, the
curved surface measuring sixty feet. Height
is 25 feet.

WASHINGTON : A group of television
stations this week urged Congress to give
motion picture production companies special
tax incentives to sell their old films to tele-
vision stations. They also urged that Con-
gress give stars, writers and other talent
groups special tax privileges to make new
films for television.

These were the major proposals of a
memorandum filed with a Senate commerce
subcommittee which Tuesday wound up its
hearings on the problems of ultra-high-fre-
quency television stations. The subcommittee
is expected to get down to work quickly on
its report, and to recommend, among other
things, removal of the 10 per cent excise tax
on UHF television sets.

Group of 82 Licensees

The film memorandum was filed by Pier-
son and Ball, counsel for a group of 82 very-
high-frequency television licensees. They
said that one of the more important sources
of TV programs is film, and that “much
could be done to increase the quantity of film
now' available for television programs by the
adoption of certain tax inducements.”

The memo said there are two sources of
film programs for television today : the
thousands of reels held in storage by film
companies, and special programs currently
produced specifically for purposes of tele-
vision release.

So far, the memo continued, TV stations
have not had much success in obtaining old
films from motion picture companies. It
said one reason was that the companies ap-
parently feared exhibitor reprisals, but added
that “this resistance of the motion picture
companies to releasing film to television
seems to be slowly breaking down and will
perhaps be not too serious a problem in the
near future.”

One problem wdiich will remain, the sub-
committee was told, is that film companies
often seek a price for their films that is pro-
hibitive for television stations. The memo
suggested that Congress might help reduce
the price of these films by giving the film
companies certain tax advantages in return
for release of the films.

Suggest Capital Gains

Pierson and Ball pointed out that the in-
ternal revenue service has ruled that any
profits on the sale of films — rather than on
rental — must be taxed as ordinary income.
Since most old films have been amortized to
zero value, this means film companies must
pay the full 52 per cent corporate tax rate
on any profits from the sale of films. Ihe
memo suggested that Congress permit profits
on the sale of films to television stations to
be taxed as capital gains, subject to much
lower tax rates than is the case at present
with ordinary income.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

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FIGHT TUBER

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Exhibitors-’

DO THIS

FOR YOUR HOSPITAL...

Conduct a MIDNIGHT
BENEFIT SHOW some-
time during July.

*%/;

Conduct on EMPLOYEE
SALUTE. Sign Scrolls. Get
Membership Cards.

VOLUNTEER NOW!

Volunteer directly through your Will
Rogers Hospital Notional Office, or
through the Exchange Area Chair-
man who will contact you. Simply
say, "Sure we'll help", and we'll
see that you get the facts.

NATIONAL OFFICE: 1501 BROADWAY • NEW YORK 36, NEW YORK

CLAIMS BRITISH
WIDEIV MARKET

Davis Cites New Records
But Attacks Inability to
Get Showings in U, S.

by PETER BURNUP

LONDON : In a singularly outspoken arti-
cle in the just published Annual Review of
British Industry, issued by the authoritative
‘‘Financial Times,” John Davis, managing-
director of the J. Arthur Rank Organization,
discloses that today no less than 50 per cent
of the total producers’ return to the Rank
Group is obtained from overseas. That, says
Mr. Davis, has not been achieved before in
the history of the British industry.

Mr, Davis says, “By reason of
the limited domestic market, the
capture of screen time throughout
the world is vital to this country.
For the first time for 25 years, the
British industry has challenged
the American world film domina-
tion. The Rank Organization is
the only British group which has
established a world-wide distrib-
ution service. This challenge in-
volves satisfying the tastes of a
world public which has been
brought up largely on American
fare. The policy of the group has
been to obtain for British films
their fair share of the world mar-
ket.”

Mr. Davis points out that because of
American domination, it was found that, in
order to open up the screens to British pic-
tures, investments in overseas theatres was
a necessity. Large investments, in fact, have
been made in the major countries of the
British Commonwealth — in Australia, New
Zealand, South Africa, Canada, Malaya and
elsewhere.

Hits Results in U. S.

But, he adds, expansion of British film
revenue can only go hand in hand with pub-
lic acceptability. “I am satisfied,” adds the
Rank chief, “that on average the entertain-
ment quality of British pictures is as good
as that from any other source and the re-
sults which are being achieved in Europe
and the Commonwealth, as well as this coun-
try, prove this point. All-time records are
being created constantly, and largely in thea-
tres which previously have played little else
but American product.”

Pursuing, however, a long-standing and
often expressed plaint, Mr. Davis goes on :

“On the other hand, the results which are
being achieved in the United States are more
than disappointing. We are told that the
subject matter of our films is not acceptable
to the American people; we are told that
the accents of our artists are not under-
stood; yet a recent analysis which I made

AS THE BRITISH INDUSTRY saw Paramount's
VistaVision system. Two among the many at
the Plaza theatre, London: Barney Balaban,
left, president of Paramount Pictures; J,
Arthur Rank, head of the Rank Organization,
and John Davis, his managing director.

of major films made in Hollywood showed
the extent to which Hollywood is calling
upon the services for their films of the same
British actors and actresses whom we use
to play in ours.

“When the film is produced in an Ameri-
can studio, although the artists tell me they
have had no special voice training, there
appears to be no difficulty in finding public
acceptability for the films in the American
market. I find it difficult to believe that the
tastes of the American people are so dif-
ferent from those of other countries which
enjoy both American and British films. I
am satisfied that our problem lies in our
inability to secure extensive showings of
our films to American cinema-goers to give
us that share of the market to which we
are entitled.”

Significantly, Mr. Davis comments: “We
must not forget that the American industry
draws from this market in excess of $22,-
000,000 per annum.”

Coming out as it does under the impri-
matur of the highly respected “Financial
Times” the Davis outgiving was clearly de-
signed as an invocation to — and will doubt-
less have a considerable impact upon — pri-
vate investors. It presages also undoubtedly
a further Rank assault on the American
market.

Eckman Attacks French

With an obvious though adroit eye cocked
at the exhibitors’ Harrogate convention,
Metro’s Sam Eckman, Jr., last week de-
livered a surprising and formidable broad-
side against the British Film Producers’
Association’s Sir Henry French.

The latter claims in behalf of his pro-
ducer-members the lion’s share of the recent
entertainment tax remission and issued a

voluminous memorandum in support of the
claim. Mr. Eckman — regarded by his fellow
Americans as the elder statesman of their
group — now tells Sir Henry that British
producers are not entitled to any such share
and that, indeed, not only in equity but in
the intention of the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer the whole of the remission should
be carved up between exhibitors and dis-
tributors.

Measure of the Eckman vehemence is
seen in the remarkable epithets the Metro
chief applies, in a personal statement, to Sir
Henry and his memorandum; “inept,” “non-
sense,” “selfish,” “meaningless,” “total dis-
regard of others’ interests” being among the
choicer thereof. It’s a long time since urbane
Sir Henry has been the target of such an
acid attack.

Reacts Quite Violently

Mr. Eckman points out that there never
would have been an Eady Plan without the
concurrence of American distributors and
that American consent at the outset was
described by British producers as a mag-
nanimous and statesmanlike gesture.

He reacts violently to the distinction
drawn in Sir Henry’s memorandum between
British films and those made by British sub-
sidiaries of American companies. “This is
the most preposterous objection of all,” he
says.

Mr. Eckman argues that of the £6,901,036
collected through Eady seat-levies in three
years, £4,830,700 came via the screening of
American films and that in agreeing to
waive film hire on this amount in the inter-
est of British production the American com-
panies gave up £1,690,745 in film rentals.

He claims that over the last five years
American companies have pumped £2^ mil-
lions a year into the production and acquisi-
tion of British films. According to BFPA’s
figures, this annual transfusion is half the
amount its own members spend, from their
own resources, on British production, Mr.
Eckman comments. Against all that, Ameri-
can companies as producers of British films
received some £320,000 only in the last full
Eady year — 13 per cent, or less than one-
seventh — of the total amount allocated.

Mr. Eckman continues : “The only quid
pro quo the American companies ever sought
or received for underwriting their own fu-
neral — the Eady Plan — was the right to
transfer a somewhat larger fraction of the
American share of their earnings in Great
Britain.

Gave Up the Right

“After nine months, in June, 1952, the
American companies voluntarily gave up
this right, as a further contribution on their
part to the solution of Britain’s dollar dif-
ficulties. They have not exercised it since.

“In other words, American films make
Eady possible, pay heavily for the privilege,
and face only the prospect of heavier losses
as Eady gains ground.”

Mr. Eckman maintains that the Eady
scale already approved by CEA and which
would yield around £2j4 millions annually
should suffice producers. Theie is a limit to

{Continued on opposite page, column 1)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

Fftx to Of ter
12 Filwns to
December

Twentieth Century-Fox will release 10
top-budgeted CinemaScope productions and
two standard films between July and De-
cember, bringing to 18 the number of
CinemaScope and 10 the number of 2-D
films the company will offer this year. All
pictures in the 28-film schedule except one
are in color, the company announced.

The 10 CinemaScope attractions for the
July through December period include the
newly scheduled: “The Royal Tour of Queen
Elizabeth and Philip,” in Eastman color,
to be released in July; “Carmen Jones,”
in CinemaScope and color by Technicolor,
now added to the October release roster;
“Black Widow,” CinemaScope and Tech-
nicolor, suspense drama produced and di-
rected by Nunnally Johnson and starring
Gene Tierney, Van Heflin and Peggy Ann
Garner, a November release; and “White
Father,” a Leonard Goldstein Panoramic
production in CinemaScope starring Robert
Wagner, Terry Moore, Dale Robertson and
Jeffrey Hunter, for December. The film is
the last one under Panoramic’s 10 picture
contract with the company.

Standard films during the period are :
“The Gambler from Natchez,” a Panoramic,
Technicolor, starring Dale Robertson, pro-
duced by Leonard Goldstein and directed by
Henry Levin, a July release, and “The
Raid,” Panoramic, Technicolor starring Van
Heflin, August release.

Previously announced CinemaScope at-
tractions for the second half of 1954 are
“Garden of Evil,” starring Gary Cooper,
Susan Hayward and Richard Widmark,
July; “Broken Lance,” starring Spencer
Tracy, Robert Wagner, Jean Peters and
Richard Widmark, August. Darryl F.
Zanuck’s personal CinemaScope production
of “The Egyptian” will be release in Sep-
tember. “Desiree,” starring Marlon Brando,
Jean Simmons and Victor Mature will be
released in November and Irving Berlin’s
“There’s No Business Like Show Business,”
starring Marilyn Monroe, Ethel Merman,
December.

BRITISH CLAIM

{Continued from opposite page)

the additional amount that renters and ex-
hibitors should be expected to contribute,
he says.

No comment on the blistering attack has
yet emerged from Sir Henry’s headquarters.
It is clear, on the other hand, that the
ingenious Eckman arguments, though osten-
sibly directed at Sir Henry, are intended
as much for exhibitors. The latter, as re-
ported several times lately, have their own
Eady quarrel with renters in the old vexed
break-figure matter.

The left-wing leaders of the Association

THE WINNERS CIRCLE

Pictures doing above average business at first runs in the key cities for the week
ending June 19 were:

Albany: Demetrius and the Gladiators
(20th-Fox).

Atlanta: Demetrius and the Gladiators
(20th-Fox), Gone With the Wind
(MGM, reissue) 5th week. Them! (War-
ner Brothers).

Baltimore: Hans Christian Andersen
(RKO), Men of the Fighting Lady
(MGM).

Boston: Arrow in the Dust (AA), Pick-
wick Papers (Mayer-Kingsley).

Buffalo : Demetrius and the Gladiators
(20th-Fox), Indiscretion of an Ameri-
can Wife (Col.), Men of the Fighting
Lady (MGM), Them! (WB).

Cincinnati: Saskatchewan (U-I), Stu-
dent Prince, The (MGM).

Cleveland: Moon Is Blue, The (UA).

Columbus: Three Coins in the Foun-
tain (20th-Fox).

Denver: Drums Across the River (U-I),
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox) 3rd week.

Detroit: French Line, The (RKO)
Johnny Guitar (Rep.).

Hartford: Arrow in the Dust (AA), De-
metrius AND The Gladiators (20th-
Fox), Men of the Fighting Lady
(MGM) 2nd week. Silver Lode (RKO),
Them! (WB).

Indianapolis: Demetrius and the Gla-
diators (20th-Fox), Indiscretion of an
American Wife (Col.), Them! (WB).

Kansas City: Gone With the Wind
(MGM, reissue) 2nd week. Them!

- (WB), Three Coins in the Fountain

(20th-Fox) moveover.

Memphis: Pinocchio (RKO, reissue).
Student Prince, The (MGM).

Miami: Carnival Story, The (RKO),
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox).

Milwaukee: Three Coins in the Foun-
tain (20th-Fox) holdover.

Minneapolis: Living Desert, The (Dis-
ney), Them! (WB), Three Coins in
the Fountain (20th-Fox) holdover.

New Orleans: Student Prince, The
(MGM) holdover. Them ! (WB), Three
Coins in the Fountain (20th-Fox)
holdover.

Oklahoma City: Dial M for Murder
(WB) 2nd week, French Line, The
(RKO), Johnny Guitar (Rep.)

Omaha; French Line, The (RKO).

Philadelphia; Dial M for Murder (WB)
4th week, French Line, The (RKO),
Men of the Fighting Lady (MGM).

Pittsburgh: Men of the Fighting Lady
(MGM), Three Coins in the Foun-
tain (20th-Fox) 3rd week.

Portland, Ore : Dial M for Murder ( WB ) ,
Men of the Fighting Lady (MGM),
Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-
Fox) 3rd week.

Providence: Gone with the Wind

(MGM, reissue). Three Coins in the
Fountain (20th-Fox) 2nd week.

Toronto: Men of the Fighting Lady
(MGM), Them! (WB), Three Coins
IN THE Fountain (20th-Fox).

Vancouver: Best Years of Our Lives
(RKO, reissue). River of No Return
(20th-Fox), Wild One (Col.).

Washington: Captain’s Paradise (UA)
4th week, French Line, The (RKO)
5th week, Knock on Wood (Para.) 9th
week. Long Wait, The (UA), Taza,
Son of Cochise (U-I), Three Coins in
the Fountain (20th-Fox) 2nd week.

of Cine and Allied Technicians have a sad
setback in the result of four conciliation
meetings between the union and the Labo-
ratory Association following the recent labo-
ratory shut-down which ensued on exorbi-
tant wage demands made on the laboratories
by the union.

The union has now formally accepted
terms previously offered its members by the
Laboratory Association, including a con-
solidation in basic wages of a proportion of
the current sliding-scale cost of living bonus,
but is impelled to accept arbitration in re-
gard to its formidable wage demands and
reduction in working hours.

The union’s acceptance of arbitration is
regarded here as the most spectacular col-

lapse of left-wing Red tactics employed in
a series of Communist dictated disputes
which recently has afilicted several indus-
tries in this country.

U.A. Gets Western

“Jesse James’ Women,” color by Techni-
color Western starring Peggie Castle, Jack
Beutel, Don “Red” Barry and Lita Baron,
will be distributed by United Artists, it
was announced by vice-president William J.
Heineman. Filmed in Mississippi, “Jesse
James’ Women” was produced by Panorama
Pictures, Inc., a stock corporation formed
by Mississippi theatre-owner A. L. Royal
and business man Tom Garraway.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

JDA Places
Goal in Drive
At $75,000

At least $75,000 is the goal this year
of the Joint Defense Appeal amusement
division, a meeting of that division’s princi-
pals was told at luncheon last week in New
York. Meanwhile, William J. German, who
has accepted the post of drive chairman
again this year, said the motion picture in-
dustry is joining the JDA’s parent organ-
izations in combating bigotry and defending
assaults against constitutional rights.

The JDA is a fund-raising agency for the
American Jewish Committee and the B’nai
B’rith Anti-Defamation League, and its
national goal is $5,000,000.

Mr. German said the film industry has
always been attempting to make this country
a bettter place in which to live, and may feel
proud to associate itself with the intensified
program, which is to: advance enduring
relations between religious groups ; make
Americans aware of the menace in Com-
munism ; educate people through mass media
so they will realize prejudice is un-Amer-
ican ; unmask bigots, hate mongers, and
demogagues, and mobilize public opinion to
achieve equal opportunity in employment,
housing, resorts, public accommodations and
educational institutions.

Praises Studio Offer of
Overseas Fiims at Cost

WASHINGTON : Theodore C. Streibert,
director of the U.S. Information Agency,
said Hollywood producers had offered to
make films for the Government’s Overseas
Information Program on a non-profit basis.
The official praised the aid given the film
program by the private film industry. He
said he felt the Hollywood motion picture
industry had done a great deal of good over
the years and that the pictures they had
distributed overseas had been in most cases
of great benefit to the program and to the
country. Producers have assured him of
their cooperation, he continued. He said
they had offered to make films for the pro-
gram on a cost basis, contributing any over-
head. He did not indicate whether he had
any plans for taking the companies up on
this offer.

Shuff lA Vice-President

John A. Shuff of Akron, Ohio, has been
elected eighth vice-president of the Interna-
tional Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em-
ployes and Moving Picture Machine Opera-
tors of the United States and Canada,
A. F. L., at a meeting of the general execu-
tive board held in New York this week. He
succeeds the late Roger M. Kennedy of
Detroit, who died March 19. Mr. Shuff has
been business agent of the I.A.T.S.E.’s
Akron Local 364, since 1932. He was pre-
viously secretary of the local, which he
joined in 1921.

by the Herald

THE MESSAGE. William J. German, choirman
of the fund drive in the industry for the
Joint Defense Appeal, tells trade reporters
of a statement in behalf of the industry, for
vigorous defense of civil rights. With him,
film attorney Louis Phillips.

Allied Unit ta
Study Calebs
Tax Charge

MILWAUKEE: Ben Marcus, president of
Allied States Association, has appointed a
committee to investigate complaints which,
he said, have been “pouring in” from ex-
hibitors as a result of Col. H. A. Cole’s
charges that the distributors are confiscating
a greater portion of the exhibitors’ tax bene-
fits through higher film rentals.

Mr. Marcus said that the committee,
headed by himself, will press a sweeping
probe of the complaints, to be followed by a
meeting with distribution heads prior to any
appeal to the House Ways and Means Com-
mittee, as suggested by Col. Cole.

The committee consists of Jack Kirsch,
Nathan Yamins, Wilbur Snaper and Mr.
Marcus.

Of the charges, Mr. Marcus said:

“I find it very difficult to comprehend a
state of affairs where the film companies
would resort to such grossly unfair and such
short-sighted and selfish tactics. If these
facts, as presented by Colonel Cole and sub-
sequent complaints, are proved to be true,
then our industry is indeed in a sad way
for this condition presents a new form of
suicidal mania for the industry, because the
continued strangulation of the exhibitors by
the distributors in this manner can only
result in the ultimate self-destruction of
themselves.”

Edits Italian Film History

Herman G. Weinberg has completed the
editing of the American edition of the book,
“50 Years of Italian Cinema,” which will be
published in Rome this Fall in three edi-
tions, English, French and Italian. The
book will have a foreword by Richard Grif-
fith, curator of the Museum of Modern Art
Film Library, New York.

Fight Film
Gets Heavy
Bookings

The Rocky Marciano-Ezzard Charles
heavyweight championship bout makes one
of the most exciting and dramatic fight pic-
tures seen in years. In the proper situations
it will prove a solid ticket seller.

Working with speed and dispatch. United
Artists, the distributor, had the pictures in
the New York metropolitan area theatres
Friday afternoon, within 24 hours after the
bout in Yankee Stadium Thursday evening.
Printing of the film began immediately fol-
lowing the end of the fight and was com-
pleted Friday morning. They were rushed
by various express methods, including air-
express to theatres throughout the country.

A superb job of editing the 15-round fight
into 19j4 minutes of film was accomplished.
The picture affords such great clarity and
e.xcellence of view as to strike one immedi-
ately with the superiority of the theatrical
film to the television picture.

The picture also managed to get fight
color into it, such as the numerous celebri-
ties in the audience of roughly 50,000.

In the opening rounds Charles proves a
master boxer as he nullifies the blasting
punches of Marciano.

Eventually, as the pictures clearly show,
the latter’s overwhelming strength comes to
his aid and he proceeds to wear down his
older opponent. Marciano turns on a storm
of savage fury, often embarrassingly undis-
ciplined fury, as he wears down his adver-
sary into defeat. Aside from its stirring
entertainment quality, the picture makes the
perfect journalist coverage. — M. H.

Senate Votes Increase to
Overseas Film Service

WASHINGTON : The Senate last week
voted to increase by $1,000,000 the House-
approved appropriation for the Govern-
ment’s overseas film service. The Senate
passed a bill appropriating $83,814,000 for
the U. S. Information Agency in the year
starting July 1, $8,000,000 more than voted
bv the House. The motion picture service
\TOuld get $3,931,000 under the Senate bill,
compared to $2,932,000 under the House
bill and $3,390,000 during the current year.
The differences must be resolved in a House-
Senate conference.

Sen. Burton Hickenlooper (R., Iowa),
chairman of a Senate foreign relations com-
mittee which studied the overseas informa-
tion program, said he was sorry that the film
program had received so little. “The motion
picture medium,” he declared, “is one of
the most vital and important means we have
of communicating ideas and thoughts about
the United States and the free world.”

Senate Appropriations Committee chair-
man Bridges (R., N.H.) revealed that the
committee had defeated attempts to eliminate
all funds for the film service.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

Films Gain
In Japan

by A. C. PINDER

TOKYO: With the big export market here
being Asia, many Japanese producers are
finding that it’s good business to be anti-
, American. In the last year some 20 films
with anti-American twists have been
screened, while there hasn’t been even one
which could be classified as pro-American.
An increasing number of these anti-Ameri-
can films have, in recent weeks, been finding
their way abroad at prices which, some ob-
servers say, represent hidden subsidies for
the production of still more such films.

The year’s biggest sale of a Japanese film
is reported to be the purchase by Sovexport
Films of Russia, for $30,000, of “The Life
of a Miner,” an anti-American film produced
by the Japan Miners Union and distribtited
by Hokusei. The average Japanese film
brings only about $2,000 in the American
market. In return, Hokusei has purchased
from Sovexport “Young Guard” for a price
of $19,440.

Red China has purchased four anti-U. S.-
Japanese films lately, all at extremely high
prices. They are “But We Are Alive,”
$20,000 ; “Hakone Mountains,” $29,000 ;
“Life of a Miner,” $20,000, and “Half-
Blood Orphan,” at a price not yet disclosed.
In addition, it is reported that Hokusei has
signed a contract with Italian Contemporary
Arts, of New York City, for the use of left-
ist Japanese films on a royalty basis. In-
cluded in the deal is the controversial “Hiro-
shima,” produced by the Teachers Union of
Japan and branded as anti-American.

The increase in anti-U. S. product is
traced back to the blacklisting and firing of
many Japanese producers and technicians
just before the U. S. occupation forces
turned the local industry back to Japanese
hands. Unfortunately, among those black-
listed were some of the most gifted people
of the industry. They subsequently got to-
gether and formed independent units of their
own. Their product, while of a generally
high order artistically, is predominantly anti-
American or pro-Communist in theme.

Milwaukee Mayor Cites
Work of Film Commission

MILWAUKEE : The Better Films Council
of Milwaukee County, last week heard
Mayor Frank Zeidler say that each commu-
nity has certain and different standards on
the boy meets girl theme. The Motion Pic-
ture Commission, he added, deals with a
difficult problem. “They must pass a picture
considering the community without causing
conflict with the industry. If the producer
puts in scenes the commission doesn’t want,
they holler censorship.”

Mayor Zeidler said the council encourages
pictures to portray romance, entertainment
and etc. It serves a broad community serv-

Dr. Clyde Hissong, chief Ohio him censor
and state Director of Education, has re-
signed. He says he will remain until Sep-
tember 15 if needed. Governor Lausch
has named no successor as yet. Dr. His-
song will rejoin the faculty of Bowling
Green University.

J. Carlo Bavetta, after 30 years with 20th
Century-Fox in Brazil, has lesigned as
managing director there. Karl Knust,
manager of the company’s branch in Hol-
land, will succeed him.

Ernest L. Scanlon has been named vice-
president and treasurer of the Hecht-Lan-
caster Organization, releasing through
United Artists. Mr. Scanlon had been
coast consultant for Cinerama Corp.

ice and helps to establish new ideas and
standards to the community.

Mrs. R. H. Sass, president of the Sheboy-
gan Eilm Council, reported on the National
conference which will be called The Federa-
tion of Motion Pictures Council, Inc. The
outgoing president, Mrs. Charles Berenger,
presented honorary memberships to various
persons in appreciation for their cooperation
and interest in their organization. Among
them were the following theatre people. A1
Meskis, Warner theatre; Mr. Spheeris,
Towne theatre; Estelle Steinbach, Downer
theatre; Harold Fitzgerald, Fox-Wisconsin
Amusement Corp. ; Jack Lorentz 20th Cen-
tury Fox, and Louis Orlove, MGM.

Record Attendance Due
For Mississippi Meet

EDGEWATER PARK, MISS.: A record
breaking turnout is expected to attend the
Mississippi Theatre Owners’ annual conven-
tion slated for June 27, 28 and 29 here,
according to A. L. Royal, president.

The conclave’s agenda will be highlighted
by a demonstration of Gottschalk Panater
lenses by executives and engineers of Radian
Screen Co., of Chicago, with a showing of
MGM’s “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

Robert Hoff, general manager of the Bal-
lantyne Co., of Omaha, will talk on new
techniques in sound and projection for in-
door and drive-in theatres and Universal-
International’s “Magniflcent Obsession” will
be previewed in other convention activities.
An annual banquet and election of officers
will close the convention.

Nebraska Theatre Sold

The Crest theatre of David City, Neb.,
has been sold to the Rozanek Theatre
Corporation, owners and operators of the
State theatre and the Times theatre, Crete,
Neb. A. Rozanek said the plan will be to
continue the operation of the Crest and the
State will be operated on a part time basis.

H.vrold Young, former director of Burt
Balaban’s Princess Pictures in Europe,
has returned to New York after seveial
assignments. He will leave soon for Ber-
muda to shoot a film for Robert Mann
Productions.

David A. Lipton, Universal vice-president,
has returned to this country after six
weeks visiting the company’s branches in
Europe and participating in the sales con-
vention in Barcelona.

Tom Baldridge, Middle Atlantic States
field representative for MGM, from Win-
chester, Va., reported last week in his
capacity as chairman of the board of trus-
tees of the Junior Chamber of Commerce
War Memorial Fund.

Ginsberg ia
MPa Film an
Falladium

HOLLYWOOD : A multi-starred feature
picture based on the London Palladium’s
44-year history will be produced by Henry
Ginsberg, in association with Moss Theatre
Enterprises and Val Parnell, the Palladium’s
managing director, Mr. Ginsberg has dis-
closed.

The film will be made in London, Holly-
wood and New York, and will present
world-famous stars who have appeared at
the Palladium over the past four decades.
It will be the second production on Mr.
Ginsberg’s independent schedule, following
Edna Ferber’s “Giant” on which he now is
engaged with George Stevens and Miss Fer-
ber for Warner Brothers release.

No title or release channel has been
chosen for the Palladium feature.

Takes Bridgeport House

HARTFORD: Norman Bialek, partner
with Leonard Sampson and Robert Spodick
in the Sampson & Spodick Theatres at
Norwalk and Westport, Conn., is taking
over active operation of the Sampson-Spo-
dick first run art Cinema, Bridgeport, Conn.
Richard Cohen will be retained as house
manager, with the theatre to concentrate on
first run art attractions.

MGM Sets Test Runs

MGM has set two test showings of future
releases, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”
and “Valley of the Kings,” the former to
open at Loew’s State, Houston, and “Valley
of the Kings” at Loew’s, Rochester, N. Y.,
both July 16.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

Illlllllllllllllllilllllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllll

i s.

cene

THIS WEEK IN
PRODUCTION:

by WILLIAM R. WEAVER

Hollywood Editor

LAST week Thursday the Publicists Guild
presented its annual Tom-Tom Award to
Exhibitor R. J. O’Donnell at a large and
lively luncheon in the Blossom Room of the
Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The Tom-Tom
Award, made this year for the second time,
is among the production community’s
youngest ceremonies-of-acclaim, but it is
also one of its most meaningful. It is given
for distinguished service in the field of
public relations, rather than for straight
publicity or promotional achievement, and
it is not a thing a man wins while yet a
beardless youth. This year’s winner and
last year’s, the illustrious Frank Whitbeck
who runs the men who run MGM, were
stripling box office competitors in Brookyn
and environs circa 1910. Both have put
their imprint on every page of the book of
show business.

The Pubicists Guild has a thriving mem-
bership of 340, with leave to expand. Its
members are the men and women who
fashion and furnish to the press the day-to-
day information out of which the 250-plus
resident representatives of the wide world’s
newspapers, magazines, wire services, radio
and television stations and networks spin
the news of the motion picture and its
people. This is a very big undertaking and
it is an exacting responsibility. A high de-
gree of coordination is fundamental.

Honor Thus Conferred
Has Been Validly Earned

When the 300 Publicists Guild members,
in the wisdom of their skilled experience,
single out one person per year as the in-
dividual whose activities have contributed
most substantially to the betterment of the
motion picture industry’s public relations,
it can be taken as Hoyle that the honor
thus conferred has been validly earned.
Nobody wins it by a single, brilliant stunt.

The 1954 presentation to Texas’ famed
showman was conducted in the light and
airy fashion common to affairs in kind, with
witty speeches by Jerry Wald and Jack
Webb, Robert Fellows and Frank Whitbeck,
among others, but the Award-ee, holder of
more scrolls, statuettes and plaques than
almost anybody in the industry, wasn’t light
and airy about receiving this one. He spoke
briefly, earnestly, about his faith in the
future of the business, and his appreciation
of the honor bestowed upon him. He closed
with, “I wish I were as worthy as you say
I am.” His hosts, who don’t mix profes-
sional and Guild activities, think he is.

Five pictures were started and four others
were completed in the week chosen by the
board of directors of the Theatre Owners
of America to discuss with various Holly-

THE WINNER of the Publicists' Guild second
annual "Tom-Tom" Award, Robert J. O'Don-
nell, left, general manager of the Interstate
Circuit of Texas, is seen at the publicists
luncheon in Hollywood with Dorothy Lamour,
and Walter Compton, its president. Miss
Lamour presented the scroll and trophy.

wood production people ways and means to
augment, supplement and amplify the flow
of product from studio to screen.

Univejrsal-International led in point of
new undertakings, launching two, one of
them in CinemaScope and the other — first
in a long while — in 3-D.

U-I’s CinemaScope picture is “Chief
Crazy Horse,” in Technicolor, with Victor
Mature, Susan Ball, John Lund, Ray Dan-
ton, David Janssen and Keith Larsen in
the cast. It is being shot in South Dakota,
lifetime hunting ground of the principal
character, which is mightly pretty country
at this time of year. The producer is Wil-
liam Alland and the director is George
Sherman.

U-I’s 3-D venture is “The Return of the
Creature from the Black Lagoon,” pointed
straight at the box office target struck so
profitably by its titular antecedent, and this
project, like the above-named, is a William
Alland film production. Jack Arnold is di-
recting this one, with John Agar, Lori Nel-
son and John Bromfield in top roles.

Twentieth Century-Fox also started a
CinemaScope picture in color, “Desiree,”
with Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons, Merle
Oberon, Michael Rennie, Cameron Mitchell,
Charlotte Austin and John Hoyt in the cast.
Jules Blaustein is the producer; Henry
Koster directing.

“We’re No Angels” is a Param.ount pro-
duction in that studio’s VistaVision process
and in Technicolor. It has the distinguished
Humphrey Bogart heading a cast contain-
ing Peter Ustinov, Aldo Ray, Joan Bennett,
Leo G. Carroll, Basil Rathbone and Gloria
Talbott. Pat Duggan is the producer and
Michael Curtiz, most versatile of versatile
directors, is directing.

Salvador Films, of which Robert Lippert,

STARTED (5)

LIPPERT

Black Pirates (Salvador
Films; Ansco)

PARAMOUNT

We're No Angels
(VistaVision; Techni-
color)

COMPLETED (4)

IND.

Fresh from Paris
(Ohio; Eastman)

RKO

20,000 Leagues Under
the Sea (Disney;
CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

SHOOTING (30)

.A.A.

Police Story

Bob Mathias Story
( Mathlon)

COL.

Joseph and His Breth-
ren (CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

FILMAKERS

Private Hell 36

IND.

Walk the Dark Street
(Valor)

Return of Columbus
( Paal-Real)

Day of Triumph
(Century; Eastman)

Long John Silver (Kauf-
man; CinemaScope;
Technicolor)

LIPPERT

Adventure in Rio
(Corona)

MGM

Many Rivers to Cross
(CinemaScope; East-
man)

Jupiter's Darling

(CinemaScope; East-
man)

Deep in My Heart
(Technicolor)

PARAMOUNT

Love Is a Weapon
( Pine-Thomas; Vista-
Vision; Technicolor)

To Catch a Thief (Vista-
Vision; Technicolor)

REPUBLIC

Atomic Kid

20TH-FOX

Desiree (CinemaScope;
color)

U-l

Chief Crazy Horse
(CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

Return of the Creature
from the Black Lagoon
(3-D)

20TH-FOX

Woman's World (Cine-
maScope; Techni-
color)

U-l

Destry (Technicolor)

RKO

Americano (Stillman;

Technicolor)
Conqueror (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)

20TH-FOX

Black Widow (Cinema-
Scope; Technicolor)
That Lady (Atlanta;
CinemaScope; Tech-
nicolor)

There's No Business Like
Show Business) Cine-
maScope; Techni-
color)

U-l

Abbott & Costello Meet
the Keystone Cops
Five Bridges to Cross
Smoke Signal (Techni-
color)

WARNER

Trail of the Cat (Batjac;
CinemaScope; War-
nerColor)

Tall Man Riding
Drum Beat (Jaguar;

' CinemaScope:

WarnerColor)

Silver Chalice (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerColor)
East of Eden (Cinema-
Scope; WarnerCo|')r)
Helen of Troy (Ciner>.a-
Scope; WarnerColo>)
Land of the Pharoahs
( CinemaScope:
WarnerColor)

llllilllllllllilllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllNIIIIIillllll

Jr., is producer, went to work in El Salvador
on “The Black Pirates,” for Lippert Pic-
tures distribution, in Ansco color and for
wide screen use (as well as standard).
Anthony Dexter, Lon Chaney and Robert
Clarke are directed by Allen Minor.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

Urges Mere
FellotT" up
On Compo A.d

The recommendation that exhibitors ev-
erywhere follow up the fifteenth advertise-
ment of the Council of Motion Picture
Organizations in “Editor and Publisher” by
visiting local paper editors to discuss possi-
ble needs for motion picture news has been
made by Trueman T. Rembusch, Franklin,
Ind. exhibitor and former member of the
COMPO governing triumvirate.

In a letter to Charles McCarthy, COMPO
information director, Mr. Rembusch has
written :

“Every exhibitor should take a copy of this
ad and be sure his local editor reads it. Then
there should be a bit of discu.ssion on how
the exhibitor and editor could work towards
helping each other’s business. This certainly
would be in order.

“So that I may follow through on my own
suggestion, please send me 12 copies of the
ads.”

The 16th in the series of ads was pub-
lished in “Editor and Publisher” June 12.
The ad is in a question and answer form,
based on inquiries received from newspaper
editors and publishers as a result of earlier
advertisements. The ad points out that all
such inquiries are welcomed because it gives
film industry representatives and newspaper
people an opportunity to get to know each
other better.

Stanley Warner to Ask
Decree Extension

Stanley Warner will ask the Justice De-
partment for another extension of its divesti-
ture deadline, it was reliably reported this
week. The present deadline is July 4. Under
the original Warner consent decree, the cir-
cuit was to have disposed of approximately
55 theatre properties by January 4, 1953.
So far, it has received three six-month ex-
tensions of this deadline, and at the time
of the last extension, in January, still had
22 properties to go.

"King Richard" to Open

“King Richard and the Crusaders,” War-
ners’ new CinemaScope and WarnerColor
spectacle, will have a world premiere at the
Egyptian theatre in Hollywood following
the engagement of “The High and the
Mighty.” The premiere date of “King Rich-
ard and the Crusaders” has not been set.

Film House for Oak Ridge

OAK RIDGE, TENN.: A new multi-mil-
lion-dollar shopping and business center to
be constructed by Oak Ridge Properties,
Inc., under lease from the Atomic Energy
Commission, will include a motion picture
theatre, which will be sub-leased for private
operation, according to Guilford Glazer,
Knoxville, president of the corporation, in
a recent announcement.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

RKO Sales Heads
Discuss Product

Pictures available and coming and the
sales policies applicable and recommended
were discussed this week in Chicago and
New Orleans by RKO Radio’s field sales
staffs and home office executives.

The New Orleans meeting was at the
Jung Hotel Monday and Tuesday and was
accompanied by screening of “Susan Slept
Here” and demonstrations of the Super-
scope lens, both at the Saenger Theatre.
The sales talks at both meetings were led
by James R. Grainger, president, and
Charles Boasberg, general sales manager.
Mr. Grainger, especially, outlined studio
product, including “The Conqueror,” “The

Americano,” “Passion,” “Cattle Queen of
Montana,” “Night Without End,” “Girl
Rush,” “Syndicate” and “Indian Fighter.”

The Chicago meeting was at the Black-
stone, Hotel, with sessions scheduled to be
held Thursday and Friday.

"Victory at Sea" Opens

“Victory at Sea,” the NBC Film Division
production which pictures the dramatic his-
tory of the United States Navy in World
War H, will have its New York premiere
at the Trans-Lux 60th Street theatre fol-
lowing the theatre’s current attraction, it is
announced by William J. Heineman, vice-
president of United Artists in charge of
distribution.

INTERIM REPORT

Hollywood, June 17, 1954

At close to the half way mark in the completion of The
Makelim Plan I have the honor to report, with deep apprecia-
tion, the validation of firm contracts aggregating close to
$2,000,000.00, and linking 1,600 theatres in harmonious co-
operation.

To the thousands of earnest showmen who have given me so
generously of their time, attention and contracts at Allied
meetings on my first nationwide tour on The Makelim Plan,
and to the trade-press which has reported so fairly and faith-
fully the progress of the project, I take the occasion of this
interim report to express abiding gratitude.

A special expression of gratitude to Mr. Abram F. Myers and
the entire Board of Directors of Allied States Association of
Motion Picture Exhibitors, whose vision and foresight in
accepting The Makelim Plan has so generously helped me to
bring this plan before all the exhibitors of America.

And to those other thousands of exhibitors whom, irrespective
of organizational affiliation or other categorical status, and to
the many who have written for information on The Makelim
Plan, I hope to see in person at meetings being arranged for in
Albany, Atlanta, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chicago, Milwaukee, New
Haven, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Seattle, Portland, San Fran-
cisco, Los Angeles and many other intermediate points that
are requesting full details for participation in The Makelim
Plan —

Believe me, I am grateful,

Hal R. Makelim

Sates Heads
Bach Blaa to
Aid Hospital

The general sales managers of the member
companies of the Motion Picture Association
of America have approved the plan whereby
the Variety Clubs' Will Roger Memorial
Hospital in Saranac, N. Y., will get addi-
tional revenue.

The plan, proposed by A. Montague of
Columliia Pictures, president of the Hospi-
tal, provides that sufficient pictures be made
available to such drive-in theatres as will
agree to put on a benefit performance, with
all the proceeds to be donated to the Will
Rogers Memorial Hospital.

A number of such benefit shows have al-
ready been set up for July in northern Cali-
fornia and it is expected that drive-in oper-
ators in other territories will go along with
this fund-raising campaign.

A1 Lichtman, director of distribution for
20th Century-F ox and a member of the
Council of Motion Picture Organization’s
triumvirate, reported to the MPAA sales
managers committee on the progress of
plans pertaining to the distribution through
the various company exchanges of “This
Is Your Army,” a U. S. Army production
which the Department of Defense will pre-
sent under the aegis of COMPO.

With Army approval, Mr. Lichtman re-

ported, it is intended to release two versions
of the film — a 50-minute version for double-
bill theatres and a 30-minute version for
single bill theatres, each available on a
nominal rental basis. The COMPO publicity
committee is to prepare advertising acces-
sories and a general exploitation campaign.
No date has been set for the film’s release.

Company sales managers and leading ex-
hibitors recently viewed “This Is Your
Army” in Washington.

Paramount Plans Wide
Campaign on "Leslie"

An elaborate national magazine advertis-
ing campaign involving 17 individual weekly
and monthly publications has been instituted
by Paramount for Hal Wallis’ “About Mrs.
Leslie,” starring Shirley Booth and Robert
Ryan. This campaign, which will reach an
estimated 75,000,000 readers, has been timed
to fit the distribution pattern of the picture
so that maximum effect will be achieved by
the time “About Mrs. Leslie” gets into gen-
eral release in August. The world premiere
will be held June 27 at New York’s Victoria
theatre.

Tennessee House Sold

The Sundown drive-in theatre at Colum-
bia, Tenn., has been purchased by Recrea-
tion Enterprises, Inc., a Tennessee corpora-
tion, for $80,000. The Sundown is now
under new management, with H. P. Vinson,
Jr., secretary of Recreation Enterprises,
Inc., as manager. Robert P. Davis is presi-
dent of the corporation.

Variety dub
Heart Atrard
Presented

GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.: More than a
hundred Variety Club members and guests
attended the banquet at the Hotel Pantlind
here June 15, for the presentation of the
1953 Heart Citation Plaque by International
Chief Barker George Hoover, to Clive Wax-
man, as chairman of the Heart Committee
for Tent 27, “in recognition of the Youth
Commonwealth program for giving every
kid an even break.”

Mr. Waxman recalled how this principle
charity grew through the efforts of Tent 27,
the Grand Rapids Press and the local Police
Department.

Mr. Hoover said, “All of you had a part
in winning this Heart Award. Eorty-four
clubs . . . constitute a strong and competitive
field reflecting great works by showmen
everywhere. It reflects great credit, there-
fore, that Grand Rapids should have won
this award at our recent convention in
Dallas. This reflects leadership, good think-
ing and achievement in your ranks.”

Dewey Beaver, Superintendent of the
Police Department, cited the startling re-
ductions in juvenile delinquency in Grand
Rapids since the inception of this child
youth program. Gerald R. Ford, Sr., Presi-
dent of Youth Commonwealth, complimented
the Variety Club for their efforts. Captain
Walter Gilbert, director of Youth Common-
wealth, gave some interesting facts and
statistics. Colonel William McCraw praised
the work of the present chief barker, Fred
Barr.

RKO to Cooperate in
Showing Polio Short

Sidney Kramer, short subjects sales man-
ager for RKO, has announced the company
will cooperate with the National Foundation
of Infantile Paralysis in the promotion of
its Emergency Fund Drive to be conducted
nationally from August 16 to 31. Earlier
this year, RKO-Pathe and the Eoundation
cooperated in the production of the film,
“Taming the Crippler,” which presents the
complete story of the Foundation’s fight
against polio up to and including the nation-
wide test of Dr. Jonas Salk’s anti-polio-
myelitis vaccine. The test has been admin-
istered to 651,000 children in 44 states
throughout the country.

Discuss Color TV Films

A panel of advertising agency representa-
tives and film producers headed by Dr.
Alfred N. Goldsmith, electronics engineer,
consultant and NTFC board chairman, dis-
cussed the problems of films for color tele-
vision at a luncheon meeting of the National
Television Film Council at the Warwick
Hotel, New York, June 24. An actual dem-
onstration of color television in the RCA
Studios will be held at a later date.

WHArS AIL THE EXCITEMENT

ABOUT

pmrji srmPHom som?

A FRANK DISCUSSION OF THE FACTS!

Q« Is Perspecta Stereophonic
Sound really here?

A* It sure is! M-G-M, Paramount
and Warners are releasing all future
productions with Perspecta Sound.
Other studios are following.

Will it be the industry standard
for years to come?

A» Yes, it will — because, from the
producers’ viewpoint, it’s the compati-
ble system — yet offers exhibitors, the
finest stereophonic sound at the low*
est installation and operating cost.

How soon should theatre
owners install it?

A* The sooner, the better. All
Loew’s theatres are being equipped
now and hundreds of others here and
abroad have ordered! Be first in your
community. Order now!

How many Fairchild Perspecta
Integrators does a theatre need?

A* Only one! A single Fairchild Per-
specla Integrator serves all projectors
in a booth and controls the sound
through any three-channel sound sys-
tem of standard-make.

What about costs and installa-
tion time?

A* The Fairchild Perspecta Integra-
tor costs 8990. A complete installation
can be made in less than a day — with-
out loss of showing time and, inciden-
tally, without continued maintenance
and replacement of magnetic heads!

Where do I go to find out more?

A» Call —write — or wire Ray Crews
at Fairchild. He understands exhibi-
tors’ problems— can answer your
questions immediately.

# RECORDING,
EQUIPMENT"

MOTION PICTURE SOUND DIVISION

WHITESTONE 57, NEW YORK

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

ALBANY

James Evans, 27-year-employee of Para-
mount and long its head shipper, is now a
Warner Bros, booker, pairing with Harry
Amove. . . . Arthur Newman, Albany man-
ager for Republic, and Leon Herman, Buf-
falo manager, closed a deal in Oneida with
Sid Kallet for exhibition of “Johnny Guitar”
in 17 Kallet theatres. . . . 20th Century-Fox
manager, Nat Rosen, hosted exhibitors,
press, radio and television people and other
guests at a CinemaScope demonstration at
Fabian’s Palace, June 24. . . . Visitors in-
cluded; Edward L. Fabian, New York;
Louis W. Schine, Gloversville; George
Thornton, Saugerties and Windham, Clar-
ence Dopp, Northville and Poland fDopp
has closed the Hollywood, Frankfort, for the
summer); Carl Nilman, Valatie, N. Y.,
Shelburne Falls, Mass., and Wilmington,
Vt. ; Phil Baroudi, North Creek and Indian
Lake.

ATLANTA

Mrs. Jolly Shelton, owner of the New
South drive-in, Gastonia, N. C., died at her
home there. . . . The stork paid a visit to
the home of the George Woods of the
Chesnee drive-in, Chesnee, S. C., and left
twins, a little girl and a boy. . . . Howard
Chapman, Cherry Hill drive-in, is back at
his home after a trip to Duke Hospital,
Durham. . . . Paul Cochrane, sales represen-
tative of Harris Theatre Supply Co., Char-
lotte, N. C., said his wife will soon be back
home from Will Rogers Hospital in Saranac
Lake, N. Y. She was former secretary of
the Charlotte Variety Club. . . . Morris
Abrams, owner of the Palace and Strand
and a drive-in in Georgetown, S. C., is back
at his post after a spell at the hospital. . . .
The Standard Theatre Supply Co., Char-
lotte, has opened the Joy drive-in, Hender-
sonville, N. C.

BALTIMORE

Richard Dizon, Hippodrome assistant, is
in Wisconsin visiting his grandfather. . . .
Lauritz Garman, Garman Theatres, has left
Union Memorial Hospital. . . . George
Gaertner, brother of Lou Gaertner, Ritz
Enterprises, died recently. . . . Charles
Grimes, Stanley Warner district manager,
was in to help manager Rodney Collier with
the fight telecast. . . . Stanley sold a capacity
house for the televised attraction. . . . Jack
Satterfield, former treasurer at Ford’s thea-
tre and now with the Boyd in Philadelphia,
in town visiting friends and renewing ac-
quaintances. . . . Bob Gruver is installing
CinemaScope equipment in his New Glen
theatre. . . . Bernard Terry, Stanley pro-
jectionist, vacationing in Rehoboth Beach,
Delaware. . . . Frank Gibson, Sr., chief
projectionist at Loew’s Century, back from
a Miami vacation. . . . Don Delauney. owner
of the Carroll; Westminster, Md., in town
visiting. ... I. M. Rappaport, operator of
the Hippodrom.e, Town and Little theatres,
has leased the Centre theatre from Morris
Mechanic.

BOSTON

New drive-ins are mushrooming in all
parts of New England with six openings
reported for June or early July and rumors
of other permits being sought. ... In Mas-
sachusetts the Rifkin circuit opened the Cod
drive-in, Falmouth, June 9, while Jacob Asa-
dorian opened the Wamesit drive-in, Tewks-
bury, June 4. . . . In Rhode Island Harry
Minnassian opened the Family drive-in,
Newport, June 4 and Joseph Stanzler threw
open the gates of the Quonset drive-in,
Quonset on June 9. . . . In Maine up near
the Canadian border, Stinson Dean will open
the Boundary Line drive-in. Ft. Fairfield,
July 3 while on June 20 Lester Soule started
his new Norway drive-in in Oxford. . . .
The Warner exchange hosted a luncheon for
circuit and independent bookers at the Town
House following an hour and a half screen-
ing of their latest Warner short subjects.
... A fire estimated at $50,000 damages
closed the Phillips theatre, Springfield,
leased to the Rifkin circuit. It is not as yet
determined whether the theatre will be re-
built and renovated for further business.

BUFFALO

The Marciano-Charles battle telecast in
the Center theatre was a complete sellout
several days before the event and Manager
Leon Serin sold a large number of standing
room only tickets at the same price ($3.50)
as the regular ducats. . . . Word reaches
here that the Canadian National Exhibition
will brave it out-planning its usual grand-
stand spectacle show in the face of a union
jurisdictional feud. Included in the CNE’s
go ahead plans are Roy Rogers, his wife
Dale Evans, their horses and accompanying
performers. Jack Arthur, former Famous
Players-Canadian executive will again pro-
duce the show this year. . . . Safecrackers
broke into the Niagara theatre the other
night. They damaged the combination dial
of the safe but couldn’t get the strongbox
open. Then they ransacked a candy counter
and stole an undetermined amount of cash
from a popcorn machine. . . . Leon Herman,
Republic branch manager and Arthur J.
Newman, manager of the same company’s
exchange in Albany visited the other dav in
Oneida, N. Y.

CHICAGO

The four-theatre telecast of the Marciano-
Charles fight was a complete sell-out, with
the 3,500 seat Marbro in a predominantly
Italian neighborhood first to post the “sold
out” sign early in week. . . . John Balaban,
B and K chief, was honored June 17 at a
combined Jewish Appeal luncheon dt the
Standard Club. Mr. Balaban also has an
invitation to lunch with Pres. Eisenhower
in the White House June 29. . . . Cinema
Annex theatre, closed for three weeks due
to projectionists union refusal to show con-
troversial “Salt of the Earth,” re-opened
Friday with Soviet film, “Inspector Gen-
eral.” Theatre’s management had vowed
house would remain closed until “Salt of the
Earth” could be shown. . . . B and K dis-

trict manager Charles Cottle is still hos]htal-
ized at Michael Reese after a long illness.
. . . John Raptis, assistant manager, Chicago
theatre, leads his own band on club and
dance dates on off hours. June 20 he played
at the wedding of B and K insurance execu-
tive William Holden’s son.

CINCINNATI

This city on June 21 became the 12th unit
in the Cinerama chain, with the premiere
at the Capitol theatre of “This Is Cinerama”
at a scale of $2.65 top. There will be two
showings daily, with extra shows on Satur-
days, Sundays and holidays. Si H. Fabian
and Lester B. Isaacs were here for the open-
ing. . . . The 3,300-seat RKO Albee was sold
out several days in advance for the closed
circuit telecast of the Marciano-Charles
championship bout on June 17, while Keith’s,
at Dayton, Ohio, had practically a full house.
Both theatres had an admission charge of
$3. . . . The summer season of opera at the
Cincinnati Zoological Gardens opens June
27, with “La Traviata” starring Lucia Evan-
gelista. The Guild theatre in suburban Wal-
nut Hills is playing a series of “Cinema
Operas,” opening with “La Traviata” with
the same star as will appear in the Zoo
opera. The Guild is following with “Caval-
leria Rusticana” which is also a Zoo opera
attraction. . . . Joseph McKnight, Paramount
salesman, is a surgical patient at Good
Samaritan Hospital, in Lexington, Ky.

CLEVELAND

Capacity crowds filled the 3,000-seat SW
Allen and the 3,300-RKO Palace for the
Rocky Marciano-Ezzard Charles fight last
Thursday night. . . . Bernie Rubin of Im-
perial Pictures bought a new home in Shaker
Heights. . . . Mrs. Leo Burkhart, wife of
the owner of the Crest theatre, Crestline,
is visiting her mother in California., . . .
Sylvan Goldfinger was here from Chicago
for the Friday opening of “Demetrius and
the Gladiators” at the Hippodrome. . . .
Four indoor and three drive-ins in this ter-
ritory have installed Super Panatar lenses
and have booked 20th-Fox CinemaScope
picture for single track optical presentation.
They are the Andover, Andover; Capitol,
Elyria; Mount Pelier, Mount Pelier ; Gloria
and Springbrook drive-ins, Lima and Little
Flower drive-in, Ottawa. . . . Jack Essick
of Modern Tlieatres has taken his famih'
to the New Jersey shore for a six-week
vacation.

COLUMBUS

A crackdown on all bingo games, whether
for charity or not, was promised by Mayor
Sensenbrenner and Safety Director Doyle.
Both denied the charge that the “Peace
Bingo Club” here had the blessing of city
officials as claimed by John J. Delaney, pres-
ident of a local athletic club. . . . Only one
other picture has played longer at the World
than "The Moon Is Blue” which went into
an eighth week . . . Bob Wile is vacationing

(Continued on follozuing page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26. 1954

A WORTHY CAUSE CAINS

HIGH praise for the work of the New Haven Cancer Society was voiced by Barney
Pitkin, RKO New Haven branch manager, as he presented a check representing the
proceeds of a recent testimonial dinner tor him, to his "favorite charity," the local
cancer fighting organization. The dinner at the Waverly Inn marked Mr. Pitkin's 35th
anniversary in the industry. Mr. Pitkin's left arm was amputated several months ago.
He's been at work every day since his recovery. >)bove, left to right: Dr. Ashley
Oughteron, president of the Connecticut Cancer Society; Dr. Theodore S. Evans,
president of the New Haven Cancer Society; Mr. Pitkin, and Henry Germaine, chief
barker of the New Haven Variety Club.

{Continued from preceding page)

in the Acliiondacks with liis family. . . .
Norman Nadel and his family are on a
month's vacation camping at Yellowstone
National Park and Grand Teton National
Park. . . . The Star at Deshler, Ohio and
the Ritz, Mansfield, Ohio, shuttered. ... New
members of the Independent Theatre Own-
ers of Ohio, announced by Bob Wile, in-
clude: Virgil Grindstaff and Bernard Sarg-
het, Leatherwood drive-in, Barnesville; A.
K. Veach, Twilite drive-in, Uhrichsville ;
Frank O. Gilfilen, Skyway drive-in. Cosh-
octon and H. Gooding, Rij ley, Ripley, Ohio.

DENVER

Pat McGee, general manager for Cooper
Foundation Theatres, has received an invita-
tion to have lunch at the \^’hite House with
President Eisenhower June 29. . . . Graves
& Williams, owners of the Holiday drive-
in, and the Flatiron, indoor theatre, "Boulder,
Colo., have turned over their concession
business to Manley, Inc. . . . George Smith,
western sales manager for Paramount, pre-
sided at a luncheon at the Brown Palace
hotel. Guests included several from the
Paramount New York home office and a
number of theatre folks of the Denver film
area. . . . National Theatre Supply have
bought the candy distributorships held by
Mile High Enterprises, operated by Ned
Collins. Mile High will concentrate on their
various concessions. . . . Arlie Beery, district
manager for Manley, Inc., W. H. Turpie,
division manager, Los Angeles, and C. L.
Lloyd, Salt Lake City salesman, and their
wives, went to Las Vegas, Nevada, tor a
three-week’s vacation.

DES MOINES

The possibility of reviving a youth cotm-
cil in Dubuque to combat juvenile delin-
quency in the city's theatres was discussed
last week by representatives of several com-
munity organizations. Meeting with Dr.
Arthur DeBra, a director of the Motion Pic-
ture Association of America, the group
agreed that getting the co-operation of
young people is one of the best ways to
cut down youthful vandalism in theatres
specifically and in the community in general.
The youth council was the suggestion of
theatre operator N. J. Yiannias, at whose
invitation the forum was called. . . . Thelma
Washburn, RKO booker, back from her re-
cent vacation, was assistant hostess to Inter-
national Zonta club of Des Moines at a
recent meeting. . . . The Burlington drive-
in theatre on Highway 80 celebrated its fifth
anniversary last week. Prices were cut for
the two-day observation. . . . The Elina
Theatre Corp. has let contracts to rebuild
the theatre at Elma which was destroyed by
fire last March 4. Cost is figured at $16,000.

DETROIT

The Fox departed from ordinary proce-
dure by overlapping the opening of “Deme-
trius and the Gladiators” and the last day of
“Three Coins m the Fountain.”. . . Pontiac
drive-in and the Blue Sky drive-in, have
been showing CmemaScope again. Other
drive-ins in this section either have done
nothing about Cinema.Scope or are holding
wide-screens aside. Reason stated is the
high cost of product. . . .“Johnny Dark”
premiere saw street dancing and much of
actress Ruth Hampton. . . . Pat McGinnis

has left the manager’s table of the Cinema
art house. Immediate plans call for her to
take a short loaf. . . . Co-operative Theatres
gave a watch to the winner of a radio con-
test on WXYZ’s Helen Bower show. . . .
The De Witt in De Witt will close July
and August. . . . The East Side drive-in is
now managed by Walter Corey, replacing
Phil Feikert. . . . Val Clifford, Film Truck-
Service, vacationed in Syracuse. . . . The
Schafer in nearby Garden City is joining
the low business closers. . . . Among the
4,500 graduates of the University of Michi-
gan rained out of commencement exercises
were Bert and Ed London, sons of the late
Julius London, circuit owner.

HARTFORD

Nick Kounaris and Paul Tolls, partners
in the Kounaris-Tolis Theatres at Meriden
and Newington, Conn., have changed open-
ing of their new 900-car Meriden drive-in,
now under construction, from early July to
Aug. 1. . . . Mrs. Paul Amadeo, wife of
the general manager. Pike drive-in, Newing-
ton, Conn., is recuperating from surgery.
. . . R. K. Lewis, business agent. Local 84,
lATSE, Hartford, is recovering from ill-
ness. . . . Atty Steven E. Perakos, corpora-
tion counsel, Perakos Theatres, has been
appointed New Britain Police Court pro-
secutor. . . . Henry T. North, 67, projection-
ist at the downtown Ailyn theatre, and
brother of Charles North, president. Local
486, lATSE, Hartford, died. . . . Ross V.
Urquhart, retired Connecticut State Police
captain, has opened an investigation service,
the Connecticut Research Bureau, at Man-
chester, Conn. Urquhart, who served as
theatre inspector for the state department,
retired in 1953 after 30 years of service.

INDIANAPOLIS

Film men attending the banquet climax-
ing the Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana

spring outing at Lake Wawasee Wednes-
day helped Harry Kornblum celebrate his
47th anniversary in the motion picture in-
dustry . . They also helped Richard Pell,
Rushville, and Jim Peterson of National
Theatre Supply, celebrate their birthdays
and toasted Mr. and Mrs. Art Clark, Bloom-
ington, on their 23rd wedding anniversary.
. . . Talks at the banquet were made by
Mike Simons of Loew’s; L. J. McGinley,
Fourth Avenue Amusement Company,
Louisville; Bob Wile, secretarv of Ohio Al-
lied; and Roy Kalver, ATOI president. . . .
Harry Frederickson of Lafayette was low
gross in the golf tournament. . . . Downtown
theatre business is hack to normal here in
the first full week after the end of the 6-
wcek transit strike.

JACKSONVILLE

Florida theatre cashiers had completely
sold out of tickets to the large screen tele-
cast of the Marciano-Charles fight several
hours before the fight began. The theatre
seated more than 2,200 persons at a single
admission price of $2.75. . . . Harold Spears,
B & S Theatres executive, Atlanta, flew his
own plane to the IMiami meeting of the Mo-
tion Picture Exhibitors of Florida on June
17, with a one-day return stopover here. . . .
\^isiting exhibitors included French Harvey
and Bob Corbit, Daytona Beach; Jimmy
Biddle. Jasper; W. H. Smith Brooksville;
Bob Daugherty, Haines City; and Milton
Frackn-ian, Miami. . . . Horace Denning,
manager, Atlantic drive-in theatre, was at
Dixie Drive-In Theatre headquarters in
Atlanta. . . . Mrs. Nellie Green, veteran Fox
film inspectress, died in a local hospital on
June 15. . . . Terry Gore is the new assistant
to Bill Douglas in the accessories depart-
ment of Florida State Theatres. . . . Attend-
ing a district managers meeting of FST
were Harry Botwick, Miami; James Cart-
wright, Daytona Beach; and Frank Bell.

(Continued, on opposite page)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

KANSAS CITY

The Tower theatre, downtown, day-and-
date with the midtown Uptown, suburban
Fairway and Kansas-side Granada, a Fox
Midwest first run, add this week, as last
year, a 60-minute “Dancing Feet” stage
revue of a local dancing school — for both
goodwill and profit. . . . Harry Oppenstein,
one of four brothers prominent in jewelry
and real estate and owners of the Globe
theatre (now torn down) when it introduced
sound pictures to Kansas City, died recently.
Mr. Harry Oppenstein was also a patron
of art. . . . Ralph Rhoads, who has man-
aged theatres in the area, is now manager
of Commonwealth circuit’s Ashland, neigh-
borhood theatre. . . . The Waldo, in a fast
growing outlying residence section of Kan-
sas City, Mo., IS the first Kansas City house
of the Commonwealth circuit to he equippel
for CinemaScope. . . . The New 50 drive-
in opened its CinemaScope presentations
with “Knights of the Round Table.”

LOS ANGELES

Duke Clark, who is handling “The Im-
mortal City” in the San Francisco territory,
was in town. . . . Off on a business and
pleasure trip to Chicago, was Ed Grossman
of the Paradise theatre, L. A. . . . The Cor-
onado theatre, Coronado, which was piloted
by Ralph Ravenscroft, is being dismantled.

. . . Back from vacationing in Indiana was
Bill Merriott of Universal-International. . . .
The office personnel of Warner Bros, en-
joyed their annual picnic at Crystal Springs
in Griffith Park. ... In for a buying and
booking chore was Lloyd Katz of the Sperl-
ing Theatres. Also seen on the Row were
Gordon West, Fillmore and Henry Slater
of the Vogue, Chula Vista. . . . Andy Devine,
manager of the Paradise theatre, celebrated
his 22nd wedding anniversary. . . . The
Savoy theatre, San Diego, is now owned by
Grace Heckt. . . . The Cal-Pac Corp. has
acquired the Baseline drive-in. Highland,
Cal. . . . The Santa Paula drive-in, which
had closed its gates some months ago, has
resumed operation.

MEMPHIS

Joe W. Chambers and V. B. Easterling,
partners, have completed and opened their
new Chickasaw drive-in at Pontotoc, Miss.
. . . Jack Wright, owner, has finished and
opened his new Marshall County drive-in at
Benton, Ky. . . . Ike Katz, Kay Films,
Atlanta, was a Memphis business visitor.
. . . Bristol theatre, Memphis, installed Cine-
maScope and stereophonic sound systems
and is now showing “The Robe.”. . . Henry
Plitt, New Orleans, Paramount Gulf execu-
tive, was in Memphis on business. . . . B. G.
Hall, owner, has re-opened his Home thea-
tre, Holcomb, Mo. . . . Neal Starks, owner,
has opened a new drive-in, the Tri-City
drive-in at Lynville, Ky., with a 200-car
capacity. . . . Loew’s State led the current
attendance parade with 75 per cent above
average business with MGM’s “The Student
Prince.” It was held over after this suc-
cessful first week.

MIAMI

Tim Tyler, manager of the Miami, one of
the trio of theatres in Florida which offered
the TV Marciano-Charles bout, reported a
complete sell-out for the fight with crowds

waiting for possible returns or cancellations.

. . . Relieving Mark Chartrand as public
relations executive for Wometco, Harry
Kronewitz has been kept jumping. Exploita-
tion included arranging the personal appear-
ances of Jay Robinson at the Carib, Miami
and Miracles theatres. . . . A1 Weiss, divi-
sion supervisor for Florida State Theatres,
was on vacation with his family and their
holiday by train included visits to New York,
Maryland, Illinois and Wisconsin. . . .
Europe was the locale for the holiday of
the Mitchell Wolfsons, with the breadwin-
ner scheduled for an earlier return to attend
to Wometco and TV business. . . . Rich-
ard Goldstone, former MGM official, is now
associated with Carl Dudley Productions, a
new studio which has set up facilities in
Cuba.

MILWAUKEE

Business in downtown Milwaukee could
be better. Especially last weekend, with the
warm weather and the Braves playing here,
many reported only fair returns at the box
office. ... A second very high frequency TV
station here has been granted by the FCC
to the Milwaukee Area Telecasting Corp.,
for a new station on channel 12. . . . Mr.
Bishop Jr., district sales manager for MGM,
was in town here to hold a meeting. . . .
Mr. Kemptgen, branch manager at Loew’s
Inc., here, is on his two weeks’ vacation in
Canada. . . . Mr. Louis Orlove’s secretary,
Mrs. Rosemary Coralline, is building a new
home. . . . Anne Kehr, switchboard operator
at MGM, is back at the board after her
vacation. . . . Irene Preston, secretary to
Harold Pearson in the Wisconsin Allied
office, has gone West for her vacation.

MINNEAPOLIS

Frank & Woempner are going ahead with
their drive-in at Willmar, Minn., construc-
tion of which was begun about three years
ago. D. A. Olson also is building a drive-in
at nearby Spicer, Minn. . . . CinemaScope
and stereophonic sound have been installed
in the Pic at Bagley, Minn., the Owen at
Owen, Wis., and the Lesdan at Fosston,
Minn. . . . Cy Baer, Paramount VistaVision
technician, was in from Hollywood making
a survey of all first run theatres in the
Twin Cities as to size of screen, type of
projection and lighting. He also explained
the new process to the Paramount sales
meeting. . . . Kenny Brandhagen has opened
a new drive-in at Cavalier, N. D. He also
operates a conventional house there and
at Drayton, N. D. . . . Ed Linder is the
new manager of the loop Gopher. He for-
merly managed the Ontario at Washington,
D. C. . . . Stephen Klem is the new assistant
manager of the RKO Pan, Minneapolis.

NEW ORLEANS

L. C. Lampe will close the Boulevard,
Jeanerette, La., July 5 for a couple of
months or until fall. His Avenue will con-
tinue operating on regular schedule. . . .
J. J. Scafidi will take over the operations
of Star, Bay St. Louis, Miss., July 1. J. G.
Broggi will continue to handle the buying
and booking. . . . Arthur Bromberg, Atlanta
president of Southern Allied Artists, was
at the local exchange. . . . United Artists
is doing big business with the Rocky Mar-
ciano-Ezzard Charles world's heavyweight
championship fight picture. Requests for

dates poured in by phone, and wire and city
and suburban exhibitors rushed in early
Friday morning. The first in-town showing
was at the Orpheum. This and the news
that New Orleans ended up first in their
group in President Arthur Krim sales drive
has manager Alex Maillho and Geo. Pabst,
No. 1 district manager, feeling fine.

OKLAHOMA CITY

Oklahoma Tax Commission sales tax re-
port for theatres for April, 1954, shows 332
returns and $27,279.13 tax, compared with
309 returns, $30,450.67 tax for April, 1953.
This is a decrease of 10.42 per cent. . . . The
Yale theatre, Oklahoma City, gave free
comic books to all boys and girls who at-
tended the “Kiddies Show” Saturday. . . .
Barton Theatres had a special gift on Sun-
day, Father’s Day for every father attending
any one of their 15 theatres. . . . Mr. and
Mrs. Harold Combs are spending a few
days in Dallas this week on a business trip.
Mr. Combs is manager of the concessions
department of the Barton Theatres. . . . Mrs.
Zelma Plato, manager of the Chieftain
theatre, is on vacation. . . . R. Lewis Barton,
Barton Theatres, has been named to the
board of directors of Friends of the Zoo,
Inc., a corporation formed to promote the
Lincoln Park Zoo in Oklahoma City.

OMAHA

Cliff Shearon, who recently bought the
Crest theatre at David City, Neb., from F.
J. Cook, has sold it to the Rozanek Theatre
Corporation, which has the State theatre
there. Dee Butcher, manager of the State
since it opened about six years ago,
will manage both but the State will be
run on a part-time schedule. . . . Harold
Dunn, Valentine exhibitor who recently had
an operation in Omaha, has gained back
all the weight he lost and his doctors say
he’s making great recovery. . . . Jack Jor-
gens, MGM salesman in the northern Neb-
raska territory four years, is going to the
Milwaukee exchange and was honored at
a farewell party. . . . Pat Jolly has resigned
as Universal salesman. . . . Ralph Blank
and William Miskell have named their de-
luxe drive-in, under construction in West
Omaha, the Sky-View. . . . Dan Flanagan,
assistant manager of the RKO-Brandeis, is
recovering from a tonsil operation. . . . Nor-
man Nielson, RKO salesman, has gone to
Canada on a fishing trip.

PHILADELPHIA

Leo Posel, veteran exhibitor, was named
chairman of the building fund committee
for the Down-Town Jewish Home for the
Aged. . . . Sam Diamond, 20th Century-Fox
branch manager, is the newest member of
the Philadelphia Variety Club. . . . Paul
Klieman, manager of the Pearl, was elected
a vice-president of the Police Athletic
League. . . . Tri-States Buying and Booking
Service here is now handling the State,
Shippensburg, Pa. . . . The Victoria, Tam-
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MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

aqua, Pa., is now open part time. . . . The
Grand, Norristown, Pa., closed for construc-
tural alterations in connections with, its pro-
jection booth. . . . Bill Whyte, former owner
of the Star, Harrisburg, Pa., came up from
Florida to manage the Roosevelt and Lin-
coln drive-ins here for Neil Heilman. . . .
The Park, Reading, Pa., reopened after be-
ing closed for a period due to a dispute with
projectionists. . . . The Kaufman brothers
and Laksa opened their new Andalusia
drive-in, Andalusia, Pa., liecoming the first
in the local area to play CinemaScope. . . .
The Penn, West Reading, Pa., is now dark.

PITTSBURGH

W'ith the trolley strike finally settled, the
latest alibi for indifferent business in the
film houses is the blazing hot weather. . . .
“Melba,” which had been booked into the
Penn at least six months ago, finally gets
a date in the Squirrel Hill art theatre to
coincide with Patrice Munsel’s pe'^sonal ap-
pearance in Pitt Stadium as the star of the
Civic Light Opera’s “Merry Widow.” . . .
Downtown theatre owners figure they could
have sold almost double the 9,000 seats
which local prize fight fans gobbled up for
the Marciano-Charles fight. . . . Four Stan-
ley Warner local managers won extra vaca-
tions as winners of the M. A. “Silver’s
Spring Drive” here. They are Jim Laux,
Earl Gordan, Lou Fordan and Bill Decker,
while special Silver awards went to man-
agers Max Silverman, Anthony Collincini
and Dick Kline.

PORTLAND

Orpheum theatre manager Kenny Hughes
reports that “Three Coins In Tlie Foun-
tain” had a terrific opening week, a bigger
second week, and a still bigger third. . . .
Oriental theatre manager Oscar Nyberg is
back from two weeks’ vacation. . . . Ever-
green’s Oregon district booker Lou kletzlaar
is off on vacation. . . . Larry Keating is
here from Blollywood visiting his mother.
. . . John Ross Roberts, screen writer, has

made his home here. . . . J. J. Parker execu-
tive, Tom Walsh is on a field trip for a
few days to other theatres in his circuit.

. . . Gayle Gustafson has been appointed
personal secretary to Mrs. J. J. Parker. . . .
Jo Nell McGuire is new secretary to Para-
mount theatre manager Dick Newton. . . .
Paramount branch manager Wayne Theriot
and salesman Frank Doty are back from
business sessions in Seattle.

PROVIDENCE

Boasting what they claim to be ‘‘the
largest panoramic screen in Rhode Island,”
the new Quonset drive-in, on Route No. 1
opposite Quonset Naval Station, has opened.
Scores of gifts, free ice cream for the
kiddies, and other novelties, drew a capacity
debut performance. . . . E. M. Loew drive-
in’s baseball team is really “setting fire” to
the Amateur League. Jim Anderson, shared
pitching honors with Duke DuPerron in
notching the team’s fifth straight victory
of the season, trouncing the highly-touted
Roosevelt A. C. 9-3. Thus far, the theatre-
men remain in the unbeaten column. . . .
Robert Hunter, native Rhode Islander who
has played character roles in a dozen Plolly-
wood films, recently made a personel ap-
pearance in the music department of the J.
J. Newberry store. . . . William J. Tram-
bukis, Loew’s State theatre manager, treated
patrons to a surprise preview of “The
Student Prince.”

ST. LOUIS

Tommie’s drive-in at Kennett, Mo., has no
set time to start its evening shows but the
performance starts at dark, according to its
advertisement in the local newspapei. . . .
The Cape drive-in at Cape Girardeau, Mo.,
shows nightly, rain or clear, and has two
bargain nights a week when a car load of
patrons are admitted for $1.00. . . . Over
in Illinois, across the river from St. Louis,
several drive-in theatres are doing a good
business this summer. They include Bel-Air
drive-in on Routes 66 and 111 outside East
St. Louis : Mounds drive-in near East St.
Louis : East St. Louis drive-in theatre.

which shows rain or shine; and the Sky-
view drive-in theatre just outside Belleville.

. . . The summer vacation movies, sponsored
by the Chamber of Commerce of Spring-
field, Ilk, have gotten under way at the
Eox-Lincoln and Roxey theatres in Spring-
field and will continue for twelve weeks.

TORONTO

Jack Labow, RKO’s district manager for
Canada, will be honored with a six-week
summer sales drive, it was announced from
New York by Charles Boasberg, RKO gen-
eral sales manager. . . . James McDonough,
formerly of the Tivoli, Hamilton, was hon-
ored as radio and newspaper representatives
in that city joined theatre and film men from
Toronto and a dozen western Ontario com-
munities at a gathering in Hamilton. Mc-
Donough has been appointed Maritimes dis-
trict manager for Famous Players, head-
quartering in Halifax. . . . Variety Village
picked up $500 from a special Sunday show
at the Odeon, Peterborough, staged by the
Peterborough Theatre Managers Associa-
tion. The film was made available by the
JARO organization. . . . The motion pic-
ture industry trade show, inaugurated last
year by the Motion Picture Theatres Asso-
ciation of Ontario, will be sponsored by the
Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada,
this year.

VANCOUVER

The Skyway drive-in near Kamloops
broke the all-time record with the showing
of JAROs “Kidnappers.” The picture was
played ahead of the Capitol, indoor house
in Kamloops. ... A return visit of “The
Best Years of Our Lives” gave the Strand
a better than average week’s business. . . .
Jack Hamill, student manager at the Vogue,
is moving to Edmonton, Alta., where he will
be assistant to Sam Binder, manager of the
new Odeon which will open in July. . . .
The old Roxy, a 450-seater, has been bought
by a church. It was one of the first suburban
houses in Vancouver, built in 1910. . . . Roy
Brewer, who is running for president of
the lATSE, was here conferring with Local
348 projectionists. Also here for the 40th
anniversary of the booth workers union was
J. O. Jacobson, vice-president of the lATSE.
... A local aerial artist was killed in a 100-
foot fall from the tower on top of the Para-
mount drive-in during a performance wit-
nessed by 2,000 patrons. . . . Joe Johnson,
formerly with the Cascades drive-in at
Burnaby, replaced Sammy Swartz as man-
ager of the Lougheed, in the same area.

WASHINGTON

Sid Zins, Columbia Pictures publicity rep-
resentative here, received widespread pub-
licity for his new picture, “The Caine
Mutiny,” when he appeared at the Army-
McCarthy hearings on June 16 and handed
Sen. Karl Mundt a model of the USS Caine.
The ship sat in front of Sen. Mundt the
rest of the day. ... A. Julian Brylawski,
president of Motion Picture Theatre Owners
of 'MMshington, has been named to the ex-
ecutive board of the National Conference of
Christians and Jews. . . . The 20th Century-
Fox Dynamo Club elected Mary Clastell
president; M. Williams, vice-president;
Janet Floyd, secretary and Barbara Burgess,
treasurer. . . . The Super Chief drive-in
theatre had “Oscar” week, with pictures in-
cluding “From Here to Eternity” ; “Titanic” ;
“Stalag 17”: “Lili”; “Roman Holiday”;
“W’ar of the Worlds” and “Shane.”

COLUMBIA PICTURES ANNOUNCES THAT PRINTS OF THE FOLLOWING
PICTURES ARE NOW AVAiUBLE IN OUR EXCHANGES FOR SCREENING

mo ACTION HITS!

RANDOIPH SGOIT

starring

BARBARA

»!.>. George MACREAOY • Sally EXERS • Edgar BUCHANAN

Screenplay by Kenneth Garnet ■ Adapted from the iiovel "Coroiier Creek”
by Luke Short' Directed by RAY ENRIGHT' Produced by HARRY JOE BROWN

.rrn BRUCE CABOT . CHARLEY GRAPEWIN . STEVEN GERAV
FORREST TUCKER CHARLES KEMPER • GRANT WITHERS

and DOROTHY HART

Siriiiyiii I) Hill iitii) ' Adapted froiD Zane Srey's porel, “Iwiii Sombreros"
Directed by GEORGE WAGGNER . Produced by HARRY JOE BROWN

General Release: August

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 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, 6,163 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; AY — Average;
BA — Below Average; PR — Poor.

EX AA AV BA PR

Act of Love ( UA)

1 1

Alaska Seas (Para.)

*A1I the Brothers Were Valiant (MGM)

- . “

Back to God's Country (U-l)

Bad for Each Other (Col.)

Bait (Col.)

Battle of Rogue River (Col.)

Beachhead (UA)

Beat the Devil ( U A)

1 1

Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (20th-Fox)

Best Years of Our Lives (RKO) (Reissue)

1 1

Bigamist, The (Filmakers)

Border River ( U-l )

1 1

Boy from Oklahoma (WB)

Calamity Jane (WB)

Captain's Paradise (UA)

Carnival Story, The (RKO)

Casanova's Big Night (Para.)

Cease Fire! (Para.)

Charge of the Lancers (Col.)

Command, The (WB)

Conquest of Mt. Everest (UA)

Crazylegs (Rep.)

Creature from the Black Lagoon (U-l)

Crime Wave (WB)

Dangerous Mission (RKO)

1 1

Dial M for Murder (WB)

Dragonfly Squadron (AA)

(Drums Across the River (U-l)

Drums of Tahiti (Col.)

Duffy of San Quentin (WB)

Easy to Love (MGM)

Eddie Cantor Story (WB)

El Alamein (Col.)

Elephant Walk (Para.)

Escape from Fort Bravo (MGM)

Executive Suite (MGM)

*Fighter Attack (AA)

—

(Fireman Save My Child (U-l)

Flame and the Flesh (MGM)

Flight Nurse (Rep.)

1 1

Forbidden (U-l)

Forever Female (Para.)

French Line (RKO)

From Here to Eternity (Col.)

Genevieve (U-l)

Geraldine (Rep.)

Give a Girl a Break (MGM)

Glenn Miller Story (U-l)

Ill

Go, Man, Go (UA)

1 1

Great Diamond Robbery (MGM)

*Gun Fury (Col.)

Gypsy Colt (MGM)

Hell and High Water (20th-Fox)

Hell's Half Acre (Rep.)

Here Come the Girls (Para.)

His Majesty O'Keefe (WB)

Hondo (WB)

How to Marry a Millionaire (20th-Fox)

EX AA AV BA PR

It Should Happen to You (Col.)

Jesse James vs. the Daltons (Col.)

Jivaro (Para.)

Johnny Guitar (Rep.)

Jubilee Trail ( Rep.)

Julius Caesar (MGM)

King of the Khyber Rifles (20th-Fox)

1 1

Knights of the Round Table (MGM)

Little Caesar (WB) (Reissue)

1 1

Living Desert, The (Disney)

Long, Long Trailer, The (MGM)

Lucky Me (WB)

1 1

Ma and Pa Kettle at Home (U-l)

Mad Magician, The (Col.)

Man Between, The (UA)

Man Crazy (20th-Fox)

Man in the Attic (20th-Fox)

Martin Luther (de Rochemont)

Miami Story, The (Col.)

1 1

Miss Sadie Thompson (Col.)

Money from Home (Para.)

Naked Jungle, The (Para.)

*Nebraskan, The (Col.)

New Faces (20th-Fox)

Night People (20th-Fox)

Paratrooper (Col.)

Personal Affair (UA)

Phantom of the Rue Morgue (WB)

Pinocchio (RKO) (Reissue)

Playgirl (U-l)

Prince Valiant (20th-Fox)

(Prisoner of War (MGM)

Private Eyes (AA) .

Public Enemy (WB) (Reissue)

Quo Vadis (MGM) (Reissue)

Ralls Into Laramie (U-l).

Red Garters (Para.)

Rhapsody (MGM)

Ride Clear of Diablo (U-l)

Riders to the Stars (UA)

1 1

Riding Shotgun (WB)

Riot in Cell Block II (AA)

River of No Return (20th-Fox)

Rob Roy (Disney-RKO)

Robe, The (20th-Fox)

Rose Marie (MGM)

Saadia (MGM)

Saskatchewan (U-l)

Shark River ( U A)

She Couldn't Say No (RKO)

Siege at Red River (20th-Fox)

Southwest Passage (UA)

Taza, Son of Cochise (U-l)

Tennessee Champ (MGM)

Three Coins in the Fountain (20th-Fox)

Three Sailors and a Girl (WB)

Three Young Texans (20th-Foxj

Thunder Over the Plains (WB)

Top Banana ( UA)

1 1

Tumbleweed (U-l)

*Vells of Bagdad (U-l)

Walking My Baby Back Home (U-l)

War Arrow (U-l)

Wicked Woman (UA)

Wild One (Col.)

Witness to Murder (UA)

Yankee Pasha (U-l)

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

Fifteen cents per word, money-order or check with copy. Count initials, boxnumberand address. Minimuminsertion $1.50. Four
insertions for the price of three. Contract rates on application. No border 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)

HELP WANTED

WANTED: MANAGER WITH EXPLOITATION
:;nd promotional experience by theatre chain situated
in eastern states. Top salary paid, vacation, group
insurance, and hospitalization. Please answer giving
qualifications, experience, and salary expected.
BOX 2791, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

THEATRE CIRCUIT SUPERVISOR— GOOD OP-
portunity for executive type — e.xperienced in all phases
of motion picture theatre circuit. Some accounting
experience necessary. Chicago area. Submit resume
and salary desired to: H. SCHOENSTADT & SONS,
1118 South Michigan Ave., Chicago 5, 111.

PROJECTIONIST - MAINTENANCE MAN FOR
small town theatre. Can use wife at concession stand.
Permanent positions. LYON THEATRE CIRCUIT,
Franklin, Va.

HOUSE MANAGER. EXPLOITATION AND PRO-
motion experience, small town theatre. Permanent.
Write BOX S38, Franklin, Va.

POSITIONS WANTED

THEATRE MANAGER: INTERESTED IN FIRST-
run situation; prefers New York or New England
area, excellent references. Associated same chain 12
years. BOX 2794, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

SERVICES

USED EQUIPMENT

SELLING PRACTICALLY NEW: ONE BRANDT
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DRIVE-IN EQUIPMENT

CENTURY “CC” DRIVE-IN OUTFIT ONLY $3495,
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THEATRES

FOR SALE: OTY ISLAND, NEW YORK, ONLY
neighborhood theatre, 590 seats, population 7,000. BOX
2793, MOTION PICTURE HERALD.

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NEW EQUIPMENT

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ner, Adler, Bevelite Signs: 4” — 35c; 8” — 50c; 10” — 60c;
12”— 85c; 14”— $1.25; 16''— $1.50. S.O'.S. CINEMA
SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New
York 19.

MIRRO-CLARIC REPRESENTS BEST VALUE
in metalized all purpose screen— only $1 sq. ft. Welded
seams absolutely invisible! Kollraorgen wide angle
lenses, special apertures immediately available! S.O.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
St., New York 19.

STUDIO EQUIPMENT

VENTILATING EQUIPMENT

BEAT THE HEAT BUT NOT THESE PRICES
—ball-bearing bucket blade exhaust fans 12” — $25.50;
16”— $37.50; 18''— $45. Prompt deliveries blowers and
air-washers. Send for details. S.O.S. CINEMA SUP-
PLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd St., New York 19,

MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION ALMA-
nac — 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.

SEATING

HERE’S A DELUXE CHAIR BUY! 1500 AMERI-
can Bodiform fully upholstered, rebuilt like new $12.50;
others from $4,50. Send for Chair Bulletin. S.O'.S.
CINEMA SUPPLY CORPORATION, 602 W. 52nd
St., New York 19.

Legion Approves All
Of Five New Films

The National Legion of Decency for the
current week has reviewed and classified
five pictures, and approved all of them.
Three were classified as A-I, unobjectionable
for general patronage ; “Bowery Boys Meet
the Monsters,’’ “Gog” and “Them.” Classi-
fied as A-I I, morally unobjectionable for
adults were: “Princess of the Nile” and
“Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.”

Three Sponsors Signed
For Disney Program

Three commercial concerns will sponsor
“Disneyland,” the full-hour Walt Disney
TV program which is scheduled to have its
premiere over the American Broadcasting
Co. network October 27. They are Ameri-
can Dairy Association, American Motors
Corp. and Derby Foods, Inc.

American Motors will sponsor a half-hour
of the program every Wednesday. The
other half-hour of the full-hour program will

be sponsored on alternate weeks by Ameri-
can Dairy and Derby Foods. American
Motors sponsorship of the weekly half-hour
of “Disneyland” will start with the premiere
of the program.

Derby Foods will be the first alternate
week half-hour advertiser. American Dairy
will sponsor the program for the first time
November 3 and thereafter will continue to
alternate half-hour sponsorship of the pro-
gram with Derby Foods.

Stamp Portfolio for "Price
Of Liberty" Booking Records

Branch managers in exchange areas with
most bookings of “The Price of Liberty”
will receive a leather-bound portfolio, with
the recipient’s name in gold on the cover,
a citation inside from the Council of Motion
Picture Organizations and the Department
of Defense, and a panel of United States
commemorative stamps honoring women in
the Armed Services. . The announcement
came recently from Charles Boasberg,
chairman of the general sales managers’

committee of the Motion Picture Association
of America. The stamps will be autographed
by the Postmaster General, Arthur Summer-
field. “The Price of Liberty” is a ten minute
short produced for the Department of De-
fense by Warner News. Its distribution
will be by all companies through the auspices
of COMPO.

Plan Rome Drive-in

Europe’s first drive-in theatre will open
this summer on the grounds of Exposition
City on the south-eastern parkway from
Rome to the sea, according to Italian Films
Export in New York. Plans call for provi-
sion for 200 cars.

Academy Receives Arf Awards

Four of ten awards given for animated
TV commercial films by the Art Directors
Club, went to Academy Pictures, Inc., of
New York and Hollywood. Edward L.
Gershman, Academy president, and William
Tytla, its creative director, received the
awards.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

Heu AuMenceA /iu^ait the ^etufn 0^ the 014 HitJ

OSCAR DOOB, conducting a survey
of the potential audience for “Gone
With the Wind’’ for AIGM, on it’s
fifth release, says he finds twenty million
waiting to see the picture, six million of
them teen-agers in high school that never
had a previous opportunity, and that half
of all who see the picture, will see it now
for the second time, because they want to,
as eager as they were 15 years ago.

Film industry suffers from a proverbial
fault in exhibition and distribution. A pic-
ture has only about 18 months in circulation,
and then it dies out, through lack of momen-
tunr in promotion and advertising approach.
Other attractions follow in so closely that
a film a year and a half old is just this
side of the shelf, often for good. We can’t
keep our good properties alive, and mer-
chandising is keyed to playdates.

The New York Times, this Sunday,
dilates on the theme, with the heading “If
At First You Do Succeed — Make Them,
and Make Them Again.” But that isn’t
quite a proper evaluation of Flollywood’s
procedure or policy with regard to reissues
and remakes. For instance, the Times
points to “A Star Is Born” — which will be
Judy Garland’s biggest picture, soon to be
released — but how many remember the
original, with Janet Gaynor and young
Fredric Alarch, released in 1937? Don’t
say that there isn’t another new audience and
they will be well rewarded for their wait-
ing, after eighteen years.

Also, consider “The Student Prince”
which is now playing at the Radio City
Music Hall, in Technicolor, on their new
wide screen. How vastly different is this
production from the original silent film,
in black and white, with Norma Shearer,
which was made in 1927? Many have never
seen it at all ; many will want to see it
again, with added reason, because of our
new dimensions. Even “Oklahoma” — great-
est stage success, and soon to be a new,
wide film, is a remake of “Green Grew the
Lilacs” — a dramatic play without music. We
believe the remake is often more important
than the original, and that no matter what

OUR NEIGHBORS, TOO

Sherwin Kane, writing "Tradewise" in
Motion Picture Daily tells of neighbors
of his who up to a few years ago, went to
the movies fairly often. Recently, they felt
somewhat weaned from their television set
and the family made a return visit to the
neighborhood theatre.

And they weren't entirely pleased with
the experience. They were surprised to find
the admission prices, which seemed to be
about double what they used to be. The
day was warm and the air-conditioning was
either not operating or working satisfac-
torily. They arrived in the middle of the
picture, and had the usual climb over others
getting into their seats, followed by later
arrivals climbing over them. At intermis-
sion, some advertising reels were shown,
followed by "coming attractions" trailers —
"And you motion picture people point
fingers at TV commercials!" They felt let
down, and they're less sold on movies.

There are a great many, neighbors of
ours, too, who will gravitate back to their
neighborhood theatres after a long session
at the television set, and each of them will
undergo something like this feeling. In other
words, it's harder to win back an old cus-
tomer than it is to get a new one, or satisfy
the loyal regulars who are used to your
ways. It's a crucial time, for theatre man-
agers, with new problems facing them on a
number of fronts. It's worth careful thinking
over, this criticism by a neighbor, who used
to be a movie fan, and a customer.

stage or screen attraction you refer to, it
never had more than a fraction of its total
audience the first time around. They say
that hardly a successful film of record has
ever played to more than twenty million ad-
missions in any one tour of the circuit. The
big-timers can come back, and welcome.
For on each return, a new theatre and a new
showman, have their chance.

^ A SURVEY of sales and advertising-
trends, conducted by Tide’s panel of business
leaders, reports that automotive industry suf-
fers because some dealers aren’t yet aware
that the buyer’s market has returned. They
say, today’s automobile salesman has forgot-
ten how to sell, through lush days of merely
taking orders, and now a huge market for
new cars is neglected, because salesmen don’t
follow through on sales opportunities they
expect to literally fall into their laps.

All this has a familiar ring to it, for we
suspect that too many theatre managers are
waiting for customers instead of going out
after them, via strong advertising, exploita-
tion and promotional ideas. The old days
are gone, when the audience would tear
down the doors to get in. Now you have to
bait a trap, and employ both showmanship
and salesmanship to entice them.

^ WHAT WE LIKE best about Charlie
Jones’ latest report, in Better Theatres for
June, was his description of the “family
trade” which he enjoys at his newly acquired
North wood Theatre, in northern Iowa, close
to the Alinnesota state line, and the manner
in which Lincoln Whitcone, longtime man-
ager, had cultivated his personal knowledge
of these families and friends, over the years.
Charlie is naturally friendly, and a good
neighbor, so he will get to know them all.

This is the life-blood of small theatre op-
eration, to be aware and alert to the family
trade. As Charlie says, “They come in
eights and elevens, to the movies.” We’ve
always known this to be true showmanship
in the small towns where we had our orig-
inal training. We recall that our old fourth
grade school teacher, and her sister, both
retired, took over the theatre in our home
town, years after we worked thtte. Folks
said they never knew whether Miss Barnes
would say “How many ?” through the ticket
wicket, or ask her former pupils ro name the
states that bordered Pennsylvar.ia. She
knew every child, and their parents, when
they were children. — Walter Brooks

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION, JUNE 26, 1954

Go Far
This Ride!

Providence, R. I., one of fhe first
cities selected tor return engage-
ments of "Gone With the Wind,"
had this jogging ballyhoo on the
streets, as a simple but effective
device, and one of fifty stunts
maneuvered by manager William
J. Trambukis who is back in his old
home town, at Loew's State thea-
tre.

Ted Davidson, manager of
Walter Reade's Majestic
theatre, Perth Amboy, N. J.,
arranged the interesting
"Carnival of Fun" display
below tor a variety of new
attractions.

Jack Sage, manager of the
Michigan theatre, Detroit,
used a battery of lobby
telephones to "Dial M tor
Murder" with a message
for all who listened over
the wire.

U5TENT01H£lVtESSAGe

Phil Katz sends us two pictures
from Warner's Pittsburgh zone. At
left, Earl Gordon, manager of the
Squirrel Hill theatre, gave folks a
ride in an ancient car to see
"Genevieve." Below, a display
idea for "Lucky Me" placed at
the Stanley theatre by Harry Bur-
ger, publicist for Stanley Warner
theatres in Pittsburgh.

MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 26, 1954

owmen in

^^cti

Charles Gaudino, manager of Loew’s Poll
theatre, Springfield, Mass., gratified with a
three-column front-page picture of winners
in his Jaycee “Miss Springfield” beauty
contest, held on stage at the theatre.

▼

Lin Martyn, manager of the Capitol thea-
tre, Niagara Falls, Ontario, had a colorful
kiltie band as a lobby and street attraction,
and they looked like the real Scotch. He
also distributed Scotch Mints, to advertise
“The Kidnappers” which has an unforget-
table Scotch twist.

W. S. Samuels reprinted the classic “Let-
ter from a Son to His Dead Father” as a
special Father’s Day front page on his roto
program from the Texas theatre, Dallas,
Texas.

A1 W. Yahraus, manager of the Byran
theatre, Byran, Ohio, population around
6,000, had the biggest full-page splash for
“Carnival Story” we’ve seen, sponsored by
ten merchants and with extraordinary dis-
play and poster values.

T .

Bill Sobel, manager of the Starlight
Drive-In, Stamford, Conn., as a public re-
lations gesture, allowed sponsorship by the
Junior Chamber of Commerce of parking on
theatre grounds during the one-day stand
of the Ringling Brothers-Barnum & Bailey
Circus, with the parking fee donated to
Chamber charity activities.

D. C. Murray, supervisor for Alliance
Theatres at the Embassy theatre, Fort
Wayne, Ind.,. sends a tear sheet of a co-op
ad for the grand opening of the South Ko-
komo Drive-In, which was sponsored wit'.i
$225 of merchant advertising, towards $16d
for the ad, and $100 for the fi reworks.

Art Cauley, manager of the Paramount
theatre, Peterboro, Canada, broke down the
tough resistance of a local newspaper editor
with a deal that brought 130 carrier boys to
see the RKO short film, “Johnny Gets His
Route” — and a three-column news picture.

▼

Dave Weinstein, manager of Walter
Reade’s Atlantic Drive-In at Pleasantville,
N. J., sponsored a Red Cross blood drive as
a community relations project, and the At-
lantic City press confirmed the fact that
200 pints of blood were collected as a re-
sult of the special activity.

▼

Harry Wilson, manager of the Capitol
theatre, Chatham, Ont., obtained a five-col-
umn co-op ad for “The Long, Long Trailer”
and had a street photographer making
ballyhoo.

▼

Paul Flodin, publicist for Paramount in
-Stockholm, conducted a contest to find
Sweden’s Audrey Hepburn as a special pro-
motion for “Roman Holiday.”

John McGrail, U-1 field exploiteer, and
Alien Widem, friendly him editor of the
Hartford Times, alerted New England to
a location crew, working on local scenes
for the upcoming Universal picture, “Five
Bridges to Cross.”

▼

Frank Lynch, manager of the Salem Play-
house, Naugatuck, Conn., used the small
town approach in his newspaper advertising
for “Rose Marie” and underlined a “Little
Folks Show’’ for afternoon.

Lou Cohen, manager of Loew’s Poll
theatre, Hartford, obtained a three-column
newspaper story with Oscar Doob’s survey
of the potential audience waiting to see
“Gone With the W’ind” over his b}'line — and
the space rates attention.

▼

Tony Masella, manager of Loevv’s Poli
theatre, Meriden, Conn., ran a “Perfect Sec-
retary” contest as promotion for “Executive
Suite” — with a newspaper questionnaire to
be filled out by contenders.

▼

Leonard Boyd, city manager for Catawba
theatres, Newton, N. C., sends photographs
of the attractive front display and street
stunts he has been using for current films.
V

Alfred Loewenthal, manager of Skouras’
David Marcus theatre in the Bronx, had a
fine tieup for those swords, shields and scab-
bards for “Prince Valiant” as a juvenile
attraction. A toy manufacturer sponsored
a window disjday.

George A. Lazzato, projectionist at the
Brooklyn V. A. Hospital, caught our error
in saying that two Glenn Miller reissues
were from Universal, for he knows correctly
that these two films originated with 2()th
Century-Fox.

The WCPO stations in Cincinnati, ex-
tended special invitations to attend an ex-
clusive disc-jockey presentation of the
CinemaScope production, “Three Coins in
the Fountain” at Keith’s theatre.

Vic Love, publicist for the Wadworth
Drive-In, Denver, placarded taxi-cabs with
an offer to pay the cab fare for any group
of four or five pasengers, up to a $1.60
maximum, if they took a Yellow Cab to the
suburban drive-in. Wha’ hoppens to the cab
and the driver, after the show ?

Another of those gorillas we’re allergic
to appears in news pictures from the Empire
theatre, Portland, Maine, and the only rea-
son we can manage a mention of “Gorilla
At Large” is because of Mary Hardy, local
“victim" — kidnapped by this loathesome
creature.

Herb Chappel, manager of the Palace
theatre, Guelph, Ontario, arranged a very
nice tieup with Salada Tea to pour as pro-
motion for “Elephant Walk” in the lobby
stunt, plus twenty-four plugs on the radio
and nice response from matinee patrons.

Sol Sorkin is “Father of the Bride” — so
it says here in the Syracuse Post Standard,
and they are not referring to any return
date on a Spencer Tracy picture. This is in
real life, when daughter Phyllis was mar-
ried to a Syracuse University graduate.

Now we know what "The Long Waif" was for — to get this good picture of George Peters,
manager of Loew’s theatre, Richmond, with attractive stariet, Mary Ellen Kay, who is
pretty promotion for the United Artists picture, now on a personal appearance tour,
and H. V. Schenck, president of the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, all of whom cooper-
afed in a tieup to advertise theatre and attraction.

MANAGERS’ ROUND TABLE SECTION, JUNE 26, 1954

DAVE LIPTON KEYS HIS
POLICY TO PLAYDATES

We have always thought that David A.
Lipton, vice-president of Universal Picture
Company, in charge of advertising and pub-
licity, was most consistent in his continuing
policy of keeping advertising in harmony
with playdates. This year, his company has
enlarged upon its national magazine adver-
tising budget, and again we applaud the
fact that his timing is always good, close
enough to playdates so theatres may reason-
ably expect their patrons to find “desire to
see” in current ads for pictures that are
currently playing.

Food Store Distribution

To accent his viewpoint, he has placed
substantial advertising this year in Family
Circle, with its national circulation of
4,000,000, and IV Oman’s Day, with circula-
tion of 3,957,818, both of which are dis-
tributed through food store chains. As
IVomun’s Day so aptly put it, in their own
advertising trade press, “The lady of the
house must go out to get Woman’s Day” —
for you can’t subscribe to this magazine, and
the only place to obtain it is at the A. & P. !
Which is a neat reference to the fact that
we also want folks to go out to the movies.
Such an idea could stand repetition. Uni-
versal has always placed much confidence
in the value of the national magazines with
readership in the women’s field, and cur-
rently every type of woman’s publication is
being used in a comprehensive campaign to
cover this entire cross section of the audi-
ence.

Promotes Local Playdates

Universal has also pioneered in the policy
of taking large blocks of space in national
magazines to actually print local playdates,
state by state, for theatres that have the
picture booked within a certain period. The
strongest use of this approach was in recent
two-and-a-half page spreads for “Saskatche-
wan” in both lAfe and Look, which listed
1,150 theatres and their playdates. Such pro-
cedure brings national magazine advertising
right down to the local level, and makes it
possible for the manager to display the na-
tional magazine advertisements in his own
lobby display, which is a perfect tieup. Too
many national magazine ads are four or five
months, or even more, off base, with regard
to playdates on Main Street.

The fan magazines are another separate
field, and worth upwards of five million con-
stant readers. This field has always been
too far ahead of playdates, because their
eager-beaver correspondents try for “scoops”
which are even beyond the capacity of the
New York critics to cope with. They review
pictures that haven’t been made, much less
released or available for bookings across the
country. There is nothing more confusing
to the movie-going public than to read about
pictures that are not available to their local
theatres, and the reaction is strictly antago-
nistic to the theatre manager, who is blamed
for not being able to book a picture that is
still in the studio. The industry should take
steps to avoid such practice, and it would be
worth another million dollars in public
relations.

In preparation for the fifth release of
David O. Selznick’s production of “Gone
With the Wind,” Howard Dietz of MGM
set up a special research department, under
the supervision of Oscar Doob, to conduct
a nation-wide survey in high schools. A
special questionnaire was sent out, and a
sample at hand, from Brockton, Mass., in-
dicates the thorough manner in which this
canvass was made. The Faculty Adviser
told Mr. Doob that of 89 girls, there were
80 who had never seen the picture, and of
51 boys questioned, 42 had never seen it.
The total enrollment of 500 would show
a very high percentage of potential patrons.

Through the actual questioning of 34,723
high school girls, and 31,328 high school
boys, on a nation-wide scale, MGM comes
up with the prediction that there are at
least 6,000,000 high school pupils waiting
to see the film. The poll shows that over
90% have not had an opportunity to see
the picture, although all know about it, or
have read the book. Those who have seen
it express a desire to see it on the new
wide screen, with stereophonic sound. In
2,500 schools, the teachers asked just two

“Magnificent Obsession” is the picture
which Universal is currently giving top-
bracket treatment in its national magazine
advertising, with a potential readership ol
45,530,294 in twenty-six publications-, includ-
ing McClena’s magazine in Canada, one of
the most important in dealing with our
friendly neighbor across the border. The
national advertising campaign on “The
Glenn Miller Story” is probably the best on
record for the biggest grossing film in the
history of the company. With the Sunday
supplements, this had a total readership of
close to sixty million persons. “Walking My
Baby Back Home” had equivalent treatment
in the long list of films that have enjoyed
the benefit of Dave Lipton’s national policy.

It’s particularly true, right now, when in-
dependent film producers promise a schedule
of films unknown and unseen, that national
magazine promotion becomes noticeably im-
portant. When a producer says he will make
so-many films in such-and-such a time, it
becomes quite necessary for the public to
acquire some slight acquaintance and the
proverbial “desire to see” in advance of play-
dates, or at least, when these pictures are
offered in the local market. — W. B.

questions, of boys and girls separately, to
obtain the necessary information. Even
MGM was surprised to find out that the
Margaret Mitchell book was required read-
ing in high schools, fifteen years after the
original publication. Many pointed out the
story as a vital help in teaching American
history. Forty-one New York schools have
arranged theatre parties at Loew’s State,
with more than 3,000 pupils attending.

MGM has conducted other surveys among
adults and as a result expect a potential
audience of over 20,000,000.

How Many Namesakes
In Your Town?

Cute trick in connection with the 15th
Anniversary Re-Opening of “Gone With the
Wind” at Loew’s Grand theatre, Atlanta —
which probably can’t be duplicated elsewhere
— the entertaining of Rhett Sweeney and
Scarlett Hitchcock, local kids, 14 years old,
who were named for the characters in
GWTW during the original engagement in
1940. The youngsters were given the red
carpet treatment.

3Millions of Teen-Agers
Igniting to See GUVTUV

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

Field Man "DEMETRIUS ' ADDS NEW
In Action WARMTH TO "THE ROBE"

T. Bidwell McCormick, RKO field man
in action, compiled this interesting diary of
a busy week. You’ll agree these exploiteers
earn their salaries, and get over a lot of
ground, every day.

Monday — In Dallas, Tex., Accompanying
Bill Berg, Disney Artist on tour of public
schools. Visited 17 grade schools at which
Bill did shows which were very highly re-
ceived by both students and faculty, as were
his demonstrations throughout the week.
Also did a TV show on Jerry Johnson’s
program over KRLD-TV and was inter-
viewed, along with Milt Schaeffer, by Roual
Askew of Dallas News.

Tuesday — Took care of necessary detail in
connection with arrangements for the tour
and checked with Sol Sachs and Ben Cam-
mack.

Wednesday — Made two cities this day doing
4 grade schools in Sherman, Tex., as well as
interview with John Lovelace of the Sher-
man Democrat. Planted coloring contest to
advertise “Pinocchio” in Sherman Democrat
offering Disney reproduction as capital prize.
In Denison, in addition to making 3 grade
schools and one additional performance, Berg
met with a group of Girl Scouts and also did
newspaper interview. I planted coloring
contest in Denison Herald with similar prize
to be awarded.

Thursday — In Paris, Tex., covered 4 grade
schools and 1 high school, attended Lions
Club Luncheon, did newspaper interview,
planted art and set up another coloring con-
test in the Paris News.

Friday — Covered 5 grade schools (7 shows),
Berg was interviewed by Morning Tele-
graph, which paper used two column art and
story. I planted contest and also had cut
made of Berg drawing “Pinocchio” from
which I had mats pulled and these together
with a specially written story and his biog-
raphy I mailed ahead to all towns we are to
visit on the tour so that advance publicity
will be secured as well as the current in-
terviews.

Saturday — Covered Kid Shows in four
towns, Longview, Kilgore, Gladewater and
Marshall, Texas, planted art in Kilgore New-
Herald also contest; secured interview with
two column art in Marshall News-Messenger
and arranged for Coloring Contest on “Pin-
occhio.” Planted story in Sunday Longview
Daily News-Journal with 2 column art of
Berg with drawing of “Pinocchio.” Also
planted contest. Had story coverage by
Gladewater Mirror and arranged for contest.
Gladewater High School paper “The Bear.”

Sunday — The tour is being very well received
and is building a great deal of good will, as
getting splendid newspaper coverage. Ac-
ceptance by school principals and teachers
has been very gratifying — many asking for a
return visit or trying to arrange with us for
visits to other schools and since the publicity
has beep breaking we are having requests
from neighboring towns for appearances.

“Men of the Fighting Lady” rated a 21-
gun salute at Loew’s Warfield, San Fran-
cisco, with a preview on board the carrier
U. S. S. Oriskany, arranged by Jim McMil-
lan, of the theatre, and John Norcop, MGM
field representative.

The biggest pre-selling job in history has
already been done for “Demetrius and the
Gladiators” — with something like forty mil-
lion customers, paying something like fifty
million dollars, to see “The Robe” in thirty
countries, around the world. Behind that,
was a great best-selling novel and a build-up
that extended over 16 years of pre-produc-
tion publicity. Everyone who has seen, and
liked, “The Robe” is a potential customer
to see, and like, “Demetrius and the Gladi-
ators”— and probably with a degree of ac-
claim that surely adds to the ticket-machine
tabulations, across the nation.

Greatest Pre-Selling

You need have no fear to alert the schools,
the libraries, the church groups, the book
stores, the women’s clubs and organizations,
and all others who you find “hard to get”
for ordinary movies, to wait their chance to
see “Demetrius” in new dimensions, equal
to “The Robe” in scope and power and
color. The most extensive national adver-
tising campaign in the history of 20th
Century-Fox has been devised to place this
picture high on the lists of those who read
up on the movies. Starting May 31st, a
total of 191,224,072 impressions among
magazine readers will be registered, plus
two-color ads in 113 Sunday newspaper
magazine supplements. Opinion makers in
every community will be active in appraising
the sequel to “The Robe” — and praising it
in equal measure. It’s 1954’s most spectacu-
lar showmanship event.

The pressbook, at hand, contains every-
thing that the early run theatres may re-
quire, including the 850-odd small theatres
that are now on the early run schedule with
their new CinemaScope equipment. The big
35c economy ad mat, at National Screen,
gives you everything really needed in a small
situation, for the price of a single mat. But
for the picture that begins where “The

Robe” leaves off, you need another yard or
so of showmanship material. We urge some
big display ads, over and beyond your usual
budget, not only to impress your patrons,
but also your newspaper man, who may not
stand the shock, and will thus soften up for
the future.

Important note on sound in advertising,
copied verbatim from the pressbook. 20th
Century-Fox productions, including this one,
are now to be available in four-track, high-
fidelity magnetic stereophonic sound ; one
track high-fidelity magnetic sound, and one-
track optical sound, which is as was, before
the stereophonic era. We predict that the
foremost theatres will be foremost in their
use of forward-looking devices for the pro-
tection of their patronage.

Best Sales Approach

“Demetrius” looms as one of the biggest
CinemaScope grossers with opening day
earnings reported at the Roxy theatre. New
York, and eleven other first-run dates ahead
of the previous record. The opening play-
dates were bulwarked with the $250,000
national magazine and newspaper advertis-
ing campaign, as well as large scale TV and
radio spot advertising, in line with Fox pol-
icy. The company has recently signed a
basic, term contract with a major network
for spot TV advertising on a national scale,
the first such contract to be comparable to
national advertising space.

A unique feature — and one that is paying
dividends — has been the billing of the film as
a sequel to “The Robe” featuring the copy
line, “It starts where ‘The Robe’ leaves off.”
All ads and promotion has been keyed to
this slogan, thus making a direct appeal to
the millions who have already seen “The
Robe” and bringing back this audience to the
same theatres. Box office reports confirm the
wisdom of this selling approach in the early
playdate=.

VIC ror

yM'V-l

mZHkiC J-

iilE-F- -

The 24-sheet for "Demetrius and the Gladiators" is one of a collection of accessories,
which have been designed especially to create lobby and marquee display. You can cut
out this 24-sheet art work, and separate it into parts, for shadow box or dimensional
displays. Note that foreground and background are divisable — and that pictorial and
block sections may be rearranged to suit.

MANAGERS' ROUND TABLE SECTION. JUNE 26, 1954

Putting Mare Pap in
Papcarn^Bg Ear

Bob Wile, secretary of Independent Thea-
tre Owners of Ohio, in his current luilletin,
tells how to put more pop in popcorn just by
listening. So, if your ears are tuned, you
can know whether or not you’re getting all
the pop there is to get. He says that even if
the efforts to improve the quality of pictures
is not always successful, scientists are en-
deavoring with great success to improve an-
other facet of movie going. Furthermore, it
is good to see that popcorn is being identified
in the public press with theatre going. He
quotes an AP dispatch as follows :

“It may be too dark in the movie for you
to notice it, but they’re putting more pop in
your popcorn. The bigger pop is the triumph
of Purdue University geneticists who have
liecn trying for 14 years to coax more cups
of popped corn from one cup of unpopped
corn. Their current record is 36 cups. A
few years back, 30 was considered tops. In
their laboratory echoing with muffled stac-
cato explosionss. Nelson and his aides have
come up with a yellow-grained 'orn known

as ‘202.’ The researchers say its ‘expan-
sion ratio’ and ‘burst measurement' are
terrific.

“Theatre owners think it’s terrific, too.
The bigger the pieces of popcorn, the fewer
it takes to fill a bag. Associate geneticist
O. E. Nelson says the consumer should be
happy as well, because ‘the more a kernel
e.xpands the crisper, flakier and more tender
it is.’ ’’

“Nelson can tell by listening to the kernels
pop whether they are just right for the pop-
per. ‘People who have popped a bjt of corn
can tell whether it is too dry or too wet by
the way it sounds,’ he said. ‘If it’s too wet,
it has a kind of dull thud. If it’s too dry, it
crackles.’ The right sound. Nelson said, is
a ‘sharp’ e.xplosion.” Popcorn pops when
heat causes the tiny bit of moisture in each
kernel to expand. The grain pops best if it
contains 133^% moisture.

You might inquire from your own pop-
corn supplier if he can get you this new 202,
with stereophonic sound.

"Grea•^es■^ Show" Reopens
In Baraboo, Wisconsin

Plans are under way for the spectacular
re-release of Paramount’s “Greatest Show
on Earth” at the plush A1 Ringling theatre
in Baraboo, Wisconsin, traditional winter
quarters of the famous circus. The plans
include a gala parade and celebration in
tribute to the Cecil B. DeMille film of circus
life, which with this engagement will have
been shown by Jake Eskin for the third
consecutive summer. The picture played
originally in the A1 Ringling theatre to one
of the biggest grosses in the 39-year history
of the fabulous house, which is managed by
Pershing Moyle. The film is on the way to-
wards acquiring the record for greatest
grosses.

Evan Thompson, manager of Skouras Fox
theatre, in Hackensack, N. J., sends a copy
of the Sears, Roebuck and Company “Bar-
gain Carnival” — a sixteen-page advertising
throwaway, in which he obtained a coopera-
tive ad for “Carnival Story” — quite unusual,
and it’s a monthly deal. They distribute
50,rM)fl copies.

LOOK TO

FILMACK

FOR THE FINEST
ANNOUNCEMENT

TRAILERS

1327 S. Wabaih ■ Chicago, III. 630 Ninth A«t. ■ Now Yorrh. N. Y.

F. W. Smith, manager of the Stewart &
Everett Center theatre, Monroe, N. C., ex-
changed cartons for cartoons, in a deal with
a local dairy, whereby children brought in
empty milk containers to obtain free tickets
for an all-cartoon show, with free Beechnut
gum and ice cream furnished.

Robert E. Diem, manager of Loew's Colo-
nial theatre, Reading, Pa., uses this advisable
and profitable method of tieup with national
magazines, in his lobby, simultaneous with
playdates and publication. It's the best way
to bring expensive advertising down to the
local level.

. . . Timely news supplementing the
special monthly department covering
all ph ases of refreshment service.

Bright Cand^
Future Seen

The future of candy,
“largely because of its universal appeal,” is
one of the bright spots of the American
economy and members of the industry in all
its branches can look forward to 10 good
years. That’s the finding of the publication
Candy Industry in a nation-wide survey on
“what to expect in the next decade” as re-
ported in a recent issue.

Highlighting the developments predicted
for the industry in the survey is the emer-
gence of the “dime bar’’ as a key item in the
marketing set-up with the nickel product re-
]fl.acing penny goods of the past and with
15c candies taking the place of current
“dime” sellers.

It was also revealed that a greater empha-
sis will be placed on research technology
“which will result in better candy — candy
that will taste better, look better and ‘live’
longer.”

A third subject in the survey involved
consumer advertising and promotion, and it
was predicted that this will be increased —
“both in the field of industry campaigns and
individual use of media for brand identifica-
tion.”

Concerning the consolidation of existing
candy manufacturing companies, it was pre-
dicted that this trend will continue with
“emphasis on the development of fewer but
more secure operations, with more efficient
plants and greatly expanded distribution.”

Finally, a vast increase in the use of re-
frigeration and air conditioning, including
for retailers shelves and counters, was fore-
seen

In interpreting the results of the survey,
Candy Industry declared that this “construc-
tive and altogether probable” view of the
next 10 years was made possible by what has
happened to the industry in the past decade.
The candy business today, it stated, is a “bil-
lion dollar (or pretty close) one” at the
wholesale level.

“And what is more important,” it contin-
ued, “more people are eating and are aware
of candy today than ever before in the his-
tory of the industry. With the population
expected to reach close to 200 million in the
next decade, millions more candy consumers
are in the making.”

MOTION PICTURE HERALD. JUNE 26, 1954

• • # Ever stop to think of what is

compiling and producing the industry’s most-
often-used reference book each year? The more than one
thousand pages of Motion Picture and Television
ALMANAC are checked and rechecked and revised . . .
out-dated data is eliminated and useful new information
is added . . . facts, facts, facts— literally tens of thousands of
items are obtained and examined ... In the Who’s Who
section alone, there are approximately 12,000 concise, cor-
rect biographies of personalities in or associated with the
motion picture, television and radio industries. And that
is but one of the 15 thumb -indexed sections!

The big job for the 1954-55 edition of the ALMANAC
is well under way. Soon, its thousands of subscribers
throughout the United States and Canada and in over
eighty foreign countries will have the 26th edition in their
hands, and the up-to-date facts at their finger-tips.

Edited by

Charles S. Aaronson

$5 posfpaid-
Quigley Publicafions
1270 6th Avenue
New York 20, N. Y.

Thuml>-intfexe4 in

IS 0ffaMje4

Corps. \ McthM

Eguipmenn

The 1955

Motion Picture

and Television

A QUIGLEY PUBLICATION

says:

“THE CAINE MUTINY

takes on the boxoffice power
of such money-making giants as
‘Gone With The Wind’ and ‘The Robe’.”

THE CAINE MUTINY

STARRING

Humphrey Bogart - Jose Ferrer
Van Johnson - Fred MacMurray

and Introducing

ROBERT FRANCIS • MAY WYNN .....TECHNICOLOR

Screen Play by STANLEY ROBERTS ■ Based upon the PuliUer pn;e winning novel by HERMAN WOUK

Directed by EDWARD DMYTRYK • A COLUMBIA PICTURE • A STANLEY KRAMER PROD.

Scanned from the collection of
Margaret Herrick Library
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Coordinated by the

Media History Digital Library
www.mediahistoryproject.org

Funded by a donation from
Columbia University Libraries

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Full text of "Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1954)"

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