The Exhibitor (Aug-Nov 1948)

12 THE EXHIBITOR M€l KOMSCOFFS MEW YORK WELL, WE’VE really lived now. Last week we flew down to Washington to witness White House ceremonies commemorating the issuance of the Youth Month stamp by President Harry Truman and Postmaster Jesse M. Donaldson. Why, we even got to shake the President’s hand and pass through some of the executive offices at the White House. To start at the beginning, Charley Skouras asked us to be his guest on the occasion and we just managed to make the plane at LaGuardia Airport by the skin of our teeth and that’s no foolin’. Another ten sec¬ onds and we would have been waving “Bon Voyage” from the outside instead of within. Before we could say “Jack Robinson” in Chinese, we were landing at the Washington Airport, whisked to TOA director Gael Sullivan’s hotel suite, thence to the White House, where a guard in¬ spected our invitation and our nice clean set of fingerprints and then we were m. By-passing the House press room, we through Truman’s executive office where he was waiting with a smile and a hand¬ shake, as well as a verbal greeting. Next we came to the portico and rose garden where the ceremonies of the President be¬ ing presented the first sheet of the new stamps by the Postmaster General were recorded for posterity by newsreel and still cameramen and the chief executive in turn made some of the stamp presenta¬ tions to representative youngsters from the nation. The ceremony attended by some 500 guests representing government agencies, youth organizations, the film industry etc., marked the first public ceremony in con¬ nection with TOA’s Youth Month cam¬ paign which will be launched nationally in September. The Postmaster General noted that while the stamp was “a small thing, it speaks and stands for so much — it will carry its message of youth into millions of homes each day.” The President also touching on the re¬ sponsibilities of youth said, “We are work¬ ing for peace not only in our time but for all time. I am as sure of that as I am standing here. We are coming into the greatest age in our history and I wish I were in this class (pointing to a group of boys and girls) instead of the one I am in.” Surrounding the President and the Post¬ master General were Attorney General Tom C. Clark, Senator Alben Barkley, Charles Skouras, national chairman of the TOA Youth Month committee, Ted Gamble and Gael Sullivan, president and execu¬ tive director of TOA. Following the ceremonies, we attended a luncheon hosted by Skouras at the Carleton Hotel attended by Drew Pearson, Harry M. Lowenstein, Oklahoma; Albert Pickus, Conn.; Fred Kogod and Sidney Lust, Washington; Ed Martin, Georgia, Kermit Stengel, Tenn.; Tony Muto, Wash¬ ington liaison, 20th Century-Fox; Joseph De Fiore, Delaware; Maury Miller, New Jersey; Herman Levy, TOA general counsel; Sam Shain, 20th Century-Fox home office director of exhibitor relations; Thornton Sargent, Stanley Prenosil and Henry Murdock, TOA; Chet Bahn, James Jerrauld, Walter Brooks, Andrew Older, and others. Of course we can’t forget Gael Sullivan and his fine job. Sam Shain, who did a fine job escorting press reps to and fro as well as hither and yon, was duly congratulated by Skouras at the luncheon with the latter remarking “Anytime 20th Century-Fox doesn’t want him I and National Theatres will take him.” The flight home was a little bumpy with Skouras beating Gamble at gin rummy, entered the usher’s office and after which went but no one in our group minded. Youth Month really got off to a flying start and it’s bound to wind up on the credit side of the ledger. THIS LION ROARED, TOO: Dore Schary, newly appointed and contracted vice president in charge of production at MGM, held a press confab in Howard Dietz’s office prior to actually taking over his job. And squatting (the only adequate word) on one of Dietz’s leather bucket seats amidst a number of press representa¬ tives, we heard Schary reiterate some of his production policies announced when he took over not so long ago at RKO in a similar capacity pre-H. H. He told us that future plans called for making more pictures per year than here¬ tofore, although he would name no num¬ ber and that films will not be hampered by a restrictive budget, preferring instead to let each feature find its own level, of course, bearing in mind a more confined market, mainly domestic. He estimated that about six more top films would be made over last year, as well as a number (between five and ten) moderately budgeted films, which he labeled as pro¬ gressive or experimental films, a carry¬ over from his RKO planning days. Schary estimated that a good “A” pic¬ ture can gross three million dollars do¬ mestically and as a result as much as $1,600,000 can be spent on its production. He did not entirely discount the foreign market, preferring to believe that some revenue can be extracted from certain remnants overseas. As far as the LatinAmerican market was concerned, he opined, that this would increase, perhaps not immediately, but in the future. He didn’t plan to buck production costs in any new or novel way, but rather to better prepare scripts and eliminate care¬ lessness. Schary estimated that production costs on the coast were on the downgrade and have been for the past six to eight months. He anticipated that the com¬ pany’s present story backlog would be re¬ examined and probably brought up to date. Commenting on the length of fea¬ tures generally, he thought that there were quite a number that were too long. He insisted, however, that a film should be long enough to tell its story and that pre-production examination can eliminate over-length. Questioned on the subject of television, Schary declined to venture an opinion on what that medium would do to the motion picture, if anything. Neither he nor the (Continued on page 17) Jericho" Opening B'way Highlight New York — Generally average business for this time of year was reported by the Broadway first-runs last weekend. Ac¬ cording to usually reliable sources reach¬ ing The Exhibitor, the break-down was as follows: “KEY LARGO” (WB). Strand, with stage show, claimed $26,000 for Friday through Sunday, the fifth week sure to top $52,000. “ESCAPE” (20th-Fox). Globe had a $16,000 opening week. “MAN FROM TEXAS” (EL). Gotham had an $8,000 opening week. “THE WALLS OF JERICHO” (20thFox) . Roxy, with stage and ice show, re¬ ported $80,000 for Wednesday through Sunday, the second week heading toward $105,000. “A DATE WITH JUDY” (MGM) . Radio City Music Hall, with Stage show, garn¬ ered $53,000 for Thursday through Sunday, the second week anticipated at $152,000. “RETURN OF THE BAD MEN” (RKO) . Mayfair reported $15,500 for the second week. “ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU” (MGM). Capitol, with stage show, hit $40,000 for Thursday through Sunday, the third week sure to tally $60,000. “BEYOND GLORY” (Para.) . Paramount, with stage show, took in $95,000 on the second week. “ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN” (U-I) . Criterion had a $22,000 third week. “THE BABE RUTH STORY” (AA). Astor had a $35,000 third week. “SO EVIL MY LOVE” (Para.). Rivoli claimed $22,000 for the third week. “EASTER PARADE” (MGM). Loew’s State reported $35,000 for the seventh week. “MR. PEABODY AND THE MERMAID” (U-I). Winter Garden claimed $24,000 for the first week. New Cadiz Suit Filed Cleveland^ — Emerson W. and Edwin B. Long, Cadiz, O., last week filed suit in U. S. District Court against the Schine Theatrical Corporation of Ohio charging violation of the Sherman and Clayton anti-trust laws. In the suit, similar to one recently filed in Columbus, the plaintiffs ask triple damages of $345,000, attorneys fees, and court costs, claiming that pressure from Schine in Mt. Vernon, O., resulted in the loss of the Memorial lease to the defendant. Buck Continues Tour New York — Frank Buck, accompanied by RKO eastern field supervisor, Harry Reiners, resumed his personal appearance tour last fortnight. First stop was Washington, where “Bring ’Em Back Alive” opened at the Metropolitan on Aug. 4. MPEA Stays In Holland New York — Directors of the Motion Picture Export Association, under the chairmanship of Francis S. Harmon, vicepresident, last week decided that MPEA will continue to operate in the Nether¬ lands. August 18, 1948