Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1955)

2 Motion Picture Daily Tuesday, November 15, 195. PERSONAL MENTION CHARLES M. REAGAN, M-G-M vice-president and general sales manager, and Howard Dietz, vicepresident and director of advertisingpublicity and exploitation, will leave New York for the Coast tomorrow. • Leo F. Samuels, Buena Vista president and general sales manager, and James O'Gaha, home office sales supervisor, have returned to New York from a Coast-to-Coast tour. • Edward L. Hyman, vice-president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, and Bernard Levy, his assistant, have returned to New York from Minneapolis and Chicago. • Spyros P. Skouras, president of 20th Century-Fox, and William C. Gehring, executive assistant general sales manager, are in Indianapolis today from New York. • Earl McClintock, member of the Paramount directorate, has arrived in London from New York via B.O.A.C. Monarch. Jack Harris, buyer for the Walter Reade circuit, left New York with Mrs. Harris yesterday for a cruise to the West Indies. • F. J. A. McCarthy, Universal Pictures Southern and Canadian sales manager, will leave New York today for St. Louis. Ben Lorber, manager of the Universal Pictures insurance department, will leave New York today for Trinidad. Myron Blank, president of Theatre Owners of America, arrived here by plane yesterday from Europe. • Jack H. Levin, president of Certified Reports, has returned to New York from Chicago and Detroit. Edward Morey, Allied Artists vice-president, has returned to New York from the Coast. • Anatole Litvak, producer, will arrive in New York by plane today from Paris. • Milton J. Salzburg, president of Cornell Films and Award Television Corp., has left here for London and the Continent. • Adolf R. Schwartz, manager of Westrex Co., India, has returned to Bombay from New York. You Gotta Watch That Left Hand! Special to THE DAILY ROME, Nov. 14.-ENIC, Italy's largest theatre circuit and a government owned and operated enterprise, has been cited to the State Arbitral Committee by two Italian producing companies who charge it with failing to reserve the compulsory 20 days per quarter for the showing of Italian films. Robert E. Sherwood, Playwright, Dies Robert E. Sherwood, three-time Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, died at New York Hospital yesterday following a heart attack which he suffered last Saturday. He was 59 years old. Sherwood wrote many screenplays, his most notable being that for the Samuel Goldwyn production, "The Best Years of Our Lives," which won nine Academy Awards. Goldwyn said of him yesterday: "American literature has lost one of its greatest figures and our country has lost an outstanding patriot. As a critic, dramatist, screenwriter and biographer he left an indelible impression on our time." MillionDollar Fund For WB's 'Ranger' An advertising and promotional budget of more than a million dollars will back Warner Brothers' film production of "The Lone Ranger," it was stated here yesterday by Jack Wrather, president of The Lone Ranger, Inc., at a meeting held in the Roosevelt Hotel. Mort Blumenstock, vice-president in charge of advertising and miblicity for WB, told the group of plans for a nationwide 30-city personal appearance tour of "The Lone Ranger" beginning Jan. 13th to tie-in with the key city premieres of the Warner Bros, production. In addition to radio, TV and comic strip syndication, there will be tieins with General Mills, American Bakeries, American Dairy Association and General Mills of Canada. Martin Lewis Dies; Distributor-Exhibitor Funeral services will be held here today for Martin J. Lewis, distributor and exhibitor of foreign product, who died on Sunday. Lewis, who was 51 and who came here from Germany in 1927, operated the 55th Street Playhouse, Thalia Theatre, Heights Theatre and the 72nd Street Playhouse. Lewis also was an executive of Academy Productions. Coyne in Cleveland Urges Poll Support Special to THE DAILY CLEVELAND, Nov. 14.-Some 70 industry members attending the Greater Cleveland Audience Awards kickoff luncheon today were urged by Robert Coyne, special counsel for the Council of Motion Picture Organizations, to participate in the polls in order to perpetuate interest in motion pictures through new personalities. Coyne pointed out that a weekly audience of 45,000,000 to 85,000,000 does not indicate a lack of interest in films. The COMPO special counsel said that he anticipated the 5,000 pledged theatres will grow to 8,000 as the polls start on Thursday. Jack Palance, promoting United Artists "The Big Knife," was introduced as one of the most promising stars. All local first-run theatres here are participating in the poll, but greater Cleveland subsequent runs theatres have not committed themselves to participation, although, after Coyne's address, some subsequent run owners agreed to meet to discuss participation possibilities. Bromhead and Hoare Head New UK Firm From THE DAILY Bureau LONDON, Nov. 14.-Ralph Bromhead, formerly general manager of the J. Arthur Rank Overseas Distribution Organization, has been named managing director of Lion International, and Victor Hoare, former world vice-president of the Selznick Releasing Organization, has been named deputy managing director. Lion International is a newly formed company which will be responsible for the world distribution, excluding the United Kingdom, of all future films for which British Lion and John Woolf control distribution rights. Hoare is scheduled to leave here by plane Nov. 21 for New York to set up American distribution arrangements there. British Lion has 25 features in prospect for the next 18 months, 10 of them from Woolf's Independent Film Distributors. UATC Stockholders Will Meet Nov. 28 The annual stockholders meeting of United Artists Theatre Circuit will be held in Baltimore on Nov. 28, the circuit has informed its shareholders. On the agenda of the meeting are election of directors, ratification of actions since the last meeting and consideration of authorization by the board to appoint, at its discretion, a firm of accountants to audit the books and accounts of the corporation for the current fiscal year. . . . NEWS ROUNDUP Another First-Run The M & D Theatres have put i new first-run policy into effect ir Middletown, Conn.'s downtown Capi tol Theatre, bringing to two the num ber of first-run houses there. Celebrates Anniversary When the Uptown Theatre ii Houston celebrated its 20th anniver sary last week, the managemen brought back the picture that openec the house— "Top Hat," starring Gingei Rogers and Fred Astaire. Oldtimer who had attended the grand openin; 20 years ago were admitted free. Re freshments were served in the lobby M ■b nt' Sua 68j eai ' V lo. n in Sid [OttSf i: ' nil'!' Salute Awards at Grid Game The Audience Awards got a bi« plug between halves at the Ohi< State-Iowa game in Columbus las Saturday. The Ohio band saluted out standing pictures with music from thetjtive films. Announcements were made oveij the loud speaker and over 14 radi stations in Ohio, Iowa and Illinois. Italo-Mexican Deal Oscar Dancingers, Mexican pro ducer, is in Europe to arrange a Mex ican-Italian co-production deal for ; picture in CinemaScope and in color The picture will cost about $320,000 NEW YORK THEATRE RADIO CSTY MUSIC HALL Rockefeller Center "THE TENDER TRAP" in CinemaScope and Color starring Frank SINATRA • Debbie REYNOLDS David WAYNE • Celeste HOLM AN M-G-M PICTURE and SPECTACULAR STAGE PRESENTATION TV FILM SERVICE CENTER AVAILABLE ★ EDITING rooms ★ STORAGE rooms ★ OFFICES ★ SHIPPING rooms PROJECTION ROOM FACILITIES movielab THEATRE SERVICE, INC. 619 W. 54th St. • New York 19 • JUdson 6-0367 0 pn 'dm. &f to! MOTION PICTURE DAILY, Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Editor; Raymond Levy, Executive Publisher; Al Steen, News Editor; Herbert V. Fecke. Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager; Hollywood Bureau, Yucca-Vine Building, Samuel D. Berns, Manager; William R. Weaver, Editor, Telephone Hollywood 7-2145; Chicago Bureau, 120 South LaSalle Street, Urben Farley, Advertising Representative. Telephone Financial 6-3074; Washington. J. A. Otteu, National Press Club, Washington, D. C. ; London Bureau, 4 Golden Square, Hope Williams Burnup, Manager; Peter Burnup. Editor; William Pay, News Editor. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Motion Picture Daily is published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sxth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New York 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. Other Quigley Publications: Motion Picture Herald Better Theatres and Better Refreshment Merchandising, each published 13 times a year as a section of Motion Picture Herald; Television Today, pub'ished once weekly as a part of Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture Almanac, Television Almanac, Fame. Entered as second class matter Sept. 21, 1938, at the Post office at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3. 1879. Subscription rates per year, $6 in the Americas and $12 foreign; single copies, 1W.