Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1960)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY VOL. 88, NO. 66 NEW YORK, U.S.A., TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1960 TEN CENTS Called 'Unconstitutional 20th-FoX Forms Six-Man Sales Cabinet DeccaUp, Too Appeal Sunday To Set UP #Local Autonomy^ System Show Ban to Supreme Court A six-man "sales cabinet" has been organized by 20th Century-Fox to formulate merchandising policies for new product and to confer on such policies with branch managers throughout the country, it was announced here yesterday b y C South Carolina Owners Cite Freedom of Speech, Press Special to THE DAILY WASHINGTON, Oct. 3.-A number of South Carolina movie theatres have carried their fight against the state's blue laws to the U. S. Supreme Court. Attorneys J. D. Todd, Jr., Greenville, S. C, and Chester D. Ward, Jr., Spartanburg, S. C, have filed a brief in their behalf asking the Supreme Court to take jurisdiction and asking the Court to overturn the opinion of the South Carolina Supreme Court. The theatres are seeking a declaratory judgment that the state law "prohibiting the orderly showing of motion pictures on Sunday" violates the first and fourteenth amendments to the Federal Constitution. The appellants are: The Carolina (Continued on page 3) Nixon Lauds Industry for Political Campaigns From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Oct. 3. Vice President Richard M. Nixon today congratulated the motion picture industry on its campaign to get out the vote and to enable employees to contribute financially to the part of their choice. The Republican Presidential candi( Continued on page 6 ) Stein Named Canadian Pioneer of the Year Special to THE DAILY TORONTO, Oct. 3.-Morris Stein, who was general manager of Famous Players eastern division until he resigned early in 1958 to open his own auto sales agency, was selected Pioneer of the Year for 1960, it has been announced by Frank H. Fisher, president of the Canadian Picture Pioneers. Stein, along with four Pioneers chosen to receive ancillary awards, will be honored at the annual ban( Continued on page 6 ) Glenn Norris, g e n e r al sales manager, at a trade press conference. Norris said the cabinet will implement the company's "local autonomy" system for branch manaagers and was designed t o provide improved service to exhibitors. All cabinet members will be available for conferences or discussions with (Continued on page 2) Glenn Norris 'Cimarron' World Bow Set in Oklahoma City The first public performance of MGM's "Cimarron" will take place in Oklahoma City on Dec. 1 as the governor's invitational world premiere, it was jointly announced by the company and Governor Howard Edmondson of Oklahoma. Robert Mochrie, MGM general sales manager, and executives of the Stanley Warner, which owns the Midwest Theatre, completed the arrangements for the special one night performance of the reserved seat attraction. Find 4 out of 70 Like Pay-TV Idea Almost four out of every ten television families in Metropolitan New York— 38.8 per cent— would have paid to see "Pollyanna" on television, according to a special Pulse survey conducted from June 13 to June 17 when the film was playing at the Radio City Music Hall. Results were released here yesterday. In June 1957 in a similar Pulse survey, 33.6 per cent of the tv families in die New York area indicated a willingness to pay to see the movie playing at the Music Hall at that time. Laurence Roslow, associate director of Pulse, felt that "this increase stems from the current programs available to viewers being considered poorer than those aired two years ago plus the fact that fewer topquality movies are being shown on television for the first time." The Pulse survey was aimed specifically at estimating the potential audiance and "box-office" gross for a specific "Grade-A" movie offered in competition with regular, free television fare. "Unlike many other surveys relating to pay television," Roslow said, "this technique provides a pin-pointed measurement of the au(Continued on page 6) SEC Rules Skiatron Registration Deficient; Cites Glaring Omissions From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Oct. 3.— The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a stop order suspending the effectiveness of a stock registration statement filed by Skiatron Electronics and Television Corp. In the Commission's findings and opinion, it cites "serious material deficiencies" in the registration statement and comments on transactions in the firm's securities by its president, Arthur Levey, and by Matthew M. Fox, holder of the franchise to exploit the Skiatron system of pay-tv. All trading in Skiatron stock has been suspended since Dec. 18, 1959. SEC says that this was deemed nec essary to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and manipulative acts or practices in Skiatron stock by reason of the general unreliability of information contained in the registration statement and other reports filed with SEC. The current suspension order expires at the close of business, Oct. 12. SEC says that "during the inter(Continued on page 3) Record Net for 'IT This Year Of $6 Millions Rackmil Sees Continued Improvement Next Year An all-time record net profit for Universal Pictures in excess of $6,000,000 will be reported by the company for its current fiscal year ending Oct. 31, Milton R. Rackmil, president, told the New York Society o f SecurityAnalysis yesterday. He also predicted all-time record earnings by Decca Rec Milton R. Rackmil ords, of which it' he is president also, of better than $4.25 per share on the 1.285,701 shares outstanding for the current year. This compares with $1.81 per share earned last year and includes the operations of Universal Pictures. Decca owns 87.6 per cent of Uni(Continued on page 6) NT&T Acquires Penna. Television Service From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 3.-\ational Theatres & Television, Inc., announced it had acquired the assets of the West Branch Television Services, Inc., in Williamsport, Pa. B. Gerald Cantor, NT&T president, said that the new community antenna television system would be integrated with another NT&T subsidiary, the Williamsport Cable Company, also in Williamsport, Pa., into a single operation giving NT&T one of the largest antenna systems in the country. Samuel P. Norton, president of Williamsport Cable Company, will direct both operations, Cantor said. The combined system will serve over 15,000 tv homes in Williamsport.