Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1960)

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Wednesday, October 5, 1960 Motion Picture Daily Anti-Pay-TV ( Continued from page 1 ) he declared. "My office and the offices of Theatre Owners of America and the »n American Congress of Exhibitors have been flooded with telegrams, letters and telephone calls asking for j more and more petitions. It appears I that every theatre manager in the land iihas indicated a willingness to do (everything in his power to do an alien: out job. "We started off by printing 100,000 petitions. Due to the great demand, we reprinted 100,000 more petitions Ittjiiand distributed them. "The results are far from final," Harling said, "but I am confident that when Congress convenes in January, regardless of which party gets elected, suit will have signatures from in excess btt( of 30,000,000 people, laying down a 3i ii mandate to enact legislation that will ban pay-tv in any form." Harling said that he is asking the nation's theatre managers to mail whatever remaining signed petitions they have on hand after Oct. 14 to their Congressmen, and to report to him how many petitions were forwarded. After receipt of these field reports, a final count on petitions will x made. He emphasized, however, that if iny theatre manager has his own reasons for continuing signature solicita:ion past Oct. 14, the manager should Dy all means do so. Harling, who is also chairman of TOA's Anti-Pay-TV Committee, dedared that not only have petitions }een forwarded to Congress from ';very state, but that thus far he has "■eceived more than 50 unsolicited letters from individual Congressmen who tave received petitions, advising him hey would support and vote for any egislation introduced in the next session of Congress, which aimed at legislatively outlawing pay-tv in any brm. VJ. Allied Silent on Availabilities Issue Further discussion of the worsening >roblem of availabilities confronting lorth Jersey theatres occurred at a neeting yesterday of Allied Theatre Dwners of New Jersey. The organization has long consid;red backing a legal action by one or nore of its members in an attempt to ;et advanced availabilities for the teritory. It retained Edwin P. Rome of Philadelphia, who has since met with listributors and obtained what was lescribed as about one-third of the elief sought from some companies. Whether any decision was reached ,>y New Jersey Allied yesterday on >roceeding with legal action or reuming negotiations with distributors :ould not be learned. The organization ssued no statement at the close of he meeting, and Sidney Stern, its resident, could not be reached for omment. An unofficial source, however, said he whole matter of availabilities is till in the discussion stage. Einfeld addressing the promotion meeting yesterday. Can-Can 'on Limited Policy [ Continued from page 1 ] the year. The first was held ten days ago in Chicago and the next one will be held ten days from now in New Orleans for the company's southem regional advertising-publicity managers. Einfeld will journey to the Louisiana territory for the meetings and will also hold extended discussions with groups of exhibitors from the area. Einfeld said yesterday that "Esther And The King," which opens before Christmas time across the country, will be introduced via a national beauty contest in every town, coordinated by exhibitors and 20th-Fox regional ad-publicity men. The contest will be open to any girl, regardless of race, creed or color. The first prize will be a trip to Hollywood for two. For "The Wizard of Baghdad," another of 20th-Fox's Christmas attractions, local-level activities, will center around local magicians, employed by the film company and traveling through their regions demonstrating tricks used by Dick Shawn as "the wizard" in the Sam Katzman production. The public will be invited to participate in the magicians' tricks on stages of theatres. Einfeld further outlined the stunt being planned for the bow of "North To Alaska." A young couple is being sought to emulate the trip to Alaska to be married as done by John Wayne and Capucine in die production. Regional publicity men will set stops in major cities throughout the country for tv appearances, interviews and meetings with the press and public. "This is high gear in exploitation," the executive said, "and another concrete example of do-it-yourself for exhibitors." He pointed out that these stunts can be duplicated in every locality, to follow the formula developed for the openings of "High Time." Attending the meeting yesterday were Rodney Bush, exploitation director; Edward E. Sullivan, publicity director; Nat Weiss, publicity manager; Martin Michel, radio-tv director; Adrian Awan, exploitation manager; Dick Richman, New York regional ad-publicity manager; Tom McCleaster, Clayton Pantages, Peter S. Myers, Bob Conn and Abe Dickstein, members of the sales cabinet; Ralph Buring of the Pittsburgh and Buffalo branch; Hal Marshall of Washington and Philadelphia; Phil Engel of Boston, and Hal Cummings of Charlotte. MGM Sets 91 More Dates For 'Ben-Hur' Openings Metro-Gold wyn-M ay er has set 91 new roadshow engagements of "BenHur" to open by Thanksgiving and another 200 by tbe New Year, it was announced yesterday by Robert Mochrie, general sales manager. Each will be given the same careful handling that has marked the success of "Ben-Hur" in its first 72 engagements, especially in theatre equipment and condition, and in advertising and promotion for the reserved seat performances. Plans for the new openings were set at a series of meetings in Chicago earlier when Mochrie and other M-G-M executives met with all of the company's field press representatives and "Ben-Hur" representatives. In each situation, the "Ben-Hur" field men, from all sections of the country, will be on hand well in ad vance of opening dates and will work closely with exhibitors on publicity and promotion until the engagement is well under way. 4Stars" Opening ( Continued from page 1 ) "I Aim at the Stars," a Columbia release. The film opens here tomorrow at the Tony Theatre. Huntsville is the site of the George C. Marshall Space Center and the home of Dr. von Braun, on whose career the picture is based. Every major newspaper in the South has been serviced with the promotional barrage from Columbia's press center located here. Special attention was focused on cities soon to play the picture and press coverage in those areas has helped to pre-sell the film. It will open in all major southern markets immediately after Huntsville. Roadshows Not Only Answer to TV: Preminger Roadshow engagements are not the only answer to television competition, Otto Preminger said here yesterday. He is not inclined to put too much importance on this exhibition plan, he said. His current film, "Exodus," however, is going out on such a policy. Preminger Hits ( Continued from page 1 ) gested that all branch offices be closed down and replaced by a centralized system in New York where exhibitors could be brought to view product "under modern, comfortable circumstances." Sees New York Meeting Preminger said that most of the country's major exhibitors could be brought to New York at a time when there was an abundance of new films and they could be greeted here by producers and advertising men. This he beli eves would not only enable them to merchandise films better in their dieatres, but would create an "enthusiasm and competitive spirit" that would mean the "resurgence of the motion picture industry." An opportunity for exhibitors and producers to meet regularly and compare mutual problems would be most productive, he declared. Would Reduce Costs "Streamlining" of distribution would have two major effects, according to Preminger. First, he predicted a reduction of present distribution costs by 75 per cent. He pointed out that a film which cost $2,000,000 to produce must take in $5,500,000 at the box office in order to break even. A new system could cure this, he asserted. His second reason was that by gathering major exhibitors in a body and stirring them to push new films, these pictures could realize greater revenues. He noted that most stores send buyers to New York in order to observe the latest fashions and products available and the film industry "had better adopt a similar plan or run the risk of seeing the present industry destroyed." Results to be Reported Observing that he remembered no big picture that was not sold direcdy by New York, Preminger went on to say drat the very small exhibitors who could not possibly come to the East would be informed of the results of such gatherings by the trade press and other media and would be able to sell new films from the reports of critical acceptance and box office receipts. Preminger said he did not begrudge distributors the fees he must pay them as a producer to handle his films, but he believes steps could be taken to cut costs extensively.