Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1960)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY VOL. 88, NO. 75 NEW YORK, U.S.A., TUESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 1960 TEN CENTS Case in Supreme Court 'Coexistence Plea' Rejected In Times Brief Charges Chicago Tries to 'Choke Off' Films as Art \ WASHINGTON, Oct. 17. Times l?ilm Corp. has filed a reply brief l^ith the Supreme Court in its censorship suit against the City of Chicago. The court has assigned two jiours of oral argument to the case, i^o date has been set, but the court's alendar probably will permit argunent on Wednesday or Thursday. Attorneys Felix J. Bilgrey and Ab^er J. Mikva reject the City of Chicago's "plea for 'peaceful coexist(Continued on page 6) Offer Col. Employees $8, 351 } Shares Stock !in Columbia Pictures is offering 68,352 'hares of its common stock for purchase by eligible employees under a iilan outlined in a prospectus released We yesterday. Offering price has '»een set at $20 per share. The deadine for application by employees to narticipate is Nov. 4, 1960. The stock purchase plan was cre( Continued on page 3 ) Telemeter in England n 2 Years: Trevelyan I By SAMUEL D. BERNS i HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 17. John revelyan, secretary of British Board if Film Censors, on a visit here to ffer guidance to American producers a danger points, with respect to ob(Continued on page 2) ELEVISION TODAY— page 6 Broadcast Revenue $1.7Billionin1959 By E. H. KAHN WASHINGTON, Oct. 17. The Federal Communications Commission reports that the radio (AM-FM) and television broadcasting industry had total revenues of $1.7 billion in 1959, up 11 per cent from 1958. Television revenues were $1,163,900,000, up 13 per cent from the preceding year, while radio revenues climbed 7.0 per cent to $560,000,000. Combined radio and television profits before taxes for 1959 were $264,700,000, up 26.5 per cent from the ( Continued on page 6 ) Florida State Opens Underwater Theatre Special to THE DAILY JACKSONVILLE, Oct. 17.-Florida State Theatres, which has its home office here and operates a circuit of 60 theatres over Florida, has formally opened to the public a new million-dollar 500-seat underwater aqua-theatre at Weeki Wachee Spring under the management of Jack Mahon, former Pennsylvania showman. The only theatre of its kind in the world, the Weeki Wachee is nestled on a sloping side of Florida's "underwater Grand Canyon," and presents a lavish underwater ballet which is viewed through large glass panels at the front of the theatre. Form National Theatres SkoUMS Sees 3d Quarter As Subsidiary of NT&T From THE DAILY Bureau LOS ANGELES, Oct. 17. The formation of National Theatres which will operate as a division of National Theatres & Television, Inc., was announced today by B. Gerald Cantor, president of NT&T. Cantor said creation of National Theatres is the initial step in a long range program to strengthen opera(Continued on page 2) Net at 40< Per Share Earnings of 20th Century-Fox for the third quarter ended Oct. 1 were estimated by Spyros P. Skouras, president, yesterday at 40 cents per share on the 2,383,286 shares outstanding. Third quarter earnings last year were $1,159,662. Previously, 20th-Fox had reported earnings of $1.10 per share for the (Continued on page 2) Philippine Industry Produced 95 Films In 1959; Expect to Reach 100 in 1960 From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Oct. 17.— The Philippine motion picture industry produced 95 feature films in 1959-three more than in 1958-according to Nathan D. Golden, motion picture chief of the Commerce Department. Five producers completed 81, and the industry expects to reach 100 features in 1960. Of the 713 foreign feature films imported into the Philippines, U.S. film companies supplied about 73 per cent. (This compares with a U.S. share of 84 per cent of the 679 imported in 1958.) The British increased their share from less than 9 per cent in 1958 to about 17 per cent last year. Explanation offered is that U.S. companies are releasing fewer but more expensive films and that the British are improving on quality and capitalizing on U.S. curtailment. According to the Central Bank, $1,700,000 was allocated to foreign producers abroad during 1959, with film earnings in excess placed in blocked peso accounts. in the EAST it's MOVIELA® ^ ^ for.. BLACK Mild Opposition 20th-Fox Meet Approves Sale Of Studio Land $43 Millions Cash Deal Gets Stockholder Vote A special meeting of 20th CenturyFox stockholders at the home office yesterday approved the new agreement to sell the 267 acre West Coast studio tract to a subsidiary o f Webb & Knapp for $43, 000. 000 cash. The vote was 1, 7 9 5, 3 0 4 shares in favor, and 19,865 against. Although the company was Spyros Skouras not required to submit the plan to the shareholders, it did so and encountered mild opposition at the meeting. The stockholders last year had approved a deal (Continued on page 2) 20th-Fox Sees Oil Royalty Up to 50% Twentieth Century-Fox expects to increase its participation in oil royalties from drillings on its West Coast studio property from the current 11 2/3 per cent to a full 50 per cent later this year, Spyros P. Skouras, president, told company stockholders at their special meeting here yesterday. Under the terms of the company's deal with Universal Oil Co. its participation is restricted to 11 2/3 per cent until drilling costs have been fully recouped. This is expected to occur before the end of the year. COLOR FOR YOUR SCREENINGS STORAGE ■ M0VIELAB I BUILDING 619 W. 54th ST. NEW YORK 19. JUDS0N 6 0360 I