Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1960)

lesday, December 13, 1960 Motion Picture Daily amuels Assistant Snow Blitzes Theatres o Exclusive Head Leo Samuels I! Leo F. Samuels, former president Buena Vista Film Distributing orp., has been appointed executive 1 assistant to Ed . ward Gray, president of Exclusive International Films, Inc. Gray said that Samuels, who has held high level exexecutive posts in the film industry, would be active with him in the acquisition and distribution of films of the company 'nd in the development of other intersts A distributor of foreign and speial films, Exclusive International is f Winning an expansion program f/hich will see, in the next few weeks, f he creation of a network, in this | ountry, of distributor affiliates in all flnajor marketing areas. 1 Since leaving Buena Vista, which Tie served for over five years, Samuels I hvas head of" sales for United Motion I picture Organization. Film Festival ( Continued from page 1 ) "[Visit the Fair whenever they wished. CI! However, if that suggestion is to be idopted, much remains to be accomprJilished. At present, there is no proviJsion for motion picture screening facilities in any of the structures planned for the Arts Center. , Informally, officials connected with «the Center have expressed the view rthat if such facilities are to be proIvided it is up to the "wealthy" motion picture industry to come up with the required financing. The Center's funds, it was stated, were not available for the purpose, i Private contributions to he Center have been made by some promillj nent film industry persons, but these were without strings of any kind attached, it is known. Hence, even though the donors might like to see „ their funds applied to a model motion picture auditorium within the Cen■ ter, a decision to do so is up to Cen' ter officials alone, and thus far they ' have not seen fit to do so. In this connection, some industry executives have made representations to Center officials in an effort to win some recognition, and representation, of motion pictures as an art form in a project designed to be the cultural center of the U.S. All such efforts to date have been without result. Thus, if the Center, 3fi planned for completion by the time of ' the World's Fair, is to be the site of an official world's film festival, action to insure provision of the needed fadlit.es will have to be taken promptly. Should the world film festival mate ( Continued main poor for several days, extending the adverse effect on theatre attendance. Most theatre operators declined to estimate the cost of the storm to them in business, pointing out that this week and next are traditionally poor theatre weeks anyhow, because of the public's preoccupation with Christmas shopping and preparations. However, many noted that the weekend had started out well with excellent attendance Friday night and Saturday. Sunday business was well below average throughout the storm affected area and yesterday it was almost non-existent in many situations. In New York, subways and commuter trains kept fairly well to schedules, but the public's problem was in managing to get from their near-snowbound homes to stations. Buses, taxis and private cars were at a standstill in most localities. Many suburban roads and metropolitan side streets were impassable. For this reason, even neighborhood and suburban theatres failed to benefit from the thousands who were unable to get to their places of employment. Crippled by hundreds of absentees, home offices of all major productiondistribution companies closed down in the early afternoon yesterday. On Broadway, the hard ticket engagements held up well, probably because patrons with tickets purchased in advance were determined to make use of them. Radio City Music Hall, with its annual Christmas stage show and "The Sundowners" as the screen attraction, reported a "very big" $113,000 for the four days, Thursday through Sunday, with a tremendous $118,000 likely were it not for the weather. Most of the Broadway houses reported "fine weekend business" until about 5 P.M. Sunday, when the snowfall was reaching momentous proportions and keeping people indoors. The Capitol, where "Butter jrom page 1 ) field 8" is in its fourth week, reported a "good" Friday and Saturday, with a slackening off beginning at 5:00 P.M. Sunday, with Monday afternoon "surprisingly good," this attributed to people who managed to get to work but whose offices closed early yesterday afternoon. It was anticipated that some night business might be attracted among those who were stranded in the city for the night. The Astor, with "Inherit the Wind" and the Victoria, with "G. I. Blues" also reported "good Friday and Saturday returns," with a slump beginning on Sunday and continuing through late Monday. The Paramount, with "North to Alaska" in its fifth week had a good weekend, until late Sunday afternoon. Yesterday started slowly, but began to pick up late afternoon. The Palace theatre, with "Esther and the King," had good weekend business until Sunday, which was "very bad," as was yesterday at that house. The Forum, with "Let No Man Write My Epitaph," had a "good Saturday," with business dropping considerably on Sunday, and only one person in the theatre during the first hour yesterdav. The State Theatre, with "Ben-Hur" as its hard-ticket attraction, reported excellent weekend business, with Sunday "better than expected" despite the snowfall. The matinee that day was all sold out, with only 10 cancellations for the evening performance. The Rivoli, with "The Alamo" as its roadshow feature, reported a "good" Saturday and Sunday matinee, but a "very bad" Sunday nieht turnout. Theatre hoped for better business last nieht from those who mi°ht be stuck in town. At the DeMille "Spartacus" enjoyed a "tremendous" weekend, with the Sunday matinee and evening shows drawing big audiences both times, despite the weather. The theatre, like most others, expected to be "hurt" at last night's performance. New 'Greener9 Tie-Up Sayre Woods South, a real estate development will feature "The Grass Is Greener" and the stars of the Universal picture in its 1,200 line newspaper ads in the New York Journal-American and the Newark News on Friday and in the New York Times, the Newark News, the Newark Star Ledger and the Bergen Evening Record on Sunday, also announcing a special contest for evervbody visiting the Sayre Woods South development. rialize, it would be the first of its kind anywhere in the world, according to current ideas, and would be the first in this country in which the American industry would participate officially and completely. Diversification ( Continued from page 1 ) bowling alley located in the Newtonbrook Shopping Plaza in North Toronto which will be in operation about Feb. 1, 1961. In association with Clarence Marshall, FPCC has purchased the Arena property from the city of North Battleford, Sask., and will remodel the property into a 12-lane bowling alley to be in operation by Jan. 1, 1961. The Pygmy Bowling Alleys in Nanaimo, B.C., with 30 lanes were recently acquired by Famous Plavers. In Guelph, Ont., Toronto Bowlerama Ltd. his taken ^ a long-term lease on the Sportsman's Bowl, Toronto Bowlerama also operates the Nortown Bowling Lanes in Toronto. PEOPLE Martin Dibner, novelist and instructor at the University of California in Los Angeles, has been named West Coast editorial scout for Bantam Books. He will work with Robert Walter, Bantam's associate editor, in the acquisition of original manuscripts, particularly from students in various colleges. Walter will divide his time between east and west. □ William Hewitt who managed the Edgewood Theatre in Baltimore, resigned that post and has taken over the lease to operate the Ellicott Theatre, at Ellicott City, Md. Coverage for 'Exodus' ( Continued from page 1 ) telecast will show members of the first night audience arriving at the theatre, and there will also be interviews with the stars and the producerdirector of the motion picture. Jinx Falkenburg will act as master of ceremonies. At 9:00 P.M., WNTA-Radio will | broadcast a special one-hour program devoted to "Exodus." The first halfhour will contain highlights of the premiere. The remaining portion of the program will be devoted to interviews of the cast and film-makers of "Exodus" made by Mike Wallace during filming in Israel. Completing the coverage of the "Exodus" premiere, at 12:30 to 1:00 A.M., WNTA-TV will re-run the tape of the 7:30 to 8:00 P.M. live telecast of the premiere, reaching a second and completely new audience. L&G Gets Management Of Three Theatres Special to THE DAILY HARTFORD, Dec. 12. Arthur H. Lockwood, president of Lockwood & Gordon Theatres Circuit, has completed negotiations with the Park St. Investment Company and Community Theatres, Inc. of Hartford, whereby L&G assumes exclusive supervision, management and film booking for the Central, West Hartford; Colonial, Lenox and Lyric, Hartford. UATC Plans ( Continued from page 1 ) smaller towns where theatre business is unprofitable, plans are to convert properties into bowling alleys, and an unidentified concern is ready to consolidate with the theatre owners for that purpose, he said. Bollengier holds an optimistic outlook for the coming year based on what he refers to as "improvement in product." One change was effected in the board. John H. Powley of Rowley United Theatres, Dillas, Texas, was named a director filling the vacancy left when his father. Fdward H. Rowley, resigned last August.