Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

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New Techniques Will Feature SMPTE Meet United Artists To Emphasize TV Promotion . . . Five-day convention to be held in Los Angeles will have 15 technical sessions, see award of Society's annual honors Demonstrations of the new MGM 65mm system, 20th Century-Fox’s CinemaScope 55, and six-channel stereophonic sound will be among the feature attractions at the 80th convention of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, which opens at the Los Angeles Ambassador Monday, October 8. Fifteen technical sessions, an equipment exhibit, committee meetings and the presentation of Society awards will occupy delegates attending the five-day meeting. Discuss T ransistors The technical program contains papers on television, motion pictures, instrumentation and high-speed photography subjects. Of unusual interest, and never before featured in an SMPTE convention program, are papers on the principles and applications of transistors in motion picture and television equipment use. Motion picture sessions will cover motion picture and laboratory practice, sound recording, and projection and viewing. There will also be a demonstration of the Dumont Electronicam Film System recently delivered to Paramount Studios. Highlights of the television sessions will be the first technical papers on the Ampex Videotape Recorder, and a tour and description of the NBC Color TV Studios in Burbank. A full-day field trip to the U.S. Navy Electroncis Laboratory at San Diego has also been arranged for a limited group interested in instrumentation and highspeed photography. Presentation of 1956 Society awards will take place Tuesday evening, October 9. At that time Dr. William H. Pickering, director of the jet propulsion laboratory at the California Institute of Technology, will discuss the earth satellite, the major contribution of the United States to the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year. Dr. Pickering is a member of the United States National Committee Technical Panel on the Earth Satellite Program and is chairman of its working group on Tracking and Computation. The get-together luncheon will be held in the Embassy Room of the Ambassador on Monday at 12:30 P.M. Dr. John G. Frayne, president of the Society, will discuss the current status of motion picture technology and will introduce George Sidney, president of the Screen Directors Guild, guest speaker. The results of the elections will be announced at that time. The traditional cocktail party and banquet will be held Wednesday evening and will include the added attractions of an aquacade and Hawaiian Luau. The equipment exhibit in the Ambassador’s Sunset Room will include displays of latest film laboratory and motion picture and TV studio equipment. The Magnasync Manufacturing Company will unveil its new Marx IX Safari Console, a combination self-blimped studio console, magnetic film, sound channel which can be secured to a single-wheel trailer for mobile field operation. Also in the sound equipment line, the Cinema Audio Products display will feature custom designed special input consoles, pre-amplifiers, attenuators and equalizers. Other manufacturers and distributors participating in the exhibit are: Andre Debrie of America, Inc.; Animation Equipment Corporation; Bell & Howell Company; Berndt-Bach, Inc.; Fonda Corporation; Houston Fearless Division; Kiing Photo Corporation; Miller Precision Equipment, Inc.; Mole Richardson Company; Motion Picture Printing Equipment Company; Moviola Manufacturing Company; Neumade Products Corporation; Radio Corporation of America; Unicorn Engineering; W. M. Welch Manufacturing Company; and Westrex Corporation. Program for Ladies A program has been planned for the ladies by a committee co-chairmanned by Mrs. John G. Frayne and Mrs. Norwood L. Simmons. 'It includes an all-day trip to Disneyland, afternoon tea at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and luncheon at Warner Bros, followed by a tour of the studio. The registration desk in the Ambassador Lobby will open at 2 P.M. on Sunday, Monday at 9 A.M. and a half hour before each session. Fanchon & Marco Circuit Will Be Reorganized The Fanchon & Marco Theatre Circuit will be reorganized with the stock of Marco Wolff and his sister, Fanchon Simon and their families to be acquired by the corporation, it is announced by Harry C. Arthur, Jr., president. The exhibitor said the name of the corporation, which operates 50 theatres, will probably be changed to Arthur Enterprises, Inc., comprising the brothers and sons of Harry C. Arthur. The names of Fanchon & Marco will be released to Mr. Wolff and Miss Simon, he added, as these are their given names. United Artists will stress exploitation by television in promoting its product for the next 12 months and will hold a series of home office planning sessions to blueprint more effective ways of employing the TV medium, it was announced last week by Roger H. Lewis, national director of advertising, publicity and exploitation. The meetings, to be led by Mr. Lewis, will involve participation by Alfred H. Tamarin, assistant national director of advertising, publicity and exploitation; Mort Nathanson, publicity manager, and Joseph Gould, advertising manager. The full staffs of the various departments will take part in the October sessions. The subject of TV promotion will also be discussed in the field at meetings attended by U.A. exploitation men. A release schedule of about 48 pictures for the coming 12 months was announced recently by vice-president Max E. Youngstein. The U.A. emphasis on video exploitation as a mean of stimulating the box office runs counter to the policy of some other major distributors which have curtailed some phases of their television activity. “Let’s face the facts,” Mr. Lewis said. “In TV we have a medium that reaches a huge mass audience. The problem is simply developing a technique that will best point up the entertainment values of the product we have to sell. By ignoring or downgrading television, we would be wasting a major weapon in the continuing battle for the entertainment audience.” Noting the success U.A. already has enjoyed with its own application of video promotion, Mr. Lewis added the company’s practice of distributing special TV featurettes, planned before production and shot while the picture was in work, has met with wide acceptance by stations throughout the country. “We have checked the audience response to features of this sort,” Mr. Lewis added, “and, with very few exceptions, the results have been very good.” Jury Verdict to Stand In West Virginia Suit The motion to set aside the jury’s verdict in the case of Columbia Pictures Corp. et al, versus Rogers and Shore has been denied by the U.S. District Court of Southern West Virginia. A jury two months ago acquitted Lloyd E. Rogers and Mannie Shore, West Virginia theatre owners, of charges of “fraud” brought against them by the major motion picture companies. The plaintiffs had moved for a new trial. 26 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 6, 1956