Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

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MOTION PICTURE HERALD MARTIN QUIGLEY, Editor-in-Chief end Publisher MARTIN QUIGLEY, JR.. Editor Vol. 205, No. 5 November 3, 1956 20th-Fox Looks Ahead IT IS welcome news for the entire industry that 20th Century-Fox is preparing its biggest production program in two decades. According to word from Hollywood, the company expects tc release between fifty and fifty-four pictures in the twelve months beginning in April, 1957. That program would almost double the current release schedule. Spyros P. Skouras, president and Buddy Adler, production head, recently have been planning 20th-Fox production policy. Approximately half of the planned features are to be made by the studio staff or be studio financed and made by Darryl F. Zanuck, David O. Selznick and Jerry Wald. Moreover, there is a confirmation that Messrs. Skouras and Adler think there is still a good market for low and medium budget attractions, for Robert Lippert is to make two dozen, including westerns, science-fiction and other action types. It is reported that Mr. Skouras believes that the public is about ready to turn attention away from television and shop for entertainment outside the home in greater numbers than ever before. He wants his company to be prepared for the expected potential patrons with enough product. Hollywood speculation is that one of the prime problems in completing the program will be casting such a number of pictures. On the other hand a production program of this magnitude is almost certain to develop new stars as well as attract established ones. What the business needs more than anything else is more pictures, featuring more players the public wants to see. The 20th-Fox production policy is an expression of confidence in the public’s abiding interest in theatrical entertainment. The Right to Disagree SOME people in the motion picture industry seem unduly quick to take offense when others disagree with their viewpoint. When the issues are complex, as they are today, it must be expected that a good deal of disagreement will arise at least in the initial stages of consideration of definite avenues of action. According to reports from Hollywood there was some opposition to the business-building proposals outlined there recently by a Motion Picture Association delegation from New York principally on the grounds that the ideas had not originated locally. This certainly is no time for excessive provincialism. The issues are too serious. Every project deserves careful study. It was inevitable that some exhibitors would feel that they should have been consulted sooner about the plans of the MPA for increasing theatre attendance. The matter of timing was a matter of judgment. Any disagreement on the point should not prejudice an objective and thorough consideration of the plans when they are presented to exhibitor representatives sometime later this month. Business-building projects, if successful, will benefit exhibitor and producer-distributor alike. To be successful, they require the cooperation of all in every sector of the business. By coincidence some of the national magazines are currently running institutional advertisements of the Container Corporation of America which is pertinent to discussions now going on in the motion picture business. John Milton is quoted as writing three hundred years ago the following: “Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much argument, much writing, many opinions; for opinion in good men is but knowledge in the making.” ■ ■ ■ Trends in Television THE impression of many exhibitors that public interest in television, though still at a high level, is trending downward is substantiated in the ninth annual survey of television in New Brunswick, N. J., conducted by Cunningham & Walsh, Inc., advertising agency. According to Gerald Tasker, vice-president and director of research, the high point in television viewing was reached during the year 1955. New Brunswick, N. J., is a “saturated” television area. Ninety-one per cent of the homes are television-equipped. Owners have a choice of the eleven stations in New York and Philadelphia. According to the advertising agency, future increases or decreases in the average number of hours of television in the typical home will depend entirely on the quality of the programs offered. This means that television’s initial advantage of novelty and convenience are no longer potent factors. ■ ■ B Allied Convention THIS year the National Allied convention is to be held — Texas-style — November 27-29 at the new Statler Hilton Hotel in Dallas. In addition to the usual features of an Allied convention, including film clinics, there will be a dinner in honor of Col. H. A. Cole. For thirty-seven years Col. Cole has been an exhibitor in Texas but his fame is nationwide not only as an Allied leader but for his work as a co-chairman of the COMPO admissions tax campaign. Members of Allied and other exhibitors, who will be welcome as guests, ar» promised an interesting, “working” convention. — Martin Quigley. Jr.