Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1961)

Warns Exhibitors of Shift In Censorship Attitudes DETROIT — Current efforts by a number of leaders of the film industry to eliminate self-imposed standards of control of moral standards for pictures are vigorously attacked in an interview by Milton H. London, president of Allied Theatres of Michigan. He views such efforts as a serious threat to the future of the industry. "There is an angle to censorship that, I think, should disturb every theatre owner,” London said. “Our industry has claimed to have self-imposed censorship at the production level. For instance, in the state of Michigan there has been police censorship only in the city of Detroit, and the rest of the state has tacitly accepted this standard. So we have had no problems in the state. INDUSTRY RESPONSIBILITY “In this way, the entire industry is responsible for keeping its skirts clean. An exhibitor knows which pictures get public acceptance and which do not. “There is a movement afoot, both in the courts and by means of publicity, to do away with all forms of precensorship in the motion picture industry. The excuse given is that every community where a theatre is located can pass anti-obscenity laws or already has such laws in the books. “Thus, if an exhibitor shows a picture that is decided by the community to be obscene, that exhibitor can be jailed or fined according to the local ordinance. “This has two disastrous consequences in my mind. “First of all, in place of setting up some wide, broadly-accepted standards of what is acceptable and what is not, it would leave this up to each small, isolated community, to decide matters of morals. “This would obviously mean that many communities would set very rigid standards — perhaps totally unreasonable standards. What is and what is not considered moral would vary widely from area to area. As a consequence, each film would have to be separately edited for each community — which is an economic impossibility LOCAL LAWS ARE VARIED “The second point is that when an exhibitor buys a picture and books it for his theatre he would no longer know whether it is acceptable to his community. Even though a picture had played in New York, Chicago, and Detroit, he would still not know whether he would be subject to prosecution, fine, and imprisonment for showing it in his community.” London believes that as a practical matter, this would make it almost impossible for a theatre owner to continue in business. Even booking only pictures which he would consider suitable for children would run into difficulties from various religious and other groups, he said. “If this is the direction which the fight against censorship is taking, it bodes ill for the future of our industry. It is time to reevaluate our industry thinking in relation to freedom of the screen. The concept of maturity of the motion picture screen brings freedom, but it also brings Investment Survey Gives Top Rating to 20th -Fox NEW YORK — In a special section of The New York Times on December 18, the Value Line Investment Survey selected from more than 100 listed stocks 20th Century-Fox’s as one it wholly recommended to investors, whatever their goals. Value Line examined 20th Century-Fox and its prospects in detail, finding strong and continuing leadership in the industry. responsibility and undesirable economic penalties. “In Detroit, this matter has not been a problem because of the practice of all self segments of the industry in a policy of self-restraint and observing standards of good taste,” London declared. Leo Jaffe Is Appointed FJP Drive Chairman NEW YORK — Leo Jaffe, Columbia Pictures’ first vice-president and treasurer, will serve as chairman of the amusement division of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies. Samuel Rosen, executive vice-president of the Stanley Warner Corp., introduced Jaffe at a luncheon meeting for fundraising plans. Jaffe expressed appreciation to Arthur B. Krim, president of United Artists, the 1959 chairman, and to Herman Robbins of National Screen Service, who was guest of honor of the industry dinner last year. The Carnival Kid' Is Set As Second Dondi Film HOLLYWOOD — Albert Zugsmith has set “The Carnival Kid,” starring David Koury, as the second Dondi film for Allied Artists. Previously announced was “Dondi Goes to the Moon,” which now will be made at a later date. Gus Edson, creator of the Dondi comic strip, is now writing the screenplay for “Carnival Kid,” which will follow “Confessions of an Opium Eater” on Zugsmith’s agenda. New Dayton Theatre DAYTON, OHIO— A new 1,000-seat theatre will be included in the addition to the Marion Meadows Shopping Center to be built early in 1961 in the Huber Heights development near Dayton. Extend ACE Escrow Deadline to May 3 NEW YORK — American Congress of Exhibitors has extended the escrow deadline for the money invested in ACE’s production project from January 3 to May 3, but the prospectus which is to be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission will be ready before that latter date. More than $3,000,000 has been deposited by five major circuits and more than 30 independent circuits. Approximately 97 per cent of the subscribers have agreed to the extension; the remaining exhibitors are expected to approve when they can be contacted. The extension means that the launching of the company’s operations will be delayed about four months in order to have all details completed on a solid basis. A steering committee has been appointed by ACE, in addition to two financial consultants, to supervise further financing steps for the production plan. The committee consists of E. D. Martin, Columbus, Ga.; Adolph Goldberg, Detroit; Mitchell Wolfson, Miami; Harry Arthur, Los Angeles and St. Louis, and Sumner Redstone, Boston. D. R. Buttrey of Nashville and Joseph Seider of New York will serve as consultants. While the minimum investment to be accepted has been $25,000, it is reported that figure will be lowered later for smaller exhibitors who want to have a financial interest in the ACE setup. County Board Okays Start On Hollywood Museum HOLLYWOOD — The Los Angeles County board of supervisors last week okayed the first step in building the Hollywood Motion Picture and Television Museum by voting, 4 to 1, to allocate $162,000 to architect William Pereira to draw up plans for the $4,000,000 structure. Present plans call for the county to put up $260,000 each year through a nonprofit building fund made up of private investors and banks. They will build the museum, lease it to the county and operation will be on a nonprofit corporation basis. This corporation is to be made up of top motion picture and television figures, who will match the amount of money put up by the county. Payment would be completed in 30 years, with the property then reverting to the county. 'Commandments' Seen As Biggest Grosser NEW YORK — A worldwide gross of almost $75,000,000 is forecast for “The Ten Commandments” which has earned $34,200,000 in film rentals in the domestic market since its New York world premiere on Nov. 9, 1956. An equal amount has been predicted for its foreign engagements. Edward Chumley, United States and Canadian sales manager for the Paramount release, stated here last week that the picture grossed $2,200,000 in rentals in 1960 and that, as of December 10, the picture had played 15,388 U. S. engagements and 1,267 in Canada, as well as 107 domestic engagements in Italian and Spanish versions. Leo Jaffe 8 BOXOFFICE :: January 2, 1961