Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

Court Okays Pay TV Test ; Plan Hartford Go June 1 Lazarus 'Exploring' New Film Projects NEW YORK — Paul Lazarus jr. is exploring a number of enterprises in which he may become affiliated or he may form a production company of his own, it was indicated here following the termination of negotiations for his heading a group which sought to take control of Allied Artists. Lazarus told Boxoffige Wednesday (7) that he may have an announcement to make “within a week,” but he declined to give details at the time. In fact, he said there were several deals on the fire but none was finalized. The former vice-president of Columbia Pictures said the Allied Artists deal fell through because there was insufficient financing forthcoming “to make it work.” Lazarus resigned his Columbia Pictures executive post on February 23 and there were reports that he was becoming associated with Claude Giroux, a drug distributing company executive, who was said to own 100,000 shares of AA stock. Giroux was seeking to acquire control of the company and hoped to have Lazarus at the helm. Sheldon Smerling, former National Theatres & Television executive and a top man at National Telefilm Associates, was said to be associated with Giroux. TOA-Allied Committee Set For Skouras Testimonial NEW YORK — Ten representatives of Allied States Ass’n and ten of Theatre Owners of America will comprise the 20man committee, plus the two co-chairmen, who will handle the arrangements for the jointly sponsored testimonial reception and dinner for Spyros P. Skouras in honor of his 20 years as president of 20th CenturyFox. Marshall Fine, Allied president, and John Stembler, president of TOA, are the co-chairmen. The event will be held in the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria here on April 12. Named by Fine for Allied were Jack Armstrong, Bowling Green. O.; Ben Berger, Minneapolis; Jack Clark, Chicago; Sidney Cohen, Buffalo; Meyer Leventhal, Baltimore; Milton London, Detroit; Ben Marcus, Milwaukee; Alden Smith, Detroit; Wilbur Snaper, New York, and George Stern, Pittsburgh. For TOA, Stembler named Arthur Lockwood, Boston; Samuel Pinanski, Boston; Mitchell Wolfson, Miami; Walter Reade, Oakhurst, N.J.; E. D. Martin, Columbus, Ga.; Myron Blank, Des Moines; Ernest G. Stellings, Charlotte; George Kerasotes, Springfield, 111.; Albert Pickus, Stratford, Conn., and S. H. Fabian, New York. Rank Kalee Makes 2 New Executive Appointments LONDON — The Rank Kalee division of the Rank Organization has made two new executive appointments coinciding with the change of name from G. B. Kalee, following the Rank-Gaumont British merger. T. E. Chilton, formerly general manager of the theatre department, and R. G. Baker have become joint deputy divisional executives, the former being responsible for production and the latter for marketing. H. A. de Jonge and E. F. Lyons remain as joint chief executives of the division. WASHINGTON — A decisive inning in the fight to keep subscription television off the air went against motion picture theatres Thursday (8) when the U.S. court of appeals upheld the authority of the Federal Communications Commission to permit trial operation of a pay TV system in Hartford, Conn. The decision was on an appeal by the Connecticut Committee Against Pay TV, Stanley Warner Management Co., Loew’s, Inc., Connecticut Theatres, the Manchester Drive-In Corp., and Outdoors Theatre Corp. In a suit filed in April 1961, they protested the FCC authorization for RKO Phonevision Co. to conduct a three-year trial operation of pay TV in Hartford. “It seems to us,” the court said, “that unless the future of television is to be confined to its present state, the commission must reasonably be allowed opportunity to experiment by permitting trial of subscription TV plans.” Judge Henry W. Edgerton, whose opinion was joined by Judge Walter Bastian and Judge Warren Burger, pointed out the FCC has determined to oversee carefully the form which programming takes place under the subscription system, continuing: “Surely FCC’s power to see that this area of the public domain is used in the public interest is not less for paid television than Criticize Movie Makers At Communion Breakfast NEW YORK — Today’s movie-makers were criticized for producing pictures which violate the canons of decency and weaken the moral life of the nation at the 12th annual Communion breakfast for Catholics of the industry in the New York area held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel Sunday (4) . Monsignor George A. Kelly, director of the Family Life Bureau of the Archdiocese, who was one of the principal speakers, told the 700 attending the breakfast that “many of our influential moulders of public opinion and public culture have little or no religion, do not accept divinely constituted moral values, consider the preachments of all churches as superstition, make personal liberty the sole norm of private right and wrong, insist that civil law is the only arbiter of public morality and are almost hysterical in their conviction that the City of Man is man’s only and ultimate beatitude. These, I remind you, are the same assumptions that underlie the culture of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia,” he said. Lieutenant Governor Malcolm Wilson urged the members of the film industry, as well as all citizens, to help their state government with “advice and suggestions” on how to police immoral films. Wilson praised the efforts of the motion picture industry toward self -regulation and, in particular, mentioned the TOA’s new information service on film content. “Selfregulation is helpful but it is not enough,” according to Wilson. “Motion picture theatres are the public sitting rooms where for the existing system of so-called free television.” Edgerton said the FCC had retained the power to terminate the experiment at Hartford before the expiration of the three-year license period if it proves harmful to the public interest, as predicted by the Committee Against Pay TV. The Hartford system would be operated by Zenith-Radio Corp. Phonevision. Zenith said it is proceeding with plans to start the experiment June 1. Under the plan RKO Phonevision would provide service about 40 hours a week. Subscribers would rent a device provided by Phonevision to attach to their TV sets. Installation of the device would cost from $7.50 to $10, with a rental charge thereafter of not more than 75 cents a week. Individual programs are expected to cost from 25 cents to $3.50, with most offerings falling within a range of 75 cents to $1.50. Edgerton pointed out that no commercial messages would be broadcast. Subscribers would be billed on the basis of a record kept on a tape installed inside the homeowner’s TV set. Subscribers may drop the pay service at the end of any month. RKO said it expected a maximum of 40,000 subscribers at the start of the experiment. families go for entertainment outside their homes and the entertainment there must always be in good taste if our industry is to survive and progress,” Wilson said. Other guests on the dais included Monsignor Thomas F. Little, national secretary of the Legion of Decency, who represented Cardinal Spellman; George Schaefer, who acted as toastmaster; Thelma Ritter, Timmy Everett, of the cast of “The Music Man,” Mrs. Mary Harden Looram, Harry Herschfield and Ed Herlihy. Jack Herschlag Succeeds Pearlman at Buena Vista NEW YORK — Jack Herschlag has been named advertising manager of Buena Vista, succeeding Gilbert Pearlman, who recently resigned to embark on a writing career in Italy. Herschlag, who will work under Charles Levy, advertising-publicity director, was an executive editor of Fairchild Publications’ Daily New Record for the last five year’s. Prior to his association with Fairchild, Herschlag held advertising and editorial posts with National Business Press and other publications. 'U' and Decca Dividends NEW YORK — Universal Pictures and its parent company, Decca Records, declared dividends last week. The Universal board voted a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share on the common stock, payable March 28 to stockholders of record on March 16. The Decca board declared a 30 -cent dividend on the capital stock, payable March 30 to stockholders of record on March 19. BOXOFFICE :: March 12, 1962 9