Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

WARNER MEETS EXHIBITORS — Jack L. Warner (third from left), president of Warner Bros., greets Edward L. Hyman (fourth from left), vice-president of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, and other AB-PT leaders on visit to the Warner Studios in Burbank, Calif., for a product survey. From left to right: John Krier, vice-president and general manager of Intermountain Theatres; Bernard Levy, assistant to Hyman; Warner; Hyman; George Aurelius, vice-president of Arizona Paramount, and Hy Fine, of New England Theatres. Zanuck's Longest Day' 'Greatest Challenge' NEW YORK — “The Longest Day” was the greatest challenge which any producer had to face, Darryl F. Zanuck said here Wednesday at a meeting with the trade and lay press. The producer was in town for three days of conferences with 20th Century-Fox homeoffice executives and returned to Paris on Friday to start editing the picture. One brief sequence is yet to be shot. Zanuck said the shooting time on “The Longest Day" was nine months and 17 days and that he had 66 hours of exposed film when he completed it. He now has cut it to about nine hours and he will eventually trim it to three and a half hours. In the course of production, 360,000 feet of film were shot. He had two units working at all times with a combined force of more than 500 technicians. Some of the problems he had to contend with were the assembling of obsolete World War II military equipment, timing of schedules to meet with American, French, German and Brittish military schedules, assembling of more than 32 international stage and screen personalities and weather conditions. More than 2,000 troops from all countries had to be amassed. Zanuck said the picture could not have been made if it had not had the full cooperation of the governments involved. He said the troops were not paid for their picture work because of military laws and that their reenactment of the D-Day conflict was part of their training course. Current plans call for the picture to be released initially as a roadshow attraction and Zanuck said he hoped to have it ready by July or August. He said the picture cost a little more than $10,000,000 which he regarded as a “cheapie” in today’s market. The explosive and demolition equipment and scenes cost $840,000 alone. No stock shots were used and every battle scene was recreated. Return of Censor Board In Seattle Requested SEATTLE — The threat of film censorship loomed here this week for the first time since 1959 when Mrs. Don Cunningham of Renton, a representative of the Greater Seattle Motion Picture and Television Council, requested that the King County board of commissioners set up a motion picture censor board. Mrs. Cunningham charged that many movies are “highly objectionable,” adding that her group was alarmed particularly over films shown at drive-ins. A censor board was established here in 1958 but was dissolved the following year. An attempt to reinstate the board was denied in July, 1959, after a hearing. Youngstein to Address SMPTE HOLLYWOOD — Max Youngstein, executive vice-president of Cinerama, Inc., will be the keynote speaker at the upcoming convention of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers, to be held here April 30-May 4. Youngstein’s address is titled “Hollywood’s Disregard of Research and the Price It has Paid for That Disregard.” March Green Sheet Gives Five Films Family Rating NEW YORK — Five pictures were rated for family patronage in the Green Sheet by the Film Estimate Board of National Organizations in the March issue. This is the largest number in the last five months. Five other pictures were listed in the adult-mature young people (A-MY ) bracket, while three were placed in the adult-mature young people -young people (A-MY-Y) class. Three were judged strictly for adults (A) . The family pictures as rated by the Green Sheet were United Artists’ “Clown and the Kid” and “Sergeants 3”; Buena Vista’s “Moon Pilot,” Universal’s “Nearly a Nasty Accident” and Columbia’s “The Three Stooges Meet Hercules.” In the A-MY group were MGM’s “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” “Light in the Piazza” and “World in My Pocket”; Universal’s “The Day the Earth Caught Fire” and United Artists’ “The Happy Thieves.” Rated in the A-MY-A class were Warner Bros.’ “A Majority of One,” MGM’s ‘Murder She Said” and 20th-Fox’s “Swinging Along.” The trio of adult films was Warner Bros.’ “The Couch,” Columbia’s “The Hellions” and MGM’s “Sweet Bird of Youth.” Columbia Gets Rights To 'Fabulous Showman' HOLLYWOOD — Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to “The Fabulous Showman,” the story of P. T. Barnum, from Martin Jurow. Productions of the multi-million dollar film is scheduled for next year, with the world premiere blueprinted for 1964 in New York City, with the picture hailed as “The World’s Fair Film of 1964.” Teen Time Honors Two MGM Films HOLLYWOOD — Teen Time Magazine has selected two MGM releases, “The Horizontal Lieutenant” and “All Fall Down” as “movies of the month” in its March issue. AIP Toppers to Make Tour Of 18 Cities on Product HOLLYWOOD — Plans of top American International Pictures executives to visit exhibitors in 18 cities across the nation to introduce and promote forthcoming AIP product were further solidified by President James H. Nicholson and executive vice-president Samuel Z. Arkoff. The two company heads will team to visit six cities, including New York, Boston, Washington, D. C., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Chicago; Milton Moritz, national director of advertising-publicity, will visit Kansas City, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Detroit, while vice-president in charge of sales Leon P. Blender will visit Dallas, New Orleans, Jacksonville, Miami, Charlotte and Atlanta. Each of the three series of six meetings will be highlighted by an exhibitor luncheon, as previously disclosed, at which AIP’s new 1962 brochure will be distributed. Each luncheon will be preceded by special screenings of AIP’s latest release, “Burn, Witch, Burn," and a special 40-minute featurette showing highlights from other new productions including “Poe’s Tales of Terror,” “Survival,” “Marco Polo” and “Goliath and the Golden City.” Nearly 500 at Dinner For Karl Hoblitzelle NEW YORK — Between 450 and 500 persons attended a testimonial dinner to Karl Hoblitzelle in the ballroom of the Hotel Pierre here Thursday evening. The affair was sponsored by the Newcomer Society of North America, group of successful businessmen in all professions. The salute was to both Hoblitzelle and the company which he founded, Interstate Theatres of Texas, and was a joint effort with the Republic National Bank of Dallas, of which he is chairman of the board. Approximately 100 representatives of the film industry were among the invited guests. Others represented banks of New York and Dallas. 10 BOXOFFICE :: March 19, 1962