Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1963)

Atlanta Film Rating 'Unconstitutional' ATLANTA — This city’s film rating ordinance was declared unconstitutional by the Georgia supreme court Thursday (10) following hearings held earlier in the week. The decision was handed down by Judge T. S. Candler and eliminates the decree that motion picture exhibitors must submit their films for review prior to the time they are to be presented in the theatres here. The court held that a prior rating or censorship was a direct violation of the guarantee of freedom of speech. Judge Candler held that prior restraint was not permissible; Judge Carlton Mobley dissented. In effect the decision was similar to the one issued last year by Fulton superior court Judge Durwood Pye who ruled it was invalid for the city to have such a reviewing board. Immediate action on Judge Pye’s decision had not been effected as the constitutional question was appealed to the supreme court. In support of the previous decision by Judge Pye, Chief Justice W. H. Duckworth had surmised last month in a warning to attorneys for Atlanta that the city government should “punish the fire” out of movie houses that show obscene films, but it should wait until the movies had been shown before taking action. In the hearings preceding the decision handed down Thursday, attorneys for the city had argued that the city had the right to protect the health and good order of the city. Motion pictures of low moral standing were, according to them, placed in that jurisdiction. Meanwhile attorneys for the film industry pointed out that you “can’t burn a house to get rid of the rats” hence the city should not interfere with movies before they are shown. MCA-TV Gets 500 Rights For Closed-Circuit TV HOLLYWOOD— David “Sonny” Werblin, president, said MCA-TV disclosed it has acquired exclusive rights for pay television to the Indianapolis 500-mile auto race for closed-circuit presentation to theatres and sports arenas. It is the first time in the event’s 53 years that television rights had been granted for the Memorial Day classic. Under the arrangement with MCA, all of Indiana and other areas to be determined by mutual agreement will be blacked out. Allowance is made for filmed footage to be made available to car manufacturers and associated products for promotional purposes. 48th 'Cleopatra' Roadshow Set for Nashville Oct. 24 NEW YORK — The 48th domestic roadshow of “Cleopatra” for 20th Century-Fox will take place at the Crescent Downtown Theatre, Nashville, October 24. The ToddAO picture opened last week in Ottawa, Canada, and Albuquerque, N. M. The sixth Latin American engagement of "Cleopatra” has been set for the Metropolitan Theatre, San Juan, Puerto Rico, November 6. The first four days have been allocated as charity benefits, starting with the Puerto Rican Red Cross. “Cleopatra” is currently playing in Caracas, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Quito. 'A1 Capone' and 'Pay or Die' Set for San Diego Area SAN DIEGO — Allied Artists’ rerelease of two films dealing with the Cosa Nostra (Mafia) in the United States, “A1 Capone” and “Pay or Die,” were booked to open in two theatres in this area on October 30. The combination, backed by a completely new advertising campaign, will play the Cabrillo in this city and the Big Sky DriveIn in nearby Chula Vista. Rerelease of the films was prompted by the public interest in Cosa Nostra aroused by Joseph Valachi’s testimony at the McClellan Committee hearings anent the international crime syndicate. “A1 Capone,” dealing with the king-pin of the Mafia in Chicago, stai’s Rod Steiger. Ernest Borgnine stars in “Pay or Die,” an expose of the syndicate’s operations in New York City. Appeal Filed lo Test Md. Censorship Law BALTIMORE — An action designed to test the constitutionality of a state statute which prohibits public showing of a picture before being granted a license has been started in the Maryland Court of Appeals. Briefs were filed in an appeal from the conviction of Ronald Freedman, owner of the Rex Theatre here, who presented “Revenge at Daybreak” on last November 1, after refusing to show it to the censor board. “Revenge at Daybreak,” regarded as an inoffensive film dealing with the Irish rebellion, was shown only one day at the Rex, but this was sufficient to violate the law and set the stage for the test action. The state had conceded that the picture did not violate any standards of decency; the entire issue was one of prior censorship and licensing. Freedman was found guilty and fined $25 by Judge Anselm Sodaro in Baltimore Criminal Court. The Court of Appeals, highst tribunal in Maryland, will hear arguments on the appeal in December. The case is the first in the state in which there has been an appeal from a conviction for publicly showing an unlicensed motion picture. The briefs, filed by Felix Bilgrey and Richard Whiteford, cocounsel in the case, contend that the law in question violates the First and Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution in that it “imposes an invalid infringement upon the exercise of the right of free speech and press.” The briefs also hold that the law is “contradictory to Maryland’s Declaration of Rights.” Bilgrey is counsel for Times Film Corp., distributor of “Revenge at Daybreak.” He and Jean Goldwurm, president of Times, have been active in efforts to wipe out film censorship in the United States. 'Twilight of Honor' Next Allied-COMPO Plan Film PITTSBURGH — The central exhibitors committee of Allied MPTO of Western Pennsylvania has selected MGM’s “Twilight of Honor,” starring Richard Chamberlain, as the next Allied-COMPO merchandising plan picture. Approximately 100 theatres in the area will participate in the teamwork promotion, starting October 23. National Symposium On Documentaries NEW YORK — Charles Lee and Jack Copeland have announced jointly the first national symposium on “Documentary Films — Its Issues and Prospects” which will be held in the spring of 1964. Lee is vice-dean of the Annenberg School of Communication of Pennsylvania University and motion picture producer Copeland is chairman of the Documentary Committee of the Hollywood Museum for the motion picture, television, radio and recording arts and industries. Arthur Knight, film curator of the HdIlywood Museum, stated, “The Annenberg School in Philadelphia was unanimously selected for the inaugural symposium to be followed by the second national symposium to be held in 1966 at the new Hollywood Museum, construction of which will be completed on the site opposite the Hollywood Bowl before that date.” Leaders in the fields of education, religion, science and government, as well as those in every field of the documentary film world, will be invited to take part in the symposium. The latter group will include screen and television producers, critics, stars, exhibitors and distributors. Topics discussed will be the documentary film as it is affected by public interest, education, culture, industry, business opportunity and the future. Sol Lesser, museum president, pointed out, “The cooperative program of the Hollywood Museum with the Annenberg School of Communication is endorsed by our board of directors because it carries out our policy to establish the Hollywood Museum as a multi-centered international institution for the audio-visual arts and industries.” “The Hollywood Museum,” he said, “is cooperating with universities, museums, libraries, academies and other public service organizations all over the world — wherever there is the mutuality of interest in motion pictures, television, radio and recording.” Solon's 'Runaway' Piece Called Demagoguery HOLLYWOOD — Manning Clagett, Motion Picture Ass’n of America vice-president, has written a letter to Rep. Everett G. Burkhalter, Democrat, who represents Burbank and adjacent areas in the House of Representatives, stating that “your remarks in the appendix of the Congressional Record of August 27 represent the worst kind of demagoguery.” Burkhalter, member of the Los Angeles city council prior to 1962 election to the house, last summer inserted in the Congressional Record some observations anent “runaway film production.” Reprints of his remarks then were widely circulated in Hollywood, especially among union workers. Dick Pearl to Museum HOLLYWOOD— Richard J. Pearl, for 17 years business manager in charge of back lot operations for Columbia Pictures and Screen Gems and assistant to executive production manager Jack Fier, has been named production coordinator for the Los Angeles County Hollywood Museum. 10 BOXOFFICE ;: October 21, 1963