Canadian Film Weekly (Aug 24, 1955)

Vol. 20, No. 32 = Yd VOICE of the CANADIAN MOTION PICTURE TORONTO, AUGUST 24, 1955 x JA . INDUSTRY $3.00 Per Annum PLAN CANADA TOUR BY HWD. GROUP MPAA-OTTAWA REPS MEET RE CO-OPERATION PROJECT The Motion Picture Association of America, through the Canadian Co-operation Project, is trying to set up a two-week air tour of Canada for about 15 Hollywood representatives, it was stated by Taylor Mills, the MPAA’s CCP Confed n Feature Via Atlantic Films ‘Atlantic Films’ feature about Confederation, being shot in every Canadian province with the partial sponsorship of the Government of Newfoundland, is well along, Albert Jekste, the company’s managing director, reports. The seven-man crew, mov (Continued en Page 2) Param t Earnings In Marked Rise Paramount Pictures Corporation estimates the earnings from operations of the corporation and its consolidated domestic and Canadian subsidiaries for the second quarter ended July 2, 1955 at $2,307,000 after provision for United States and Canadian in (Continued on Page 8) ‘Canada-To-USA Tourism Up; USA-To-Canada Down As the Interdepartmental Committee of the Canadian Government met in Ottawa recently with Taylor Mills, representative of the Motion. Picture Association of America, to discuss the Canadian Co-operation Project, the Dominion Bureau of Statistics issued the information that Canadians abroad spent a record $80,000,000 more than visitors spent in this country last year. Purpose of the CCP is to boost USA tourism here via the screens of that country. Canadians spent $382,000,000 abroad in 1954, while visitors spent $302,000,000 here. This is the fourth successive year we have had a deficit. Canada’s USA tourism deficit was $33,000,000, Canadians having spent that much more across the line than Americans spent here. This in spite of the fact that there are ten times as many Americans as Canadians. Ten Features Ready For Columbia's Cameras Columbia, with ten features up for production in the next four months, is determined to maintain its unbroken continuity of boxoffice features. Something of the com pany’s optimistic intentions exhibition executives from Louis Rosenfeld and Harvey Harnick, general manager and general sales manager of its Canadian subsidiary, and from Abe Montague and Rube Jackter, world sales manager and assistant world sales manager, at the recent Toronto dinner for the latter two. The production program, under Jerry Wald, who just began his (Continued on Page 8) Stranger’ Breaks Record Canadian premiere of UA’s Not as a Stranger at Loew’s, London, Ontario broke the weekly house record, BARNEY BALABAN, PAUL RAIBOURN _ FOR FP MEETING was gathered by Canadian Du Perrier Now AA Calgary Manager With ‘Allied Artists of Canada since March of this year, Walter Du Perrier was recently promot ed to manager of the Calgary © branch. He succeeded Ralph Zelickson, who resigned recently. Du Perrier, a veteran of the industry, started with RKO as booker and became a salesman. Later he joined MGM as a salesman and then returned to RKO. Announcement of the appointment was made from Toronto by AA’s general sales manager, Jack Bernstein. Nhe directors of Famous Players Canadian Corporation will meet at the head office in Toronto on August 23 and among those expected are Barney Balaban, president of Paramount, the parent company, and Paul Raibourn, a vice-president. A representative, at the recent Ottawa meeting of the Canadian government’s Interdepartmental Committee. The tour, if efforts to arrange it are successful, would start at the West Coast, proceed to the East Coast and end in Ottawa. Producers, directors, script writers and others on the tour would acquire a geat deal of knowledge about Canada and the benefits of this would last for years in stimulating the CCP’s efforts to boost tourism and Canada-USA relations. The meet(Continued on Page 2) MGM Ke Keeps eps ‘Em. Coming — Cass Returning from reviewing the newest MGM product at the Culver City studio and sharing discussions with top executives and other regional chiefs, Hillis Cass, Canadian general manager, sat down with press representatives last week at lunch in Town and (Continued on Page 12) Treasury To Porter Dana Porter, QC, Ontario attorney-general, has succeeded Premier Leslie Frost, QC, as Provincial treasurer. It is assumed that he will thus become the senior officer of the Theatres Branch and the Board of Censors. FOTO-NITE WINS IN SASKATOON Charges of operating a lottery, preferred by the Crown in Saskatoon against Vince Pasternick and Ray Resky, managers of the Victory and Broadway theatres, who had operated FotoNite, were dismissed in city court last week. The judgment of Magistrate B. M. Wakeland, away ill, was delivered by Magistrate J. M. Goldenberg. A number of similar prosecutions, undertaken in different cities during the past decade, met the same result. In Foto-Nite a selected person has the right to sell his or her photo through a contract, with both parties not being forced to enter into it. Wakeland held that the money transferred in exchange for the photo, as called for in the contract, did not constitute property. Death of the selected person before sale of the photo would leave nothing. The contract factor and the definition of property were the chief reasons for finding that Foto-Nite was not a lottery within the meaning of the act. However, Magistrate Wakeland commented that the defence’s contention about the charge being unwarranted was wrong. The defence had held that the charge was not specific enough and that the element of chance or luck was absent. Wakeland held differently. BARRON CAPTAINS BALABAN DRIVE For the first time in his long tenure as president of Paramount Barney Balaban has consented to the use of his name in a sales push and the annual Canadian sales drive will honor his 20 years of Paramount leadership. The period designated is August 28 to December 24. ’ Winston Barron, director of public relations and advertising in Canada, has been named to captain the Canadian effort by Gordon Lightstone, general manager. Barron is well known to ~ most exhibitors as the voice of the Canadian Paramount News, which he also edits. He feels confident that Balaban’s leadership will make this drive the high mark in the company’s history. number of important decisions of a purely Canadian nature face the directors and it is expected that these may be reached at the meeting. Famous Players is all that remains of ParaJ _mount’s theatre WDE in the USA and Canada. YH