Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 5, 1956)

—— ———_ December 5, 1956 CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY Page 3 December 5, 1956 HYE BOSSIN, Editor Assistant Editor Ben Halter Office Manager Esther Silver CANADIAN FILM WEEKLY 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Canada Authorized as Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, Ottawa Published by Film Publications of Canada, Limited 175 Bloor St. East, Toronto 5, Ontario, Canada — Phone WAlnut 4-3707 Price $3.00 per year. FOR SCREEN ADS (Continued from Page 1) poration, Montreal, suggested that the exhibition of Canadian-made short subjects, with the name of the sponsor appearing only once and at the beginning, might help defray the expenses of the member associations. They had been used successfully for the benevolent fund of his company’s managers and he gave as an example Crawley Films’ prizewinning short, Newfoundland Scene, which the public had found to be much more interesting than almost all imported shorts. He was empowered to develop the proposal. Lester said that while in the Marble Arch Theatre, London last year he had watched 12 minutes of screen advertising and no single subject nor all of them brought objection. “I was the first to object but I’m changing my mind,’”’ he said. Gordon Spencer of the Maritimes said that screen advertising for circuits was as good as adding another theatre from a standpoint of income. Bingo was again discussed as unfair competition, as was 16 mm. exhibition under certain circumstances. The amusement tax came in for continued criticism but the reports of reductions and the possibility of further ones was gratifying. The high price of accessories was also deplored and some border theatres are buying them from National Screen Service in the nearest USA city instead of the Canadian exchanges, Doris Robert, president of Quebec Allied Theatrical Industries, spoke warmly of the cooperation of the new Theatre Owners’ Association of Quebec, which is comprised of small Independents. Censorship was as ‘‘exasperating and unfair as ever’’ but some delegates praised their censors for carrying out a difficult task well. All agreed that censorship should be a non-cost operation. Fox' "Desk Set' Joan Blondell has been signed to a top role in 20th Century-Fox’ The Desk Set, which co-stars Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Walter Lang will direct the screen adaptation of the smash Broadway comedy hit, which is scheduled to get under way early in December. MPICC Theme: Optimism (Continued from Page 1) aid of a number of the distributors. This was in sharp contrast to the attitude at last year’s meeting. The MPICC heard its chairman, R. W. Bolstad, express the same thought in his opening address. “Over the years the different branches of our industry have learned to live together and have an appreciation of each other’s problems. There is a spirit of comradeship not found in too many industries. We must guard it.” Bolstad was re-elected to office by acclamation, as were Charles S. Chaplin of Toronto and William Lester, Montreal exhibitor, as vicechairmen and Arch. H. Jolley of Toronto as executive secretary. H. C. D. Main of Sutton, Ontario succeeded LeRoy Chown of Calgary, who retired, as executive secretary. A number of matters discussed at the exhibitors’ meeting was carried over to the MPICC session. Though several did not really belong there, since the MPICC is an all-embracing organization in which some organizations of opposing interests are members, these matters received a hearing and helped nourish understanding. Opposition to Telemeter and the fight against TV competition belonged in this category and these were dropped when J. Duane McKenzie, president of the Saskatchewan exhibitors’ association, pointed out that certain members had an interest in those fields. Owen Bird, BC exhibitors’ representative, asked that some industry leaders stop making pessimistic statements and that press information be issued to counter suggestions that the motion picture theatre business faces extinction. During the report of the taxation committee, which Bolstad heads, it was pointed out that theatre films are taxed and controlled. while those on TV are tax-free, are uncensored officially and are shown on Sunday—frequently over the government network, thus putting the exhibitor in the position of helping to subsidize — through income and business taxes—his competition. Reduction of Capac royalties for music in drive-ins will be sought. At present the fee is arrived at on the basis of two-and-a-half persons per car. This is an _ overcharge, since statistics show that attendance is smaller than that. Further reduction of nitrate prints was urged, considerable progress having been made in the last year. It was shown that there are still 50 nitrate films in exchanges, all but a few being handled by the small Independent distributors. Reduction of insurance rates and booth costs would follow, while safety would be increased. The distributors promised to have a closer look at the problem of adequate poster service and selling aids through Haskell Masters, Charles Chaplin and others. Chaplin, distributors’ association president, praised the Children’s Film Library, Canadian Estimates and the public relations work of C. J. Appel, executive director of the CMPDA. The association gave the MPICC delegates a luncheon the first day, at which Chaplin welcomed them and A. W. Shackleford, president of the Alberta Theatres Association, thanked them. Exhibitor delegates and observers were Owen Bird, Myron McLeod and Len Johnson of British Columbia; A. W. Shackleford and Douglas Miller of Alberta; J. Duane McKenzie and F. J. Lundholm of Saskatchewan; Harry and Robert Hurwitz of Manitoba; Lionel Lester, Morris Stein, E. G. Forsyth and John H. Clarke of Ontario; Doris Robert, William Lester, John Ganetakos and Leo Choquette of Quebec; and F. Gordon Spencer of New Brunswick. Delegates and observers from the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association were Haskell Masters of Warner Bros., Jack Labow of RKO, Gordon Lightstone of Paramount and Clare J. Appel, executive director of the CMPDA; from the Equipment Dealers Association they were George Cuthbert of General Theatre Supply in Toronto, L. M. Bleackley of Perkins Electric in Montreal, J. M. Rice of J. M. Rice & Company in Winnipeg and A. D. Turnbull of Dominion Sound Equipments in Montreal; from The Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories of Canada they were Graeme Fraser of Crawley Films in Ottawa and John J. Chisholm of Showcase Film Productions in Toronto. Para's ‘The Tin Star' Mary Webster has been signed by William Perlberg and George Seaton to be Anthony, Perkins’ love interest in The Tin Star, now under way at Paramount with Henry Fonda and Perkins in the starring roles. Warners’ "Bombers B-52' Natalie Wood will star with Karl Malden in WB’s Bombers B-52. Jobbins Back After European Look-See W. S. Jobbins, chief of the National Film Board’s commercial division, has returned from a monthlong visit to film distributors in London, Paris, Brussels, The Hague, Hamburg, Oslo and Copenhagen. In addition to acquiring first-hand knowledge of European theatrical distribution activities, Jobbins also discussed recent developments in television distribution with officials in the NFB’s London office and with officers of Canadian diplomatic posts. Our Business THE deliberations of the ~Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada, recently concluded in Toronto, ended as usual in friendship and , harmony. The important and constructive result of the deliberations was the unanimous decision to back Lan: .O8¢C er Awards Contest similar to that conducted by a number of theatres last year, but on a wider and more comprehensive scale. It even went so far as to vote and agree to raise a sum of money for the purpose of defraying the cost of a coordinator at a central office for the preliminary period and the term of the contest. This is 4 giant forward stride for the Council. Last year, with only four weeks for preparation, a country-wide contest was initiated by Charles S. Chaplin, president of the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association and chairman of the Boxoffice Promotion Committee of the MPICC. The results were extremely gratifying. One may question the number of tickets which were sold directly as a result of this effort, but one cannot help but marvel at the amount of free and valuable publicity which was garnered. This must ultimately help sell tickets. With a longer period of preparation and _ planning in 1957, and with even a similar amount of money with which to operate, the beneficial results next year should be immeasurably greater. The large circuits have already agreed to full co-operation. It is important that every exhibitor do likewise. The cost is comparatively small and any theatre owner who feels that he cannot afford to participate may as well hang out the For Rent sign right now. It is to be hoped that when this contest is completed and the results are tallied, even the smallest exhibitor will start to realize that our business is one which demands a continual barrage of publicity and a continuous plan of public relations and that any money wisely spent for these purposes is money well spent. This may very well pave the way to a permanent’ public _ relations committee or something similar to COMPO in the United (Continued on Page 4)