The Exhibitor (1953)

10 EXHIBITOR Further 3-D, Wide Dimen. Moves Awaited Ohio Exhibitor Unit Hopes Publicity Won't Hurt 20 Per Cent Federal Tax Fight; 20th-Fox Reveals CinemaScope Production Plans New York — CinemaScope, 3-D films, and other technical developments con¬ tinued to provide trade headlines last week as exhibitors waited further facts on what they were getting into, when new systems would be available to them, and what they would cost. A new note was sounded when the directors of the Independent Theatre Own¬ ers of Ohio met in Columbus, O., and deplored “publicity in the trade press which is picked up and reprinted by the lay press giving the impression that forth¬ coming wide screen and third-dimension pictures would prove a business bonanza for all theatres.” The board considered that such publicity would have a detri¬ mental effect upon COMPO’s exceedingly well-handled campaign to repeal the 20 per cent federal admissions tax. Several members pointed out front page stories in their home towns, which gave the public and, therefore, also Sena¬ tors and Congressmen the impression that all theatres would benefit immediately by the introduction of these new techniques. In any event, the board deplored the impression given in the trade press and newspapers that there might no longer be any need for the repeal of the 20 per cent admissions tax. Starting dates for 20th Century -Fox properties to be lensed in the CinemaScope process were announced: “The Robe”, starring Victor Mature, Richard Burton, Jean Simmons, Michael Rennie, and Dean Jagger, on Feb. 16; “How To Marry A Millionaire”, starring Marilyn Monroe, Lauren Bacall, and Betty Grable, on March 24, and “Twelve Mile Reef”, starring Constance Smith, Jeff Chandler, and Jeffrey Hunter, on April 27. “The Story Of Demetrius” will start shooting on May 4; “River Of No Return,” starring Dale Robertson, on May 11; “Prince Valiant”, on June 1; “Sir Walter Raleigh” on June 22, and “King Of The Khyber Rifles”, on July 6. Because of commitments already made, only two previously announced pictures, “Vicki” and “Inferno”, will be filmed in both third -dimensional Polaroid and reg¬ ular negative. The first feature to be shot by 20th -Fox with CinemaScope abroad will be “As¬ signment In Stockholm”, produced by Frank McCarthy in black and white, and scheduled to begin in Sweden about June 1. Meanwhile, start of the filming of “The Robe” was put off again to give 20th-Fox more time to conduct experiments with the CinemaScope process to be used in the film. It was announced by 20th-Fox that President Spyros P. Skouras had con¬ cluded an agreement in Paris with Pro¬ fessor Henri Chretien under which the It's CinemaScope, Not Cinemascope _ NEW YORK — It was officially an¬ nounced last week that 20th-Fox’s new process will be called CinemaScope, instead of Cinemascope. film company had acquired rights to man¬ ufacture CinemaScope lenses all over the world with the exception of France and the French Union. In France the lenses will be manufactured exclusively by Pro¬ fessor Chretien, inventor of the process. The agreement was made for a 10-year period. The lenses produced by Professor Chretien will be reserved for the com¬ pany, the announcement said. Skouras expects the professor to deliver 500 sets of lenses to 20th-Fox by the end of the year, with between 3-5000 ready as the result of manufacturing elsewhere. In Hollywood, a set of recommendations was drawn up by the Motion Picture Re¬ search Council, Inc., for the guidance of exhibitors in showing three-dimensional movies requiring audiences to wear polar¬ ized glasses. The research council, in an effort to reduce the intermission problem, advises theatres to equip projectors with new large size magazines that hold up to 5,000 feet of color film, rather than the present size holding 2,000 feet. Even with the larger magazines, two intermissions might be necessary because of the extra load forced on each projector because of constant use. A representative of the research council admits that more frequent mechanical failures, caused by the machines overheating, loom as a source of trouble for theatres. At the same time the council issued its report, Darryl F. Zanuck, 20th-Fox pro¬ duction chief, issued a statement stress¬ ing that CinemaScope is not a “novelty” or a “flash in the pan” device. He said it was a permanent thing, adding another dimension to the entertainment field. Zanuck also cleared up the confusion created by the company’s announcement that it would make at least two stereo¬ scopic three-dimensional features as well as additional “flat” pictures by saying that “all our major productions in the future will be produced in CinemaScope. In New York, Spyros Skouras, left, 20th-Fox president, discusses the company's recent deci¬ sion to film all its forthcoming features in the new wide screen process, CinemaScope, with vice-president Charles Einfeld also on hand. Reveal Nominations For Academy Awards Hollywood — Nominations for the 25th annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards were revealed last fortnight. The final awards will be voted by the 1,600 members of the Academy, with presentations of awards at the Pantages on March 19. The selections were drawn from a list of 435 features declared eligible on the basis of seven days of consecutive play¬ ing time in Los Angeles. Nominated as “best” productions were: “The Greatest Show On Earth”, Cecil B. Demille-Paramount; “High Noon”, Stan¬ ley Kramer-UA; “Ivanhoe”, MGM; “Moulin Rouge”, Romulus-UA, and “The Quiet Man”, Argosy-Republic. “Best” performances by an actor were: Marlon Brando, “Viva Zapata”, 20th-Fox; Gary Cooper, “High Noon”, Stanley Kramer-UA; Kirk Douglas, “The Bad And The Beautiful”, MGM; Jose Ferrer, “Moulin Rouge”, Romulus-UA, and Alec Guiness, “The Lavender Hill Mob”, RankU-I. “Best” performances by a supporting actor included: Richard Burton, “My Cousin Rachel”, 20th-Fox; Arthur Hunnicutt, “The Big Sky”, Winchester-RKO; Victor McLaglen, “The Quiet Man”, Argosy-Republic; Jack Palance, “Sudden Fear”, Kaufmann-RKO, and Anthony Quinn, “Viva Zapata”, 20th-Fox. “Best” performances by actresses were: Shirley Booth, “Come Back, Little Sheba”, Paramount; Joan Crawford, “Sudden Fear”, Kaufmann-RKO; Bette Davis, “The Star”, Bert Friedlob-20th-Fox; Julie Harris, “The Member Of The Wedding”, Stanley Kramer-Columbia, and Susan Hayward, “With A Song In My Heart”, 20th-Fox. “Best” performances by a supporting actress were: Gloria Grahame, “The Bad And The Beautiful”, MGM; Jean Hagen, “Singin’ In The Rain”, MGM; Colette Marchand, “Moulin Rouge”, RomulusUA; Terry Moore, “Come Back, Little Sheba”, Paramount, and Thelma Ritter, “With A Song In My Heart”, 20th-Fox. “Best” direction nominations went to Joseph L. Mankiewicz, for “Five Fingers”; DeMille, for “The Greatest Show On Earth”; Fred Zinnemann, for “High Noon”; John Huston, for “Moulin Rouge”, and John Ford, for “The Quiet Man.” “Best” songs were: “Am I In Love”, from “Son Of Paleface”; “Because You’re Mine”, from the picture so named; the “High Noon” ballad; “Thumbelina”, from “Hans Christian Andersen”, and “Zing A Little Zong”, from “Just For You.” Tax Receipts Show increase Washington — The Bureau of Internal Revenue reported last fortnight that ad¬ mission tax receipts for the month of December, reflecting November business, totaled $27,159,649.93, a gain of $977,742.43 over December, 1951. Collections for the calendar year 1952 dropped more than $15 million from the previous year, $189,255,445.36 to $173,828,496.88. February 18, 1953