The Exhibitor (1954)

AN OWNER of a drive-in in the west isn't taking any chances. When lie showed “Quo Vadis,” lie billed it two ways: For Spanish speaking customers: “Donde Vas." For southerners: “Where You All Gom ! ★ AN EXHIBITOR in an eastern city has an interesting method of finding out whether some youngsters should he buying adult tickets. When they go to the lobby for a smoke, their stubs are checked, and they are told that if they are old enough to smoke, they should buy adult tickets. Thi:often leads to tbe culprit telling on others who came in for the lower admission when they should have paid the higher one. ★ CONTROL of the best film theatre in Japan is not necessary to assist in guarding Japan against foreign aggression, accord¬ ing to a Tokyo court which ruled that the United States security forces must return the Ernie Pyle to its Japanese owners. ★ A POLICEMAN in a southern city liked a theatre aide so much he decided to kiss her, but it cost him his job. The manager, who had just taken over for the attractive aide, wanted to stop the goings-on, but the policeman had his foot against the ticket booth door and blocked him. H. M. M. i N D l l i Volume 51, Number 14 February 5, 1951 Section One Editorial , 3 Feature Article “The Norwalk (Conn.) Story Can Be Repeated Elsewhere" 4, 5 New York News Letter 6 The International Scene 10 This Was The Week When 14 People 14 In The Newsreels 16 The Score Board 16 Better Management 17 Physical Theatre PT-1 — PT-24 Section Two The Servisection SS-1 — SS-8 THE COVER PHOTO Seen, left to right, are exhibitors Norman Bialek, Robert C. Spodick, and Leonard Sampson, whose faith in the industry recently led them to reopen the Norwalk, Norwalk, Conn., which had been closed to the public for the past three years. Volume 51, Number 14 February 3, 1954 The PCA Grows More Important Very few people seem to be happy about tbe U. S. Supreme Court ruling on censorship in tbe “M” and uLa Ronde” appeals because of tbe fact that in deciding the cases tbe body left a lot of questions unanswered. Tbe problem now seems to be: where do we go from here? Only two of tbe justices, Black and Douglas, were for tbe elimination of all kinds of censorship. Tbe others seemed to say that there were still limited areas in which tbe censors could move, but that they could still stay in business. And since there have been no reports of any censor bodies deciding to eliminate themselves, it is to be presumed that there will be no moves in that direction. If anything, should there arise any tendency on the part of the state lawmakers to tighten the regulations to fortify their reasons for being, this might result in further complex problems for the producers. There are many who will argue as always that there should lie no censorship, but this Utopia still seems in the far distant future, in a number of states, at least. Meanwhile, the burden still is on the industry to continue through its own regulatory body, in tb is case the Production Code Administration, to serve notice that it will continue to keep films on tbe same high moral plane that they have been for some time. That there will be a few exceptions, as always, from those who don’t subscribe to tbe PCA, is certain, and chances are that a fringe element may want to take advantage of their own inter¬ pretation of the recent court decision. Meanwhile, it will be business as usual in Hollywood. The men who direct the production destinies should find no reason to change their standards. A JAY EMANUEL PUBLICATION. Founded in 1918. Published weekly by Jay Emanuel Publica¬ tions, Incorporated. Publishing office: 246-248 North Clarion Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania. New York office: 229 West 42nd Street, New York 36. West Coast Representative: Paul Manning, 9628 Cresta Drive, Los Angeles 35, California. Jay Emanuel, publisher; Paul J. Greenhalgh, general manager; Herbert M. Miller, editor; A. J. Martin, advertising manager; Max Cades, business manager; Marguerite Gibson, circulation manager; George Nonamaker and Mel Konecoff, associate editors. Subscription rates: Any one of the six sectional editions (NEW ENGLAND, NEW YORK STATE, PHILADELPHI A-WASHINGTON, SOUTHERN, MIDEAST, or MIDWEST-WESTERN) and the INTERNATIONAL edition: $2 per year (52 issues); and outside of the United States, Canada, and Pan-American countries, $5 per year (52 issues). The GENERAL edition containing all local news forms from all editions: $7.50 per year (52 issues); and outside of the United States, Canada, and Pan-American countries, $15 per year (52 issues). Special rates for two and three years: on application. Please address all correspon¬ dence to the Philadelphia office at 246-48 North Clarior Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania.