The Exhibitor (1952)

EXHIBITOR 19 Exhibitors Hosted By MGM On Coast Hollywood — Exhibitors from all parts of the country will assemble at the MGM studios in Culver City, Cal., this week as guests of the company. Extending the scope and importance of the “Seeing Is Believing” meeting at the studio, Charles M. Reagan, MGM sales manager, also invited representatives of the trade press from all parts of the coun¬ try. Additionally, E. M. Saunders, assist¬ ant general sales manager, and MGM’s six sales managers will attend the three-day session, the first of which will get under way tomorrow (May 8) at the company’s studios. Dore Schary, vice-president in charge of production, has been delegated by Nicholas M. Schenck, president, to act as host to the more than 100 theatre heads, home office and field executives, and in¬ dustry trade editors, publishers, and reviewers. Representatives of the five important exhibitor associations participating in COMPO will be among the guests of the company. Also from the home office, in addition to the sales executive group, will be Howard Dietz, vice-president and direc¬ tor of advertising, publicity, and exploi¬ tation. Silas F. Seadler, advertising man¬ ager, and Dan S. Terrell, exploitation head, will accompany Dietz. The six completed pictures to be shown include “Scaramouche”, in Technicolor, produced by Carey Wilson, directed by George Sidney, and starring Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer, Henry Wilcoxon, and Nina Foch; “Ivanhoe”, in Technicolor, produced by Pandro S. Berman, and directed by Richard Thorpe, with Robert Taylor, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Fontaine, George Sanders, and Emlyn Williams; “The Merry Widow”, in Technicolor, produced by Joseph Pas¬ ternak, with Curtis Bernhardt directing, with Lana Turner heading the starring lineup and including Fernando Lamas; “Because You’re Mine,” another Techni¬ color attraction, produced by Joseph Pas¬ ternak, with Alexander Hall directing, with Mario Lanza as the top star, sup¬ ported by Doretta Morrow; “Lovely To Look At”, produced in Technicolor by Jack Cummings, and directed by Mervyn LeRoy, with Kathryn Grayson, Red Skel¬ ton, Howard Keel, Marge and Gower Champion, Ann Miller, and Zsa Zsa Gabor, and “Pat And Mike”, produced by Law¬ rence Weingarten, and directed by George Cukor, with a cast headed by Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Aldo Ray. There also will be screened a number of highlights from forthcoming pictures. The five national theatre organizations which participate in the Council of Motion Picture Organizations and their officers who will attend are as follows: Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors: Wilbur Snaper, presi¬ dent, New York; Ben Marcus, treasurer, Milwaukee, and John M. Wolfberg, sec¬ retary, Denver. Independent Theatre Owners Associa¬ tion: Dave Weinstock, first vice-president, New York; Max A. Cohen, second vicepresident, New York; William Namenson, third vice-president, Brooklyn, and Julius Sanders, fourth vice-president, Brooklyn. James Velde was recently named UA western sales manager, succeeding Milton E. Cohen, former western-southern sales manager, now the United Artists eastern-southern sales manager. Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association, Inc.: Edward N. Rugoff, president, New York; Harry Goldberg, second vice-president, New York; Russell V. Downing, treasurer, New York, and Leo Brecher, chairman of board, New York. Theatre Owners of America: Mitchell Wolfson, president, Miami; John Rowley, vice-president, Dallas; Walter Reade, Jr., vice-president, New York; Max' Connett, secretary, Newton, Miss.; J. J. O’Leary, treasurer, Scranton, Pa., and Leonard H. Goldenson, co-chairman, New York. Western Theatre Owners, Inc.: Rotus Harvey, president, San Francisco, and Ben Levin, treasurer, San Francisco. In addition to the above, the following exhibitors are scheduled to attend: George Aurelius, Phoenix, Ariz.; Elmer Balaban, Chicago; F. H. Beddingfield, Charlotte; Benny Berger, Minneapolis; Joe Blumenfeld, San Francisco; George Bow¬ ser, Los Angeles; William Connors, Seattle; James Coston, Chicago; Joseph J. Deitch, Jacksonville, Fla.; Glen Dickinson, Jr., Mission, Kans.; Oscar Doob, New York; Gaston Dureau, New Orleans; Claude Ezell, Dallas; Si Fabian, New York; William Forman, Seattle; Harry French, Minneapolis; Dominic Frisina, Springfield, Ill.; Ted Gamble, Milwaukee; Morton Gerber, Washington, D. C.; J. B. Giachepto, Springfield, Ill.; Charles Gilmour, Denver; Ralph Goldberg, Omaha; William Goldman, Philadelphia; Julius Gordon, Beaumont, Tex.; Monty F. Gowthorpe, Detroit; Henry S. Griffing, Okla¬ homa City; R. J. Griffith, Dallas; Jimmy Harrison, Atlanta; Ray Hendry, Salt Lake City; Earl Herndon, Indianapolis; Earl Hudson, Detroit; J. C. Hunter Tulsa, Okla.; Edward L. Hyman, New York; Phil Isley, Dallas; Howard E. Jameyson, Kansas City; William K. Jenk¬ ins, Atlanta; Harry Kalmine, New York; Jack Kirsch, Chicago; Senn Lawler, Kansas City; Martin Levine, New York; M. A. Lightman, Sr., Memphis; Robert Lippert, San Francisco; Dale MacFarland, Des Moines; George Mann, San Fran¬ cisco; Ted Mann, Minneapolis; E. D. Mar¬ tin, Columbus, Ga.; Jack Matlack, Port¬ land, Ore.; Pat McGee, Denver; Herman B. Meiselman, Charlotte; George Milner, San Francisco; Martin J. Mullin, Boston; Marshall Naify, San Francisco; Robert Naify, San Francisco; R. J. O’Donnell, Dallas; Samuel Pinanski, Boston; Bert Pirosch, Los Angeles; Mike Rosenberg, Los Angeles; Joe J. Rosenfield, Spokane, Wash.; Ed Rowley, Dallas; Louis Schine, Gloversville; Fred Schwartz, New York; Sol Schwartz, New York; Ben Shearer, Seattle; Eddie Silverman, Chicago; Charles Skouras, Los Angeles; George Skouras, New York; Roy Smart, Charlotte; Fred Stein, Los Angeles; Worth Stewart, Char¬ lotte; Dave Wallerstein, Chicago; F. G. NCA Convention invites Newspapers Minneapolis — The annual convention of North Central Allied Independent The¬ atre Owners last week featured a forum with many newspaper publishers and edi¬ tors in attendance as guests. In welcoming the assembled delegates and newspapermen, Ted Mann, NCA president, expressed the hope that the meeting would bring about a changed attitude on the part of the press toward Hollywood. He said, “There is, you know, another Hollywood than the one we read about. It is an earnest, hard-working Hollywood that is turning out the finest pictures in its history. It is a Hollywood not of Com¬ munists but of Democrats and Republi¬ cans, and, above all, Americans.” Leon Bamberger, RKO sales promotion chief, also addressed the members of the North Central Allied Independent Theatre Owners and 150 newspaper publishers and editors from Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota who were in¬ vited to attend the NCA meeting. Bamberger’s speech was entitled “Going Forward Together.” RKO’s Margaret Sheridan also addressed the meeting. She was accompanied from Hollywood by Edith Lynch, RKO studio publicity department. Coast Writers Win, Lose Hollywood — Federal Judge Ben Harri¬ son last week set aside a jury verdict awarding back salaries totaling $84,300 to Adrian Scott, writer-producer, in a breach of contract action against RKO, but upheld the jury’s award of $20,000 to Ring Lardner, Jr., scenarist, in a similar suit against 20th-Fox. Beth men were members of the Holly¬ wood “unfriendly 10”, and served jail terms for contempt of Congress as a result of their refusal to tell the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings in 1947 whether they were members of the Communist party. Beresin ( Continued from page 8) journal as the most outstanding in art, layout, and text, and the host tent awarded each a trophy. Charles P. Skouras visited the busi¬ ness meeting and spoke briefly. Sheriff Glen Jones swore in all the delegates as special deputies, and pre¬ sented them with badges of their office. United Artists held a special screening of Stanley Kramer’s “High Noon” for delegates and wives. The famous “Hey, Rube” dinner for past Chief Barkers was a big success. The various tents raised, and spent, $2,000,487 for charities in the last fiscal year, with $190,000 more received and dis¬ bursed for the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. Pledges for the new year total $2,600,000. The mid-year conference will be held in Pittsburgh, to tie in with the 25th anniversary of the founding of the or¬ ganization. Weis, Savannah, Ga.; Robert M. Weitman, New York; Eddie Zabel, Los Angeles, and Jerry Zigmond, San Francisco. May 7, 1952