The Exhibitor (1953)

8 EXHIBITOR DAN NEWS A guide to the headlines in EXHIBITOR this issue. Corporate President Spyros Skouras and 20th-Fox win a resounding victory in their fight over the cumulative voting provision (page 9). RKO Theatres stockholders express con¬ fidence in management at the annual meeting (page 10). Deaths Herbert Griffin, IPC vice-president, dies on the west coast (page 14). Exhibition North Central Allied, in Minneapolis, adopts a militant tone (page 9). Leonard Gordon heads the Virginia MPTA following the annual convention in Old Point Comfort (page 9). Kansas, Missouri, and Eastern Illinois exhibitors hear authorities at the Osage Beach, Mo., sessions (page 13). K. K. King is elected president of the Arkansas ITO, meeting in Little Rock (page 14). Financial RKO is expected to show a loss of 10 millions or more for 1952 (page 8). GPEC sales are well on the upgrade (page 14). International The Canadian Project report points up the importance of the Canadian scene (page 12). Legal The Carver, Rock Hill, S. C., files an anti-trust suit, and a Hollywood exhibitor settles an action (both on page 15). The Jackson Park, Chicago, and Towne, Milwaukee, lose their highest court ap¬ peals on bidding (page 13). Mel Konecoff Philippine producer Manuel Conde and an American producer, Abner Greshler, come in for attention (pages 8 and 14). Production MGM intends to use all processes and devices in its new production list (page 10). WarnerScope joins the wide-screen parade (page 15). Technical “This Is Cinerama” is scheduled for more cities, DuMont reports on the future, and U-I prepares to show its wide-screen (page 14). The Philadelphia Fire Commissioner gives a favorable ruling on storing acetate film (page 9). Seen recently, left to right, at a party in New York are EXHIBITOR'S Mel Konecoff, Arlene Dahl, and Fernando Lamas. Lamas and Miss Dahl completed Paramount's 3-D entry, "Sangaree." Grosses Steady Along Broadway New York — With four new arrivals, the Broadway first-runs held to steady business over the weekend. According to usually reliable sources reaching Exhibitor, the breakdown was as follows: “HOUSE OF WAX” (WB). Paramount, with this 3-D attraction, anticipated the fifth week at $70,000. “TROUBLE ALONG THE WAY” (WB) . Roxy, with ice show, did $56,000 from Wednesday through Sunday, with the opening week heading toward $70,000. “SHANE” (Para.) Radio City Music Hall, with stage show, reported $80,000 for Thursday through Sunday, with the third week sure to exceed $122,000. “HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN” (Goldwyn-RKO) . Criterion claimed $7,000 for the 24th and last week. “SALOME” (Col.). Rivoli was heading toward a $22,000 seventh week. “INVASION, U. S. A.” (Col.). Globe expected second week to tally $7,800. “THE DESERT RATS” (20th-Fox). Mayfair opened to an expected $26,000 week. “NEVER WAVE AT A WAC” (RKO). Astor anticipated the third week at $13000. “SMALL TOWN GIRL” (MGM) . Loew’s State expected the opening week to hit $19,000. “MOULIN ROUGE” (UA). Capitol was heading toward $28,000 on the 13th week. “THE JUGGLER” (Col.). Victoria claimed the opening week would reach $21,000. RKO 1952 Loss Will Hit 10 Millions NEW YORK— RKO Pictures Cor¬ poration announced last week that it was expected that the annual audit of the accounts of the corporation and its subsidiaries for 1952 would be com¬ pleted, and sent to stockholders within the next two weeks. The announcement stated that pre¬ liminary figures indicate that opera¬ tions for 1952 resulted in a net loss, after all charges, of approximately $10,200,000, and, for the three months ended on April 4, 1953, a net loss (unaudited), after all charges of ap¬ proximately $2,740,000 was incurred. By Mel Konecoff A ONE-MAN MOVIE COMPANY hit this city ready to tell about how he directed, wrote, produced, starred in, and financed a feature that United Artists will release in June. The man is Manuel Conde, and the film is “Ghengis Kahn”, made in the Philippines. Conde told us that the film, made strictly for local consumption in local dialect was shot mostly on loca¬ tion using principally non-professionals and a minimum of equip¬ ment, which came very expensive, considering the limited budget. The latter angle is interesting in that no one wanted to put any money into the venture figuring that it would be a bust because of the subject matter, so Conde hocked everything he owned to make the film with everyone participating without signed contracts and at minimum cost. The result won a Venice International Film Festival prize last year, and UA offered to distribute the film on a world-wide basis. The version that will receive distribution has an English narration superimposed over the local dialect, and Conde said that it comes off very well for to have dubbed the film into English would have meant loss of much of the flavor. Inci¬ dentally, in a poll in the Philippines, Conde won two years running the desig¬ nation of most popular actor, producer, director, etc. “Khan”, in black and white, runs approximately 80 minutes at the moment, UA is working on getting a traveling exhibit together of authentic costumes, weapons, etc., to precede the film in areas throughout the country for the usual hulabaloo. Conde, not content to sit back on his laurels, has two films in the works at the moment, and is only awaiting clarification of the schedules before deciding which comes next. He plans to co-produce, co¬ write, direct, and act in “Attilla The Hun”, which will be filmed in Rome in English for an Italian company, and will portray the title role. Also in the cast will be an American actor and an international cast. Also on his production schedule for the future is “Sarangani”, which will be made in Manila in color and in one of the wide¬ screen processes at a cost of a million. This, too, will see him write, direct, pro¬ duce, and act therein together with an unnamed as yet American actress. UA may well be the distributor. (Continued on page 14) May 13, 1953