The Exhibitor (1953)

10 E X H I B TOR Equipment Package Deal Set By Allied Edward Morey, Allied Artists vice-president; Steve Broidy, president, and MacGregor Scott, general sales manager, Associated British Pathe, are seen at the recent sessions of Allied Artists' first interna¬ tional meet at Miami Beach, Fla. N. V. Ritchey, Monogram International Corporation, presided. Ballantyne Company Reveals Arrangement With Exhibitor Body; Deliveries Due Within 60 Days, Spokesmen Declare Washington — J. Robert Hoff, executive vice-president, The Ballantyne Company, Omaha, announced last week at a press conference in the office of Abram Myers, National Allied board chairman-general counsel, that the company will accept orders for a theatre equipment package, to sell for about $6,000, which will con¬ vert any theatre for 3-D and panoramic pictures, plus stereophonic sound. The¬ atres, of course, will still be able to play conventional 2-D product. It was indicated that Allied had asked Ballantyne to develop such a package at a price that all theatres could afford and compatible with special projection pic¬ tures now being produced. While the _ Bulletin _ NEW YORK — Authoritative advices last week indicated that both the screen and lens situations were expected to be con¬ siderably alleviated by mid-summer. Re¬ ports from St. Louis were to the effect that Walker Screen’s expansion in manu¬ facturing its all-purpose screen to fit any dimension and any ratio would be well under way by August. Furthermore, it was learned that the big optical houses expect to pick up lens manufacturing speed next month, followed by increased production in July and August. By the start of the new season in Sep¬ tember, the current tight market as regards screens and lenses is expected to be disappearing. package price assumes a screen size of 15 feet by 30 feet, the screen is also avail¬ able in other sizes, but always in the 2 to 1 ratio. The only two processes not covered by the package are CinemaScope and Cinerama. However, Ballan¬ tyne expects to be able to furnish the anamorphic lens necessary to CinemaScope projection in a few months. The Stereophonic sound system will reproduce all existing directional illusions, and also be adaptable if future projec¬ tion techniques utilize magnetic sound tracks on the film, it is said. The key to the panoramic part of the package is said to be in the special wideangle lenses, the only lens so far com¬ bining a short focal length with the speed which, combined with the high reflectivity of the Ballantyne screen, is said to mean that most theatres can use their present light sources for panoramic projection. The two sets of aperture plates will be in the ratios of 1.85 to 1 and 2 to 1. Other ratios will be available as they are adopted by major studios. Ballantyne offers as optional a curved, metal screen frame and 24 or 25 inch film magazines. Of the $6000 package, tradesters esti¬ mated that about $2000 takes care of the 3-D equipment, lens, and screen, with about $4000 therefore the cost of the ( Continued on page 14) Allied Artists Using CinemaScope Miami Beach, Fla. — Steve Broidy, Allied Artists president, last week announced to the more than 150 delegates attending the company’s first international sales con¬ vention at the Roney Plaza Hotel that negotiations have been completed with 20th-Fox for the filming of “The Annap¬ olis Story” in CinemaScope. The navy is turning over the facilities of the Naval Academy for the film, and production will start as soon as CinemaScope lenses are available. Broidy praised the work of Walter Mirisch, executive producer, whose work with the script qualified it for pro¬ duction in the wide-screen process, it was said. Broidy also said that plans were being formulated with MacGregor Scott, Asso¬ ciated British Pathe general sales man¬ ager, for the company to hold another international sales convention in London next year, with special meetings in Paris with European exhibitors. During the convention, individual for¬ eign meetings were conducted under the direction of Norton Ritchey, president, foreign subsidiary, while Morey Goldstein, general sales manager, led a domestic sales session. Scott predicted a continuous in¬ crease in the sales of Allied Artists’ product in the United Kingdom. The sales contingent of 46 from England, repre¬ senting Scott’s entire sales force, was the largest single delegation at the convention, where 50 nations were represented during the sessions. Broidy later announced that at a meet¬ ing of the board of directors a stock divi¬ dend of 10 per cent had been voted. Decca Offers Shares New York — Decca Records, Inc., last week filed with the Securities and Ex¬ change Commission a registration state¬ ment covering a proposed offering of 318,625 additional shares of capital stock to its stockholders. The company expects to offer the stockholders rights to purchase one additional share for each three and one-quarter shares of capital stock held of record on June 9. U-l Wide-Screen, Sound In New York Theatre Bow _ NEW YORK — U-I’s endeavor in the wide-screen, stereophonic sound field made its bow last week when “Thun¬ der Bay” was given its premiere at Loew’s State. The aspect ratio was 1.85.1, with screen framed in a reflec¬ tive surround. Actual size was 43 feet by 24 feet, six inches, with the curve three feet at the deepest. Lighting, projection, and presenta¬ tion were of the best. _ H. M. M. Dr. Kalmus Reports On Tech. Progress New York — Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, president-general manager, reported last week to stockholders that the estimated net income of Technicolor, Inc., and its subsidiary, Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, rose to a record $896,838, equal to 94 cents per share, in the first 1953 quarter, as compared to $518,948, or 56 cents per share, in the first three months of 1952. He also stated that indi¬ cations were that business would be just as good through the second quarter. Stockholders voted to split the stock of Technicolor, Inc., at the rate of two for one, and to change the shares from no par value of one dollar, eliminating pre¬ emptive rights and reducing the capital of Technicolor to the par value of the stock. The move is expected to result in payment of appreciably lower transfer taxes, and the split would constitute a tax free ex¬ change under the Internal Revenue Code. The company has contracts for 122 pic¬ tures to be made in its process this year by 27 companies. Last year, the total pro¬ duced in Hollywood was 97. Dr. Kalmus said that about 30 of the planned films are slated for Technicolor three-strip color photography, and 25 are expected to employ the Eastman or Ansco color negatives. Leonard Lyons was elected to the Tech¬ nicolor board. Reelected were Eversley Childs, Lester G. Clark, and Dr. Kalmus, all for three-year terms. May 27, 1953