Independent Exhibitors Film Bulletin (1962)

tewpoints APRIL 16, 1962 9 VOLUME 30. NO. 8 11 iili il Vi rm Affection The deep affection and high esteem in which Spyros Skouras is held by his exhibitor customers was best expressed, perhaps, by a hard-bitten midwestern theatreman who was not one of the chosen few called to the dais to extol the virtues of the 20th-Fox president, at testimonial dinner in his honor at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York last Thursday. "This is one of the rare times," said the theatreman, "when I wish I had been asked to stand up and say something nice about a film executive. This is the man who time and again has risen above the familiar, unsentimental buyer-seller relationship to guide us in bettering our lot, improving our business, raising our spirits. If you single out one person about whom you can truly say he is devoted heart and soul to motion pictures, it has to be Spyros." Some 1,000 industryites from every state in the union, all with similar thoughts, poured into the grand ballroom of the Waldorf last week to pay tribute to Skouras on his 20th anniversary as head of Fox. And typical of his friendship with exhibition and his tireless efforts to strengthen and unite that branch was the fact that the two rival theatre organizations — TOA and National Allied — had submerged their long-standing trade differences to collaborate in staging the affair. Five theatre leaders rose to sing Skouras' praises, each singling out one of the man's virtues, attributes of strength and character that have carried him through almost half a century in the movie business. S. H. Fabian, head of Stanley Warner Corp., talked of the honored guest's "courage." That, he noted, is what "we wish to remember most" about him. Fabian also pointed to his contributions to the industry, declaring that he had "picked it up off the ground and restored its strength single-handedly with CinemaScope." Ben Marcus, chairman of the board of National Allied and a member of the COMPO triumvirate, called him a "great man whose honesty is impregnable. His character carries him to the heights in the industry from a beginning as an immigrant boy." "The youngest man in this room," was the way Irving Dollinger, chairman of Allied Theatre Owners of New Jersey, described him, lauding the "boundless energy and enthusiasm, without which none of Skouras' outstanding achievements could have been accomplished." Harry Brandt, head of the Independent Theatre Owners Association and Brandt Theatres, said that "no matter on what else exhibitors may disagree they all are agreed that Skouras is and will continue to be a great industry leader." Mitchell Wolfson, president of Wometco Enterprises and former head of TOA, summed up the attitude of all those present and the thousands of theatremen who could not come in these eloquent words: "Like most of you, I have known Spyros since he was an exhibitor in St. Louis. I would like to take the time allotted to me to talk about Spyros Skouras as a man rather than his more familiar role as president of 20th Century-Fox Films. To me, he personif BULLETIN Film BULLETIN: Motion Picture Trade Paper published every other Monday by Wax Publications, Inc. Mo Wax. Editor and Publisher. PUBLICATION-EDITORIAL OFFICES: 123? Vine Street, Philadelphia 7, Pa., LOcust 8-0950, 0951. Philip R. Ward. Associate Editor; Leonard Coulter, New York Associate Editor; Berne Schneyer, Publication Manager; Max Garelick, Business Manager; Robert Heath, Circulation Manager. BUSINESS OFFICE: 550 Fifth Avenue, New York 36. N. Y., Circle 5-0124; Ernest Shapiro, N Y. Editorial Representative. Subscription Rates: ONE YEAR, $3.00 in the U S.; Canada, $4.00; Europe, $5.00. TWO YEARS $5.00 in the U. S.; Canada. Europe. $9.00. ies what makes America great. A penniless immigrant who has become world famous and a fabulous personality. A man of great humility and with a kind heart, he is ever ready to battle for human dignity and progress. A friend of the Presidents of the United States, on equal terms with senators, congressmen, kings, queens and diplomats . . . yet available to the smallest exhibitor in our industry. He is even on speaking terms with Khrushchev and yet perhaps his greatest attribute is Spyros' unfaltering patriotism for the United States of America and his love for his mother country of Greece, and the free world. "I salute Spyros Skouras — a pioneer who has lost neither his marvelous sense of adventure nor his unfailing energy." Typical of Skouras' boundless energy and tireless enthusiasm was his surprise announcement to the huge gathering that in the near future, he would reveal a new development of great importance to the welfare of theatres. Currently laboring with his company under extreme financial hardship, the tireless president told to his audience: "Tonight, ladies and gentlemen, by this tribute you have inspired me with the courage and determination to move forward to greater efforts. This is the time of new horizons, of new achievements in science, of new inventions, of new ideas. I hope very soon to be able to announce something of great importance to the theatres, something on which we have been working for a long time. I wish I were able to announce this to you tonight. But when I do, I assure you that some of the theatres in every community, in every section of the world, will be revitalized, and draw new and greater audiences." Once again, exhibitors throughout the country — yes, the world — are given new hope by the indefatigable man w ho champions their cause. As they anxiously await this revelation, theatremen everywhere know that whatever Spyros Skouras brings to them will be in the best of faith and with an abiding desire to better the industry to which he has devoted so usefully a whole lifetime. Film BULLETIN April 16. 1962 Page 7