The Film Daily (1948)

Thursday, May 13, 1948 •m DAILY ''ft r sks Publicity Drive it Consumer Level the (Continued from Page 1) raska Allied, turned out for =ssions. Brookings said that only a protr *^k of publicity can win back the ius=5Aers, declaring "let's sell the ublic on our merchandise — the ravy train is past — let's use comlon business sense." Myron Blank of the Central States "heater Corp., urged a strong camaign to stop the competition of 16 p^iim. operators using the same films |s that paid for by the theater men ind asserted the machines should be Lmited to hospitals, educational purposes and for shut-ins. j Abram F. Myers, general coun:el for National Allied reviewed the lecent Supreme Court decisions and jeclared that competitive bidding Vas definitely out under the decisions ind that Paramount and the Pox Empires' are doomed. He estimated j'iiat it would be six months at least »efore the lower court decisions are Entered and pointed out the possiility of additional appeals to the upreme Court again. ritish Fans "Shopping" ays Graham, U. K. Exhib. (Continued from Page 1) ilipraham, Nottingham exhibitor, who i arrived here yesterday with his wife inboard the Queen Elizabeth. Ml Most of the people in the industry, steaid Graham, were satisfied with the fibutcome of the Anglo-American acpord, with only a few inveterate dissenters deploring the deal. Because of prior bookings, new U. 2S. product will hardly get a play in the U. K. before September, opined Graham. He is managing director of 5a 13-theater circuit in Nottingham, and an active member in the CEA, potent exhib. organization. After a fortnight's business-andpleasure here, the Grahams will vacation in Bermuda, returning home July 3, via New York. Schoham Succeeds Habib HAs M-G-M's Belgium Mgr. Robert 0. Schoham, Loew's International special home office representative in Scandinavia, has been named temporary manager in Belgium, succeeding Selim Habib, it is announced by Morton A. Spring, first vice-president. Habib, who has been in ill health, resigned from the company. Schoham formerly was M-G-M manager in Cuba and Finland. % Send (Birthday, % | Qreeting,3 TJtr May 13 Jack Holt Mary Kenyon Richard S. Gavin -. >v &4^j*+j**j*+AfM»*& ♦ ♦ ♦> $ ♦♦ *»♦ i.i ♦ ♦ sststt V\H^ ">& PHIL M. DALY T T ▼ Thursday's Tidings • • • THE QUESTION BEFORE THE HOUSE: Is it true that Loew's International has sold the Mecca Building at 1600 Broadway to National Screen Service? NSS has been understood looking for new quarters ever since the Film Center at 630 Ninth Ave. was sold. ▼ T T • • • JOHN JOSEPH, national ad-publicity director for UniversalInternational, is contemplating another New York visit in July. . . . • Bill Brown, manager of the Loew-Poli-Bijou Theater in New Haven and the Missus will celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary on Sunday At the same time. Bill will mark his 35th anniversary in show business So, double Congrats. ... • "Citizen Saint" which opens at the Bijou May 20, has been substantially remade since its first viewing a year ago. ... • The larger Chicago circuits are reported receiving plenty of squawks since they upped the prices for popcorn and soft drinks Smaller theaters there are holding the popcorn prices to 10 cents, whereas the circuit houses are asking 15, with soft drinks at the latter a dime. ... • Martin Starr interviews Joan M. Lyman, "Miss Subways" for May, and secretary in U-I's accessories sales department, over WINS at 7 p.m., tomorrow. ... • U-I's "River Lady" goes into the Winter Garden a week from today. ... © Empire-Universal's suit in Canada against J. Arthur Rank, et al, which faded in the Dominion though being ruled out because of lack of accurate information with which to proceed, may get ahead on this side of the international line A Canadian court has given permission for EmpireUniversal to "renew writ, defendants outside jurisdiction not having been served." T T T • • • GOOD NEWS DEPT. — Allied Artists is upping its 12-month budget by $3,000,000. the total of $13,000,000 to be expended on as many films. ... • Monogram by the way, will turn out 41 films in the 12month period. ... • Very effective copy in that Paramount multi-color ad for "The Emperor Waltz" which is breaking in Newsweek, Time, Life and the New Yorker. ... • Metro's Bill Ornstein of the facile pen is represented in the second issue of Sibylline, new magazine of idealistic writing, by "Routine Perfect." ... • Those rumors of reported drops in fan magazine readership appear to be unfounded save in two specific instances, based on January-February circulation estimates, the latest available The Dell group's showing is especially healthy. . . . • The New York Times is joining the parade of leading dailies publishing a special video section, with its supplement breaking Sunday, June 13. • CED will announce the successor to Paul G. Hoffman as chairman at a dinner honoring Hoffman at the Waldorf on May 20. . . . • I. T. Cohen, ASCAP assistant sales manager, was made an Arkansas Traveller by Gov. Ben Laney I. T. says A. T. is equivalent to Li. -Colonelcy in other States. T ▼ T • • • JESSE L. LASKY will be dined by civic groups at Chicago's Drake Hotel when he visits the Windy City for the local opening of "The Miracle of the Bells" on May 25. . . . • Bess Meredyth arrives from the Coast over the week-end. ... • Members of the UN Commission on Narcotics Drugs Control will see "The the Ends of the Earth" at a special screening tomorrow. ... # Monty Salmon breaks Rivoli precedent Monday when "Another Part of the Forest" will be previewed on regular bill topped by "Letter From an Unknown Woman". . . . • Locations hereabouts thus far picked by Joseph L. Mankiewicz for "Letter to Three Wives" include Cold Spring and Croton and Stamford, Conn. T ▼ T British Film Buys Uncertain Under Pad (Continued from Page 1) Board of Trade, who expressed the hope in Parliament a fortnight ago that American producers would modify their "extravagant ideas" concerning production in Britain and "concentrate more on the other side of the agreement, the purchase of British films." Two important hurdles stand in the way of such purchases — (1) the availability of British product on an outright basis, (2) agreement among the American distributors concerning the status of U. S. earnings from such pictures in relation to the "pool of additional remittables." In connection with the first of these points, Wilson is expected to announce within a few days the Government's proposals that would insure financial backing to qualified independents as a stimulus to British production. The "pool" question was the subject of heated controversy in the discussions of the Agreement held in New York recently in which all American distributors participated. One group of executives is reportedly of the opinion that all U. S. earnings from British pictures, whether they be purchased outright or acquired as the result of a distribution deal, be thrown into the common dollar pool. An equally vocal body insists that earnings from outright purchases accrue to the purchaser alone. Fay Allport, MPAA representative who arrived here yesterday, is scheduled to take up this question with Board of Trade officials. Allport will inquire concerning the British attitude toward such outright purchases — whether there is any British opjection to the dissipation of the dollar pool that would result if all earnings from such acquisitions were to remain with the buyer, and whether the Board intends to place any restrictions upon such purchases, such as requiring the inclusion of some percentage arrangement in the distribution contract with the British producer. WB Breaks Precedent With "Arch" on Coast Booking by Warner Theaters of UA-Enterprises "Arch of Triumph" in three Los Angeles houses breaks a precedent of six years standing, during which no outside product has been booked into the theaters. "Arch" opens June 4 in the Warner Hollywood, Downtown and Wiltern Theaters. DEATHS BARTON P. TURNBULL, 58, president of Rockefeller Center, Inc., and former president and director of Radio City Music Hall Corp. and Center Theater Corp., in Summit, I N.J.