Harrison's Reports (1955)

Entered aa second-class matter January t, 1921, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of March ?., 1S71*. Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Published Weekly by United States $15.00 N„w y, 20 N Y Harrison's Reports. Inc., U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 Wew 1 °rK *U» n X' Publisher Canada 16.50 A Motion picture Reviewing Service P S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico^ Cuba, Spain 16.50 Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Great Britain ............ 17.50 Established July 1, 1919 Australia, New Zealand, India. Europe, Asia 17.50 its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial _ . „ 35c a Copy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. circle /-4t>^ A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXXVII SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1955 No. 46 THE NATIONAL ALLIED CONVENTION Sparked by the fiery keynote address of President Rube Shor, who made it unmistakably clear that the events of the past 12 months have brought exhibitors to a crossroads where they must decide once and for all which course they will follow, and by a warning from general counsel Abram F. Myers that the film companies and divorced circuits, "by the mesmeric control they exert over some exhibitor groups and the pressure and influence they are striving to exert in Washington, have entered upon an all-out campaign to wipe out all the reforms of the past decade and to restore the grinding monopoly which the Government and the Courts sought to destroy," a record-breaking and determined National Allied convention charted a definite and positive course of action to protect exhibitors from abuses and inequities that threaten their very existence. Meeting in Chicago on Monday, Tuesday and Wednes' day of this week, the convention delegates, numbering more than 1,000 strong, made it clear that they were fed up with the intolerable conditions under which they must operate their theatres today and, without a dissenting voice, unanimously agreed upon the following actions through appropriate resolutions: 1. To follow through immediately on the plan to go to the Government for relief against excessive film rentals, in accordance with its Emergency Delense Committee program, which was approved by the board and ratified by the 1954 convention but which was held in abeyance pending friendly negotiations with the film companies. 2. Rejected the so-called Lcvy-Schimel draft of an industry arbitration plan as unworthy and detrimental to the interests of exhibitors, and resolved to (a) take whatever steps may be necessary and legally feasible to prevent the approval of the plan by the Attorney General or the U.S. District Court; and (b) if necessary, present the problem to appropriate Congressional committees with a view to securing legislative relief against pre-releases and other abuses condoned by the plan. 3. Approved the decision of its board of directors not to renew Allied's charter membership in COMPO "until such reforms in management and changes in personnel have been effected as will insure that organization's continued operation in obedience to the by-laws and in accordance with the intendment of its founders." 4. Approved the position of the board of directors, as reported by Col. H. A. Cole, on the advisability of deferring until the new Congress in 1957 any attempt to secure further relief from the admissions tax. 5. Declared that the current acquisitions of drive-in and conventional theatres by the divorced circuits constitutes a grave menace to all independent theatres, and adopted a program that is aimed at curbing this expansion. With regard to the decision to go ahead with the movement for Government control of film rentals, Bennie Berger, chairman of Allied's EDC committee, after a militant talk in which he denounced current selling policies in no uncertain terms, read to the delegates a telegram he had received from Senator Hubert H. Humphrey advising him that the Senate Small Business Committee should be ready to hold hearings on the matter during the latter part of January. Irving Dollinger, a member of the committee, reported details of an 8-point plan to implement the activity and support required of exhibitors to help the EDC to properly present its case at the hearings. In the matter of arbitration, Mr. Myers pointed out to the convention that, as compared with the 1952 draft, which was rejected by Allied, nothing new has been added to the current Levy-Schimel draft to make the scheme more acceptable to the exhibitors. He stressed, however, that something (Continued on bac^ page) THE NEW CINEMASCOPE A new and highly impressive development in the technique of CinemaScope has been attained by 20th CenturyFox by means of photographing the picture on a 55 mm negative and projecting it in a reduced 3 5 mm version. This new development was demonstrated for the first time this week at the Oriental Theatre in Chicago before an audience of exhibitors attending the National Allied convention, and the breathtakingly beautiful footage shown brought gasps of wonderment to most of the showmen present. Shown at the demonstration were scenes from the company's multi-million dollar production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Carousel," which was shot in the 55 mm process and reduced for projection to 35 mm. The results were nothing short of magnificent, and for clarity, depth, sharpness, definition of color and complete elimination of grain and distortion, it is by far superior to any other motion picture technique, wide-screen or otherwise, that has yet been developed. Every scene was bright and sharp, with images and scenes in the backgrounds just as sharp and clear as those in the foreground. In some of the scenes, the figures close to the camera actually had an astonishing three-dimensional effect. Like many others who were present at the demonstration, this observer accepted an invitation to walk around the theatre and view the picture from any angle. Even at the most extreme angle — that is, way down front and far to the side, the picture was totally free from grain and distortions on every inch of the screen, both in indoor and outdoor shots, close-ups, long shots and group shots. As explained by Spyros P. Skouras, 20th-Fox's president, who was host at the demonstration, the important thing about this exceptionally fine development is that the reduce tion of the 55 mm negative to 35 mm prints will enable all theatres to show it with their present equipment. As a matter of fact, Mr. Skouras and Darryl F. Zanuck, the company's production chief, are so enthused over the added clarity and definition of this 55 mm process that they have decided to use it on all future productions, even though it will cost the company an average of $200,000 more per picture than if shot in regular CinemaScope. To make it possible for all theatres to show "Carousel" in this new process without undue delay, Mr. Skouras, to the evident satisfaction of the exhibitors present at the demonstration, announced that his company had abandoned its plan to roadshow the picture first in 55 mm form in a selected number of specially-equipped theatres. He stated that the company is working around the clock to have reduced 35 mm prints available around February 22, Washington's Birthday. The demonstration reel included a narration by Mr. Zanuck, who explained that, after making extensive experiments with all sizes of film, the company's technicians and scientists selected the 55 mm size, which provides a picture area that is four times the area provided on 35 mm film. To handle this larger film, it became necessary for the company to build special cameras, arrange for the manufacture of 55 mm film and to reconstruct a laboratory to develop and process this film. All these expenditures, said Mr. Zanuck, will amount to several millions of dollars, and he made it cear that 20th Century-Fox has no intention of passing them on to the exhibitor. Both Mr. Skouras and Mr. Zanuck stated that certain of the company's big attractions, such as "The King and I," will be roadshown in a few specially-equipped theatres on full 55 mm projection machines, but they emphasized that their main objective in developing the new 55 mm CinemaScope process is to bring the ultimate in photography into every theatre, large or small, throughout the world (Continued on bacl{ page)