Harrison's Reports (1955)

Entered as second-class matter January 4, 1U21, at the post office at New York, New York, under the act of Maroh 3, 1879. Harrison's Reports Yearly Subscription Rates: 1270 SIXTH AVENUE Published Weekly by United States $15.00 New Yor|c 20 N Y Harrison's Reports, Inc.. U. S. Insular Possessions. 16.50 1 W ' 1 * Publisher Canada ■ 16 50 A Motion Picture Reviewing Service S. HARRISON, Editor Mexico^ Cuba, Spain 16.50 Devoted Chiefly to the Interests of the Exhibitors Great Britain ....... 17.50 Eotablished July 1. 1919 Australia, New Zealand, India, Europe, Asia 17.50 its Editorial Policy: No Problem Too Big for Its Editorial _ ~T~Z~At.99 35c a Copy Columns, if It is to Benefit the Exhibitor. UlrcJe 7-46ZZ A REVIEWING SERVICE FREE FROM THE INFLUENCE OF FILM ADVERTISING Vol. XXXVII SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 1955 No. 52 THE COMPO MEETING The major step taken at the annual membership meeting of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations, held in New York City last Thursday (15), was unanimous approval of the inauguration of a new campaign for the elimination of the remaining 10% Federal admission tax. This move was taken at the urging of Al Lichtman and Samuel Pinanski, COMPO co-chairmen, who stated in their annual report that they were in favor of such a campaign and that they "honestly believe" that they are speaking "not only for ourselves but for nearly one-half of the exhibitor membership of COMPO." Present plans call for the appointment of a new tax committee, which will convene as soon as possible to draw up a blueprint for the campaign. Among the other actions taken at the sparsely attended meeting were these: Voted to conduct the Audience Awards poll again next year, after receiving a report from Thornton Sargent, representing Elmer C. Pvhoden, national chairman of the Awards campaign. Elected Robert W. Coyne, COMPO's special counsel, to serve on the Council's triumvirate with Lichtman and Pinanski for an interim period, replacing Wilbur Snaper, who vacated the post after National Allied's decision to withdraw from the organization. This temporary move was taken pending a decision by the COMPO board on whether to continue the governing triumvirate or replace it with a duly elected president. No action could be taken on the question because of the lack of a board quorum. Favored continuance of the COMPO advertising campaign in Editor & Publisher, with the ads to appear once a month instead of every two weeks as at present. Voted to send a letter to Abram F. Myers, National Allied's board chairman and general counsel, asking him to spell out in detail the reasons for Allied's withdrawal from COMPO, as well as the reforms his organization would like to see made in the operation of COMPO before it will reconsider its decision against renewal of its membership. Attending the meeting were approximately thirty representatives of the different associations that make up COMPO, and from their attitude it is apparent that they intend to continue support of COMPO with or without National Allied. But whether or not COMPO can continue to serve the industry as a whole effectively without Allied's participation remains to be seen. One difficulty that will have to be surmounted is the matter of adequate financing to carry through an effective program. That the exhibitor dues collected thus far this year have not been too encouraging is evidenced by the fact that a "modified" budget was adopted at the meeting, cutting down the original funds allocated for expenditures between now and the end of the fiscal year, which expires on July 31, 1956. As to the effectiveness of a new campaign for repeal of the remaining admission tax, this, too, is doubtful, for there may be a serious lack of cooperation from a great many exhibitors who are of the opinion that a tax campaign at this time would not be propitious and would not have the slightest chance of success, mainly because of the present plans of Congressional leaders to reduce personal income taxes. Since it is generally conceded that both major political parties will make every effort to reduce personal income taxes above all else, particularly since 1956 is a Presidential election year, it can be anticipated that the loss of revenue will leave little room for reductions in any other forms of taxes, with the theatres in an extremely weak position, not only because the admission tax already has been cut in half for them, but also because other important industries have not yet received any excise tax relief. These are facts that cannot be ignored. CINEMASCOPE'S "NEW LOOK" SET FOR NATIONWIDE DEMONSTRATIONS Sequences from Rodgers Hammerstein's "Carousel" and "The King and I," the first two productions photographed in the new 55mm. CinemaScope process, will be included in a special reel being prepared by 20th Century-Fox for demonstrations in more than 100 principal cities to commence around January 23. Narrated by Darryl F. Zanuck, the company's production head, the subject introducing CinemaScope 5 5 and its important advances in film production and exhibition will be shown to more than 200,000 exhibitors, press representatives and other opinion makers during a period of between four to six weeks as the first segment of a world-wide program launching the process. The running time of the reel will be close to one hour and it will differ from the one shown recently in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago in that highlight footage from "The King and I" will be presented for the first time. This multi-million-dollar filmization of the celebrated stage musical is now (Continued on bac\ page) HARRISON'S REPORTS extends to its subscribers and readers Greetings of the Season