The Independent Film Journal (1954)

New Appointments . . . Alfred Crown, formerly president of Moulin Productions, has been named vicepresident of Allied Artists, and special studio representative. He will represent company with U.S. and foreign inde¬ pendents, and be liaison with Allied’s overseas distribution offices. Crown will also advise Moulin on liquidation of projects he has been supervising. Jerry Wechsler, for the past year a spe¬ cial sales representative for J. Arthur Rank Organization film productions released by Universal-Int’l., has been named branch manager for U-I in Buffalo, replacing Dave Miller, who is retiring after 30 years with the company. C. Morton Goldstein, a Baltimore at¬ torney, was appointed chairman of the Maryland State Board of Motion Picture Censors. He replaces Sidney R. Traub. Paul J. Quinn, formerly with Donovan, Leisure, Newton & Irvine, has been ap¬ pointed attorney in charge of litigation for RKO Radio Pictures. The position Avas previously held by Peter F. Pugliese, Avho resigned to join Bell Telephone of Pa. as its attorney. Donovan office has served as special counsel to RKO for many years during Avhich time Quinn Avorked on RKO cases. Walter S. Prusiewicz and Burton N. Bastedo have been appointed assistant treas¬ urers of Pathe Laboratories. Prusiewicz has been chief account of the lab since Jan. 1951, and Bastedo came to Pathe from Chesa¬ peake Industries, where he was controller. M. J. (“Mike”) Yaiir has been appointed to the newly created post of manager, RCA Theatre and Sound Products. Formerly manager of RCA Sound Products, Yahr will coordinate all planning, promotion and sales activities for equipment and products which the RCA Engineering Products Division markets through distributors. William F. Peck became general man¬ ager of new motion picture products division Justice Backs Uniform Trust Case Time Laws Washington. — The Justice Department has reaffirmed its support of a uniform statute of limitations for anti-trust suits. Stanley N. Barnes, Assistant Attorney Gen¬ eral in charge of the anti-trust division, testi¬ fying before a House Judiciary subcommit¬ tee on legislation to permit the Government to recover damages in such suits, under ques¬ tioning by committee members diverted his testimony to the issue of a uniform statute of limitations. The film industry has sup¬ ported such a statute, with the producerdistributors leaning towards a statute of 2 to 3 years; the exhibitors favoring a longer period — 5 or 6 years. Rep. Emanuel Celler (D., N. Y.), chairman of both the full com¬ mittee and subcommittee, said he Avould hold hearings exclusively on the statute of limita¬ tions bill later this year. of American Optical Company. He formerly headed the AO instruments division at Buf¬ falo. AO’s neAv division will be responsible for exploitation and commercial application of all products made for the film industry, and for all activities relating to commercial phases of Todd-AO. Harold Lewis was appointed studio man¬ ager of 20th-Fox’s Western Avenue studios, now being converted and re-tooled for video production. Lewis was formerly manager of Pathe studios and head of RKO location department. W. Douglas Matthews, formerly treas¬ urer of Motiograph Inc., has been appointed to a newly created post of Auce-president and g'eneral manager of the company. His duties will be taken over by John J. Bullers, accounting head of the firm, who will now function as secretary-treasurer. Frank Arena was appointed manager of Loew’s new “Twins” drive-in theatres in Oak Lawn, Ill., as they opened their season this week. Frank Murphy, LoeAv’s Great Lakes division manager, Avill supervise the operation. Arena was formerly manager of Loew’s Penn Theatre, Pittsburgh. Cliff Lorbeck has been appointed man¬ ager of the Super Display Co. of Milwau¬ kee, a division of the Confection Cabinet Corp. Marty Lyon, formerly with Manly Popcorn, has been named sales manager. Henry J. Zittau has joined Associated Artists Prod, as vice president and treasurer. Zittau has resigned as treasurer of Western Television Co. and Motion Pictures for Television. Virginia Higgins has been named casting director for Allied Artists. She has been as¬ sociated with the studio’s casting department for the past six years. Leon Serin has been appointed as city manager of Paramount’s Philadelphia the¬ atres, the Tower, Roosevelt and Nixon. Dozen Personalities Plug Five U-I Pix Universal used 12 personalities to promote five different pictures during the first two months of 1955, the company announced. This intensive activity in support of the studio’s current “Charles J. Feldman Annual Sales Drive” was in addition to a heavy con¬ centration of national magazine advertising on these films. The personalities, Avho visited 75 cities and toAvns, and the pictures they plugged, Avere: Tony Curtis, George Nader, Claudia Hall, author Joseph Dinneen, (Six Bridges to Cross”) ; Rock Hudson, Barbara Rush (“Captain Lightfoot”) ; Rita Gam and model Jeannie Johnson (“Sign of the Pagan”); Mara Corday (“So This is Paris”); Suzan Ball, Dick Long (“Chief Crazy Horse”). Promotional activity is scheduled to be continued with a seven-city tour for Kirk Douglas (Man Without A Star”) and a 13citv Indian tour already underway. Grant Goldwyn Inspection Okay Hollywood.— In a precedent-setting order made in San Francisco by Federal Judge Michael J. Roche, Fox West Coast Theatres Corp. and National Theatres AA-ere directed to open their books and accounts for inspec¬ tion by Samuel Goldwyn in a $6,750,000 anti¬ trust suit brought by Goldwyn against FWC and McNeil and Naify Circuits. Over strenuous objections of FWC at¬ torney Arthur J. Dunne, Judge Roche or¬ dered FWC to make available to Goldwyn all records, including corporate income tax records, for the period 1937-1950. The rec¬ ords will shoAV actual house expenses for each theatre in the circuit for comparison with expenses, alleged by Goldwyn to be fictitious, charged against pictures in computing film rentals on sliding scale deals. Claim by the FWC counsel that figures used as house expenses in film deals Avere “negotiated” Avas over-ruled by Judge Roche as grounds for keeping such figures secret. The court also granted a motion by Joseph Alioto, GoldAvyn counsel, to require FWC to open its competitive bidding records for in¬ spection and to reveal profits on real-estate operation and candy sales. The order also directed inspection of Minute Book from date of incorporation of NT, Inc., National Theatres Amusement Co., WCT, Inc., FWC Agency, Inc., from 1937-1951. The account books of NT, Inc. Avere also ordered open to GoldAvyn’s inspection from 1937-1951. Judge Roche refused decision on a motion by attorney Theodore Roche Jr., for separate trial of action against McNeil and Naify in¬ terests. The motion was made on the grounds that trial together with FWC Avould be prejudice to M.&N. interests, and was op¬ posed by Goldwyn counsel on grounds that M.&N. were co-conspirators with FWC in¬ terests and should be tried together. The court set March 18 as date for the next hearing to consider Goldwyn motion to assign the case to a trial judge and set a trial date. Attending the hearing Avere James A. Mulvey, president of Samuel Goldwyn Prod., and Joseph A. Walsh, in charge of Goldwyn accounting investigation of de¬ fendants’ books and records. Censor Snubs Protest Over "Bamboo" Ban Memphis.— Lloyd T. Binford, chairman of the Memphis and Selby County Censor Board, will ignore the protest Avire sent by the American Civil Liberties Union against the ban of Columbia’s “The Bamboo Prison.” Picture was banned on the reported grounds that a “progressive” is portrayed as a hero. “I am not paying any attention to the mes¬ sage,” Binford said. “If the studio didn’t like the ban they could appeal it to the courts.” The wire, signed by playwright Elmer Rice, chairman of the ACLU National Coun¬ cil on Freedom from Censorship, urged the censors to reconsider the ban, and said his group would back Columbia in an appeal to the courts. ACLI claimed that censorship was “ridiculous” in view of the picture “making it clear at the beginning of the film that the progressive prisoner is in reality a spy. THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— March 5. 1955 13