The Independent Film Journal (1954)

Metro Workshops Boast 2,500 More than 2,500 exhibitors have attended the first nine M-G-M Ticket Selling Work¬ shops to date, as the latest session — a spe¬ cial capsule version — was set for the mem¬ bership of the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers, on March 23 in the Georgian Room of the Piccadilly Hotel. AMPA presi¬ dent David A. Bader announced that Mike Simons, M-G-M director of customer rela¬ tions, will bring scenery and props to the New York demonstration. The room will be decorated as it would be for one of the Metro meetings, and those attending will assume the role of exhibitor guests. Approximately 350 exhibitors from the Columbus territory attended the ninth M-G-M workshop this week at the DeshlerHilton Hotel. There were eight panel speak¬ ers in addition to Emery Austin, exploita¬ tion director for M-G-M, who revealed the 33 promotion aids employed to assist ex¬ hibitors in making the public aware of Leo’s trademark and output. Specialists on the panel included James W. Gaylord, Jr., of the StarLite Drive-In, Troy, Ala. ; Conrad Brady, ad-publicity di¬ rector for Interstate Theatres, Houston; Ed Roskelly, producer of tape recordings for drive-ins; A1 Reynolds, of the Claude Ezell & Associates circuit; Ivan D. Anderson, Liberty No. Wilkesboro, N. C.; Jack Bruno, Cooper Foundation, Pueblo; Nate Milder, sales director for WHIZ and WHIZ-TV, Zanesville, 0., and Jack Lake, ad manager for the Lancaster, 0. Eagle-Gazette. The tenth meeting took place this week at the Continental Hotel, Kansas City, and was the first workshop conducted as part of two exhibitor organization conventions. The Kansas-Missouri Theatre Assoc., a TOA unit headed by Ed Harris, and Allied of Kansas and Missouri, headed by Beverly Miller, worked hand-in-hand with M-G-M. Another workshop — the eleventh — is sched¬ uled for the Adolphus Hotel, Dallas, on March 9, the first day of the Texas Drive-In Theatre Owners’ Association Convention. Jack Farr, association president, has as¬ sured M-G-M that the entire first day of the convention will be devoted to the workshop. One of the guest panelists will be Andrew M. Sullivan, Jr., city manager for Dixie DriveIn Theatres in Savannah. A workshop has been scheduled for May 6 at the Savory Hotel, Des Moines, in connec¬ tion with the annual Spring convention of the Allied of Iowa of Nebraska; another will meet at the St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco on June 20. Buy Chaplin Holdings ( Continued from page 9) According to the company, the 1954 world gross represents a new UA 35-year high. The Krim-Benjamin group entered the UA situation when the company was at its lowest ebb. In less than six months, a profit was shown and by the end of the first year the company had completed its first annual earn¬ ings calendar since 1946. Result of the group’s success was that 8,000 UA shares were awarded management. The stock turnover was made in accordance with an agreement entered into between management and Miss Pickford and Chaplin. U>: SULLIVAN New National Screen Posters Accent Movie Attendance “How to Make Them Happy — Take Them Out to the Movies!” is the ticket-selling theme of a pair of new and unusual 30 x 40 and 40 x 60 full-color cartoon displays created by National Screen Service to stim¬ ulate movie attendance, it was announced by George F. Dembow, vice-president in charge of sales. Familiar everyday situations such as these are amusingly caricatured and answered with “Take Them Out to the Movies !” : the pesky kid, a nuisance around the house; the husband who brings his office worries home ; the wife who complains she’s a drudge; the boring couple from next door who are kill¬ ing your evenings ; the girl who is hard to date, and the boy friend who parks in the parlor and won’t go home. The bright displays were developed for out-front and away-from-theatre exploita¬ tion to capture passerby attention. They can be used w7ith window and inside-store displays for specific film attractions, with contests, as institutional displays by co¬ operative merchants, and in and around the theatre itself. To further implement the “Go to the Movies” buildup, National Screen plans to supply allied and independent thea¬ tre groups throughout the country with black-and-white stills of the display car¬ toons, at no charge, for planting in local newspapers. Comedy is combined with to-the-point selling copy to make National Screen Service's "Take Them Out to the Movies" display among the most un¬ usual services yet offered to theatremen who want to boost their box office receipts. Bright 30 x 40 and 40 x 60 full-color cartoon displays were developed for out-front and away-fromtheatre exploitation. ‘Breakage’ Law Promised City Albany. — Republican leaders agreed this week to speed the enactment of a law assur¬ ing to New York City its full five percent from the amusement tax. The agreement was made at a luncheon conference attended by Republican and Democratic leaders. Under present plans it will be rushed through the Senate and Assembly next week and pre¬ sented to Governor Harriman for signature. The main purpose is to give the city the right to collect “breakage,” or a full cent in all cases where the tax includes a fraction of more than half a cent. Under a recent decision by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in Brooklyn, the city cannot collect the full cent in such cases. An ap¬ peal from this ruling is to be argued in the Court of Appeals next week, and New York City exhibitor lawyers will file a respondents’ brief at the same time. The city of Albany has the support of the Conference of Mayors for the proposed legislation. Unless the law is clarified, a de¬ cision adverse to New York City could impair the rights of other localities to col¬ lect “breakage.” NEWS BRIEFS Discover "Lost" Tax Philadelphia. — City Controller Foster A. Dunlap has “discovered” that the city lost nearly $300,000 last year because it did not collect a two-cent a patron license fee au¬ thorized by a 1931 ordinance. Tie declared that city officials knew about the ordinance and failed to enforce it. Walter S. Pytko, commissioner of the Department of Licenses and Inspections, answered that previous ad¬ ministrations had not enforced it either. He asked whether the additional charge should be paid by the movie industry or the public. “I want the theatres to pay the freight as much as they are able,” he said, “but if it closes them up, then what’s the use.” UA Pacts Hayworth-Haymes Rita Hayworth and Dick Haymes have formed Crystal Bay Productions and will release their first two pictures through United Artists, it was announced, following completion of Miss Hayworth’s two-picture obligation to Columbia. Arrangements en¬ tered into with Arthur Krim, UA president, call for financing and distribution by UA of the first two Crystal Bay films, to star Miss Hayworth with Haymes acting as producer. They also contemplate finding a story that will serve as a co-starring vehicle. Lider, Others Elected Boston. — Edward Lider of Yamins Enter¬ prises is the new president of Independent Theatres Inc. of New England. Lider was elected at the annual meeting held this week at the Hotel Bradford, together with Melvin B. Safner, first vice-president; Llovd Clark, second vice-president; Julian Rifkin, treas¬ urer; Albert Lourie, secretary; Nathan Yamins, National Allied delegate, and Nor¬ man C. Glassman, board chairman. THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— March 5, 1955 21