Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1950)

2 Motion Picture Daily Monday, May 8 Personal Mention LOUIS B. MAYER, M-G-M studio vice-president, and Howard Strickling, arrived here ville. studio publicity vesterdav from head, Louis Fred J. Schwartz of the Century circuit, will be interviewed today by Station WLIB's commentator, Estelle Sternberger, on the subject "What the Motion Picture Exhibitor Is Doing to Make Movie-going More Pleasurable." • Maurice A. Bergman, UniversalInternational executive, and Charles Simonelli, national exploitation director, have returned from Chicago. • Leon J. Bamberger, RKO Radio sales promotion manager, will address the convention of the Allied ITO of Kansas and Missouri at Kansas City on W ednesday. • William B. Levy, Walt Disney Productions worldwide sales supervisor, returned here over the weekend from Europe. • Dore Schary, M-G-M production vice-president, and his assistant, Walter Reilly, arrived here from the Coast yesterday. • F. J. A. McCarthy, UniversalInternational Southern and Canadian sales manager, will leave here tomorrow for Jacksonville. • Sam Harris, partner in the State Theatre, Hartford, and Mrs. Harris have left there for a four-month tour of Europe and Israel. • Hugh Owen, Paramount Eastern and Southern division sales manager, will return here today from Oklahoma and Dallas. • Lewis Cotlow, producer, left here yesterday by plane for Hollywood. Tradewise . . . Reade on 'Showmanship' Walter Reade Theatres of New Jersey has launched an extensive advertising and promotional campaign featuring the theme, "Movies Are Better Than Ever — Let's Go Tonight." This is said to be the first time that any circuit located outside New York City has undertaken a sustained campaign in any Metropolitan newspaper. Monroe Greenthal, Inc. is the agency. Para's 'Lawless' Cited Paramount's "The Lawless" has been selected as the "Film Suggestion of the Month" (for June) by the Audio-Visual Services department of the Community Chests and Councils of America. Levine Gets Assistant Alfred D. Lerner, attorney, has become assistant to Julius W. Levine, president of Mid-Century Pictures Corporation, here. By SHERWIN KANE ' ■ VHIS week and in the weeks -*■ immediately following, thousands of exhibitors throughout the country will launch newly prepared showmanship campaigns, the results of more than a month's planning and preparation. The campaigns are the evidences of the new spirit, the revival of confidence and competitive determination, which were instilled in the approximately 10,000 theatre men who attended the 20th Century-Fox Showmanship meetings in March. Reports on scores of campaigns, individual as well as jointly planned city and regional efforts, have been reaching this desk for days past. The striking thing about most of them is that there is nothing radically new or startling about their fundamentals, either in conception or execution. Many are imaginative, ingenious and, at the same time, practical. But virtually all campaigns are blood-brothers to the tried-and-true formulae which always have been the stock in trade of showmen everywhere. There are effective advertising and publicity campaigns, exploitation devices and ideas of all kinds, tie-ups, promotions and stunts of every description. They have always been good. They are still good. The fact that there is little that is new about them is of minor consequence. The important thing is that in total the showmanship campaigns now being launched represent a back-to-work movement on the part of theatremen everywhere. When showmen really go to work, there is certain to be a good result. • • Many trade observers, intrigued by the close similarity of purpose in National Exhibitors Film Co. and the projected Motion Picture Equity Corp., the idea for which was unveiled at the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers' meeting in Hollywood last week, immediately set about devising some imaginative match-making. NEFC is the company formed by leading exhibitors last year with the announced intention of providing financing for independent producers, whose stories, casts and budgets NEFC's management found to its liking. M. P. Equity Corp. would be the instrument chosen to raise $10,000,000 through sale of stock to the public, to be used as end money for independent production and to be augmented by first-money bank loans. The aim of both is a revival of and increase in independent , production, with its consequent contribution to the amount of available product on the market. It would seem that the two with their mutuality of interest might travel the same path more easily together than they could separately. Each has valuable contributions to make to the other. # # The meeting of the Conference Committee of the Motion Picture Industry, taking place in Chicago today, may provide the answer to the question whether the industry is ready yet to work in unison in matters affecting its welfare. Excluding the emergency nature and externally inspired formation of the War Activities Committee, it has been more than 10 years since the last attempt at industry unity. The industry was not ready for it then. As with earlier efforts, the projected United Motion Picture Industry (Umpi) split on trade practice issues and died a-borning. The proposed Council of Motion Picture Organizations is sidestepping, at least in its formative period, the difficult subject of trade practices. There is that much less reason for it to fail to come into being. The issues confronting the Chicago meeting primarily are those of method. They include financing, administration and, bound up with both, certain questions of authority and scope. Divergent views on these and other organizational problems are natural among such diversified participating groups as those which go into the making of COMPO. They are, on the whole, not very important, certainly not of sufficient importance to deprive COMPO of a chance at life and a fair trial. What is important is the industry's need for COMPO. That need should be weighed carefully by any organization which enters the Chicago meeting without a disposition to give and take wherever it finds its views in conflict with the majority. News reel Parmde DAY rallies oversea, the anti-Communist demo tion in Mosinee, Wise., are c\ newsreel highlights. Other iten elude the Navy task force fit. rough seas, sports and fashions, plete contents follow: MOVIETONE NEWS, No. 37 Communist coup in Mosinee, Wise. Day demonstration in Berlir^ beauty parade for Miss NipporTforce has rough going in Arctic"l race. Motor cycling. NEWS OF THE DAY, No. 271 seize U. S. town in mock demonst Reds May Day threat fizzles in Gei President Truman welcomes Pa minister. "GI" brides have a reunion, ships defy seas. "V-E" Day 194S-5(: PARAMOUNT NEWS, No. 74— Mai rallies in Berlin. George Smathers Senator Claude Pepper in Florida, hat fashions for spring. New wonder makes its debut. Navy task force rough seas. TELENEWS DIGEST, No. 18-B tan Minister Liaguat AH Kahn here, ington: Climax in "spy" probe. Et' Hirohito's birthday. Berlin May Day.1 "take over" Mosinee, Wise. (! Smathers defeats Senator Claude T Danish bicycle builder. UNIVERSAL NEWS, No. 349— U. oil drilling in France. Sports: wrestl Cleveland; roller skating in France, "seize" Wisconsin city in demonst Red demonstration in Paris and Ber WARNER PATHE NEWS, No. 76: Day in Berlin. Czechs close U. S. tion service bureau in Prague. Tryg-" interview. Pakistan Minister Liaqu; Kahn here. Smathers beats Peop Florida. Navy battles Arctic seas. Fa: Roller skating. 'Winchester9 Pres Preview on June 1 Scores of correspondents will athe_ press preview of Universal-] national's "Winchester 73" on J at New Haven, home of the Win ter Repeating Arms Co. The filn! have its world premiere in New early in June, and its national r( in 500 theatres across the count! July 12. The correspondents, from New Boston and cities surrounding Haven, will participate in a full program, culminating in a screw of the film at night. The previa being sponsored by Winchester \ Universal-International. Brandt Plans 6 IS Theatres in Florid Miami, May 7. — Plans for tin mediate construction of a 11 0( theatre in Coral Gables have beei nounced by Harry Brandt, New and Florida circuit operator. He announced plans for a Miami firs, and four other houses in outlying, tions of the city. Young, MacMillan EL-FC Merger Tal Eagle-Lion vice-president Wi C. MacMillan, Jr., met with Robe Young, principal stockholder of | Industries, E-L parent company, the weekend at the latter's White phur Springs, Va., estate for di sions relating to possible cons( tion of E-L and Film Classics. MOTION PICTURE DAILY. Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwm Kane, Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor. Published daily, except Satu Sundays and holidays, by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y. Telephone Circle 7-3100 Cable address "Quig New York." Martin Quigley, President; Red Kann, Vice-President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer Leo J Brady Seer' James P. Cunningham, News Editor; Herbert V. Fecke, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Hollywood Bureau, YuccaVine Building William R. W Editor. Chicago Bureau, 225 North Michigan Avenue, Editorial and Advertising; Harry Toler, Advertising Representative; Jimmy Ascher, Editorial Representative. Washi J. A. Otten, National Press Club, Washington, D. C. London Bureau, 4 Golden Sq., London Wl: Hope Burnup, Manager; Peter Burnup, Editor; cable address "Quigpubco, Loi Other Quigley Publications: Motion Picture Herald; Better Theatres and Theatre Sales, each published 13 times a year as a section of Motion Picture' Herald Intern? Motion Picture Almanac; Fame. Entered as second class matter, Sept. 23, 1938, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3 1879 Subscription rate year, $6 in the Americas and $12 foreign; single copies, 10c.