Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1951)

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Tuesday. January 30, 1951 Motion Picture Daily 3 National Pre-Selling M-G-M will launch its New England saturation campaign for "The Magnificent Yankee" in Boston today with a preview-premiere at Loew's State and Orpheum. All important situations in the territory will' be embraced in the intensified promotion. Many advance screenings have been held for prominent citizens, educators, legislators and persons identified with social, cultural and civic activities. The tieup with the Yankee Network through the first 30 days of the campaign is expected to reach 2,548,000 families in the area. A special packet has been distributed to 100 newspapers and all schools will receive copies of an audio-visual study guide prepared for school teachers and classroom use. The company has had the full cooperation of the Bar Association and the faculties of Harvard and Brandeis universities. Arlene Dahl, James Whitmore and Phyllis Kirk will represent the studio, replacing cast members who could not be spared for personal appearances during the New England premiere. • The musical theme of Paramount's nationwide exploitation campaign for "September Affair" will be the Walter Huston recording of "September Song." More than 500 special platters, with labels giving picture credits, have been sent to disc jockeys. Included with the recording is a fact-sheet dealing with the history of the song as background music for the picture. Decca is re-releasing the recording with extensive promotional fanfare, smoothing the way for exhibitor tieups. • Friends, the periodical distributed by General Motors to every Chevrolet owner! in the country, has a doublepage story on "Cyrano de Bergerac" in its February issue. The slick-paper magazine contains very little of an advertising nature and much that is of top-bracket magazine quality. The current lay-out is mostly pictures and features on "the incomparable Jose Ferrer." • Result of a Starch Survey within the advertising trade on the readership of ads appearing in This Week magazine, nationally circulated Sunday newspaper supplement, shows that the "No Way Out" campaign was the most widely read of any appearing in that publication last year. The campaign was also selected by N. W. Ayer and Son as the only motion picture advertising to be chosen in its "Fifty Best Advertisements of the Year" and subsequently was honored by other ad clinics and university groups. • An unprecedented demand for the special free radio transcriptions for "Halls of Montezuma" is swamping the 20th Century-Fox home office with 389 exhibitor requests received in the past week. The free offer, brought to the attention to exhibitors in the pressbook, has created an unusual response. The transcription features the famous "Marine Hymn" as background music and includes stationbreak, 30-second and 60-second spots — Walter Brooks What the Critics Say Here is what Arnold Marks, drama editor of the Portland (Ore.) Oregon-Journal has to say about the Air Mail Edition of Motion Picture Daily: "I don't think I could get such piping-hot Hollywood and Broadway news as rapidly even if Motion Picture Daily was to be published in downtown Portland. "Congratulations on your efforts to serve the theatre industry." 'Cheaper by Dozen' Wins F. & M. Award Kansas City Houses Hike Admissions Film Wages (Continued from page 1) St. Louis, Jan. 29. — Twentieth Century-Fox's "Cheaper by the Dozen" was voted the "Box-Office Winner of 1950" in the Fanchon & Marco-St. Louis Amusement Co. poll of the 34 theatre managers of that Midwestern circuit, Harry C. Arthur, Jr., president of F. & M. has announced. It was the circuit's first annual poll. The winner was proclaimed topgrossing picture by a wide majority, it was said, while Paramount's "Fancy Pants" and Universal's "Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town" tied for second and third place, and RKO-Disney's "Cinderella" and Republic's "Sands of Iwo Jima" scored in fourth and fifth places, respectively. Polling sixth to tenth, respectively, were : RKO-Goldwyn's "My Foolish Heart," Universal's "Francis," Warner's "Colt .45," 20th-Fox's "The Broken Arrow," and 20th-Fox's "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon." Reserves Decision On 'Miracle' Move Albany, Jan. 29. — State Supreme Court Justice Roscoe V. Elsworth this afternoon reserved decision until tomorrow noon on application by Joseph Burstyn Inc., for a declaratory judgment and injunction restraining the Board of Regents from taking action against "The Miracle." The three-man sub-committee of the Board of Regents is scheduled to hold a hearing tomorrow afternoon in New York City on the controversial film. The sub-committee submitted a preliminary finding, after viewing "The Miracle" that it is "sacrilegious." Thereupon the Board of Regents by unanimous action ordered the licensee of "The Miracle" and "Ways of Love'' to show cause why licenses should not be cancelled and rescinded. Burstyn seeks to restrain the committee from holding a hearing tomorrow in court. Attorney Samuel E. Aronowitz of Albany, and attorney Ephraim S. London of New York, contended the Regents had no power in the matter : that the Education Law permits an appeal from a decision by the State Education Department's Motion Picture Division — which licensed "The Miracle" and "Ways of Love" — only by the applicant for a seal. Meet Again on 'Alice' The third of a series, of promotional meetings for Walt Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," was held here yesterday by Disney and RKO Radio executives. William B. Levy, Disney's world-wide sales manager, presided. Kansas City, Jan. 29. — The RKO Missouri has advanced admissions of 45 to 65 cents, to 50-75 cents. The three day-and-date Fox Midwest firstruns, the Fairway, Tower and Uptown, advanced to the higher figure a week previously. The Orpheum has had a 50-75-cent schedule since Fox Midwest took it over. The Dickinson Circuit has raised admission prices in a score of locations by five and ten cents mostly. Topeka first-runs are now 60 to 75 cents. Practically all admissions have been increased there in the past several months. The Durwood Circuit has advanced prices of "A" houses to 65 cents, and of others to 50 cents. Many independents have also advanced prices in this territory. Four Upstate N. Y. Theatres Hike Admission Prices Albany, N. Y., Jan. 29. — Four firstrun theatres, Warner's Strand and Fabian's Palace, Albany, and Warner's Troy and Fabian's Praetor's at Troy, have increased prices five cents on weekday nights, and six cents on Saturday evening and all day Sunday. The new scale, which includes tax, makes the charge 70 cents on week nights and 80 cents on Saturday Evening and Sunday. Omaha Area First-Runs All Increase Prices Omaha, Jan. 29. — All first-runs in this area are now operating with increased admission scales. The three Tri-States houses, the Omaha, Orpheum and Paramount, and RKO's Brandeis, have raised their tops to 70 cents, from 65. Previously, R. D. Goldberg's State jumped to 75 cents. RKO's Kohn to Head Sales in Chile Ludovici Kohn has been promoted to sales manager of RKO's offices in Chile, Phil Reisman, RKO Pictures' vice-president in charge of foreign distribution, announced here yesterday. Kohn succeeds Enrique Friedlander, who recently passed away. The new Chilean manager has been with RKO since 1939. He was head booker in Buenos Aires, and later became sales manager in charge of Argentinian branches. A short while ago he was transferred to Mexico to head sales in that country. What is the status of workers in industries whose prices are exempt from price control — film admissions and rentals are free from the price freeze, so the question is whether wages should be too. Should there be a special exemption for workers in small companies — perhaps those with eight or ten workers or less? What is the status of actors, directors, writers and other "talent" ? Should they be exempted as professionals or perhaps as independent contractors ? What treatment should be given to wage increases given since January 1950? How should options contracts be handled, where the contract usually provides for a wage increase if the option is exercised ? The first question is, of course, the most important. In World War II, film industry prices were free from control but wages were frozen. The argument then and now is that if film industry wages are free from control, industry employers can hire workers away from more important, wage-controlled jobs. H-63 to Johnston: Pay Freeze Unfair IATSE Motion Picture Home Office Employes Local No. H-63 of New York yesterday filed with Eric Johnston, Economic Stabilization Agency director, and Cyrus Ching, Wage Stabilization director, a "vigorous protest" against the "inclusion of wages of white-collar employes" of the film industry under the wage freeze. The protest was embodied in telegrams to Washington citing "newspaper reports of a wage-price freeze (which) indicate that admission prices of theatres and film rentals of production companies are exempt from provision of the present price freeze." Signed by Russell M. Moss, executive vice-president of Local No. H-63, the telegrams stated, "We believe that, in exempting prices and rentals of film in the moving picture industry; Congress intended also to exempt employees in that industry from any wage freeze ; otherwise a patent inequity will result." Rulings that include a wage freeze for film white collar workers "are absolutely unfair," he wrote. Stockholders to Meet Annual meeting of Loew's, Inc. stockholders has been set for March 15. Shea Managers to Convention Today Cleveland, Jan. 29. — Shea Circuit home office executives, headed by E. C. Grainger, president and general manager, have arrived here to open the annual Shea managers' convention tomorrow afternoon in the Carter Hotel. Home office executives accompanying Grainger from New York included: T. E. Shea, George Goett, ML A. Shea, Jr., W. E. Barry, G. J. Shea, R. E. Smith, C. J. Lawler, A. J. Grainger and W. B. Shea.