Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1951)

2 Motion Picture Daily Wednesday, March 21, 1951 Stronger Anti-trust Bill Is Up Again Washington, March 20— A House Judiciary Sub-committee started Congressional wheels grinding today on a bill to boost the maximum fine for anti-trust law violations from $5,000 to $50,000, reporting the bill to the full House committee. The House during the last Congress passed such a bill, but the Senate did not act. The measure would not make any change in the one-year maximum jail sentence. Personal Mention j. A. MCCARTHY, Universal Pictures Southern and Canadian sales manager, is in Charlotte today and will visit Atlanta next. F. Says 'Tales' Gives Opera New Scope Techniques evolved in the production of "Tales of Hoffman" will for the first time permit the full utilization of the screen's potential in presenting opera, Emeric Pressburger said here yesterday. Pressburger, who with Michael Powell produced and directed "Tales" and "Red Shoes," is here from London for the picture's world premiere at the Metropoiltan Opera House and the beginning of its run, on April 4, at the Bijou. Powell is due to arrive here tomorrow. With Pressburger at a press interview yesterday was Hein Heckroth, designer of both "Tales" and "Red Shoes." In producing "Tales," the sound track of the Hoffman opera was recorded first and the picture then shot to fit the music. Only two players, both Americans, performed for both sound-track and film. This procedure freed the camera from the restriction of the sound stage, Pressburger said, and gave the possibility of movement and scope never before obtained in a screen version of an opera, he added. The future plans of the PressburgerPowell team depend upon the reception of "Tales," Pressburger said. If it is a success, they will consider another operatic-ballet film, such as Richard Strauss' "Salome," for which Sir Alexander Korda holds an option. If not, then plans for a straight drama, a war story titled "111 Met by Moonlight," will go ahead. Pressburger said he will be here for both openings of "Tales" and will visit Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington where Lopert Films, the U. S. distributor, has scheduled pre-release engagements. The film will go into national release on a roadshow policy in the fall. Pressburger and Heckroth will leave here on April 6 for England. Pandro Berman, M-G-M producer, is slated to arrive here from the Coast on March 29 and is due to sail on the following day for London and Rome. • Richard Brooks, director, and William Kaplan, unit manager for M-G-M, left here yesterday for London and Italy. • Harold Wirthwein, Western sales manager for Allied Artists and Monogram, has returned to the Hollywood studio from San Francisco. • Jules Levey, independent producer, is vacationing in Florida from New York. JULES LAPIDUS, Warner's Eastern and Canadian division sales manager, will visit Pittsburgh and Cleveland this week. • Saul Milwall, veteran 20th Century-Fox cameraman, is vacationing at Miami Beach with his wife and son, Harold. • Milton Gordon, vice-president of Walter Heller and Co., has left Chicago for the Coast. • Morris Mechanic, owner of the New Theatre, Baltimore, is in New York for several days. H. S. Con roy, owner of the Moon Theatre, Gibbons, Neb., heads the 1951 Buffalo County polio drive. • Arthur Davis has left here for Kalamazoo, Detroit and Chicago. Newsreel Parade in HE Senate crime probe eruption Canty, Kreisler to Crime Probe Again Address Nat' I Board Among industry executives who will address the annual conference of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, on April 5 at New York s Hotel McAlpin, will be George R. Canty, speaking on the subject, "American Pictures Abroad"; Bernard Kreisler, discussing "Foreign Pictures in America," and Arthur L. Mayer, whose subject will be, "Good People and Bad Pictures." On April 6, delegates will be guests of 20th Century-Fox at its home office, where they will participate in a roundtable on community film activities, after which they will witness three films in third dimension and a preview of a new 20th-Fox production. Music Hall Slates Extra Easter Shows To accommodate holiday audiences, Radio City Music Hall here will have extra performances of its Easter show beginning and running through Easter week. The schedule of early morning door openings follows: Friday, 8:15; Saturday, 8:30; Monday through next Friday, March 30, 7:45; Saturday, March 31, 8:30. Sells Two Theatres New Orleans, March .20. — Paramount Gulf Theatres has disposed of the Capitol, Monroe, to Jackson and Deas, Inc., which will assume operations effective April 1. The Empire, in Mobile, has been sold to the Giddens and Rester circuit of that city, also effective April 1. Okla. Senate Drops TV Football Bill Oklahoma City, March 20.— The Oklahoma Senate has shelved legislation forcing "live" telecasts of University of Oklahoma football games. The action was taken against the bill after a "Big Seven" conference announcement that the Oklahoma Sooners would have all games cancelled if telecasts of games were ordered. Cooperative in Buffalo Cleveland, March 20. — Co-operative Theatres, Ohio, buying-booking group organized some 12 years ago by Milton A. Mooney, is opening _ a branch office in Buffalo, with Bill Twiggim, formerly of Warner Brothers, in charge. On N. Y. Screens Theatre audiences yesterday continued to see the Senate Crime Investigating Committee's hearings, in whole or part, on the screens of five theatres in Metropolitan New York. Century circuit's Queens and Marine theatres again telecast the whole day's proceeding to audiences admitted free, while the New York Paramount and Fabian's Brooklyn Fox continued to show parts of the probe. RKO's Fordham in the Bronx joined in, with an hours' showing in the afternoon. The hearings are scheduled to conclude early this afternoon and the managements at the various theatres did not know at a late hour last night if the proceedings would be put on their screens today. Crime Probe Hits Boston Box-Office Boston, March 20. — The televising of the current Senate crime probe was blamed today for the drop in attendance at Boston and suburban theatres, according to a check. Two Boston TV stations carried the show all day and both reported that they received hundreds of telephone calls demanding that the crime probe be given top priority in programming. Shapiro to Europe To Acquire Product Irvin Shapiro, president of Standard Television Corp., will leave here on the SS. Queen Elisabeth for a tour of Europe to acquire additional pictures for Standard. Shapiro has made an arrangement with Unity Television Corp. to book Standard's pictures through the newly-organized central booking offices of Unity. Nezv York and a volcanic eruption in Japan highlight the current newsreels. Other items include reports from Korea, sports and fashion. Complete contents follow. MOVIETONE NEWS, No. 24^-Senate crime probe in New York. "Bird of Paradise" fashions. Japanese volcano goes on a rampage. Alpine avalanche buries town. NEWS OF THE DAY, No. 258— O'Dwyer faces Senate crime probers. First Eskimo nun. Informal Mr. Truman. Volcano eruption in Japan. Avalanche plays havoc m Austria. PARAMOUNT NEW, No. 61— Basketball tournament. Flow of arms continues under Atlantic Pact. Latest swim suits. Keeps leopard as a house pet. Senate crime probers. TELENEWS DIGEST, No. 12-A— Senate crime probers. Puerto Rican regiment prepares for attack in Korea. France displays arms. French wounded return from Korea. Track meet. UNIVERSAL NEWS, No. 440— Senate crime hearings. Volcano erupts in Japan. Mud in Korea. Realistic combat training. Sport flashes: National Invitation Basketball Tourney. WARNER PATHE NEWS, No. SJ— Senate crime investigation. Korea veterans return home. Volcano erupts in Japan. Elliot Roosevelt weds again. Barbara Hutton splits again. Styles. Basketball. 'Rehabilitation' Cuts JapaneseAttendance Washington, March 20. — Film attendance in Japan dropped from 620,000,000 in 1949 to 540,000,000 last year, despite an increase in the number of theatres and domestic films produced, the U. S. Commerce Department reported here today. The drop was attributable to the "rehabilitation of other amusements," quoting the Japanese Cinema Producers Association. Japanese films increased from 38 in 1945 to 156 in 1949 and 216 in 1950 ; foreign pictures imported jumped from zero in 1945 to 151 in 1949 and 180 in 1950; the number of theatres went to 2,380 and 2,410, respectively, and attendance increased from 600,000,000 in 1947 to a high of 660,000,000 in 1948, then dropping in 1949 and 1950. Goldstone-Berkson Deal Harry Goldstone of Famous Pictures, New York, has concluded a deal with Jack Berkson of Screencraft for three former Paramount releases, "Forced Landing," "Flying Blind" and "Power Dive." Golding to Texas For 'Sun' Opening Southwestern wire service representatives, sports writers and correspondents of key papers will converge on Fort Worth for the world premiere on Friday of 20th CenturyFox's "Follow the Sun." David Golding, publicity manager for 20th, left New York yesterday for Fort Worth to handle arrangements for the three-theatre opening at the Worth, Hollywood and Palace theatres. The premiere will salute Mr. and Mrs. Ben Hogan. Others who will be on hand for the premiere include Glenn Ford, Dennis O'Keefe, members of the sporting world, and Governor Allan Shivers of Texas, who will head the civic contingent. MOTION PICTURE DAILY. Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Editor; Terry Ramsaye Consulting Editor. P«bhshed da. ly except S. t»rdays. Sundays and holidays, by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. N. Y. Telephone Circle 7-310O Cable addre < , Q'^P 'bc°New York." 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