Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1951)

Motion Picture Daily Tuesday, May 15, 1951 Roger Babson Doing Industry Survey Boston, May 14.— Roger W. Babson of Babson Reports revealed that his organization is making a survey of the motion picture industry, including the securities of all film companies. Exhibitors interviewed to date complained of the financial burden of some union regulations, notably the twomen-in-a-booth requirement, which they regard as unnecessary and uneconomic, particularly in times of business recession. Personal Mention High Court Will Hear Decree Case Washington, May 14.— The U. S. Supreme Court today agreed to hear the appeal of Sutphen Estates for the right to intervene in the Warner consent decree. The Justices gave no reason tor their action, merely noting that the appeal from the New York Statutory Court decision would be heard. Argument will not take place until October or November, since the Court has finished hearing arguments for this term. It recesses for the summer at the end of this month. Sutphen Claims Sutphen, which owns the property on which the Strand Theatre is located in New York and which leases the property to Warner, claims_ that the decree does not protect its interests. It argues that it now has a lease with a parent company, while after divorcement its lease will be with the theatre company only, and that the latter will have only part of the assets of the present company. Therefore, it says, it will be less well protected. Both Warner and the Justice Department opposed Sutphen's intervention, arguing the company would be completely protected under the new lease arrangement, and the New Yorkthreejudge court agreed and refused to allow the company to intervene. Sutphen then appealed to the High Court, and again both Warner and the U. S. opposed. Takes Sales Report To M-G-M Branches Three M-G-M field sales managers will make a tour of their branches this week to report on the sales conferences held here last week. Three other sales executives will hold twoday meetings starting Wednesday at which branch managers from their areas will attend. Visiting their offices this week will be: Burtus Bishop, Jr., Midwestern sales head, Rudy Berger, Southern and John S. Allen, Southwestern. Regional meetings will be held by John J. Maloney, Central sales head, at Pittsburgh ; John P. Byrne, Eastern, at New York; and George A. Hickey, Western at Los Angeles. GUNTHER R. LESSING, Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers board chairman, was inducted into the UNESCO commission in Washington last week, replacing Ellis G. Arnall, who had been SIMPP's representative on the commission. • Eugenia Thalia Carayiannis, secretary to Mike Linden, associate director, community-exhibitor relations, of the Motion Picture Association ,of America, has become engaged to George Anthony Aretakis, Major U. S. Marine Corps Reserve. • H M. Richey, M-G-M exhibitor relations head, is due to leave here tomorrow for Kansas City and the convention there of Kansas-Missouri Allied Theatre Owners. • Lynn Farnol is visiting Fred J. Schwartz, Century circuit executive, at his Lake Placid, N. Y., home. CECIL B. De MILLE, is slated to arrive in Washington from the Coast tomorrow, along with top Paramount stars, for location shooting. • Stanley Kramer has been notified of his election to Delta Kappa Alpha, national honorary film fraternity for "outstanding achievements in motion picture entertainment." • Phil Williams, March of Time theatrical sales manager, is due to leave here for Pittsburgh and Washington today. • Tom Loy, IATSE headquarters publicist, is vacationing in Maryland and will return to New York next Tuesday. • Sanford Abrahams, MonogramAllied Artists director of publicity, flew to New York from the Coast yesterday due to the death of his sister. Skiatron Board Studies Brief To FCC on Trial Kravetz-UA Suit Is Moved to US Court RCA, NBC Favor End of TV Freeze The suit which Mary Pickford filed against Max Kravetz, which he answered with counterclaims against United Artists, its officers and Charles Chaplin as well as Miss Pickford, has been transferred from New York Supreme Court to U.S. District Court here upon the motion of UA. The suit, arising out of Kravetz' dismissal as secretary of UA and the take-over of the company by the Arthur Krim-Robert Benjamin-Matthew Fox group, was begun on the Coast by Miss Pickford to secure the return of funds allegedly advanced Kravetz in connection with the maintenance of his activities as secretary and as a stock option-holder with former company board chairman Paul V. McNutt and former president Frank McNamee. Denying allegations in answers filed in New York Supreme Courth, Kravetz claimed $616,550 in damages, remuneration and expenses. Burk, Lloyd Named M-G-M Managers San Francisco, May 14. — The resignation of C. L. Ribinett as manager of the 20th Century-Fox branch in Seattle was announced here today by Herman Wobber, West Coast division manager. He is being replaced by Jack Burk formerly a salesman at San Francisco and Seattle. It was also announced that Charles L. Walker, branch man ager at Salt Lake City, also has re signed, and is succeeded by Kenneth Lloyd. Washington, May 14. — Action of the Federal Communications Commission in allocating the entire ultra high frequency (UHF) band reserved for television is a constructive step in the direction of obtaining a sufficient number of channels for television broadcasting, RCA and NBC declared here. The RCA-NBC statement was presented as comments on the Commission's proposal to add 65 or 70 UHF channels to the existing 12 very high frequency (VHF) channels. Commenting on the "freeze", which since Sept., 1948, has prevented the authorization of new television stations, the RCA-NBC statement said: "For more people in the U.S. to get television at the earliest possible date, it is essential that the freeze be lifted as soon as possible. Transmitting and receiving equipment for the VHF is immediately available. In addition, the design and production of UHF equipment will be expedited by early action by the Commission assigning UHF frequencies. The Commission should endeavor, therefore, to take whatever steps are necessary to bring about an expeditious lifting of the freeze." Skiatron Electronics' board of directors yesterday heard a report by special counsel and director Telford Taylor on the brief to be presented to the Federal Communications Commission formally requesting a 90-day trial of the company's Subscriber Vision, to be conducted in the New York area. Taylor, former FCC counsel, said that a more varied program, which may include football games and Broadway plays in addition to feature films, will be sought for the test run if the FCC grants permission for the trial similar to that conducted recently by Phonevision in Chicago. Arthur Levey, Skiatron president, reported to the board that Tom Hamilton, director of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, had promised his support in obtaining college football games for the Skiatron test. Levey also said that efforts are being made to devise a method by which exhibitors might share in the proceeds from Subscriber Vision in order to compensate them for any box-office loss from the pay-as-you-see television system. Another Film for UA United Artists has completed negotiations to release "The Big Night," to star John Barrymore Jr., it was announced here by Arthur B. Krim, president of UA. Philip Waxman, Broadway producer, will produce the film for UA, with Joseph Losey directing. Big Bangkok Fire A four-hour fire last Saturday night wrecked the offices in Bangkok, Thailand, of Paramount, RKO, Warner Columbia, M-G-M and Universal, according to press dispatches. NEW YORK THEATRES RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL Paramount Stock Is Widely Held As of Dec. 30, last, there were no persons who owned of record more than 10 per cent of any class of equity securities of Paramount Pictures, except Barney Balaban, company president, who owned 100 per cent of the option warrants issued by the company. These warrants number four, each being convertible into 10,000 shares of common stock at a price of $12.50 oer share. All directors and officers as a group owned 27,380 shares of common stock, or 1.14 per cent of that class. The number of holders of equity securities of the company as of last March was 24,809. Rockefeller Center "THE GREAT CARUSO" MARIO LANZA • ANN BLYTH Dorothy KIRSTEN Jarmila NOVOTNA Blanche THEBOM Color by TECHNICOLOR An M-G-M Picture pius Spectacular STAGE PRESENTATION rjir mo,"; LOUIS m his Paramount Present* Appointment with , l)ANIil.ll < Alan Ladd Phyllis CalvertNSS ""JSaSr Midnight Feature WHAT IS THE THING? HOWARD HAWKS' Production "THE THING" from Another World NOW! CRITERION SffsJ 50c to Noon Mon. to Fri. (Exc. Hols.) MOTION PICTURE DAILY Martin Quiglev, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Editor; Terry Ramsaye. Consulting Editor. Published daily, except Saturdays. Sundays and holidays by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue. Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y. Telephone Circle 7-3100. Cable address: "Qmgpubco, New York » Mar^n Quiriey President ; Red Kann, Vice-President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Leo J Brady, Secretary; fames P Cunningham New Editor; Herbert V. Fecke. 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