Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1951)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY Accurate Concise Impartial VOL. 70. NO. 2 NEW YORK, U. S. A., TUESDAY, JULY 3, 1951 TEN CENTS NPA Expands, Issues New •Regulations 20 Additional Offices To Handle Applications Washington, July 2.— The National Production Authority today reported the establishment of 20 [additional field offices, making a [total of 57. The field offices can receive applications for theatre building, though processing of these applications and final decision takes place in Washington. Eventually they are all to have enforcement offices, to handle complaints on illegal building. They also are able to answer queries on the Controlled Materials Plan and other NPA regulations. The new field offices are at : Columbia, S. C. ; Columbus, O.; Honolulu; Jackson, Miss.; Little Rock Ark.; Manchester, N. H. ; Montpelier, Vt. ; (Continued on page 6) $147,000 for Caruso ' Good business over the weekend and the prospect of holiday crowds tomorrow have given Broadway firstrun grosses a welcome lift and boosted figures to happy totals. Leading the parade is "The Great Caruso," whose spectacular run at the Music Hall has made box-office news during the doldrums of the past few weeks. The estimate for the eighth week is $147,000, up nearly $20,000 over the seventh and within a few (Continued on page 2) All-Industry Meeting to Meet 'Crisis 9 in Milwaukee COMPO Elections Due Soon; Depinet Continuance Sought Efforts to persuade Ned E. Depinet, RKO Pictures president, to continue for another year as president of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations are expected in the event the executive board of COMPO proceeds to an election of officers at a meeting which it is hoped can be held in conjunction with the COMPO seminar in Hollywood, July 23-26. Depinet was named president of COMPO in Chicago in May, 1950. (Continued on page 7) Advance Plans for COMPO Seminar Numerous suggestions of topics to be included on an agenda for the Council of Motion Picture Organizations' seminar to be held in Hollywood, July 23-26, were advanced at a meeting here yesterday of Arthur L. Mayer, COMPO executive vice-president; Robert W. Coyne, special counsel, and Gael Sullivan, chairman of the seminar committee. The suggestions will be forwarded to member organizations of COMPO and regional associations with recom (Continued on page 6) Milwaukee, July 2. — Following a special emergency committee meeting held here, Wisconsin Allied president Ben Marcus disclosed that the date of Tuesday, July 17, had been set aside for an all-industry meeting of independent exhibitors in the Milwaukee area, all trade and labor unions, representatives of the film companies, service companies and supply dealers in an effort to find a solution for helping the distressed theatres in this area during the "crisis in Milwaukee." In response to a bulletin sent out previously by Marcus, most of the companies have indicated a willingness to discuss the problems of Milwaukee exhibitors and to cooperate to the fullest extent in an effort to ease the crisis and keep the theatres in operation. Schine Orders TV For Three Theatres Albany, N. Y., July 2.— The Schine circut is reported to have placed orders with RCA for a large screen television for its theatres in Syracuse, Cortland and Lockport. The Paramount in Syracuse and the Palace in Lockport are understood set to get theatre TV and either the Temple or State irt Cortland will be the third house. Their capacities average 1,600 to 1,700 seats. The cost of equipment, booth changes and installation of coaxial (Continued on page 6) SAG Defeats TV A on NLRB Ballots; Retains All Studios Special Program for Warner Opening Dennis Morgan, Patricia Hitchcock and Albert Warner will make double appearances at the opening of the new Warner Theatre (formerly the Strand) here tonight when Alfred Hitchcock's "Strangers on A Train" will have its premiere as part of the celebration of Warner's 25th anniversary of talking pictures. Warner, Morgan and Miss Hitch(Continued on page 6) Hollywood, July 2. — As the result of ballots counted today, the Screen Actors Guild retained its position as the bargaining agent for actors employed by producers making more than 99 per cent of all pictures made in the U. S., including television. Television Authority, talent union for "live" television, contested six of the nine elections but failed to gain a majority in a single case. In the six contested elections conducted here by the National Labor Relations Board, SAG won the right to continue representing actors employed by the six companies in question, by a total vote of 439 to 48, a better than nine to one margin. By studios the vote was : Apex (Continued cm page 7) U. K. Film Pact Talks Hit Delay Washington, July 2. — The Anglo-American negotiations on a new film agreement have been set back a week or more by the illness of Sir Hartley Shawcross, who will head Britain's negotiators. Motion Picture Association of America's vice-president Joyce O'Hara, who was to have flown to London at the end of this week, has now set his departure back to "around the 11th." Loew's Profit Up $310,000 In 2nd Quarter Reports $5,567,619 in 40 Weeks Ended June 7 Loew's, Inc., reports net income of $1,341,754 or 26 cents per share for the 12 weeks ended last June 7, after depreciation, adjusted taxes and all other charges, compared with $1,032,478, equivalent to 20 cents for the corresponding period last year, an increase of some $310,000. The company reported net income of $5,567,619 or $1.08 per share for the 40 weeks ended on June 7, compared with $6,019,441, or $1.17 per share for the same period in 1950. Gross sales and operating revenues for the 12 weeks ended June 7 are estimated at $38,933,000; compared with $39,389,000 a year earlier, and for the 40 weeks ended June 7, 1951, they were $132,883,000, compared with $135,007,000 a year earlier. Operating profits, before charges, (Continued on page 6) Hit Telecasts In Theatres Albany, N. Y., July 2. — Rumblings of boycott are being heard here in the wake of the exclusive telecast in Fabian's Palace Theatre of the LouisSavold and Murphy-Lamotta bouts. Many home set owners and grill patrons are reported griping about the "unfairness" of the arrangement, calling it "monopoly." Some of them are said to be threatening to "boycott" the theatre. Grill customers and proprietors are particularly bitter. Some (Continued on page 3) Disney-RKO Sue Souvaine on 'Alice' Walt Disney Productions and RKO Pictures yesterday filed for an injunction to prevent Souvaine Pictures from releasing Lou Bunin's Frenchmade "Alice in Wonderland" for 18 months unless the distributor and licensees agree to advertise prominently that the picture has no connection with Disney's film of the same name. The Bunin picture is slated to open (Continued on page 3)