Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1951)

FIRST FILM NEWS MOTION PICTURE DAILY Accurate Concij VOL. 70. NO. 4 NEW YORK, U. S. A., FRIDAY, JULY 6, 1951 TEN CENTS Grosses Show Improvement In Some Areas First Upturn in Some Spots in Many Weeks Motion picture theatre grosses in many cities across the country have taken a surprising turn upward, unexpected particularly in view of the outdoor weather which has set in and the vacation season. The upturn is not necessarily sensational but it is a reversed position than the one in which many box-offices have been headed, on the down side. One of the most pronounced upturns is that which has set in in many theatres in the New York area, especially at most Broadway first-run showcases where grosses have been given a welcome lift. In Los Angeles, dim weather was a help to first-runs generally. Downtown first-runs in Omaha are all running over average. The field report coming from Mo(Continued on page 6) $25,000 at Para. And Hall Top Holiday Grosses A smash $25,000, the biggest Fourth of July gross recorded in the history of the Paramount Theatre here, was the highlight of the holiday at Broadway first runs. The day brought good business to most of the area's theatres. "The Great Caruso" goes on at Radio City Music Hall despite holidays or weather. It drew $25,500 on the Fourth and settled down yesterday for a ninth week. Holdouts were the rule yesterday and the film will undoubt (Continucd on page 6) M or i s o n Calls Off Planned Coast Trip Washington, July 5. — Anti-trust chief H. Graham Morison has cancelled a projected visit to the West Coast and is returning to Washington. Morison, while on the Coast, was to have met with exhibitor leaders to discuss the trade practice situation in Los Angeles and Southern California. However, his plans have been changed and he will go to the Coast late this month or early in August, or may even send a deputy there. Boston, Toronto Exhibitors Warned of Counterfeiters; One House Gets 15 Exhibitors in Boston and Toronto have been warned against a flood of counterfeit bills circulating in both areas. Counterfeit $10 and $20 Federal Reserve Bank notes have been spreading through Greater Boston business establishments, the United States Secret Service disclosed. Maurice R. Allen, supervising agent of that office stated that approximately 25 of these bills have appeared recently. Allen emphasized that these counterfeit notes are liable to be passed in theatres and should be closely scrutinized by the management. Upon receiving these counterfeits the office of the United States Secret Service should be notified immediately. Ontario exhibitors have been warned to be on their guard for fake $10 bills because of the re-appearance of counterfeit money of this denomination, after considerable circulation last summer. During the rush hours on Saturday at a Famous Players' theatre, the cashier was found to have accepted no less than 15 of the spurious $10 bills. Eight Countries Are on the Itinerary of McCarthy MPEA Directors Formally Ratify UK's Eady Plan The board of directors of the Motion Picture Export Association yesterday formally ratified the British Eady Plan as set up under the increased entertainment tax schedule now before the House of Commons. Under its provisions, part of the entertainment tax is put back into a pool for the financing of film production. The directors also discussed a number of industry matters in Spain, France, Indonesia and Germany. Eight countries are on the itinerary of John G. McCarthy, Motion Picture Export Association vice-president, who will leave here tomorrow on the S.S Qiueen Elizabeth for a two months tour of Europe. First stop will be London where McCarthy, with MPEA vice-president Joyce O'Hara, and James Mulvey, representing the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, will open negotiations with Sir Hartley Shawcross, president of the British Board of Trade, and with other British officials on July 13 on a new film agreement between the two countries. Following the British negotiations, McCarthy will proceed to Madrid and then to Paris, Western Germany, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, and possibly Oslo and Helsinki. 'MANAGER OF MONTH ' A WARD FOR THEATRE OPERATION Better Theatres, published today with Motion Picture Herald, will announce a "Manager of the Month" Award to be presented to the manager and the owner-manager who have shown outstanding skill and enterprise in theatre operation. These new awards, coming at a time when restrictions on equipment and supplies emphasize the importance of the physical theatre, will be strong companions to the Quigley Awards for showmanship and exploitation sponsored by the Managers Round Table department of Motion Picture Herald for the past 18 years. The sphere of interests for these Awards is exclusively those physical and institutional ones to which Better Theatres is devoted. Better Theatres Awards will be given monthly to managers, including owner-managers, for skill and enterprise in institutional advertising, theatre housekeeping, public relations, refreshment sales promotion, equipment and building maintenance, and many other comparable aspects of the motion picture theatre — in short, any activity except film exploitation. Beginning in September, there will (Continued on page 6) March of Time Film Series Will Be Ended Costs Cited As Reason; To Make Films for TV March of Time will cease production of its theatrical film series, "The March of Time," with the completion next fall of its 16th year, Roy E. Larsen, president of Time, Inc., announced here yesterday. In the future the company will devote the major part of its creative facilities to production of films for television and to special theatrical films. Larsen cited rising costs as the reason for the discontinuance of the theatrical shorts series, even though sales of March of Time releases increased this year, he said. "Our company has been increasingly active in recent years in developing and producing programs for television," Larsen, one of the founders in 1935 of the March of Time film series, said. "Our facilities are (Continued on page 6) WB Directors Set $15,000,000 to Buy Common Stock The board of directors of Warner Brothers passed a resolution yesterday inviting stockholders to tender common stock for purchase by the corporation at prices not exceeding $15 per share. The sum of $15,000,000 was appropriated for that purpose. Warner common closed at \2>y2 yesterday. It is expected that formal invitations to tender will be mailed to stockholders in about 10 days, and that the deadline for the submission of tenders (Continued on page 6) L. B. Mayer Sells 1,500 Loew's Shares Washington, July 5. — Louis B. Mayer sold 1,500 shares of Loew's, Inc. common early last month, according to the latest report of the Securities and Exchange Commission on trading by officers and directors in film company stocks. The report, covering transactions filed with the Commission between May 11 and June 10, showed that Mayer's sales were in four blocks, (Continued on page 6)