Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1951)

2 Motion Picture Daily Tuesday, July 10, 1951 Unusual Services in Cleveland Drive-Ins Cleveland, July 9.— For the first time in Greater Cleveland and possibly for the first time in the entire country, religious services of all faiths will be held at 10 A. M. on July 29 in three drive-in theatres. The project, which has the support of the Cleveland Church Federation and is sponsored by the Cleveland Junior Chamber of Commerce, is designed to offer religious services to shut-ins and others who are physically unable to attend regular church services. Protestant services will be held at the Auto Drive-In; Catholic services at the Cloverleaf Drivein and Jewish services at the Mile Drive-in. Personal Mention iPYROS SKOURAS, 20th Cen> tury-Fox president, returned to New York yesterday from a visit at the studio. /eek's Bunin 'Welcomes' RKO 'Alice' Suit Lou Bunin Productions, producers of the English live-action and puppet film production of Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," and Souvaine Selective Pictures, U. S. distributors of the picture, declared yesterday in a joint statement that they were "happy that at last" Walt Disney Productions and RKO had brought action, filed in Federal Court last Tuesday, after it had been announced the film would have its American premiere at the Mayfair and Trans-Lux 60th Street Theatres, New York, July 26. Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" is also slated to have its premiere here in August. William C. MacMillen, Jr., chairman of the board, and Henry Souvaine, president of Souvaine Selective Pictures stated that "Disney repre sentatives have been steadily threat ening Bunin as well as his backers since Bunin began his initial plans for his 'Alice in Wonderland' production in 1945. "Certainly," said Souvaine; "the time has arrived for a properly constituted court of law to determine the legality or illegality of Disney's efforts over many years to destroy Bunin's property." William Levine, home office assistant to John S. Allen, Southwestern M-G-M sales manager, left here yesterday for a tour of Southwest exchanges. • J. E. Elliott, Jr., owner and manager of the Cardinal Theatre, Hodgenville, Ky., was married recently to Freda Thompson, also of Hodgenville. • Hayes Goetz, M-G-M producer, accompanied by his wife, is due to leave the Coast by air next Sunday for New York en route to London. • Nat Levy, RKO Pictures Eastern division sales manager, has left here for Detroit. • Dave Turner, RKO Pictures exploiteer, has left here for Montreal and Toronto. • Edwin Knopf, M-G-M producer, will arrive here tomorrow aboard the S.S. Mauretania from England. • Jules Lapidus, Warner Brothers Eastern and Canadian division manager, is in Boston today from here. The Disney office here yesterday declined to comment on the Bunin Souvaine action. KAY HARRISON, head of Technicolor, Ltd., has returned here from England. • Harry Fellerman, sales head of the Universal International special films division, will leave here today for Boston and New Haven, returning Friday. • Jonas Rosenfield, Jr., advertising manager for 20th Century-Fox, is in Dallas today conferring with Interstate Circuit officials. • Irving Sochin, assistant to C. J. Feldman, Universal Pictures domestic sales manager, has returned to his desk here following an appendectomy. • Edward C. Dowden, assistant advertising publicity head of Loew's Theatres, has returned from a week's vacation. • Sadie Markowitz, M-G-M's head contract clerk in San Francisco, is in Mt. Zion Hospital where she underwent major surgery. • Foster M. Blake, Western sales manager for Universal Pictures, has returned here from Los Angeles. • A. C. Brown of Paramount's home office auditing staff is at the San Francisco branch office. O'SheaWillPreside At Final Meet in Para. Sales Drive The last in a series of meetings with the company's field sales force in connection with the "Salute to Al Schwalberg" sales drive, will be held at the home office today by E. K. O'Shea, vice president of Paramount Film Distributing Corp., and Jerry Pickman, director of advertising and publicity. Meeting with members of Hugh Owen's Eastern and Southern division, the two home office executives will discuss the merchandising of Paramount product for the balance of 1951. Particular emphasis will be placed on the progress made in the booking reeases for July and August, the months covered by the Schwalberg salute. Attending the meeting in addition to O'Shea and Pickman will be Al Kane, assistant division manager ; Henry Randel, New York district manager, and branch managers Myron Sattler, New York ; John Moore, Boston ; Henry Germaine, New Haven ; Edward Maloney, Albany ; Jack Brown, Buffalo ; Gordon Bradley, Atlanta ; Edward Chumley, Jacksonville ; William Holliday, New Orleans, and Albert Duren, Charlotte. Also present will be special field representatives Everett Olsen, Leonard Allen, Ed Wall, Arnold Van Leer and Robert Bixler. Connecticut MPTO Golf Tourney, Aug.7 Hartford, July 9.— George H. Wilkinson Jr., president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Connecticut, and Albert M. Pickus, regional vice-president of the Theatre Owners of America, have disclosed plans for the annual outing and golf tournament of the MPTO of Connecticut at Racebrook Country Club, Orange, Conn., on Tuesday, Aug. 7. The all-day outing, with delegations expecetd from New York and Massachusetts, as well as Connecticut points, has as a general committee Sam Weber, treasurer ; Herman M. Levy, secretary; Lou Brown, publicity, and James Bracken, Ted Jacocks, James Darby, Harry F. Shaw, Ben Simon, Barney Pitkin, and Henry Germaine. Goldwyn Depositions Off Until Aug. 7 San Francisco, July 9. — The three depositions scheduled to be taken here in Samuel Goldwyn's anti-trust suit against Fox West Coast and 11 other companies and individuals, has been postponed until Aug. 7. At that time it is expected Michael Naify, president of Golden State Theatres will testify in addition to Roy Cooper, film buyer of Golden State and R. A. McNeil, former president of Golden State. The depositions will be taken in the San Francisco office of Goldwyn's attorney, Joseph Alioto. Barney Rose Honored On His 35th Year San Francisco, July 9. — Barney Rose, district manager for UniversalInternational Pictures in San Francisco, was honored in a City Hall ceremony which commemorated his thirtyfive years with U-I and saluted the "Barney Rose Month" Drive, now under way. Rose was presented with a scroll by Acting Mayor John J. Sullivan which officially proclaimed the month of July in San Francisco as Barney Rose Month. On hand for the celebration in the Mayor's office were members of the press in addition to Abe Swerdlow, San Francisco branch manager for U-I and Graham Kislingbury. Ohio Fails to Place Ceiling on Taxation Columbus, O., July 9. — The legislative record of the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio was one of "no runs, no hits, no errors" in the Ohio General Assembly session recently concluded, said Martin Smith, Toledo, president of the ITOO, in a bulletin to Ohio exhibitors. No Vote Taken He noted failure of the organization to obtain passage in the House of Representatives of Senate Bill No. 258. which would limit to three per cent the admission tax which Ohio cities might impose. The Senate bill was bottled up in the House Rules committee in the closing days of the session. Smith said that he had obtained pledges of enough votes to pass the measure but was unable to get it reported. Baker Reelected BFPA President London, July 9. — Reginald P Baker was reelected president of the British Film Producers Association at the annual meeting here. Heralding the outcome of the re cent Eady Plan negotiations, Baker asked : "Is there going to be a mad rush into production which might lead to a great part of the Eady Plan be ing devoted merely to reducing debts on films which are proving to be box-office failures, or are we going to concentrate our efforts to increase the number of really successful Brit ish first-feature films?" Para. Sales Meeting Held in Cleveland Cleveland, July 9. — A two-day Paramount division sales meeting was held here at the Carter Hotel. Present were E. K. O'Shea, Paramount Distributing Corp., vice-president ; Howard Minsky, division manager ; Jerry Pickman, director of advertisingpublicity ; Art Leazenby, territorial exploiteer, and branch managers Phil Isaacs, Washington ; Mike Simon, Detroit ; David Kimelman, Pittsburgh ; Bill Meier, Cincinnati; Ulrik Smith, Philadelphia, and Harry Buxbaum, Cleveland. NEW YORK THEATRES RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL Rockefeller Center "THE GREAT CARUSO" MARIO LANZA • ANN BLYTH Dorothy KIRSTEN Jarmila NOVOTNA Blanche THEBOM Color by TECHNICOLOR An M-G-M Picture plus Spectacular STAGE PRESENTATION in "Person DEM JERRY mm BARR t ESTES-MAY0 BROS. HELEN O'CONNELL DICK STABILE MOTION PICTURE DAILY. Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Editor; Terry Ramsaye ConsuHin^ Editor ^^f.^.^?tS^rs. London Bureau, 4 Golden Sq., London Wl; Hope Burnup, Manager; Veter Burnup, lu™. , «<« vs-»s*"-^jf. ^«K.rrs Si-'tn'r^Aima'Tiap"Fame Entered as second Tforalrl TUtter Theatre.! and Theatre Sales each published 13 times a year as a section of Motion Picture Herald; International Motion Picture Almanac, fame. £,nterea as secona ttKsSTw.tto^^W York, N. Y., under the act of March 3. 1879. Subscription rates per year, $6 in the Americas and $12 foreign; single cop.es. 10c