Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1951)

2 Motion Picture Daily Friday, July 13, 1951 Personal Mention Harrison and Germain Are Named Tops in QP Contest JONAS ROSENFIELD, advertising manager for 20th CenturyFox, returned here yesterday from Dallas. Sam Frey, Assistant to Paramount studio executive J. H. Karp, is on his way back to Hollywood today after a week's combined business and vacation trip here. • Pete T. Dana, Universal Pictures Eastern sales manager, will leave here today for Albany, Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. • Harry Buckley, former United Artists vice-president, is now in Venice in the course of an extended European tour. Max Weinberg, M-G-M's Eastern shorts subjects representative, is due to arrive in Chicago from here on Monday. John P. Byrne, M-G-M Eastern sales manager, now in Albany will leave for Boston this weekend. • Nelson Towler, Southern district manager for Lippert in Atlanta, is visiting the firm's Memphis branch. • Irving Rapper, director, will return to Hollywood today from New York. Stevens, 78, Dean Of Chicago Critics Chicago, July 12.— Ashton Stevens 78, prominent dramatic critic and col umnist of the Hearst press, died in his home last night of a heart attack. _ Stevens, known as the dean of Chi cago's drama critics, had been in ill health for several years but had contributed articles regularly to Hearst's Chicago HeraldAmerican, which he had served as drama critic since 1932 For many years he had been asso ciated with Hearst newspapers in Chi cago. He also served as a critic and columnist for Hearst papers in New York and San Francisco, where in the early days of William Randolph Hearst's publishing activities on the Coast, Stevens had been closely asso ciated with him. The widow, Katherine, survives. Ad Code Staff Talks Open Soon on Coast Hollywood, July 12.— A series _ of conferences between Gordon S. White, Motion Picture Association of America Advertising Code Administrator, and the code staff employed on the West Coast will be held here during the next three weeks. White will leave New York tomorrow for Hollywood. It will be his annual trip to the Coast for discussions in connection with advertising and production code matters. John Harrison, manager of the Lyric Theatre in Waycross, Ga., and Gerry Germain, manager of the Palace Theatre at Jamestown, N. Y., are the two top showmen in the Quigley Showmanship Awards competition for the second quarter of 1951. The awards are conducted by the Managers Round Table of Motion Picture Herald. In the contest which saw both No. 1 and No. 2 awards going to small towns, the following received Scrolls of Honor : Tiff Cook, Capitol Theatre, Toronto; J. R. Critchley, Odeon Theatre, Liverpool, England; Norman Duncan, Strand Theatre, Vancouver; J. P. Harrison, Campus Theatre, Denton, Texas; J. D. King, Granada Theatre, Lawrence, Kansas ; Pierce E. McCoy, Miller Theatre, Augusta, Ga. ; Ed Meade, Shea's Theatre, Buffalo. Schimel Is Named Head of Fund Here 'Queen for a Day' Harrison won the No. 1 award for .lis campaign for "Queen for a Day," which brought the world premiere of the picture to his town, in a national contest conducted by Mutual Broadcasting System over its network. Harrison is to be credited with swinging the affair almost entirely by his own efforts, within nine days, to win a national contest wherein he created the greatest direct-mail demand for the picture, from his town. MBS received 35,000 postcards from Waycross (population 18,000) and the overflow audience filled the Memorial Stadium that seats 10,000 persons. The town raised $3,000 to entertain its guests. K. S. Cambata was easily the winner of the overseas award for his campaign on "Harvey" at the Eros Theatre, Bombay, but the judges had praise for J. R. Critchley for his handling of "Samson and Delilah" at the Odeon Theatre, Liverpool, and for Miss Lily Watt for her sustained showmanship at the Odeon Theatre, Coatbridge, Scotland. George Bernard and others of the British Round Table also came in for citation and discussion. The judges were: Edgar Goth, advertising and publicity director for the Fabian circuit of 60 theatres; Samuel Cohen, overseas publicity director for United Artists, and Charles Hacker, administrative assistant at Radio City Music Hall, all of New York. A. L. Raven, Head Of Screen Firm A. L. Raven, head of Raven Screen Corp., New York, one of the oldest manufacturers of motion picture screens, died at Westchester County hospital, Eastview, N. Y., on Wednesday. He resided at nearby Valhalla. He would have been 76 years old next month. Mr. Raven early became associated with motion pictures when he quit a career in news photography to join the Nicholas Power Projector Co. He founded the Raven Screen Co. in 1921, when motion picture screens were merely an incidental product of scenic studios Adolph Schimel, vice-president and general counsel of Universal Pictures, has been appointed chairman of the motion picture industry Scholarship Fund at Yeshiva University, New York City, it was disclosed here yesterday by Dr. Samuel Belkin, president of Yeshiva. In accepting the chairmanship of the committee, Schimel declared that the Fund will attempt to better last year's record of more than 50 scholarships. Since its inception in 1939 the industry committee has maintained a large number of scholarships enabling many students to receive the benefits of an education at the first American University under Jewish auspices. Schimel announced the appointment of the following to the committee Barney Balaban, Nate Blumberg, Spy ros P. Skouras, Gus S. Eyssell, Abe Schneider, George P. Skouras, Robert M. Weitman, Irving H. Greenfield, George Schaefer, William Zimmerman, Robert K. Christenberry, Max Seligman, J. H. Lang, Harold Rodner, Jules W. Catsiff, and Jacob Salzman, administrative director of Yeshiva University. The motion picture industry Scholarship Fund was launched in 1939 under the leadership of George J. Schaefer, then president of RKO and the late W. G. Van Schmus, then managing director of Radio City Music Hall. Gus Evssell, president of the Music Hall had been motion picture industry chairman for many years. In addition to industry-wide scholarships established annually at the University, many persons in the industry are maintaining annual scholarships, including Balaban, Blumberg, Louis B. Mayer, George Skouras, Samuel Rosen and others. Salt Lake Editorial Cites Films' Assets Salt Lake City, July 12.— Tribute to the virility of the motion picture industry was paid by the Deseret News in a two-column editorial yesterday accompanied by industry statistics to refute those who claim motion pictures are in a decline. Howard Pearson concludes his editorial thusly: "Rather than a dying industry, any business that employs this large an investment and can attract a patronage this large seems to be very much alive, indeed!" 'Caruso' Gives Hall New 9-Week Record M-G-M's "The Great Caruso" yesterday began its 10th week at Radio City Music Hall after having established a record nine-week gross of $1,274,000 for the house, the Music Hall management reported. The previous nine-week house record was $1,200,000, established by Paramount's "The Bells of St. Mary's" a few years ago, with a Christmas week gross included. The ninth week for "Caruso" gave the Music Hall $134,000, and a substantial portion of that figure admittedly resulted from the patronage of delegates and guests in New York for the five-day Shriners convention. Whether the picture would remain at the Hall for an 11th week was not determinable yesterday. The Shriners convention drew to its close yesterday. The theatre management was hopeful last night that the gross control figure would be attained this week. Republic Profit (Continued from page 1) Settle Para. -Brandt Percentage Suit The long-pending action brought by Paramount Pictures against Brandt Theatres here and individual and affili ated defendants charging false report ing of business on percentage engagements has been settled out of court it was confirmed yesterday. Although a substantial settlement was reported to have been made by defendants, principals in the action de clined to divulge details. The suit was filed by Paramount in 1948 and claimed damages of $563,265. Similar charges were filed against Brandt Theatres earlier by 20th Century-Fox and, following arbitration were settled on payment of $237,000, of which $18,000 was damages and the remainder for disputed film rental owed. Louis Nizer of the industry law firm of Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin & Krim represented Paramount in the action sion, with estimated Federal taxes of $465,000, leaving a net after taxes of $703,589. 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 ftsrson DUN JERRY mm BARR~& ESTES • MAYO BROS. \*"N9u> • HELEN O'CONNELL ■ DICK STABILE"? MOTION PICTURE DAILY. Martin Quigley Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; ^^^^^^^^^^ It^cA^tT^^o, Sundays and holidays, by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Surth Avenue. Rockefeller Renter , « ™ *orK . ce.£resident and Treasurer; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; New York." 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