Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1952)

Wednesday, May 28, 1952 Motion Picture Daily 5 Ten Premieres This Week Along BVay Ten new films are slated for Broadway openings this week, heralding the Memorial Day weekend when a business upswing is expected. In the meantime, the box-office lull continued at many first-run situations here. At Radio City Music Hall, a steady $105,000 is expected to be racked up for the third and final week of "Scaramouche." "Lovely To Look At" bows in at the Hall tomorrow. The premiere of "Lydia Bailey" will be held Friday at the Roxy, where the second and final week of "Kangaroo" was expected hit a fair $45,000. The Roxy's new stage attraction will headline Allan Dale. Johnny Ray opens at the Paramount today with "The Wild Heart" on the screen. The second and final inning of "Rancho Notorious" brought a moderate $45,000. "About Face" at the Warners is doing satisfactorily, with $35,000 estimated for its initial week. The Warner plans to close June 5 for the summer. No reopening date has been set as yet. At the Mayfair, about $8,000 is indicated for "Outcasts of Poker Flat," a second week's figure which is considered somewhat on the sluggish side. A fair $17,000 is seen for the second week of "Outcast of the Islands" at the Astor, while a nice $8,000 is estimated for the same film at the Fine Arts Theatre. "The Girl in White" opens at Loew's State Friday, replacing "Wild North," which is expected to do an average $10,000 for its third and final stanza. At the Criterion, the last six days of the third week of "The Sniper" is due to hit a moderate $11,000. It will be replaced tomorrow by "The Red Ball Express." The third and final inning of "Carbine Williams" at the Capitol was forecast for a slow $17,500 gross. "Skirts Ahoy!" bows there today. Another to premiere today is "Walk East on Beacon," which will replace "The Marrying Kind" at the Victoria. The latter was expected to bow out with a fair $10,000 for its 11th stanza. Among off-Broadway houses, "Under the Paris Sky" is holding up fine at the Paris Theatre, with $8,500 forecast for the third week. Doing excellently is "Man in the White Suit" at the Sutton, where $12,000 is predicted for the eighth week. "Actors and Sin" bows in at the Park Avenue tomorrow, replacing "When in Rome," which racked up a fair $3,200 for its third week. A moderate $5,500 is seen for the fourth week of "Never Take No for An Answer" at the Beekman. Cites Improvement In RCA Color Tube Basic improvements in the RCA tri-color television picture tube are claimed by Dr. Elmer W. Engstrom, vice-president in charge of RCA's laboratories division. The improvements, credited to RCA engineer Alfred C. Schroeder, are said to permit a single beam deflection svstem. New York Rivoli Closes The Rivoli Theatre here has closed for the summer. A spokesman for United Artists Theatres, operator of the house, said the closing was indefinite. Television-Radio — Comment and Opinion BECAUSE it is currently concerned over the problem of rising costs, television seems to have forgotten that, unlike the motion picture in its youth, it is not dealing with an unspoiled, unsophisticated audience. At present there is a tendency to rush headlong into the production of cheap, quick films made especially for TV consumption. Some are made in Hollywood, others in Europe where the British, in particular, seem to be interested. For a while these half-hour features will undoubtedly serve their purpose but it would be wise to ask : How long ? People who watch TV to a large extent are also movie fans. They ' are used to standards which are much higher — production values much more elaborate — than those offered today on television. Inevitably there will come a point where the something-for-nothing mentality of the audience will no longer protect the rush quickies from the criticism they so richlv deserve. it . mit & Things move fast in television. Recently a sponsor dropped a show before his name had ever gotten on the air. Now the Associated Press says it is abandoning its newly inaugurated newsreel service to TV stations. The service started April 14 and terminates May 30. Said the AP : "Uncertainties of the future make it advisable to suspend operations until there can be a clear picture of the rapidity with which new television stations will come into existence." Congress had something to say about that last week. The Senate Interstate Commerce Committee voted $800,000 to permit the FCC to put on 20 additional teams to start processing and hearing new applications for television stations starting July 1. "The welfare of the people, not the happiness of the FCC, is at stake. TV belongs to the people," the Committee said. it it . it Because the rules that govern television programming are sometimes obscure, it isn't easy to figure out why a Saturday night on TV, when outside competition is heaviest, is so much less attractive from the audience point-of-view than Monday night when people are home anyhow. Two CBS-TV programs, one new and one revamped, deserve special mention for brightening up the Saturday lineup. "All 'Round the Town," sponsored by Pepsi Cola and starring that very personable young husband-and-wife team, Mike and Buff, offers some of the best-arranged interview shows ever seen here for a long time. Last Saturday Mike and Buff took their cameras and microphones to Pennsylvania Station where they described the place and interviewed personnel. There's rarely a lag in their program as the team capably splits up the job of handling the various interview chores. "Celebrity Time," also on CBS-TV, has been thoroughly revamped and now offers entertainment with a capital E in a pleasing format that still makes the best of Conrad Nagel's personality. Two weeks ago Joe E. Brown outdid himself in the guest spot. Last week Vivian Blaine and Boris Karloff brought songs and laughs to the show. B. F. Goodrich can be proud of the new "Celebrity Time." it it it It has become difficult by now to think of the Sundav afternoon Hallmark "Hall of Fame" over NBC-TV without its charming hostess-actress, Sarah Churchill, the attractive daughter of Winston Churchill. Miss Churchill brings to the half-hour dramatic offering a note of distinction for not only is she a gracious and appealing hostess and narrator, but when starred in one of the biographical sketches in which the Hallmark Theatre specializes, she has proven again and again that she is an actress of unusual ability. Born in Admiralty House, London, in 1916, she decided at an early age that she was for the stage and she has pursued that ambition relentlessly, taking time out during the war to work in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. She has been in the movies and on the American stage but considers television the most exciting and satisfying work of her career. it it i? General Mills has renewed ABC-TV's "The Stu Erwin Show" for another 52 n>eeks. . . . NBC-Radio inaugurating Stan Kenton Concerts starting June 3. Fred Hift Sarah Churchill FCC Hearing Date May Be Set Today Washington, May 27.— Barring a last-minute hitch, the Federal Communications Commission will announce tomorrow or Thursday that the oft postponed theatre television hearings will get underway sometime this fall, probably in October. Protest Hollywood TV Production Concord, N. H., May 27. — Opposition to Hollywood producers making films for television was expressed here at the first of four regional meetings of the Independent Exhibitors of New England. Television was foremost on the agenda. Exhibitors expressed the opinion that theatres should not be used by motion picture producers to carry the burden of its TV competitor and if producers continue such practices, they will inevitably lead to the closing of theatres, it was stated. Television competition will be greatly minimized if television produces its own film programs, delegates at the meeting concluded. Snaper to Address Showmen Hartford, May 27. — Wilbur Snaper, Allied States Association president, will address a meeting of the Independent Exhiibtors and Drive-in Theatre Association of New England at the Sheraton Hotel, Springfield, Mass., on Thursday. Hold Brief FCC Para. Hearing Washington, May 27. — The Federal Communications Commission's Paramount hearing went on for only an hour today, and then recessed until tomorrow. The witness was Sam C. Myers, brother-in-law of Paramount president Barney Balaban and one of the exhibitor witnesses being called by FCC attorneys. It was decided that the ground to be covered by Myers had already been covered by previous FCC witnesses. Ralph Rockafellow, Para. TV Ad Head Ralph Rockafellow, director of advertising-publicity for Paramount Television Productions, died here suddenly Monday night at the age of 54. Rockafellow had been with Paramount since 1948, and prior to that was associated with a number of advertising agencies, including Young & Rubican and Buchanan. Surviving are his widow, Desiree, a son, Ralph, Jr., and a daughter, Mrs. Richard Wayne. Outdoor Business Up Albany, N. Y., May 27.— Indoor theatre business in this area slumped during the first half of May, while outdoor patronage slightly exceeded that for a comparable period last year, Charles A. Smakwitz, Warner Brothers zone manager, and Harry Lamont, head of Lamont Theatres, report.