Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1953)

Monday, January 12, 1953 Motion Picture Daily 5 NEWS in Brief . . . Allied s Trade Grievances (Continued from page 1) Herbert Golden, of the Bankers Trust Co.'s amusement industries division, will leave New York tomorrow for Hollywood to study the TV-film field, in line with the bank's policy to expand into the financing of television productions. Golden will confer with potential clients and tour various studios now making films for TV. • Hollywood, Jan. 11. — The first Vistascope units for television will be delivered in New York tomorrow and will be available, to all video stations and networks, Barney Balaban, president of Paramount Pictures, disclosed at the weekend. The Vistascope process is owned jointly by Paramount and Sol Lesser. The first prospective customers are NBC, CBS and DuMont, all of which plan to use the process for live-action television, it was revealed. • Hollywood, Jan. 11. — Robert L. Bendick, vice-president of Cinerama Productions, who with Merian C. Cooper co-produced "This Is Cinerama," has signed a new contract which permits the use of his services in any production capacity but principally as a producer and director. Warner Brothers (Continued from page 1) closed in its annual statement to stockholders that a number of changes has been incorporated in its reorganization plan, many of which stem from the recent agreement between Warners and Fabian under which Harry M., Albert and Jack L. Warner will sell their controlling stock interest in the new Warner theatre company to Fabian. To New Picture Company Under the changes, the company's entire term bank loan of $4,773,000 will be allocated to the new picture company, instead of three-fourths of it, as proposed under the original reorganization plan, adopted to effect the divorcement of the company into production-distribution and exhibition entities as required by the consent decree. The three-man New York Statutory court approved the order allowing Fabian and Rosen to become officers and directors of the new theatre company following an agreement with the Department of Justice, which requires the divestiture of three additional theatres in cities where Warner and Fabian theatres together might dominate the market. The cities affected are Johnstown, Pa., Troy and Albany, N. Y. The approval of the court was made contingent upon the consummation of the Warner-Fabian sale and the assent of the stockholders, whose annual meeting has been set for Feb. 17 in Wilmington, Del. WB Notes Revenue Drop for Quarter Box-office receipts of Warner theatres for the quarter ended Nov. 29, 1952, show a decline compared with the box-office receipts for the same period in the previous year, WB stated here Friday in its annual report agenda, though, has to be election of officers for the coming year. Wilbur Snaper is considered a sure bet for another term as Allied president. So far no one has proposed any discussion of arbitration at the board meeting, Myers said. He added, however, that this could be brought up from the floor. Snaper met with Ralph Hetzel of the MPAA in New York Friday on the arbitration issue and he may introduce the subject. Key comments in the Myers' report were these : There's "good reason to expect" repeal of the 20 per cent admission tax at the current session of Congress; The industry must abandon the idea that there's nothing wrong with the business that good pictures won't solve; There is no indication that distribution leaders are willing to arbitrate film rentals, and Allied continues to insist on the inclusion of this matter in any arbitration plan; Incentive selling might be based on a plan which would determine a "let live" film rental for normal grosses and would decrease the distributor's share as the gross increases; The board should reaffirm the convention resolution to petition the new Attorney General to drop the 16 mm. case; Exhibitors will probably decide it's "unwise to continue business relations" with companies like Republic which sell large amounts of their pictures to television; Unless the distributors reform promptly, "there will be no future for the Council of Motion Picture Organizations." Myers said the industry must devote the coming year to ascertaining the causes of box-office decline and staging an all-industry campaign to put that information to use to overcome the decline. He declared that theatres were, the foundation of the industry, and all the industry should join to strengthen business at the theatre level. Disproved Two Explanations The past year, he stated, has disproven two explanations of the boxoffice drop — that people don't have the to stockholders. For the same quarter in 1952, the report added, the film company's gross film rentals were lower than in 1951. Operating results of the company for the quarter ended, Nov. 29, 1952, are not yet available, it was noted, but it is expected that the profit before capital gains and before provision for Federal income taxes and contingencies will be considerably lower than the corresponding profit of $4,170,000 earned for the same quarter last year. The report, which covered operations beyond the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 1952, took note of the agreement with the Department of Justice providing for an extension until July 4 for the divestiture of WB's remaining 24 theatres. Since the consent judgment, it was explained, a total of 30 theatres subject to divestiture Jiave been disposed of by sale, sub-lease or by the cancellation or expiration of leases. money and that good pictures will bring them in. The people had money to spend on what they wanted, he declared, and business in the fall was bad, despite good pictures. Must Decentralize Advertising The industry must decentralize its advertising and cooperate in carefully designed institutional advertising, the report stated. The American people — ■ and especially young people — must be convinced that it's smart to go to the movies, rather than smart to say "1 never go to the movies any more" or "there aren't any good movies," the board was told. But above everything, Myers said, there must be a "big shake-up in distribution with radical reforms in pricing policies and practices." He repeated arguments he's made many times before against the present system where the distributor's percentage increases as the gross rises, "thereby destroying all incentive on the part of the exhibitor to exploit the picture and promote attendance." Distribution has always regarded the theatre owner as a mere agent, wholly dependent on the distributor and entitled to only the narrowest possible margin, Myers claimed. He said such "archaic attitudes and oppressive methods" must be indicated as a chief cause of the low state of the industry. In order for the industry to recover, the board was told, distributors must give exhibitors an incentive. Myers then suggested his formula based on normal grosses for a test period for different classes of pictures or different types of operation, with the distributors' share falling as the gross rose beyond the normal. Equitable Formula "Nothing could give the business a bigger lift than the development of an equitable formula for pricing films," Myers stated. $20-Million Gross For 5 'Road' Films Paramount's "Road to Bali," starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, in its first 1,000 dates has grossed so heavily that "it is virtually certain to exceed the box-office achievement of any of the five previous 'Road' pictures, each of which topped $4,000,000 in film rentals for a total take in excess of $20,000,000," the company stated at the weekend. O'Hara Services (Continued from page 1 ) ton about 1:00 A.M. Friday and checked in at the Waldorf Astoria. He was found dead in his suite shortly after 10 o'clock by a hotel maid. He died presumably from a heart attack. O'Hara had gone to New York for a business conference. Many Years with Johnston An associate of MPAA president Eric Johnston for many years, O'Hara served as Johnston's special assistant when the latter was president of the United States Chamber of Commerce. He continued in the same capacity when Johnston was named president of the MPAA. Subsequently he was appointed vice-president of the association and served as its head when Johnston took a leave of absence to serve as economic stabilizer in the government in 1951. O'Hara accompanied Johnston on most of his domestic and overseas trips, participating in conferences on several important film agreements with foreign governments. He was chief American negotiator in working out the AngloAmerican film pact with the British government. O'Hara was born in Pittston, Pa., and after finishing high school was in the newspaper business for 10 years. While working as a newspaper man in Washington he attended Georgetown University where he received his law degree. Survivors are his widow, Mrs. Myers said that when the Justice Department is reorganized under a new Attorney General, "it may be that the cases against the film companies will be reviewed and action taken toward making them effective." But just to play safe, he added, it might be a good idea for the board to specifically authorize Allied officers to take their complaints to the House or Senate Small Business Committees. (Continued on page 6) Camille O'Hara ; two daughters, Mrs. John Cosgrove and Miss Angela O'Hara, and a son, John, of Salem, Mass. Johnston was flying here from Honolulu over the weekend to attend the services. Another Goldwyn Award Hollywood, Jan. 11. — The Southern California Motion Picture Council has presented Samuel Goldwyn with its "Gold Star Award," top honor conferred by the group, for his production of "Hans Christian Andersen." from Earl Wilson's "Bests of 1952" ...The best exploited film, ' The Thief (thanks to publicist Bernie Kamber)..." BERNARD M. KAMBER Consultant to independent producers and distributors 200 WEST 57th STREET, N. Y. 19, N. Y. JUDSON 6-1890-1-2 PUBLIC RELATIONS NATIONAL EXPLOITATION