Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1953)

Motion Picture Daily Tuesday, January 13, 1953 Theatre TV (C on tin ued from page 1) niittee and other parties today filed their proposed witness lists and summaries of the testimony which will be given at the hearing. A. T. and T. said that its lead witness, F. A. Cowan, engineering staff manager of the long lines department, would tell the Commission that the Bell system has transmission facilities which can meet the 10 mc band width deemed necessary by the industry to give the theatre television image the same clarity as the 35 mm. image. At the same time A. T. and T. revealed its estimated cost data for a New York to Washington theatre television transmission service operating on a 10 mc band and covering nine cities. The company pointed out that all other cost data was "in preparation" and could not be supplied now. The A. T. and T. figures cover three theatre television networks simultaneously servicing the nine cities. As its total cost for the construction of the A. T. and T. estimated $4,400,000, and its total annual operating cost for the service the :pany estimated $1,050,000. Nine Cities The nine cities which would be serviced by the system are New York, Philadelphia, Trenton, Atlantic City, Wilmington, Baltimore, Reading, Allentown and Washington. At the close of the first phase of the theatre television hearing last fall an industry source gave the MPAANETTC estimate of the cost of _ a similar service which would be built and operated if special frequencies are allocated by the FCC for theatre television. Although the industry figures were based on a different kind of cost breakdown, the total industry figure for the construction cost of three networks simultaneously operating between New York and Washington was $5,450,000. The industry figure for total annual operating costs of the service, based on a three-year amortization period, was $2,420,000. No amortization term was given in the A. T. and T. figure. The industry figures covered only eight cities being serviced by the set-up. These were the same as the A. T. and T. cities with the omission of Allentown. A. T. and T. said Cowan would testify that the Bell system will be able to integrate its theatre television transmission service with its other services in a manner which will make possible important economies in operations and engineering. He will explain to the Commission Review "Taxi" (20th Century-Fox) THE word "sleeper"' is a greatly over-worked term in this business, but it can be applied safely to "Taxi," if the word means a good picture produced on a moderate budget and without headline names. From the standpoint of names, co-star Dan Dailey and director Gregory Ratoff are, perhaps, the only ones that the public will recognize from the billing, but the fans will find new star material in Constance Smith, who has had some supporting roles in American pictures subsequent to her appearance in a number of British productions. "Taxi" is unusual in that it was shot almost entirely on the streets of New York City and Brooklyn. Interiors are held to a minimum. New Yorkers and those who have visited the city should get a "kick" from the familiar scenes, while those who have never been to New York are given a sightseeing tour. The picture runs the gamut from hilarious comedy to deep, emotional drama, with all ingredients expertly blended. It's a picture that is pretty sure to please the most critical. The story spans a single day in the life of a taxi driver-owner, Dailey, who, incidentally, proves himself to be a top performer as a dramatic actor as well as a good comedian. Desperately in need of enough money to make a payment on his cab, Dailey is out to raise the cash by taking his passengers on roundabout routes to their destinations. One of his fares is Miss Smith, just arrived from Ireland, who is seeking her husband, an American writer, whom she hasn't seen for a year. Not knowing that the colleen has only $5, Dailey takes her from Brooklyn to New York by way of New Jersey. Although disgusted with his misfortune in having a fare who cannot pay her way, Dailey stands by her in her quest for her no-good husband, whom she does not meet, and, of course, it all leads to a romance between the taxi driver and the Irish girl. A fine supporting cast helps to make the picture an exciting experience. Outstanding is Blanche Yurka, as Dailey's mother. Produced by Samuel C. Engel, the screenplay is by D. M. Marshman, Jr., and Daniel Fuchs, from a story by Hans Jacoby and Fred Brady. Others in the cast are Neva Patterson, Kyle MacDonnell, Walter Woolf King, Anthony Ross and Mark Roberts. Running time, 77 minutes. General audience classification. For February release. Al Steen that the Bell system can meet the technical transmission requirements "specificated by the theatre interests," including band width, definition and linearity, and that the company has planned to build up its existing interand intra-city transmission facilities until they are "nationwide in scope." In addition, A. T. and T. will also tell the Commission that the spectrum location which the industry has earmarked as the most suited to theatre television transmission should not be taken away from the common carriers, to whom that portion of the spectrum is now allocated. To do so, A. T. and T. will say, would "reduce the ultimate capacity" of those widths. There will be four A. T. and T. witnesses in addition to Cowan. They are : F. M. Ryan, radio engineer, department of operations and engineering ; M. G. Wallace, commercial operating engineer ; W. H. Doherty, director of research, electronics ; and A. F. Jacobson, director of operations, long lines department. The list of 29 witnesses who will testify for the industry and the subjects they'll cover was submitted to the Commission by Marcus Cohn for NETTC and by Vincent Welch and James L. Fly for MPAA. The listing was in alphabetical order, and not in order of appearance. The Commission was also told that because of business and other commitments of some of the listed persons occasional substitution might be necessary, and also that additional witnesses might be added later. Here is the MPAA-NETTC witness list, along with the subjects to be covered by each : Roger Albright, MPAA educational director, who will outline the industry's activities in the educational field and the potentials of theatre television in education ; Harold Azine. former theatre television expert for the Federal Civil Defense Administration, who will describe the agency's three intra-city experiments with closed circuit theatre TV for civil defense training ; Metropolitan Opera managing director Rudolph Bing. who'll describe the theatre telecast of "Carmen" and discuss the inadequacy of the video signal on the leased wires ; Harry Brandt, Independent Theatre Owners president, who will argue that theatre television will permit the small independent exhibitor to compete with first run theatres; Also, Gibert and Sullivan impressario S. M. Chartok, who'll claim that theatre TV can be used to stimulate interest in Gilbert and Sullivan and similar works ; Robert W. Coyne, special counsel of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations, who'll discuss COMPO's interest in theatre TV; theatre architect John Eberson, who'll treat theatre TV as a logical development in the evolution of the theatre ; NETTC chairman Si Fabian, who'll discuss the quality of the image needed to make theatre TV compare with 35 mm. films ; Benjamin Fine, education editor of the New York Times, who'll discuss how education can utilize theatre TV; Emanuel Frisch, head of the Metropolitan Mo Walsh to Confer on Overseas Filming Hollywood, Jan. 12.— IATSE president Richard Walsh will state Hollywood Labor's stand against overseas production, save when demonstrably necessary, in a meeting with the major companies' labor committee this week, probably Thursday. tion Picture Theatre Association, discussing public service aspects of the new medium ; Also, Richard Hodgson, director of television development for Paramount Pictures, and Andrew Inglis, MPAA technical consultant, outlining technical phases of theatre TV; Lester B. Isaac, Loew's director of projection, analyzing theatre screen sizes ; Griffith Johnson, MPAA's economics director, who'll cover financial and economic aspects of the motion picture industry; MPAA president Eric A. Johnston, who'll show the industry's interest in theatre TV and what is possible in informational and entertainment programming for large audiences ; Raymond Klune, executive producer of 20th Century-Fox, who'll cover the facilities available in Hollywood for production and distribution; Also, Abe Lastfogel, of the William Morris Agency, on the artistic need for theatre television ; Arthur L. Mayer, former executive vice-president of COMPO, on the motion picture industry's past civic and humanitarian services to government and to the public ; Tom Meany, sports editor of Collier's, who'll argue that theatre TV will make available sports events not otherwise available ; stage producer Gilbert Miller, who'll claim that theatre TV can revive the legitimate theatre ; census bureau director Roy Peel, who will outline theatre TV's potentialities for staff training and for executive appearances ; Terry Ramsaye, editor emeritus of the Motion Picture Herald, who'll trace the historical and sociological development of the industry and argue that no other form of art is so attuned to the needs of its patrons ; Also, either Allied president Wilbur Snaper or former president Trueman Rembusch, on the advantages theatre TV affords the small town exhibitor ; a representative of the American Medical Association, discussing the Association's plans for using theatre TV for training and post-graduate work; MPAA general counsel Sidney Schreiber, tracing the history and composition of MPAA ; 20th-Fox president Spyros Skouras, who'll cover the history of a typical producing-distributing company and its interest in and plans for theatre television ; Mitchell Wolfson, former president of Theatre Owners of America, who'll argue that theatre TV is not a competitor of home TV but rather is designed to do things home TV cannot do ; and Manfred Toeppen, MPAA-NETTC expert. 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