Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1953)

Wednesday, August 12, 1953 Motion Picture Daily 5 National Pre-Selling <<p ETURN to Paradise" full color tv ads will appear in "Pictorial Review," "Redbook's" September issue, "Parent's" October issue, "This Week's" August 16th issue and turnabout ads have appeared in "Life" and "Look." • "Blowing Wild" is publicized in the August issue of "Woman's Home Companion by a full page Lux Soap ad. Ruth Roman, the picture's co-star, is spotlighted in an ad directed to feminine motion picture theatre patrons. • "Sailor of the King" was produced with the active aid of the British Admiralty. Two British cruisers, the Cleopatra and the Glasgow, also the mine layer Manxman, were loaned to 20th Century-Fox so that "Sailor of the King" could be produced in an authentic environment. The production story is graphically told in the August 23rd issue of "Look." In the same issue there are photographs of Gary Cooper and his family made in Italy, with his Italian foster daughter he adopted through the Foster Parents Plan for war children. Also in the issue are some still photographs made of Deborah Kerr and Burt Lancaster for "From Here to Eternity," which were censored by the Breen office and therefore not asked for publicity or. advertising purposes. • "The Moon Is Blue" is reviewed in the August issue of "Redbook." "Scared Stiff," "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" and "The Girl Next Door" are listed in "The Best Bets in Your Neighborhood" department of the same issue. "The Band Wagon's" dance scenes are delineated and pictured in the current issue of "Life" under the title "Fearless Fred on a Fire Escape." Fred Astaire appears on the first page of the story dancing on a fire escape which leads to nowhere. On the following pages Fred in his plane and bouncy manner is shown dancing with Cyd Charisse and with other dancers in the Times Square subway station. The girl on the front cover of "Life" is not a movie star, she is an Irish girl modelling fashions made in Ireland. It's my guess the Irish colleen will receive offers from some of our Hollywood studios. • "Elephant Walk's" star, Elizabeth Taylor, gave some very interesting news to Louella Parsons. The interview appeared in the August 9th issue of "Pictorial Review." • "White Witch Doctor," "Belozu the Sahara" and "Tanga Tika" are reviezved in the August issue of "Seventeen." Each one of the reviews is illustrated by a photograph made on the production set. • "About Mrs. Leslie's" star, Shirley Booth, is the cover girl on the current issue of "Time." A very informative and interesting cover Ftory of Shirley's career appears in the issue. Burt Lancaster, who played with her in "Come Back, Little Sheba," said "Shirley is a nugget, a diamond, a pot of gold. She's Babe Ruth. She's Mickey Mantle." WALTER HAAS MGM Worldwide Meet (Continued from page 1) Ball and Desi Arnaz ; "Take the High Ground," Ansco color, with Richard Widmark, Karl Maiden and Elaine Stewart; "All the Brothers Were Valiant," Technicolor, with Robert Taylor, Stewart Granger and Ann Blyth; "Mogambo," Technicolor, with Clark Gable and Ava Gardner. In addition, the conference will be shown excerpts from MGM's first CinemaScope productions, "Knights of the Round Table," in Technicolor, with Robert Taylor and Ava Gardner, and "Rose Marie," in Eastman color, with Ann Blyth, Fernando Lamas and Howard Keel. Arrangements are now being made for theatre screenings of "Mogambo" in approximately 100 theatres in exchange and other cities throughout the country, and it is expected that the other pictures in the "See for Yourself" campaign will be scheduled for screenings in the next few weeks. As an incentive to enlist exhibitor co-operation, M-G-M's sales and promotion departments will conduct a contest among exhibitors for the best campaign on "Mogambo," the campaigns to be submitted by exhibitors following the "See for Yourself" trade shows. The trade screenings of "Mogambo" are being arranged to take place, wherever possible, in theatres equipped for showing the pictures on wide screen with stereophonic sound during the morning hours prior to the opening of the theatres to the public. Attending the studio conference beginning Aug. 31 will be sales executives from the overseas offices of Loew's International Corp., a special group of home office executives, M-G-M's sales managers, district managers and branch managers, and the field representatives of the exploitation and promotion department. Fox, O'Keef e (Continued from page 1) that it had signed a long-term agreement with National Film Service, through James Clark, president, and Chester Ross, executive vice-president, whereby the Pola-Lite's 3-D glasses will be sold and distributed through National Film Service's 33 affiliated exchanges in key 'cities. With the completion of the company's fifth plant, production capacity will reach 7,000,000 glasses per week, the company stated. The new plant is located in Brooklyn. Other Pola-Lite plants are situated in Long Island, (two) Leominster and Toronto. In a joint statement, Fox and Fassoulis, the two principal owners of Pola-Lite, said: "We have shifted our entire production output to a new type of all-plastic 3-D glasses, with malleable, adjustable, plastic earpieces, with a higher degree and perfection of polarization than ever before developed. They will be immediately available through any of the offices of National Film Service." 20th Sound System (Continued from page 1) errors made when sound was first introduced. This system, he pointed out, does away with the problem of synchronization, putting the stereophonic sound track on the same film as the picture. Skouras said this new development represents a saving in millions of dollars to producers alone in print costs. Lease TV Sets (Continued from page 1) trade came in the wake of the smash box-office results last September realized by the S-3 Drive-in Theatre, Rutherford, N. J., which telecast the Marciano-Walcott bout. RCA put in its installation there, it was learned, on an experimental basis and was pleased with the fight's box-office draw, estimated at $12,000 in net receipts at $10 per car. Report 20 Sets Available It is understood that RCA and GPL have about 20 theatre TV sets available for leasing and orders will be filled, it was stated, on a first come, first served basis. Mason Bill (Continued from page 1) Louis Murphy Dead HARTFORD, Aug. 11— Louis D. Murphy, 76, pioneer exhibitor in Thomaston, Conn., is dead. In recent years, he had managed the Park Theatre in that town. Re-equip Portland House PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 11— The Oriental Theatre here shortly will be equipped with a new Miracle Mirror Screen. New Screen for Censors COLUMBUS, Aug. 11.— Third-dimension projection equipment plus a wide-screen are being installed in the screening room of the Ohio Censor Board here. 'Devil's Canyon' Opens Aug. 19 Initial openings of RKO Radio's 3-D picture, "Devil's Canyon," will start on Aug. 19, Charles Boasberg, general sales manager, announced here _ yesterday. Among the Aug. 19 bookings are the Missouri in Kansas City, Pantages and Hillside in Los Angeles, Orpheum in Minneapolis and St. Paul,_ Keith in Syracuse and Golden Gate in San Francisco. Other bookings between Aug. 20 and Sept. 11 include theatres in Denver, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Sioux City, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Des Moines, New Orleans, Washington, Columbus, Dayton and Oklahoma City. Loew's Shifts Managers Managerial changes in Loew's Theatres include the appointment of Maurice Druker, of the State Theatre, Providence, to replace the late Howard Burkhardt as manager of Loew's Midland, Kansas City. Druker will be replaced at the State by Larry Levy, of Reading. Levy's managerial post in Readingwill be taken by Robert Diem, assistant manager of Loew's Aldine in Wilmington. turns," he intends to increase prices ranging from 11 to 18 per cent. He will boost prices on the premise that the increase will be remitted proportionally to the patrons when the Federal tax is reduced or eliminated. Ezell said this was "the only alternative for many members of the International group." In commenting on the campaign for the passage of the Mason Bill, Ezell said the "first round was won through a great unified effort which should thoroughly convince everyone, even a die-hard skeptic, that COMPO is indispensable to our industry." Mall Shuts for Summer CLEVELAND, Aug. 11. — The Lower Mall here, with an art and foreign film policy, has closed for a five-week period. Ohio Town Ends Tax CLEVELAND, Aug. 11. — The three per cent amusement tax imposed in nearby Lakewood has been repealed by the town council of that community. The tax was enacted in 1947. It was eliminated Aug^l without the signature of Mayor Amos I. Kauffman. Affected are the Milliard Square, Homestead and Detroit theatres. Dyer Readies Drive-in CHICAGO, Aug. 11.— Charles Dyer, owner of the Lyric Theatre in Earlville, 111., is rushing to completion his new drive-in near Belvidere, 111. He plans to open some time late in the summer. Woods Plugs Palace, Showing Cinerama CHICAGO, Aug. 11.— The Woods Theatre gave "This Is Cinerama," playing at Eitel's Palace here, a plug in its newspaper ads today, saying "We wish to add our posies to the lavish bouquets which the critics and the public have tossed to Cinerama. The advent of Cinerama keeps Chicago in the forefront as an entertainment capital of the world. It is one of the great new forms of entertainment which moviegoers can enthusiastically look forward to. Don't miss the two great entertainment 'musts' : 'Cinerama' and 'The Moon Is Blue'." "The Moon Is Blue," now in its seventh week at the Woods, is doing well, with a gross of about $25,000 in prospect for the current week. A. R. Blocker Dies INDIANAPOLIS, Aug. 11.— Albert R. Blocher, S3, buyer for Y & W Management Corp., was found shot fatally today in the cloakroom of the Universal exchange shortly after he left the screening of "The Assassin." He is survived by his widow and a son. Resume Salesmen Talks Sept. 8 Negotiations for a new contract between the distributors and the Colosseum of Motion Picture Salesmen will be resumed on Sept. 8, according to David Beznor, general counsel. As previously reported in MOTION PICTURE DAILY, the existing contract has been extended 60 days. The extension agreement contains a provision that any increases in salary and expense allowance resulting from the negotiations shall be retroactive to Feb. 17.