Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1953)

2 Motion Picture Daily Wednesday, November 18, 1953 Personal Mention WALTER READE, president of the Theatre Owners of America, is scheduled to return here today from Jacksonville, Fla. • Sam Sherman, office manager in Atlanta for Universal-International, has been transferred to Cincinnati in the same capacity. He is succeeded in the Atlanta post by Ralph Berquist. • Dr. C. E. Kenneth Mees, Eastman Kodak vice-president in charge of research, has received a second Progress Medal from the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain. • Hazard Reeves, president of Cinerama, Inc., was the dinner guest of Rodney Collier, Stanley Theatre manager, in Baltimore. • Gordon Bradley, Paramount Pictures assistant manager in Atlanta, has returned there from New Orleans. John Petrauskas, Jr., treasurer of Republic Pictures, is the father of a daughter born to Mrs. Petrauskas at Mt. Sinai Hospital. • Johnny Green has been named chairman of the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. • Barney Tarantul, partner in the Burnside Theatre, East Hartford, Conn., has left there for Durham, N. C, to recuperate from illness. • Alex C. Maillho, United Artists branch manager in New Orleans, became a father for the first time when Mrs. Maillho gave birth to a son. • Ray Pollack, Schine Circuit feature booker in Albany, is recovering from chest injuries received in an automobile accident. • Charles Lester, Southern district manager for National Screen Service, has returned to Atlanta from Florida. • David Gordon has resigned as supervisor of Biltmore Theatres, Ltd., Ontario circuit, to enter another field. • Lawrence E. Lasky, partner in E. M. Loew's Theatres, has arrived in Israel from Boston. • Mel Hulling, Allied Artists district manager in San Francisco, visited last week in Seattle. • William Kraemer, Schine Circuit chief booker, was in Albany last week from Gloversville. • Edwin H. Knopf, M-G-M producer, has returned to Hollywood from Europe. • Joe Faith, of Faith Theatres, Hartford, has returned there from Europe. 3-D Adds to Realism Of War Film: Crump The use of 3-D in a war picture offers a sense of realism and intensity which would be difficult to achieve in conventional form, Owen Crump, writer and director of "Cease Fire," said here yesterday. Crump acknowledged that he began shooting in 3-D when the popularity of that medium was at its height, but expressed satisfaction that the threedimensional medium was chosen for this Hal Wallis production, to be released by Paramount Pictures. The medium, he stated, conveys "a corn^ plete feeling of actuality" of war in Korea. 'No Quarrel' with PCA The writer-director, commenting on the dialogue deletions requested by the Production Code Administration, said that he had "no quarrel" with the PCA. He said he understood the necessity of the Code and the need for compliance with it. However, Crump maintained that with a picture such as "Cease Fire," an exception should have been made on the objectionable words of "Hell" and "damned," which have now been deleted as requested by the PCA. The deletions, he added, have not impaired the picture. Crump said the picture chalks up several milestones in the industry, claiming it to be the first feature length non-documentary film to be shot under actual war conditins and the first of its kind to be filmed in 3-D. He will return to Hollywood sometime after the premiere of his film, slated to open at the Criterion next Tuesday. Dipson to Be Dined By Buffalo V. C. BUFFALO, Nov. 17.— A testimonial dinner for Nikitas D. Dipson, head of the Dipson circuit, with headquarters in nearby Batavia, will be sponsored by the Variety Club of Buffalo at the Hotel Statler here on Nov. 30. The event will mark Dipson's 40th year in the entertainment industry. Dave Miller, manager of the Universal-International exchange here, will be dinner chairman. He will be assisted by Myron Gross, of Co-operative Theatres, and Richard T. Kemper, Dipson zone manager. 'Desert' at Sutton Hits $23402 Gross "The Living Desert" broke all daily and first week records at the Sutton here, chalking up a tremendous $23,402 in the 575-seater for its first seven days. Coupled with the "Ben and Me" cartoon, the picture established a new record gross in the 12-year history of the house. Skouras Adds Shares WASHINGTON, Nov. 16.— Charles Skouras in October purchased 2,700 shares of National Theatres $1 par common stock, bringing his holdings in the company of which he is president to 45,010 shares, the Securities and Exchange Commission reported. R. M. Miles Named Controller of 'U' Raymond M. Miles, assistant controller of Universal Pictures, has been elected controller and assistant treasurer by the board of directors to succeed Eugene F. Walsh who has been elected vice president and treasurer of the c o m pany. Miles joined Universal in 1942. For 22 years prior to that he was in public accounting, the last 17 years of which he was with the firm of Price, Waterhouse and Co. Miles is a New York State certified public accountant and a member of the American Institute of Accountants. Raymond Miles New Posts for Three Eastman Executives ROCHESTER, N. Y., Nov. 17.— Effective Jan. 1, three Eastman Kodak sales management executives will take on new responsibilities, it was announced here today following a meeting of the board of directors. At the end of this year, Adolph Stuber will leave as vice-president in charge of Kodak sales and advertising after 41 years with the company. He will continue as a company director. Stuber will be succeeded by James E. McGhee, general sales manager since 1937 and a vice-president since 1945. Theodore F. Pevear, assistant general sales manager since 1947, will become general sales manager, succeeding McGhee. Edward P. Curtis, vice-president in charge of the company's professional motion picture film sales and of sales and advertising of Kodak European affiliates, has been given the added responsibility of jurisdiction over Rochester export sales to Latin America and the Far East. Commonwealth Deal With 3 TV Stations Package deals with three major television stations have been closed by Commonwealth Film and Television, Inc. The stations are WTTG, Washington ; WIFE-TV, Dayton, and WXEL, Cleveland. Mort Sackett, president of Commonwealth, who signed the agreements, stated that the deals are for a period of one year each and include cartoons, serials, shorts, features and Westerns. Educator Named to Ohio Censor Board COLUMBUS, Nov. 17.— Dr. Wilfred Eberhart, associate professor in the education department of the Ohio State University, has been appointed to the Ohio censor advisory board by Gov. Frank Lausche. Dr. Eberhart succeeds Lee H. B. Malone. 100 Spanish Permits Under A Proposed Two-Year Deal A two-year proposed film agreement, involving about 100 permits per year for the exhibition of American films in Spain has been offered by the Spanish government, it was disclosed here yesterday following a meeting of the Motion Picture Export Association. The MPEA will meet again on Friday, presumably to decide on the Spanish offer. The Spanish draft discloses that the franco government has dropped its insistence of a $500,000 loan from American film companies, which was opposed on the grounds that the $500,000. in effect, would be a subsidy. Under the Spanish proposal, 75 of the permits would go to member companies of the MPEA and 25 to local Spanish distributors for imported American films. The projected agreement would begin in June, 1954. In the meantime, it was disclosed that the Spanish government has offered an interim pact, calling for the issuance of 45 permits to seven MPEA companies who currently operate in Spain. Universal Ends Suit Vs. Bank of America WASHINGTON, Nov. 17.— Termination of a suit instituted by Universal Pictures against the Bank of America in 1951 concerning 10 independently produced pictures, was disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission here by Universal. The company reported that the action was ended by a stipulation for dismissal, with prejudice, of all claims of the Bank of America against Universal. A Universal spokesman here, commenting on the Bank of America suit, said the pictures were all produced between 1946 and 1947 by independents. Under the stipulation, both parties agreed to withdraw their claims and counterclaims. In addition, it was stated, the Bank of America gained full title to the 10 films, which include "The Senator Was Indiscreet," "One Touch of Venus," "Magnificent Doll," "The Countess of Monte Cristo," "Double Life," "Peabody and the Mermaid," and four others. Palm Springs Has 50 To 75 for Telemeter HOLLYWOOD, Nov. 17.— Telemeter Corp. has disclosed that Palm Springs, where Telemeter operations are scheduled to begin Nov. 28th, now has about 500 television sets in operation, and between 50 and 75 of these will have been equipped with telemeters bv that date, when Paramount "Forever Female" will be shown simultaneously at Earl Strebe's Plaza Theatre and by TV to Telemeter patrons. The company estimates that close to 1,000 television sets will be operating in Palm Springs by early 1954, virtually all equipped with telemeters. j i V? ^ Martin Ouigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane. Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor. Published daily, except Saturdays, n!» v!ri°> lu <-aySA • , Qul=ley . Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue. Rockefeller Center. New York 20, N. Y. Telephone Circle 7-3100. Cable address: "Quignubco, ^™t=r •' T £ HS'Sley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr.. Vice-President; Theo. T Sullivan. 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