Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1954)

FIRST IN FILM NEWS MOTION PICTURE DAILY VOL. 76. NO. 2. NEW YORK, U.S.A., FRIDAY, JULY 2, 1954 TEN CENTS Effective July 10 Tax Revision Gives Relief to Two Theatres Meanwhile, Exhibitors Passing Levy to Public The five per cent amusement tax, in effect one day, was amended yesterday offering partial relief to the two theatres in the city which have advance ticket sales. City officials agreed to amend the law at special meetings yesterday of the City Council and Board of Estimate, exempting pre-sold tickets. Mayor Wagner must wait until July 10 to sign the amendment, however. In the interim the Warner Theatre and the Radio City Music Hall, the theatres affected, must absorb the tax. All tickets bought yesterday were subject to the tax. It applies to all admissions over 10 cents except horse (Continued on page 7) Thin Profit Margin Compo's Ad Theme Few, if any, important industries operate on such a thin margin of profit as the motion picture theatre business, it is declared in the 19th of the series of 26 COMPO ads, which will appear in "Editor & Publisher" tomorrow. The ad points out that the country's film theatres' profit in 1953, in relation to gross sales, was 1.9 per cent against a 4.6 per cent profit relation to gross sales achieved by all U. S. industry. "That is why," says the ad, "the movie theatre is so sensitive to any change increasing the cost of operation. A severe storm, a popular local attraction, night baseball or racing, a widely-publicized television show, any (Continued on page 7) Republic to Release *Roogie*s Bump* "Roogie's Bump," a baseball story filmed at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn and in other New York locations, will be released by Republic, which announced the acquisition of world-wide distribution rights from John Bash Productions. The picture stars Robert Marriot as the youngster who makes the Brooklyn team, and features Ruth Warrick, Robert Simon and Olive Blakeney, and the Brooklyn Dodgers with Billy Loes, Carl Erskine, Russ Meyer and Roy Campaneila. 'Black Shield' to Be Offered by Universal In 2 Media Versions "The Black Shield of Falworth," U-I's first CinemaScope release, will be made available to theatres which are eciuipped only for conventional projection, Charles J. Feldman, Universal's general sales manager, announced. The two versions will be available simultaneously, Feldman added, and declared that he expected all exhibitors who are equipped for wide screen presentation could play the picture in that medium. On the hypothetical question of clearance or run in any given situation, Feldman said that runs would be negotiated absolutely without ref(Continued on page 7) TESMA Trade Show Exhibits Exceed 100 Roy Boomer, secretary of the Theatre Equipment and Manufacturers Association, reports additional reservations of exhibit space at the TESMATOA trade show in Chicago, Oct. 31 through Nov. 4, that bring the total number of booths already taken past the 100 mark. The latest reservations have been received from : Da-Lite Screen Corp., Chicago ; General Register Corp., Long Island City, N. Y. ; Orange-Crush Co., Chicago ; Hershey Chocolate Co., Hershey. Pa. ; Helmco, Inc., Chicago ; Walter Futter Co., New York; Hubert Mitchell Industries, Hartselle, Ala., and Superdisplay, Inc., Milwaukee. W. VA. ASKS STATE WIDE FILM BUYING RKO Pictures Stock In Demand Again RKO Pictures' stock after a number of weeks of comparative quiet came to renewed life on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday, a total of 67,200 shares being traded, with the issue closing at a new high for the year of 6i/%, a gain for the day of Yi. The renewed activity was attributed in financial circles to the possibility of an Atlas Corp. -Howard Hughes deal which would clear the way for an Atlas take-over of the inactive RKO company. Floyd Odium, head of Atlas, has stated his company would like to preserve RKO by having it engage in a new business. RKO's huge tax loss carry over, regarded as its most attractive fea(Continued on. page 7) Six Studios, AMPP Host Newspapermen HOLLYWOOD, July 1. — More than 100 delegates to the National Newspaper Advertising Association at Coronado were entertained today, enroute home, by six major studios at a luncheon and on studio tours. The delegates were joint guests of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and the Los Angeles Newspaper Publishers Association. COMBINING OF 3-D, CINEMASCOPE IS SEEN IMMINENT BY FELLOWS A combination of CinemaScope and 3-D is a possibility in the not too distant future, producer Robert M. Fellows, president of Batjac Productions, Inc., formerly known as Wayne-Fellows Productions, said here yesterday. "The new 3-D system of having both images on one film strip, eliminating many projection difficulties, makes a CinemaScope and 3-D merger a probability," Fellows said. Preparing to leave here today for the West Coast after conferences with Warner Brothers executives on "The High and the Mighty," and "Ring of Fear," recent productions of his organization, the producer said that his partner, John Wayne, and himself have only four more films to complete out of the five-year, 10-picture deal which is in effect with Warners. The four films, Fellows said, are "Track of the Cat," in CinemaScope now filming, starring Robert Mitchum who is on loan-out from RKO Pictures; "Quality of Mercy," "Blood Alley," to be filmed in CinemaScope "unless something better comes along," and "Give Away Hill." Another property which the Batjac organization is working on is "The Billy Mitchell Story," for which negotiations are now taking place for the rights, he said. "Warners puts up all of the costs and has first right of refusal on our properties," the producer said. "Our arrangement with the studio is better than the deals which banks give to independent producing organizations," he said. In the forthcoming product, Wayne will star in one of these. Fellows said. "He is committed to Warners for one film per year for the (Coniinued on page 3) Area Is in 'Distress/ Relief from Terms a 'Must/ Allied Unit Says CINCINNATI, July 1.— The formation of a state-wide film buying combine to include every theatre in West Virginia is proposed by West Virginia Allied Theatres Assn. in a current bulletin to its members as a possible solution for what the organization describes as "distress" conditions in the area. The proposal will be formally discussed, the bulletin indicates, at the organization's annual convention at the Greenbrier Hotel, White Sulphur Springs, Aug. 24-25. The region's "critical" conditions, the organization charges, are aggrevated by current terms and policies of national-distribution companies. "New York must realize that we are in a distress area and give us a fair shake," the bulletin states. "Show business is not good anywhere in the nation but West Virginia is in a very critical area. Talking to the film companies has been to no avail. The guy (Contimted on page 7) Altec Lansing Pact For Perspecta Units The signing of a licensing agreem.ent whereby Altec Lansing Corp. will manufacture Perspecta stereophonic sound integrator units, was announced by C. Robert Fine, president of Perspecta Sound, Inc. The integrator unit is said to be the only piece of special equipment required in the theatre booth for the standard optical track stereophonic sound system which has been adopted by M-G-M, Paramount, Warner Brothers and other companies. Fine stated : "Demonstrations of Perspecta stereophonic sound in im(Contiimed on page 7) AA Slates One 'Scope, Three in Technicolor HOLLYWOOD, July 1.— One film in CinemaScope, and three having color in Technicolor, are among the five features for which starting dates have been set by Allied Artists, it was disclosed here today by Walter Mirisch, executive producer. The company plans to produce 15 features within the next six months, said Mirisch.