Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1954)

VOL. 76. NO. 14 NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1954 TEN CENTS 87c Per Share Loew 40-Week Net Earnings Is $4,466,376 Increase of $1,280,505 Reported By Company Net profit of Loew's, Inc., for the 40 weeks ended June 10 was $4,466,376, equivalent to 87 cents per share, compared with $3,185,871 or 62 cents a share for the same period last year, an increase of $1,280,505, the company reported yesterday. The net operating profit before Federal taxes and after reserve for depreciation was $7,345,482, compared with $6,685,184 in the similar 40-week period of 1953. For the 12 weeks ended June 10, net operating profit was $2,158,831 before taxes and after reserve for depreciation and contingencies, compared with $1,865,697 in the same period of the preceding year. After Federal taxes the earnings were $1,267,210 compared with $1,014,142 a year ago. The earnings this year after taxes were 25 cents a share compared with 20 cents in 1953. Gross sales and operating revenues {Continued on page 6) Kansas Censor Law Is Unconstitutional, District Court Rules KANSAS CITY, Kans., July 20._— A ruling that the Kansas motion picture censorship law is unconstitutional has been handed down here by District Court Judge Harry G. Miller who stated that the law creating the' censor board was uriconstitutional because it violated the freedom of speech clauses, Paul E. Wilson, first assistant state attorney general, indicated that Judge Miller's opinion would be appealed to the Kansas Supreme Court. Wilson said that in the past the state Supreme Court had held that the censorship law was constitutional, pointing out that while there have been recent decisions by the U. S. Supreme Court that may throw new light on the question, "it is my view that the matter should be submitted to our Supreme Court for final determination." Judge Miller specifically ruled in the lower court that the State Board of Review could not enforce its ban on "The Moon is Blue." Under the chairmanship of Mrs. Frances Vaughn of Bonner Springs, the board had banned the picture in Kansas because of "its sexy and suggestive dialogue." Holmby Productions and United Artists appealed the board's ruling to the district court. The court said that it was a clear {Continued on page 6) First of Series MPEA, FTC Officials Meet On French Pact Complaint By J. A. OTTEN WASHINGTON, July 20.— Ofl^cials of the Motion Picture Export Association met with Federal Trade Commission officials today to defend the Association against charges that the recent French agreement brought it into violation of the Export Trade U.S. Survey Reveals Theatre Receipts Down 1 7% From ^48; Concessions Up WASHINGTON, July 20.— U. S. motion picture theatres had total receipts from customers in 1953 of $1,323,838,000, down 17.1 per cent from 1948, the Census Bureau estimated. U.K. Trade Groups Discuss New Eady Levy with B of T By PETER BURNUP LONDON, July 20. — Representatives of the four film trade associations joined in a two and one-half hour meeting at the Board of Trade today with Sir Morris Dean, alternate for Peter Thorneycroft, B of T president, to discuss difi^erences concerning the new Eady Plan levies to go into effect Aug. 1. The government has warned that if the trade cannot agree on new voluntary payments, a statutory levy will be set up. Developments at today's meeting were not disclosed, the official state{Continued on page 6) Senate Group Okays Copyright Project WASHINGTON, July 20. — The Senate Judiciary Committee has approved legislation designed to implement the new International Copyright Convention. Chances are dim, however, for the legislation to become law this year. The bill is being fought bitterly by the typographical unions and some book publishers, since it permits books by alien authors to get copyright protection in the U.S. without aictually having to have their books printed here. The Administration claims that {Continued on page 2) Act. The charges were made by Ellis Arnall, head of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers, in a letter to the Commission. Sidney Schreiber, MPEA general counsel ; vice-president G. Griffith Johnson and special counsel Theodore Hope met today with Bernard B. Smyth, chief of the FTC's Export Trade Division, and members of his staff. After the meeting, Smyth said that "nothing definitive" had b«en established and that he expected ihat there would be future meetings with both MPEA and SIMPP officials. He said the first job the FTC had to face was to attempt to "narrow the issues" between the two associations. CINERAMA GOES INTERNATIONAL; MATTY FOX ASSOCIATED IN DEAL Walker Leaves Bank Of America Aug, 31 Tom Walker, currently and for the past five years special representative in New York of the Bank of America N. T. & S. A., announced yesterday he will terminate his association with the bank on Aug. 31. Walker was for a period of years an officer of the Bank of America. He was also secretary and treasurer (Continued on page 6) Plans to establish Stanley Warner Cinerama theatres world-wide were announced yesterday when S. H. Fabian, president of Stanley Warner Corp., signed an agreement with Nicolas Reisini, president of Robin International, Inc., to open Cinerama theatres outside of the United States. Reisini's associate in this venture, Matthew Fox, film executive, initiated the negotiations some months ago. It is planned to show "This Is Cinerama" in London and Paris some{Continwed on page 6) Receipts from admissions, excluding Federal and other admission taxes, amounted to $989,868,000—20.5 per cent below 1948. Receipts from candy counter sales, sales of 3-D glasses, vending machine receipts and other earnings from customers were up 38.5 per cent, however, to $126,027,000. In other words, total receipts from customers, excluding admission taxes, amounted to $1,115,895,000— down 16.5 per cent from 1948. The Census Bureau figures were preliminary estimates based on a survey of a representative group of theatres throughout the U. S. This was the first survey of exhibition since the complete census of all businesses in 1948. Portable motion picture establishments are excluded from the totals. The bureau estimated that there were 18,205 theatres in the U. S. in 1953, compared to 18,509 in 1948, a drop of 1.6 per cent. Total receipts from customers were put at $1,323,838,000 last year, compared to $1,596,665,000 five years earlier. These totals include all admissions taxes and also certain direct receipts from customers such as the candy and popcorn sales. They do not include commissions or other earnings from similar facilities owned or operated by others, nor receipts it-*m rental of stores, offices or apartments. Total receipts from admissions were estimated at $989,868,000 in 1953, compared to $1,244,355,000 for the earlier year. This was a drop of 20.5 (Continued on page 7) Odium Plan to Buy RKO Not Finalized HOLLYWOOD, July 20. — Negotiations between Atlas Corporation's Floyd Odium and Howard Hughes concerning the possible purchase of RKO Radio Pictures by Atlas are not expected to reach finalistic status, either way, for the next few weeks, it was learned authoritatively today. Odium, whose activity in acquiring RKO stock has been a lively topic on Wall Street and in trade discussions, arrived here Sunday to continue negotiations with Hughes in person. . Hughes' firm offer to buy up all outstanding RKO Pictures stock at $6 per share runs until the close of business on July 31, but the offer already has been extended once and presumably, can be extended again.