Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1954)

2 Motion Picture Daily Thursday, July 22, 1954 Better Than 1953 Pittsburgh Picture Business Helped By ^Scope^ Cinerama By LEONARD MENDLOWITZ PITTSBURGH, July 21. — Picture business in general is better in the Pittsburgh area now than it was a year ago with CinemaScope and Cinerama l)oth coming in for their share of credit in revitalizing business. Both circuit and independent exhibi tors feel optimistic for a fine Fall season. This has been a trying season for Pittsburgh exhibitors due to several factors which haven't been so pronounced in other sections of the country. Pittsburgh faced two major strikes, a crippling transit tie-up which lasted 36 days, and a department store strike which began last November and is still in progress. This highly industrialized section, too, was plagued with an alarming increase in unemployment and cutbacks in production due to the end of the war in Korea. The lower payrolls in its many mills and factories have caused a big dent in theatre patronage. However, the picture is still the thing. "This Is Cinerama" in its seventh month at the Warner Theatre did its biggest business in months last week, and seems to be perking up appreciably. The Fulton had a life saver this season in "Three Coins in the Fountain." "La Ronde" is bucking the heat well, too, at the Art Cinema where it is now in its seventh week. A Stanley Warner executive noted that the Pittsburgh zone which includes 87 houses throughout the TriState area in Western Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia has shuttered only eight houses this Summer, and will re-open them this Fall. Practically all of the circuits have installed CinemaScope, and many of the independent operators such as Al Weiss in McKeesport have realized that the wide screen is a vital necessity. Weiss announced this week that he will install CinemaScope in his second-run Capitol Theatre in addition to his major first-run Liberty. The Harris Amusement Co. pointed out that "Demetrius and the Gladiators" stayed three weeks in the J. P. Harris, and it looks forward to a long run with "The Caine Mutiny." ■ Although business has been spotty, quality pictures still draw. Bill Elder postponed "Gone With the Wind" because "Apache" held up surprisingly well. "The High and the Mighty" proved both high and mighty in the Stanley. As usual, the drive-ins are mopping up too, especially those fortunate enough to have had CinemaScope installed. The Warner and Fox special screenings of big pictures to come has everybody proclaiming optimism for the post-Labor Day period, — provided of course, no more strikes, mar the local scene. N.C. Drive-in Offers Back-to-back Screen FAYETTEVILLE, N. C, July 21.— H. B. Meiselman and Clyde Stockton, owner and manager respectively, of the Fox Drivein Theatre here, have come up with the idea of placing two screens, back to back, to enable a larger audience to see the film, creating a "twin drive-in." The outdoor house, which is fully equipped with CinemaScope and stereophonic sound equipment, allows occupants of 565 cars to view the picture on one screen with 435 cars being able to see the film on the other. Personal Mention MAX E. YpUNGSTEIN, United Artists vice-presidciu, is scheduled to return to New York this weekend from a two months European visit. • Herb Coleman, Doc Erickson, John Dumoulin and F. Sigle, Paramount Vista Vision unit men, have left here for Hollywood follovvmg their return from France. • Elmer F. Lux, head of Elmart Theatres in Buffalo and president of the Common Council, is in Buffalo General Hospital for minor surgery. • Howard G. Minsky, Paramount Mid-East Division manager, is vacationing with Ills family in New Jersey from Philadelphia. • Herbert Gillis, Paramount branch manager in Cincinnati, has returned there from home office conferences here yesterday. • Don Hassler, office manager for Astor Pictures in Atlanta, has returned from a Daytona Beach, Fla., vacation. • Dave Williams, southeastern sales manager for IFE Releasing Corp., has returned to Atlanta from Charlotte, N. C. • Richard Howeix of Allied Artists Southern Exchange in Atlanta is vacationing in Texas with his wife. • Tommy Rall, M-G-M actor, is in New York from the Coast. New RCA Sound to 14 Smitli Drive-ins CAMDEN, N. J., July 21.— The Smith Management Co. of Boston, said to be one of the nation's largest drive-in theatre circuits, has signed for installation of RCA magnetic sound conversion equipment in 14 outdoor houses in eight states, J. F. O'Brien, manager of theatre equipment sales, of Radio Corp. of America, announced yesterday. RCA has already begun installation of its new PG-391 sound system, designed to enable theatres equipped for single-track optical sound to project four-track magnetic sound films through existing amplifier systems and convert the four-track sound into single-channel magnetic sound. Party for Hussein Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave a cocktail party for Dr. Ahmed Hussein, Egyptian Ambassador to the U. S., at the Waldorf Astoria yesterday in conjunction with the local premiere of "Valley of the Kings" at the Plaza Theatre last night. Lesser to Relief Fund HOLLYWOOD, July 21. — Producer Sol Lesser has been appointed to the executive board of the Motion Picture Relief Fund, representing the Screen Producers Guild. House-Senate Group Agrees on Tax Bill WASHINGTON, July 21.— HouseSenate conferees on the tax bill reached final agreement tonight. One last minute decision was to throw out House provisions to ease the tax treatment of foreign income. The provisions would have benefited some industry firms with overseas theatre holdings, though it would not have helped the distributors. Another decision was to give stockholders a $50 exclusion and a four per cent credit on dividend income. There may be a fight in the Senate to reject the conference bill on this provision. Set Trade Conclave Date TORONTO, July 21.— The Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada will sponsor the second annual trade exhibition on Nov. 23-25 at the King Edward Hotel here in conjunction Vv'ith the industry convention. Gerald Fitzgerald is the organizer of the equipment show. S W Dividend At a meeting of the board of directors of Stanley Warner Corp. yesterday a dividend of 25 cents per share was declared on the common stock of the company payable on Aug. 25 to stockholders of record on Aug. 4. May. Wag^ner to Open Art Show at Rivoli Mayor Robert F. Wagner and Korean Consul-General Dr. David Y. Namkoong and others will open a public exhibit of Korean art tomorrow at the Rivoli Theatre for the benefit of the American-Korean Foundation. The show will continue until the world premiere on August 4 of the Paramount-Alfred Hitchcock film, "Rear Window" ; the premiere is being sponsored by 83 business, civic and social leaders. Harriet Parson Here Flarriet Parsons, producer of RKO's "Susan Slept Here," will arrive in New York today from Hollywood for three weeks of press interviews, radio and TV appearances and receptions for her Technicolor comedy which opens on Julv 29 at the Victoria Theatre. Lytell on Tour Bert Lytell will make a month-long tour of the Central and Eastern states on behalf of Darryl F. Zanuck's CinemaScope production "The Egyptian." Lytell, who is president emeritus of Actor's Equity, will cover 13 states in addition to Canadian territories and the District of Columbia. Johnson Clarifies Italian Imports G. Griffith Johnson of the Motion Picture Association of America said yesterday a breakdown of film import permits in the new Italian agreement cabled to Motion Picture Daily from Rome and published last Tuesday was in error. Johnson said that of the 225 features which the American companies could distribute in Italy under the old agreement, 20 were assigned to United Artists' Italian distributor and this year they are not included in the Motion Picture Export Association total. Thus, a fair basis for comparison j would be 205 features in the old agreement, rather than 225, Johnson said. On the same basis, in the new agreement, there are 209 authorized features, plus 16 which can be distributed through Italian independents, if the producers elect to do so. Freed Names Eight to SPG Committee HOLLYWOOD, July 21. — Screen Producers Guild president Arthur Freed announced today that Jerry Bresler, Charles Brackett, Frank P. Rosenberg, Sam Zimbalist, Robert Fellows, Jerry Wald, and Larry Weingarten have been chosen to represent production, under the acting chairmanship of Carey Wilson, at the Guild's monthly meeting with the press on Monday, at the Brown Derby restaurant here. New Buffalo Drive-in BUFFALO, July 21.— A drive-in will be built on the southeast corner of Transit Road and Wehrle Drive. The Lancaster Town Board has issued a permit for the outdoor theatre, which will cover six acres, to Sarkes Stephen of Kenmore. It will feature a CinemaScope screen. mi S. Wikish ; Chicua, III. 630 Ninlh An. :.Hc« Ycit, N. Y. MOTION PICTirRE DAILY, Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Editor; Terry Ramsaye, Consulting Editor. Published daily, except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, by Oiiigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue. Rockefeller Center, New York 20, N. Y. Telephone Circle 7-3100. Cable address: "Quigpubco, New York." 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