Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1955)

All The News That s News MOTION PICTURE VOL. 77. NO. 9 NEW YORK, U.S.A., THURSDAY, JANUARY 13, 1955 TEN CENTS Set for Monday Arbitration Plan Is Ready ForSubmission Joint Sub-Committee to Study Preliminary Draft Exhibition and distribution attorneys Herman Levy and Adolph Schimel respectively will present to the joint sub-committee on arbitration on Monday at the Hotel Sheraton Astoi here a completed preliminary draft for a set of rules and regulations for an industry arbitration system, it was learned yesterday. The draft, it was reported, includes portions of the 1952 arbitration plan which was prepared by exhibitor and distributor groups and the seven points —clearances, runs, conditioning, contract violations, print shortages, competitive bidding and pre-release of pictures — which were introduced by Mitchell Wolfson of TOA last spring. An industry attorney, close to the eight-man exhibition-distribution subcommittee, said here yesterday _ that Wolfson's seven point plan "was slightly amended and altered by both sides accordingly." Expected to attend next week's (Continued on page 5) Ohio Facing Censor Issue COLUMBUS, O., Jan. 12.— Gov. Frank Lausche, in his inaugural address here yesterday, called for a stronger censorship law "which would meet the U. S. and Ohio Supreme Courts' decisions which made the present Ohio censor law ineffective." Meanwhile, two measures on film censorship were introduced in the Ohio legislature, one in the Senate and the other in the House. Sen. (Continued on page 5) Lewis to TESMA Executive Post Election of Merlin Lewis as executive secretary of the Theatre Equipment and Supply Manufacturers Association, Inc., (TESMA) by its board of directors was announced by Fred C. Matthews, TESMA president. Lewis succeeds Roy Boomer, who re(Continued on page 6) May Extend Wage-Hour Law to Every Theatre It's Not Product, It's Only Money WASHINGTON, Jan. 12. — Recalling measures Allied States has advocated in the past year or so as possible means of alleviating the product shortage, Abram F. Myers, Allied chairman and general counsel, mentioned the 1953 convention plan to encourage exhibitors to buy stock in major production-distribution coml anies in the hope of influencing their policy in the direction of increased production. Myers conceded the plan did not get very far but, he observed, exhibitors who bought stock in the companies a year or more ago have all made handsome personal profits on their investment. A number of companies' stocks have doubled in value in the past year. Industry Communion Breakfast Feb. 6 The fifth annual Corporate Communion Breakfast for motion picture industry employees in the New York area will be held Sunday, Feb. 6. Catholics in the area will attend Mass in a body at 9 A.M. at St. Patrick's Cathedral and breakfast will be served immediately afterward in the Grand Ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria. The Right Rev. Monsignor John J. (Continued on page 6) Present Administration Will Recommend Broad Extension of the Federal Statute; Expected to Touch Off Bitter Fight By J. A. OTTEN WASHINGTON, Jan. 12. — The Eisenhower Administration is presently planning to recommend an extension of wage-hour law coverage broad enough to take in every U. S. theatre, it was authoritatively reported today. The recommendation, which — barring a change in plans — will be delivered later in the session by Labor Secretary Mitchell, will touch off a bitter fight on Capitol Hill. Even if approved by Congress, there would certainly be court cases challenging the Federal jurisdiction over purely local theatres. The present wage-hour law, which sets a 75-c.ents-an-hour minimum wage and prescribes time and a half for overtime, exempts theatre employes under a blanket exemption for retail and service workers. President Eisenhower said he favored broadened coverage, and Labor Secretary Mitchell revealed the Administration's plan to end the retail-service exemption. That left the question of which retail and service workers would be covered. If no further change were (Continued on page 5) 'IT Lines Up With Exhibitor On Toll TV Universal Pictures feels that the exhibitors of the nation remain as its outlet rather than the market offered by subscription television, a spokesman for Universal declared here yesterday. Universal, along with other film companies, were polled by the Motion Picture Daily regarding its sentiments on toll TV. Universal's thinking, as outlined by the company spokesman, was in the main along the general lines already enunciated by 20th Century-Fox and Columbia Pictures in recent public statements. Declining comment at this time were officials of Loew's, United Artists and Paramount, the latter company (Continued on page 5) Withholding Tax Exemption For Foreign Firms Urged WASHINGTON, Jan. 12. — Motion Picture Export Association president Eric Johnston urged the Administration to recommend to Congress that foreign film producers and distributors be exempted from the 30 per cent withholding tax now levied on their film earnings in the U. S. In letters to Treasury Secretary Humphrey and Special Assistant Dan Throop Smith, Johnston argued that the tax is based on a "fantastic misconception" about foreign film earnings here and that it was a major obstacle in the way of U. S. film companies getting better tax treatment overseas. Johnston's position and arguments (Continued on page 5) Einfeld to Hollywood To Plan Promotion Details of promotion campaigns by 20th Century-Fox for CinemaScope releases scheduled for the first quarter of the year will be mapped in Hollywood over the weekend by Darryl F. Zanuck, production head ; Harry Brand, studio publicity chief, (Continued on page 6) Toll TV Study 'Exploratory ' From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Jan. 12.— Howard L. Chernoff, who is conducting an investigation of subscription television for Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Kilgore (D., W. Va.), emphasized that the investigation "is completely exploratory and not one to prove any particular point of view." Chernoff, who has been on the job for about four weeks now, said his task was to determine whether there was need for a full-fledged judiciary committee investigation of this and other subjects in the TV field. He declared that both Sen. Kilgore and he, himself, "have completely open minds" on the subject of subscription TV. "In fact," he said, "we know nothing about it. We want to look into the effects it might have and decide (Continued on page 5)