Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1955)

2 Motion Picture Daily Personal Mention TAMES E. PERKINS, managing »J director for Paramount in the British Isles, will leave here tomorrow for London via B.O.A.C. Monarch. • Ed Lachman, president of Carbons, Inc., Boonton, N. J. ; Jean Suqet, director of Societe Le Carbone-Lorraine, and Pierre Demoreuille, Western Hemisphere representative of the company, will leave this week on a Coastto-Coast business trip. • Herbert H. Greenblatt, RKO Radio domestic sales manager, will return to New York by plane today from Seattle. Roy E. Heffner, New England distributor, is the father of a daughter born to Mrs. Heffner in Boston this week. William Pine Thomas, producers, Hollywood over the New York. and William will return to weekend from Glenn Norris, 20th Century-Fox Eastern sales manager, will return to New York today from Detroit. Jules Levey', producer, will leave New York by plane this week for the Coast. Alex Harrison, 20th Century-Fox Western sales manager, is in Des Moines from New York. J. M. Connolly, ZOth Century^Fox North-East division sales head, is in New York from Boston. Leonard Bernstein, composer, will leave here tomorrow for London via B.O.A.C. Monarch. Walter Wanger, producer, has returned to the Coast from New York. Richard Consultant To the MPEA Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Export Association, has announced the designation of Joaquin D. Rickard as a special consultant to the association. Rickard served as the association's Latin American representative until early 1953. As the result of an injury sustained in an automobile accident in South America that year, he requested an indefinite leave of absence. He is regarded as an expert on Spanish and Latin American affairs and in his new consultant capacity the association will call upon him for advice as circumstances necessitate. Editorial Joseph Ellison, 79 PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 27. — Joseph Roy Ellison, 79, pioneer theaterman and civic leader, died at his home following a long illness. He was also co-founder of the Ellison-White theatrical bureau and a native of Friend, Nebr. (Continued from page 1) ther use in legislative debates and at public hearings. It lends itself perfectly to the purposes of those who, justifiably in this instance, will be saying: "Look at what happens as soon as the bars are let down!" • The industry's fight for a censorfree status is made a thousand times more difficult — if it is not actually defeated — by those irresponsibles in both production and exhibition who, trading on the basest instincts in human nature, acknowledge no obligation to anything but the quick dollar. What laws may not do, outraged public opinion can do. Then a whole industry will be made to suffer for the transgressions of a few outlaws who deal in another kind of film, unless means can be found to control them. Academy Tells Plans For Nominations-TV From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Jan. 28.— The 90minute radio-telecast of the Academy Awards nominations on Feb. 12th today began to take definite shape, as to format, with the Academy's disclosure that the event will emanate from three Hollywood nightspots — Cocoanut Grove, Ciro's and Romanoff's — as well as from NBC's Burbank studio where, according to the plan, "the actual announcement of the nominations will be made on camera in the presence of a large press contingent." Past award winners will act as hosts and hostesses, with Jack Webb emceeing, and television cameras stationed at all four points of origination will be linked by monitor-viewers so that the program can be switched from one place to another without any break in continuity of information. Green and Handley in Charge The plan, still being worked over by Academy's Johnny Green and NBC's Alan Handley, calls for "nominations night parties" to be going on at all three restaurants, at which "most or all personalities eligible for nominations are expected to be present." The Academy spokesman told Motion Picture Daily on inquiry, that this planning does not indicate a break in the long-standing Academy rule of secrecy on balloting until actual national deadline for the story. The spokesman said personalities invited to be in attendance at indicated restaurants will be "those whose chances for nomination have been extolled by columnists, critics, commentators generally, and who happen to be in town at the time." The restaurants named were chosen, the spokesman said, due to their long identification with the Hollywood pro Compo Industry Adv. Asks Papers to Give More Space to Films Under the headline, "Bigger Audiences Mean More Readers," the 36th COMPO advertisement to be published in the issue of "Editor & Publisher" out tomorrow urges newspapers to give more space to news about motion picture activities. "Managing editors, it seems to us," says the ad, "should have a special interest in the resurgence of the movie business. For the more people go to the movies the more they will be interested in reading about pictures and picture people. Several papers, we are happy to note, have become aware of this. At any rate, they have rearranged their entertainment sections to give greater space to movies. Some Improvement Noted "Naturally, we are pleased. For a while there, a year or so ago, it looked as if newspapers had lost their faith in their movie pages. But no more. Now the tendency is the other waymore space, brighter layouts, fresh, alert news and comment. The reason for this reversal is fairly obvious. Better pictures, technological advances that give greater scope to theatre screens, reduction in the federal admission tax — all these and other factors have wrought a noticeable change in the people's attitude toward movies." The ad points out that the industry has never lost its high regard for the movie editor, even when attendance was way down and the going was tough. Now with weekly attendance greatly increased, the ad declares, "we know, from our readership checks, that the movie page is one of the most popular in the paper." In conclusion, the ad cautions editors not to underrate their movie editor. "If you'll only give him a reasonable amount of space," it says, "he will get you new readers and at the same time will make the movie pages one of the most-read departments in your paper." Add 2 Members to Celler Committee WASHINGTON, Jan. 27.— Representatives Keating of New York and McCulloch of Ohio were named as Republican members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee studying antitrust and monopoly problems. This completes the membership of the group. Democratic members are Representatives Rogers of Colorado and Fine of New York, with Rep. Celler of New York as chairman. Celler said it would be some weeks before the subcommittee is ready for hearings, and that the first hearings would probably be on "general trends, such as the current merger trend." fessional community. He added that the Academy contract with NBC contemplates this year's nominations program as exploratory and does not make an annual repetition mandatory. The program will run from 6-7:30 P.M. pst.-; News Roundup To Intiate Pioneers The Canadian Picture Pioneers will initiate a class of 21 at the 14th annual meeting and "fun night" on Thursday at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. Dan Krendel of Famous Players will be the ceremonial director. Alabama House Destroyed The Joy Theatre, Fyffe, Ala., was destroyed by a fire which caused damage estimated at $50,000. Buy Two Ohio Theatres The Park Theatre in Mansfield, O., and the Lorain Drive-in, Lorain, O., have been purchased by Nate Schultz, president of Selected Theatres, and Sam Schultz. The circuit now operates 11 indoor and four outdoor theatres. Fewer K. C. Licenses Fifty-six theatres obtained licenses in Jackson County, Mo., in 1954. The previous year, 64 licenses were issued. CBS Earnings High; Stock Split Proposed A preliminary estimate of the sales and profits of Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc. for the fiscal year ended January 1, 1955, points toward the largest earning picture in the history of the corporation, it has been disclosed by William S. Paley, chairman of the board of directors, who also announced that the board has voted to propose to stockholders a three-forone stock split-up. The proposal, which will be submitted to stockholders at the annual meeting to be held April 20, will be to change each of the issued and outstanding shares of Class A stock, $2.50 par value, into three shares of Class A stock, $2.50 par value, and to change each of the issued and outstanding shares of Class B stock, $2.50 par value, into three shares of Class B stock, $2'.50 par value. No change will be made in the respective rights of the two classes of stock. NEW YORK THEATRES RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL Rockefeller Center "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" in color by TECHNICOLOR starring William HOLDEN • Grace KELLY Fredric MARCH • Mickey ROONEY A Paramount Picture and SPECTACULAR STAGE PRESENTATION Sundays and holidays, by Quigley Publishing Martin Quigley, President; Martin News Editor; Herbert V. Fecke, . Weaver, Editor, Hollywood 7-214S; Washington, D. C. London Bureau, Ind BrtteVReWmeii Merchandising Peach published 13 times a year as a section of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture and Television AlmMac; Fame Entered as second"lass matter Sept. 21, 1938, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 4879. Subscription rates per^year. $6 in the Americas and $12 foreign; single copies, 10c.