Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1955)

Motion Picture Daily 11 Michigan Allied Meeting (Continued from page 1) UK Theatres (Continued from page 1) Thursday, February 24. 1955 Sindlinger (Continued from page 1) 13,553 four-wall theatres and 3,911 drive-ins. On March 1, 1954, when Congress was still considering the admission tax, there were 6,280 closed theatres in the United States. At the end of 1954, the number of closed theatres had dropped to 5,651, a shift of 665 theatres. Eleven states, including New York, had more closed theatres at the end of 1954 than at the end of 1953, but the net changes in all such cases were small. The tabulation, giving the number of active theatres for each year since 1946, shows that the total at the end of 1954 was within five theatres of the high point of 19,106 reached at the end of 1950. The tabulation follows : End Active Active Active of 4-Wall Drive-in Total Year Theatres Theatres Theatres 1946 18,719 300 19,019 1947 18,059 548 18,607 1948 17,575 820 18,395 1949 17,367 1,203 18,570 1950 16,904 2,202 19,106 1951 16,150 2,830 18,980 1952 15,347 3,276 18,623 1953 14,174 3,791 17,965 1954 15,039 4,062 19,101 The theatre census, prepared for COMPO by Sindlinger & Co., research analysts, includes as an "active" operation any theatre which closes only seasonally, such as a fourwall theatre at a summer resort or certain drive-ins which close two to five months a year. The census is kept up to date on a continuous basis. Each reported change in a theatre's status is verified with the theatre. In September, 1954, when Sindlinger & Co. last reported theatre census figures to COMPO, there were 1,288 theatres vyhose status was unverified ; that is, they had been reported as both open and closed and therefore not included in the compilations. By the end of 1954, the unverified list had dropped to 453. The tabulation released by COMPO also gives the state-by-state total of four-wall theatres but points out that the state break-down of drive-ins will not be available until early this spring. Low Prices Aid All, Says Mexico Official MEXICO CITY, Feb. 23.— Ceilinged theatre admission prices that have ruled here since December, 1952, will continue, though many exhibitors continue fighting" for unfreezing" them so they can charge more because of increased operating costs. Adolfo Fernandez Bustamante, chief of the City Amusements Supervision Department, who put the ceiliuged prices into effect, declared in a press interview that, at present, there is no prospect of any modification of the price scale, which was a 20 per cent reduction, and makes 32 cents the maximum that can be charged for any picture. The ceilinged prices benefit both exhibitor and customer, Bustamante stressed. Theatres here are enjoying the most revenue in their history because admission prices are attracting more patrons, including many who never before attended motion picture theatres, he said. Television, he emphasized, offers no competition, because of the lack of quality of TV shows and the high cost of receivers, placing them beyond the possession possibility of most people. for each seat in his theatre, membership will now be governed by whether or not a theatre is first, second or third run and a flat rate will be charged accordingly. The first run will pay the larger amount, the others will be charged smaller amounts. The amount which will be set will be announced within the next few days. Ernest Conlon, executive secretary, speaking for the group, said membership will cover the entire lower peninsula of Michigan under such a plan. Approximately 400 attended the two-day session, the largest group ever to attend its convention. The first day was spent at the M-G-M Workshop, where speakers from all fields of the industry demonstrated means of promoting box office returns. The first day's session ended with a banquet in the evening. A luncheon during the day was provided by the Coca-Cola Co. The second day of the meetingwas devoted to viewing a film on Crown to A.A. (Continued from page 1) will headquarter at New York, spending some time at the studio, with periodic European trips on production affairs. Crown will represent the studio with American and foreign independents making films for Allied Artists, and will be the studio's liaison with the company's world-wide distribution offices. He will leave by plane for New York this weekend following meetings with Broidy, Harold Mirisch, Ralph Branton and George Burrows. Trade Bill Hearings (Continued from page 1) ganizatiens desiring to testify should apply to the committee before March 4. Witnesses were told that oral testimony should not duplicate testimony given earlier to the House Ways and Means Committee, though full statements in writing could be submitted for the finance committee record. Chairman Byrd (D., Va.) said he hoped to finish the hearings in about two weeks. Grainger Buys Novel As Second for RKO HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 23. — Edmund Grainger has purchased Robert Hardy Andrews' novel, "Great Day in the Morning" for the second of his independent productions through RKO. Filmed in SuperScope, the story of the West will start shooting in June. The first production, "The Treasure of Pancho Villa," will start Apr. 1. The third production "Oh, Promised Land" will roll in August. Lead UA Drive United Artists' Washington, Cleveland and New Haven exchanges have taken the lead in the overall standings for the 23rd week of the Bob Benjamin drive. The front-running branches in the six-month salute to UA's chairman of the board are headed by Sidney Cooper of Washington, Dave Rosenthal of Cleveland and Irving Mendelson of New Haven. toll-TV. The membership registered an action disapproving Federal control of toll-TV. The day's business closed with the election of the following board : Irving Belinsky, Emmet Roche, Ed Johnson, B. L. Kilbride, Adolph Goldberg, Frank R. Forman, Mrs. Delores Cassidy, Walter Fisher, Wm. Rice, R. J. Ashman, John Tate, Richard Spangle, Milton Lorden, Wm. Welsman, Robert Tuttle, Howard Sharpley, Eltin Samuels and Robert Newman. Alden Smith President The newly elected board elected the following officers : president, Alden Smith; first vice-president Pearce Parkhurst ; second vice-president John Vlachoe ; treasurer Wm. Wetsman ; and secretary, William Clark. The convention also approved an advisory board which could act on association activities in place of the regular board. Disney Properties (Continued from page 1) for Disney's Buena Vista Film Distributing Co., who planed in from New York for the finalizing. Mexico and the Caribbean area are included in distribution rights for South and Central America, and Australia is embraced in the Far East territory. "20,000 Leagues" will be paired with "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom," to be released late this year below the Rio Grande, according to Branson, while "The Vanishing Prairie" will have "Willie, the Operatic Whale" as companion. Conrad Brady Joins Workshop Panel M-G-M Ticket-Selling Workshop headliners who will be seen and heard at Columbus, O., March 1 will include Conrad Brady, director of publicity for Interstate Theatres at Houston, Texas, it was announced by Mike Simons, director of customer relations for M-G-M, who also added another new name to the roster of exhibitors enlisted for Workshop service when he named James W. Gaylard Jr., Troy Ala., Drive In Theatres Inc., as drive-in panelist for the meeting. Jack Bruno, city manager for Cooper Foundation Theatres at Pueblo, Colo., and Ivan D. Anderson, Liberty Theatre, No. Wilkesboro, N. C, complete the exhibitor foursome at Columbus. Phone Rates Menace Mexico Rural Radio _MEXICO CITY, Feb. 23. — The 65 per cent increase and continuance of the 15 per cent Federal tax in telephone rates will kill most radio stations in the provinces that depend upon remote control service from here, the National Radio Broadcasting Industry Chamber warned the Ministry of Communications and Public Works in asking that these stations, on the ground that they are a public service, be exempted from the increase. Telephone rates for these stations have more than sextupled during the past 12 years, it was pointed out. and their seating capacity exceeds 4,000,000. The "Journal" notes that the admissions rose compared with both the previous quarter and the corresponding quarter in all regions and in all sizes of theatres. Surprisingly, the smallest theatres, those seating 250 or less, which lately registered the greatest proportional attendance falls, increased their admissions by 11.1 per cent over the preceding quarter and 2.9 per cent over the corresponding quarter of 1953. The box-office gross for the quarter was nearly £29,000,000, or five per cent higher than for the corresponding 1953 quarter and five per cent above the second quarter of 1954. (The pound is officially valued at $2.80.) The average admission price rose from 20.5 pence to 20.6 pence. Net receipts amounted to £19,263,000, or 9.5 per cent more than for the previous quarter. The exhibitors' share therein amounted to £12,546,000, which is higher, the "Journal" comments, than any it has recorded since 1950, but, the "Journal" adds, it should be borne in mind that exhibition costs have risen considerably since that time. Taylor Again Heads Canadian Pioneers TORONTO, Feb. 23. — Nat A. Taylor, head of 20th Century Theatres here, was reelected president of the Canadian Picture Pioneers for a third term at the first 1955 meeting here of the board of directors. The executives reelected Morris Stein of Famous Players to the vicepresidency for a second year while Tom Daley of the University Theatre is again the secretary-treasurer. Committee chairmen are : Membership, C. L. Dentelbeck ; sick and welfare, Harold Pfaff ; public relations, C. J. Appel, and benevolent fund, O. R. Hanson. BakerBrill Claims 1st Cartoon Serial What is said to be the first cartoon serial, "The Adventures of Felix The Cat," produced by Pat Sullivan in 10 episodes, each episode consisting of two adventures, has been announced for spring release by Sam BakerDavid Brill Associates. The series is all new. Each episode will run for 15 minutes and will follow the comic adventures of Felix around the world. "The Adventures of Felix the Cat" will be state-righted for distributors in the United States, as well as for foreign distribution. S.L. Film Men Fight Daylight-Saving Bill SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 23. —More than 175 Salt Lake film exchange employes and branch managers appeared this morning before both houses of the Utah State Legislature to urge defeat of a plan for daylightsaving in Utah. All wore badges saying "vote against daylight confusion time." Drive-in operators of Utah already have been campaigning against the bill. Television stations are solidly in favor of it.