Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1955)

Thursday, March 17, 1955 Motion Picture Daily 7 A TENT TALK A /Veil's from Variety Clubs DES MOINES — The Variety Club of Des Moines initiated its first bulletin for members aiming for a better-informed club and to cement good fellowship among the local industry. Featured in the February issue is the Inaugural Banquet and Ball at which time officers were installed and the Tent's Golden Gloves Tournament, all the proceeds of which went to the Eastern Seal Treatment Center for use in the physical therapy department for crippled children. A NEW YORK— The Variety Club Foundation to Combat Epilepsy will publish a journal for distribution at the Second Annual Heart Award Dinner, which will be held by Tent No. 35 at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here on May 2. Recipient of the Heart Award will be Richard F. Walsh, president of IATSE. A Journal Committee is being organized under the joint chairmen, Edward L. Fabian, former Chief Barker and present first assistant chief barker ; Herman Gelber, president of Projectionists Local 306, and Tom Murtha, business agent of Stage Employees Local No. 4. A BOSTON— For the benefit of the Jimmy Fund of the Variety Club, a fashion show is being staged at the Sheraton Plaza Hotel here by Elizabeth Arden. Honorary chairman of the event is Mrs. Christian A. Herter, wife of the Governor of Massachusetts. On the sponsoring committee are the wives of Mayor John B. Hynes, Lt. Gov. Sumner Whittier, Attorney General George Fingold, Motor Vehicle Registrar Rudolph F. King, and Ambassador to Uruguay Thomas Pappas. A ATLANTA— The Atlanta Variety Club Supper Club, a special Tent No. 21 group formed to help finance the club's charities, held its first meeting and presented Cliff Wilson of ABC Theatrical Enterprises with an automobile. A SAN FRANCISCO— Women of Variety Tent No. 32 are sponsoring a home-cooked Chuck Wagon Dinner at the Lakeshore Plaza Auditorium here on April 24. Mrs. J. Early Henning, president, is asking the cooperation of everyone in the industry, as all proceeds will be contributed to th*» Blind Babies Foundation, a major project of the Variety Clubs Northern California. A OKLAHOMA CITY— The Variety Tent No. 22 benefit showing of "Long Gray Line" at the Center theatre raised $2,500. The Will Rogers Memorial hospital will receive 25 per cent of the money ($625) and the Oklahoma County Council for Mentally Retarded Children will be allocated the balance ($1,875). Columbia furnished the film, sent Robert Francis, one of the picture's stars, to boost the benefit, and Howard C. Federer donated his theatre and the services of his staff for the event. License Bill (Continued from page 1) charge on seals for "copies." So Sen. Fred G. Moritt, Brooklyn Democrat, who requested that the measure be "starred" on advancement to third reading in the upper House Monday night, said late this afternoon he had been informed. Terming the measure "ambiguous, and therefore poorly drafted," Senator Moritt stated he would support it, if convinced the result would be beneficial to the motion picture industry. He warned that "where a bill is badly drawn and legislative intent is cloudy, the courts may do the legislating." The possibility of a clarifying amendment was raised. Described to Senator Moritt as a measure originating within the motion picture industry, it had been widely interpreted as meaning that the fee for "copies" would be increased from two to four dollars. However, the change in language was said today to mean that the four dollars would be for a total "copy" and not per thousand feet. Thus the cost for licensing "copies" would be reduced, according to this explanation. What attitude the State Education Department, whose motion picture division administers censorship and the collection of license fees, would take, if the bill resulted in a decrease of revenue, remained a question. New Sponsor (Continued from page 1) because of the special interest of the Scottish organizations in the life of Peter Marshall, born in Glasgow and subsequently chaplain of the U. S. Senate, whose life story is told in the CinemaScope production. Recognizing the need for funds for the March of Dimes, 20th CenturyFox will offer another of its forthcoming pictures to the polio organization for a benefit performance later this year. Review NYC Houses to Hold Breakage Fund Until Court Rules on Issue The breakage from the five per cent amusement tax, collected but held by New York City exhibitors since last July, will continue to be in abeyance until a ruling in the current suit is handed down in mid-April by the Court of Appeals in Albany, according to Stanley Buchsbaum, Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York. The New York State Assembly and Senate unanimously passed, without debate, an Assembly Rules Committee bill validating the collection of breakage by New York City, Binghamton and Elmira on the five per cent admissions tax. This bill was signed yesterday by Gov. Averell Harriman. Buchsbaum revealed this week that he expects to file a supplemental brief in his appeal of a Supreme Court decision with the higher court in Albany, introducing information in respect to the legislation. The exhibitors' attorneys are expected to contend, in a supplemental brief which they will also file, that the passage of the Assembly Rules Committee measure was unconstitutional. Broidy, in Atlanta, Praised by Martin ATLANTA, March 16. — E. D. Martin, Georgia circuit operator and president of Theatre Owners of America, responding to addresses by Steve Broidy, president of Allied Artists, and other members of his party making a national tour, said : "I pledge — and I am sure I speak for all exhibitors in this room — that A A will have our full support now. Many of best consistent-profit pictures have come from AA, which has always had the small-town exhibitor at heart." Broidy and his party will meet exhibitors in the Charlotte area tomorrow. Harriman (Continued from page 1) Assembly March 1, and was passed by the Assembly on March 7 and by the Senate on March 14. It was received in the Governor's office March 15 and signed the same day. The bill was sponsored by the City of New York and approved by the State Conference of Mayors, the mayors of Amsterdam, Jamestown, Schenectady and Buffalo; the city manager of Elmira, the State Comptroller and the Department of Taxation and Finance. '$3,000 a Day' "It is estimated that the 'breakage' amounts to about $3,000 a day in additional revenue to New York City, and to lesser amounts in other communities where the legislation is applicable. Prior to enactment of the law the 'breakage' was retained by theatre owners." Exhibitors, especially in New York City, made a strong fight against enactment of the legislation. Sindlinger Survey ( Continued from page 1 ) yesterday, at the COMPO meeting last week that he expects to complete the report by next week or as soon as one group of New York City theatres sends in its questionnaires. The survey of New York City business by Sindlinger will be based on statistics gathered from theatres from July 1 to Dec. 30, 1954, and will seek to substantiate exhibitor statements that the five per cent admissions tax is harming the industry which has seasonal high spots, especially in the summertime. Opposition to Continue Frisch said that New York City theatremen will continue to oppose the recent amendment to the Enabling Act, passed by the State Senate and Assembly unanimously, which validates collection of the major breakage on the five per cent amusement tax on the grounds that the measure is unconstitutional. Also, the exhibitor leader said, efforts will continufe in trying to have the New York City impost removed. FLY BOM ^ ARISTOCRAT OF THE AIR Direct New York • London BRITISH OVERSEAS AIRWAYS CORPORATION Reservations through your travel agent or call B.O.A.C. at 342 Madison Ave., New York 17. N. Y.. tel. MU 7-8900 "Canyon Crossroads" (Joyce-United Artists) THE search for riches at times does funny things to people and in this William Joyce production, "Canyon Crossroads," uranium is the cause of cold-blooded murder, mixed in with a dash of romance amidst the Colorado countryside. Striking it rich in the black-and-white story about uraniumhunting is Richard Basehart and Phyllis Kirk, who are thrown together in the hunt for wealth and security. Audiences, especially those who love outdoor action films with, gunplay, a dash of romance and a happy ending with the pot-of-gold, should enjoy this well-written story which has some fair exploitation angles. Basehart is staked to a uranium prospecting outfit by Russell Collins, who makes sure of his chances in finding the pay-lode by sending his daughter, Miss Kirk, along on the expedition. Basehart, Miss Kirk and Alan Wells, are unaware that a Navajo Indian guide, a modern-day counterpart of a claim-jumper, Stephen Elliott, has the party trailed into the wilds of Colorado. Luck is with Basehart as they discover uranium in abundance in a territory believed by the Atomic Energy Commission to be devoid of the mineral. Elliott's partner, Charles Waggenheim, starts the violence rolling in high gear by sealing Basehart and Miss Kirk in the uranium mine and blowing up the entrance with dynamite and then shooting Wells in cold blood. Basehart escapes from the mine through a hidden entrance and while on his way back to town for help is shot at by Elliott who spots him while flying about the countryside in a helicopter. The tables turn in favor of Basehart when Wells' Navajo family comes to the rescue. Others in the cast are Richard Hale, Tommy Cook and William Pullen who ably support the principals in the original story and screenplay written by Emmett Murphy and Leonard TIeideman and directed by Al Werker. Running time, 83 minutes. General classification. February release.