Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1955)

Monday. October 17, 1955 Motion Picture Daily people Edith Lynch has resigned as magaine contact with RKO studios in iollywood to become exclusive press epresentative for Jane Russell. Miss ,ynch will work jointly with Russield Corp. and Hughes Productions. Mil ^e ' M. Clay Adams has been appointed fe^nanager of the new film productions >peration department at CBS Televiion. Henceforth, all operations having to do with the production of moion pictures for the network will be liverted to this department. ill Mrs. Paul Ames, New York soaiii.'ialite, has agreed to serve with Gus ranSyssell as co-chairman of the ticket committee for the Will Rogers Memoial Hospital world premiere benefit )f "Guys and Dolls" at the Capitol Theatre here, Nov. 3. Bill Warner has joined the NBC jFilm Division as a sales representaive. Warner was with Ziv TV ProOr|igrams for the past four years, prior which he managed radio station ksVC, Richfield, Utah. :nr: Harry' and VV Bow At the Paris Here Alfred Hitchcock's "The Trouble With Harry," in VistaVision and Technicolor, had its New York premiere last night at the Paris Theatre. Starred in this Paramount release ire John Forsythe and Hollywood newcomer Shirley MacLaine. Hitchcock attended the opening with press, television and radio leople. Sunday's premiere marked :he debut of the Paris Theatre's newly installed screen and projection equipment designed for the presentation if VistaVision. Dpi ! Frank Sinatra Forms Kent Productions HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 16. -Frank sinatra has completed formation of *!'JCent Productions, Inc., an independjnt company which will produce films or motion pictures and eventually Wf':or television. Sinatra will serve as president of Kent Productions with rlenry Sanicola, vice-president and :ecretary-treasurer. Kent Productions' initial picture, 'Johnny Concho," will begin shooting 1 1 1 Nov. 28. It will be released by tij'Jnited Artists. m r,ole Joins Gold Stan M. Cole, formerly president >f the Cole Organization, has joined Ae\ Gold Productions, Inc., as ex•cutivc director of the industrial ilms division, it was announced by vlelvin L. Gold, president. Newsreel Monopoly Terminated New Regime in Argentina Promises Reforms But Few Have Materialized By NATALIO BRUSKI BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 12 (By Air Mail). -Film circles here have found some of die policies adopted by the new governmental department heads definitely disappointing and the feeling persists that some of the decisions made are not conducive to the res toration of free enterprise in the film business in Argentina. American distributors have not yet obtained any more exhibition permits despite the fact that at the outset it was announced that all the films on hand here would be authorized for exhibition. The assurance has been given that the necessary authorization will be granted momentarily, but actually nothing has happened. Pact Renewal Awaited Insofar as importation of new films is concerned, it is almost certain that there will be no decisions until the Cereijo-Johnson agreement is renewed. It expired a few weeks before the revolution. American earnings will continue frozen here as the country's financial position does not permit currency conversion. Also, it has been officially announced that the domestic film and theatre industry will continue under the extensive protection and rigid controls which have applied heretofore. This includes the required exhibition of Argentine films and the establishment of release dates corresponding to local productions. However, it has been announced that die newsreel monopoly will be terminated and the field will be opened to all comers. Johnston Letters Taken Possessions of Raul A. Apold, former press secretary who controlled the entertainment board, were searched by police and among them were reported to be letters from Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, the contents of which have not been made public. The ban on pictures imposed for political or ideological reasons has been lifted. Most of the present difficulty, it is felt, stems from the same people who for 12 years have controlled the board and from diose who are struggling to retain powers and privileges to which they are accustomed. Publicists Mark 15th Anniversary at Ball The Screen Publicists Guild (District 65) marked its 15th anniversary by staging its annual Movie Page Ball on Friday evening at the Hotel Pierre here. The 1955 Guild's Ball was attended by advertising, publicity and exploitation personnel from the major film companies. SPG represents the publicists at 20th Century-Fox, Warner Brothers, Columbia Pictures, Universal-International and United Artists. It's Carnation Day In Columbia Offices Those carnations that are being sported in the lapels of Columbia Pictures personnel today are a salute to vice-president Jack Cohn and the signal that the Jack Cohn sales drive is under way. Every division manager, branch manager, salesman, office manager and booker in the 33 exchanges is wearing one. The flowers were supplied by the home office in respect to Cohn's daily habit of wearing a floral decoration. 8 Companies Sign New Pacts With H-63 Eight film companies have completed negotiations and signed twoyear labor contracts, retroactive to Sept. 1, with the Home Office Employees Union, Local H-63, IATSE, according to Russell M. Moss, H-63 executive vice-president. The new contracts, which cover "white collar" employees at Universal, Warner Brothers, Columbia, 20th Century-Fox, RKO Radio Pictures, Music Publishing Holding Co., Precision Film Labs and Pathe Labs, provide for $4 to $7 general weekly increases plus a similar hike in job minimums, three weeks' vacation after 15 years, and severance pay up to 12 weeks, plus other benefits. Moss revealed that under the Columbia and Warner contracts, the film companies will establish a Blue Cross hospitalization plan which will cover employees and their dependents, with the companies paying 25 per cent of the cost. Paramount Publicists Sign H-63 also settled the Paramount publicists' contract, Moss said. Under that agreement some 27 advertising, publicity and exploitation personnel at the Paramount home office received a flat $10 increase across the board and the vacation period was extended to three weeks for 15-year employees. Moss, in discussing the negotiations, said that talks are almost completed at Republic, Consolidated and Paramount Newsreel. He said that the union has met with some obstacles with Stanley Warner Corp. and RKO Theatres and that contract talks will shortly open at United Artists and Loew's. Commenting on the H-63 plan to organize the field men employed by the film companies, Moss said that he hopes to file with the National Labor Relations Board for an election. Drive-in Wins Ramp Depreciation Right For Tax Purposes From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Oct. 16.-The In. ternal Revenue Service here has apparently overruled a district director who made a tax ruling that would have been disastrous for drive-in theatres. Construction costs of drive-in ramps have always been held depreciable for tax purposes. Recently, however, the New England district director ruled, in the case of a Maine drive-in, that this depreciation could not be allowed, holding that there was no construction or improvement involved. However, on the protest of the exhibitor, he agreed to forward the matter to Washington headquarters for a higher ruling. Allied States Association general counsel Abram F. Myers, notified of the dispute, made strong representations at the Internal Revenue Service here. Now, apparently, the Washington headquarters has overruled the district director, for the exhibitor has been notified that depreciation will be allowed, as previously. Upholds Film Section Of NARTB TV Code Television HOLLYWOOD, Oct. Today.. 16. -Harold P. See, chairman of the film committee of the National Association of Radio and Television Broadcasters, and manager of KRON-TV, San Francisco, has voiced a plea to distributors of films for television and to station film directors to insist upon the observance of die film section of the TV code of the NARTB. See made his statement as a preface to the first Western conference of the National Association of Television Film Directors here. The national conference of the National Association of Television Film Directors will be held late in the coming spring in Chicago, at which time film directors and distributors will attempt to arrive at solutions to current problems on re-runs, sales techniques and buying attitudes. Film Editors Judge Year's Best Nov, 15 HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 16. The American Cinema Editors will hold their second annual Critics' Award event for best film editing of the year on Nov. 15, in the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The A.C.E. membership will vote to nominate the five best edited motion pictures and television shows, after which the critics will vote the winner in each category. Fox Projectionist Dies BOSTON, Oct. 16,-Clarence Hastings, projectionist of the 20th-Fox screening room, died at Faulkner Hospital, West Roxbury, Mass.