Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1955)

Record Details:

Title:
Motion Picture Daily
Date:
Oct-Dec 1955
Publisher:
New York [Motion picture daily, inc.]
Volume:
Motion picture daily
Leaf #:
000559
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Hollywood Studio System
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Library of Congress, MBRS, Moving Image Section
Sponsor:
Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
A New York-based daily trade paper published by Martin Quigley. The companion to Quigley's better known weekly publication, MOTION PICTURE HERALD, and a direct competitor to THE FILM DAILY, which was also published out of New York. Established in 1930, MOTION PICTURE DAILY enjoyed a circulation of roughly 5,000 readers most years of its four decades in print (a nearly identical circulation to THE FILM DAILY, but only one third of the readership of MOTION PICTURE HERALD, which reached a wider audience of exhibitors). In the 1930s, the MOTION PICTURE DAILY's editor, Maurice Kann, called on the movie industry to shift more production back to the East Coast. Any productions that filmed in New York received ample attention. New York City never regained its production lead over Hollywood, but the major studios used the Big Apple for their corporate and distribution headquarters. As a result, MOTION PICTURE DAILY tended to focus on economic and regulatory issues confronting the film industry. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
November 10, 2022
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!dini rome -is i want rail 3 »n tb \ lime juntess it screen tess. jiisonj mo j i| net' in, w i mod en till Cedri fl-fata MOTION PICTURE DAILY VOL. 78. NO. 121 NEW YORK, U. S. A., TUESDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1955 TEN CENTS EDITORIAL. Sustaining the Holiday Upturn fiy Sherwin Kane W isagt iber :, ;lit ^ we be prj asceni bain sib sui Imisiffl [rail d I ton |amiaij m ITH the current seasonal upturn in theatre patronage, exhibitors everywhere have reason to be optimistic about the future. Excellent product from all companies is in circulation now and more is ready for release over a period of several months to come. The continuity of quality product ahead gives reasonable assurance of being sufficient to sustain improved business at the nation's theatres for many months after the holiday season. • Still other straws-in-the-wind, heartening to exhibitors, are the substantial indications of a renewed product supply from RKO Radio in the near future; stepped-up activity at the Republic studios, and the imminence of delivery of superior product by Allied Artists under its ambitious new production policy, which now is well under way. There has been enough experience by now to demonstrate that Hollywood's policy of fewer but better pictures can sustain the country's theatres prosperously only if the pictures, in actuality, are better and only if they are not too few in number. Of late, the sum total of Hollywood releases has fallen short of both requisites. The result has been depressing to theatres because the product failed to draw large segments of the public away from television during the latter's strong competitive season following Labor Day and, the bulk of the releases being aimed at the adult market, considerable juvenile and family trade was left unserved and unattracted to the theatres. Exhibition may take heart from j the evidence now at hand that changes for the better are in the offing. It is indeed a fine note on I 1 which to begin the approaching New Year. nia hated j ■ : PS i FJn m Iftbj d> Jk 4 Sarnoff Says: First Major Film Sale RCAtoExceed RKO Radio Sells TV Billion Dollar Rights tO_7_S0 Films GrOSS in 1955 Report $12,000,000 is Involved in Deal By O'Neil and Matthew Fox Interests Total sales of products and services by Radio Corp. of America for 1955 will exceed a billion dollars for the first time in company history, Brig. General David Sarnoff, chairman of the board, announced in a year-end statement in which he hailed 1955 as the year that saw color television get "off the ground," and predicted that (Continued on page 2) Halpern Gets U.A. Ad Post in Europe Ben Halpern has been named United Artists manager of advertising, publicity and exploitation for Europe and the Middle East, Arnold M . Picker, U.A. vice president in charge of foreign distribution, announced here. Halpern, who has served at the home office since 1952 as assistant manager of foreign publicity, (Continued on page 5) By LESTER DINOFF Consummation of negotiations between RKO Radio Pictures and C. C. Television Corp., in which the latter acquires the television rights to upward of 750 pictures from the RKO film library, was announced here at the weekend by Thomas F. O'Neil, chairman of the board of RKO Radio and head of General Teleradio. C. & C. TV, which is a subsidiary of C. & C. Super Corp., a soft drink company in which Matthew J. Fox is a director and stockholder, was reported as purchasing the TV rights to the old RKO films for $12,000,000. Fox represented C. & C. TV in the negotiations with General Teleradio, (Continued on page 5) Thomas O'Neil Matthew Fox Yule Crowds Hike Grosses Nationally Ben Halpern Christmas holiday crowds at the weekend boosted grosses at Wet-run situations in New York and elsewhere. The development signalled the end of the pre-Christmas theatre slump. With many strong new attractions (Continued on page 5) Television Joday ,N THIS ISSUE PAGE 6 ► Television Today's roving reporter searches out a professional man in the street to get the score on the season to date. ► American motion picture producers, working abroad, shoot special material for forthcoming promotional campaigns on Television. ► Names Making News in Television Today. Study Extension of 'Scope Write-Off The possibility of extending the write-off period of 20th Century-Fox CinemaScope pictures was raised by president Spyros P. Skouras in an interim report to stockholders at the weekend. Skouras explained that the independent accounting firm of the company has been asked to study the situation and to make recommendations. Film rentals of 20th-Fox (Continued on page 5) Wants One Big Trade Association in U.K. From THE DAILY Bureau LONDON, Dec. 26.-Hope for a strong combined trade association in Britain was expressed here by Maj. Alfred Davis, chairman of the Cinematraphic Exhibitors Association's London and home counties branch. The all-industry tax committee, he stated at the branch's annual dinner at the Savoy Hotel, was a step in the right direction. He concluded his speech with a reference to C.M.A.'s (J. Arthur Rank) return to C.E.A. membership.