Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1956)

Jay, February 28, 1956 Motion Picture Daily people C an MacArthur, who was recentI pointed head of the whole of eiank Organization's new distribuJ setup for Latin America, has )\ioeen elected to the board of di|J-s of J. Arthur Rank Overseas Distributors Limited, London. jS leave London for Buenos early in March. Sessions Start Sunday Heavy Agenda Faces TOA Leaders in New Orleans A heavy agenda with topics covering the Senate Small Business sub-committee hearings, the status of the arbitration draft and the so-called Allied States Association-Theatre Owners of America "mutual security pact" on certain trade practices will highlight the an Past Counsel Says Pay-TV Is Not Answer to UHF EconomicNeed }idy D'Angona, of Hartford, has Hid the advertising staff of Bercal % tres, and will work on promotion oi he Star and Parsons, Hartford. H. Geissler, vice-president and Krai manager of Wil-Kin Theatre ■ ply in Atlanta, has been appointed jbfie board of directors of Theatre Shipment Dealers Association to He out the term of the late Nash (V'l. ay G. Colvin, executive director aithe Theatre Equipment Dealers ■jciation, has returned to St. Louis air completing a series of 14 talks ■pre civic groups in the Florida ■itory. n laurice Bailey of Bailey Theatres, jflv Haven, has been named to his ■ d two-year term on the New ■yen Board of Finance. nual mid-winter combined meeting of the board of directors and executive committee of TOA at the Hotel Roosevelt in New Orleans which commences on Sunday. E. D. Martin, chairman of the board of TOA, announced that at least 80 leaders of the national exhibitor association will attend the March 4-6 meeting. Besides discussing and preparing testimony for the March 21-22 SSBC hearings in Washington, which will be based partly on a compilation of the TOA questionnaire sent to its membership a number of weeks ago, the TOA directors will be prepared to consider: Cf The shortage of product— and the divorced circuits being allowed to engage in film production and to invest in Exhibitors Film Financial Group, which has been in "mothballs" for some time; |]| A reevaluation of their approval of the arbitration draft, approval of which has been "temporarily withdrawn," and to possibly press for the inclusion of selling policies and film rentals in any future arbitration draft; The recent agreement on industry id. Exhibitor Files $60,000 Trust Suit ■WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.-A thea ■ operator in Rockville, Md., has fid the eight major distributors here •force them to license him first-run is. ■ The anti-trust suit was brought by li Orbo Theatre Corp., operator of I' Villa Theatre in Rockville. The Ilia now gets films 21 days after Jl.t-run Washington. T|The suit, filed in District Court "Ire, asks for an injunction to require lb distributors to license the Villa fins simultaneously with Washington mlit-run showing, and also asks for 20,000 damages trebled to $660,jijO. The corporation said it had spent j ,50,000 to renovate the Villa and Bid leased the property for 10 years if r another $70,000. It complained it it would lose the entire investMhA unless the present film release Jj licy of the distributors was ended. I . The court was told that Rockville :' a growing metropolis with 25,000 fr ^tential theatre-goers. It was pointed j|jit that Rockville now gets films beBnd Alexandria, Va., which is actually closer to Washington and more jimpetitive with Washington. I Attorneys Victor J. Orsinger and iiseph G. Dooley filed the suit for I rbo, which is headed by Edmund i . Linder. problems between Allied States and TOA, especially on arbitration and divorced circuits engaging in production, and Cfl The procurement of an executive director and a replacement for George Gaughan, recently resigned TOA field representative. Elmer Lux of Buffalo is said to be among those considered. A strong pitch for an international exposition and fair will be made by Walter Reade, Jr., past TOA president, who is proposing that the 1956 TOA convention, which will be held at the New York City Coliseum, Sept. 19-25, should include the entire industry. It is understood tiiat Reade is currently preparing a definite outline as to what the TOA "fair" should include. It now is set to run in conjunction with the annual Theatre Equipment and Supply Manufactures Association trade show. Myron N. Blank, TOA president, a short time ago, revealed that he had approached Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Export Association, in regard to having foreign trade leaders attend the 1956 TOA convention and the TESMA trade show. Full Attendance Expected Among the TOA leaders who will attend the New Orleans board meeting are Kenneth Anderson, George Armistead, Blank, Tom Bloomer, Abe Blumenfield, Robert E. Bryant, A. Julian Brylawski, James S. Carbery, C. E. Cook, Horace Denning, Ed Fabian, Edwin Gage, Nathan Greer, Herman Hunt, Boliver Hyde, Mack Jackson, Tom James, Burton Jones, R. M. Kennedy, George Kerasotes, H. F. Kincey, Paul Krueger, Nat Lapkin, Herman Levy, Robert Livingston, M. A. Lightman, Jr., M. A. Lightman, Sr., E. D. Martin, Roy Martin, Sid Markley, Walter Morris, J. J. O'Leary, Robert J. O'Donnell, Albert M. Pickus, Sam Pinanski, Henry G. Plitt, Reade, Sam Rosen, J. J. Rosenfield, John Rowley, A. Fuller Sams, Jr., Jay Solomon, Alfred Starr, Ernest Stellings, J. B. Schuyler, J. Meyer Schine, Robert W. Selig, Morton C. Tune, R. B. Wilby, L. J. Williams, Nat Williams and Mitchell Wolfson. From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.-There is little likelihood that any UHF television licensee appearing before the Senate Commerce Committee this week will suggest that the authorization of subscription television for use by UHF stations will answer the economic needs of those stations. That's the opinion of Benedict Cottone, former general counsel of the Federal Communications Commission and current counsel for the UHF Coordinating Committee, a group of more than 80 per cent of the country's UHF station operators. "So far as I know," Cottone said today, "none of our people will propose subscription television as an answer. If any other UHF operator does propose it, it would only be suggested as a temporary measure to carry the UHF station until such time as a basic solution is worked out." Both Sides to Be Heard The Senate committee, looking into the overall condition of the country's television industry, expects to hear testimony from both proponents and opponents of subscription television next month. "Sooner or later," said George B. Storer, president of the Storer Broadcasting Co., "the large film backlogs owned by the film companies will be offered to the large stations. After they have shown them two or three times the films will be offered to the small stations. Then the small stations will have more program sources." Odium Testifies on RKOAtlas Merger WASHINGTON, Feb. 27.-Floyd Odium, president of Atlas Corp., testified today before the Securities and Exchange Commission on the proposed merger of Atlas with RKO Pictures Corp. and four other companies. Odium's testimony, which took up the entire day, was entirely technical and dealt almost exclusively with the oil companies involved in the merger. Diversified Agenda For Allied Gulf Meet Manager Killed OMAHA, Feb. 27. Robert W. Peterson, 32, manager of the Admiral Theatre here up to last December, was killed when his car struck a guard rail on an overpass near West Point, Neb. Peterson had resigned to enter the insurance field. Special to THE DAILY NEW ORLEANS, Feb. 27.-A diversified agenda will highlight the ninth annual convention of the Allied Theatre Owners of the Gulf States which will be held at the Roosevelt Hotel here on March 12-13. Among the topics to be discussed are subscription television, a report on Allied's Emergency Defense Committee, film selling policies and rentals. Slated to attend the annual conclave are Abram F. Myers, Allied general counsel and board chairman; Rube Shor, Allied States' president; William C. Gehring, executive assistant general sales manager of 20th Century-Fox, and Max E. Youngstein, United Artists vice-president. Fox Sponsors Junket To N.M. for 'Space' A preview of 20th Century-Fox's "On the Threshold of Space" in CinemaScope will highlight a twoday celebrity and press junket March 2-3 from Hollywood to Halloman Air Force Base in New Mexico, locale of the production. Ten Hollywood stars and more than 50 members of the press, TV and radio will fly from the Coast in helicopters at the invitation of the Air Force. New Paramount Pact For Panama, Frank HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 27.-Norman Panama and Melvin Frank will make four pictures for Paramount during, the next four years under terms of a new contract announced today. The contract gives them participation in the returns from films they will make with Paramount financing.