Motion Picture Daily (Apr-June 1956)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY OL. 79. NO. 77 [NKW YORK, U.S.A., FRIDAY, APRIL 20. 1956 TEN CENTS ■oldenson: inds ABPT in Jpward Trend it Box-office xpects Even Flow of econd Quarter Films By MURRAY HOROWITZ The Spring box-office appears to holding up pretty good, with the oduct flow for the second quarter Dicing better than the film line-up it year for the same period, Leond H. Goldenson, president of nerican Broadcasting Paramount leatres, said here yesterday. Goldenson said business of AB-PT iliate theatres since the first of the ar has been up compared to the it quarter of the previous year and (Continued on page 7) Quarterly Net >/ ABPT Up Estimated net operating profit of nerican Broadcasting Paramount leatres, Inc., for the first quarter 1956 increased 34 per cent over e same period in the previous year, sonard H. Goldenson, president, re>rted yesterday. These earnings ere $2,570,000, or 60 cents a share immon compared with $1,917,000 or > cents a share common in 1955. With capital gains of $253,000 impared with $33,000 in the same larter of 1955, consolidated earngs amounted to $2,823,000, or 66 •nts per share compared with i,950,000, or 46 cents per share in )55. jefko Leaving RKO; oining Paramount Special to THE DAILY DETROIT, April 19.-Morris Leflco is been appointed special representafor "The Ten Commandments" id "War and Peace," for Paramount ctures, directly under Charles aasberg. Lefko will resign as disict manager for RKO on May 1 to (Continued on page 7) Tax Relief Consideration Promised by Committee MP A Annual Meeting To Be Held Tuesday The annual meeting of the Motion Picture Association of America board of directors will be held here on Tuesday. The board will elect officers, pass on the annual report, elect committees and take up other business, if requested. RKO-Atlas Merger Approved by SEC; Terms 'Reasonable' From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, April 19. -The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the plan of Atlas Corp. to have RKO Pictures, Inc., and four other corporations merge into Atlas. The commission found the terms of the proposed mergers "reasonable and fair." Stockholders of the firms must still approve before the consolidations can take effect. Main stockholders in RKO Pictures are Atlas and Howard Hughes. Atlas president Floyd B. Odium announced originally many weeks ago that Hughes had agreed to the merger plan. Under the (Continued on page 7) Ways and Means Group States It Will Get to Subcommittee's Tax Report As 'Soon as Possible;9 Another Assist By J. A. OTTEN WASHINGTON, April 19.-A House suggested that the full committee mig Hoffman Again Head Of Virginia MPT A From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, April 19. Seymour Hoffman was re-elected president of the Virginia Motion Picture Theatre Association, meeting here. All other officers and directors of the association were also re-elected for a second term, as is the custom in the organization. Robert Johnson was added to the board of directors. Asthma 'Joey' Award For Max Youngstein Max E. Youngstein, vice-president of United Artists, will receive the first annual "Joey" Award of the Asthma Medical Center at the "Parade of Stars" show tomorrow (Continued on page 7) Average Admission Price, 60c; Exhibitors Need 385 U.S. Films Yearly, Poll Reveals The present average admission price for all U.S. situations is about 60 cents, but for special engagements in the last three months it has averaged 7F/2 cents, it is revealed in a survey by the Motion Picture Herald Institute of Industry Opinion. The poll shows that more than a third of exhibitors whose normal prices are 50 cents or less increased their prices to more than 50 cents an average of five times in the last 12 months. More than half of the exhibitors polled (52.6 per cent) believe present admission prices are about right; one fourth think they are too high, and only slightly fewer of them think they are too low. The opinion seems to be: "Too high for the public and too low for the exhibitor." Most of the industry's current economic ills were blamed on a relative shortage of product, according to the survey. Their composite opinion is that a minimum of 385 Hollywood pictures are required for good operation. More than three fourths of them are filling out their booking schedules with foreign pictures, mostly British. Comedy, according to the survey, is the most wanted type of picture fare. Ways and Means subcommittee today tit want to consider additional admissions tax relief. The recommendation, forecast yesterday by Motion Picture Daily, came from a subcommittee studying technical excise tax changes. Subcommittee chairman Forand (D., R. I.), announcing this and other subcommittee actions, said the full committee had promised to consider the subcommittee's report "as soon as possible." He refused to predict the likelihood of action on any of the recommendations. The subcommittee was barred by the full committee from making firm recommendations on changes in tax rates, and was empowered only to recommend technical changes. The subcommittee report conceded this restriction on its activity, but it nonetheless called the admissions tax problem to the attention of the full committee in these words: "The House Ways and Means Committee, in view of the continuing problems besetting the theatre industry, arising primarily from competi(Continued on page 7) Price Placed On Met. Stock A price of $10 per share for the trusteed stock of Metropolitan Playhouses, Inc., owned by RKO Theatres, was set in Federal District Court here yesterday as the figure at which trustee George Alger could not refuse to sell. The S10 cash price per share was suggested bv U. S. attorney Maurice Silverman and was incorporated in the short-form order signed by Judge Thomas F. Murphy. The shares could ( Continued on page 7 )