Motion Picture Daily (Apr-June 1956)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY 79. NO. 80 NEW YORK, U. S. A., WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 1956 TEN CENTS lo. Governor Announces Price Reductions sks Toll TV pproval Now tD.C.Hearing Us Senate Committee y-to-See Is Needed By J. A. OTTEN Washington, April 24. a ier chairman of the Senate Comjoe Committee urged the committoday to ask the Federal Comications Commission to take imiate action to authorize subscrip television. t believe subscription television is only source of additional revenue high-quality programs proposed ch has the potential of increasing limited amount of service now (Continued on page 4) ax-Cut Hope ets Setback From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, April 24. -Trea• Secretary Humphrey gave an inct blow to the industry's tax relief e by telling Republican legislative ers that he still doubted any big isury surplus this year, umphrey discussed the tax situawith the leaders at the weekly te House legislative conference, ite minority leader Knowland Cal. ) said the general feeling that "from all present indications e will not be sufficient additional nue to justify tax reduction this ;On." nowland was talking about genindividual income tax relief, but umably the same arguments Id apply to other major tax cuts. G-M into Theatrical oduction Field i-M will enter the field of thecal production this fall. A playlucing department has been eslished under the supervision of ley Phillips. TODD-AO Refinements Fill Need For Standardization: Skouras By MURRAY HOROWITZ Further refinements in the TODD-AO process, as well as a reduction in the price of the all-purpose TODD-AO projector, were announced here yesterday by George P. Skouras, president of Magna Theatre Corp., at a press luncheon. The completion of the scientific development of the TODD-AO compatible exhibition equipment now makes standardization of exhibition equipment possible, Skouras maintained. The Magna president, who recently returned from Europe, also announced that "Oklahoma!" in the TODD-AO version would open some time after August in Paris, Rome, Milan, Berlin and possibly Dusseldorf . Skouras listed the following developments which "perfected" the process : The new TODD-AO camera which can use 65mm. TODD-AO film, Cine( Continued on page 7 ) Blumenstock Leaving W.B. Mort Blumenstock, Warner Bros, vice-president in charge of advertising and publicity, has resigned from the company effective May 4. In announcing his resignation, Blumenstock stated, "As my wife's health requires us to return to California as soon as possible, I have asked for release from my contract, and Warner Brothers have graciously consented, making it effective as of May 4." Blumenstock, who thus terminates 25 years of employment with Warner Bros., has been vice-president in charge of advertising and publicity since 1945. Future plans, he stated, [Continued on page 6) Mort Blumenstock Plans Completed for 'U' Global Meeting Plans have been completed for die Universal International 1956 global conference which gets underway in Hollywood on May 7 with 72 delegates representing 55 countries, U-I foreign, domestic and studio executives. An extensive program has been devised for the five-day Hollywood conference, the first in U-I's history, to familiarize the overseas delegates with all phases of company policy, opera( Continued on page 7) REVIEW: The Catered Affair M-G-M The trials and tribulations of an Irish family in the Bronx, examined with honesty, humour and compassion, form this "slice of life" story in the "Marty" manner. Ernest Borgnine is in this one, also, as well as Debbie Reynolds, Barry Fitzgerald and Bette Davis, mentioned last so that she can be set off for special praise, for lending depth and vitality to a central role, not usually associated with her name. Wherever there are people interested in the problems and joys of other people, there is an audience for this film, based on another TV play of the same title by Paddy Chayefsky, of Academy Award winning "Marty" fame. The star-studded cast should give this Sam Zimbalist production (Continued on page 7) Matches Exhibition MP A Approves $40,000 More For COMPO Request for Additional $10,000 Seen by July Approval of an additional $40,000 in matching funds to the Council of Motion Picture Organizations was voted here yesterday by the board of directors of the Motion Picture Association of America. The board, consisting of company presidents, was apprised that an extra $10,000 in matching funds probably would be requested before COMPO's fiscal year ends in July. Under MPAA's arrangement with COMPO, the member MPAA companies match all funds contributed to COMPO by exhibition. Earlier in die current fiscal year, (Continued on page 4) Loew 16Week Net:$ 1,641, 682 Loew's, Inc., and subsidiaries, including dieatre subsidiaries, report for the 16-week period ended March 15, consolidated net profit after taxes of $1,641,682, equivalent to 31 cents per share, compared with $1,753,102 equivalent to 34 cents per share in the corresponding period of the previous year. Gross sales and operating revenues for this period amounted to $52,837,000, compared with $52,613,000 for same period of the previous year. Net profit for die 28 weeks ended (Continued on page 7) Self -Regulatory Unit To Meet Here May 15 The self-regulatory committee of the Motion Picture Association of America held a short exploratory meeting here today following the MPAA board of directors session. It was agreed that the committee would meet again here on May 15.