Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1956)

day, September 4, 1956 Motion Picture Daily 3 Meeting Kemp Wins Quigley Award Balaban (Continued from page 1) will meet at any time with their mers or their customers' accreditepresentatives to discuss mutual ems or individual, specific corn's but that, on the advice of ;el, they must decline all inviis to participate in joint sessions i include their competitors, for purpose of discussing policies, □rs' letter, mailed one month ago le heads of II production-distion companies, asked a small, conference first, to be followed more general meeting of acted representatives to spell out ments reached by the top level irence. Both such meetings, :' letter indicated, would bring ifficers of all the companies into leeting rooms at the same times, is what most of the company ofi said they would not agree to, questioned last week, or's letter went to the presidents Hied Artists, Columbia, Loew's, nount, RKO Radio, 20th CenFox, Universal, Republic, Warner , United Artists and Walt Disney Thus, if Allied wishes to disexhibitor problems with distribuexecutives, it will have to do so company-by-company basis in cases, it appears. xy Theatre Sold ( Continued from page 1 ) ted in a single piece of real 3. This and other sales made ig the past year and a half un)ur program of reducing and reing real estate holdings have agited nearly ten million dollars." te Roxy sale will result in a longcapital gain after taxes to NT oximating $2,370,000, equal to 3nts per share on 2,699,486 shares non outstanding. After deductioxy mortgage bonds, $2,000,000, al gains taxes and other items, cash will be increased by apimately $3,000,000. iioden said that cash received from Roxy sale will be available to ito carry out a diversification poli decided upon at a recent board :ing, stating, "our objective will n investment in a company outtheatre business. hibitors Urged (Continued from page 1) ag their sales personnel. Group tings of salesmen, branch and din managers will be held next day to receive final instructions the drive. As in former years, ributions of exhibitors will be :hed dollar for dollar by the disitors. HERE'S ONE EADER IN VERY FIELD! TRY US ON YOUR NEXT ORDER AND SEE WHAT WE MEAN! SPECIAL TRAILERS ITS FILMACKl IIIIIO, 1327 S. WABASH | CORK Ml W Wth ST M.P. DAILY PICTURE AWARD DAY for George Kemp, manager of the Montauk, Passaic. Before fellow managers in division meeting Friday at the Stanley Warner Newark office, he received from Harry Goldberg, circuit vicepresident who supervises publicity and advertising— and who is a former winner— the Quigley Grand Award for showmanship. In array above are Tony Williams, Kemp's district manager (Bergen); Goldberg and Kemp; Charles Smakwitz, zone manager; and Edgar Goth, zone advertising manager. ( Continued from page 1 ) Stanley Warner circuit and for Cinerama, who won the same high honor in 1935, the second year of the Quigley Awards, and Charles Smakwitz, zone manager for the circuit in New Jersey, who introduced the speakers. The Stanley Warner circuit have reasonable reason for being proud of the fact that they have had Quigley Grand Award winners, from the very beginning. Harry was among the first and so was Jules Seltzer, who also won in the Philadelphia zone, in the same period. Then followed, Lige Brien, who was a winner from the Ambridge theatre in Pittsburgh, and since, there have been William Wyatt, manager of the Virginian theatre, Charleston, W. Va., and also Everett Callow, who was another early winner from the Philadelphia area. Interesting, in the presentation of the Quigley Grand Award Plaque to George Kemp, is the fact that he also won the Stanley Warner national contest as the best showman of the year, with the same campaign. This was for a trip to Europe with all expenses paid, reciprocal with the Associated British Cinemas, of England, who exchange these courtesies with the Stanley Warner Corporation in America. We have just saluted and entertained James Burns, from England, who won the opposite award this year. New Suit Scores Deal Astaire Studios Start (Continued from page 1) the properties instead." A previous suit to halt acquisition of the companies by RKO Industries was filed in Federal Court in June by Isabella J. Selman, holder of 3,000 shares of RKO Theatres stock. She had objected to the acquisition of the two firms as a "waste of corporate assets." Active U.S.I.A. Program ( Continued from page 1 ) in the U. S. for overseas use and in addition 15 pictures were acquired from private organizations, the report said. It added that some 12,000 copies of new language versions of other film releases were sent overseas and that 60 films were added to the approximately 900 now available for tv use abroad. A ten-minute film on the President's "open skies" disarmament proposal is now running in 32 languages in 78 countries, Streibert reported. The six month period also saw increased USIA activity in the television field, the report states. Expansion Program Interstate Circuit, Inc. will operate Fred Astaire dance studios in Houston and Dallas, Tex. as the start of a large-scale expansion program by the dance organization, Charles L. Casanave, president of Fred Astaire Dance Studios has announced. This marks the beginning of a program, Casanave said, in which Astaire Studios are seeking to place their operations in the hands of leading circuits throughout the country. Other agreements in more cities are pending, he said, and other Texas cities are being considered. The Almeda Theatre in Houston is undergoing remodelling to open early in Fall as the first of the Texas-Astaire studios under Interstate management. CBC Expenditures Rise The Canadian Government reports that expenditures for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the 195556 fiscal year increased to $31,155,977 from $29,236,931 in the 195455 fiscal year. (Continued from page 1) to Shor to be made public in the month that has elapsed since Shor's letter was written. In his reply the Paramount president states that he is aware of the problems confronting the industry today to which the Allied officer has reference and asserts that Paramount has been doing its utmost to confront those problems by making "greater and better" pictures which the public will want to see, and by spending more money than ever before to bring the pictures to the attention of the public. He adds that Paramount has taken cognizance of the difficulties of many small exhibitors and has continued to service them with films at near or less than the break-even film rental level. Balaban's letter then observes that "many exhibitors" have failed to recognize or admit that the problems of the industry today affect distribution and production as much as they do exhibition. Scores Attitude "If this attitude is retained by exhibitor leaders as well as by exhibitors individually," Balaban asks, "how can any conference result in any constructive conclusion about anything?" He suggests that the record be reviewed and note taken of the "chaotic results to all branches of the industry of the programs fostered by exhibitor leadership which were not statesmanlike enough to view the industry as a whole." A different and more constructive approach," he observes, "is indeed overdue." "I concur with the Report of the Senate Small Business Committee in which they say that there is a vital need for a new spirit of cooperation among the various segments of the industry. Is it not time for us to first honestly define the area in which mutual assistance may occur and then go on— as far as possible— to try to implement a program designed to help all of us?," Balaban asks. Urges Problem Study "Without prejudging anything, it may be that under present conditions some exhibitors, as some of us, may have to continue to struggle unilaterally with the economic and competitive problems that beset them, just as such problems have beset us. "But, if not in this area, why should other areas not be explored where common problems exist, hopefully to arrive at solutions of mutual advantage? If such a meeting could be held in the spirit of these comments, we would not only be willing, we would be glad to sit down at a conference with a few exhibitor leaders or heads of Exhibitor Organizations to discuss these common problems and their possible solutions. "In our judgment, such a conference should be held without our competitors being present. Apart from possible legal complications, no useful purpose would be served in doing otherwise. Each company has its own problems, its own way of doing business and its own policies," he said.