Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1957)

Motion Picture Daily Monday, January 21, 19! PERSONAL MENTION JOSEPH R. VOGEL, president of Loew's, Inc., left here over the weekend for the Coast to complete production planning conferences with Benjamin Thau and other M-G-M studio executives. • George Weltner, president of Paramount Film Distributing Corp.; Jerry Pickman, advertising-publicity vice-president, and Sidney Deneau, Western sales manager, returned to New York over the weekend from St. Louis. Bernard Jacon, president of Jacon Film Distributors, has left New York for Chicago and other cities of the Midwest. • Michael Nidorf, talent agent, returned to New York on Saturday from London via B.O.A.C. Charles Boasberg, Par amount's supervisor of sales on "The Ten Commandments," will return to New York today from Buffalo. • Irving Belinsky, a director of Allied Theatres of Michigan, was married in Detroit to Lily Zitomer. • Harold Cohen, film critic of the Pittsburgh "Post-Gazette," will be honored on Jan. 28 by that city's Junior Chamber of Commerce as "Pittsbureh's Man of the Year in Entertain o ment." Everyone's a Brother in Urge to Aid Showmen's Benefit Tribute to Durante Apparently wholly in keeping with the industry's formal launching of its annual Brotherhood Week drive with a campaign dinner at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel here Thursday night, is the demonstration of show business Brotherhood being inspired by the entertainment industry tribute to Jimmy Durante. Everybody in show business, it would seem, wants in on that. The Jewish Theatrical Guild of America is sponsor of the tribute to Durante, who is of Italian ancestry, with the tribute scheduled for St. Patrick's Day, March 17. Sharing in the proceeds from the affair, among others, will be the Catholic, Episcopal and Negro Actors guilds, in addition to the Motion Picture Relief Fund and Will Rogers Memorial Hospital. This is the first time in Durante's many years in show business that he has been honored by a benefit of this kind. Those close to him feel that only the fact that its beneficiaries will be the sick and needy of the amusement world, regardless of race, creed or color, commended this enterprise to him. Si H. Fabian and Arthur Krim are co-chairmen of the motion picture industry's participation and their committee is a cross-section of production, distribution, exhibition, labor, laboratories, suppliers and manufacturers. of Drive-inn N. Y. Film Critics Hold Annual Award Party "Around the World in 80 Days" received the New York Film Critics Award at the group's 22nd annual awards presentation at Sardi's Restaurant here Saturday night and Ingrid Bergman and Kirk Douglas were presented with citations naming them Best Actress and Actor of 1956. Miss Bergman had made a brief, 34-hour visit to this country in order to accept the award for her performance in 20th Century-Fox's "Anastasia." It was the first time in over seven years that she returned to the U. S. Irene Thirer, motion picture critic of the "New York Post" and president of the New York Film Critics, presented the awards. Michael Todd, producer of the award-winning picture, which is being released through United Artists, accepted the citation for the Best Picture of 1956. Kirk Douglas received the award for his performance in MGM's "Lust For Life." The award for the Best Foreign Film of 1956, "La Strada," released through Trans-Lux, was made to actor Richard Basehart, who co-stars in the picture. S. J. Perelman accepted the award for Best Screen Writing of 1956 for his work on "Around the World in 80 Days." John Huston received the citation for Best Director of 1956 for his work in Warner Bros.' "Moby Dick." Albert Warner Sells 4,500 Common Shares WASHINGTON, Jan. 20.-The Securities and Exchange Commission reported here at the weekend that during December, Albert Warner, a director of Warner Bros. Pictures, sold 4,500 common shares reducing his direct holdings to 6,500 and that his trust holdings amount to 2,700 shares. The SEC also noted that Jack L. Warner sold 9,000 common shares, reducing his direct holdings to 136,999 shares and that his trust holdings amount to 1,400 shares. In other industry stock transactions, Benjamin Thau, vice-president of Loew's, Inc., sold 4,100 common shares reducing his direct holdings to 11,300 and Albert List, chairman of List Industries and owner of more than 10 per cent of common stock, made gifts of 13,000 common shares, reducing his direct ownership to 601,777 shares, the SEC said. MOTION PICTURE DAILY, Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Editor; James D. Ivers, Managing Editor; Richard Gertner, News Editor; Floyd E. Stoni Photo Editor; Herbert V. Fecke, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager; Hollywood Bureau, Yucca-Vine Building, Samuel D. Berns, Manager; William R. Weave) Editor, Telephone HOllywood 7-2145; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club, Washington, D. C; London Bureau, 4, Bear St., Leicester Square, W. 2, Hope Williams Bui nup, Manager; Peter Burnup, Editor; William Pay, News Editor. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Motion Picture Daily is published daily except Saturdays, Sui days and holidays, by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue, Rockefeller Cnter, New York 20, Telephone Circle 7-31O0. Cable address: "Quigpubco, New York." Marti I Quigley, President; Martin Quigley, Jr., Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Leo J. Brady, Secretary. Other Quigley Publications: Motion Picture Heralc Better Theatres and Better Refreshment Merchandising, each published 13 times a year as a section of Motion Picture Herald; Television Today, published daily as a part dj Motion Picture Daily, Motion Picture Almanac, Television Almanac, Fame. Entered as second class matter Sept. 21, 1938, at the Post Office at New York, N. Y., under the act d\ March 3, 187'9. Subscription rates per year, $6 in the Americas and $12 foreign; single copies, 10c. Lipton Leaving Friday David Lipton, Universal vice-president in charge of advertising-publicity, will conclude 10 days of meetings here on new production plans and campaigns for forthcoming releases on Friday and return to his Coast headquarters. This is one of Lipton's periodic visits for conferences with home office department heads. Three Meetings Set On Business Plans All segments of the motion picture industry will sit down this week to continue joint efforts to consolidate three business building plans and to forward their mutual effort on the Academy Award Sweepstakes. At 3 P.M. today, at the Motion Picture Association of America, merchandising and promotion executives of the major companies will meet to discuss the Sweepstakes. At 6:30 P.M., at the Harvard Club, representatives of exhibition, the MPAA and the Council of Motion Picture Organizations will meet to further their plans for merging the MPAA, Theatre Owners of America-COMPO, and Golden Jubilee plan into one. Tomorrow, at 3 P.M., at the MPAA, the trade press contacts of all companies will meet concerning the Sweepstakes. Writer Moves to Halt Showing of '80 Days' James Poe, screen writer, through his attorneys, Schulman, Klein and Stern, filed in Federal Court here on Friday for a temporary injunction to restrain the distribution and exhibition of Mike Todd's "Around the World in 80 Days." The motion is answerable on Thursday. Poe claims he is entitled to screen credit as a writer on the "80 Days" script and that an earlier action for damages against the producer is pending Gehring Service Held A large number of industry executives and friends of William C. Gehring attended the funeral of the 20th Century-Fox executive here Saturday morning at Campbell's Funeral Home. Gehring, who died on Thursday, was buried at Ferncliff Cemetery, Ardsley, N. Y. Drive-In Division for Shapii With the purchase of the Starlig Drive-In, Camden, N. J., and tl Keystone Drive-In, Harrisburg, P; a drive-in division has been esta lished by Sam Shapiro. A pionei exhibitor in Philadelphia, Shapii with his sons, Merton and Ben, o: erate the first-run Arcadia here ai a number of neighborhood house i The new drive-in division will 1 headed by John Turner, former di trict manager here for United Artisi and Lester Krieger, former assista: zone manager for the Stanley Warn, Theatres in Philadelphia. Accordii to reports, the Shapiro interests pk extensive building of drive-ins in tl area, with possibly 20 open-air the* tres to be set up. ® Lease N. J. Drive-In A long term lease was granted I Jerome and Herbert L. Shapiro 1 Beach Haven Drive-In Theatres CH for the new 1,000-car drive-in the are constructing for opening ne: spring on the new Causeway \ Beach Haven West, N. J. ® To Remodel Conn. Unit The Cinema Circuit Corp. of Ne> York, which has acquired the 75( car capacity Bowl Drive-In, We: Haven, Conn., from the Seymoi Levine interests, plans extensive r< modeling prior to a spring reopenirij The New York firm will substantial] increase car capacity through the ii stallation of additional ramps and n model the concession area. Berger Won't Take NO Post-'Even If Dratted' MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 20. Be Berger will not accept the leadershi of North Central Allied for anothe term "under any circumstances or cor ditions— not even if I am drafted," hi told a Motion Picture Daily corre spondent here today. Earlier in fh week he informed the NCA board c directors of his emphatic decision t quit his post because of oppositio to his "fighting policies," but said h would vigorously support anyon named to succeed him at the unit's arj] nual convention April 1-2. E. L. Peaslee, Stillwater exhibitc and member of the NCA board, wa appointed chairman of a committe i which will pick Berger's successo and also act as a steering committee t set up convention procedure. Peasle said he has not appointed other com mittee members nor has he "give: serious thought" to any candidate.