Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1957)

Motion Picture Daily Friday, March 1, PERSONAL MENTION DARRYL F. ZANUCK is scheduled to leave here over the weekend for London. • Louis Phillips, vice-president and general counsel of Paramount Pictures, returned to New York yesterday from Hollywood. George P. Skouras, president of United Artists Theatre Circuit, and Raymond Wemple, vice-president and treasurer, have returned to New York from Europe. • Lacy W. Kastner, president of Columbia International, will return to New York today following a onemonth tour of South America. • Bernard Jacon, president of Jacon Film Distributors, has left here for a two-week business trip through the Midwest. • Jack Diamond, Universal-International studio publicity director, will return to the Coast over the weekend from New York. • Marcel Hellman, producer, will return here today from London. Net 1956 Gen. Precision Equipment Declines Net income of $2,394,729, or $1.73 a share, was reported by General Precision Equipment Corp. yesterday for 1956, compared with $2,530,758, or $2.05 a share, for the preceding year. Sales of $153,261,864 set a new companv record. Sales in 1955 were $133,337,819. Hermann G. Place, president, said 1956 earnings were affected by operating and liquidating losses of Ampro Corp., a subsidiary, by a protracted strike at International Projector, another subsidiary, and operating losses sustained in other divisions. Zanuck-Fox (Continued from page 1) duties as a director of the corporation. With his first independent production, "Island In The Sun," now being completed in England; and his next picture, "The Sun Also Rises" scheduled for filming in Spain and Mexico, he will, of necessity, be spending a great deal of his time away from New York. Approves Management During the past week, Zanuck pointed out at a company board meeting yesterday, he has been in conference with Skouras and other executives of the corporation and, as the largest individual stockholder, he told the board he is more than satisfied with the way management is operating the corporation, and is extremely pleased with its continuing progress. Village Trust Suit (Continued from page 1) has been set for April 15 in Federal District Court here. The Village Theatre operated in a suburb of Salt Lake before selling out to Fox Intermountain Theatres in 1955. The original action, seeking $400,000 damages, was brought in 1952. Judge Willis W. Ritter found for Village Theatres after the first trial. His decision was overruled on appeal and the case sent back for retrial. Two trials since ended in a deadlock. O'Shea Confirms Deal Confirming Motion Picture Daily's story Wednesday on the closing of a deal for the distribution of RKO Radio Pictures' product in Canada through Empire-Universal Films, Ltd., Daniel T. O'Shea, RKO president, said yesterday: "With the signing of this contract RKO has concluded the streamlining of its distribution organization, in keeping with practical, common-sense marketing of films." Lewis to Coast (Continued from page 1) when Lewis, along with Robert F. Blumofe, UA West Coast vice-president, and Leon Roth, West Coast publicity coordinator, will confer with producers of films now in work, in preparation or completed. Subjects will include allocation of budgets and the setting of overall campaigns for specific films slated for release this year by UA. Mitclium Goes on Tour To Promote 'Allison' 20th Century-Fox is sending Robert Mitchum on a six-city trek in connection with his new film, "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison," beginning next Monday in Toronto. The tour is part of the company's plan to use such promotion for each major production. Following his Canadian visit, Mitchum will head for Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati. The actor will meet the press in each city, appear on radio and television and participate in various exploitation activities on behalf of the CinemaScope production. Films Misrepresent Teenagers: Whitney From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 28-Producer C. V. Whitney today issued a statement sharply criticizing producers "who continued to turn out films presenting American teenagers as a lost generation," and announced the allocation of $2,000,000 for production of the John Burress novel, "Missouri Traveler," as a picture that will refute "charges of demoralized American youth." Whitney said, "I am shocked by those Hollywood producers who would have the world believe our teenagers are incorrigibles, that nearly every boy carries a switchblade knife for lethal purposes, that every girl is a potential gangster's moll, and that they have no sense of responsibility. I am fed up with stories that belittle our younger generation. I will present to the screen a boy with the free and valiant heart of youth'. We have 18,000,000 teenagers in this country, and 97 out of every 100 are responsible kids." Sweepstakes Publicity Seen Gaining Momentum Paced by a $10,000 prize contest in Chicago, where 150 exhibitors have made a tie-up with the "Chicago SunTimes," the Academy Award Sweepstakes is gathering publicity momentum in newspapers throughout the country, COMPO reported yesterday. All downtown Chicago theatres have joined with the other theatres in the city in making the tie-up with the "Chicago Sun-Times," Charles E. McCarthy, COMPO information director, said. The newspaper will print Sweepstakes entry blanks daily beginning Sunday. McCarthy reported that 12 more theatres advised COMPO yesterday that they were participating in the Sweepstakes, bringing the total of participating theatres up to 2,550. Paramount Regionals Open Monday in N.C. Special to THE DAILY CHARLOTTE, Feb. 28.-A series of Paramount sales meetings in the branches of the Southwestern division will start here on Monday with Hugh Owen, vice president of Paramount Film Distribution Corp., presiding. Atlanta, Memphis, New Orleans and Jacksonville are the other cities where meetings will be held before Owen returns to New York on March 10. W. Gordon Bradley, Southeastern division manager, will come here from Atlanta, where he has his headquarters, for the first meeting, and will accompany Owen to the other branches. A. A. Meetings (Continued from page 1) \ the Brown Palace in Denver, wwfoj presided over by Harold Wirth 'in, Western division manager. L!,E, Goldhammer, Eastern division IJ ager, and Arthur Greenblatt, sty home office sales representative, ji head the Cleveland meeting at .9 Statler Hotel there. Sales policies set last week an studio meeting on 36 pictures to U leased during the next 12 months be outlined by Wirthwein, Greer and Goldhammer. Branch managers who will a the Denver sessions are I Thomas, Kansas City; M. Schwe St. Louis; Don Tibbs, Salt Lake i: and Jack Felix, Denver. At Clevr will be branch managers Nat) Dickman, Albany; Harry Ber Buffalo; Ben Abrams, Boston; Schultz, Cleveland; John Pavone, Haven; Milton A. Lipsner, Was* ton, D. C, and Milton H. Gi Cincinnati. Following the Denver gatlw Wirthwein has set a second We division meeting in San Francises, representatives from AA's West t exchanges in Los Angeles, Port Seattle and San Francisco. Meetings of the Southern and western divisions will be held d the next few weeks. The regional meetings are taking the place o regularly scheduled national meeting. Combined Business F (Continued from page 1) advertising-publicity committee a Harvard Club here. The combined report, which prepared by Taylor Mills of I and Charles McCarthy of CO was discussed yesterday in full spokesman said, but no decision reached. The group will meet ; next Tuesday at the same place The report has been forwards Chicago for consideration by Theatre Owners of America's 1 of directors which will begin i ings there on Sunday. It will al; presented to West Coast pub directors by Roger Lewis, chai of the MPAA advertising-pub committee, who departs for today. NEW YORK THEATT1 i — RADIO CITY MUSIC HA Li Rockefeller Center JAMES STEWART AS CHARLES A. LINDBERGH IN "THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS" In CinemaSceoe and WarnerCeler A Warner Bros. Picture ond SHCTJCUUH S TA t E PRESE NTATI . MOTION PICTURE DAILY, Martin Quigley, Editor-in-Chief and Publisher; Sherwin Kan Photo Editor; Herbert V. Fecke, Advertising Manager; Gus H. Fausel, Production Manager. Canby, Eastern Editors. 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