Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1957)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY /OL. 82, NO. 16 NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1957 TEN CENTS EDITORIAL Industry Reaction To Loew's Moves By Sherwin Kane rHE reaction of the industry on all levels to Joseph Vogel's move for a showdown with the Joseph Tominson-Stanley Meyer-Louis B. Mayer action on whether they or managenent will conduct the company's afairs was one of admiration and deepooted satisfaction. Vogel's call for a special meeting )f Loew's stockholders on Sept. 12 o replace Tomlinson and Meyer and lame an enlarged board of 19 members having a substantial majority in avor of management was immediately recognized as a bold stroke which brings the controversial interlal situation into full public view and :o its inevitable climax. It is a courageous move and one which is likely to win many Loew's itockholders hitherto uncommitted to nanagement's side. Much of the widespread sentiment within the industry in Vogel's favor races to the knowledge that, first, le has been doing an outstanding iob and, secondly, the TomlinsonVfeyer-Mayer faction hardly is being air in pursuing its obstructionist and liversionary tactics while Vogel's ittentions necessarily are concentrated it the outset of his administration on he all-important task of getting the Culver City studio on a firm basis ind into high gear. Under the most ideal conditions :hat is a truly difficult task for any ndividual. Under the climate delijerately fostered on the Loew's >oard by Tomlinson and Meyer it is nade a nearly impossible one. But despite it, Vogel has brought he company a long way back on the •oad to good times. Given another /ear without interference, he could /ery likely turn the trick. If not, he would then, but not before then, be airly answerable to the company's itockholders. What he is entitled to is the fair ■hance he has not been given to date. That is the factor that earns him he backing of his industry colleagues ind which, doubtless, will stand him n good stead with the stockholders >f his company come Sept. 12. New Drive -In We"-W'$l,ers Sw<""p Vo*el Sound Ready Loew's Proxy Contest A "wireless" sound system which eliminates wiring, junction boxes and speaker posts will be used for the first time in the new Dover Drive-in now being built in a shopping center in Dover, N. J. Called "the world's first second story drive-in," the theatre will be operated by the Walter Reade circuit. Opening is planned for mid-September. The new sound system is called a sound radiation system, employing transistor circuitry, and was developed and patented by Sol J. Levy, chairman of the Vido-S'ound Cor(Continued on page 6) Columbia Opens 3-Day Sales Meet Here Today Columbia division managers and home office executives will begin a three-day series of meetings at the Savoy Plaza Hotel here today, with Rube Jackter, general sales manager, presiding. A. Montague, vice president in charge of distribution, 11 home office executives, and 11 divi(Continued on page 6) AA Signs with NSS To Make Accessories Allied Artists Pictures Co. has concluded a three year agreement with National Screen Service to handle the complete manufacture and distribution of the film company's posters and accessories on a world wide basis, (Continued on page 7) For Sept. 12 Meeting Call for Showdown with Dissidents Garners Wide Industry Approval A proxy contest for control of Loew's, Inc. became a certainty yesterday with the disclosure by Joseph R. Vogel, president, that the corporation had Mere Aug. 12-29 International Telemeter Corporation, a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures, announced yesterday that it will conduct public demonstrations of the Telemeter closed circuit pay television system at the Savoy Plaza Hotel here from August 12 through August 29. Louis A. Novins, vice-president and general manager of Telemeter, announced that invitations to the showings will be sent to the press, leaders in sports, the entertainment fields, including motion picture executives and exhibitors, the legitimate theatre, the television industry, financial houses, technical and engineering groups, talent guilds, labor groups, educators, various public officials and others. "It is significant that Telemeter is the only closed circuit pay television system that has been demonstrated publicly thus far," Novins ( Continued on page 10 ) formally filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission in Washing ton p relimi nary copies of proxy statements, a s well as preliminary copies of a notice of a special meeting of stockholders to be held at company headquarters here on Sept. 12. The company will actively solicit proxies of its stockholders as soon as the forms have received S.E.C. approval. It is assumed that the Joseph R. Tomlinson-Stanley Meyer-Louis B. Mayer dissident faction also will file (Continued on page 7) Joseph R. Vogel Universale Second Neighborhood First Run Program in Chicago Sets Hot $130,000 Pace Special to THE DAILY CHICAGO, July 23.-Twer»ty-two neighborhood theatres here playing Universal's "Night Passage" and "The Kettles on Old McDonald's Farm" in a continuation of the distributor's plan of selling first run in the city to other than Loop pre-release theatres, this week will gross close to $130,000. The figure is considered superlative for the situations involved and compares with the older established line-up of two downtown and 10 drive-in theatre combination in Los Angeles which did $130,000 with a simultaneous first run booking of Universal's popular Audie Murphy starrer, "To Hell and Back." Universal inaugurated the plan here last week with "Tammy and the Bachelor" and "The Midnight Story" which played 21 neighborhood theatres first run and grossed approximately $110,000. Circuits 'Wait, See' Pay-TV Developments The majority of theatre circuits are adopting a "wait and see" policy with respect to pay-TV, according to a check made of major circuits with headquarters in the New York area. While spokesmen generally decline to take any pro or con position on the issue at this time, it is apparent that exhibitors are watching West Coast developments very closely. It is expected that wired television (Continued on page 10) Television Today -r