Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1957)

■! Wednesday, July 24, 1957 Motion Picture Daily 7 GWTW Makes Sixth Showing in West End [. From THE DAILY Bureau LONDON, July 23 David O. Selznick's "Gone With The Wind" has returned to the Ritz, Leicester Square; its wartime home for four years. The picture was recently released on the Odeon Circuit where it Displayed to packed houses. Hence the new London run. til The opening makes the picture's sen sixth appearance in the West End tfland the start of its 247th West End week. Allied Artists ( Continued from page 1 ) Steve Broidy, president of Allied Artists, announced yesterday. "Our new contract with National Screen assures our customers, the world over, of prompt and complete servicing on all items," Broidy said. Prior to signing the new agreement, National Screen distributed, but did not manufacture Allied Artists' accessories. The film company did the manufacturing through various vendors. Negotiations between National Screen and Allied Artists were conducted by Edward Morey, Allied Artists vice-president, and George Dembow, president of National Screen, for his company. Production and distribution of Allied Artists trailers will not be affected by the new pact, inasmuch as they have been distributed in the past by National Screen, and will continue to be handled in the same manner. is' Milwaukee Men Protest 'Commandments' Bids Special to THE DAILY MILWAUKEE, July 23. Exhibitors here are protesting to Paramount against that company's proposal to select three of the 12 de luxe theatres, one in each of three zones, for the openings of "The Ten Commandments." Bids are being asked. Ben Marcus, chairman of the Allied Emergency Defense Committee, called all exhibitors to a lunch for discussion of the problem July 19. Ordinarily these theatres are the top 28-day spots after first run. Resolutions were adopted "condemning" the plan as unfair and recommending that a representative committee of exhibitors meet with Paramount representatives to work out an "orderly method of distribution for this great motion picture" in Milwaukee. RFDA Dual to Cincinnati The Rank Organization's combination program of "Checkpoint" and "The Black Tent" will have a 25-theatre saturation opening in the Cincinnati exchange area on Aug. 13. Loew's Proxy Contest Seen as Certainty ( Continued from page 1 ) the required proxy solicitation forms with the S.E.C. in the near future and will also solicit proxies to be voted at the special meeting. Vogel has called the special meeting to oust Tomlinson, Canadian contractor, and his associate, Meyer, from the board and to seek stockholder authorization to enlarge the board from 13 to 19 members. Vogel said he proposes to submit a slate of directors which will provide a substantial majority for management. He has charged that Tomlinson and Meyer, with the active aid of Mayer, former production head of M-G-M, have waged a campaign of harassment and obstructionism that has endangered the company and the stockholders' investments. Their aim, he said, is to make Meyer president of Loew's, Tomlinson, chairman, and Mayer a paid consultant at the studio. Tomlinson Here by Plane Tomlinson, who arrived here yesterday by plane from his home in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said he has asked for a meeting of the Loew's board next Tuesday. Observers feel that if one is held it probably will be limited to discussion of the agenda for the special meeting of stockholders. Answering questions of reporters, Tomlinson said he is not interested in being chairman of the company's board of directors and denied that he has any candidate for the president. "Those are matters for the board to decide," he said. Tomlinson then declared that he is opposed to Vogel's plan to enlarge the board. "There is no reason for doing it," he said. Regarding the special meeting of stockholders Tomlinson stated that the conclave may have been called because of his request for the board meeting next Tuesday. Meanwhile, Vogel's associates reported that he was swamped with friendly messages throughout yesterday as the trade and public reacted to his bold maneuver in publicly airing the serious discord on the company's board. Industry Seems Behind Vogel Independent canvass of industry reaction yesterday revealed all levels of industry opinion solidly in Vogel's corner. It is well known in the industry that Vogel has made considerable progress since being elected president of Loew's last fall in effecting economies in operation throughout the huge company, in straightening out studio operations and getting new product lined up and in generally improving the company's outlook. The trade also feels that Vogel is entitled to a fair chance to prove himself and that he has not been given that chance yet. He inherited a situation and pictures for which he is not responsible, trade sources point out, and their effects will be felt for the first year of Vogel's tenure. Only in his second year in office will the results of his own policies and actions begin to show their real effects, it is contended. Vogel revealed that the internal situation on the Loew's board re Fashlion Show in Rome To Promote 'Interlude' Herman Kass, Universal Pictures Eastern exploitation manager, and Jerome M. Evans, Eastern promotion manager, will leave here by plane tomorrow for Rome, where they will supervise an international fashion show being staged there Monday as a feature of promotion developed between Universal and iNatlynn Fashions and Bristol-Myers for the new film "Interlude." Several hundred American department stores will participate. The fashion show, which will be held in Rome with Italian models, will be filmed for newsreel coverage. To Open Conn. Film Center on August 1 Special to THE &A1LY HARTFORD, July 22.-An Aug. 1 opening is designated for Connecticut's new film center building, the $500,000, tko-story, National Films Center facility, at DixwelJ Ave. and Benham St. in Hamden. Major distributors are in process of moving from the Meadow St. area in New Haven, which is being earmarked for demolishment as part of. the huge $300,000,000 Connecticut Turnpike development. Boston Exhibitors Protest Wage Scale Special to THE DAILY BOSTON, July 23-A hearing at the State House this morning held by the Minimum Wage Commission on the wage increase recommendations of the amusement and recreation occupations board drew a large representation from top circuits and independents. The new recommendations, originally accepted by the Commission, are 95 cents per hour for all employees except ticket takers and cashiers which would be 90 cents per hour, and ushers which would be 85 cents. At present the scale is 80 cents per hour for all employees. Gahan in Plea James J. Gahan, Jr., attorney and spokesman for Allied Theatres of New England made a strong plea for the rejection of the recommendations. He stated that theatres could not stand the increase at this time and cited the increase in wages since 1952 when the scale was 62M cents per hour. He also stated that the increase in wages was greater than the present increase in the cost of living. suited in the resignations of three directors last week. They were George Brownell, Frank Pace and Ogden Reid. Brownell and Pace were two of management's six board representatives, and Reid was the so-called neutral member of the 13-man board. Tomlinson and Meyer theoretically, if not actually, control the board now, since .they and their four nominees remain, a 6-4 majority. Organizing Meeting Unlikely However; Vogel's call for a special meeting of stockholders is reported to preempt the possibility of the Tomlinson-Meyer faction attempting to stage an organizing meeting of the board to elect new officers in the interim. Observers were confident yesterday that Vogel has been effectively counselled on all phases of his showdown engagement with the TomlinsonMeyer-Mayer faction. In this connection, they recalled that Loew's had retained Louis Nizer, prominent industry attorney of the Phillips, Nizer, Benjamin & Krim legal firm, as special counsel to advise on internal affairs shortly after Tomlinson and Meyer moved into offices with a special staff in the Loew's Building last winter and began a systematic examination of records and documents, such as employment and other contracts. Four Likely to Be Named Indications were that when Vogel submits his new list of 19 candidates for an enlarged board to the special meeting, it might well include the names of some or all of the four Tomlinson-Meyer members. They are Ray Lawson, a director of the Royal Bank of Canada, otherwise known as "Tomlinson's banker"; K. T. Keller, former chairman of Chrysler Corp. and an intimate of L. B. Mayer's; Louis A. Johnson, former Secretary of Defense, who is an attorney for Tomlinson and a former attorney of Mayer's, and Fred F. Florence, chief executive officer of the Republic National Bank of Dallas. It is pointed out that these men not only would provide representation for Tomlinson, who claims to be Loew's largest individual stockholder with some 250,000 shares owned or controlled, but also would comprise a healthy opposition. Tomlinson, a native of Iowa, went to Canada in early manhood and became a citizen after making a fortune in roadbuild ing and other contractor's work. Howes ever, he makes his home in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Son-in-Law of Blumberg Meyer is the son of Fred S. Meyer, in charge of personnel at the 20th Century-Fox studio, and is a son-inlaw of N. J. Blumberg, board chairman of Universal. He was associated with Jack Webb in the production of television programs but other than that is not known to iave had extensive or specialized industry experience.