Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1958)

QP OL. 83, NO. 1 NEW YORK, U.S.A., THURSDAY, JANUARY 2, 1958 TEN CENTS Surprise Move Studios, Too elemovies Vlade Separate From Theatres Video Splits Companies; Wallace Appointed Head Special to THE DAILY BARTLESVILLE, Okla., Jan. LL'ideo Circuit officials, in a surprise mnouncement, split their telemovie iperations in this city from their conditional theatre operations. The two lave been conducted jointly since the • tart of telemovies last Sept. 1. Telemovies will be operated independently of conventional theatres and a ill have no connection, except perlaps, on a competitive basis. Wayne \Yallace, who was named temporary nanager of the experiment, has been )fficially named to head the project, lie replaced Phil Hayes, who resigned Pec. 10. Wallace, known throughout the (Continued on page 2) Over 800 TV Stations Now Authorized by FCC From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Jan. 1 More than 800 television stations are now authorized. Federal Communications Commission chairman John C. Doerfer declared in a year-end statement. He said over 650 of these are commercial, over 100 are translators, and oyer 50 are educational. About 3,300 AM radio stations are (Continued on page 4) Drive-in Owners in Albany Area See Bright Year; Praise 'Spacing' Joint Use of Special to THE DAILY K Q ^ ^ „ T ALBANY, Jan. 1— Area drive-in owners predict another profitable year _Li _\_ \^ U fg. 11 £L O AS in 1958. Some of them qualify the prophecy with "If the weather is favpr C able, and if the present business contraction does not persist until June 'E^C^ L'k. I'll d Television Today -ve 'High Society' Top U.K. Money-Maker in 1957 From THE DAILY Bureau LONDON, Jan. 1-MGM's "High Society" was the top money-making film in Great Britain during 1957, according to a poll conducted by Quigley Publications. Nine British and six American films made up the list of the 15 biggest box office hits of last year. Right behind "High Society" were "Doctor at Large," "The Admirable Crichton" and "The Battle of the River Plate" ("Pursuit of the Graf ( Continued on page 2 ) James Velde Will Speak At Texas Drive-In Meet Special to THE DAILY DALLAS, Jan. 1 James Velde general sales manager of United Artists, will be one of the speakers at the convention of the Texas Drivein Theatre Owners Association conven( Continued on page 2 ) The product outlook, the drivein men agree, is good. The pledge of the distributing companies to "space" top pictures comes as tonic news to them. Robert Lamont, of Lamont Theatres, believes spacing "most important and most beneficial." He also places faith in the "plus" of guarantees from distributors that current and coming pictures will not be seen on television for a specified number of years. "We can 'slug' this in advertising, regularly," he said, "It will help"; ( Continued on page 2 ) WB Still to Emphasize Theatre Films: Warner "The production and distribution of important feature motion pictures for theatrical exhibition continues to be our company's principal purpose" Jack L. Warner, president of Warner Bros., reports in his annual letter to the stockholders released yesterday. "Many of the world's foremost (Continued on page 4) Toronto first-Runs Report Holiday Business Up from 10 to 15% Over Last Year's Figures Special to THE DAILY TORONTO, Jan. 1-Ten first runs reported post-Christmas business up 10 to 15 per cent over the same period in 1956. There were four holdovers, including the two reserved seat attractions, "This Is Cinerama" and "Around the World in 80 Days." Boxing Day was the day after Christmas and this helped, as many business establishments and government offices were closed. Paramount's "The Sad Sack" at the Imperial took 15 per cent more than the attraction last year. J. Arthur Rank's "The Shiralee" was about 70 per cent ahead of last year's take at the Hyland. 20th Century-Fox's "April Love," in a three-house run was strong, as was M-G-M's "Jailhouse Rock." "Blue Murder At St. Trinians" was a powerful draw at the International Cinema. "Legend of the Lost" went 15 per cent over last year's gross at the Carlton. Changes, Economy-Need Seen Forcing Action Soon Consolidation of exchange facilities and backroom operations, which has been a goal of most distribution companies for long, will make substantial headway during 1958, many distribution executives predict. Long talked about and studied, even, by the big as well as little companies, distribution men now see changing business conditions and the need for every possible economy forcing the more reluctant ones to action and bringing about, perhaps within the next six months, several physical distribution amalgamations in a number of important keys. In addition to the increasing need (Continued on page 3) 177 New Theatres in Canada Since 19 54 Special to THE DAILY TORONTO, Jan. 1-Despite the sag in attendance and receipts at Canadian theatres there have been 102 auditorium theatres and 75 drive-ins, all newly-built, in the Dominion since 1954. The total of permanent 35mm motion picture exhibition locations— ranging from the (Continued on page 2) Salt Lake City Area Grosses Up Sharply Special to THE DAILY SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. l.-The holidays brought a strong upsurge in business here and in other principal Utah cities, spokesmen for Intermountain, Paramount and other operators reported. While figures were not disclosed, the improvement was various(Continued on page 2) THIS IS MOTION PICTVRE DAILY'S 40th YEAR