Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1958)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY VOL. 83, NO. 99 NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 1958 TEN CENTS Theatre Results Improve, Goldenson Tells ^Holders Annual Meeting Plan to Secure TV Clearance in AB-PT First Contracts Heads Allied Agenda Half Earnings WASHINGTON, May 20-The board of directors of Allied States Association at their spring meeting in Baltimore May 27 will consider a plan to demand /"^ _ _ ^^d-^d^ extensive clearance over television be incorporated in rental contracts. \_><vf JJ. IIJIJ. U-C Xjt-FvFUL Abram F. Myers, general counsel, in a bulletin issued by Allied headquarters today said some Allied leaders deemed it hopeless to seek further pledges of no more sales to television from company heads and that definite clearance arrangements should now be sought. The length of such clearance, Myers ( Continued on page 6 ) Ad'Pub Unit ReafTims Position on Reviews The MPAA advertising and publicity directors committee has reaffirmed its position that members of the Association will do all in their power to set dates for trade reviews {Continued on page 5) Leonard Goldenson With American Broadcasting-iParamount Theatres' operations for the second quarter to date running ahead of last year in both the theatre and ABC broadcasting d i v isions, the company expects to show some improvement for the six months ending June 28, Leonard Goldenson, p r e s 1dent, told the annual meeting of company stockholders at the Hotel Astor here yesterday. Results for the first quarter, previously announced, were $1,958,000 (Continued on page 5) Hiatus in AB-PT film Production American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres has no plans for further film production "until the proper script comes along," Leonard Goldenson, president, told the company's annual meeting of stockholders here yesterday. Replying to a stockholders' question concerning the status of the company's film production activities, Goldenson reported that four pictures had been completed and "We won't lose anything on those." "Actually," Goldenson said, "we (Continued on page 5) Teleuisiort Oscar Morgan Leaving Paramount on Ma/ 31 Oscar A. Morgan, veteran Paramount Pictures sales executive, will retire from the company at the end of May. He has had 44 years of service in a number of sales management posts. Morgan joined Paramount i n 1914 as manager of its first theatre, the Paramount, in Newark, N. J. Since then he has held positions as branch, district and division manager in many parts of the country, as well as home office executive posts. He was formerly short subjects and newsreel sales manager for many years. A testimonial dinner for the retiring executive is planned on June 3 (Continued on page 5) Oscar Morgan No Further Exchange Closings, Warners Says No further closings of exchanges in the U.S. are contemplated by Warner Brothers, a spokesman for the company declared yesterday. In recent months five exchanges in smaller centers have been closed, including (Continued on page 4) REVIEW: The Old Man and The Sea Hayward — Warner Bros. There has not been so daring an experiment in the making of motion pictmes for vears as that which prodvicer Leland Hayward undertook in bringing Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" to the screen. As a novelette, the world-famed storyteller's work was widely acclaimed by leading critics and won both the Pultizer and Nobel Prizes when it appeared a few years back. It was also a runaway best seller with the number of its readers greatly increased through publication of the full text in "Life" and translations of the book into 42 different languages. Eyervone who read it, howeyer, must have been slightly bewildered to hear it was going to be made into a film. For the plot is slight and restricted and devoid of the elements that ordinarily go into motion pictures. All that happens is that an old fisherman, who lives in a Cuban village isolated from his fellows except for (Continued on page 4) 'Changing for Better' Skouras Sees Many Signs of Business Gain Says Fox '58 Earnings Will Be Up to Last Year By JAMES M. JERAULD Earnings of 20th Century-Fox for 1958 will be comparable with last year and there are many signs of a general pickup in business, Spyros P. Skour a s, president, told the stockholders at a harmonious annual meeting at the home office yesterday. Net earnings for the first quarter of this year were $2,147,711, or 84 cents a share. The net for the first quarter last year was $2,564,686, or 82 cents per share ( Continued on page 4 ) Spyros P. Skouras Ga., Ala. Exhibitors Hear Radio Promotional Plan Special to THE DAILY ATLANTA, May 20.-Samples of the types of recordings planned for use in the radio phase of the industry's business-building campaign were played here today by Maurice Bergman, co-administrator of the campaign, at the joint convention of the Theatre Owners of Georgia and Ala(Continued on page 6) Senate Group Favors Small-Business Loans From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, May 20.-A Senate banking subcommittee today appro\ed a bill for government help in providing long-term loans and equity capital for small business. The measure would set up a new division in the Small Business Administration (Continued on page 5)