Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1958)

/ednesday, May 21, 1958 Motion Picture Daily |B-PT Blind-Checks fs Own Theatres AB-PT does its own blind-checking I its theatres, the company's stockt)Iders were told yesterday. '> Asked if precautions against disi)nesty among employes having ac!ss to cash are taken, Leonard Goldison said "couples known only to e financial vice-president are conantly traveling about the country, siting our theatres on the lookout If irregularities." If any are found, said, they are reported to the lancial officer and Goldenson would 2, « (lie only a copy of the report, of 4: LB-PT Report I ( Continued from page 1 ) ter all charges, compared with $1,i'9,000 for the corresponding 1957 tiarter. i The meeting, w'hich was well atnded, was uneventful, with stock')Iders' questions running to routine bjects and remaining free of critism or indication of dissatisfaction. The meeting approved a proposal ducing the number of directors from ! to 14, and reelected the following rectors: Earl E. Anderson, A. H. ank, John A. Coleman, E. Chester srsten, Leonard H. Goldenson, Robt H. Hinckley, Robert L. Huffines, ., Sidney M. Markley, Walter P. (arshall, H. Hugh McConnell, Ed'ird J. Noble, James G. Riddell, 'mon B. Siegel and Robert B. Wilby. The directors met subsequently and 'elected all AB-PT officers, semt I Stockholders also approved a resverslo|(ution, proposed by management, tifying the selection of independent 'iditors. There were 3,635,355 shares adveii iipresented at the meeting, or 87.6 r cent of the total outstanding, of ev, » ^r; !■ [ancis lank ;IJ n-; S secreli REVIEW: King Creole aiiihfhich more than 3,316,000 were voted favor of the proposals. Goldenson told the meeting that B-PT's theatres experienced a ;althy upturn in business after the ht of the year, following a depressed feriod last fall, and the 1958 results date "are close to those for the mparable period of 1957. He atibuted the recent improvement to he number of quality pictures that e available." Goldenson reported that AB-PT is fee Parking Policy iterests Stockholders AB-PT stockholders by questions id comments indicated lively inrest at the annual meeting yesterday 1 the free parking policy recently augurated by the Paramount Theai in Times Square. Leonard Goldenson said 200 to 300 istomers use the facility on weeklys and more on weekends. He an'ered one stockholder negatively !io wanted to know if the policy i)uld be extended to the Brooklyn iramount. Wallis — Paramount — Vista Vision Elvis Presley is called upon to act more than he i.s to sing in "King Creole," which is roughly 80 per cent melodrama to 20 per cent musical. There are ten songs, according to the credit sheet, and these are spaced at intervals throughout the picture and range from frenzied rock 'n' roll numbers to subdued love ballads for contrast. The source of the plot is the Harold Robbins novel, "A Stone for Danny Fisher," which told of the trials and tribulations of a boy from the slums on New York's East Side. Producer Hal Wallis had the locale changed to New Orleans, and some location photography— in sharp black-and-white VistaVision— gives the film an exotic background. Indeed the sights and sounds of the French Quarter both by day and night are one of this picture's strongest assets. As for the story which has been devised from Robbins' book, while not the most original of melodramas, it is livelv and eventful most of the way. Danny Fisher has become an ambitious lad from the French Quarter who wants to quit school and start earning money as a night club entertainer against the wishes of his widower father. The son goes his own way; gets involved with racketeers and hoodlums; falls in love with both a "good" girl and a "bad" girl; and eventually convinces his dad there's nothing wrong with singing in a dive on Bourbon Street. In portraying the rebellious and troubled Danny, Presley gives a performance that hardly offers a challenge to Mai^lon Brando, but he has come a long way from "Love Me Tender." And the loyal fans who prefer his voice to his emoting will find him up to par in that respect. Wallis has wisely surrounded him with some exceptional acting talent. There is Carolyn Jones, for instance, who makes the "bad" girl a much more substantial and sympathetic character than the usual racketeer's moll found in gangster pictures. Walter Matthau is also good as the villain who holds her in bondage, and Vic Morrow plays a petty hoodlum with a sinister air. Dolores Hart is appealing as the "good" girl, and Dean Jagger turns in his customarily competent job as the father. List also among the picture's strong points the vigorous direction of Michael Curtiz, an old veteran at this sort of thing, and some snappy dialogue in the script of Herbert Baker and Michael V. Gazzo. Incidentallv, "King Creole" is Presley's last picture before entering the Armv, where he is due to remain for two years. Many of his fans will probablv want to see it more tlian once. Running time, 116 minutes. General classification. Release, in July. R. G. continuing its policy of eliminating all but its best theatres and has pruned the total down to 526 houses to date, contrasted with the 651 theatres which its Federal consent decree authorized it to retain. Goldenson said AB-PT's television operations are continuing to gain. Asked by a stockholder about the advisability of maintaining cash reserves in excess of $30,000,000, Goldenson said the expLinsion program covering New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and other localities, together with the desirability of maintaining a flexible position to permit the company to move in any direction as conditions warrant, made the large amount of cash on hand highly advantageous to the company. Such cash, too, he pointed out to a stockholder who wanted to know what AB-PT is doing about color television, will finance entry into that operation as soon as advisable. Goldenson told the stockholders that ABC radio has not been profitable and that streamlining is under way to reduce costs. Am-Par Records, on the other hand, is making fine progress, he said. Oscar Morgan ( Continued from page 1 ) with Hugh Owen, vice-president of Paramount Film Distributing Coi-p., as chairman of arrangements. In accepting the resignation yesterday, George Weltner, Paramount vice-president in charge of world sales, said "Morgan's sage advice, based on many long years of executi\'e sales work in many areas of distribution operations, will be sorely missed." Can't Consider Salary Reductions: Goldenson "Has any consideration been given by management to the subject of salary reductions?" an AB-PT stockholder asked Leonard Goldenson at the annual meeting yesterday. It was the nearest to being a pointed question put to the company president during the placid one hour question-and-answer phase of the meeting. Goldenson replied in the negative, pointing out that the company is in a highly competitive field in which there is a brisk demand for the limited number of experienced executives. "We lost several good men during the past year," he remarked. Hiatus in AB-PT ( Continued from page 1 ) acconiphshed what we set out to do. As a result of our film production, several companies increased their production of the type of film we made. That was our aim." Asked about AB-PT entry into the drive-in theatre field, Goldenson said the company now has approximately 22. "We feel the field is over-expanded," he said, "We hesitate to go in for more drive-ins unless an exceptional opportunity presents itself." Senate Group Favors ( Continued from page 1 ) under a special deputy appointed by the President. The new division would have $250,000,000 to loan to state and local development corporations and to special private small business investment associations, which would in turn provide the longterm loan and equity capital for individual small companies. The measure was a compromise between an Administration plan to give the added authority to SBA as now constituted and a Democratic plan for the establishing of an entirely new government agency to carry out the program. Ad-Publicity Unit ( Continued from page 1 ) of their pictures as far in advance "as is humanly possible." The matter of trade reviews, a growing problem for both distributors and trade pubHcations, was discussed at length at yesterday's meeting of the committee. At the close of the meeting Paul Lazarus, chairman of the committee, wrote to the AMPP committee of studio ad directors for further information on the situation there. The only flight with all de Luxe seats Every night,overnight New York to London Reservations through vonr Travel Agent or BRITISH OVERSEAS AIRWAYS CORPORATION Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, Washington. ii