Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1958)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY OL. 84, NO. 88 NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 1958 TEN CENTS vires Marcus Cohn |RB Rules Ticket Tax Exemption Won't FO A Readies Apply To Advance Sales Before Jan. 1 Sriefs for Pay -TV Fight Uphold Philip Harling Harling Seeks to Enlist Support of Other Groups Theatre Owners of America has reained Marcus Cohn, leading Washington television attorney, to assist in ts campaign to jan pay TV n all its forms. Vnnouncement )f Cohn's asiignment and the fact that le has already itarted work on jriefs and memoranda for presentation at Con gressional learings was made yesterday by. Philip F. Harling, chairman of the TOA payTV committee. Harling was given a mandate at the TOA annual convention in Miami Beach late last month to press the (Continued on page 2) Admission Prices in Large Cities Drop From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Nov. 4.-Motion picture admission prices in large cities dropped during the third quarter of 1958 to the lowest point of the year, the Bureau of Labor statistics reported. The Bureau collects figures quarterly from 18 large cities and adjusts them to reflect trends in the 34 largest cities. It said adult admission prices at ( Continued on page 6 ) Television Today *?• The current admission tax applies to all theatre tickets sold in advance of Jan. 1 for performances after that date, according to John W. S. Littleton, director of the Tax Rulings Division of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue s office in Washington. Details of the ruling were set forth in a letter from Littleton which Charles E. McCarthy, information director of COMPO, received here yesterday. The lettter states that the seller of a theatre ticket in advance of Jan. 1 for a performance after that date may return the cost of the ticket and also the amount of the tax collected, if he so desires. Littleton's letter in full is as follows: "This is in reply to your letter of Sept. 30, 1958, regarding application of admissions tax to advance sales of tickets made prior to Jan. 1, 1959, the effective date of amendments to Code section 4231(1) by Public Law 85859, for performances during 1959 season. "Public Law 85-859, 85th Congress, (Continued on page 2) K.C. Ordinance To Ban 'Garden of Eden' Special to THE DAILY KANSAS CITY, Nov. 4.-The city of Kansas City was in jurisdictional rights in enforcing a municipal ordinance barring the allowing here of the picture, "Garden of Eden," the Kansas City Court of Appeals ruled in effect yesterday. The Dickinson Operating Co., which proposed to exhibit the film, obtained an injunction in tine Jackson County Circuit Court against the city's ( Continued on page 3 ) Lazarus, Youngstein Head JDA Committee Paul Lazarus, Jr., and Max E. Youngstein have accepted posts as chairman and co-chairman, respectively, of the program committee which will spearhead the 1958 campaign of the Joint Defense Appeal, it was announced by Samuel Schneider, chairman of the JDA amusement division. The industry drive for JDA will reach its climax at a luncheon in honor of Robert S. Benjamin, chairman of the board for United Artists, Nov. 12 in the Hotel Astor. Benjamin will receive the 1958 Human Relations Award for "distinguished ( Continued on page 6 ) Jules Stein Here As Univ. Board Meets Jules Stein, chairman of Music Corp. of America, returned to New York yesterday from a European trip aboard the "Queen Elizabeth" and will be available to Universal directors at their meeting here today when they reportedly will consider MCA's offer to purchase the Universal studio property at Universal City, Calif. News of the possible sale maintained market interest in Decca Records stock on Monday, after heavy trading pushed the issue to a new high for the year late last week. While profit taking resulted in a net loss of (Continued on page 6) 'Quality Is AW Hyman Sees No Shortage Of Product German Industry to Promote Films Here By FLOYD STONE With or without government money, German producers plan Film Weeks in this country's cities during 1959, a German industry leader said yesterday. They will be similar to those other national groups have run. They will have two, three, four, perhaps six pictures— the best from a run of about 120. They will feature stars, ( Continued on page 6) Differs with Recent Views \ Points to Longer Runs Edward L. Hyman Pay-TV to Make Debut In Canada Next Fall Special to THE DAILY TORONTO, Nov. 4. Pay TV makes its debut in Canada next fall at London, Ont. Trans Canada Telemeter, subsidiary of Famous Players Canadian Corp., the company which holds the Telemeter franchise in Canada is headed by Eugene Fitzgibbons. A transmitting studio is to be set up in London's Crown Trust building with the transmission itself being handled by Bell Telephone Co. Expressing a view directly opposed to that of many other exhibitors, including several speakers who expressed the opinions of many i n attendance at the recent • Theatre Owners of America annual convention at Miami Beach, Edward L. Hyman, A m erican B r o adcastingP araraount Theatres vicepresident, does not believe there is a product shortage. In an interview with Motion Picture Daily, Hyman said there always is a shortage of high quality, (Continued on page 3) Hyman Hails Hew film Magazines As Boosters The outcropping of motion picture publications for distribution to theatre patrons without charge was welcomed by Edward L. Hyman, American Broadcasting Paramount Theatres vice-president, as "a good thing and certain to stimulate interest in motion pictures and theatres." Hyman was among the first to offer encouragement to this type of pulb(Continued on page 3) Movie Quiz Nights [n Dallas Comeback Special to THE DAILY DALLAS, Nov. 4.^Movie theatre "quiz nights" will have a comeback at the scene of their origin, the Palace Theatre in downtown Dallas, famous for the original Dr. I.Q. show. On Nov. 10 the Wilbur Clark Presents Movie Quiz will flash on the Palace (Continued on page 6)