Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1959)

|f, February 27, 1959 Motion Picture Daily 3 ew's Studying Mansion: Yogel w's, Inc., is actively studying f ways" of increasing the "scale of the company, and has iny conversations on the subeph R. Vogel, president, said ay in reply to a question put by a stockholder at the cornannual meeting, tockholder wanted to know eration is being given by the to acquisitions of other comor mergers. Vogel, replying in Srmative, noted that directors build up the company's cash )ueried on Ad Budget dier stockholder wanted to vhat Loew's advertising-promo cpenses were by comparison [jecent years. Robert O'Brien, r, replied that the budget for ncluding salaries, was $5,292,against $6,317,000 for 1957. :ar it is $4,800,000, of which S600,000 is for salaries, art :tc. ring to another question, VoContinental Oil of Calidoes not have drilling rights oil on the Culver City studio but added a deal is exto be closed in about three Jering another stockholder, he liam Wyler will receive "a i?rcentage" of "Ben Hur" earnthe remainder is the com New Era for Loew's Looms; Amity Ahead ers Reelected Continued from page 1 ) rien, Benjamin Melniker, BenThau, E. J. Mannix, Joseph vice-presidents; Joseph Macretary; Irving Greenfield, assecretary; William Harrison, Her and assistant treasurer; ttenberg, assistant secretary; hadler and Jason Rabinovitz, treasurers, min Thau, vice-president, had ontract as administrative asapproved by the board. He tinue to work in close assowith Sol Siegel, production Idition, all members of the V s executive committee were a. et' Theatre Bow Goes to Dallas Special to THE DAILY AS, Feb. 26. Following gUl *ouncement that Mrs. Opal of this city has won the na>ntest placing the world preColumbia Pictures' "Gidget" ome on March 17, Interstate asked for the first theatre of the CinemaScope feature c< d it for the Palace Theatre March 19. day's Dallas Morning News b victory of the Dallas woman :g ; news, with picture. ( Continued from page 1 ) ful proxy contest to seize control of the board. Liquidation of Loew'sMGM was widely regarded throughout the industry as one of the goals of Tomlinson and his supporters. Election of the new board promises a normal basis for operation of the company which will be separated from Loew's Theatres formally on March 12. Joseph R. Vogel, president, told the stockholders again that all departments of the company are now operating on a profitable basis and that consolidated net earnings for the first six months of the current fiscal year which will end on March 12 will be in excess of $5,000,000, or about $1 per share, compared with 10 cents per share for the corresponding period a year ago. Prospects for the remainder of this fiscal year indicate it will be the best in the past 10 years for the company. Points to Academy Awards He noted with pride the company's 24 nominations for seven pictures for 1958 Academy Awards, emphasizing that it comes at a time when the company's production operations have been returned to the black after a period of heavy losses. Vogel told the meeting that although at a cost of nearly $15 millions, which is about $1 million over budget, "Ben Hur" will prove a valuable long term investment which will be reflected in company earnings for many years to come. He cited Paramount's experience to date with "The Ten Commandments," which he said has grossed about $50 millions and will continue to produce earnings for a long time. "Ben Hur," which he said will have its premiere late this year, will do "at least as well." It was patently a far different story than Loew's stockholders heard at their turbulent annual meeting a year ago and it evoked repeated praise of Vogel, the board and management from stockholders present at yesterday's meeting, which lasted about two and one-half hours and was attended by several hundred shareholders who occupied most of the orchestra in Loew's 72d Street Theatre where the meeting was held. Modest Regarding 'Accolades' The compliments to management became so numerous that Vogel several times reminded the shareholders that he and other company officers were there to answer questions, not to listen to compliments. At one point before recognizing a speaker, Vogel asked if it was his intention to give management "another accolade" or to seek information, adding that if it was the former he would prefer to save time by not hearing it. The strong turnout was surprising in view of the fact that the stockholders had attended a special meeting at the same place on Tuesday at which they voted overwhelmingly for management's proposal to end the cumulative voting system in the election of company directors as a means of avoiding further strife and distraction on the board and within the company. Voting yesterday on the straight ballot method, the shareholders elected the following to the board: Ellsworth C. Alvord, Omar N. Bradley, Bennett Cerf, Nathan Cummings, Ira Cuilden, George L. Killion, J. Howard McGrath, Benjamin Melniker, Robert H. O'Brien, William A. Parker, Philip A. Roth, Charles H. Silver, John I. Snyder, Jr., John L. Sullivan and Vogel. Two Gilberts Heard Expressions of criticism and opposition were dominated by Mrs. Wilma Soss, president of the Association of Women Shareholders, and John Gilbert, professional stockholder, who with a brother, Louis, reportedly attends more than 200 company stockholder meetings annually. Both proposed adjournment of yesterday's meeting at the outset, on the grounds that the proxy statement had provided stockholders with incomplete information on several of the directors. They singled out Nathan Cummings, largest individual stockholder in Loew's, because three years ago as head of United Dye and Chemical, he had sold control of Bon Ami to Alexander Guterma, currently facing S.E.C. charges. Mrs. Soss charged that Cummings is "interested in capital gains, not dividends," and insisted on knowing whether he intended to retain his Loew's holdings or dispose of them. Vogel, who said he had requested Cummings, in the interest of timesaving, not to speak at the meeting, said he had asked Cummings and had been told he has no intention at this time of selling. Vogel added that, if two years or so from now Cummings for any reason disapproved of the company's policies, management or prospects, lie might sell his stock, "as any other stockholder might." Mrs. Soss and Gilbert refused to be placated over Cummings' silence and insisted they wanted the "record to show that lie refused to answer their questions." Cummings Answers Cummings eventually went to a microphone and said, "I have great confidence in this company and its management. This is a great team. Please, let them run their business. Don't interfere with them." Another stockholder arose to criticize Mrs. Soss and Gilbert as "two people who have been dominating this meeting and thereby preventing constructive shareholders from taking the floor to elicit useful information." He said their manner of "insulting those who have done such a magnificent job for this company" reminded him of the way Communist minorities (Continued on page 5) seventeen magazine readers' award Picture of the )/ear 1Q58 THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI A Sam Spiegel Production • Released by Columbia Pictures SELECTED BY SEVENTEEN READERS FROM THE MAQAZINE'S 1958 PICTURES OF THE MONTH