Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1959)

y. April 21, 1959 Motion Picture Daily •edple iour Peyser, vice-president of ; Artists, has been named a lr of the board of directors of Telefilms, Toronto. He suciliot Hvman. □ in Levine, Brandt Theatres ve, was chairman of the comwhich yesterday honored SydHellenbrand, prominent leader li B'rith, at the Wilkie Memoilding here. □ ter Reade, Jr., is now operating he Sunset and 9-W drive-ins igston, N. Y. He took over the from Lamont Theatres, Al □ Lewis has resigned as manKeith's 105th Theatre, Cleve• o join Universal Pictures there alesman He succeeds Maurice erg who has resigned to return sburgh. □ Holmes, booker in Detroit for Vista, has moved to United there as head booker. He has eplaced in his former post by a Saltzmen of Cleveland. □ Carrie Rodgers, long-time seein the Warner Brothers office any, N. Y., was honored upon •tirement with a dinner and Irs. Rodgers, with WB for 36 is being replaced by Mrs. Helen We. ring May 9 on NT ikholder's Suil Special to THE DAILY ^MINGTON, Del., April 20.ing has been set here on May he Court of Chancery on sett of a suit by Sarah H. Helfand, blder in National Theatres, | the circuit, Elmer C. Rhoden, irmer President, and others. Li has denied allegations in the ■ted complaint and asked Judglismissing it. settlement provides that Rhojrminate a lease on the Esquire te Building in Kansas City, Mo., ;bate payments made by Fox ri Theatre Co., a subsidiary of lidwest Theatres, an NT sub. for rent on the building. It oecifies that Rhoden and NT |nto an agreement to cancel a fct with Rhoden and option tents between the parties, ement also calls for Rhoden to i 3 a new lease to Fox Missouri e Co. covering parking across ceet from the Uptown Theatre isas City and that NT pay exallowed to plaintiff by the The amended complaint would nissed with prejudice, settlement notice to stockhold, 'NT states that the terms have Upproved by the NT board as ]! in the company's "best in Adams to Stay Full Term as Head of Allied (Continued from page 1) themselves to perform necessary adtional tasks to relieve Adams as much as possible, Allied said, and Adams in turn assured them he would be available for consultation on matters of importance. He will be represented at the May 12 meeting of ACE witii a Motion Picture Ass'n. committee by one or both of his alternates, Jack Kirsch and Irving Dollinger. Allied's interim convention will be held in Miami Beach on Dec. 6, 7 and 8 of this year, the board an nounced. The regular spring board meeting, scheduled for May 11 and 12 in Boston, was cancelled and holding a summer meeting was left to the discretion of the president and the chairman of the board. The board stated that although it was disappointed by the five-month delay in putting ACE into operation and in arranging for a summit conference, it was nevertheless gratified that a meeting including participation by three top executives of production and distribution has been scheduled Soviet Film Deal Is Delayed Again Complications of both a practial and technical nature continue to beset the State Department's film exchange agreement with the Soviet, suggesting that the projected Washington and Moscow state premieres still are well in the future. Inquiry here this week revealed that one of the practical matters contributing to the delay is that of taxing the Soviet films purchased in the exchange agreement on their entry here. The State Department's cultural exchange agreement in its application to the Hollywood-Soviet pact stipulates that there shall be no taxes on the purchase prices of the films which come under the agreement. Resolution Seen Near However, there is a Federal tax of 30 per cent on the income of imported films in this country. State now is endeavoring to work out with the Treasury Department an exemption for the Soviet films. Such things seem to be more expeditiously arranged in Moscow. If the state says, "No tax," that ends it. In Washington it becomes a problem for discussion and study, one that only now is in process of being resolved. Earlier, Moscow was responsible for extended delay while making its selection of the 10 Hollywood films. After that will come negotiations of terms and conditions of distribution and exhibition of the films in the agreement. An example of the technical problems involved is the current uncertainty whether the color films included in the Hollywood-Moscow exchange can be adapted to exhibition in the respective countries. Strips of color test film are being exchanged in an effort to pinpoint and attempt to solve the technical problems. These include sprocket hole spacings and other projection fitting aspects. Drawing for Films Likely Once obstacles such as these have been removed it is expected one each of the seven Soviet films in the agreement will be taken by an American company for distribution here. Who gets which picture may be determined by a drawing conducted by Motion Picture Export Ass'n. There Allied Favors (Continued from page 1) pooled locally for promotion endeavor. Exhibitor contributions to the business-building campaign fund aggregated about $166,000. Expenses to date are not known but are believed to be nominal. The fund is in custody of a special business-building committee and records of contributors are intact. The b-b campaign was not a COMPO project but COMPO helped with details. Exhibitor Money Insufficient The project was abandoned when exhibitors failed to raise their half of the $2,300,000 b-b campaign budgets and distributors, who were to contribute the other half, would not agree to a piecemeal campaign limited to radio promotion. Nominate Two for Board of AB-PT Two leading industrialists have been designated as nominees for directors of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. for the coming year. Those nominated by management are Joseph A. Martino, president of National Lead Company and Alger B. Chapman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Beech-Nut Life Savers Inc. 'Porgy' Box Office Set A special group sales office has been opened at the Warner Theatre on Broadway to handle requests for group tickets and theatre parties for Samuel Goldwyn's "Porgy and Bess," which world premieres there on June 24. Columbia Pictures, distributors of "Porgy and Bess," has appointed Myron P. Weinberg to head the group sales office at the Warner Theatre. upon, prolonged discussions are likely to ensue among the companies over the terms and conditions involved in the handling of each picture. Just when the proposed state premieres will occur still is unpredictable. Already, several time schedules mapped out for effectuating the exchange agreement have been lost sight of. for May 12. The board expressed the hope that helpful solutions would be found without delay. The board declared that it had reviewed "territory by territory" the "white paper" campaign to obtain Congressional action for what Allied terms securing enforcement of the Paramount case decree by the Department of Justice. The board announced that it had "renewed its faith in and approval of the 'white paper' campaign." Seek More UA 'Clarification' Allied's directors expressed the hope that United Artists would issue "another and more explicit statement" on its plan to stop adjusting film rentals after the conclusion of an engagement. The board said it felt that the "statement of clarification" made by William J. Heineman, U.A. vice-president in charge of distribution, "is inadequate to reassure exhibitors who were shocked and disturbed by his original statement." In announcing the U.A. policy publicly, the board said, Heineman "imputed unfair or unethical practices to exhibitors." The need for adjustments based on performance, the board went on, "springs from the unrealistic pricing policies of the film companies and adjustment before payment is necessary when pictures are grossly overpriced to prevent? serious impairment of the exhibitors' working capital." Basle Case Discussed The adoption of new distribution methods in the Pittsburgh area as a result of the Basle case, was thoroughly discussed by the board, which assured Pittsburgh exhibitors that Allied would support and assist them in every way. Morris M. Finkel, Allied director from Western Pennsylvania, told the board it was the view of counsel retained by the Pittsburgh exhibitors that the steps taken by distributors involving "arbitrary zoning of theatres" and "the institution of competitive bidding where it never existed before," go far beyond the requirements of the Basle decree. The board expressed apprehension that Pittsburgh "is being used as a guinea pig." If distributors succeed "in forcing compulsory competitive bidding throughout the area, with higher film rentals and a reduction in the number of prints, they will use the same tactics in other cities," the board said. The board also protested a reported increase in certain National Screen Service charges. filmack i TWO PLANTS ►