Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1959)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY 35, NO. 77 NEW YORK, U.S.A., THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 1959 TEN CENTS Affected . Exhibitors Iganize Vs. lue Laws' j Means of Voiding 1 on Sunday Shows Special to THE DAILY j^RISBURG, Pa., April 22.liwork to amend in some way | K ama's "blue laws" to permit ).• shows in the state, other than erendum at elections as now d, was laid here yesterday at uj :ing of Pennsylvania exhibitors. 4 her discussion on strategy to rei le state law prohibiting exhibi: motion pictures in theatres on will be held at a meeting of w]\-organized group, tentativehe known as the Pennsylvania l Picture Ass'n., planned withnext two weeks, exact date of will be announced later, pokesman for the group estithat approximately 100 motion (Continued on page 3) fur/ to Have Radio ion, Bowling Alley Century Circuit, which optheatres in Brooklyn and Long is presently constructing a Dan bowling center and recently ed an upstate New York radio i, president Leslie R. Schwartz .need yesterday. ' bowling center, which will feai0 lanes, will be in Huntington, where Century currently op(Continued on page 5) ■>t Coast Sales *s Set by U.A. Ham J. Heineman, United Artice-president in charge of dision, and James R. Velde, genales manager, will hold a series es meetings in the Los AngelesFrancisco area to set distribution ti on UA's forthcoming release Continued on page 3) [.VISION TODAY— page 5 Compo's Annual Meeting In N. Y. in Mid-May The annual meeting of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations will be held here in mid-May, the specific date to be cleared by the Compo triumvirate in a few days. Reports on financing, planned activities for the year and other matters will be on the agenda for the meeting. Meanwhile, collections and pledges of exhibitors' dues to Compo are reported to be continuing in good volume. The dues, being solicited by film salesmen in all exchange areas, are matched by distribution to provide Compo's financing. Registered Features in Britain Show Decrease From THE DAILY Bureau LONDON, April 22.-While both British and foreign feature film registrations for 1958-59 showed a sharp drop compared with corresponding figures for the previous year, British secondary features and short subjects increased slightly, the Board of Trade reports. There were 264 foreign features of 6,500 feet or more in length, as (Continued on page 6) New 'Tarzan' Concept Seeks Wider Audience From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, April 22. "Tarzan's Greatest Adventure," which Paramount will release June 15, will offer a new concept of the famous Edgar Rice Burroughs character to interest the adult audience as we'll as (Continued on page 2) Publicists Ask Walsh Aid in MPAA Parley From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, April 22. The Publicists Association, IATSE Local 818, has petitioned IA president Richard Walsh for personal assistance in concluding its contract negotiations with the Motion Picture Producers Association and the Alliance of Television Film Producers. The deadlock in the negotiations centers around the sub-contracting clause, with the publicists insisting upon a clause calling for all sub-contracted publicity to be handled by union agencies under the same wage scale and working conditions existing in the studios. Allied-TOA Exhibitors At Odds on B-B Fund Disposal Cash or Materials? Poll Of Donors May Decide 'Chatterley' Case Before High Court in Capital Special to THE DAILY ALBANY, N. Y., April 22. Dr. Charles A. Brind, Jr., Regents counsel; John P. Jehu, of the State Education Department's law division, and Dr. Hugh M. Flick, former director of the motion picture division and present executive assistant to commissioner James E. Allen, Jr., left here by (Continued on page 6) L. Preston, Former N.Y. Theatre Owners of America and Alllied States are in opposite corners over what disposition is to be made of the remnants of the ill-fated, allindustry business-building campaign. The Allied board at its special meeting in Washington this week voted for the return of exhibitors' contributions to the b-b fund, the money to be pooled and used for local or regional business promotion. TOA, on the other hand, has proposed that campaign materials, including records made for radio broadcasts, be made available to exhibitors, also for individual, local promotions. This would entail additional expenditures, those closely associated with the b-b campaign believe, since additional records would have to be made (Continued on page 2) Exhibitor, Dies in Miami Consolidated Theatres' Special to THE DAILY MIAMI, April 22.-Lew Preston, 67, retired Interboro Circuit and Fox Metropolitan Playhouses executive, who has been living at North Miami Beach for the past two and one-half years, died here last night at the Mt. Sinai Hospital after a prolonged illness. The body is being flown to (Continued on page 3) MPEA Told Indonesia Release of More '53 Funds Achieves Near-current Basis Withdrawal from Indonesia of virtually all remaining blocked funds through 1953 was reported to the board of directors of the Motion Picture Export Assn. at its meeting here yesterday. Conversion of the 1953 funds puts the companies on a virtual current basis in Indonesia, since interim revenues were brought out previously. Only a small balance still remains of the 1953 blocked funds. Among other matters acted on by the board was the approval of budgets for MPEA's foreign offices, as sub mitted by the budget committee. No details of the budget were disclosed. The board also authorized MPEA to continue in business in the Philippines on a gold withdrawal and conversion basis for another six months. There was some discussion of the troubled Spanish import permit situation but no action was taken. Profit Shows Gain Special to THE DAILY MONTREAL, April 22.-Consolidated Theatres, Ltd., which operates theatres here and in Quebec and St. Hyacinthe, has reported to stockholders that "an improvement in available product" has resulted in a net profit of $110,165 for 1958, as compared with $100,482 for the preceding year. The company has paid its fixed dividend of 50 cents per share on the class "A" shares and a dividend of 20 cents per share on the class "B." 'Jane' Premiere to Help Renovate Boston Church The world premiere of Columbia's "It Happened to Jane," set for the Astor Theatre in Boston on May 12, will be held under the auspices of Monsignor George Kerr for the benefit of the St. Francis de Sales Church, (Continued on page 6)