Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1960)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY NEW YORK, U.S.A., TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 1960 TEN CENTS eb. 26 Is Set s Telemeter tarting Date *00 Homes Hooked Up; e 'other 1,000 on Order Special to THE DAILY 3RONTO, Feb. 15. Telemeter |es its bow in west Toronto on Feb. '.t will start with 1,000 sets hooked jid will service another 1,000 subiers as soon as possible, 'lies have been running ahead of icity for service and the ad proi in the newspapers had to be ed down. Each ad brings many ntial subscribers through the reof a printed form requesting inflation. he opening ceremonies will be d. Host wul be Larry Henderson, will introduce area, civic and •r notables. jcond showing of the feature film tie suburb, to begin at 8:30 P.M., be followed by a short nightly sreel. Films from several compaare already scheduled as first run ne zone, which has only one audilm theatre, lajor program in the Telemeter ( Continued on page 5 ) lied Artists Profit 46,000 in 26 Weeks From THE DAILY Bureau IOLLYWOOD, Feb. 15.-OperaIs of Allied Artists Pictures and its »lly owned subsidiaries for the 26 ks ended Dec. 26, 1959, as shown the books without audit, resulted i net prolt of $846,000, it was reced by Steve Broidy, president, foling a meeting of the board of {Continued on page 4) tademy Nominates 5 •r Its Foreign Award From THE DAILY Bureau IOLLYWOOD, Feb. 15. Five s nominated for 1959 foreign lange film award of academy of mopicture arts and sciences have |h announced by B. B. Kahane, {Continued on page 5) N.Y. Variety Club Hails Levine for 'Herculean' Feats of Showmanship By SAUL OSTROVE (Picture on Page 4) Joseph E. Levine yesterday was honored as "Showman of the Year" by the New York Variety Club, Tent No. 35, at a special invitational luncheon held for members only at the Astor Hotel here. — _ Levine's "Herculean showmanship achievements" were cited by Chief Barker Harry Brandt, who presented the award, before more than 400 industry leaders and several members of Levine's family. Sharing the dais with Levine, be{Continued on page 4) Approve Minor Changes In Minimum Wage Bill From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Feb. 15. The Senate Labor Committee today met in closed session for about an hour. About half the time was devoted to consideration of the Kennedy (D., Mass.) bill which would subject theatres to the Federal minlimuni wage law. It is understood that the committee unanimously approved six minor technical amendments to the bill. Their nature was unspecified, but the fact that all the committee members present concurred is cited as an indication that the changes are neither controversial nor important. Solon Would Exempt Some from Wage Law Special to THE DAILY DALLAS, Feb. 15.-Sen. Ralph Yarborough (D., Tex.) told banquet guests at the closing of the Texas Drive-In Theatre Owners Ass'n. convention here last week that he favored an exemption from the proposed new federal minimum wage law for thea{Continued on page 4) Trading Ban Extended S.E.C. Charges Discrepancy in Skiatron Filing SE&T Counsel, Replying, Cites Amended Statement Legion Red Charge Is Debated on TV By SYDNEY RECHETNIK The American Legion has no desire to control the employment policies of the motion picture industry and only wished to help the industry, declared Martin B. McKneally, national commander of the Legion, in summing up his organization's position, in a taped unrehearsed debate with independent {Continued on page 5) 'Phantom Censorship' Is Charged on LI. "Phantom censorship" is the label a local exhibitor chose yesterday to describe the practice of a daily newspaper on Long Island which has been amending or deleting portions of ad{Continued on page 4) By E. H. KAHN WASHINGTON, Feb. 15. Attorneys for the Securities and Exchange Commission today put into the record evidence that Kurt H. Widder, director and counsel for Skiatron Electronics and Television, Inc., knew definitely that Matthew M. Fox, president of Skiatron of America, no longer held certain Skiatron stock at a time when he exercised certain options. The evidence was introduced as the {Continued on page 5) Republic to Finance Independent Films From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 15. While Republic Pictures has no plans to resume theatrical film production, it does intend to finance theatrical as well as TV film production by independents, and has three such proposals in negotiation now, according to Victor M. Carter, chairman and president. He added that Republic would have {Continued on page 5) Results of SAG Strike Memphis Censor Board Bans Film As vote Thurs. or Fri. Authority Is Challenged by Lawyers Special to THE DAILY MEMPHIS, Feb. 15.— 'Mrs. Judson McKellar, chairman of the Memphis board of censors, announced today the board has decided to ban "Hideout in the Sun," a film on nudism, despite city attorneys who have said the board has little or no authority. Mrs. McKellar said the board "still has under consideration" the film "Island in the Sun," which was banned by previous censor boards. The current board has refused to pass it so far. Mrs. McKellar said the board had reconsidered and had decided to pass two films, "Jack the Ripper" and {Continued on page 2) Rackmil Expenses Item In 6U' Stockholder Suit Special to THE DAILY WILMINGTON, Feb. 15. A stockholder's suit today was filed in the Court of Chancery here on behalf of Universal Pictures, Inc., against {Continued on page 5) From THE DAILY Bureau HOLLYWOOD, Feb. 15. Results of the Screen Actors Guild membership vote on authorizing SAG negotiators to call a strike against major studios over the major issue of Guild participation in revenue obtained from the sale of post-1948 films to television are expected to be made known on Thursday or Friday of this week. While the membership is expected to approve authorization of a strike by a large majority, the strike call may not be issued immediately or, for that matter, at all in the event negotiations are resumed and progress achieved.