Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1960)

MOTION PICTURE DAILY OL.! 88, NO. 79 NEW YORK, U.S.A.. MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 1960 TEN CENTS D1T OKI AL. .egion Resolves — 3ut What? Carolinas' Meet Hy Sherwin Kane rHE American Legion convention action in Miami last week urging members to "use legal means" (gainst exhibitors who refuse to bow j the requests of local Legion posts ) refrain from booking four pictures hose scripts were written by unooperative witnesses before the louse Un-American Activities Comlittee has left industry legal minds -and others— perplexed. The Legion resolution may be inMided either to direct its members, nder local circumstances described, j take whatever legal means may be t their command to discourage paronage of the films when booked, r, and this is what most perplexes he industry legalities, resort to action l courts of law to prevent the showlg of the films in question. If the Legion means the former, |t obviously implies boycott efforts hrough publicity, persuasion, picketag and other action which it or its acal posts are legally privileged to ake. But if the resolution means iniiating actions at law against the films a the courts, industry lawyers are inable to state with certainty what jrounds there may be on which to >ase a suit or suits. No one sees any ;ause of action inherent in the subect matter of the films singled out >y the Legion, nor in the facts of heir authorship. • The suspicion therefore arises that vhat the Legion may have in mind, 1 f not otherwise spelled out, is the nitiating or support of retaliatory ocal action to cause the enactment >f new licensing, censorship or other egulation of offending theatres. Should the latter supposition be ■orrect, and should such efforts sucjeed, the innocent exhibitor (in the ;yes of the Legion) will be penalized (Continued on page 2) Provincial Theatres in France Close To Protest Edict Cutting Ticket Rates Studios Root Special to THE DAILY PARIS, Oct. 20 (By Air Mail)-Theatres in Puy and Haute Loire have closed their doors in protest against the Government order to block admission prices at the March, 1960 level. The ruling meant that exhibitors charging above that level now would have to cut their ticket prices. While theatres in Paris and some of the large cities were given the choice of reducing their prices by 40 per cent one day per week instead of a flat cut, this alternative was not extended to small theatres in the provinces. In Puy exhibitors refused to accept the forced reduction. After a stormv meeting between exhibitor representatives and the Prefect the theatremen decided to close. In the Haute Loire the same situation developed. In this area even the "family cinemas," run by local churches, and therefore charging less than the commercial houses also closed their doors. MP A Defines 'Payola' For Theatrical Films From THE DAILY Bureau WASHINGTON, Oct. 23. Attorneys for the Motion Picture Association and its member companies have proposed an interim interpretation of the new anti-payola law for the use of theatrical film producers. Copies were sent to the Federal Communications Commission for its information. MPA members propose to rely on this opinion pending definitive rulemaking and policy determinations by FCC. The film 'producers will, of course, "participate fully in the forth(Continued on page 7) REVIEW: THE ALAMO Batjac— United Artists— Todd-AO .i R' EMEMBER the Alamo" is the war cry that was generated 125 years ago when 185 men fought gallantly to the death holding the fortress that once was a mission against insurmountable odds, in the cause of freedom. It is a cry that has lasted through many heroic pages of American history, and one that has been made more vivid once aaain with John Wayne's dedicated production of "The Alamo." The millions who are destined to view this motion picture are certain to remember "The Alamo." For here is a motion picture that has met and conquered the task ot putting on film one of the most significant battles in the early history of the United States. True, it depicts in magnificent fashion, the 13 days of savage fighting, the indomitable courage of the 185 men who acquitted themselves with unbelievable bravery in fighting off the advance of General Santa Ana's Mexican army of 7,000 trained soldiers. But it offers much more than that: it is a motion picture that has something for everyone Lustv humor, a tear or two, tender romance, high drama and thunder (Continued on page 6) For Pay-TV, Theatres Told Redstone Sees 'Greatest Danger' in Circumstance Special to THE DAILY RALEIGH, N. C, Oct. 23.-"Hollywood wants to go pay-tv," exhibitors at the 48th annual convention of the Theatre Owners of North and South Carolina will be told in an address to be delivered by Sumner M. Redstone of Northeast Drive-Ins, Boston, tomorrow morning. In this development are to be found "the seeds of theatre exhibition's greatest danger," Redstone will (Continued on page 3) F CC's Pay-TV Hearing To Stress 'Programs' By E. H. KAHN WASHINGTON, Oct. 23. Clearing its slate of petitions for and against the proposed trial of pay-tv in Hartford, Conn., the Federal Communications Commission made it clear that programming will be an element that it will consider. In doing so, FCC implied that it (Continued on page 6) Yowell Named 20th-Fox O.C. Branch Manager Morris Yowell has been promoted to branch manager of the 20th CenturyFox Oklahoma City office effective Nov. 1, general sales manager Glenn Norris announced over the weekend. Yowell replaces Marion Osborne, who retires on that date. The new branch (Continued on page 2) TELEVISION TODAY— page 7 LABORATORIES, INC. NEW YORK AND HOLLYWOOD Comp/ete facilities for every film need in black and w/i/fe or co/or