The Exhibitor (1954)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 15 "Blue" Again Wins Jersey City Argument JERSEY CITY, N. J.— The way was cleared for the second time last week for the exhibition of UA’s “The Moon Is Blue” as Hudson County Court Judge George P. Naame dismissed the “obscenity” complaint of the Jersey City Commissioner of Public Safety and reversed the $100 fine against Ar¬ thur Manfredonia, manager, Stanley. This marked the second court vic¬ tory of the Stanley and Manfredonia over the city police. Twin actions were brought after the original booking of the film, but a Hudson County Grand Jury ruled “no bill.” The city then withdrew its indictment, reworded the ordinance, and closed down the show¬ ing for a second time, resulting in the latest court ruling. WB Pictures 6-Mos. Net Is $1618,000 New York — Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., (Incorporated 1953) and subsidiary companies report for the six months end¬ ing on Feb. 27, 1954, a net profit of $1,618,000 after provision of $1,700,000 for federal taxes on income and after a pro¬ vision of $250,000 for contingent liabilities, it was announced last week. Film rentals, sales, etc. amounted to $34,059,000. The net profit is equivalent to 65 cents per share on the 2,474,346 shares of com¬ mon stock outstanding or reserved for ex¬ change on Feb. 27, 1954. The corresponding operations of the old Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., after eliminating net profit on domestic theatre operations, for the six months ending on Feb. 28, 1953, resulted in a net profit of $1,333,000 after provision of $1,784,000 for federal taxes on income and after provi¬ sion of $100,000 for contingent liabilities. Columbia Profit Shows Spurt New York — Columbia reported last fortnight a net profit for the 39-week period ended on March 27 of $2,664,000 or $3.26 per share, compared with $310,000 or $0.15 per share for a similar period in 1953. The earnings per share of common stock after preferred stock dividends, for both the current year and the prior year, are based on the 757,843 shares outstand¬ ing on March 27, 1954. For the 39 weeks ended on March 27, Balaban Hopes Industry May Get Together On Its Best Standards L. J. Schlaifer, right, active in distribution since 1912, was recently greeted by United Artists' sales manager B. G. Kranze in the New York home office after being made special representative. Decca Clarifies Stock Matters New York — Decca Records, Inc., an¬ nounced last week, in connection with its current offer to exchange 214 shares of Decca capital stock for each share of Uni¬ versal Pictures Company, Inc., common stock, that Universal stock tendered on or before June 11, the record date of Uni¬ versal’s 25 cent quarterly dividend, will be treated as if received immediately after that date, unless otherwise specified, thus making the owners eligible for the Uni¬ versal dividend. The owners will also be entitled to receive the Decca dividend of 17 V2 cents a share if they retain the Decca stock they receive until the close of business on June 21, the Decca record date. The Universal dividend is payable on June 25, the Decca dividend on June 30. During 1953, Decca paid dividends totaling 70 cents a share. University’s dividends in that year (including an extra) aggregated $1.25 per share on its common stock. The exchange offer expires on June 30. Decca presently owns 66.2 per cent of Universal’s outstanding common stock. 1954, the net profit before income taxes was $6,296,000, compared with $1,071,000 for a similar period in 1953. The estimated income, federal, state, and foreign taxes paid in the 1954 period was $3,632,000, with $761,000 for the same period in 1953. This Was The Week When . . . . WB revealed that it had set over 2000 playdates on “Them,” beginning on June 15. . . . Paramount announced that 15 pictures, including two at work, had been scheduled for the VistaVision cameras. . . . MGM stated that Pete Smith will come out of retire¬ ment to make four more “Pete Smith Specialties” for the 1954-55 release. . . . U-I set the world bow of “Tanganyika” at the SW Stanley, Philadelphia, on June 16. . . . 20thFox’s “Demetrius And The Gladiators” was cited by the motion picture division, General Federation of Women’s Clubs, as the studio’s most important picture for the first half of 1954. . . . Directors of Decca Records, Inc., declared a regular quarterly dividend of 17V2 cents per share on the company’s capital stock. . . . The board of Universal Pictures Company, Inc., declared a quarterly dividend of 25 cents per share on the common stock. . . . Paramount’s “About Mrs. Wallis” was set for a gala formal premiere at the Victoria, New York, on June 27, proceeds going to the Actors Fund. New York — Barney Balaban, address¬ ing Paramount stockholders last week at the company’s annual meeting, expressed the hope that the industry’s research and technical personnel will soon decide on standards combining “the best contribu¬ tions of an all-industry effort,” predicted that Paramount’s 1954 releases will in¬ clude as many hits as last year, and that “during the second half of this year, we shall be delivering a greater concentra¬ tion of outstanding pictures and potential boxoffice hits than ever before in the history of our company.” He added that “each picture must stand on its own merits.” Concerning VistaVision, Balaban stated that demonstrations are being planned for South America, Europe, and the Far East. Balaban stated that arbitration was needed by both exhibition and distribu¬ tion “to minimize the cost and annoyance of unneccessary litigation.” The Paramount chief executive also announced a change of policy in quarterly dividend payments, with stockholders re¬ ceiving them earlier in the month than formerly. In answer to queries, Balaban stated that Paramount’s foreign business has in¬ creased, the company must make profitsharing deals to obtain the services of certain talent, if more persons could be induced to produce good pictures it would be a contribution to the entire industry as well as . averting a possible product shortage, the company would not hesitate to turn out films for TV, but has no plans of selling any pictures for TV showings, and that he had no prejudice against a woman serving as a company director. Balaban said that the company’s inter¬ est in International Telemeter Corporation would amount to about 80 per cent of its outstanding stock if the conversion privi¬ lege in convertible notes is exercised. Palm Springs, Cal., experiments with Telemeter subscription TV were de¬ scribed by Balaban as successful. It was also reported that Paramount has sold 285,000 shares of common stock in Famous Players Canadian Corporation, reducing its holdings from 67.55 per cent to 51.14 per cent. Stockholders approved a proposal auth¬ orizing the elimination of 125,600 previ¬ ously authorized shares of Paramount common and reduction of capital by $125,600. The change sets the amount of shares at $2,916,912 of $1 par value. All directors were reelected, including Balaban, Adolph Zukor, Paul Raibourn, Y. Frank Freeman, Austin C. Keough, Earl I. McClintock, Maurice Newton, Ed¬ win L. Weisl, A. Conger Goodyear, Stan¬ ton Griffis, Duncan G. Harris, John D. Hertz, and George Weltner. Later, Balaban, Adolph Zukor, chair¬ man of the board, and all other officers were reelected. Griffis, chairman, execu¬ tive committee; Freeeman, Keough, and Raibourn, vice-presidents; James H. Rich¬ ardson, treasurer; Keough, secretary; and Russell Holman, Jacob H. Karp, Arthur Israel, Jr., and Louis A. Novins, assistant secretaries. June 9, 1954