The Exhibitor (1956)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR Loews Net Rises Over Previous Quarter Shurlock Says Code Seal Helps Win World Acceptance For II. S. Films New York — Loew's, Inc., and subsidi¬ aries including theatre subsidiaries, re¬ ports for the 16-week period ended March 15, consolidated net profit after taxes of $1,641,682, equivalent to 31 cents per share, compared with $1,753,102 equiv¬ alent to 34 cents per share in the corre¬ sponding period of the previous year. Gross sales and operating revenues for this period amounted to $52,837,000 com¬ pared with $52,613,000 for the same period of the previous year. Net profit for the 28 weeks ended March 15 amounted to $1,889,843 equiva¬ lent to 36 cents per share, compared with $3,274,451 or 64 cents per share in the corresponding period of the previous year. Gross sales and operating revenues for this period amounted to $87,439,000 com¬ pared with $92,399,000 for the same period of the previous year. Arthur M. Loew, president, stated that the second quarter results represented an improvement in earnings over the first quarter of the current fiscal year. In a letter to the stockholders, Loew re¬ ported that shares of the company’s stock had been recently purchased, pursuant to stock option agreements approved by stockholders, by Arthur M. Loew, 33,000 shares; Charles C. Moskowitz, 15,000 shares; Dore Schary, 50,000 shares; Louis K. Sidney, 18,332 shares; Benjamin Thau, 22,000 shares; and Joseph R. Vogel, 22,500. New York — Plans have been completed to make the “Universal-International 1956 Global Conference,” which gets underway in Hollywood on May 7 with 72 delegates representing 55 countries, U-I foreign, domestic, and studio execu¬ tives, a dynamic expression of the com¬ pany’s global policy in action. An extensive program has been de¬ vised for the five-day Hollywood confer¬ ence, the first in U-I’s history, to famil¬ iarize the overseas delegates with all phases of company policy, operation, and long-range sales and promotion plans for the foi'eign field. Alfred E. Daff, Universal executive vicepresident and president of the foreign subsidiary, Universal-International Films, will preside at the conference, while the sales meetings will be conducted by foreign general manager Americo Aboaf. Included in the “global policy in action” program arranged for the delegates will be the outlining of projected plans for further expansion in the overseas mar¬ kets and the visual presentation of sales and promotion information at the general sessions, tours of the studio to acquaint the delegates with actual production pro¬ cedures and to enable them to see the company’s global talent plan in action, screening of latest product, interviews with the U. S. and foreign press repre¬ sented in Hollywood, and meetings with studio staffers and personalities currently working at the studio. "The Man Who Knew Too Much" This Paramount release, in VistaVision and Technicolor, was made in Morocco and London by that master director, Alfred Hitchcock, and stars Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. It is a money picture of real stature! Taut! Exciting! You’ll grip your seat! After a projection room screen¬ ing, the audience was limp from the prolonged suspense, but applauded vigorously. The foreign locale and type casting add immeasurably to the dramatic impact. This could very well be Hitchcock's all-time best! — J. E. UA Branch In Jacksonville New York — A new exchange office will be opened by United Artists in Jackson¬ ville with Byron Adams, Atlanta branch manager since 1951, taking charge, it was announced last week by James R. Velde, general sales manager. The new office, scheduled to begin operations during the summer, will bring to 33 the total of UA exchanges in the United States and Canada. In addition to Daff and Aboaf, the U. S. contingent will be headed by chairman of the board Nate J. Blumberg, president Milton R. Rackmil, vice-president in charge of production Edward Muhl, vicepresident and general sales manager Charles J. Feldman, and vice-president David Lipton. Attending from the U-I foreign de¬ partment will be assistant foreign man¬ ager Ben M. Cohn, vice-president Felix Sommer, director of publicity Fortunat Baronat, head of the 16mm. department Joseph Mazer, and manager of the service department Irving Weiss. Also included in the U. S. delegation are vice-president of United World Norman Gluck, eastern advertising and publicity manager Charles Simonelli, executive assistant to Lipton, Clark Ramsay, studio publicity director Jack Diamond, production code admin¬ istrator William Gordon, head of the studio foreign publicity Louis Blaine, and head of foreign transportation Maur¬ ice Myron. U-I pictures which the delegates will screen include the Technicolor VistaVision “Away All Boats,” which heads the company lineup, the Technicolor films “Toy Tiger,” “Unguarded Moment,” “Kelly And Me,” “Battle Hymn,” “Istan¬ bul,” “Four Bright Girls” and “Written On The Wind,” and Jose Ferrer’s “The Great Man.” U-I personalities on the coast will act as hosts and hostesses. St. Louis — American motion pictures are assured the major part of world screen time largely because of widespread moral acceptance stemming from the Production Code seal, together with ag¬ gressive promotion and technical know¬ how, according to Geoffrey Shurlock, Pro¬ duction Code Administration director of the Motion Picture Association of Amer¬ ica, who was speaking at the second annual convention of the Federation of Motion Picture Councils in the SheratonJefterson Hotel last fortnight. In discussing the administration of the Code, Shurlock stated that the aim of the PCA is to “make certain that films are reasonably acceptable, morally, to reason¬ able people.” Hollywood films, he stated, are more uniformly entertaining than foreign product, designed for mass family entertainment in contrast to pictures from abroad which, generally speaking, are intended for adult audiences. Conced¬ ing that Hollywood films “too often” indulge in too much violence, the admin¬ istrator insisted that the fact remains that U. S. product occupies 70 per cent of global playing time because family audi¬ ences everywhere feel they can attend Hollywood movies “without being em¬ barrassed.” Morality and decency are basic in¬ gredients of mass entertainment and they also mean money in the bank, Shurlock asserted, referring to a recent editorial in a French trade magazine which pointed out that a film forbidden to minors risks a loss of 30 per cent in the French market alone. He went on to deplore the misuse of the term “adult” in classifying film fare, stating that “an adult picture ought to mean one which appeals directly to the growup mentality,” instead of some¬ thing furtive, sure to appeal to adolescents. At the same time, he was careful to distinguish between violence and bru¬ tality in Hollywood product, describing the first as “a valid element of drama,” whereas brutality is the over-emphasis of details which, he predicted, Hollywood will do away with. In the course of the convention, The Federation went on record urging pro¬ ducers to curtail film violence and bru¬ tality and passed a resolution opposing legal censorship and supporting the MPAA in its program of voluntary self¬ regulation. Cinema Lodge Seeks 1,000 New York — Increase of membership to 1,000 in the next year is the goal of the Cinema Lodge B'nai B’rith, retiring Lodge president Max Youngstein announced last week at the president’s luncheon in the Sheraton Astor Hotel when the new officers, headed by president Robert Sha¬ piro, were instated. Youngstein was presented with a piece of luggage honoring his tenure as presi¬ dent by Harry Brandt, and he received also a citation from the Metropolitan Council of B’nai B’rith and a citation from Sammy Davis, Jr., for his work on behalf of the Jewish National Home for Asthmatic Children in Denver. Plans For U-ls First Global Meet Promise Busy Week For Foreign Reps May 2, 1956