The Exhibitor (1956)

8 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR MPAA Sweeps Plan Gets Academy Nod "Oscar" Reference Barred; All-Industry Conference To Map Contest Plans, Other Boxoffice Boosters Are Set Hollywood — The Motion Picture Asso¬ ciation of America’s contest promotion plan based on the annual “Oscar” awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was tacitly approved last week by the Academy board of governors which, meeting here, voted to raise no objection to the proposal, an action tanta¬ mount to approval in all but active endorsement. At the same time, the governors made stipulations to the effect that the term “Oscar Sweepstakes” not be used for the contest and that no likeness of the Oscar statuette be used in promotion, pledging themsgelves to no legal opposition if the terms are complied with. The contest proposal was detailed to the governors by Alfred H. Tamarin, chair¬ man of the MPAA merchandising and promotion subcommittee in New York, and by William Hendricks, chairman of the advertising and publicity directors committee here. Tamarin described the Academy’s action as one deserving active support from all segments of the indus¬ try and as one which “may prove his¬ toric” in rallying the industry to the total MPAA program now being formulated. Following the Academy’s vote and the return of Tamarin to New York to report to the MPAA, it was indicated that the business coordinating committee there was preparing to call an all-industry confer¬ ence, possibly before the end of the year, preparatory to launching the contest in February. The integration of the Academy Awards promotion with other projects to build boxoffice was expected to be under¬ taken at the same time, in cooperation with COMPO and Theatre Owners of America which have been investigating similar projects, the best points of which might be combined with the MPAA enter¬ prise. Allied States Association, Independent Theatre Owners Association, Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association, cir¬ cuits, and other groups have indicated they favor any promotion which would build boxoffice, with the result the Acad¬ emy’s nod was interpreted as the final cornerstone necessary upon which to construct the campaign. Rothafel Sees Great Future New York — Despite the grave challenges of the present, the industry faces a “great future,” it was predicted last week by Roxy managing director Robert C. Roth¬ afel, who was speaking as master of cere¬ monies at the 40th annual Christmas luncheon of the Associated Motion Picture Advertisers in the Hotel Piccadilly. The mission of the industry now, he said, is to draw the masses back into the theatres. Seated on the dais, in addition to Roth¬ afel, were Dave Bader, Hans Barnstein, Martin Starr, Lige Brien, Leon Bam¬ berger, and Robert Montgomery. Sarnoff Sees Film Flood As Danger To Television MIAMI, FLA. — David Sarnoff, Board chairman of RCA, in an address at the 30th anniversary celebration of NBC and its affiliates at the American Hotel last fortnight, cautioned the broadcasting industry not to make “national motion picture screens” of the nation’s television sets. He added that the flood of Holly¬ wood feature films finding their way to TV; and the various Government investigations into broadcasting con¬ stituted the main problem of that industry. Sarnoff said that both RCA and NBC were committed to expansion in the field of color TV. Cardinal Spellman Hits "Baby Doll'' From Pulpit New York — Francis Cardinal Spellman last fortnight made an unprecedented at¬ tack on the Warners release, “Baby Doll,” from the pulpit of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. In addition to urging Catholics to “re¬ frain from patronizing this film under pain of sin,” the Cardinal assailed the Production Code Administration for giv¬ ing it a seal and attacked the picture’s advertising as “brazen.” The film had been previously con¬ demned by the Legion of Decency. Said the Cardinal, “It has been sug¬ gested that this action on my part will induce many people to view this picture and thus make it a material success. If this be the case, it will be an indictment of those who defy God’s laws and con¬ tribute to corruption in America.” Producer Elia Kazan stated that “in this country, judgments on matters of thought and taste are not handed down iron-clad from an unchallengeable author¬ ity. People see for themselves and finally judge for themselves . . . I’ll take my chances ...” Neither the MPAA nor Warners would comment on the matter. Hamilton Exits Paramount New York — Following successful launch¬ ing of Cecil B. DeMille’s production, “The Ten Commandments,” Maxwell Hamilton, who has for the past year been coordi¬ nator of promotion on the VistaVision epic, will leave Paramount on Dec. 31 to return to his post as vice-president of Allied Public Relations Associates. This announcement was made by Jerry Pickman, Paramount vice-president in charge of advertising, publicity, and exploitation. RKO Sells Theatre Building New York — Sol A. Schwartz, president, RKO Theatres, Inc., and Samuel Silk and William Halpern jointly announced last week the signing of a contract covering the sale for $4,300,000 of the Keith Build¬ ing property in Cleveland. RKO will con¬ tinue to operate the Palace, which is part of the parcel, under a 21-year lease-back from the new owners. Bel -Air Elects Zabel President , Will Expand New York — Already regarded as one of the most prolific of independent motion picture production companies in Holly¬ wood, Bel-Air Pi'oductions is girding for bigger things with a complete reorganiza¬ tion and plans for ex¬ panding their opera¬ tions. Edwin F. Zabel, recently retired vicepresident and general manager, Fox West Coast Theatres, has been elected president of Bel-Air, with Aub¬ rey Schenck as vicepresident and execu¬ tive producer. Howard W. Koch as vice-president and continuing his producer-director chores, and Herbert Baerwitz as secretary and legal counsel. According to Zabel, the main function of the company will be to continue to provide a minimum of 12 features a year for release through United Artists. How¬ ever, the organization will also move into financing and packaging of productions with outside producers, and will enter the television market in a big way as a major producer. In keeping with the expansion, Bel-Air has already added to its physical facilities at American National Studios by provid¬ ing more space for writers and new per¬ sonnel. Present plans call for strengthen¬ ing all departments to meet the projected plans with special emphasis on advertising, publicity and exploitation for promotion on marketing and distribution of product. One facet of Bel-Air’s plans includes the developing of new talent for both feature film and television projects. Future plans will include production locales in foreign areas throughout the world when scripts call for such backgrounds as integral parts of the stories. Technicolor Runs 5,000,000th Ft. Hollywood— Dr. Herbert T. Kalmus, president and general manager, Techni¬ color Companies, announced that five bil¬ lion feet of film has been processed and manufactured into Technicolor motion picture release prints at the company’s Hollywood plant. For comparative purposes, five billion feet of film would be enough to circle the earth 38 times or to run one motion pic¬ ture theatre projector at the rate of 90 feet per minute for 105 years without stopping. Narcotics Films Planned Hollywood — It was learned last fort¬ night that two independent films now in production will benefit from the Produc¬ tion Code changes in connection with the subiect of narcotics. They are George Glass’ teenage nar¬ cotics expose, “Cloud 9” and Robert E Kent’s “The Story Of Barney Ross,” fighter who licked the narcotics habit. Zabel December 26, 1956