The Exhibitor (1957)

8 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 11, 1957 Industry May Oppose New Committee Policy Seen Result OF TOA Action; Grass Roots Protest Seen First Step NEW YORK — An all-out fight to persuade Congress to outlaw toll TV, regardless of whether it uses airways or cables appeared likely to become the policy of the Joint Com¬ mittee on Toll TV, reliable sources declared last week. The new fight, which would represent a change in policy for the Committee, which in the past has declared that it had no objec¬ tion to toll TV provided it used closed cir¬ cuits and not the airways, was to be con¬ sidered at a special meeting of the Committee in the Sheraton Astor Hotel on Dec. 9. The meeting was called to get exhibitor opinion on policy and strategy in the toll TV fight, but an informed source told MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR that one question on the agenda was whether or not the Committee would come out now against closed circuit toll TV, such as is used in cable theatres, in addition to its opposition to toll TV using the airways. This new policy is the result of a recent decision by the Theatre Owners of America. The meeting this week may well prove momentous in the history of exhibition, for it will formulate plans for a struggle which could take all of three years. In fact, the Committee strategy appears to be based on the time element. It has in the past won a three-year stay through its actions on toll TV. At present, due to the conditions laid down by the Federal Communications Commission, it has three more years in which to fight before toll TV can be permanently authorized. The first round of this new fight will be in Congress, where support will be offered to bills opposing toll video. The campaign for this will be carried at grass root levels. However, the Committee reportedly is considering the possibility that with the unsettled world situa¬ tion, legislation on toll TV may get lost in the maelstrom of Congressional affairs. Should this happen, the fight will be renewed in the following session, according to plan. The meeting this week invited all exhibitor elements to attend, including the Southern California Theatre Owners. Those who had accepted at press time included the following: Abram F. Myers, Julius Gordon, and Wilbur Snaper, for National Allied; Ernest Stellings, Herman Levy, and Joe Alterman, for Theatre Owners of America; Martin Levine, William Namenson, and Mort Sunshine, for Indepen¬ dent Theatre Owners Association; and Sol Strausberg, Leslie Schwartz, and D. John Phillips, for Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association. AA's Branton Dies HOLLYWOOD — G. Ralph Branton, 61, Allied Artists vice-president, died last fort¬ night of a heart attack in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. He was stricken with what he thought was flu while weekending at Palm Springs and entered the hospital after being driven home. He is survived by his widow and two mar¬ ried daughters. An industry veteran, Branton had previ¬ ously been in the trade paper and exhibition fields in the middle west. Allied Names Committee To Discuss TV Clearance NEW YORK— National Allied last fort¬ night named Jack Kirsch, head, Allied Theatres of Illinois, and Irving Dollinger, chairman of the board, Allied Theatre Owners of New Jersey, as a committee of two to discuss with the film companies the matter of clearance for theatres over television in the exhibition of motion pic¬ tures. It is hoped that “an adequate clearance covering any picture made available to television” may be worked out. It was expected that the committee will urge the adoption of measures to let the public know that a picture will be unavailable for showing on TV before the lapse of a specified period of time after it has com¬ pleted its theatrical exhibition. It is understood that the Theatre Owners of America plan to name a similar com¬ mittee. Defendants Win Suit Charging Conspiracy BOSTON — A jury in the U.S. District Court here found no conspiracy in the anti-trust action of the Park, East Walpole, Mass., against the major film companies, except 20thFox and Paramount, and several exhibitors and leading circuits. The case was tried be¬ fore Judge Charles Wyzanski, who entered a judgment for all the defendants. This is the first time there has been a jury verdict in favor of the defendants in a motion picture anti-trust case in Massachusetts. The action stemmed from a suit brought by Roy Smith, Park owner, who charged con¬ spiracy and asked for trebled damages amounting to $1,000,000. Smith claimed he had been prevented from showing early pic¬ tures from May, 1947, through October, 1952, by reason of conspiracy among the defendants to establish a system of runs and clearances. The case went to the jury under one specific question: to determine whether or not the defendants had conspired against the plaintiff. George S. Ryan, who with W. Bradley Ryan represented the plaintiff, said that the case will be appealed to the Circuit Court of Ap¬ peals. Attorneys for the defense were led by Robert W. Meserve, of Nutter, McClennen, and Fish, Boston; E. Compton Timberlake, New York, representing 11 defendants; Mack Roberts, Boston representing Monogram; Ed¬ ward Raftery, O’Brien, Driscoll, and Raftery. New York, representing RKO Theatres; and Samuel Markell, Goulston and Storrs, Boston, representing Smith Management Company. The exhibitor defendants were M and P Theatres, New England Theatres, Inc., Ameri¬ can Theatres Corporation, Loew’s Boston The¬ atres, Keith Massachusetts Theatres, George A. Giles Theatres, and the latters’ successor, Smith Management Company. The suit against the Giles circuit was dropped when it was settled out of court previous to the trial. Telemeter Demonstration Set NEW YORK — Telemeter will set up a permanent demonstration unit for its pay-asyou-see TV system in the Paramount Build¬ ing here, eastern sales manager Howard G. Minsky announced last week. A To -TV Veteran Groups Join In Fight On Toll TV WASHINGTON — Publicity director Warren Adler last fortnight announced the incorpo¬ rating here of The American Citizens Tele¬ vision Committee as a non-profit educational group to organize nation-wide opposition to pay television. The committee will try to gain the support of organizations and individuals in what is described as a “mammoth grass roots effort to forestall what can become the biggest give-away in the history of the United States.” A number of national organizations repre¬ senting an aggregate membership in the mil¬ lions already have, by resolution, voiced their opposition to pay TV, and Congress has an¬ nounced hearings will take place in January to consider legal bars to the Federal Com¬ munication Commission’s declared intention of issuing experimental licenses. The “ACT” committee will plan to organize local chapters in communities throughout the country and coordinate group education pro¬ grams to reach as many Americans as pos¬ sible. ACT officers will look to interested indus¬ tries and individuals for financing the organ¬ izational and educational work, it was said. Adler is director of public relations for the Jewish War Veterans of the U. S. Associated with him in forming the nonprofit corpora¬ tion are Wilson McCarthy, chief of public re¬ lations, Veterans of Foreign Wars; Venlo Wolfsohn, a former public relations director for AM VETS, national veterans’ organization; and Rosario Scibilia, executive director, Cath¬ olic War Veterans. Harvey Rosenberg is gen¬ eral counsel. French Pact Finalized NEW YORK — A new two-year Franco American film agreement containing an added clause apparently designed to encourage more American screen time and “help” for French films, was announced here last week by the Motion Picture Export Association. The new agreement, which will expire June 30, 1960, continues to provide 110 licenses a year for the import of American films. During the first year, as in the past, these licenses will be allotted by the MPEA. However, in a new clause, the MPEA licenses in the second year are reduced to 70. The re¬ maining 40 permits will then be allotted by the French government, the French motion picture industry, and the MPEA to United States companies which have done the most “to help French films.” The amount of money remittable on rentals remains unchanged, though the increased French film import taxes may decrease it. The agreement was reached by MPEA continental manager Marc M. Spiegel, since resigned, and Jacques Flaud, of the French National Film Center. AA, RKO Distrib Deal NEW YORK — It was jointly announced last fortnight by Norton V. Ritchey, president, Allied Artists International, and Walter Bran¬ son, RKO vice-president in charge of world¬ wide distribution, that RKO Radio had closed a long-term deal to distribute AA product in Australia.