The Exhibitor (1959)

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16 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR July 15, 1959 Non-Theatrical Experts Offer Boxoffice Advice Plenty Of MCM Production Activity With 44 Features In Varying Stages NEW YORK — With 28 major story proper¬ ties in preparation, seven to start during the next three months, three completed last week, and two currently filming, MGM’s forthcom¬ ing production program has been scheduled to maintain a consistently high level of ac¬ tivity through the balance of 1959 and into 1960, it is announced by studio head Sol C. Siegel. In addition, 11 films have been set for re¬ lease, including the biggest production in mo¬ tion picture history, the spectacular “BenHur,” which will world premiere this fall at Loew’s State here. This brings the total of pictures projected and completed to 44, assuring MGM a steady flow of important product well into next year. The following pictures are in final preproduction preparation for filming: “The Gazebo,” starring Glenn Ford, Debbie Rey¬ nolds, and Carl Reiner, to be produced by Lawrence Weingarten for Avon, directed by George Marshall; “The Subterraneans,” star¬ ring Leslie Caron and George Peppard, Arthur Freed Production to be directed by Terry Sanders; “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies,” starring Doris Day, David Niven, and Janis Paige, to be produced by Joe Pasternak for Euterpe, directed by Charles Walters; “Bells Are Ringing,” starring Judy Holliday and Dean Martin, Arthur Freed Production, to be directed by Vincente Minnelli; “Key Witness,” to be produced by Pandro S. Berman for Avon, directed by Phil Karlson; “The Ad¬ ventures of Huckleberry Finn,” to be pro¬ duced by Sam Goldwyn, Jr.; and “The Secret Classroom,” to be produced by Pandro S. Berman for Avon. Also in active work are “Go Naked in the World,” to be produced by Aaron Rosenberg for Areola, directed by Ranald MacDougall; “Lady L.,” Julian Blaustein Production; Edna Ferber’s “Cimarron,” to be produced by Ed¬ mund Grainger; “A Voice at the Back Door,” to be produced by Aaron Rosenberg for Areola; “Platinum High School,” starring Mickey Rooney, an Albert Zugsmith Produc¬ tion; “Recollection Creek,” to be produced by Pandro S. Berman for Avon; “The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters,” to be produced by Lawrence Weingarten for Avon; “The Elsie Janis Story,” starring Shirley MacLaine, to be produced by Joe Pasternak for Euterpe; “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” Julian Blaustein Production; “Ever for Each Other,” to be produced by Pandro S. Berman for Avon; “Unholy Spring,” to be produced by Joseph Pasternak for Euterpe; “Devil May Care, starring Frank Sinatra, Buckingham T.F.T. Corporation, to be produced and di¬ rected by Garson Kanin; “Bridge to the Sun,” Julian Blaustein Production; “Butterfield 8,” starring Elizabeth Taylor, to be produced by Pandro S. Berman for Avon; “Chautauqua,” to be produced by Edmund Grainger; “I Thank a Fool,” to be produced by Karl Tunberg; Sweet Bird of Youth,” to be produced by Pandro S. Berman for Avon; “County Fair,” to be produced by Richard Lyons. Productions to be assigned in the near fu¬ ture are “Spinster,” “The Golden Fleecing,” and “Prisoner in Paradise.” Pictures completed include “Home From the Hill,” starring Robert Mitchum and Eleanor Parker, produced by Edmund Grainger, directed by Vincente Minnelli; “The Time Machine,” starring Rod Taylor, a Galaxy Films Production, produced and di Conn. Exhibs Fight Law Assigning Police To Theatre HARTFORD, CONN. — Paul Tolis and Polycrates Davey, owners, Newington, Newington, Conn., have brought Superior Court suit against the town of Newington and Police Chief William E. Halleran in protest against assignment of policemen to the theatre during performances. They seek to recover 81,024.42 paid in policemen’s salaries, and they want a rul¬ ing on the new public safety ordinance adopted in Newington Nov. 25, 1958. Exhibitors, through counsel — Hartford law firm of Ribicoff and Kotkin — allege that the chief’s action in assigning men to the theatre is “arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law.” Moreover, they charge the ordinance is against the general state statutes in that the chief of police lacked authority to enact such an ordinance. Tollis and Davey want a temporary and final injunction restraining Halleran from assigning police to the theatre. Screen Gems Merged Into Col. Organization HOLLYWOOD — In line with the move of Irving Briskin from Screen Gems to Colum¬ bia Pictures as a vice-president, Samuel J. Briskin, Columbia’s vice-president in charge of studio operations, announces that the en¬ tire west coast Screen Gems operation will be integrated into the overall Columbia stu¬ dio organization. The move, effective immediately, will be gradual in its actual integration. It will bring the Screen Gems operation under the same roof with the parent company. Screen Gems is the wholly -owned television subsidiary of Columbia. Four major departments of Screen Gems, production, story, casting and publicity, will first be integrated within the framework of the existing Columbia studio organization. O'Donnell Selling Two Pix NEW ORLEANS — Robert O’Donnell, nephew of Interstate’s R. J. O’Donnell, left for Atlanta to finalize a deal on two inde¬ pendent pictures he is handling, “Killer Shrews” and “The Great Gila Monster.” Fred Goodrow concluded a deal with him to handle the films in this area. rected by George Pal; “The Last Voyage,” starring Robert Stack, Dorothy Malone, and George Sanders, an Andrew and Virginia Stone Production, produced and directed by Andrew L. Stone. Pictures before the cameras are “Never So Few,” starring Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida, a Canterbury Production, produced by Edmund Grainger, directed by John Sturges; “The Wreck of the Mary Deare,” starring Gary Cooper and Charlton Heston, a Julian Blaustein Production. Completed and scheduled for release are “Ben-Hur,” “North By Northwest,” “It Started With a Kiss,” “Libel,” “The Beat Gen¬ eration,” “The Scapegoat,” “For the First Time,” “The House of the Seven Hawks,” “Tarzan the Ape Man,” “The Big Operator,” “Girls’ Town.” OLD POINT COMFORT, VA.— At the an¬ nual convention of the Virginia Motion Pic¬ ture Association at the Chamberlin Hotel here last fortnight, Paul Roth, vice-president, Roth Enterprises, Silver Springs, Md., was moderator at a session at which the exhibi ¬ tors were told how to increase their business by a panel of non-theatrical experts. The advice was dispensed by R. B. Hill, Jr., partner in Waller and Woodhouse, certified public accountants in Norfolk; Harvey Hud¬ son, manager, radio station WLEE, Richmond; Bill Geitz, program manager, WTAR-TV, Norfolk; Duff Kliewer, president, WVEC-TV, Hampton; Ed Meyer, general manager, radio station WGH, Hampton; and Jack Wright, owner, Wright Advertising Agency, Newport News. Mentioned among the things the theatremen must do is to clean up, keep their seats in good condition, use every conceivable de¬ vice to attract teen-agers and older people, and go out and publicize their theatres to let the public know what they have to offer. Nathan D. Golden, director, Scientific Mo¬ tion Picture and Photographic Products Di¬ vision of the Business and Defense Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, told the exhibitors that he did not see toll-TV emptying the nation’s thea¬ tres. He also differed with those who blame empty theatres on poor product. He said he was unable to tell theatre operators how to meet their competition in any great detail, but “can only stress that your past triumphs resulted from giving the people what they wanted and a comfortable environment in which to enjoy it.” He cited changes in the people’s environment and to the age composi¬ tion of our population, the movement to “suburbia,” and the proportionate number of youngsters and oldsters in our population. “These people will have more money to spend and more leisure in the decade ahead. They will want entertainment and be willing to pay for it. Clarence P. Moore, regional director, Small Business Administration, told the convention that the possibilities for the extension of loans to small exhibitors are very good. He encouraged “the little fellows” to present themselves at the regional office of the SBA and discuss their financial troubles with an eye to applying for financial assistance from the Government to help solve their difficul¬ ties. Roy Richardson, Suffolk, was named presi¬ dent of the group succeeding Syd Gates. Jerome Gordon, Newport News, was named new vice-president. Vice-presidents contin¬ ued in office were R. G. Flanary, Jr., and William Dalke, Jr. Jeff Hofheimer, Norfolk, was elected treasurer; John Broumas, Wash¬ ington, secretary; J. K. Crockett, Virginia Beach, sergeant-at-arms. Carlton Duffus re¬ mains as executive secretary. Ten state district directors and 10 directors at large were elected by the Association. Lessor Takes Fox, Detroit DETROIT — After 20 years of occupancy. National Theatres ceased to be the tenant of the Fox on July 5. Efforts to renegotiate the lease, originally drawn up in 1939, with a 10 year extension which was renewed in 1949, were unsuccess¬ ful. The Woodmount Corporation, owners of the Fox Building, will take over the 5,100seater.