The Exhibitor (1960)

O'Donnell Memorial Research Labs Feature Industry Hospital Plans Glen Alden Searching For New Acquisitions NEW YORK — Albert A. List, chairman and president, Glen Alden Corporation, told stockholders last fortnight that it is “looking for” acquisitions. List told the annual meeting that Glen Alden had some $42,000,000 in cash, mort¬ gages, and notes to invest and was “in a very strong position to acquire . . . but would not be stampeded into it.” Sol A. Schwarts, president, RKO Theatres, Glen Alden’s “largest division,” who acted as meeting chairman, added that no negotiations were underway on possible mergers or acquisitions. The stockholders voted to fix the number of directors at 11 and elected management’s slate of Harry W. Bradbury, Frank Burn¬ side, Ralph E. Case, T. R. Colburn, Milton Hubschman, Wentworth P. Johnson, D. G. Layman, List, Mrs. Vera List, A. H. Parker, Jr., and Schwartz. Some of the stockholders criticized man¬ agement actions and salaries. Schwartz, following the meeting, reported that first-quarter theatre business was a “little better” than in the same period last year. At Dec. 31, 1959, RKO Theatres and its subsidiaries had an interest in 77 theatres, of which 72 were operated by RKO, three were leased, and two were closed. The board, meeting later, declared the regular quarterly dividend of 10 cents per common share payable July 15 to holders of record on July 5. UA's Silver Retires NEW YORK— Milton L. Silver, of United Artists advertising-publicity department, has announced his retirement after 41 years in the motion picture industry. He leaves UA at the end of this month and will devote him¬ self to painting and to the completion of two plays and a novel, now in work. Silver entered the industry in 1919 as treasurer and editor of “Who’s Who On the Screen,” related to the motion picture per¬ sonalities, after U.S. Army service in World War I. He then became managing editor of Movie Magazine for McFadden. In 1925, he joined Universal as a copywriter, and be¬ came director of advertising and exploitation for that company three and one-half years later. He later was special representative for Frank Buck during the making of “Bring ‘Em Back Alive,” and in 1933 joined National Screen Service as advertising manager and trailer editor. Silver is widely known in the industry as an innovator. At National Screen Service, he created the widely known National Screen Baby, which is still a feature of the com¬ pany’s ads. Dems Name Youngstein NEW YORK — Max E. Youngstein, vicepresident, United Artists Corporation, was named chairman of the talent committee for the Democratic Party telethon, it was an¬ nounced last fortnight by Roger L. Stevens, Democratic National Committee finance chair¬ man. Youngstein is organizing a committee of Hollywood and Broadway personalities to re¬ cruit talent for a telethon which will be beamed from WNEW-TV starting at 10 p.m. Sept. 10 and continuing until 4:30 the next afternoon. Byrne, Velde Head Distribs For Hospital Collection NEW YORK — Jack Byrne, MGM general sales manager, will serve as national cochairman of the Distributors Committee in the upcoming Will Rogers Memorial Hospital Audience Collection and Christ¬ mas Seal Drive for 1960-61. He will serve in co-chairmanship with James Velde, United Artists general sales manager, who is continuing in his second consecutive year in the capacity. 10 Chairmen Named For TOA Convention NEW YORK — The appointment of 10 west coast theatre executives as honorary chair¬ men for the 13th annual convention and trade show of the Theatre Owners of America, at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, Sept. 13 to 16, was announced recently by Albert M. Pickus, TOA president. Naming of the 10 men marks a departure from TOA’s normal procedure of appointing a single honorary chairman. Pickus said more men were selected this year because this will be the first time in five years that TOA has held an annual meeting on the west coast, and it was TOA’s desire to honor as many of the exhibitor leaders as possible. The honorary chairmen are, in alphabetical order: Art Adamson, Portland; Abe Blumenfeld, president, Blumenfeld Theatres of San Fran¬ cisco; Will J. Conner, president, Hamrick Theatres of Seattle; Roy Cooper, president, West-Side Valley Theatres of San Francisco; Sherrill Corwin, president, Metropolitan Theatres of Los Angeles; Albert Forman, president, Forman Theatres of Portland; Bur¬ ton I. Jones, Capri, San Diego, Cal.; M. Spen¬ cer Leve, president, NT&T Theatres, Inc., of Los Angeles; J. J. Rosenfield, president, Favorite Theatres of Spokane, Wash.; and Dwight L. Spracher, Seattle. NEW YORK— The Will Rogers Memorial Hospital and Research Laboratories has pro¬ claimed 1960 as the Robert J. O’Donnell Memorial Year, honoring the late chairman of the board of directors of that industry financed and operated institution at Saranac Lake, N. Y. That announcement, made by A. Montague, president of the hospital, at a press confer¬ ence, was coupled with another, which set $1,000,000 as the goal for the Audience Col¬ lections and the 1960-6,1 Christmas Salute Drives to be conducted throughout the na¬ tion late this summer. Montague stated that $500,000 of the $1,000,000 is required to finance the new O’Donnell Memorial Researoh Laboratories, and an equal amount for the regular fiscal operation of the hospital for this year. Past Audience Collections Drives and Christmas Salutes have been progressively approaching the million-dollar objective fixed for this year, making this year’s goal reasonably attainable. Details of the hospital’s expansion will be revealed at the board’s annual meeting at Saranac Lake, N. Y., on June 24. That also has been designated as the date for the dedi¬ cation by nationally prominent figures of the O’Donnell Memorial Research Laboratories. The meeting at Saranac Lake is part of the inspection tour of the hospital and its facili¬ ties made annually by the board of directors and their invited guests who are leaders in the entertainment industry. At the press conference, Eugene Picker, president of Loew’s Theatres and finance chairman of the hospital, made the following appeal: “It is within the realm of possibility that in the coming Audience Collection Drive, and the Christmas Salute, we can achieve our objective. I have absolutely no doubt this will happen if everybody in the industry can be brought to a fuller realization of how im¬ portant it is that our research endeavors be enlarged and broadened. Our goal is one mil¬ lion dollars. (Continued on page 22) Looking over plans for new research laboratories to be dedicated at Will Rogers Hospital as a memorial to the late R. J. (Bob) O'Donnell are, left to right. Dr. Edgar Mayer, medical ad¬ viser to the Board; A. Montague, president, Eugene Picker, finance chairman; and Richard F. Walsh, vice president. I I June I, I960 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR