The Exhibitor (1960)

NEWS CAES LEES FILM FAMILY ALBUM Diamond Rings Steve Morris, United Artists record depart¬ ment, announced his engagement to Marlene Kraus, Woodmere, L. I. A June wedding is planned. The prospective groom is the son of Larry Morris, vice-president, B. S. Moss Theatres. Gold Bands Glenda Blagg, secretary with Cinemiracle Pictures and formerly with the Michael Todd office, married Victor Jensen at Good Shep¬ herd Church, Brooklyn, N. Y. Obituaries Mrs. Joseph Engel died last week at Hahneman Hospital. Engel is a salesman with the 20th Century-Fox Philadelphia exchange. Surviving, besides her husband, are a son, a daughter, a brother, and a sister. Arthur Greenblatt, 60, Allied Artists’ home office sales executive, died at Memorial Hos¬ pital, Manhattan, following a brief illness. Surviving are two daughters of Plainview, L. I. He entered the film business in 1922 as a salesman and at one time had his own exchange in the New York area. Industry, FCC Meet On New Payola Law WASHINGTON— A meeting of the FCC and industry representatives was held here last week to discuss possible effects of the new anti-payola law on films. Representing the industry were — from MPAA, Gordon Stulberg and Russell Karp, Screen Gems; Donn B. Tatum, Walt Disney Productions; Saul Rittenberg, MGM; Bernard Donnenfeld, Paramount; Herbert Golden, United Artists; Harold Berkowitz, Warmer Brothers; and Ed Cooper, TV adviser to MPAA. From the Alliance of TV Film Producers were Richard Jenks, president; Frank Reel, Ziv TV Productions; Anthony Frederick, Revenue Productions; and Harry Plotkin, Alliance attorney. Harold F. Cowgill, chief of broadcasting for the FCC, headed a delegation of the commis¬ sion’s lawyers and technicians. Although refusing to comment on the meet¬ ing, the FCC announced that all its regula¬ tions that may be in conflict with the new anti-payola law are suspended, and that pend¬ ing the adoption of new rules, affected indus¬ tries are strictly on their own. If a firm en¬ gages in a practice that violates the new law, even though it may be in conformity with current FCC regulations, it is subject to charge. The new law provides that those provid¬ ing “service and other valuable considera¬ tion” to a radio or TV broadcast — including a movie — without charge, in return for cer¬ tain advertising advantages, must be identi¬ fied as “sponsors.” FORMS FOR THIS PAGE CLOSED AT 2 P.M. ON MON., SEPT. 26 Baronet To Continue Psycho' Seating Policy NEW YORK — The Baronet will continue its “no admission after the beginning of the feature” policy when “It Happened In Broad Daylight” follows the current engagement of “Psycho” into the theatre, it was an¬ nounced by Walter Reade, Jr., president of Walter Reade, Inc. “The ‘no one seated’ idea for “Psycho” was proclaimed a ’gimmick’ — which indeed it was — but we believe the concept behind it is a sound one,” Reade stated. “Patrons saw the picture without any interruptions and identified themselves with the action from start to finish — and they liked it! “Any worthwhile picture is entitled to the same consideration whether it is a mystery, comedy, or drama. After all, the same care goes into a film to develop plot, characteriza¬ tion, and an effective climax as goes into a novel or a play. No one would think of starting a novel in the middle, reading to the end, and then going back to the begin¬ ning. “I do not think this policy will attract audiences to a bad film,” Reade continued, “but I do think it will enhance a good film. If the public endorses this means of adding to motion picture-going pleasure, we will introduce the policy in other theatres on our circuit.” Reade emphasized other advantages in the ‘“no one seated” concept; patrons would not be distracted by having people getting up in front of them and blocking their view; it makes it easier for the theatre to handle crowds; it will result in easier house -keep¬ ing; and it will tend to make going to the movies an ‘event’. “We intend to advise the Baronet Theatre patrons about this policy by featuring it in all of our advertising and through the normal publicity channels and expect that ulti¬ mately our patrons will check for the start¬ ing performance times just as they do the cast and production credits,” Reade con¬ cluded. BROADWAY / < GROSSES New Pix Spark First-Runs NEW YORK — The arrival of several new pictures and strong holdovers kept Broad¬ way first-runs busy over last week-end. The breakdown was as follows: “LET’S MAKE LOVE” (20th-Fox). Para¬ mount reported $30,000 for the third session. “DARK AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS” (Warners). Radio City Music Hall opened to $110,000 for Thursday through Sunday, with the first week sure of $175,000. Stage show. “OCEAN’S 11” (Warners). Capitol claimed the seventh week at $24,000. “PSYCHO” (Paramount). DeMille stated the 15th week would tally $7,000. “BEN-HUR” (MGM). Loew’s State, on re¬ served seat policy, reported $44,000 for the 44th week. “HIGH TIME” (20th-Fox). Warner stated the second week would hit $22,000. “THE APARTMENT” (United Artists). Astor did $21,000 on the 15th week. “ALL THE FINE YOUNG CANNIBALS” (MGM). Criterion reported $26,500 for the opening week. “CAN-CAN” (20th-Fox). Rivoli had $23,000 for the 29th week on hard ticket policy. “IT STARTED IN NAPLES” (Paramount). Victoria anticipated the fourth week at $21,000. “ALL THE YOUNG MEN” (Columbia). Forum expected the fifth week to reach $21,000. T-L Cinema-Cafe Bows NEW YORK — The new Trans-Lux 85th Street Cinema-Cafe will be previewed on Oct. 11 at an open house cocktail party for the trade and the press, it was announced by Richard P. Brandt, president, and Thomas E. Rodgers, vice-president of Trans-Lux Thea¬ tres Corp. “The conversion of our entire lobby into a Parisian cinema cafe, with an ‘intime’ atmosphere never before achieved in a mo¬ tion picture theatre,” said Brandt, “marks the first real innovation in luxury for movie theatre-goers in 20 years. Attending the recent first national sales meeting of the newly-formed Affiliated Pictures Corpora¬ tion, Ltd., set-up by Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures to handle Canadian distribution of their product were, left to right, Harvey Harnick, general sales manager of the new company; Sidney Deneau, Paramount vice-president; A. Montague, Columbia's executive vice-president; Gordon Lightstone, managing director of the new outfit; Rube Jackter, Columbia vice-president and general sales manager; and Louis Rosenfield, senior executive of Columbia Pictures of Canada, Ltd. September 28, I960 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 7