The Exhibitor (1961)

43 Years of Service to the Theatre Industry Founded in 1918. Published weekly by Jay Emanuel Publications, Incorporated. Publishing office: 317 North Broad Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania. New York field office: 8 East 52nd Street, New York 22. West Coast field office: Paul Manning, 454 S. Rexford Drive, Beverly Hills, Calif. London Bureau: Jock MacGregor, 16 Leinster Mews, London, W. 2, England. Jay Emanuel, publisher and general manager; Albert Erlick, editor; M. R. (Mrs. "Chick") Lewis, associate editor; George Frees Nonamaker, feature editor; Mel Konecoff, New York editor; Albert J. Martin, advertising manager; Max Cades, business manager. Subscriptions: $2 per year (50 issues); and outside of the United States, Canada, and Pan-American countries, S5 per year (5^ issues). Special rates for two and three years on application. Second class postage paid at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Address all official communications to the Philadelphia publishing office. /mimsii \UDIT JUBEAU L.IRCUL \ u ' Volume 66 • No. 17 OCTOBER 4, 1961 "IT SURE AIN'T Last Saturday, the National Broadcasting Company, after many fruitless attempts, at last cracked the supremacy of the Columbia Broadcasting System, which had long dominated the evening through popular western programming. The lesson to be learned from this ratings struggle of the video giants is one that our industry has known for some timemovies are still the best entertainment medium. NBC showed “HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE,” a 20th-Fox production made for CinemaScope presentation in theatres, and the prime-time experiment proved again that nothing made especially for the small screen medium can approach Hollywood’s wide-screen efforts in audience appeal. Needless to say, the nation’s exhibitors are not particularly thrilled by NBC’s victory. Saturday night has always been the best for theatres everywhere, and to be forced into competi¬ tion with their own product being given away free by a competing medium of entertainment is a bitter pill to swallow. It is certainly a bit too early to accurately estimate the extent of damage to the theatres’ Saturday night gross. It might be safe, however, to paraphrase an ancient expression: “It may not hurt, but it sure ain’t gonna help.” TV stations everywhere are taking full newspaper pages to herald coming Saturday night prime-time features. Some theatremen feel the pinch already. A letter from Franz F. Beilfus, Browns Theatre, Snohomish, Wash., (population— 4,000) puts it this way: “ Tonight I was surprised to find that I had only 75 custom¬ ers in my theatre, ivhich seats 450 persons, tohile the previous night I had a capacity house. Because business was so slow, 1 went home early. I turned on the television set, and to my shocked surprise, a nationwide NBC network broadcast of 20-Fox s ‘ HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE’ was being shown. The more I watched, the more disgusted I became. The finale consisted of ‘ The End. A CinemaScope Production.’ This is surely a good way to confuse the public as to what a CinemaScope production is supposed to be. The least they could have done is black out the word CinemaScope. As far as I am concerned the use of the word CinemaScope on tele "Hl" MARTIN'S Universal unveiled a bright new screen star recently, and we think the young man has a promising future in this busi¬ ness. His name is Henry “Hi” Martin, and his first screen credit is a compilation of scenes from six upcoming U-I fea¬ tures that promise exhibitors everywhere as much in the way of laughter, excitement, and color as any blockbuster. Features included in the presentation are the hilarious ‘LOVER COME BACK,” starring Doris Day, Rock Hudson, and Tony Randall, a sure comedy winner; “BACK STREET,” starring Susan Hayward, John Gavin, and Vera Miles, a heart-tugging love story with sock femme-appeal; “CAPE FEAR,” starring Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, and Polly GONNA HELP" vision is nothing less than false advertising. “7 feel that this is more of a threat to theatres of the nation than toll-tv is, ivhich theatre owners have been fighting. The film corporations know that we have been winning this fight, and their allowing recent motion picture productions to be shown on a nation-wide circuit is nothing less than declaring war against all the theatres of this country. Theatres can not complete with a competitor that is allowed to show these productions FREE. This act will darken many theatres across the country if it is allowed to go unchecked. “The theatre plays a very important part in Snohomish as it also does in hundreds of other communities across the coun¬ try. I think it is very unfair for the large film companies to operate with no consideration whatsoever for the theatres that have been selling their products for many years. Often we are blamed if the films do not do well. I think that if they would study their business habits, they would be sur¬ prised to find that some engagements do poorly because of double dealing on the part of the distributor. “I think it is time for theatre owners across the country to band together and fight this situation. I am writing to Theatre Owners of America because I feel that every manager in the country should be alerted. Also I am contacting all the man¬ agers in my area.” Mr. Beilfus is willing to put himself on record and battle for what he believes, and in this case he believes the forces of production-distribution have made a serious blunder. It seems to us that production currently wears two hats, one for theatres and one for tv. Deals such as the prime-time NBC deal is bound to get dirt on both chapeaux. First, they will be competing with and hurting the grosses of important new theatrical films. Second, they will be competing with their own programs made specially for tv, and these shows can only suffer by comparison. It’s a prime-time headache for exhibitors, and we can only hope that self-interest will prompt an end to such suicidal activity. If not , where we go from here is anybody’s guess. SCREEN DEBUT Bergen, action-packed adventure chiller; “THE OUTSIDER,” starring Tony Curtis, powerful drama of Iwo Jima’s Indian hero; “THE LAST HERO” (tentative title, and we hope they change it), starring Kirk Douglas in a new kind of western role; and “FLOWER DRUM SONG,” lavish and spectacular screen version of the stage hit, starring Nancy Kwan, Miyoshi Umeki, and James Shigeta. It appears to be a brilliant lineup and should gladden the heart of any showman. Martin handles the chore of guide on this tour of U-I s future with dignity and poise. He may not be as pretty as Doris Day, but his screen debut is still an unqualified success. October 4, 1961 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 5