The Exhibitor (1961)

Public Boycott Urged To Fight Segregation Disney, Hitchcock Top Allied Poll; Wood, Heston, Prentiss, Beatty Win DETROIT — Walt Disney has been chosen producer of the year by Allied exhibitors. Ben Marcus, convention chairman, announc¬ ed that a large majority of the ballots re¬ turned by the theatre owners had designated Disney as the producer who had contributed most to the motion picture industry during this past year. “The consecutive release of “Swiss Family Robinson,” “Absent Minded Professor,” “One Hundred And One Dalmations,” “The Parent Trap,” and “Nikki, Wild Dog Of The North” certainly made this a Walt Disney year,” com¬ mented Marcus. “These outstanding produc¬ tions did a great deal to boost exhibitor morale as well as to increase theatre atten¬ dance. Coming at a time when many exhibi¬ tors were under attack by their communities because of the questionable moral theme of many motion pictures being shown, these wholesome, entertaining and well-attended attractions were a welcome relief. The ex¬ hibitors have taken this opportunity to ex¬ press their appreciation to Walt Disney and to wish him well for many, many more years of continuing success in furnishing his unique motion picture entertainment to the theatres of the world.” Disney has been invited to receive his award at the National Allied Merchandising Convention at the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, Florida, and to be honored in person by the exhibitors at the Allied Award Ban¬ quet on Thursday, Dec. 7. Marcus also announced that Natalie Wood has been voted actress of the year and Charl¬ ton Heston actor of the year. Miss Wood, who has starred in many important produc¬ tions since her Academy Award nomination for “Rebel Without A Cause,” recently has been seen in “Splendor In The Grass” and “West Side Story.” Heston established his stature in “Ten Com¬ mandments” and “Ben Hur” and is also star¬ red in “El Cid,” which is scheduled for Christ¬ mas release. Alfred Hitchcock was voted the outstanding directpr, and Paula Prentiss and Warren Beat¬ ty were voted the outstanding new motion picture personalities of 1961. The Coca-Cola Company will sponsor the Allied Awards Banquet in the Pompeiian Room of the Eden Roc on Dec. 7. Marcus, announced that speakers at the convention will include Emanuel Frisch, chairman of the American Congress of Ex¬ hibitors; Charles E. McCarthy, executive vicepresident of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations; and Richard F. Walsh, presi¬ dent of the International Alliance of The¬ atrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators. W. J. Turnbull, president of National The¬ atre Supply Company, and C. J. Mabry, presi¬ dent of Motion Picture Advertising Service Company, jointly announced that they will host a convention luncheon in the Empire Room of the Eden Roc on Dec. 6 at which the editors and publishers of the motion pic¬ ture industry trade press will be honored. Pepsi-Cola executive Norman Wasser and Marcus revealed that the Pepsi-Cola Com¬ pany will be host to exhibitors at the con¬ vention at a Calypso Party on the evening of Dec. 5. The Pepsi-Cola Calypso Party will feature an outdoor reception, cocktail party, and barbeque at Harry’s American Gardens. American -International Pictures will host the convention luncheon on Dec. 5, and fea¬ tured convention speaker there will be Dr. Canada Telemeter Test Adds 1,000 New Families NEW YORK — Concurrent with a major expansion of programming, Telemeter is moving ahead to broaden the pay tv test area, in Toronto by extending the cable system to encompass an additional 1,000 subscribers, it was announced by J. J. Fitzgibbons, president of Famous Players Canadian Corporation. Plans have been completed to construct pay tv cable facilities in an area adjacent to the Toronto suburb of Etobicoke, site of the pilot Telemeter operation. The cable extension will be in the Mimico-New Toronto section. The Famous Players executive pointed out that the new 1,000 subscribers will strengthen representation of certain eco¬ nomic levels of the population, and will provide a more comprehensive population mix. LA Papers Ballyhoo Holiday Film Fare LOS ANGELES — All four downtown Los Angeles newspapers — Times, Examiner, Her¬ ald-Express, and Mirror — came out with a full-page spread recently on the coming holi¬ day season of new film product. Nine Hollywood studios — Allied Artists, Co¬ lumbia, Walt Disney, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Paramount, 20th Century-Fox, United Artists, Universal-International, and Warner Bros. — and 26 pictures were mentioned in art and stories, with the slogan “Holiday Movie Sea¬ son Is Here Again.” Among pictures pictorially represented were “El Cid,” “Advise and Consent,” “Babes In Toyland,” “Bachelor in Paradise,” “Summer and Smoke,” “Blue Hawaii,” “The Second Time Around,” “West Side Story,” “Judgment at Nuremberg,” “A Pocketful of Miracles,” “Flower Drum Song,” “The Outsider, “A Ma¬ jority of One,” and “Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.” In addition to the downtown dailies, the Hollywood Citizen-News, Beverly Hill Citizen and Valley Times Today carried the special holiday salute to the film industry. Frederick M. Wirt, associate professor of gov¬ ernment at Denison University, who will ad¬ dress the delegates on “The Dangers of Cen¬ sorship.” American-International will be rep¬ resented by Milton I. Moritz, director of ad¬ vertising and publicity. Burton Robbins, president of National Screen Service Corporation, and Marcus an¬ nounced that the Thursday convention lunch¬ eon will be sponsored by National Screen Service. The Thursday morning business ses¬ sion and the luncheon will feature modern methods of merchandising motion picture product. Lee Artoe, president of Electro Carbons, will host a cocktail party for the convention delegates on Wednesday evening. Alexander Film Company has invited the officers and directors of Allied States Associ¬ ation and their ladies to a reception and cocktail party in the Ocean Lounge of the Eden Roc on Saturday evening, Dec. 2. The National Allied board of directors will meet to elect officers, adopt the 1962 budget, etc., preceding the convention. CHAPEL HILL, N. C.— The executive com¬ mittee of the Chapel Hill Committee for Open Movies, which recently began picketing the Varsity here in an effort to force it to integrate its audiences, has issued a public statement asking people to boycott the house. The statement, signed by John William Brent, said “Every member of this com¬ munity whether he wishes us well or ill, is urged to boycott the Varsity.” It said, “Your refusal to attend this theater will indicate your disapproval of the theater’s admission policy. If you agree that this discrimination is a social injustice — boycott the Varsity. “It is morally wrong for this nation to preach the extension of freedom and social justice throughout the world but to deny social justice and equality to the Negro in this country,” the statement declared. “Never¬ theless, segregation would be morally wrong even if the international situation had not focused such great attention upon this prob¬ lem in the United States. All men are not equal, but all men are entitled to certain basic rights, and these rights include the right not to be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, or creed by business es¬ tablishments serving the public. To set up such an indiscriminate barrier as race is a social injustice and thus morally unaccepta¬ ble. “The reason for picketing the Varsity Theater is that the practice of not accepting members of the Negro race is unacceptable. While the Carolina is not admitting all the members of the Negro race who wish to at¬ tend, it does at least admit Negro students from the University of North Carolina. Al¬ though this is not a permanently acceptable policy, it does at present mark a temporary beginning toward the desired end, with the promise of complete integration.” Atlanta Negroes Plan Next Integration Step ATLANTA — The deadline set by the Com¬ mittee on Appeal for Human Righ'ts for theatre owners here to meet and discuss plans for “desegregation by the first of the year” came and went with none of the own¬ ers appearing for the requested meeting. Charlie Black, spokesman for COAHR, said later that as a result of the failure of the movie people to show up for the meeting, “direct action on the part of the Negroes would be forthcoming.” The meeting was the second scheduled by Negroes in an attempt to integrate movie houses here. Black said that four of the seven owners contacted Nov. 2 had replied by mail, saying that they would be unable to attend the meeting. The other three failed to reply in any way, he said. It had been implied previously by the group that if the meeting failed to bring re¬ sults, picketing and stand-ins would be the next step. Referring to COAHR’s next move, Black only said that his organization felt they had discharged their obligation to the theatre owners. “Our next step will be in the direction of direct, nonviolent, and legal action,” he said. “We do not feel it necessary to give notice to the theatre owners as to when the next move will come.” Theatre owners and managers declined to comment for publication on the meeting or their failure to attend. Many of them said that they had received strongly worded letters from several of their patrons demand¬ ing that the movie houses be kept segre¬ gated. 6 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR November 29, 1961