The Exhibitor (1961)

Entire Warners' '62 Product Lineup Discussed A t Eastern Sales Meeting "Oscar" Ballots Sent To Academy Members LOS ANGELES — Nominations ballots were mailed last week to the more than 2,300 ac¬ tive members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as the selection process for 1961 “Oscar” achievements and performances begins. The voters will indicate their five prefer¬ ences in nominating for eight categories: best direction; best picture of the year; best screenplay based on material from another medium, and best story and screenplay writ¬ ten directly for the screen; best performances by an actor and actress, and by an actor and actress in a supporting role. Polls for nominations in these eight cate¬ gories close Feb. 13. Ballots to select nominations for best achievements in art direction, cinema¬ tography, costume design, film editing, and music will be sent out Feb. 12. All nominations will be announced Feb. 26. The “Oscars” will be presented Monday, April 9, at the 34th Annual Awards Presenta¬ tion. The show will be carried over the com¬ bined radio and television facilities of ABC and the Canadian Broadcasting Company, be¬ ginning at 7:30 p.m. (PST). Bob Hope will be master of ceremonies for the affair, to be held for the second consecu¬ tive year at he Santa Monica Civic Auditor¬ ium. Arthur Freed, veteran producer, songwrit¬ er, and himself winner of two “Oscars,” will produce the show, and Johnny Green, a three-time “Oscar” winner, has been named musical director. • Vincente Minnelli, Academy Award win¬ ning director, has been named director of the “Oscar”’ show. Theatres will join in publicising the an¬ nual event. Menasche Joins AA Int. NEW YORK — Bernard J. Gates, vice-presi¬ dent and general sales manager of Allied Artists International Corporation, has an¬ nounced the appointment of Richard Menas¬ che in an executive capacity to assist him in the company’s home office. Menasche served with Columbia Pictures International for many years in various man¬ agerial posts including those of supervisor for the Middle East, manager for Belgium, and Continental sales executive in Paris. He was also manager of Paramount’s Belgian office. COLUMBUS, O. — Effective weapon in fighting city or state censorship is provided in the recent decision of the Ohio Supreme Court in “The Lovers” case, said Ken Prick ett, executive secretary, Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, in a bulletin to Ohio ex¬ hibitors. Prickett quoted the opinion read by Judge William Radcliff which stated that the film was “87 minutes of boredom induced by the vapid drivel appearing on the screen and three minutes of complete revulsion during the showing of an act of perverted obscenity. The film was not hard-core pornography, that is, filth for filth’s sake. It was worse. It was filth for money’s sake.” Comerford Opens Capitol In Theatreless Town HONESDALE, PA.— Comerford Thea¬ tres opened their new Capitol here last week. Former Comerford operation, the Lyric was gutted by fire last March, and this northeastern Pennsylvania community has been theatreless since that time. The new Capitol is built on the site of the former theatre. Preceding the opening night, the Cham¬ ber of Commerce of Honesdale held a dinner honoring the theatre and Comer¬ ford officials and there was an “open house” for business and civic representa¬ tives to view the new theatre. Bronston Retains Schneider NEW YORK — William H. Schneider, who was responsible for the creation of the “El Cid” advertising campaign, has been retained by Samuel Bronston to direct all advertising activities for the forthcoming Bronston pro¬ ductions. Ralph Wheelwright, vice-president in charge of advertising and publicity, an¬ nounced that Schneider would start imme¬ diately on the creation of the campaign for “55 Days at Peking,” to be followed by “The Fall of the Roman Empire” and “The French Revolution.” Ad angles, title treatments, and stills will be planned before production starts, assuring not only more effective campaigns, but also an economy of money and effort. Schneider recently resigned as executive vice-president of Donahue and Coe to devote full time to projects of this kind. Hargreaves Quits Col. LONDON — Kenneth N. Hargreaves has re¬ signed his directorships with Columbia Pic¬ tures and associated companies effective March 2. He has also resigned from BLC Limited, the joint British Lion — Columbia distribution setup. His co-managing director with BLC, David Kingsley, has also resigned, but will continue as managing director of British Lion. The new head of BLC will be Victor Hoare, who has had a lifetime in distribution with UA, Eagle Lion, Selznick, and recently, Lion International. Prickett said the opinion “definitely proves that the public is duly protected by present laws and that there is no need for censorship which not only would take away the rights of the individual but could also represent considerable expense, which after all would ultimately be borne by the exhibitor.” The high court upheld the state law under which Nico Jacobellis, manager of the Heights Art theatre, Cleveland Heights, was con¬ victed. Conviction of Allen S. Warth, man¬ ager of the Art theatre, Dayton, was set aside because the section of the law under which he was tried failed to require knowl¬ edge that the film was obscene. The court held this section of the law unconstitutional. NEW YORK — Distribution planning for Warner Bros.’ entire 1962 product line-up was launched at the Drake Hotel here with dis¬ cussion of Meredith Willson’s “The Music Man,” the big Technirama-Technicolor musi¬ cal based on the hit Broadway show. The two-day sales conference was led by general sales manager Charles Boasberg and distribution vice-president Bernard R. Good¬ man. It was the first of four regional meetings bringing together all Warner Bros, domestic divisions and branches. The roster of completed productions to follow the current “A Majority of One” into release in 1962 comprises “The Music Man,” starring Robert Preston, Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, and Hermione Gingold, produced and directed by Morton DaCosta; Delmer Daves’ “Rome Adventure” in Techni¬ color, starring Troy Donahue, Suzanne Pleshette, Angie Dickinson, and Rossano Brazzi; the Darryl F. Zanuck Production of “The Chapman Report” in Technicolor, starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Shelley Winters, Jane Fonda, Claire Bloom, and Glynis Johns, pro¬ duced by Richard Zanuck and directed by George Cukor; “The Couch,” starring Grant Williams, Shirley Knight, and Onslow Stevens, produced and directed by Owen Crump; “Malaga,” starring Trevor Howard, Dorothy Dandridge, and Edmund Purdom, produced by Thomas Clyde and directed by Laslo Benedek; “House of Women,” starring Shirley Knight and Andrew Duggan, pro¬ duced by Bryan Foy and directed by Walter Doniger; “Samar” in Technicolor, starring George Montgomery, Gilbert Roland and Ziva Rodann, produced and directed by Montgomery; “Lad: A Dog” in Technicolor, a Max J. Rosenberg production starring Peter Breck and Peggy McCay, directed by Aram Avakian and Leslie H. Martinson; and “Mer¬ rill’s Marauders” in Technicolor, starring Jeff Chandler and Ty Hardin, produced by Milton Sperling and directed by Samuel Fuller. Films in production discussed at the sales meeting are “Gypsy,” Mercyn LeRoy’s Tech¬ nicolor production starring Rosalind Russell, Natalie Wood, and Karl Malden; “Days of Wine and Roses,” starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick in the Martin Manulis produc¬ tion; “Act of Mercy,” starring Leslie Caron and David Niven, directed by Anthony As¬ quith; “Term of Trial,” starring Laurence Olivier and introducing Sarah Miles; and “Gay Purr-ee,” animated musical comedy Technicolor production starring the voices of Judy Garland, Robert Goulet, Red Buttons, and Hermione Gingold. The conference also heard of the line-up of properties soon to go before the cameras, headed by “Critic’s Choice,” starring Bob Hope and Lucille Ball, and “PT-109,” based on Robert Donovan’s best-selling book about the heroic exploits of Lt. John F. Kennedy and his shipmates in the Pacific in World War II. Among the participants in the New York meeting were eastern division sales manager Jules Lapidus; Larry Leshansky, coordinator of field sales activities; Ralph Iannuzzi, playdate department head, and branch managers H. L. Gaines of Albany, William Kumins of Boston, A. Kolinski of Buffalo, Angelo Lom¬ bardi of New Haven, A1 Blumberg of New York, William G. Mansell of Philadelphia, and Ben Bache of Washington. "Lovers" Obscenity Verdict in Ohio Seen Effective Answer To Censors 1 1 February 7, 1962 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR