The Exhibitor (1962)

Theology Professor Says Parents, Not Censors Must Protect Youth Kent Circuit Launches $300,000 Palms Theatre JACKSONVILLE — Fred Kent, of this city, who owns the 23-house Kent Theatres circuit, and Thomas L. Hyde of Fort Pierce, KT gen¬ eral manager, announced a Dec. 23 opening date for the company’s new $300,000 Palms Theatre at Eau Gallie, under the management of Jack Grayson. Located at the corner of Ballard and Laurie streets, adjacent to the company’s Brevard Drive-In, the new Palms provides an unusual merging of indoor and outdoor operation by the circuit. Grayson is also manager of the outdoorer, with two theatre staffs working under his direction. The theatre opened with a booking of 20thFox’s “The Lion,” and the same film was shown a day before at a special screening for Eau Gallie city officials, prominent citizens, and leaders of local civic organizations, women’s groups, and educators. Constructed by the Netto Construction Co. of Vero Beach, the Palms has a seating ca¬ pacity of 825. The architecture of the theatre, both interior and exterior, was designed by C. Ellis Duncan. Extensive treatment of the theatre with glass permits patrons to cross a spacious lobby before they actually enter the building which is of masonry construction. Glass doors within, fluorescent and neon light¬ ing, and a modernistic treatment of interior surfaces combine to give the Palms a strik¬ ing appearance. The climate control system by Carrier Air Conditioning was incorporated into the theatre’s design. Widely spaced re¬ clining seats provide excellent sight lines toward the screen. The auditorium employs acoustical materials in the light areas. Dark inner wall surfaces are painted to contribute to the acoustical properties of the house and its decor. The ceiling, too, has been given acoustical treat¬ ment to insure maximum audience benefit from the output of the theatre’s high-fidelity sound system. Designed for CinemaScope, the Palms has a screen 40 feet in width that rises 20 feet above the auditorium. As with many new theatres, the Palms was designed without the traditional marquee. An illuminated sign located next to the build¬ ing features plastic silhouette letters for the attraction panel. Also opening day-and-date with “The Lion” was KT’s The Bam at nearby Cocoa. The Barn was operated as the Island Beach The¬ atre before its recent renovation. COMPO Starts Dues Drive NEW YORK — Two Baltimore circuits have the distinction of being the first to pay their COMPO dues in the nation-wide campaign launched Jan. 8 for the financing of the all¬ industry organization. Reported by J. L. Whittle, Allied Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Maryland, the dues were paid by the F. H. Durkee Enter¬ prises for 19 theatres and by the Ritz Enter¬ prises for their theatres. According to Charles E. McCarthy, execu¬ tive vice-president of COMPO, meetings were to be held in practically all exchange cities on Jan. 8 for the launching of the dues drive, the first in 27 months. Exhibitors and sales forces of all the companies were to attend, and theatres were to be assigned to salesmen for the collection of COMPO dues. These dues, as always in the past, will be matched dollar for dollar by contributions from the distributing companies. At a recent luncheon for crew of the ship Bounty, Joseph R. Vogel, president of MGM, presents a gold watch to Bounty Captain Ells¬ worth Boggs, who skippered the ship on its world tour on behalf of "Mutiny On the Bounty." Herts-Lion Reports Highest Earnings Level HOLLYWOOD — Publicly-owned Herts-Lion International Corporation, world-wide dis¬ tributor of motion pictures, reported that royalties and earnings reached the highest levels in the company’s history. Operations for the five months ended Oct. 31, 1962, ex¬ ceeded those for the full year ended May 31, 1962, which were also reported. According to Herts-Lion president Kenneth Herts, gross royalties rose to a peak $179,870 for the five months, with pre-tax profits re¬ ported at $50,905. For the company’s fiscal year ended May 31, 1962, royalties totaled $175,730, up 670 percent over the previous year’s level of $26,139. Net income for the year rose 400 percent to $42,529, equal to 14 cents per share computed on 300,000 common shares outstanding as com¬ pared with $10,307 or three cents per share earned in the previous year. Herts noted that full year results were achieved without the benefit of income from several extremely profitable films acquired after the close of the company’s fiscal year. Typical of these recent acquisitions, he noted, is “A Matter of Who,” a Herts-Lion property, from which the company grossed $200,000 in less than 20 theatre engagements over a period of eight weeks. This film, the company point¬ ed out, is expected to gross $1 million in the United States and Canada alone. Other Herts-Lion films acquired after the close of fiscal 1962 include “Roommates” win¬ ner of Great Britain’s Laurel Award; “Escape to Berlin,” winner of three prizes at the 1961 Berlin Film Festival; “The Devil’s Messenger”; and “Carnival of Souls,” in addition to others. The company’s active motion picture inven¬ tory includes 27 films currently being dis¬ tributed in this country and overseas. Reporting Herts-Lion’s successful transition from a film producer to a film distributor, Herts and vice president Emanuel Barling, informed stockholders that the company’s closely-knit international film network has enabled it to acquire films of consistently high calibre at highly advantageous prices. DALLAS — A California theological profes¬ sor said here that parents must not leave censoring of movies or books entirely up to official boards. “Parents should make clear to their chil¬ dren why they prefer them not to read some¬ thing or to see something,” said Prof. Ed Hobbs of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley. Prof. Hobbs, who is also a lecturer in medicine at the University of California at Berkeley, was participating in a seminar on “The Church, the Entertainment Media, and Moral Values” at Southern Methodist Uni¬ versity. “If parents go about it foolishly, then they have their children seeking under-the-counter pornography. Of course, you can’t protect the children from our culture. “And our art expresses the face of Ameri¬ ca,” he said. “The bulk of our culture is con¬ sumed on television or in the mass of paint¬ ing in the five-and-dime store,” he said. Censorship, he said, comes because “we are afraid to let certain things be said for fear it will uncover our nakedness. We want to keep on our fig leaves.” Professor Hobbs said he agreed to censor¬ ship but harkened back to John Milton who asked, “Who will censor the censor?” In practice, he said, the censors are police chiefs or little old ladies who are shocked at something which has been considered ac¬ ceptable for 50 years. He said censorship should be done after the work has been created and then by com¬ petent hands. “The court decisions have been wonderful both for and against censorship,” he said. “But the courts call in experts before they make their rulings.” Professor Hobbs lamented that American culture decides that a book or movie is for everyone or no one. “Most countries have age limits on films or require children to be accompanied by their parents. Obviously, there are films that should not be seen by children.” Fox Signs Doris Day HOLLYWOOD — Doris Day will star in “Something’s Got To Give,” under an agree¬ ment reached between Martin Melcher Pro¬ ductions, Aaron Rosenberg’s Areola Produc¬ tions, and 20th-Fox, production head Richard D. Zanuck announced. The agreement was consummated by 20thFox president Darryl F. Zanuck while Mel¬ cher and Richard Zanuck were in New York and awards Miss Day the role Marilyn Monroe was playing at the time of her death. The attraction will start shooting April 1 and will be produced jointly by the three companies. This is the first firm starting date to be announced by 20th-Fox for the new year. Parallel Gets “Israel Today" BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.— Martin Mur¬ ray’s “Israel Today” has been acquired for world-wide distribution by Parallel, according to George Borden, president, Sam Nathanson, sales manager. “Israel Today” is a documen¬ tary film in Eastman Color and has received several awards. It portrays the tremendous growth of this young country. 1 1 January 9, 1963 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR