The Exhibitor (1965)

NEWS CAPSULES vt/ FILM FAMILY ALBUM Obituaries Evelyn Cooper, wife of Sidney Cooper, vicepresident in charge of sales, United Screen Arts, died after a long illiness. She is sur¬ vived by her husband, a daughter, and a son. Mrs. Charles Klieman, mother of Paul Klieman, Philadelphia theatre operator, died. She is survived by two sons, two daughters, and 11 grandchildren. J. A. McKenna, 53, projectionist at the Broad¬ way and Fairlawn, Providence, R. I., until illness forced him to retire in 1959, died at Providence Memorial Hospital. Erwin C. Wagner, founder and chairman, Wagner Sign Service, Inc., died suddenly at his Arkansas residence. Survivors include his wife, a sister, and a brother. Lewine Joins WB Studios BURBANK, CALIF. — Jack L. Warner, pres¬ ident of Warner Bros. Pictures, Inc., has an¬ nounced the appointment of Robert Lewine as executive head of television activities at the Warner Studios in Burbank, Calif., effec¬ tive immediately. Creative Management Associates, Ltd., of which Lewine is vice-president, has agreed to his release from responsibilities with the agency so that he may assume his new Warner Bros. post. CMA represents Warner Bros, in television sales. Lewine replaces William T. Orr as the ex¬ ecutive in charge of all phases of Warner Bros, television programming and production. Lewine joined CMA after 15 years of net¬ work programming experience, coming from CBS, where he was vice-president, programs, Hollywood. LEDERER SPEAKS OUT Richard Lederer, vice-president in charge of advertising and publicity at Warner Brothers, recently made a profound ob servation. He said: “You have to work harder to bring in the young people for a picture like ‘Never Too Late,’ with Paul Ford and Maureen O’Sullivan. Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, producer and director of the film, cast it with the best people for the roles, and not because of marquee value.” Lederer went on to chide a few top cir¬ cuit executives who insist on “tired names” for top roles in pictures. In this way, ex¬ hibitors who cry for new faces fail to practice what they preach. WTe think Dick Lederer is entitled to a special “Oscar” for being so outspoken and constructive at a time when both these qualities are sorely needed. JAY EMANUEL FORMS FOR THIS PACE CLOSED AT 5 P.M. ON MON., NOV. 15 Para.’s “T en Commandments” Set For Easter Release NEW YORK— Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,” the highest grossing picture in the history of Paramount Pictures, will re¬ turn to the theatres nationally at Easter as one of the company’s most important releases for 1966, it was announced by President George Weltner. The announcement, in effect, brings Para¬ mount’s scheduled releases for 1966, revealed as numbering 24, to 25, since “The Ten Com¬ mandments” will be treated as a completely new attraction, Weltner said. Describing the DeMille spectacle as “a veritable Fort Knox in terms of boxoffice potential,” Weltner noted that at the tim« of its initial release in 1956, “The Ten Com¬ mandments” pioneered the modern motion picture road show, setting patterns for the industry that have been standard ever since. “Now it is up to Paramount to again prove the pace-setter by demonstrating to the in¬ dustry how successful a new release of this type can be,” Weltner said. “Since the first release of this timeless motion picture achieve¬ ment, our potential audience has increased tremendously. There are millions of young people who never saw the picture originally, and there are millions of people of all ages who will want to see it again.” An entirely new marketing and merchan¬ dising campaign is being devised for “The Ten Commandments” and will be announced shortly. The scene of Paramount’s national sales meetings shifted to Chicago as assistant gen¬ eral manager Sands opened a three-day ses¬ sion at the Ambassador Hotel. Attending the Chicago meetings were Herb Gillis, central sales manager; Tom Bridge, southwestern sales manager; A1 Taylor, west¬ ern sales manager; Martin Schank, branch operations manager; Ben Shectman, contract department manager; Jack Perley, playdate department manager; 'Fred Leroy, sales ad¬ ministration; and the following branch man¬ agers: Dick Frank, Chicago; Tom Duane, Detroit; Forrie Myers, Minneapolis; Howard Ross, Milwaukee; Chuck Caligiuri, Des Moines; Bernard Brager, Dallas; Paul Rice, Indianapolis; Harold Henderson, Cleveland; Gerry Haile, Kansas City; Weber Howell, St. Louis; Frank Carbone, Oklahoma City; Ward Pennington, Los Angeles; Henry Haustein, San Francisco; Harry Swonson, Salt Lake City; John Kent, Seattle; and Vern Fletcher, Denver. Joseph Friedman, executive assist¬ ant to Martin Davis, vice-president in charge of advertising and public relations, also attended. \f BROADWAY 7\ GROSSES Blackout Breaks Up B'Way Week NEW YORK — Broadway theatres and other situations in the Northeast U.S. lost Tuesday receipts last week due to the blackout, but the Veteran’s Day holiday and strong biz from hard tickets and holdovers helped offset the loss. “NEVER TOO LATE” (Warner). Radio City Music Hall, with usual stage show, did strong $112,000, Thursday through Sunday, with second week total of $160,000 topping opener. “THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES” (20th-Fox). DeMille claimed 2nd week of $21,000. “THE SOUND OF MUSIC” (20th Fox). Rivoli had 37th week of $45,000. “THE CINCINNATI KID” (MGM). Loew’s figures for third week at the Capitol were $23,000. “THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY” (20th Fox). Loew’s State, with hard ticket policy, did sixth week of $52,000. “THE BEDFORD INCIDENT” (Columbia). Astor, in second and last week claimed $21,000. “KING RAT” (Columbia). Victoria claimed $21,000 in third session. “THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD” (UA). Warner Cinerama had 39th week of $10,665. “MY FAIR LADY” (Warners). Criterion, with road show policy, reported a 56th week take of $40,700. NGC Plans Kans. House BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. — National Gen¬ eral Corporation has entered into a lease for a new theatre in Topeka, Kansas, it was an¬ nounced by Dan A. Polier and William H. Thedford, co-directors of theatre operations for the company. The new theatre, which will be located in the White Lakes Shopping Center, is planned as a freestanding, conventional house. It will be operated under the aegis of NGC’s Fox Midwest Theatres. Other Topeka theatres in this division of the nationwide company’s operation are the Community Drive-In, Grand and Orpheum. Announcement of the new, first-run showcase is part of NGC’s $50 million dollar expansion program. PICKER FLIES HIGH We doff our editorial hat to David Picker, United Artists first vice-president, who had the courage to speak out on a matter that everybody must be thinking about. Picker says (and we agree) that motion pictures certainly are not seen to advan¬ tage on airplanes, where they are used as time-killers and shown under conditions that must affect the presentation adversely. Well done, Mr. Picker. JAY EMANUEL 6 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR November 17, 1965