The Exhibitor (1966)

Court Upholds MGM Management Wometco To Purchase I Southern Restaurant Chain MIAMI, FLA. — Wometco Enterprises, Inc., has signed an agreement to purchase the Blue Circle companies, a chain of walk-in, drive-in diners currently operating in Knoxville, east ' Tennessee, and north Alabama. The joint an¬ nouncement was made by Mitchell Wolfson, i Wometco president, and C. H. Longmire, Blue Circle president. The purchase price, to be i paid in cash, exceeds $1 million, i The Blue Circle diners have been operating ' successfully in Knoxville and east Tennessee for 30 years. It has been owned by the found! ing family of C. H. Longmire of Knoxville, ' who retired recently due to ill health. He will remain, however, as consultant and senior ad¬ visor to the company. The Blue Circle system includes 30 opera; tions, 19 of which are owned by the company and 1 1 operated under franchise from Blue = Circle. The company just awarded three ad ■ ditional franchises in Clinton, Athens, and Halls Community, Tennessee, and a fourth I new unit is in the planning stage, j' Wolfson said the Blue Circle diners will ! form the nucleus of a new leisure time division . for Wometco. ■ “This business corresponds with the activity ' in which Wometco has been engaged since its ' inception — namely, serving the leisure time i needs of the public with products and services that are expendable and affordable, requiring 1 a devotion to service and a knowledge of pro¬ motion and advertising,” Wolfson said. “The Blue Circle companies will offer Wometco a I new area of activity in which the possibilities ( for expansion are unlimited. We intend to : pursue expansion aggressively.” I Other major Wometco leisure time interests include television and radio broadcasting, Coca-Cola and other soft drink bottling, autof made food and refreshment vending and in¬ dustrial food service, the Miami Seaquarium { — all in addition to their initial and basic activity — the chain of theatres started by ! Wolfson in 1925. f Wolfson said that Wometco would continue ji i the Blue Circle formula of providing the ■ highest quality food service, with emphasis on cleanliness, modest prices, pleasant atmo¬ sphere, and outstanding service. He pointed out that the company’s success (Blue Circle) is the result of an “exceptional” management team. “We fully expect all of the 1 present key executives and managerial staff to remain with the company, following a longj time Wometco policy of retaining all employj ees and promoting from within,” Wolfson I said. I Para. Net Up Sharply j NEW YORK — Paramount Pictures Corpo¬ ration reports estimated consolidated net in¬ come for the first quarter of 1966 at $3,292,000 j or $2.03 per share, plus a profit on sale of ; assets in the amount of $357,000 or 22 cents per share, based upon 1,618,131 shares out¬ standing at April 3. Comparative consolidated net income for the same period in 1965 amounted to $2,34-1,000, or $1.49 per share, based upon 1,569,956 shares then outstanding. Supreme Court To Hear Ark. Obscenity Law Case WASHINGTON, D.C.— At its next ses¬ sion beginning next fall, The Supreme Court has set another censorship case for hearing which will test the legality of the Arkansas obscenity law, which is being appealed by seven publishing companies. The legality of the law, rather than the facts of the specific case, will be tested, and the law will stand or fall. All media in¬ cluding films will share in the legal result. Servies Succeeds Turnbull As President Of NTS TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — J. W. Servies was elected president of National Theatre Supply Company, a subsidiary of General Precision Equipment Corporation, it was announced by D. W. Smith, president of GPE. Servies succeeds W. J. Turnbull, who retired after 33 years with National Theatre Supply, the last eight as president. Turnbull will con¬ tinue to serve as a consultant to NTS. National Theatre Supply Co. is the nation’s leading distributor of theatre equipment and supplies with offices in 25 cities. Servies has been with NTS since 1928 and served as e.xecutive vice-president for the past year. He had been a vice-president of NTS in charge of the company’s central area branch operations for 26 years. He is a graduate of Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Indiana, Class of 1927. Servies has been active in motion picture industry technical societies and in 1961-62 served as president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers. Turnbull’s entire business career has been with National Theatre Supply Co. He joined the company in 1933 as a salesman in its St. Louis branch. He advanced to branch man¬ ager, sales promotion manager, and in 1952 was elected a vice-president. He became execu¬ tive vice-president in 1957 and president the following year. Turnbull served for four years with the U. S. Navy during World War H attaining the rank of Lt. Commander. Academy Elects To Board HOLLYWOOD — Election of 13 members to the 1966-67 Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was announced. Three new members, Edmond L. DePatie, Fred Hynes, and Arthur C. Miller, join 10 incumbents. They were elected to two year terms as representatives of the Administrators, Sound, and Cinematographers branches, re¬ spectively. Reelected to serve on the 26-member board for another two years, and their respective branches, are: Gregory Peck (Actors), Emile Kuri (Art Directors), Frank Capra (Directors), Geoffrey M. Shurlock (Executives), William W. Hornbeck (Eilm Editors), Elmer Bernstein (Mu¬ sic), Walter M. Mirisch (Producers), Harry Brand (Public Relations), Harry Tytle (Short Subjects), and Daniel Taradash (Writers). Levin Beaten In Fight To Block May 24 Meeting; Stock Proposal ' Package” Still Bone Of Contention NEW YORK — Judge Edward C. McLean turned down the motion of Philip J. Levin, dissident director of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Inc., to force MGM management to divide its package proposal into two parts so share¬ holders could vote on them separately at a special meeting called for May 24. In ruling in management’s favor, the judge also rejected Levin’s demand for an adjourn¬ ment of the meeting. The ruling decided in effect that management’s proxy material is in proper form, and thus there is no need to postpone the meeting to revise the ma¬ terial. Management’s package proposal is for a two-for-one split of the stock and a boost in authorized shares to eight million from three million. Approval requires 51 per cent of the shares outstanding. The boost in authorized stock would cover the split and provide two million reserve shares for possible financing or acquisitions. Levin, who holds nearly 10 per cent of the shares outstanding, had wanted the court to force management to revise the proposal into two parts, one covering the split and an in¬ crease to six million authorized shares to make the split possible, and the other to create an additional two million authorized shares. He favors the two-for-one split and the increase to six million authorized shares but opposes authorization of another two million shares. Levin has charged that to boost authorized shares to eight million is against holders’ in¬ terests and is fearful that issuance of the addi¬ tional two million shares would reduce his percentage ownership below 10 per cent. Rejection of the package proposal could conceivably encourage Levin to wage a proxy fight for control of the company at next Feb¬ ruary’s annual meeting. Robert H. O’Brien, MGM president and chief executive officer, described the Judge’s action as Levin’s fourth defeat “in his at¬ tempt to block management’s program.” He noted that Levin was also outvoted 10-to-two at the April board meeting that approved the package proposal; that he failed to block the proposal at the Securities and Exchange Com¬ mission; and that the Federal District Court previously denied his attempt to delay the mailing of management’s proxy statement. A group of industryites formed an “MGM stockholders for management” committee and sent a letter to MGM holders urging support of O’Brien’s package proposal. The commit¬ tee’s chairman is Harry Brandt, and others on the committee are Max A. Cohen, Jay Eman¬ uel, Martin Levine, C. Elmer Nolte, Jr., Sam¬ uel Rinzler, Burton Robbins, George Scheck, and Jacob Starr. Undeterred by the action of Judge McLean, Levin again went to Eederal Court in his ef¬ forts to block the May 24 meeting. He moved in court to examine under oath O’Brien, Jason Rabinowitz, treasurer; and Erank Conant, di¬ rector, “concerning possible secret agreements with Wall Street houses” about the use in {Continued on page 13) May 25, 1966 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 5