The Exhibitor (1966)

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COMPO's Unique Industry Position Stressed By McCurthy A t TONE Meet BRETTON WOODS, N. H.— The unique¬ ness of the Council of Motion Picture Organ¬ izations among all industry groups was empha¬ sized by Charles E. McCarthy, COMPO execu¬ tive vice-president, in an address at the 35th annual convention of the Theatre Owners of New England, meeting at the Mount Washington Hotel here. Pointing out that COMPO’s membership is composed of producers, distributors, exhibitors, and organized labor, McCarthy said, “The importance of this union of the MPAA com¬ panies, exhibitors, and labor has been demon¬ strated many times in COMPO’s activities, especially in the success in maintaining the exemption of motion picture theatre employees in the minimum wage bill and also in the last tax campaign. “If we had not the active and vigorous sup¬ port of two MPAA officers — Tim Clagett and Ed Cooper in Washington — I doubt veiy much if we would have been so successful in our efforts. The reason for this is that COMPO not only can enlist the help of exhibitors in opposing iniquitous legislation, it also can call on the skilled help of the trained person¬ nel of the MPAA office. Believe me, this is an asset of immeasurable value. “In the same way, organized labor, through Dick Walsh, president of IATSE, was of immense help to us in obtaining the final elimination of the remnant of the 20 per cent admissions tax. Not only did he have his representative, Lester Isaac, plead our cause before the House Ways and Means Committee, but he also enlisted the support of local IATSE unions throughout the coun¬ try.” McCarthy pointed out that elimination of the admissions tax is not ancient history, but of immediate importance to everybody in the business, as final repeal did not go into effect until last Jan. 1. Therefore, he said, the money saved by elimination of the tax is as up to date “as today’s theatre receipts.” “A clue to the extent of the saving for this and subsequent years,” McCarthy said, “can be obtained by the latest figures of the U.S. Census of Business, which were for the busi¬ ness census of 1963. This, of course, was be¬ fore the final 10 percent of the tax was re¬ moved. The figures for that year showed that the total admissions in motion picture theatres amounted to $1,062,732,000. Accordingly, if the full 20 percent tax were in force in 1963, the industry would have had to give up to the government the amount of $212,546,000. This year, if the tax were still in force, with higher admission prices and greater attendance, the industry would have to give up consider¬ ably more. “However, the tax is not in force. So the industry is able to same this money. Assuming that exhibition and distribution will divide the savings 50/50, each will get at least $106,273,200 this year. Remember: This is the saving for only one year. This saving will be reported every year from now on. “What this enormous saving means to the individual theatre can be easily determined by a glance at your weekly theatre receipts and the weekly breakdown of your COMPO dues. Remember, this year the full 20 percent of the tax has been eliminated. Thus, if your weekly receipts amounted last week to, say, $1,000, there was a saving to you of one-fifth of $1,000—20 percent— or $200. COMPO Fess Parker, on his promotional tour for 20th Century-Fox's "Smoky," was recently presented with the key to the city of St. Louis by Mayor A. J. Cervantes. T-L Dividend Set NEW YORK — The directors of Trans-Lux Corporation declared the regular quarterly dividend of 15 cents per share on the common stock, payable Sept. 30 to stockholders of record at the close of business Sept. 16. dues, which are the same today as they were in 1950 when COMPO was formed, range from $7.50 a year for theatres with 500 seats or less, up to $75 a year for theatres over 2,500 seats. Breaking this down into weekly payments, it would mean that a 500-seat house would be paying 15 cents weekly to COMPO and the biggest theatre would be paying only $1.40 a week. Now, compare that miniscule payment with the 20 percent windfall that has been given to every exhibitor by the elimina¬ tion of this tax, and you will realize the service COMPO has given you.” McCarthy warned that the industry should not feel complacent about its success in ob¬ taining repeal of the admission tax and con¬ tinued exemption of theatre employees from the minimum wage. “One of the Congressmen who aided us in keeping our exemption in the minimum wage bill,” he said, “told us after the bill had passed the House that we must not rest too easy on the victory, as more mini¬ mum wage legislation might come up in a couple of years. “Furthermore, there is an ominous con¬ tinuance of rumors out of Washington of a possible imposition of new taxes. What these taxes will be, of course we won’t know but we should be on the alert to preserve our present tax position. “Exhibitors should make a special effort to make themselves known to their Congress¬ men and State legislators and also, of course, to the people in their local governments so that they will be able to present their case to legislators who are friends and not strangers.” McCarthy also emphasized the importance of small exhibitors in various legislative cam¬ paigns. He pointed out that many little known exhibitors especially in small towns and rural districts, are close friends of Congressmen and State legislators. He said that in organiz¬ ing exhibitors to help in any campaigns that might arise, special attention should be paid to the less prominent theatre owners. Record Crowd Attends N.E. Exhib Convention BOSTON — More than 250 exhibitors are back from the biggest convention in the his¬ tory of Theatre Owners of New England, held at the Mt. Washington Hotel, Bretton Woods, N. H., in conjunction with National Associa¬ tion of Concessionaires. Featured was the kickoff of “Movie Month” for New England exhibitors, and the entire convention was de¬ voted to this theme. Joseph Wolf, New England manager of Embassy Pictures, was Embassy’s official rep¬ resentative at the convention, accompanied by Maurice Levine from the sales department, and George Kraska, public relations. Wolf ex¬ tended greetings to the convention from Joseph E. Levine, unable to attend owing to previous production commitments. Other speakers at the convention from the majors were A1 Fisher, United Artists; Si Seadler, MGM; Sam Rosen, Stanley Warner; Richard Walsh, international president, IATSE; Ned Shugrue, Will Rogers Hospital. Edward S. Redstone, president of TONE, was general chairman; Carl Goldman, co¬ ordinator; and the committee comprised Les Bendslev, Ed Fedeli, Mai Green, Jim Guarino, Ray Canavan, Roger Lockwood, E. M. Loew, A1 Lourie, Jim Mahoney, Steve Minasian, Sam Pinanski, Julian Rifkin, Richard Smith, Joseph Stanzler, Saverio Romano, Chester L. Stoddard, James M. Totman, Mel Wintman. At the National Association of Concession¬ aires session, Jack O’Brien, NET’s New En¬ gland Service Corp., president, and Louis Abramson, executive director, were speakers. A golf tournament was held, and George Roberts, Rifkin Theatres, known as the “toast¬ master of film row,” gave a dissertation at the annual banquet on “film row characters I have known.” i Two To Trans-Beacon PORTLAND — Trans-Beacon Corporation has entered into a long term lease on the Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres, Port¬ land, Ore. it was announced by Sheldon Smerling, president of Trans-Beacon, and Mrs. J. J. Parker, owner of the two theatres. The Broadway, a first run downtown show¬ case, will undergo extensive refurbishing. The acquisition on the part of Trans-Beacon is in line with its continued expansion of theatres and the circuit currently operates in over 14 major cities in the U.S. and Canada. The theatres will be operated out of the western division offices of Trans-Beacon, located in Beverly Hills. Poe Chairs Pioneer Fete NEW YORK — George Dembow, president, Motion Picture Pioneers, has designated Sey¬ mour Poe, 20th-Fox executive vice-president, as chairman of the 28th annual dinner of the Motion Picture Pioneers to be held at the Americana Hotel on Nov. 21. William Forman, distinguished exhibitor and president of Cinerama, Inc., will be honored as Pioneer of the Year at the gala affair. Disney Dividend Declared HOLLYWOOD — The board of directors of Walt Disney Productions at an adjourned meeting held at Disneyland Park, declared its regular quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, payable Oct. 1. 12 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR September 14, 1966