The Exhibitor (1966)

NEWS CAPSULES \l/ FILM FAMILY ALBUM Arrivals Mr. and Mrs. William Gereghty announce the arrival of a daughter, Amber Cathleen. The father is a cameraman at Columbia studios. Joseph G. Korsak, office manager of MGM, became a grandfather for the first time when a daughter, Audrey Elizabeth, was born to George and Audrey Roberts at Mountainside Hospital, Montclair, N.J. A daughter, Geraldine, was born to Mr. and Mrs. jerry Limata at Beth Israel Hospital, New York. Limata is head of United Artists’ statistical department. Gold Bands Rosemary Lombardo, production secretary to Salvatore Billitteri, American International Pictures coast production head, was married to Frank Nicholas Ciccone in Brooklyn, N.Y. Obituaries Mrs. Margaret M. Farry, wife of Eugene J. Farry, died at her home. Farry is administra¬ tor of the income, net profits and occupational taxes in the office of the Tax Collector, and until last year with Comerford Theatres’ ac¬ counting department in Scranton, Pa., for 30 years. Other survivors include a son, a daugh¬ ter, and six grandchildren. Frank Fraley, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., one of the first stage hands in the area, who worked for both Comerford and Paramount theatres, died. W. Ray Johnston, 74, founder of Monogram Pictures Corporation in 1931 which later evolved into Allied Artists, died in Hollywood, Cal., after a long illness following a stroke. He was named chairman of the board in 1945, a post he later held with Allied Artists. Sur¬ viving are his widow, two brothers and a sister. Harold Kay, 60, owner, Lake, Painesville, Ohio, died of a heart attack at Lake County Memorial Hospital. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and five grandchildren. Mary Scully, wife of William A. Scully, one¬ time vice president and general sales manager of Universal Pictures, died in Miami Beach, Fla., where she and her husband had retired following his departure from Universal. 117 For General Cinema AKRON, O. — General Cinema Corporation opened its 117th unit, and its first in Akron, Ohio. The twin theatre, known as Cinema I & II, is located in the Chapel Hill Mall Shop¬ ping Center. A press luncheon and cocktail party were held in the lobby of the theatre. The theatres officially opened for business with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in which executives of the Boston-based General Cinema and local officials participated. General Cinema, which operates in 22 states, also has theatres in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus. The company also will open two new theatres in Columbus on Nov. 16, and its first conventional theatre in Cincinnati on Dec. 23. FORMS FOR THIS PACE CLOSED AT 5 P.M. ON MON., OCT. 24 Corwin Reveals Changes In UA Sales Contract CHARLOTTE — Modifications in the United Artists exhibition contract, which were made after extensive discussions with a com¬ mittee of the National Association of Theatre Owners, were disclosed by Sherrill C. Corwin, N.A.T.O. president, in his keynote speech to the annual convention of the Theatre Owners of North and South Carolina, Corwin listed the following changes: The modified contract provides that United Artists has no right to examine exhibitor in¬ come tax returns and financial statements un¬ less complete and accurate records of gross receipts on a percentage picture are not made available. It also provides that the exhibitor will still have the privilege to request a review. The granting of the request, however, as it has always been, will be “in the sole discretion of the distributor.” Another modification now will give the ex¬ hibitor 14 days in which to cure, correct or remedy any default in payments for film ren¬ tals, before United Artists can take punitive action. The revised contract increases from five to fourteen days the period in advance that an agreed-upon playdate may be changed by either party, with certain flexibilities provided in the event of an unexpected holdover. The language, “a separate and distinct fund” (in reference to film rentals due to U A), has been eliminated in the modified agreement. Heater service charges are still under dis¬ cussion and Corwin was optimistic about the probability of an early resolution of the differ¬ ences still unsettled. The N.A.T.O. president stated that he is thoroughly convinced that the attitude of United Artists, its executives, Messrs. Picker and Velde, and their legal counsel was one of genuine conciliation and that they had met in an atmosphere of mutual respect. He admitted that exhibitors have a. responsibility to dis¬ tributors in correcting certain conditions, but pointed out that the converse was also true. While asking the southern exhiibtors to judge for themselves as to whether or not the N.A.T.O. leaders were negotiators worthy of their trust, he voiced his own opinion that without N.A.T.O. there would have been no committee and no adjustment, and the chaotic contents of the unreasonable contract would have been the subject of endless discussion and conflict between distributor and individual exhibitors. In another segment of his speech, the exhibi¬ tor leader praised his fellow showmen for the hard work that they had devoted to National Movie Month and called for its adoption as an annual event. He mentioned certain com¬ panies which had come through with addi¬ tional important product and stated that the over-all effect of Movie Month would help combat the “rigor mortis that sets in after school starts, and when the new television shows with all their self-serving air time train Sly BROADWAY ^ GROSSES Hard Tickets Lead Way NEW YORK — The hard-ticket, reservedseat hits dominated the Broadway scene. The breakdown was as follows: “ANY WEDNESDAY” (Warners). Radio City Music Hall, with usual stage show, did $107,000 from Thursday through Sunday, with the second week bound to top $155,000. “HAWAII” (United Artists). DeMille re¬ ported capacity $48,723 on 10 shows per week roadshow policy. “THE BIBLE” (20th-Fox). Loew’s State for the fourth week was capacity $63,937. “DR. ZHIVAGO” (MGM). Capitol gar¬ nered $25,000 for the 44th week. “THE SOUND OF MUSIC” (20th-Fox). Rivoli had $30,000 for the 86th week. “THE FORTUNE COOKIE” (United Ar¬ tists). Astor announced $20,000 for the first week. “DEAD HEAT ON A MERRY-GOROUND” (Columbia). Victoria stated that the second week was $19,500. “WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?” (Warners). Criterion did $18,250 on the 18th week. “MR. BUDDWING” (MGM). Warner re¬ ported $10,000 for the second week. “ALFIE” (Paramount). New Embassy had $15,000 for the ninth week. their guns on our customers in a fight for the public’s leisure time.” Corwin asked for an understanding of pro¬ duction problems, but called for closer rela¬ tionship between film-makers and theatre owners. He repeated his recommendation of a year ago (which he regretted had not found response in Hollywood) — an offer to form a liaison committee of exhibitor leaders to be available for consultation by forward-looking producers, who would like first-hand informa¬ tion about the ever changing tastes of the moviegoers. Hopeful that the next year would see the beginning of a new era in industry relations, the N.A.T.O. leader nevertheless lashed out at blind bidding forced upon theatres and said, “There will be no surrender of our rights, no obsequious acceptance of anything casually served up to us without proper consultation.” He added, “Neither shall we engage in name¬ calling in seeking our goals. We shall fight cleanly, but tenaciously to achieve the aims of exhibition.” TV HAD IT FIRST In response to queries from exhibitors, MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR has ascertained that “THE PIED PIPER OF HAMELIN,” matinee attraction being of¬ fered to theatres by K. Gordon Murray Pictures, is the same subject that has had repeated showings on television over the past few seasons. It would be advisable for exhibitors to keep this in mind so that possible patron protests will not come as a surprise. 4 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR October 26, 1966