The Exhibitor (1966)

NGC Promotes Cottom To Head Sales-Service ^•limiillilttiiill i inn limn Mill) 1 1 mi 1 1 1 tin 1 1 1 nit 1 1 mi 1 1 1 mi 1 1 1 in 1 1 1 nn 1 1 mn 1 1 mi 1 1 1 mi 1 1 1 1 in 1 1 mi 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 mi 1 1 1 nil n i in limn n mi i n iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitMiiiiiiiiiiiito The NEW YORK Scene LOS ANGELES— Robert W. Cottom, Fox West Coast Theatres’ Pasadena area manager, has been named by National General Corpora¬ tion to head its promotional sales and service department, according to announcement by William H. Thedford and Dan Polier, co¬ directors of theatre operations for NGC. He will headquarter at National General’s home office building in Carthay Circle. Prior to joining Fox West Coast, Cottom was publicist for the Our Gang Kids traveling stage troup, for RKO Theatres, Schine Enter¬ prises, and Western Theatres Corp. He joined Fox in 1933 as an assistant manager at Bakers¬ field, later becoming manager. He has man¬ aged the Fox Theatre, Santa Barbara; Orpheum, San Diego; and for the past three years has managed the Academy, Pasadena. Cottom is married and has one daughter. He is a graduate of the Chicago Institute of Art, Indiana State College, and the Rose Poly¬ technic Institute. “Fathom” Rights To Fox NEW YORK — Twentieth Century-Fox has acquired film rights to a new series of thriller novels by British author Larry Forrester, whose central character is the glamorous and adventuresome Fathom, an international her¬ oine engaged in both counterespionage and the war against organized crime. The first of these novels will be published by William Heinemann Ltd. in 1967. However, 20th-Fox will introduce Fathom to the screen in a film based on Forrester’s second book — “Fathom Heaven¬ sent” — which is still in the draft stage. The picture, which recently started produc¬ tion in Spain, is titled “Fathom” and stars Raquel Welch, whose first starring film — “Fantastic Voyage” — has just been released. Silver Screen To I FI DA NEW YORK — The Independent Film Im¬ porters and Distributors of America, Inc., an¬ nounced acceptance of an application for membership from Silver Screen Film Distribu¬ tors, Inc., foreign film distributor. Silver Screen Film Distributors, Inc., will be repre¬ sented on the IFIDA board by Adolph Her¬ man, president. 7 Arts Cancels Offer NEW YORK — Seven Arts Productions, Limited, announced that the committee ap¬ pointed by the selling shareholders to agree upon an offering price in the contemplated secondary distribution by Allen & Company, Inc., of Seven Arts shares had advised it that because of the current market price of the shares of Seven Arts, they were unwilling to sell their shares in an underwritten secondary distribution at the present time. Accordingly, all plans for an underwritten public offering of such shares have been permanently cancelled by the company. The company has been requested by the committee to amend its registration statement to provide for the sale of shares by selling shareholders in the discretion of such share¬ holders from time to time at the market price prevailing at the time of sale. The company is circulating an agreement among the selling shareholders for inclusion of their shares in an amendment to the registration statement cur¬ rently on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the effectiveness of which is a prerequisite to any such sales. By Me/ Konecoff DID YOU KNOW THAT THEY DON’T HAVE A BRASS RING TO CATCH AT the merry-go-round in Central Park? This amazing fact was uncovered the other day when we ventured up there on the promise of a free ride by a Columbia press agent. He was ecstatic about this plug in the round for a film called “Dead Heat On A Merry-Go-Round,” with James Coburn. To jazz things up, there was a marathon race on that day between a jockey in full regalia and an exercise girl (she exercises horses) in less regalia. Something about the one who remained ahorse the longest would win a pass to see the picture or somesuch. Following this dizzying experience, we felt in need of a bit of sustenance at the nearby Tavern on the Green, where the film’s producer, Carter DeHaven, also had a bit of lunch. “Dead Heat” was made on a one-picture deal with Columbia, and a lot of preparation — about two years worth — went into the entry from the story inception to the final editing. Although this is his first picture, Carter had the guts to cast the film according to who was right for the role, which was good for virtually unknown actors and budget. James Coburn got more money, $150,000, than the rest of the cast combined. Practically everything was filmed out-of-studio, with much of the footage exposed at the L.A. International Airport. All these plus-factors permitted the film to come in for $1,400,000, including the standing 30 per cent overhead. DeHaven has a couple of other projects in the works, “Project Albatross,” a World War II story, and “The Burning Sun,” a large-scale western. He’s also been talking tv deals with ABC, and he’s also got a piece of the hit play, “Man of La Mancha” by accident — a friend persuaded him to come in. At present, the movie rights are worth in the neighborhood of two million dollars — and he’s not sure who will get ’em. P.S. The race on the carousel wound up in a dead heat but with plenty of up and downs. A PROJECTION FOR PEBBLES: IN THE STORY TO BE FOUND ELSEWHERE in detail announcing the forthcoming premiere of “The Sand Pebbles” at the Rivoli Theatre on Dec. 20, Salah Hassanein, president of the theatre chain, made the formal pronounce¬ ment. Not too many people know that Hassanein started in the business 21 years ago at the Rivoli as an usher. That house has been blessed in recent times. It had “West Side Story” for 68 weeks; “The Sound of Music” will have played for 96 weeks when it ends its run; and then, in comes “The Sand Pebbles,” of which much is expected. All three films are Robert Wise produc¬ tions. The record run at the house is still held by “Around The World in 80 Days,” which played 104 weeks. Fox officials admitted quite frankly that they were pulling “The Sound of Music” because they wanted to qualify “The Sand Pebbles” for Academy Award consideration, and they had to open before the end of the year to do so. Meanwhile, “Music” will go out to other theatres in the area, but whether or not it will play on a reserved seat basis for the first time in subsequent runs is something that hasn’t been decided yet. Wise reported that his next will be “The Star,” based on the story of Gertrude Lawrence, with Julie Andrews in the title role. Incidentally, he was quite pleased that “The Sand Pebbles” would open at the Rivoli because that house has always treated his films well from a projection viewpoint. We remember that he has always expressed concern about what happens to a film once it leaves the lab and distribution offices and gets into the projection machines of a theatre. FANTASTIC IS THE WORD: THE OTHER SUNDAY MATINEE, WE TRANSported a couple of teen-agers to a neighborhood theatre playing “Fantastic Voyage,” and when we arrived, we were overwhelmed by the line of teens besieging the boxoffice. Evi¬ dently it must be an “in” picture to see. When we discussed this with Joe Sugar, vice-presi¬ dent in charge of sales at Fox, he lamented not getting a crack at the release of this during the summer. With the proper timing, it could have been one of the biggest grossers of the company. MAIL: TO NORMAN J. SCHONFELD, PLAZA THEATRE, LINDEN, N.J.: THANK you for your note reporting the re-opening of the Plaza. Your use of the marquee for pre¬ opening teaser announcements was a cute touch, and the Elizabeth Daily Journal was right on the ball with photo coverage. (The paper reproduced a series of three fotos — the first marquee note asking, “Would You Believe A Complete Renovation?”; the second read, “Would You Believe A Partial Renovation?”; and the third reproduced the query, “Would You Believe We Painted Three Seats?” Our best for the future. Still More Mail: To Leon J. Bamberger in Japan: Sayonara to you, too. Additional Mail: To Tom Pitts, Fredericksburg, Virginia: You are right. We did mis-spell Miss Pleshette’s first name, and we are surprised that we didn’t hear from dad Gene. Some¬ times we’re reel iggerent when it comes to speling. (Aside to the chief: you gotta watch out for those guys in Virginia.) TRIBUTE AFTER THE FACT: THE ROYAL BOX IN THE HOTEL AMERICANA bulged with friends of Jack Levin celebrating his 50th anniversary in the business. The speeches were short, the gags plentiful, the door prizes novel and numerous, and the tribute impressive and moving. Industry wheels were called around the room for one word opinions on the man and the affair, and among those responding were Spyros P. Skouras, Jay Emanuel, Charles Alicoate, George Dembow, Bernie Myerson, Adolph Schimel, Arnold Forster, Ned Depinet, Irving Dollinger, Paul Lazarus, etc. Speaking were Si Seadler, Harry Brandt, Carl Levine and Norman Robbins on behalf of the sponsoring Cinema Lodge. Entertaining were Harry Hershfield and Arthur Mayer. The Mullers, Thelma and Cliff, secretary at Cinema Lodge and aide to Levin, respectively, were thanked for their efforts on behalf of the affair. October 26, 1966 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 17 IIIIIIIIIIIUIIUUI