The Exhibitor (1966)

MG 1 Profits Up For Third Year; All Divisions Help Swell Figure NEW YORK — For the third successive year, Metro-Goldw yn-Mayer has increased its profits, winding up the 12 months ending last Aug. 31 with a figure of $2.03 per share on 5,042,859 outstanding shares. This latest gain represents a 31 per cent climb over the profit figure for the previous fiscal year, ac¬ cording to Robert H. O’Brien, MGM’s presi¬ dent and chief executive officer, in a letter to stockholders accompanying the company’s 1966 annual report. All four major activities of MGM — motion pictures, television production, records, and music publishing, helped swell the company’s net earnings to $10,221,000, among the highest in its history, O’Brien told the stockholders. The gains, he added, reflected the growing success of programs initiated by MGM’s management in 1963, the year he was elected chief executive. That year, he noted, MGM lost more than $30,000,000, before taxes. By the following year, MGM had achieved a dramatic turnaround, with a net of $7,390,000. MGM movies, the company’s basic product and basic element in its management’s plans for stability and growth, did well during the year, the MGM president said, citing “out¬ standing grosses” by “A Patch of Blue,” “The Glass Bottom Boat,” “The Cincinnati Kid,” and “The Singing Nun.” “Doctor Zhivago,” another major MGM production which won six Academy Awards in 1966, was singled out by O’Brien for its performance. “The only comparison among our reserved seat attractions,” he said, “is with ‘Ben-Hur,’ ” adding that he expected the movie in its initial release to rank among the four top-grossing motion pictures in the in¬ dustry’s history. O’Brien also cited the licensing agreement with Columbia Broadcasting System under which the network will pay MGM $52,800,000 (a record sum) for 45 pictures starting in the fall of 1967. He noted a second agreement by which CBS fees will help pay for the produc¬ tion of 18 new pictures to be shown first in the¬ atres and then on CBS television. Even after these commitments, O’Brien emphasized, MGM will have one of the largest film libraries of network quality movies still unreleased. (MGM will only license its pictures for tv, retaining all rights.) MGM’s own tv production and distribution, O'Brien reported, had enjoyed its most profit¬ able year in 1965-66, with six series aired for a total of 4'/2 network hours. The company entered the current tv season in an even stronger position, he added, with seven series totaling 5/2 night time hours on the three major networks, plus the half-hour Tom & Jerry Show on CBS Saturdays. Production plans for the 1967-68 season, O'Brien said, indicated a further increase in profits from the MGM program division. The increasing number of UPIF stations, he explained, should increase revenues and profits for the domestic syndication (local stations) market, and over¬ seas, he pointed out, 27 MGM series were on the air in 72 countries. The record division also scored its highest sales and profits in MGM history during the 1966 year. Important sellers included Herman’s Hermits records and the “Doctor Zhivago” soundtrack, the largest selling album from any non-musical picture. Robbins, Feist and Miller, music publishing’s Jaffe Gift Boosts London Boys1 Club LONDON — Leo Jaffe, executive vicepresident of Columbia Pictures, has given a donation of $1,000 to the White City Boys’ Club, London. Jaffe was present at the opening of the new headquarters of this youth centre last April. It was sponsored and opened by pro¬ ducer Sam Spiegel, who gave $30,000 to¬ wards the project. Jaffe, who made the gift through Irving Dollinger, chief barker of the Variety Club of New York, said he was very impressed by what he had seen in London and the work of Variety in general. The White City Boys’ Club is a “Ward” of the Variety Club of Great Britain, which is engaged on a $1,200,000 project to open 13 new boys’ clubs in London. Seven, including White City, are already opened. AIF Trailers Via NSS NEW YORK — Burton E. Robbins, presi¬ dent of National Screen Service, announced that arrangements have been completed for NSS to distribute teaser trailers for American International Pictures, beginning with the re¬ lease of “Thunder Alley.” “Big Three,” in which MGM has a 62 per cent interest, also had a banner year, accord¬ ing to O’Brien. ASCAP payments to the publi¬ shers — their principal source of income — were the highest in MGM history last year, O’Brien said, and a “great increase” in the first pay¬ ment for the 1966-67 year, he added, indicates even more dramatic gains in earnings ahead. Newspaper May Refuse "Adult" Ads, Says Court LANSING, MICH.— The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that a newspaper is a private j business and has the right to accept or refuse advertising as it desires. The court upheld a Calhoun County Circuit Court ruling that the Battle Creek Enquirer and News is not required to accept advertise¬ ments for “adult” movies. Unlike a telephone company or a hotel keeper, the appeals court said, a newspaper is not so “affected with a public interest ’ that its freedom of contract is impaired. In his opinion. Judge Donald E. Holbrook said, in part: “The public interest . . . de¬ mands that the press shall remain independent, unfettered by governmental regulations regard¬ less of whether that regulation stems from legislative enactments or judicial decisions.” The theatre in question was the Eastown of Battle Creek, owned and operated by Floyd Bloss. EK Expert Talks On Color PHILADELPHIA — Ralph M. Evans, direc¬ tor of the photographic technology division of Eastman Kodak Company, spoke on various aspects of color recently at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Evans discussed two ways in which color may be seen (light-color and object-color); colors that are apparently fluorescent; and adaptation to the color and brightness of light. Using slides for illustration, he also presented the theory that there are four principal ways in which two object colors may differ from each other: hue, saturation, brightness, and grey content, and that these four are inde¬ pendent psychological variables. An authority on color processes and visual effects in photography, Evans has written the books, “Eye, Film and Camera In Color Pho¬ tography,” and “Introduction to Color.” He has also lectured widely in the field and has written several articles for scientific journals on the relationship of perception to color photography. Robert H. O'Brien, center, president of Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Inc., was presented with the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews recently at a luncheon in his honor at the Americana Hotel, New York. Seen with O'Brien, left to right, are John Charles Daly, who made the pre¬ sentation; Laurence A. Tisch, chairman of the event and president of Loew's, Inc.; Dr. Sterling W. Brown, president of the NCCJ; and Jack Valenti, president of the MPAA. 6 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR November 23, 1966