Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1946)

Give Television Awards for 1945 Achievements Awards in 13 categories for 1945-46 were presented by the American Television Society last Wednesday evening at a meeting at the DuMont John Wanamaker studios in New York. In recognition of the year's outstanding contribution to the development of television commercially, the American Broadcasting Company and DuMont television station WABD were presented the television "Oscars." Paul Mowrey, chief of television operations for ABC, was specially cited for his work in commercial television. Other awards were : For technical excellence in television production, Columbia Broadcasting System's station WCBW in New York; and NBC's WNBT, New York. James McNaughton, art director of WCBW, was cited for work in scenic design and staging; WNBT for camera work; RCA for the image-orthicon camera. For effort in developing television commercials : Ruthrauff & Ryan, Inc., and Lever Brothers Company. Sports programming: NBC, WNBT and WPTZ, Philadelphia. Educational programming: WBKB, Chicago, and WCBW. Children's programs : WRGB, the General Electric Company station, in Schenectady, N. Y. News programs : WCBW. Outstanding production : WNBT. Special events: CBS, NBC, Allen B. Du Mont Laboratories, Inc., and the American Telephone & Telegraph Company. Outstanding direction : Edward Sobel and Ernest Colling, both with NBC's WNBT. Experimental demonstration, color : RCA and CBS. Ralph Rockafellow, of Buchanan & Company, and editor of the Society's publications, was given a special award in recognition of his service to the Society. Officers inducted at the meeting were : George T. Shupert, of Paramount, president; Mr. Rockafellow, vice-president; Dian Dincin, of Metropolitan Television, Inc., secretary, and Archibald U. Braunfield, treasurer. Members of this year's board include Charles Alicoate, Edward C. Cole, Frederick A. Kugel, Don McClure, David Hale Halpern, Alice Pentlarge and Richard Manville. Brady Confers on Famine William Brady, southern 16mm division manager of Southeastern Theatre Equipment Company, Atlanta, Ga., last week conferred with Clinton P. Anderson, Secretary of Agriculture, on a film program to aid famine stricken countries of Europe. Mr. Brady was named to the government liaison committee at the recent Allied Non-Theatrical Film Association Convention in New York. Petrillo Withholds Plea On Lea Bill Violation James C. Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians, surrendered in Federal District Court in Chicago last Friday to answer charges of violating the Lea law in calling a strike of three librarians at Station WAAF May 28. By agreement with the court and United States Attorney, Petrillo was allowed to withhold a plea to the charge. He posted $1,000' bond. Judge Walter J. Labuy allowed Joseph Padway, counsel for the union, until July 15 to file the motions and to August 5 to file briefs in support of the motions. The Government was given until September 9 to file reply briefs. Raise Ticket Tax In Transvaal by R. N. BARRETT in Johaiiiicsbiirg Entertainment taxes in the Transvaal province of the Union of South Africa have been raised. The government has announced the additional tax measure will yield an extra £35,000 a year. This would bring the total entertainment tax up to £200,000 a year for the Transvaal and will bring the province into line with other provinces — Natal, the Orange Free State, and the Cape Province. V Jack Painter of the Twentieth CenturyFox organization and chief cameraman of Movietone's "Magic Carpet," has left South Africa after filming in color a sketch of General J. C. Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa. V The first of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "international" pictures, "The Last Chance," was shown in South Africa recently at the Metro theatre in Johannesburg. It had a successful premiere. Legion of Decency Reviews Seven New Productions The National Legion of Decency reviewed seven new productions this week, approving all but one. In Class A-I, unobjectionable for general patronage, were "Dangerous Business," "Faithful in My Fashion," "The Man from Rainbow Valley" and "Smoky." In Class A-II, unobjectionable for adults, were "One Exciting Week" and "The Runaround." "Undercover Woman" was placed in Class B, objectionable in part, because it "reflects the acceptability of divorce." SPG, SOPEG Dance Set "Cinemantics of '46," dance and entertainment, sponsored jointly by the Screen Publicists' Guild and the Screen Office and Professional Employees Guild, CIO, will be held at the City Center Casino in New York, Friday night, June 28. Television Gets Big Chance with Louis-Conn Bout Television had its greatest public demonstration Wednesday night when the heavyweight championship fight between Joe Louis and Billy Conn in the Yankee Stadium was transmitted by the National Broadcasting Company to viewers in New York and New Jersey, and cabled for retransmission in Philadelphia and Washington, D. C. Between Schenectady and Washington, 7,500 persons saw the fight on television receivers, NBC estimated. In the New York area alone, 5,000 watched the television screens. About 500 of them were writers and other personages invited by NBC and crowded into its studio. Theatre-goers all over the world will get a chance to see the bout in films under arrangements made by RKO Radio. The company is shipping prints via air express to every possible point of the globe. Special air-expressing arrangements have been made by Harry Ehrreich, service manager for RKO's foreign division covering Europe, South America and the Antilles. While the American Broadcasting Company brought the event to radio audiences in the United States through a network of 205 stations, it was being rebroadcast for G.I.'s all over the world by the Armed Forces Network. In England, the British Broadcasting Company carried the broadcast, while in Canada it was handled by the Canadian Broadcasting Company. Since RKO Radio had exclusive film rights, the newsreels, while they showed the fighters in training, presented no shots of the actual bout. Cinecolor Increases Stock To One Million Shares At the annual stockholders meeting held in Hollywood last week, Cinecolor Corporation increased the amount of its stock from 750,000 to 1,000,000 shares at $1 par value. At the same time a motion was passed to increase the number of board members from five to seven. W. T. Crespinel, Alan Gundelfinger, William Loss, Graham Sterling and A. Pam Blumenthal were reelected to the board of directors. Joseph J. Rathert, representing midwest interests, was elected as the sixth director and the seventh post temporarily was left vacant. Mr. Loss, vice-president of the company, outlined future plans and said Cinecolor would process about 100,000,000 feet by January, 1948. Krugman Joins Goldwyn Arthur Sachson, general sales manager fof Samuel Goldwyn Productions, has appointed Saul J. Krugman special field sales representative in the east. He will headquarter in Philadelphia and cover that city and Washington, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Indianapolis. 46 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 22, 1944