Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

Paramount and 20th-Fox Join In 16mm Abroad BRITISH MOBILE UNITS TAKE THE SHOW HOME "A NIGHT AT THE OPERA". It's a night at the MGM picture of that name, the Marx Brothers' zany product, at Mickleton, England!, where the audience seems to be enjoying itself thoroughly, in a 16mm mobile show. Paramount International and 20th-Fox International have officially joined forces for the distribution of 16mm product abroad and have formed a new corporation for the purpose, a 20th-Fox announcement said this week. It will be owned by the two companies on a 50-50 basis. Emanuel D. Silverstone, home office representative of 20thFox International, will head the new organization as president. The corporation has been in preparation many months. Signing of the contract was reportedly held up because of legal difficulties arising from the pooling of facilities. Daniel Frankel, vice-president of Four Continents Films, a company distributing British pictures in the United States, will be general sales manager. He is resigning from his post at Four Continents. The announcement said the new corporation would distribute sub-standard width films to those parts of foreign countries which, because of lack of equipment and facilities, are not now reached by standard product. According to Mr. Silverstone, no decision regarding distribution methods has yet been reached. Operations probably will cover the whole world excepting the U. S. and Canada. The complete libraries of 20th-Fox and Paramount will be available for 16mm reduction. The 16mm versions of pictures of either of the two companies so far have not been generally distributed in foreign countries. Operations will be based partly on an extensive survey of 16mm possibilities conducted by 20th-Fox late last year. Besides original versions, the new corporations will handle dubbed and superimposed versions of both companies. Also slated for distribution are a series of educational shorts called "The World Today." A corporate name for the corporation remains to be announced. Metro Short Subject Wins Safety Council Award For the third consecutive year, an MGM short has won the National Safety Council's Award offered annually to the film contributing most to public safety during the year. The award this year went to the company's "Traffic With the Devil," produced by Herbert Morgan and filmed in cooperation with the Associated Press. The award, made by the National Committee on Films for Safety, was the fifth MGM has received. Opening Spring Valley House Martin Schwartz, president of the Ronny Park Theatres Corporation, will open the Parkway theatre in Spring Valley, N. Y., April 25. It is a small modern theatre which he has recently purchased and remodeled. Mr. Schwartz is the former president of KAS Theatre Corporation. AIMED at a vast potential audience of British filmgoers, 16mm pioneers in Britain are opening a wide field with the introduction of one-night stands in small villages and towns throughout the country. Today these films are playing in many isolated spots where the motion picture up to now has been little-known, according to advices to the Loew's International home office from its London headquarters. Outstanding among the circuits which now regularly serve the little communities throughout Britain is Century Mobile Cinemas, subsidiary of Sidney L. Bernstein's 35mm Granada Circuit. Century, which uses completely self-contained vans to cover one situation every day of the week, was formed four months ago after a year of preparation. Currently its units are operating in Kent, Bedfordshire, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire, Berkshire, and Buckinghamshire, and expansion is taking place constantly. Other important circuits are established in hundreds of villages and towns. Two Shows a Day Each situation gets two shows a day, once a week. The common admission price amounts to about one shilling and sixpence (30 cents) for the evening performances and about eight to tenpence for the popular children's matinees. The halls booked by the circuit have an average seating capacity of 200-250. Admissions generally are no lower than prices charged by the nearest 35mm house. Century's operations are headed by Richard Willder. The company is understood to have extensive booking arrangements with Gaumont British and MGM. Narrowgauge exhibition is subject to an agreement between the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association and the Kinematograph Renters Society. Under these rules 16mm exhibi tion is approved only in areas not serviced by 35mm; established 35mm exhibitors get first preference in the 16mm field, and 16mm exhibitors and distributors are encouraged to join the two organizations. There also is a reasonable time clearance in the release. Farningham, a small community in Kent, is typical. Every Friday, the red and white Century van, with its slogan, "Century Mobile Cinemas bring the stars to you," comes to a stop before the little town's brick and timber hall, and George Thurling, the exserviceman operator-manager, unloads his equipment. Besides driving the unit, he is also publicity man, bill-poster, -cashier, technician, projectionist, usher and odd-job man. It takes him about an hour to get the place ready for the show. Equipment Is Simple After getting the equipment into place, he sets up the simple portable projection booth to mask it. Two-inch diameter hollow rods slot into place and are covered by a heavy rubberized material with "eye-holes'' for the projectors and "mouthpiece" for himself to look out. The booth shuts off much extraneous sound — and that's important to the small-hall show. Completing the booth is a normal rewind machine clamped to the table. New York Supreme Court Rules Against Hughes Howard Hughes' efforts to force a showing of his picture "The Outlaw" in New York City were halted again last week when New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Shientag ruled that the City License and Police Commissioners had the right to threaten revocation of a theatre's license and prosecution of an exhibitor to prevent showing of an indecent picture. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 12, 1947 27