Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1954)

DRIVE-IN MEET ALLIED WEIGHS BEY OF STOCK Board Studies Rembusch Plan to Acquire Stock in Major Companies CINCINNATI: The board of directors of Allied States Association, meeting here Friday and Saturday this week at the Netherlands Plaza Hotel, was to decide whether or not the Association will proceed with its plan for stock acquisition by Allied members in motion picture companies. Abram F. Myers, chairman and general counsel, in his annual report to the Board delivered Friday, urgently recommended adoption of the plan and urged that other exhibitor organizations and individual exhibitors be invited to join. Conceived by Trueman Rembusch and announced by him as keynoter at the national Allied convention in Boston last fall, the plan is designed primarily to alleviate the product shortage, and what is felt to be the consequent trade malpractices, by giving exhibition a strong voice in production affairs. Questionnaire Sent Out The board’s decision will be based largely on answers to a questionnaire, sent out to Allied members in January as part of a survey to determine rank and file opinion on such stock purchasing. The board will act on the project with the understanding that its undertaking and execution will depend on the exhibitors themselves. The questions asked in the survey were as follows : How many shares of the stocks of the following companies owned by you or by members of your family or business associates will be available in carrying out a program as described: Columbia (comm.), Loew’s, Paramount, RKO Pictures, 20th Century-Fox (comm.), Universal (comm.), Warner Brothers and Republic (comm.). Would you be willing to buy additional shares of stock to further aid in carrying out such a program ? If so, in what company ? How many shares ? Would you be willing to dispose of your shares in one company and reinvest the proceeds in another in order to bring the maximum influence to bear upon a single company to be designated hereafter ? Plan Use of Proxies When called upon, will you be prepared to execute proxies, or cause members of your family or business associates to do so, for the shares of stock held by you or them, in favor of a committee of experienced exhibitors, so that the shares may be voted in furtherance of such a program ? Will you be willing to guarantee playdates at prevailing prices for comparable product to a company to be designated by such com mittee for the maximum number of pictures that such company can produce in one year ? Mr. Rembusch, in his keynote speech, outlined a campaign of action, saying : “Ownership of 10 per cent of any film company’s stock by exhibitors who will guarantee playdates at prices comparable to the going market, would secure the voting rights of sufficient shares of stock owned by large investment houses in a film company, to secure control of the company. The investment houses would turn over these voting rights because of the value inherent in guaranteed playdates. Banks would furnish production money, because of the assets represented by guaranteed playdates. . . .” Would Effect Economies He suggested that experienced, picturewise exhibitors of proven business judgment might be elected to the board of directors of such a company and that they could “immediately lay plans looking toward relieving to a great extent the shortage of product. Such a board could eliminate non-productive personnel of the company in sales and production, replacing them with men of vision ; could put into effect incentive selling policies and develop new media of effective advertising.” Mr. Myers’ report stressed the point that new media, particularly CinemaScope have made the already serious product shortage even more critical. In addition he said, “This starving of the market has played into the hands of the film companies in their determination to exact still more onerous terms and conditions for such films as are available.” He attacked the present 20th-Fox policy of insisting upon stereophonic sound installations for CinemaScope showings and charged bitterly that “It appears that Fox has hit upon a scheme which, they hope, will secure for them all the advantages of the pre-release method and at the same time be immune to legal attack.” Proposes Two Measures The product shortage plus a pile-up in first-runs of CinemaScope pictures is “either a present or imminent threat to every person engaged in exhibition,” Mr. Myers said, in proposing two “drastic” measures. These were: “1. To bring about the production of more pictures either by engaging directly in production or stimulating production by others; and 2. To carry on an intensive nation-wide campaign to promote theatre attendance so that increased production will be economically feasible.” It was in connection with the first point that Mr. Myers urged the stock purchase plan. In connection with the second he said, “What is needed is a great united push for motion picture entertainment. ( Continued from page 13) “very pleasing once the listener becomes accustomed to it.” First on the program at the Tuesday afternoon session of the convention was Col. George Mingle, Ohio State Traffic Control Comissioner, who advised the delegates of the importance of engaging the local police authorities to conduct an even flow of traffic in and out of drive-in theatres in the country, because of the increased number of automobiles now using main thoroughfares. Col. Mingle urged the theatre owners to try to make use of secondary highways wherever possible. A1 Sindlinger, also on the Tuesday program, re-emphasized his famous statement “we are doing business by accident.” Since 1948, he said, profits have declined from 13 per cent to 1 and per cent even with increased grosses. He stressed the importance of channeling “communication advertising” intelligently to keep the public more informed of what picture was showing and when. Texas Drive-in Unit Plans Advisory Boards DALLAS : The International Drive-in Theatre Owners Association has set a variety of activities for 1954 including the establishment of advisory boards and an arrangement for a 10 per cent discount on drive-in equipment with a Kansas City company. In a message to the membership, president Claude Ezell predicts that “drive-in theatres in 1954 will see the dawning of a brighter new day for their industry.” The advisory boards will consist of experts available for consultation, such as architects, lawyers, sound engineers, projectionists, building contractors, landscaping and decorating artists, concessions authorities and advertising advisors, Ezell said. Everetts Sell Interests In Carolina Theatres H. H. Everett, of Charlotte, N. C., a theatre operator and civic leader, and Mrs. Everett, have sold their interests in some bo houses of North and South Carolina to Essantee Theatres, owned by Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Stellings and Mr. and Mrs. Charles B. Trexler. Mr. Everett’s firm is known as Everett Enterprises, and it will continue to handle other family holdings. Mr. Stellings has been in the business 30 years and with Mr. Everett since approximately 1939. Rose Producing Greene Story David Rose, independent producer, will make Graham Greene’s “The End of the Affair” for Columbia Pictures. The best selling novel will have Deborah Kerr as feminine lead. Mr. Rose has been a producer for Paramount, an independent, and an executive with Douglas Fairbanks and United Artists. 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954