Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1954)

SKOURAS -l.E. A. STAGE IS SET British Exhibitors Will Air Views on CinemaScope , Stereophonic Sound by PETER BURNUP LONDON : The stage is set for the Spyros P. Skouras meeting with exhibitors February 10. The Cinematograph Exhibitors Association has hired the well-known Connaught Rooms for the purpose. The meeting will be open to all exhibitors and the whole of the Association’s 4,000-odd membership has been so informed. C.E.A.’s executive council would normally be in session at that hour. The entire morning has been allocated to the Skouras meeting and the executive council will assemble for its regular meeting in the afternoon, at which, undoubtedly, Mr. Skouras’ declarations will have a more than ample airing. Caution Is Urged CinemaScope continues to be the prime factor in the C.E.A. branch discussions, with the Association’s officers reiterating their counsels of caution. At the annual meeting of the Association’s South Midlands branch Claude Whincup, C.E.A. vice-president, for example, spoke to the members in the following terms : “Look ahead twelve months ; assume that 90 per cent of cinemas put in CinemaScope and run wide screen films; then in all probability the additional amount at the box office would be infinitesimal compared with the over-all cost.” Mr. Whincup admitted that a “new perspective is a good thing” but he recommended branch members support the “middle line” policy advocated by general council. He repeated his previous declaration that the cost of stereophonic sound put it completely out of court for most showmen of the country. Prendergast Outspoken At the Yorkshire branch’s annual meeting the reelected branch chairman, John X. Prendergast, was even more forthright. He declared that if CinemaScope was to be confined to larger theatres, giving them the monopoly of the new techniques and forcing the small and even medium exhibitors out of business, he was against it. Mr. Prendergast concluded by saying that CinemaScope would be of terrific value to the industry if it could be made available to all. “But it is of no use to the industry as a whole if they insist on ‘Rolls-Royceing’ it,” he said. Mr. Skouras undoubtedly will have the alleged plight of the smaller man put to him forcefully at the February 10 meeting. He will also be challenged as to whether his plan envisages the elimination of the small exhibitor and to concentrate screenings in the larger independent and circuit theatres. C.E.A.’s officers, it is reported, have obtained private assurances from other distributors that they are prepared to let their otherwise stereophonic productions go out in single-track versions. “Robe” Still Booming Meanwhile, “The Robe” continues to boom business. It is being held over for a fourth week in 11 out of the 12 provincial situations in which it has opened. That is unprecedented. At the Leicester Square Odeon the picture is running into its twelfth week. “How to Marry a Millionaire” opens in 10 provincial situations this week. Its reception at the combined trade and press screenings is reported as enthusiastic in each place. Twentieth-Fox branch managers report many exhibitors in their respective areas already would have signed for CinemaScope but they await, it is said, the outcome of the Skouras meeting February 10. _ _v Portent of a British Quota for television films is seen in a statement issued here by the Association of Cine & Allied Technicians, protesting against negotiations entered into by the B.B.C. to import, for transmission on television, a number of American-sponsored TV programmes. Would Bar Programmes The union is asking the president of the Board of Trade to withhold import licenses from the American programmes in question and is suggesting that the Minister should take the initiative in calling a conference of all interested parties “to try and find a modus vivendi between British films and television.” The film trade here, mainly at the instance of exhibitors, persists in its adamant attitude of having no part of TV. With the pending emergence, however, of commercial TV the demand for TV film programmes will obviously become more pronounced in very short order. V ' Developments this week indicate that A.C.T. is set on a bitter struggle with the Film Laboratory Association in consequence of the latter’s recent rejection of the union’s wage demand. Following a mass meeting of A.C.T.’s laboratory workers the union gave formal notice to the employers’ association that an overtime ban and a “work-to-rule” practice would be imposed in a week’s time failing negotiations on the wage demand. It is understood that the employers have decided to reject the ultimatum. Immediate effect of the ban would be the dislocation of news-reel schedules. It is estimated on the basis of present work-schedules that the ban would cut off 2*4 hours from the present average working week. V Governmental replies last week to House of Commons questions indicate that the bill authorizing commercial TV is unlikely to be introduced in the near future. The Bill is in process of drafting but it is understood that certain points of importance remain to be settled. Best informed Parliamentary opinion tends to the belief that the bill will not be presented to the Commons before March. V Associated British Picture Corporation has declared an interim dividend of per cent on its Ordinary Stock in respect of the year ending 31st March, 1954. This is a similar dividend to last year’s interim. V The Films Council has recommended to the president of the Board of Trade that the British Quota for first and supporting features for 1954-55 should continue at 30 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. V MGM’s worldwide film festival in celebration of the company’s 30th Anniversary will have its London presentation at the Empire, Leicester Square, from Monday, February 22, to Friday, February 26, inclusive. One new feature will be presented at the Empire on each of the five days in the following order : Monday, “Kiss Me Kate”; Tuesday, “Executive Suite”; Wednesday, “The Long, Long Trailer”; Thursday, “Easy to Love”; Friday, “Escape from Fort Bravo.” Firsf-American Supplies Portfolio for Exhibitors In announcing a new low-cost in-car speaker, which is described in the Better Theatres Section of this issue, First-American Products, Inc., of Kansas City, has made available a handy portfolio free to drive-in management, for the filing of literature and other sources of information. The portfolio contains nine compartments with projecting tabs for filing material according to subject. They are marked general, sound and projection, screens, lighting and signs, marquees, playgrounds and patios, refreshments, buildings and furnishings, and maintenance. RKO, Republic Music Talks Set For New York After Feb. 15 Talks on a musicians contract with Republic Pictures and RKO Pictures, the two studios which did not join in the industry agreement negotiated in Miami last week, are expected to be held in New York after February 15, when the board of directors of the American Federation of Musicians reconvenes to work out a radio-television industry contract. This was learned following a preliminary meeting in Miami between James C. Petrillo, AFM president, and Republic officials at the end of last week. 22 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 6, 1954