Motion Picture Herald (1954)

AUDIENCE POLL Agreement DATE CHANGED 7,'ZCZ. COMPO Plan Is Altered to Start on Thanksgiving; Avoid Academy Conflict The committee appointed by the Council of Motion Picture Organizations to make plans for an annual national audience poll that would choose the best picture of each preceding year will recommend to the COMPO Governing Committee that the first poll be held from next Thanksgiving Day to midnight of the following December 7 and that the pictures eligible for the vote be those released and publicly exhibited between November 1, 1954, and November 1, 1955. Choice of the date was made at a meeting of the committee held last weekend at the Sheraton Astor Hotel in New York. Original date set for the poll, when the committee drew up its first plans last June, was the first two weeks in January, 1955. Withhold Other Details Inability to get the poll under way for the January date and a desire to avoid conflict with the Academy Oscar awards in March were given by the poll committee as its reasons for setting the Thanksgiving — December 7 date for the voting. The committee decided to withhold other details of its plans pending a meeting immediately after the holidays with the COMPO Governing Committee, which consists of Sam Pinanski, Wilbur Snaper and A1 Lichtman. Those attending the poll committee meeting were Alice N. Gorham of United Paramount Theatres, Detroit, chairman; Frank H. Ricketson, Jr., and Paul Lyday of the Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres of Denver ; Paul Levi of the American Theatres Corporation, Boston ; Ralph Russell of the Palace theatre, Canton, O. ; Roy Kalver of Decatur, Ind., president of Allied Theatres of Indiana; Harry Mandel of RKO Theatres, chairman of the COMPO press relations committee, and Charles E. McCarthy, COMPO information director. WCBS-TV Purchases I 79 Lantz Cartoons The purchase by WCBS-TV of 179 Walter Lantz animated cartoons for exclusive first run television showings in the New York area has been announced by William C. Lucey, manager of the station’s film department. The films will be programmed on WCBS-TV’s “The George Skinner Show,” “Space Funnies” and “Cartoon Carnival.” The four different cartoon series included in the films are “Oswald the Rabbit,” “Pooch the Pup,” “Willie Mouse” and “Meany Miny and Moe.” NEGATIVE OF "ARMY" TO RELIEF AGENCY The original negative of Warner Brothers' production of Irving Berlin's "This Is the Army" is being turned over permanently to This Is the Army, Inc., on behalf of Army Emergency Relief, it was announced Wednesday by Warner Brothers Pictures, producers and distributors of the picture. "This Is the Army" was one of the most financially successful films in industry history, earning in excess of $7,800,000 for Army Emergency Relief. In 1943, Robert Patterson, then Under-Secretary of War, praised the picture as a "notable and effective stimulus to civilian morale" and as a "splendid contribution to Army Emergency Relief" by Warners and Mr. Berlin. McGee Cites Fewer Ticket Sales To flay OKLAHOMA CITY: Pat McGee, keynote speaker at the 37th annual convention of Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Inc., held here last week, said that “fewer pictures but good ones” as advocated in some quarters will do much to reduce owners’ profits. He said while total ticket sales and total attendance “may be up, the truth is that 90 per cent of the theatres in this country are selling fewer tickets.” Jack Braunagel, drive-in operator, Kansas City, told the group that most theatre owners’ worst competitor is their own lack of attention to detail. He urged that they check their theatres to maintain the customers’ comfort and patronage. Great pictures are not the only answer to profits, he added. Edward Thorn, general manager of Cooper Foundation Theatres here, was elected president of the organization. Other officers elected include Ralph Drewry, vicepresident; Ray Hughes, secretary-treasurer, and Mrs. Zella Geek, reelected assistant secretary-treasurer. King Bros. Dividend HOLLYWOOD: The board of directors of King Bros. Productions, Inc., has declared a dividend of five cents a share, payable January 10, 1955, to stockholders of record December 22, 1954, it was announced last week by Frank King, president of the company. That exhibition and distribution are “close to agreement” on the draft of an industry arbitration system was acknowledged in New York this week by Sidney Schreiber, secretary and general counsel of the Motion Picture Association of America. Mr. Schreiber, attending a press conference held by Eric Johnston, president of MPAA, along with other MPAA officials, was asked a series of questions on several specific arbitration issues. Declining to answer specific questions, Mr. Schreiber said that many specific issues still were in process of negotiation. He stressed, however, that negotiations have reached a point where company presidents are being informed of developments by sales managers. Such a meeting of company presidents, sales managers and company counsels was held last week. A similar meeting was scheduled to be held this week. The joint meeting of the distributor and exhibitor arbitration committees will be January 17. Mr. Johnston, who presided at last week’s meeting of company presidents and sales managers, said a progress report on arbitration was rendered. In response to a specific question, Mr. Johnston said that as far as he knew the pre-release and damages issues in arbitration had been “thoroughly thrashed out” by both sides. Mr. Schreiber, commenting further, said there are still certain areas to be negotiated, adding, however, that “indications” are that both sides are “close to agreement.” Mr. Johnston declined to comment on the proposal by A1 Lichtman, director of distribution of 20th Century-Fox, for an industry round table conference on trade practices, saying that he did not know enough about the proposal having been away when it was made. Senator Schoeppel Scores Federal Regulation Bid Proposed Federal regulation of the film industry was sharply scored this week by Senator Andrew F. Schoeppel, chairman of the Senate Small Business Subcommittee, in a letter to Albert Hanson, chairman of the trade relations committee of the Southern California Theatre Owners Association. Answering a letter in which Mr. Hanson described business conditions as “un-American and illegal,” Senator Schoeppel wrote that if he were an exhibitor he “would think a long time before I would urge Government regulation of my business.” He would not want the Governemnt, he said, to tell him what price he could charge at the box office or what return he could get on his investment. Government regulation, he went on to say, would not cure the product shortage. An effective arbitration system, he said, is the best solution. 16 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 18, 1954