Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

Alfred Starr Dies at 58 NASHVILLE: Alfred Starr, 58-year-old veteran of motion picture exhibition, who was president of the Bijou Amusement Company, and cochairman of the joint exhibition Committee Against Pay As You See Television died here October 15, suffering a fatal heart attack in his office. Mr. Starr, a veteran of more than 30 years in the industry is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The principal owner of the Bijou Amusement Company which he managed in cooperation with his brother Milton, he was highly instrumental in making Theatre Owners of America a prime mover in exhibition and motion picture industry affairs. Mr. Starr was president of TOA during 1953-54. He served as chairman of the executive committee and was a member of the board of directors from 1954 to 1956. At the recent TOA convention the prominent southern theatre man was named a member of the executive committee and a member of the national exhibition group’s finance committee. He is also a member of the board of the Will Rogers Memorial Hosptial. Mr. Starr was also active in community affairs here. He was a founder of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and past president of the Nashville Community Chest. A delegation of exhibitor members and officers of the TOA attended the funeral here Wednesday. As co-chairman of the Committee Against Pay-As-You-See Television, Mr. Starr, with Trueman Rembusch, of Allied States Association, led the fight against subscription television, which is currently pending before the Federal Communications Commission. Harry A. Friedman TORONTO: Harry A. Friedman, 66, prominent lawyer and theatrical executive, died last week at his home in Burlington, Ont. Organizer of Odeon Midwestern Ltd., in assoication with Odeon Theatres (Canada) Ltd., in Edmonton and Calgary, Mr. Friedman leaves his wife and two daughters. Frank Burke Frank Burke, 61, editor of the RadioTelevision Daily, died in New York October 15 of a heart ailment at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, where he was confined for an illness. Alfred Starr THE WINNERS CIRCLE Pictures which were reported as doing above average business in key theatres of the cities of the nation for the week ended October 13 were: Albany: The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.). Boston: Fantasia (B.V.) (Reissue); La Strada (Trans-Lux); Oklahoma! (Magna) 4th week; War and Peace (Par.); 2nd week. Buffalo: Bandido (U.A.); Girls in Prison (Amer. Inti.); Hot Rod Girl (Amer. Inti.); Lisbon (Rep.); Oklahoma! (Magna) 9th week. Chicago: High Society (MGM) 7th week; Lust for Life (MGM) 2nd week; The Mountain (Par.) 2nd week; 1984 (Col.) 2nd week; Proud and the Beautiful (Kingsley) 2nd week; The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.) 2nd week; War and Peace (Par.) 2nd week. Cleveland: Julie (MGM); Rifi.fi (UMPO); The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.) ; War and Peace (Par.) 3rd week. Columbus: Bandido (U_A.); Tea and Sympathy (MGM) 2nd week. Denver: Attack! (U.A.) 2nd week; The Best Things in Life are Free (20th-Fox); Richard III (Lopert). Des Moines: The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.). Detroit< Attack! (U.A.); The Bad Seed (W.B.); War and Peace (Par.) 2nd week. Hartford: Attack! (U.A.); The Boss (U.A.); The King and I (20th-Fox) 2nd week (Revival Run) ; Showdown at Abilene (U-I) ; The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.); The Unguarded Moment (U-I); War and Peace (Par.). Indianapolis: Oklahoma! (Magna) 7th week; The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.); Toward the Unknown (W.B.). Kansas City: Lust for Life (MGM) 3rd week; Private’s Progress (DCA) 2nd week; War and Peace (Par.). Memphis: Toward the Unknown (W.B.). Miami: Oklahoma! (Magna) 33rd week; The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.) ; Toward the Unknown (W.B.). Milwaukee: Tea and Sympathy (MGM) 3rd week. Minneapolis: War and Peace (Par.). New Orleans: Oklahoma! (Magna) 16th week; The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.); Tea and Sympathy (MGM) 2nd week; War and Peace (Par.). Oklahoma City: The Best Things in Life are Free (20th-Fox) 2nd week; A Cry in the Night (W.B.); Oklahoma! (Magna) 9th week; Raw Edge (U-I); The Solid Gold Cadillac (Col.). Philadelphia: Bus Stop (20th-Fox) 2nd week; Lust for Life (MGM); Oklahoma! (Magna) 6th week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM) 2nd week; Toward the Unknown (W.B.); War and Peace (Par.) 3rd week. Pittsburgh: The Best Things in Life are Free (20th-Fox) 2nd week; Lust for Life (MGM) 3rd week; Oklahoma! (Magna) 18th week; Richard III (U.A.). Portland: Attack! (U.A.); The Best Things in Life are Free (20th-Fox) 2nd week; Fantasia (B.V.) 2nd week (Reissue) Moby Dick (W.B.) 3rd week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM) 2nd week. Providence: The Burning Hills (W.B.); It Conquered the World (Amer. Inti.) ; The She-Creature (Amer. Inti.); Tea and Sympathy (MGM) 2nd week. San Francisco: Attack! (U.A.); The Bad Seed (W.B.) 3rd week; A Cry in the Night (20th-Fox) ; Hot Rod Girl (Amer. Inti.); Tea and Sympathy (MGM) 3rd week; War and Peace (Par.). Vancouver: The Best Things in Life are Free (20th-Fox) ; Canyon (A.A.) ; The King and I (20th-Fox) 10th week. Washington: Attack! (U.A.); Don Giovanni (I.R. Maxwell); Dust for Life (MGM) 3rd week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM); Toward the Unknown (W.B.) ; War and Peace (Par.) 2nd week. New Petition Filed on " Lady Chatterley" A petition to lift the Board of Regents ban on the French film, “Lady Chatterley’s Lover,” was filed last week in New York State Supreme Court in Albany. The motion picture, based on the novel of D. H. Lawrence, was banned last May by the Motion Picture Division on the ground that certain sequences were “immoral within the intent of our law.” The Regents upheld the censorship September 28. Legion Approves 7 Of Nine New Films Of the nine productions reviewed last week by the National Legion of Decency, seven have been put in Class A, Section I, morally unobjectionable for general patronage, and two in Class B. morally objectionable in part for all. In Section I are: “Footsteps in the Dark,” “Giant,” “7th * Cavalry,” “Ten Commandments,” “Toward the Unknown,” “Wee Geordie” and “The Bespoke Overcoat. In Class B are “Four Boys and a Gun” and “You Can’t Run Away from It.” l/.S. Exhibitors Are Set For International Meet Representatives of U. S. exhibition will attend the general convention of the Union Internationale de Exhibitor Cinematographique which will be held in Lausanne, Switzerland, November 22-23, it was reported last week. Theatre Owners of America and Allied States Association are both members of the global theatre association. TOA’s representative to UIEC is Myron N. Blank and Allied States’ representative is Julius M. Gordon, both of whom attended the last meeting of UIEC in Rome last year. Among the other countries who will send representatives are Germany, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Great Britain, France, Israel, Italy and Sweden. 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 20, 1956