Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

WHEN and WHERE On the OJ'i onzon December 17: Annual Christmas party of the Des Moines Variety Club, Jewish Community Center, Des Moines, la. SEASONAL PREMIERES A rash of premieres of big pictures has come along to liven up the Holiday season and brighten the already sparkling marquee lights of Broadway. "The Rainmaker" had its New York premiere December 12 with a gathering of celebrities and top news coverage. The next night December 13, Ingrid Bergman's "Anastasia" opened impressively at the Roxy, with equal fanfare. Paramount exploitation men did full justice to the former, ditto 20thFox publicists for the latter. Next week, on December 18, Warners' "Baby Doll" has its benefit premiere. And on December 19, RKO's "Bundle of Joy" opens with a gala benefit premiere at the Capitol Theatre for First Aid for Hungary Inc. and CARE. Here, they are four in a row of timely seasonal events which highlight effectively the fact that in times of Holiday cheer, motion pictures are still the topnotch entertainment choice of the vast majority of the general public seeking a change of pace . ALLIED-COMPO TALKS Officials of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations and Allied States Association reported a "friendly and constructive" discussion this week about Allied's possible re-affiliation with COMPO. A statement issued at the end of the meeting said there had been "unanimity of thought on general principles and some particulars." Each group now will report back to its own organization. None of the participants would indicate whether there had been agreement on terms for Allied's re-affiliation, but the statement issued by the group did say that the participants had agreed that the present economic state of the industry "calls for the maximum possible cooperation which is obtainable." REPORT ON MR EAST The American film companies may suspend shipments to India if that government persists in maintaining its extremely high duty on imported motion picture product, Irving A. Maas, Motion Picture Export Association vice-president, reported in New York this week on his return from a three-month survey of the Far East. The Indian government, said Mr. Maas, recently doubled its import duty on films from f ive-and-a-half cents to just under 11 cents per foot. "The doubled duty makes it among the highest duties in the world, and in relation to the market, the highest anywhere." Business in the Far East generally, he said, has been reported as "holding up very well. " ABOUT POST-1948 FILMS With the actors guild withdrawing from the actor-director-writer negotiating team that met with the producing associations to discuss terms for sharing in proceeds from sale of post-1948 features to televivision, and with no further meetings scheduled, the probability of late pictures popping up on television in large numbers to blight theatre box offices appears to have slimmed off for the present. Save for such as may be liquidated by banks, and perhaps by television syndicators who picked up some late product in mass buys, no post1948 features are likely to show up on TV in any predictable period. Proposals to combine the business-building plan adopted by the Council of Motion Picture Organizations and Theatre Owners of America with the program advanced by the MPAA advertising and publicity directors committee received enthusiastic approval Wednesday at a meeting of exhibtior leaders and MPAA advertising-publicity members in New York. It is proposed that the combined plan be conducted under the sponsorship of COMPO. As the first step in the combined program, detailed plans will be made immediately to hold a series of regional meetings at which opinion-makers will be given a constructive picture of the motion picture industry by in December 22: Film Row Club's annual Christmas dance, Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles. January 8: Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Association, general meeting to elect new officers, Cleveland, O. January 29-30: Annual convention of the Kansas-Missouri Theatre Owners Association, Hotel Phillips, Kansas City, Mo. January 29-31: Allied States Association, national drive-in convention, Netherlands-Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati, Ohio. February 1-2: Allied States Association, annual winter board meeting, Terrace Plaza Hotel, Cincinnati. February 26-27: Annual convention of the Kansas-Missouri Theatre Association, Pickwick Hotel, Kansas City, Mo. March 3-5: Theatre Owners of America, mid-winter board meeting, Blackstone, Hotel, Chicago. ‘ March 6-7: Second annual convention of the United Theatre Owners of Oklahoma, Biltmore Hotel, Oklahoma City. April 2-3: Annual convention of North Central Allied, Nicollet Hotel, Minneapolis. June 23-25: Annual convention of the Mississippi Theatre Owners Association, Edgewater Park, Miss. dustry representatives. The first meeting is tentatively set for New York later in the winter. In addition a committee will be appointed to work on combining the MPAA and COMPO plans into one over-all program for the industry. Whole hearted support was expressed by the industry representatives who attended the meeting, which was presided over by Roger H. Lewis, chairman of the MPAA committee. Among those who spoke were Kenneth Clark, Philip Gerard, Jerome Pickman, Walter Reade, Jr., Wilbur Snaper, Harry Brandt, D. John Phillips, Harry Mandel, Harry Goldberg and Charles E. McCarthy. COMPO, TOA, MPAA AGREE ON PLAN MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 15, 1956 9