Variety (December 1950)

PICTURES NEW YORK I^udy . Solriisen, producer >♦ t »♦♦♦»♦ ♦ ♦ »»»♦»♦♦ »four relej^ses because of 4efays in t ^ ^ completing ^‘Navy Bound” and /ll* f T^l W “According to Mrs. Hoyle,” These I linQ lITAin rlllll KAW - two fUms wm go out Feb. 11 and VllUO llUlll I 11111 IWTf .. Feb. 18, instead of id January 21. Their places will be taken by - tf 4-»♦♦♦♦♦♦♦ ♦ ♦ ”Bowery Battalion” and “Rhythm . Inn.- • , . • NFW VriRIC las Bardavon theatre manager. Five deluxe film houses in this ^ iv/iviv . ; Hogan will be succeeded by Her-. territory boosted their admission Rudy . Solmsen, producer ot ’ rnan Edel, who comes from Phoe- scale without protest from custom- French and Italian pix and an as-' ^^.^2 ; ers. Prices now range from 70c sociate of Ilya Lopert, in town i otis Bowes, manager of Or- at matinee to 90c at night, with i oji a two-week visit. ! pheuni Moose Jaw, Sask., named i $1.10 for loges. Theatres involved A. W. Schwalberg,. F^ramount, of Capitol, Moose Jaw,'are the Chinese,' Los Angeles, sales chief, returned to the home-. p. Fields, who died ' Uptown, Loyola and AVllshire, all office yesterday (Tues.) after a ; ® Fox AVest. Will be followed this scries of branch meetings m the ^ Sask., ex- week by^^^R^ Hillstreet and Pan- ^ ^ , T u tended 38 feet and remodelled. ; tages, and Egyptian and Loew’s P. H. Shirley, assistant to John Seating was upped from 550 to 700. • State. . Davis, director ot the J.. Arthur . ^'ijelnhorn, head • ' ■ • ' •— - — Rank lilm_ empire, was in New- ^gg] _^oius. Co., installed his son,; “ York over the weekend on his way . Leonard, as manager. . . liin to England from Jamaica He had I Lari Evans, at one^^ ViD U6Cr66 . been on an_i*^spection trip of .the Monroe band; - ' Rank circuit on the West Indian ■ I’ecently exploitation director . ,^55555 continued from pass 3 i island. [for Paramount in New Orleans, is i u.hiph the end of Its ^ ^^^tro field rep for Albany CHICAGO and Buffalo., t Harrv. Jack and Albert Warner, Gollos. theatre circuit recently vi /a i firm’s three ^principal stockholders, | darkened . Its Sun theatre on the WAbHlNUl UW I all are. required to stay together in'1 southside. 'i^‘'^ck Mclnerney, Jr., son Of, either of the tw'O new companiciT ATitiof AAn InAft 1 hnjicoc nAnlr^n • . •^ >- 4 . a \ .>'*'^**v* .j «i 1 tre"“^Vx?at?~iv^^Aw4rd of i Merit from, Disabled American iS®iockev present exhibition Sub- Vets of Illinois last week. Medal 1 adio station s disk Jockey , be slated to take is ^ibute for his policy of ^mi^ [ Trio of Lopert arty houses reC-i over the helm of the new theatre ting somcemen free during world War II and resuDiRtion o£ policy hi rovivintfl Reoi reviving Reorg Plan Reorganization plan directs that Kat^ local universal exploi- J ^ i iour ^e^S i : share in each of the 1^0 new com-i Lubliner-Trinz^Gircuit currentlv I Warner Bros, donated two of its i panics in exchange for each full | operating the Clark theatre, formed i i?SSnnd^?Af Tnfa? share they ^S^the p^ent the Colbar Vending Co. ' shows to collect food for local or- ent corporation. The three Warner Plans for Allied Theatres of ^ ^^oizations. ■ brothers will be. called upon to Illinois meeting last week to find i 20 pig^e their theatre stock in trust, ■ answer for bad biz was cancelled. I yoars with the focal WB realty_de- - pending its disposition.. However, ^ Palace is playing split-week cur- celebrated his 75th : view of the large extent of their ., rcntly for the first time in its, o^Uhclay last w^k. , . holdings. Justice Department is; historvJ Action stems from Jack-! .Orville Crouch appointed.to sue- cnid in have acreed to a long-term ' history’ Action stems from Jack-! — ® i said to have agreed to a long-term ' son Park ruling to release full' cecd the late Carter T. Barron arrangement since any re-; quota of fil ms over 13-w eete period. , ^tfoS^s of So early , sale of the shares | AIDAMV studio. Crouch, who has been in ■ , I ALdANY an ‘ acting” capacity in the jobs, I- .Upon the divorcement, the thea- Jiilius Perlmutter, of Albany, i wa.s brought here a year ago to as- tre circuit will be given a three- , added a fifth theatre, the Ameri-i sist Barron when latter's health year schedule for divesting ap-1 can in Schenectady, to his string, j became worse. Crouch has been proximately 75 houses, in addition . He leased the Grand and Strand,' with I.oew’s for 20 years. Appoint-; to dissolving all.partnerships with ] AVatervliet, and the Lake in Lake ; ment keeps intact the team which Other eXhibs in the field. Theatre . George, from Sam Rosenblatt last [operated under Barron. Jack Foxe, | firm also must ask court approval summer. He recently took over | pubUcily director for Loew’s thea-!for any houses Which it desires to j the Crane, Schenectady. ‘ f ires here, was trained by Barron acquire in the future, and will be | Wedne 8 day 9 December 20^ 1950 Inside Stuff—Pictures A hornet’s nest and Industry strife have been stinted up by a statement in Cedric Adams’ column in the Minneapolis Sunday Tribune to the effect that theatre business in neighborhood and suburban houses is so bad that owners are prepared to abandon the exhibiting of pictures and use the buildings for other , purposes. Denying the state- ment’s accuracy, local film branch managers charge “it must haye been exhibitor inspired as part of a present move to force down film prices.” The branch managers point to “the fact” that “It’s virtually impossible to buy any of these theatres”, as refutation of the claim. Adams, the area’s most influential and popular columnist, declared in his column that “suburban theatreowners, in scores of instances, are ready to turn their theatres into garages or super-markets or rebuild them as apartment houses.” Both Harry B. French, Minnesota Amus. Co. (Paramount Circuit) president, and Bennie Berger, North Central Allied head, derided Adams’ columnar statement. “Business at our theatres is off, but not to an alarming extent by any means,” said French, . . . “Whatever exhibitor furnished Adams with this misinformation is doing the film industry harm.” Berger called Adams’ data “very much exaggerated.” Bill Introduced in the House of Representatives last week would restore the special tax rate for seiwicemen which was the law during World War II. It provides that, where a'theatre institutes a special low rate for servicemen, it must collect the tax oh that price alone. Where the servicemen are admitted free, no tax will be required. The general law on the admissions tax provides that where a ticket is sold for less than the standard admissions price, the tax must be collected on the stafidard admissions rate. There is little likelihood that this 81st Congress will have time to push through such a law. However, the 82nd Congress will probably do so. Paramount pulled an unusual switch in its trailers for “The Gold- bergs.” Instead of the normal procedure of adapting a regular theatre trailer for tele use, it made a special Video trailer which pub-ad chief Max E. Youngstein liked so much he is making it available to theatres as a teaser. TV briefie was written and prepared by ad manager Sid Blumenstock’s department in New York and made up by Par’s newsreel lab. American distrib rights to the British thriller, “Seven Days to Noon,” were sold for an $80,000 guarantee against a percentage. Maylux Films, organized for the purchase, pays Sir Alexander Korda, under whose banner it was produced, 40% of earnings here. May lux is owned equally by Harry Brandt, who put up $40,000 of the advance, and a syndicate headed by Arthur Mayer, which put up the other $40,000. Par Proviso on Phonevision Contiiiued from page 3 the Crane, Schenectady. ‘ | Ires here, was trained by Bar 'i^omasH. Hogan, Jr., manager and will remain under Crouch, of Glens Falls Paramount for last . year, transferred to Poughkeepsie MINNEAPOLIS V tkre's ^ only one [\\ OrdZarletoH and will remain under Crouch. , enjoined from engaging in produc- j -—— ; tion or distribution. MINNEAPOLIS I New film company, similarly, will , XT A * T All- j • 1 I begin operation with an injunction ; J acquiring any theatres. rentals down to “a fair and ', equitable level” announced its ''^w out of the trust suit plan will be ready shortly. ; consent decree, parted with its tho- Campaign for “Rio Grande” at 1 ^U'es last Jan. 1.- RKO is ready Radio City included 19 TV trailer ; to complete its divorcement at the shots, the most television use for j end of this month. Next on the sked any picture to date here. figures to be 20th-Fox, which has The entire bloclfrotit ■ oceah'privacy 40th to 4l8t Sta. COMPLETELY m-CONDITIONEO Rciervationf, Walter Jacobs ^ MIAMI BEACH 4 ENGINE DOUGtAS DC-4S Direct from La Guardia and Newark NON STOP CHICAGO $24 MIAMI $43 ^ 10 Discount on Return Trip CURTIS, from $35 $^^CALIFORNIA$ J £ 1 Way 1 STOP Return NORTH AMERICAN AIRLINES Free Ticket Del'y, Irr; F]lght6 . oIub tai BRyqnf 9-6492 503 5th Ave. (Ent. 42nd 8t.) Suitt 100 BROOKLYN UL 5-3888 BRONX LU 4-0607 HetH St. George -^[4(58 Qr. Coheouria Clark Street I (FordhamRd) Rm 326 TRAVEL AGENJS\:RECOGNlZEol Back from New York, Harry B. reached an accord with the Govern-' French, Minnesota Amus. Co. ment on many points of a proposed | proxy, said negotiations are under overall agreement. Loew’s is the way to launch big screen TV at I lone holdout, with apparent inten-: Radio City where its installation. Hons of resuming the court fight. ' has been completed. 1 Ted Melzer, former vet New. d.—■ . ■ ■ ■ ■ ' • ^ Ulm, Minn., exhibitor killed in iw ■ t ' auto accident. /flC FlPflifirilldllS Morrie Steinman back from | fcVM I IvUvl IllCIUd , Hollywood with 16m prints of this 1 ■ -r continued from page 2 — -> I year’s Minneapolis Aquatennial, L , ! summer mardi gras. He produced | broke down the $60 package price it. to a $36 top for opening night, and Minnesota Amus. Go. took ad- a $12 top for the other two pack-‘ vantage of the snow by using sticks age preems. This gave an estimated i in snowbanks downtown and in $53,000 net for opening night’s many neighborhood areas for “Rio “Don Carlo,” with about $20,000 I Grande” at Radio City^ each for tonight’s. “Fledermaus” I I and March’s “Fidelio.” Tonight’s 1 pages““‘^ ; takl which thouglv at a $10 top, • Greatly increased use of televi- $23,000 net, because the box sion has been started by the Min- seats were scaled very high, nesota Amus. Co, (Paramount The Met planned on mounting “■circuit) in exploiting picitures in three new productions this year, in its downtown theatres, here. The “Don CRrlo,” “The Flying Dutch- chain also has substantially man” and’[‘Fledermaus,” budgeting stepped up its newspaper advertis- about $155,000 for the three shows, ing. “Don^Gario” alone cost about $60,- ■ . ' ' . - - 000 to put on/ Management Was LOS ANGELES aided on “Don Carlo” by a gift Jack Dodd moved from Indian- The Otto H. Kahn family, ^ho apolis to manage Republic’s L. a. , ^ P^^ljUiTS to the^Met, branch, succeeeJing Earl Collins iturn sold it to a midwest who resigned to organize a com-I F^^t of this pany for sale of films to tele-i coin was us^d on “Don Carlo”; re- vision. mainder. has been set aside for RKO is dusting off “Show Busi- t other purposes, although not for ne.ss,” Eddie Cantor musical filmed [ further new works, in 1944, for national reissue, start- i All the money originally allotted i jj ^*iV^*^* “ , .L i [ifor new shows, however, has not Eddie \^person^bought the old j been used -up on the three specified Chailie Chaphn-Marie. Dresner new productions, so the Met is picture, Tillie s Pictured Ro-1 using balance of coin fOr new j through Eagle scenery and costumes on “Cavah | ■ Monogram ‘moved release date I OUTDOOR REFRESHMENT, SERVICE / from Coast I I teCoost * ovtr % Century its Wayne Morris .starrer, i t-u ty : “Sierra Passage,” from late Janu^T of the season. Hor- ary to Dec. 24 to take advantage or holidny trade.' • for Broadway’s “The Consul” and I Anna Magnahi starrer, “Volcano,” . Medium,” will do the new ; directed in Italy by William Die-/ scenery for the two short operas.) [terle, will go into general Ameri- John Lloyd, who designed both the j • e.-'h release next February via N. Y. and London versions, of' Eagle Lion Classics. “Touch And Go,” Will do the cos- JMonogram switched dates on tumes. making this double-bill the fourth Refreshment Service for DRIVE • IN THEATRES obligation is to its exhibitor cus- tomers. He has thus resisted the nudge from the Dept, of Justice that caused the other companies to agree to provide trial films. Top exec of another company suggested this week, however, that Skouras might see the light and go along when he gets before the Federal Communications Commission on his request for theatre TV chan- nels or other concessions. Universal’s Delay Universal has not turned Zenith down, but has merely given no answer. Phonevision sponsors are reported to have been told that the ^vife of U prez Nate J. Blum- berg has been very ill and that other officials of the company have not had the opportunity to put the request to him. Zenith has asked for delivery of prints this week and labs are currently making them up. It re- quested all new prints, volunteer- ing to pay for them, which is per- fectly satisfactory to the di.stribs. McDonald is running into, plenty of legal headaches on- the.^films and their various compoilents. Comoanies have a.^reed to deliver to him all the rights they own—, but have stated they will not legal- ly defend any of those rights if lawsuits should grow out of use of the films on the wired video. Thus Zenith is faced with tak- ing a long chance that the rights the producers own are valid for said video or going through a tre- mendou.s legal fiiecking job on .story, music, players arid. the . vast complex of other details that go into a film. Distrib.s figure it would take their own legal departments weeks to do the job. 1 Among the difficulties /that Phonevision has already discovered are the billing requirements that go with each pic. The billing is provided for in the contracts with the studios of the various players, producers, directors, writers; etc., and must therefore be meticuloii.sly followed, as is done by the dis- tribs. Phonevision will have to con- form to these same requirements in all of its advertising of the films. The pix will be offered daily to 300 selected homes in the Chi area. Subscribers will be charged $1 on their phone bill for each film show they request’ . Paramount release .schedule from June 1, 1947, runs in the following sequence: “Calcutta,” “Danger Street,” “The Trouble With Women,” “Perils of Pauline,” “Dear Ruth,” “I Cov^r Big Town,” “Desert Fury,” “Jungle Flight” “Variety Girl,” “Wild .Harvest;’ “Adventure Island,” “Golden Ear- rings,” “Where There’s Life,” “Un- conquered,” “Big Town After Dark,” “The Road to Rio,” “I Walk Alone” and “Albuquerque.” Zenith has chosen an undisclosed _^equence of 12 from the above. New Vork Theatres SlctTin§ CLIFTON WEBB ► Doois Optir 10:30 A. 1$ Oti the STAGE and ICE \ B Tti* Oil* Annual RoMf “CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA” ^ A Jofovt ol Mirth iudMuiid *2^ Plus i UloTiotl> SpccucU, RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL RockefoMer Confer > RUDYARD 64ir||U|99 KIPLING'S i^inrl ERROL FLYNN - DEAN STOCKELL Color by TECHNICOLOR A Mctro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture and THE MUSIC HALL'S GREAT CHRISTMAS STAGE SHOW ^louis mm/r •n4 hi* ORCM. . ipl«i "KEliy* SMITH rhu SHIRLEY VAN MU*RAV> A Raramavnl f iilwr* itarriny A •ItM UANCT f CROSBY • OLSONI CHARIIS RUTH \ COBURN *HUSSEY> Gk'mI Stare (ROUCtie • ROMTNT ROITM WWT m » IW WIRRT HAO NAPA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON From “Beaulieu"...the de Latour estate in Napa Valley, California,, tome several of the world!s fine wines. Try this BV claret from rare Cabernet Sauvisnoh grapes. Beaulieu Vineya rd • Rutherford, Calif. CARE PACKAGES ARE STILL NEEDED (tAX EXEMPT) (Contrtbufed by a friend)