Variety (November 1957)

24 PICTURES PSssieFy Wednesday, Noyember, 13, 1957 Alter Nominee Procedure, Cut Out 3 Oscars HAVE BEAU, WILL TRAVEL Boy-Meets-Girl Angle For Cinerama’s Fifth “Cinerama-South Seas,” current¬ ly being filmed in Hawaii, will be basically a travelog, the sights of the South Seas being viewed I through the eyes of two young femmes who are from the U. S. A. Hollywood, Nov. 12. Rules changes to put all aspects, of the Academy Awards presenta¬ tion completely under the control of the organization and cuts iri awards in three categories werd decided by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in new stream- History & Hysterics Continued from page 71 ~ calm confidence (see accompanying interview with Balaban & Katz's chief) but at the moment the semi¬ annual hysterics are raging almost unchecked in some quarters. Allied Theatres of Illinois re¬ vealed—more accurately, issued Win 0 / nnfnffh? ; proclaihation-that of 310 former i member houses but 178 still op- her companion I crated and of these 108 were deep He-she pair then take in the ; . , ■ Theatres here did not do an out- a gmnt \\ eddmg luau, complete Ending end-of-summer business with music, dancmg and feasting. t / tide B them through the fan-to- ni.t^v/ n /nnfh q /nfnLTni^ Christmas slump, which is reach, piete five months of photography in g ne wlowsespeciallyinthe.out- m the South Seas by producer Carl ly ^ g honses . Numerous out of town theatre closings were re- Under the new rules, nomina-1 Hebrides, Australia and New Zea-j 1 When^ Balaban^&^Ste tions will be made only by Acad-I land. I? 15*5 ‘‘ma? emy members. In the past, mem- “Cinerama-South Seas,” the fifth j S^l^hcatres ^shrinS n5gh- bers of the various craft unions ! picture in the Cinerama process,! and guilds aided in the nomina- j will be shown sometime in mid- : 5°t° WallpSpin^he nantesuirit tion balloting, a move originally Ll958. j Dave WjHerstein, the panic spirit undertaken because the Academy : —- 1 expanded. membership was so small that lining procedure for the annual ; Dudley. Previous filming has taken sweepstakes, -j place in Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji, New some branches could not be as¬ sured of a representative vote. Membership now totals 1,780 and can now handle the nominations. Cutback in awards is particular¬ ly significant in the fields of art direction, cinematography and cos- THREW COW BELL AT PRESLEY, OUT ON BAIL From film house equipment dealers come reports that routine orders for indispensible items like arc light carbons, usually ordered a month in advance by indie op¬ erators, have taken a nosedive. Some theatre closures will not Houston, Nov. 12. Metro's “Jailhouse Rock” rocked ... __ ___ a young Baytown, Tex., man right > n °f * a he place until September tume design in which there will 1 into the local jail. His offense: when new contracts with the Mo- henceforth be one Oscar each, in- ! Throwing a cow bell at Elvis tion Picture Operators Union lo- stead of two. Academy said the 1 Fresle y on theatre screen. = cal 110 come due, but some houses reduction merely represents the ! Into the jailhouse went Earl have‘ been so hurt by the recent “maturity” of color as a medium i Shanks, a little less than 48 hours , slump and disappointing summer and since tint is now common- j after th e cow bell incident at the? that they may not last until the place, separate awards for color I Bmnson Theatre. He was sprung holidays provide some relief, and for black-and-white are no on $ 500 bond but faces malicious : Office personnel at most distri- longer liecessarv : destruction of property rap. . bution headquarters have been Other reductions were in the ; * —-- . ■ Vastiy riashed andditto at th^xe - n 1 J IT n 1 , circuit offices. Skeletonized staffs Darkened Houses Hack are being further aggravated by f I salary cuts and consequent resig- Under Expenenced Mgrs.; n ^Texb?b h i torr a ?e e morT ra than ^Albany, Nov. 12. ; willing to speak up to crush dam- A bright ray shining throughaging rumors with facts and also fields of writing, music and short subjects. In each case there will henceforth be two awards instead of three as before. 9 Lund Named Barker By the gloom which recently envel- j to press their, demands over dis- tt • , f « m ; oped the area industry, due to ! tribution policy and tax relief, Ed- YarietV S Mo. 1 lent' poor grosses, is the news that two : w i n Silverman, prexy of Essaness J ' experienced theatremen have tak- ; Theatre Corp,, guesses “10,000 Clips From Film Row CHICAGO Griffith Theatre, Griffith, Ind. (25 miles from Chi) closed. Ben Katz, Universal's midwest publicist, in Oshkosh, Wis, to pro¬ mote preem of “All Mine to Give.” Rank Distributors finalized its first booking into downtown Chi¬ cago, setting “Graf Spee” in Loop Theatre, Nov. 15. PHILADELPHIA Abel and Silver opened their Lawrence Park Theatre, first new indoor house here in last six years. Lou Blaustein, National Screen Service salesman, in Einstein Med¬ ical Center. Lester Wurtele, Columbia branch manager, named chairman of Vari¬ ety Club,; Tent i3 Heart Fund Drive. Ralph Preis, former Chief Barker appointed chairman for an¬ nual dinner.at the Bellevue Strat¬ ford (Jan. 13). Ernest Pelson, former district au¬ ditor for Buena Vista, named dis-. trict office manager for Philadel¬ phia, Washington and Pittsburgh. Sam Diamond, 20th CentuTy-Fox branch manager, elected Chief Barker of Variety Club Tent 13. Billy Graham Crusade pic, “Mi¬ racle in Manhattan,” preemed lo¬ cally at the Olney Baptist Church. Area drive-in operators held con¬ fab to set a general policy to hypo boxoffice depression. Ozoner own¬ ers agreed to midweek dollar-a-car nights and three-feature programs; also nixed sex pix on weekends. Pittsburgh, Nov. 12. Harold C. Lund, Westingliouse Broadcasting A'eep here operating KDKA radio and KDKA-TV, was elected Chief Barker of Variety Club’s Tent No*. 1 for 1958. He'll succeed Harry Kodinsky, local pub¬ lic relations man and former re¬ porter. Other officers are: Daye Silverman, manager of AA ex¬ change, first assistant barker; Lou Hanna, of Sterrv-Hanna Coopera¬ tive Theatres, second assistant; Ray Downey, sports announcer and railroad exec, treasurer, and James Fallon, sportsman, secretary. Directors will be Charles Carey, general manager of Penn-Shera- ton Hotel, where club quarters are located; Harold Gray, owner of New Nixon cafe; Bernie Hickey, manager of Shea's Fulton; Carl Ide, tele newscaster; Jimmy JCIin- gensmith, chief photographer for the Post-Gazette, and Jimmy Nash, indoor and oy tdoor theatre owner. Bay Scott, KDKA radio and KDKA-TV sportscaster and Chief Barker before Kodinsky, was elect¬ ed delegate to the London conven¬ tion next April, ; with I. Elmer Ecker and Ben Steerman as alter¬ nates. Detroit Tent Elects Detroit, Nqv. 12. William Wetsman, of W&W The¬ atres is the new chief barker of Tent No. 5, Variety Club of De¬ troit. First and Second assistant barkers are Robert Bothwell, man¬ ager of the Fox, and Fred Sweet, manager of the Telenews, respec¬ tively. Property master is William Clark, of Clark Theatre Service. Dough guy is Jack Haynes, booker for United Detroit Theatres. Directors are. Richard Graff, manager Universal Film Exchange; Arthur Herzog Jr., film publicist; Sol Krim, owner of the Krim The¬ atre; Pierre LaMarre, Cooperative Theatres booker; Joe Lee, 20th Century branch manager, and Dale Silverberg of the Donnor Adver¬ tising Agency. New Yiyi Theatre r-fuiit cm mmc mi—, RwtofehrCMWr • Cl MW "DON’T GO WEAR THE WATER” •tarrm? GLENN FORD CM SCAlA * MMC FRANCIS ‘ EVA CAtOR it* K 6 a ton » OKMUtSrrW KTMCWt •rxl gttMQUEfflg msxnmit en over darkened houses in One- onta and Sidney, that another pro¬ poses to open a closed house in Norwich, and that a neighbor¬ hood situation in TrOy ha^ been relighted. Harold De Graw, one¬ time Schine district manager in Oneonta, and John Femicola, ex- 20th Century-Fox salesman in New York and present operator of the Center in Centerville, have assumed control of the Palace in Oneonta and Smalley’s Theatre in Sidney. The Palace, closed for about a year and intermittently dark for a time before that, has been op¬ erated by Sfchine. However, Al¬ bany exchanges received a notice that it was no longer a Schine property—at * approximately the same time De Graw and Fernicola vjhsiteA Filmrow to acquaint branch managers with their new acquisi¬ tions. De Graw, who now operates drive-ins at Cambridge, Md., and Orlando, Fla., will supervise the Oneonta and Sidney situations, while Femicola will buy and book them. The Sidney house, shuttered since a fire damaged it last April, will be put back into operation Nov. 27 (the day before Thanks¬ giving!. The Palace probably will feature an art policy, mid-weeks. Schine Circuit still operates the Oneonta in Oneonta. The Smalley bouse In Norwich Is to be reopened by a former Smalley and Schine manager named Gypsoau- The redecorated Bijou in north Troy, Is back In operation under the aegis of the Wilson family. It waa closed four weeks. Incidentally, Schine ' also sent word here that organization no longer holds an interest in the Richmond (dark! at Herkimer. Roger Edens to Columbia; 23 Years on Metro Lot Hollywood, Nov. 12, After a 23 year association with Metro, Roger Edens checked off the Culver lot and moved over to Columbia as a producer. Originally a musical arranger, Edens won Academy. Awards for his musical arrangements of “Eas¬ ter Parade,” “On the Town” and “Annie Get Your Gun.” He sub¬ sequently became an associate pro¬ ducer oh several Arthur Freed productions and made his debut as a producer on “Deep in My Heart” in 1954. Last year, he produced "Funny Face” at Paramount on loanout from Metro* guesses theatres may close during the next year,” blaming it on competition from tv films. The “liquidating influence of banking interests has caused vet¬ eran film executives to act against their best judgment in selling their backlogs to television for meagre sums in comparison to original production costs,” he says. Television, as.it is now constituted, cannot match movie theatres j in covering the enormous costs of making fine films. Producers and distributors of quality movies must realize they cannot have their cake and eat it too, unless and until pay television comes along. Pointing to Balaban & Katz’s big Golden Jubilee Promotion, Dave Wallerstein emphasized that his organization Is gearing itself to business trends and is hot go¬ ing out of the exhibition business. Selling or purchasing theatres will be carried on as the prospects of such operations warrant individu¬ ally. Rumors that B&K is trying to sell any downtown theatres or. is about to. close the State and other nabes were specifically, denied by executive v.p. Nate. Platt: “We are not trying to create a scare among landlords to lower rentals,” he stated, “and- while the question of opening or closing theatres and renewing leases will come up in¬ dividually in the future, there are no Immediate plans for closing any more houses.” A further check reveals that B&K has. no negotiations due with the projectionists prior to thd city- wide negotiations next September, when further pay hikes and more J operators per theatre are expected to be demanded. j One divergent move has been j the purchase of two theatres by | Van A. Nomlkos* circuit. Tn recent 1 weeks this outfit lias taken over both the former MX Pantheon and the De Lux. The Senate, on* of the three B&K houses recently closed, was bought by an indie op¬ eration with the Intention of con¬ verting It to a Spanish language house. In the last ten years a half dozen theatres in neighborhoods- with Spanish speaking immigrants have made such a switch, most of them moderately successful by to¬ day's standards. I Hopeful speculators are watch¬ ing for dosings with the Ideaef converting some rental operations into art houses. Art houses in the nabes have been marginal opera¬ tions In recent years but have usu¬ ally survived the big seasonal box- office dips that affect most outly¬ ing theatres. ALBANY The Bijou, only picture theatre in northern part of Troy, reopened last week. Operated by the Wilson family, it had been dark for a month. During closedown, bouse given facelift. Arthur Newman, for years Re¬ public manager in Albany and up¬ state rep for independent, product since- the local exchange was closed in 1956, will add Continental prod¬ uct to his list, effective Nov. 1. Ellis Gordon will henceforth con¬ centrate on New England sales, from Boston. join local Cdntinental Films, mak¬ ers of industrial pix . and tv com¬ mercial films. On competitive bids, “Operation Mad Ball” went to Paramount’s 4,100-seat Radio City here and Ted Mann’s independent 600-seat St. Paul World for its Twin Cities’ first runs. United Paramount here landed “Raintree County” and will open it at local Lyric Christmas day on exclusive territory roadshow date. LOS ANGELES Henry R. Ari^s will exclusively handle South American distribu¬ tion of 18 Selznick Company pro¬ ductions. Deal also calls for him to handle any new Sieznick reis¬ sues that become available. Robert I. Kronenberg, prez of Manhattan Films International, planed to Europe last week on a twoweeks product hunt. MINNEAPOLIS Theatre at New London, Minn., reopened. M. A. Levy, 20th-Fox district manager, back- from a threeweek European jaunt on which he was joined by his wife. Earl Wilson resigned from United Artists sales staff to be¬ come J. Arthur Rank Milwaukee and Minneapolis rep with head¬ quarters here. Playing “Conquest of Space,” “War of Worlds?* and “Mr. Magod Flies to Moon” as one show, day date, St. Paul ’ Capitol, Dale and Hollywood nabe'houses used joint big newspaper *d to sell it "as “Big Three Unit Space and Satellite Show.” “Ecstasy” batfc in Twin Cities* nabe arty theatre circulation. In its first St Paul subsequent- run. nabe house showings at three theatres “10. Commandments” is scaled-at $1.25" at night, 25e leas than in Minneapolis' outlying then- tree. R. (Rudy) Nelson quit Paramount Pictures* Hollywood special effects department to jein Twin Cities* IL Ray Film Industries, Ted Galenter r long a Metro ex- plefteer here and now assistant to producer George Sidney in Holly¬ wood, here in interests of “Pal Joey.” In new selling approach, the Volk Bros, deluxe nabe Terrace and Riverview, playing “Pajama Game.” alone with, other Wftt in 28-day clearaneeslot, asked in their newspaper ads “How long has it been kince you've seen a movie Mr a stage shew?” Ad* then wait an to acclaim “Game” as “better than a Broadway $8-80 musical show for fraction of the cost.” Mikp Taka, who plays “Sayonar*” femme lead, here in person in pic¬ ture's interest. * Theatre at New London, Minn., reopened. Rank's “Pursuit of Graf Spec” booked into all United Paramount'! 41 houses in this territory. Benny Cameron (Goldenberg) quit film and television meting to PITTSBURGH Arthur Manson, publicity chief for Cinerama here, sent to Toronto for a week to help out with open¬ ing campaign* in Canadian City. Manson is well-acquainted there, having formerly been Metro’s field man in that territory. ‘Columbia U’s leading football recruiter locally is Floyd KUngen- smith, Tarentum 7 outdoor exhib and ex-Col salesman. A one-time foot¬ ball star at that school, he has been responsible for sending at least 18 western Penftsylvanians to Colum¬ bia on present varsity and fresh¬ man squads. Strand Theatre in Pitcairn, dark for a number of months, reopened by Mary Civitarese. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Rachiele, theatre owners here, took up tem¬ porary residence in Phoenix, Ariz. Ellen Stern, daughter of. Tony Stern, formerly with WB Theatres here and in Cleveland but now a premium specialist, transferred from Miami U., to Boston U., where she’s'majoring in radio-television. James A. Sipe, projectionist at Mt. Oliver Theatre, named head of IATSE 171- His son, James V. Sipe, is business agent." v Chris Lampros. owner of the Hickory Drive-In near Sharon, and his wife are back from a three-and- a-half-month trip to Greece,' where they visited relatives the Lam- proses hadn’t seen in 20 years. The Roosevelt in Republic, dark for many months, reopened and so has the Crescent in Mahoningtown, which was closed all summer. Alden Phelps. Waterford exhibi¬ tor, is Democratic county chairman in Erie. . Ernie Stautner, who plays tackle for pro-football Steelers, in the off season operates a drive-in in the Lake Placid, N. Y., area. With death of John Wincek, his widow has acquired a half interest in Hi-Way 51 Drive-In in Beaver Valley and approximately a quar¬ ter interest in the Hi-Lander De¬ velopment Corp., which includes the Hi-Lander Theatre in New Castle. Blairsville, Pa.,, will get its first ozoner in the spring. Ellen Stern, daughter of Tony Stern, who is studying radio and television at Boston U., now has her own hour-long radio show three times a week on the campus station, WSBU. She uses the name of Cindy Lou. TEMPORARILY NO GLAMOR Corinne Calvet’* 'Act of God* Defease e# Faff Debt * Beverly HHIs, Nov. 12. An “Act of God” defense was entered by Corinne Calvet in a suit brought against her for $2,000 in fees for publicity services by the firm of Cleary, Straus* Irwin. Actress contended^tnat her deal With the firm called for them to publicize her as a glamorous actress. When she became preg¬ nant, she said, she notified them that she was temporarily “not and was unable to ■pt empleyment. Consequently, font cads the birth of a son on March A liN constituted an “act mi god” that invalidated her con¬ tract te pay the pralsery. A spokesman for Cleary,' Strauss ’ & Irwin said the claim represented fees for services before any notifi¬ cation that she was expecting a baby. Joe Joel to York oir IO C's Sydney, Nov;.5. Joe Joel, longtime Auaeie pub¬ licist, named by Clay Haketotake charge ml peAHctty bere fer Para- numnfs ”10 Commandments.” In company with Bobert Graham, Joel bar gone for * big pic conference In Tokyo. - Joel was f«r a long time pilb-* Hefty director ef Columbia, and RKO before joining hi* brother Asher in a local advertising or¬ ganization. Norman Adams, for¬ merly in-charge of PAr publicity, has resigned the post with, the'Ar¬ rival of JoeL