Variety (December 1957)

TV Stations Deliberately Mislead Public They Have Current Filins, Blast By Myers of Allied States Karloff's Frankensjem^ Gotham Debates Cmemiracle Angles “Frankenstein, I960" is set for " rSidasita^He wa^hem“ Like Coast.'Impres.ed byPrae.s But Foresee back in 1931 when Universal did Whopping Problem Shooting Story in Medium the first filmized take on the Mary W. Shelley story. , “ ~~ : New one is to be produced by Trade executives last week ex- /visible at all and in others ihev Aubrey Scheiick and Howard W. pressed astonishment over the Na- wclre very faint. y Koch in association with Edwin, F. tional Theatres declared:, policy of . Rhoden said “Cinemiracle Ad- Zabel for Allied Artistes release. It’s not permitting features shot in the venture" would bow in March slated for Cinemascope lensing on cinemiracle process to be dupli- fie added that it would be difTi- the Warned lot, AA’s studio being system. Feel- ciJt to find the. right kind of fully , booked at the Jari. 6 starting j^g was that National would modi- houses, "because .we operate with time. fy its stand before long. theatres designed for vaudeville. . • ■ ‘ v Elmer C. Rhoden^ NT prexy, was. The balcony overhang gets in the £1 11 1 f. • very specific about it at the press way : -H. e Commented he didn't Slinnonlv It Kllinc screening at the Mt. Eden Theatre i*U n k CMj,vould be any good for k/UllllvlllY H llUlllv in the Bronx last week. He said diive-ins because there it would Television is becoming bolder > and more aggressive “in its com¬ petitive warfare against the the¬ atres," Abram F. Myers. Allied States Assn, board chairman, charged this week. In‘a bulletin to Allied members, Myers noted that the broadcasters are using "every artifice to convince the pub¬ lic that they are supplying current motion pictures. . . ." In addition, the Allied official complained that tv stations are attempting' to give the impression that they are, : in fact, “home movies." Gold-Braided Bruno James Bruno, manager of the Capitol Theatre on Broad- way, has been elevated to man¬ aging. director of both the Capitol and Loew’s State, by Eugene Picker, v.p. of Loew’s Theatres. Bruno has been with Loew’s Theatres for 29 .years. Harry Greenrnan, manager of the State, has requested a transfer' to a theatre in Westchester County, where he lives... Accdrding ta-Myers,. the most County, where he lives.. •flagrant example" of tv advertis- ... ■■ ing is a 24-sheet appearing on bill- n m ■ W j /v# boards in th£ Cincinnati area. The tOHlDllfi I HICK I\€C0r(| Ul 24-sheet, Myer noted, reads as fol- .. . n , lows: “Exclusive! ’52 to ’57 Movies. J eSterVean PaF LlTCOlt S Home Theatre Channel 12. United * i <u vuuui» Good Fix & Old Sol Shines in Mpls. one of the conditions of. licensing j ; sense of ’presence’.’’ Minneapolis; Dec. 3. Cinemiracle to any producer- would j •- 1 - be that no other version could be *PA a PrwfO PAMUl'Prrr shot simultaneously. 1 VA d£l J LUfflml 11 ££ Cinemiracle uses a triple-lens TAD fA ACT AT A AriWV camera producing three negatives. FUlY tUnul nLAllLilll It is .projected; via three projec- Theatre Owners of America has tors stationed m a single booth. , . . , , The Cinemiracle version can’t be appointed a committee Jo work reduced to one normal composite with the Academy of Motion Pie- 35m negative. - tare Arts and Sciences on various. i at vumui a With the local loop first-run box-j 35m negative. -1 tare Art Artists, 20th Century-Fox, Warner VArilchrh All *FIaW* °® ice doing _a sensational and Showing at the Mt. Eden—On a projects contemplated by: th Bros.”. Myers pointed out, too, that lailiauui VU null sharp about-face suddenly reVers-■-wall-to-wall 80x34 ft. screen—was latter a report from New England indi- United Paramount Theatres has ini? » downward trend that had the very impressive and. demonstrated These 'nrorects were outlined tn cates that two UA pictures which drawn u „ perhaps one of the most vf * r?n ^ tBat na “ me : Cinemiracle as an extraordinarily Vl tq played “A” houses in 1954 and to; amm!hma - list, of . r.leese, taduStry WOrnei than clear and vivid process capable of TOA by George Seaton at the ex- ished playing drive-ins only last . .* “ ,7~ usual the past several months, ex- generating depth and vivid parti- hib group’s recent convention in summer are now appearing on tele- from all distributors thet has been hibition here has made another, cipatioii. It became obvious, how- Miami Beach. They included visits vision. In Baltimore, he added, a ?® en in* modern times and will make • *nrnri«5inff roriiebaeks and ever, that the system, as a story- to theatres for special morning lec- tv station, regularly advertises it- it available to fll exhibitors? Pur- of its surpnsi g com a d tellin g med j dmv wou id require an tures by cinematographers, design- self as the “motion picture theatre P° s e is to permit the theatrementa once more is. confounding the new and ingenious ap- ers, decorators. and possible stiidi of the air;” . own and Indmdu- calamity howlers who ordered proach on the part of cameraman, treks by selected newspapermen. Allied, Myers Said, is receiving mourniiig clothes some time and director. .. The TOA committee, headed by complaints from many arees that ^ut scheduled so as to aTOid a Stt Tax Ingenuity . Henry Plitt of New Orleans, in- the four-year time lag which ^x- of important' product during holi- As a result, cheer has supplanted “It’s a new technique and we ; eludes Roy Cooper, John Stembler, bibitors thought had been estab- day periods and an absence of it gloom in local film industry circles can’t think any longer in terms of and Dave Jones. Thecotamittee. lisbed, is no longer being observed. a t other times 4 to a greater extent than at any the old 35m,” commented one man has also been charged with, the In commenting on the Cincy ad- Edward L Hvman UPT vn for time in the past several years and close to the production of “Cine- tas * of planning^ program, in co- yertising and others claiming to th ^ p as t several years has-been the predicted funeral looks further miracle Adventure,” first film in operation with film company ad- have pictures later than those re- speariieadhi^the ^move for “or- off than ever, ifs pointed out by the new process produced by Louis vertismg chiefs, for. /the develop- leased in 1952-53 Myers suggested derfy^reSfsin^ Winchell, United Para- de Rochemorit. “To tell a story hient of new personalities for pic- an investigation by committees of dent Leonard h, Goldenson re- mount circuit president-general m Cinemiracle wiU tax the in- tures. Allied and Theatre Owners of Centlv s t at eif he woidd not ^ manager hd*e. genuity of the film creators ” he The committee, according to America. “If this station and S any Indus'S iSst^tiSnJ unswing after the protract- said * ‘^enes are going to run TOA prexy Ernest G. Stellings, others making similar clauns,. he nrb1eftta Wamr mpii- » ^ longer. There can be no will function as the.liaison between contemplated 1.^ the These/projects were outlined t, imeLa‘ nd “l” sSSSn’and aSSfhe WSd&S manager here. America. If tms station ana trim .momini otners maxing sunuar ciaims.-nc Droiects unless the diktrihe rnnrnlv dumb that found manv meri- a 10t lon g e1 -* in ere can De no wintuncuon as tne.naison Dei asserted; “are misleading the pub- cuttin ^ in the ^ual sense of the exhibition, production and lie, maybe local exhibitors will t he a trirtSn^have 8S*Jof?5 word. Switching of ingles wilf be. Academy! “in-furthering the u bestir themselves and interest Bet- SeWttiSgr Y 3 coS hiS %TSS: of ^ di i ercnt whi J? Weas ; adopted-at the. ter Business Bureaus. If this prac- ^ - , . - «7hnf lenses as m the current cameras, vention . ” tire is widesDread. representations .. p F ess mee tmg is set fob New pictures which seem to h^e what Now . it t U have to be the camera can and will be made to the. Fed- York today (Wed) at which Hyman ^that ; will move in and out.” — ~ ' , ■ ■ ■■ :- ; ■ ■= eral Copmunlcation^Cqmmission.- Jf £ “^UPT fin<Sn|s°re the rSe^e with a rush, exult Winchell and Composition also Is a problem R’waV B 0 Allied, Myers said, is m full- 8 e - Se other local exhibitor leaders. since the an&le of vision is so wWl5 D Way DiU Allied, Myers said, is in full sked _ agreement with the statement made by Elmer C. Rhoden, National The¬ atres topper, in his keynote speech 1ITC' before TOA’s recent convention in JUdiiun vui linm Vil films, but all of them are in the was established in cabarets and by Miami Beach. ICIVWZ TUTATPr DB lariv have^ounffP^Dle^DPeaL travelog category. Various plans recordings. Rhoden stated that the nation’s LOJiW J lHcAlKt HD. Woffice hasn’t com4 back L P us ® Ciaerama to teU a stof y Judy Holliday has apparently theatres needed a specific clear-: Justice A. Dayton Oliphant, re- Wh a WliS ‘St have been dropped. been a factor in the sellout of ance over tv . and not a secret tired member of the Supreme w ie Jjaek xrfth S roar Biisi- First feature to be made in Cine- “Bells Are Ringing,” at the Shu- one, but a clearance that can be Court of New Jersey and former nP^h^Wn^plIPntnot'onlvin miracle (by Warner Bros.) will be bert, and Ethel Merman carried used in theatre advertisements so chancellor of State, has been thp S T ^^ Max Reinhardt’s “The Miracle” last season’s obviously anemic en- that the public can be informed na med to the board of Loew’s The- w early next year. Rhoden said plans try, “Happy Hunting ” to a full that certain pictures would not be at re S . He’ll also serve on a special ° lemioiy for six pictures to be made year’s run at the Majestic, closing seen on television for a specified committee dealing with the separa- T' .t, - / within the five-year limit set by last Saturday (30). Frederic number of years. tion of Loew’s ^Theatres from , Pictures responsible for^this b.o. the Justice Dept. While NT is re- March and Flolrence Eldridge are --^- ' ■ ' ■ ' Loew’s Inc. rerinvigbratioii include, of # course, stricted in the number of its credited with boosting the draw TrrifA IIPinC DiD PAD Justice Oliphant was appointed v? 8 * -f wn houses where it can show of “Long Day’s Journey Into ITT Ml ntAUb I AK rUK to the board of Judge Edmund L. J°«se Rock,_Time Limit, -April cinemiracle, the process can be Night,” at the Helen Hayes, al- fT n /riAim 1 tmilPilTCU Palmieri of the U.Si District Court. Loye and ^ iss Them for Me^ t installed in any house via s port- though in that case the name of U S LUMMANlMvlEN IJ He succeeds the late Allan L. Mel- It’s especially gratifying to Win- able unit. Eugene O’Neill, plus , the phenom- •' * * • . hado. who had also been appointed chell and others tbat the public is • According to Rhoden, installa- inal praise of the play, is rated Moms Lefko, assistant to Charles p y the Federal Court to help tin- able and willing to respond to so tion cost, including the screen, the prime factor. Boasberg when the latter headed ^gie the proMems relating to the many attractions simultaneously runs to $65,000. Rex Harrison was regarded worldwide sales for /Ten . Com-. separat ioh of the theatrecompany: and^ that the showhouses^^ apparent- Desire to limit Cinemiracle enhancing the b.o. of “My Fair fronv/the production-distribution l^boast M^na^devotees^as hith- strictly t0 r6&dshovr engagements Lady." but the. show itself is now tHhirtion of the Cecil B DeMille- dlvlslon * erto and D0 111010 deserters * makes sense to a lot of industry- probably strqnff enough to hold up Sramonn? nrodiietion --- - ■ ' Demonstrated once more in his ites, though some feel that the for some time with the Unknown Paramount P.°uc . ]0- pw PTncrlah/l TWif Tn opinion, he sa/s, is that fact that first CM release, being an ex- successor, Edward Mulhare, at the . Boasberg left Par to become ivew fillgiana lent, 10 all you need are picturces With the panded travelog, may run short Hellinger. Julie Aiidrews ap- other local exhibitor leaders. since tne angle of vision is so [ Sill'S B W3J BiOi Significant in the b.o. revitaliza- ^ ld0; ~ Continued from page 65 ===» so°mS^Tttfpirt^raccoimttog C inerama to date has put out four little film or tv exposure. Her rep( lorJ^s^^^S p^cli? ? ms v but all of them are in the was established .in cabarets aud by on^ni. travelog category. Various plans recordings. JUSTICE OLIPHANT ON LOEW'S THEATRE BD. ^ Tly bava^ung pliple appeal . v • i- • . ^ ,' •• i . . ' . “The boxoffice hasn’t come bi Rhoden stated that the nation's O IWRUUI DU. . to use Cinerama to teU a story theatres needed a specific clear, . justice A. Dayton Oliphant, re- with h a riSh "‘“vs’wkSSL 6 "It h * ,ve >» eo dropped, !” e K?.T" XJSLr&X JSS2 -.^ *»*!*'*■ has come^baeR jth a roar. 2&‘ “5.*™“ i hSs h°MWilent notoniy in LEFKO HEADS PAR FOR U.S. ‘COMMANDMENTS’ tribution of the Cecil B. DeMille- . .“ __ Paramount production. r . _ . Boasberg left Par to become I New England Tent To Warners’ domestic general sales manager. Hard Tickets ssssss *£ ***$• ** sssz .*«»*«», *#****«&* ^ ■ Continued from page 5. ssssss Hotel Roof on Dec; 9, Bill Koster years. have been proved wrong so that an expensive production, at ^ Longacre. Helen Hayes, • , pvpphHw /iirpp*/vr- Af th*. v^o*,r and *b at exhibition contmues to when slaved off oh the roadshow more than Richard Burton and hurt had “Raintree” been permitted p luh nf FncrtanH show an unfailing ability to revive circuitfcan be booked into the re- Susan Strasberg, is viewed as the to go two-a-day or 10-a-week in, after Sng^ hoxSis here Md abroad P^ine biz-getter for “Time R«- SSiTSg „ d n ° 2 -K a “- optimism. Wineh emeels. S memherCd/' ,t the Moroseo, though brgh on Karamazot, the Ber jy— p 3ra mn.. n t rinr>in» a p ■■ ■ ■ 1 — travelog, which" would have no Type and quality of the play and raSfullv^dth y thi? as roadThow branch manager, has been named _ _ • special appeal in normal size, but ( various other elements, including SntSlrtPr U th roadshow] t succeed Mo0 re as eastern divi- SfiklUlAm becomes a puzzler In a story film, m, eases the location of the the. k sion bo SS . OGMIDBlgS particularly via the foreign po- atre, undoubtedly are varyingly h J Mtor resistance which U issetthig Mpore started with Par 36 years: - continued from page 5 *-- ^. ntial : NT approach aims to hoist potent factors in a star’s b.o. drav^: LSfinc ago asan assistant shipper in Bos- Cinemiracle into the “speciar Nevertheless, few contemporary t nirt;n.iliri rd m nH ton - bergs have literally assembled a category. With the exception of stars seem to have as large, de- afe saving so^wheri a majo^pictute — little.- HoUywpod in the heart Cinerama, -which essentially em- voted personal followings as some U i,K %KANSAS CITY ASSN. ILECTS »£ the Eveftsiide,. A huUding Penury many months. ^ Kansas fcity. Dec: 3. « <itr. «nmufi. g h It was only a few* months ago Motion Picture Assn, of Greater ed and sound-proofed for the film- UinemiraCle^ifrh 3 !^. r . min j pr mSs fesDeflallv in a serious that many producers talked en- Kansas City held Jts annual *6 of interior scenes. Carpentry of tnt^rlv thusiastically about handling their report meeting and election of offi- sh 9Ps, property shops and ward- when 20‘h Fox SvaH tendehevthese davs toKlve star entries like they were so many eers at the Pickwick Hotel yester- robe departments were establish* “Ld % MlM^oCe SuiX £iHh the spectaculars akin to “Command- day (Mon:) preceded by a dinner. A ed - Housing was arranged for 300 *1* soon^ Trevor basi^of fJss demonstrated popu- ments” and “80 Days.” Now they’re number of. board members were people from N*w York and Holly- & sa M R’d S i h*^ draw than waTSe case a ? gem .howingAiore caution, being fearful elected, with the board later elect- wood. C^cooe releats J efation aw ^ they irfight overplay their hands, ing the president and other officers The picture, being directed by and ft P vJ ^,rk >n t ?h n ^^ eratlon ago. , k As one film-maker said in New f Q r the coming year! Nichola? Ray tod photo^aph^ by CiiS&rfi York this week: “Our good pictures Ed Hartman handled details Joseph Bran, has been in produc- week confirmed th^Snt^n whfnh **» nfme and «t5?ft jSf te^ut ha l^ - “a.- —- sstss.‘* Honor Moore, DeBerfy “Tight kind of appeal’? and the de- of expectations In cities where pears'to be a lesser attraction in Boston Dpp V velopment provides aiilmunition Cinerama has been holding forth the musical. It remains to be A testimonial luneheon ^ those who have been clamoring for some years. seen whether Sam Levene, newly seen whether Sam Levene, newly elevated to stardom In “Fair deBerry'in peco^iitioD of theif j That Jhe prophels of doom Question remains whTNattonal Ga “e;; «j? “““Sh trade fprbmotionsTs set for Bradfid as s ? past Theatres refuses "cover" versions .“<*«»• U*htly:regarded el Roof on n.e o Bill years, have been proved wrong so that an expensive nrodnetion. at the Lpngacre: Helen Sckalbergs I particularly" via the foreign po-1 atre, undoubtedly are varyingly : - Continued from page 5 —— tential. NT approach aims to hoist potent factors in a star’s b.o. draw.: ■ 1 Cinemiracle Into the ''special” Nevertheless, few contemporary bergs have literally assembled a category. With the exception of stars seem to have as large, de¬ little Hollywood in the heart Cinerama, which essentially em- voted personal followings as some of the Everelades A builriinr P loys the sam « basics as Cinemir- of the great names of a quarter. S at leaded recSnwrt ade - a11 K* Processes can be centuiy of mote ago.. Few stars £ £5 !itoIbtoo&S for Hm «im **>«« <• normal 35m. today can overcome unfavorable ing of interior scenes Carpentry Cinemirac le pitch is a reminder notices, (especially In a serious ; in of the early CinemaScone davs play). Also, there seems to be a Continued from page 5 ; Jin several scenes, they weren’t I exceptional.