Variety (February 1959)

■ nrcxtrar :.. ..: ■ rt Reeyes, Ityist Stgi: I hfaence on (mama; }sQSii&£& _ _ _ m _ . Its registration of "The Hue- Story-Telling’ Fibns Stnnolated _ ment, it’s understood project Recent activity In the stock ■ -t . involves a comparatively in-• Cinerama Inc., which hit a new Pi i expensive Mexican production, high of 616 and was one of most ac- jtOCK flulACl liOlcS : Shenandoah, headed by pro- tively traded stocks on American __J ducer Stuart Millar and scrip- Stock Exchange last week, was at- ter James Poe, is readying a tributed to report that Hazard Zenith board voted a tbree-for-. high-hudget' roadshow film, prexy of Cinerama Inc. and one stock split, subject to stock- while Arthur Freed projects Soundsraft Corp., is or- Voider approval. This second split the Metro undertaking as a- a group for the produc- wfthina year had been anticipated musicaL Alan Jay Lerner and } exhibition of Cinerama caused unusual interest in the Burton Lane have * already . Reeves is free to do. so , New stock-option setup Written the score, le Stanley Warner’s exclu- ^ or Earner execs comes up for a jssms=s=s=ss=s=s=s^^ as ended. Under a ruling vote t<M ja y (Wed.) at the company’s _ — A T7 Dept, of Justice, SW was meeting in Wilmington . . . ¥ A TvC C A i A V Vaav o dispose of all its holdings & Co.-thinks Eastman Ho- IA IOlJ u6lS J" I 02u amalnc.^ dak is priced too high but likes v m, vm veek Stanley sold its final Polaroid as an attractive long-term .... . ^ v# r of 329,000 Cinerama Inc. investment... United Artists now |1_ _■ II/IaL VkiiliAn o the Wall Street firm of has 819,388 common shares listed . |jPrf| Vf {[[I i ifUOItlS Peabody & Co. for $2:50 0 n the'big board, having added yv ' lU 111,41 UlUUIVU re, These shares were suh- 333 . . , . Film stocks on the. big ^ «v , [y acquired at a slightly -board jumped 1.8% in value-last ?■ - - Hollywood, Feb. 3. rice by Reeves and his syn- month, cempared- with gains of A 21c per hour salary nse and New acquisition gives p.4% in December and 9.1% in fn£ge benefits are provided In an Vdfe<^,vMifAary 4,’1959 1 I National Boxoffipe Survey | iBiz JtiU Routing; ‘Mame’ Again^Firtt, -Running* 2d, ‘Furlough’ 3d, W 5th, .‘Seat’ 5th Stock Market Notes Zenith board, voted a tbree-for- Reeves, prexy of Cinerama Inc. and one stock split, subject to stock- Reeves Souncferaft Corp., is or- holder approval. This second split ganizing a group for the produc- yyjthin a year had been anticipated tion and exhibition of Cinerama caused unusual interest In the features. Reeves is free to do. so ^ # New stock-option setup i now since Stanley Warner’s exclu- j or ^yamcr execs comes up for a sivity has ended. Under a ruling vote t0 ^ ay (Wed.) at the company’s of the Dept, of Justice, SW was annn3t i meeting in Wilmington forced to dispose of all its holdings & Co.-thinks Eastman Ko- in Cinerama Inc. ^ dak is priced too high but likes Last week Stanley sold its final Polaroid as an attractive long-term holdings of 329,000 Cinerama Inc. investment... United Artists now shares to the Wall Street firm of has 819,388 common shares listed Kidder, Peabody & Co. for $2.50 on the'big board, having added per share. These shares were suh- 333 . . .. . film stocks on the. big sequently acquired at a slightly -board jumped 1 . 8 % in value-last higher price by Reeves and his syn- month, compared' with gains of dicate. New acquisition gives o.4% in December and 9.1% in Reeves Soundcraft definite Control November. of Cinerama Ine., with holdings of -----^ 4 - . 730,000 shares in add'tion to 100 ,- | /v/f | 1 * nl 000 Reeves owns personally. Alto- lift Alt MIAA NhdfPC getber there are 2,700,000 Cine- Vrllvl I lull vlldlVy . rama Inc. shares outstanding. • i : According to Reeves, he plans to- m | 1* H {• open and operate his own Cine- | a lflftfflg IwljUflUff rama theatres and to nrovide for a 1U lijUw tf ' lfl wflllK continuity of story-telling pix. He . ’ envisions the operation of 59 to 75 1%* f /I I t* • theatres throughout the world HlV I AIT I Alllltini2l which, he feels, can subsist on two A IA 1U1 VVllllIlIJiw new Cinerama films annually. Reeves believes that the full poten- Independent producers with long- agreement on a collective hargahr- ' ing contract , reached last Friday (30) by reps of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Em¬ ployees and major' film producers, tv film producers and film process¬ ing firms. Covering 15,000 industiy workers in 21 local Unions, pact runs for two years and went into effect Jan. .31. The three-week long negptia- Helped fid degfct to^sqpae extern by the new federal tax structure oh admission tickets, .business in key cities covered by Variety is boiling despite the surplus, of long- runs' and holdovers. Neither, the snow nVr severe cold proved much of a handicap at the-b.o., numer¬ ous keys showing up better than they did a week ago. . "Auntie Mame” (WB) is back Ip No. 1 position after being in second -slot a week ago. ’’Some Came-Running,’’ (M-G), champ a week ago, is winding up a big sec¬ ond place winner. “Perfect Furlough" (U) is mov¬ ing up to 'third position by dint of some new, unusually fine engage¬ ments. '“Inn of Sixth Happiness" ( 20 th) A g ai n is finishing in fourth place, same as last week. "South Seas Adventure*!.. (Cine¬ rama), .fifth a^week ago, is landing in same spot* this stanza. "South Pacific" (Magna) is pushing up to sixth'place. VBell,|took; Candle” (Col) will-land in seventh money. "Gigi" (M-G) is showing renewed vigor to > climb to eighth place. "Separate Tables”. (UA) will cap¬ ture ninth "position. while "I Want To Live” (UA) is finishing 10th. "Windjammer" (NT) is winding up . 11th “Anna I.ncasta” (UA) rounds out the Top 12 '/“*' 5 "Horse’s Mouth" (Lopert), "Tonka" .(BV), “Sheriff of Frac¬ tured Jaw” (20th) and "My Un¬ cle* (Coat) . aapg the • ;rupner-up films. : “Rally. Round Flag, Boys”. (20th) is throwing some promise among the newcomers. It is good in Frisco and Pittsburgh, lively in Portland and okay , on longrun in N.Y. “House on Haunted Hill" ?AA), slick in Boston, looms ter¬ rific in Detroit . "Sleeping Beauty" (BV),, due at N.Y. Criterion mid-F e b r u a r y, preemed in L-A. with a hoff first week after breaking several mat¬ inee records. "Doctor’s Dilemma!* (M-G), tall in N.Y„ shapes hefty in Philly. . “Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker" ( 20 th), also new, is. rated nice In Buffalo. “St Louis Bank Robbery" (UA) is secko on preem week in St Louis. ‘■The Trap" (Par) is rated mild in N.Y. ‘.‘Roots of Heaven". (20 th) shapes big in Philly. “Last Blitzkrieg” (Col), fight in N.Y., looms mild ip - Frisco. "Around World Ip 80 Days” (UA) 1$ lnsty in L.A. "Old .Man and Sea” (WB), good in Cincy, shapes trim in Chi and Stout in LA. "Night To 1 -Remem¬ ber” (Rank) still is fine on long- run in N.Y. "Tom Thumb" (M-G) looks hotsy in Chi and hep in Philly. “Spider" ( AAi is okay in Toronto. • (Complete Boxoffice Reports ©* Pages 8-9-10) . * A tions. headed by Richard F. Walsh, new C iirerflm fl - irlnis PUnmliy* TATQl? intPTTiAtinnfl] nrpvv and Reeves believes that the full poten- Independent producers with long- Charles s Boren exec vo*oi Assn tial of Cinerama has yet to be em- term commitments with Columbia ^ Motion Picture Producers.* ployed and he points out that the are being offered shares of stock Parted “the fiSt ^Se tSt majS medium has maintained its success in the Fico Corp., the private hold- k ! y $£3 nroducers and Mm despite the fact that it has yet to mg compa b y which has been pur^ p^ e Soifha V r^^ toSher te come up with a story-line p.cture. basing shares of the film com- All theatres presently operating pany. As of Sepf. 30, 1958, Fico , onnfi . are using equipment pnmded by owned 38,358 shares «f Columbfa's die uuiu: rtj.uipxucuv jjiuyiuuvi. uji owjicu au<uw vi wiiumuio d ._- . , - < .. Cinerama Inc. IWs equipment is common stock, but has since added all owned by Cinerama Inc. and has to these holdings. been provided to the theatres on a rental basis only. On that date, Fico’s stock con- fund and extension of health and welfare benefits.. Health insurance was granted for retired employees WB’s Afiti-Loiiermg Role ffitsEx-EmpkyesAmong l^r^^riSdude'wS: Others ‘Not Authorized’ Foreman, Charles Vidor and Fred I Warners’ homeoffice reception- Kohlmar. As Col makes new jong- istsr (at the new building, 666 5 th &als with highlyrrated m- Avenue, New York) have been im fru it’s.expected that thsy will structed by v.p. Bernard Goodman ^ offered shares in Fica to call. Who goes there? as visitors _ ^oq, formed shortly after the to the premises egress from the ?eath <rf Harry. Cohn, was organ- eleyators. Or in effect, anyway. n ’ s believed, to -protect the b to .put. check on ***■ Is, ^ y ^ ve plaEued Loew - s “ Officers and directors who hold ^3 «iares in Fico indude prexy Abe w Schneider, exec y.p. Abe Montemie, sisted of 8208 shares, with own- Sr AWffliU kAtMrr dlimilAfl emnntf -flG ■ 2IIu il^6 IHSUT&11C8 COV€JT3^6 for ership being divided g - employees increased from $ 1,000 eers and directors of the company ^ as well as closely-connected indie 10 _ producers. "Producers with a stake b ° yS ’ Wh ° ,U “ VP - Le ° 3aBe ’ V - P - *** C6h ” ; seem to loiter. v.p. Paul Lazarus Jr. and directors Order to the receptionists is to]Donald S. Stralem, Alfred Hart, stop everyone to "make sure they} Mendel Silberberg and Leo M. have an appointment with the Blanche. right person and at the proper I_ time. Otherwise, please go away, a 1 o » 3 Goodman’s order is not unique 301 uCDWHFlZ HCQ TTuC among the film companies. (Are ft*, t n* 1 * r 1 they getting nervous?). Trade re- fill BJ imCK 111 iSTECl^ porters, for ode group, who’ve had n I • i* ir* *. an open sesame to many an exec’s rOfegO ASiatlC VlSlt office, are now being held hack m ___ __ * _ , ' order "to be announced.” RKO Theatres prexy Sol A. Sol Schwartz and Wife Hit by Trnck in Israel; Forego Asiatic Visit RKO Theatres prexy Sol A. ■Schwartz and his wife, Marion, had to cut short their scheduled five- DALLAS-MADE FEATURE (result of an automobile accident in r ilium HAD (POna ADA Tel Aviv which fractured a couple tAnrl£ll rim 2ljlHf,UwU Of ribs between them and also noii-.e v-K <9 caused leg cuts to Mrs. Schwartz. Hollywood PtetiS^Corp., hlad- ed by the broadcaster-exhibition t „- ?’ sms sss^tiSssr film, T'he 1 KinS shreS” in fte have teken , them to tile Far East, can Jan. 30 after two weeks’ shoot- Ajl ^ srae ^ m^my truck skidded ing at Lake Dallas, with the wind- into ibe Schwartz’s car, which had up filmed at United National stu- an official government guide with dios here. "Shrews” will be readied Ibem. It was a freak accident on for a June release, with a local a bumpy dirt road, made hazar- premiere possible. Budgeted at dous by ^be ramy season. $300,000, first of two features by 'While the Israeli authorities the new orff was coprodueed by were most solicitous, including Gordon McLendon and Ken Curtis Army hospital treatment, the the- (who doubled in acting roles), with ^tre exec and his wife recuperated Ray Kellogg,* director, and Ben in their Hotel Dan, Tel Aviv, suite Chapman, production manager, for five days until able to catch - Film stars James Best and Ingrid the jet back to New York. Goudp. --—s—— • Second feature, tentatively tit- _ , ‘ • - . tied “The Gila Monster,” starts Dwig bt Spracher of Seattle and shooting at the local studios Feb. Jo ^ Rosenfield of Spokane, spon- 16, with Don Sullivan in lead. Cur- sored a meeting jyesterday (Tues.) - tis . will produce, ; Kellogg direct in the Beattie exchange area to ex* and Chapman is, again production plain the aims and program of'the • manager. . i-American Congress of Exhibitors. : L. A. to N. Y. Portland Allen Barney Balaban Lucille Ball Howard Beck Milton Berle Russell Birdwell Don Boutyette Lester Braun stein . Gower Champion Steve Cochran James Daly Leo Durocher Arthur Freed Paul Gregory Arthur Hornblow Jr. Martha Hyer Rowland V. Lee Alan Jay Lerner Julie London Eugene Lourie Frank Lovejcy Abel Marl Albert McCleery Vincente Minnelli Sally Rand Robert Saudek Dinah Shore Sam Spiegel Leslie Stevens Richard Thorpe Virginia Vincent Joseph .R. Vogel Philip A. Waxman Cara Williams Gig Young _ . Europe to U. S. Luba Atasevic John Bash William Goetz Nikolai Sokoloff . Charles Vidor U. S. to Europe Harald Bromley George Brandt James Dobson Dya Lopert Joel Marston Murray Silyerstone New York to L, A. . Bill Barrett ; Martin Batmi Catol Chanping Robert Englander Russell Johnsod Beverly Livet Marilyn^Maxwell M>e !Newbp m ' .. Bert Grde’ c » < -• .. . - Dick Pack . ■ i Still More Invaluable Memorabilia Added To N.Y. Theatre ArdiiveS By GEORGE FBSSDLEY (Curator, Theatre Collection, N.Y. Public Library) It has been two .years since I’ve -gave her own records and corre- made any report on the important spondence, particularly with Nor- * acquisitions of the Theatre Cofiec- .man Bel Geddes, in whose organ!- - ' tion of the N.Y. Public Library, zation she had played a prominent catalogued, and ready.jfor examina- part, particularly the original ra¬ tion, study and use. .For instance, vival of "Lysistrata" in 1938 and the late Oliver M. Sayler, Elizabeth the subsequent production of 1931> Reynolds Hapgood, Joshua Logan with Raymond Massey in “Hamlet" and Theatre .Arts. Books gave pho- t --i tographs and books to add to the 1- Stars’ Great Collectina _1 recent Stanislavski - Moscow Art Four stars of a later vintage. Theatre exhibition. Lawrence Phil- whose collections have come here lips of USO-Cainp * Shows - gave are Ldcflle Watson,,4he, late -Mar- -r designs, photographs, documentary garet Wycherley, Dorothy Jardon papers and scrapbooks which, in and the late Jane CowL The collec- smaU p^ct were exhibited in the tion of the most famous Juliet of Fifth Avenue Entrance' HalL The her generation was' purchased at . bulk of the material has been cata- the auction of her effects hy logued and made available to the Marjorie Barkenttn, Emellne Roche public, - ■ - and Blanche Yurka, systematized During ’1958, carrying out her by Miss Roche and presented in mother’s bequest Edia Cusack has the name of the'fair Lady* Jab* presented the Aline Bernstein col- as she was often affectionately . lection of theatrical designs which called. span the 40 years of Mrs. Bern- Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanhe stein’s designing for the theatre presented their scrapbooks from from the old Neighborhood Play- which: I gathered valuable pictures house days through Broadway, to for illustration, programs and re- another off-Broadway venture of views to document my Theatre ^ recent past, the highly successful World monograph, "The ' Lunts." J production of ‘The World of Sho- Other actors and playwrights lem- ■♦Aleichem” at the Barbizon- whose scripts and scrapbooks found Plaza. their way here include Harry Philip Moeller, director, play- Ellerbe, Bertha and Herbert Befe wright and co-founder of the The- more, Ruth and Augustus Goetz; atre. Guild, left his annotated Bert Lytoll, Albert Bcin and. Julesr promptbooks of such productions Eckert Goodman, Owen Fawcett ; as Eugene O’Neill’s “Mourning Among producers represented in>.' Becomes Electra,” "Strange Inter- the last two years are CheryjL lude”. and "Ah, Wilderness!” to- Crawford, Gilbert Miller and Markin gether with letters from O’Neill Linder. The stage doorman of thft £ with suggested, changes in the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland. Jqn plays which .are of particular value seph Weseneris collection of auto-, [ t . to biographers and scholars. Han? graphed photographs found thelr, fi nah Moeller, his sister, 111 addition way to US. . m9 . has donated promptbooks of his Hill Doll and Sol Jacobson, the _ own plays such as "Madame Sand," press agents, had moved their of-?-., which he wrote for Minnie Mad- fices so the Theatre Collection';, dem -Fiske and "Moliere,” whief fcehefitted with a vast deal of press ^ was produced with Henry Miller material. The N.Y. Morning Tele* 2 and Blanche Bates in the cast, graph deeded its valuable photo^* together with important letters, graphic morgue, 1900-1930, to photographs and other memora- benefit, - bilia. The library walls are bulging The Theatre Guild celebrated its into Bryant Park and there is a 40th anniversary year of producing backlog of photographic and other itt- the American theatre by pre- material awaiting processing, but senting hundreds of promptbooks, there is always room for one more typescripts, scrapbooks, photo- collection if it is important enough graphs and posters. From an to theatrical history. i! - earlier period of production came -- the Annie Russell Collection of the - . n . n fe e end of the last century and he- Ma rfiT $ Brtff ginning of the - present one. The _ • ' ' Daniel Frohman star is liberally Michael Jusko, Paramount sales- represented by photographs, scrap- man • in: Buffalo sinee 1953, and books, letters, scripts etc. The previous to this r associated with_ donor, Dorothy Lockhart, long Republic in the same city, has been associated with Miss Russell in named. Par’s Buffalo, branch man- her last r yeate'dud'-sin^'Uiefi-ihi ager.-- 1 r ^ ^ the operation of the Annie Russell • He replaces Hugh Maguire^ who - - . Theatre in Winter-Park, Florida, has left the company, - -