Variety (March 1959)

Wednesday, March IS, 1959 P&r iEfr PICTURES 21 Amusement Stock Quotations Week Ended Tues, (17) N. Y. Stock Exchange * Week Ended Monday ((16) t Actual Volume $ Ex-dividend * (Courtesy of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenneg & Smith Inc.) ‘Max Is A Nude-Nik!’ ; Continued from page 3 ; that this highly articulate showman does not think and speak for him¬ self. Variety reports—it does not invent—other people’s views. For example, the present text is re¬ porting the MPA A views. — Ed.) Kenneth Clark has slapped back at Max Youngstein in language not less blunt than the film man’s own. Says Clark: “It is gratifying to find that he (Youngstein) appears at last to have interests other than blocking and degrading the motion picture industry by his obsession in advertising and exploiting nudity. In United Artists, he is apparent¬ ly neither an artist nor very united. Perhaps now he will join with the MPAA and Eric Johnston in promoting meas¬ ures to advance and benefit the industry. Up to now he seems to have concentrated on tearing it down.” Other MPAA executives went out of their way to debunk the Youngstein charges. Here’s the gist of their arguments: (1). On Censorship. MPAa, particularly in recent years, has thrown its full weight against the passage of new censor¬ ship legislation and, going by the record, has succeeded. Not a sin¬ gle new state censorship law has been passed since Johnston took over. MPAA - has fought some ‘ censorship cases in the courts, has quietly given assistance with .others. Johnston last week went out of his way to praise Tim Clag- ett and Margaret Twyman for their activities in stemming the censorship tide, and said ,MPAA,* in the. face of difficult odds, had done a “herculean job. I'm amazed how successful we've really been.” Clark added that the MPAA had at times gone ahead “without the assistance of some member com¬ panies” who didn’t want to fight censors in given states even where their own pictures were concerned. He said the MPAA legislative group had done “a magnificent job” in preventing attacks on the industry. It’s acknowledged, even at MPAA, that the Association at times finds itself in a difficult po¬ sition since it can’t very well af¬ ford to join court cases involving pictures which wouldn’t have passed under its own Code. Out of this situation have arisen various charges that MPAA has refused to join independents in challenging the constitutionality of censor boards in the courts. Since it is handicapped by the , fact that the censors have Deeff| challenged mostly by imports, which wouldn't qualify under the Code, MPAA has concentrated on a preventive rather than'an aggres¬ sive tack. It did, in the past, help push some race-relations pictures (like “Pinky”) to the Supreme Court, (2) The antitrust decrees. Johnston has been advised by the MPAA general counsel, Sidney Schreiber, and others to keep out of that area until there’s a degree of common understanding on the areas in which the industry, i.e. distribution and exhibition, would like the decree to be modified. So far, exhibition has mostly accented the. question of formerly affiliated circuits going into production, an idea which is by no means sup¬ ported by all of Johnston’s prin¬ cipals. The American Congress of Ex¬ hibitors wasn’t able to achieve any outstanding degree of unity on this question, though exhibitors appear to favor some form of modified blockbooking. The question i s; How can Johnston go to the Gov¬ ernment to discuss decree changes if neither the exhibitors nor his own distributor group is united in its thinking? - (3) Television. Here MPAA throws up its hands. “What could Johnston have done?” asked one MPAA exec. “He’s al¬ ways been advised, and rightly so, to stay out of the selling area, where the companies are competi¬ tive. Both the MPAA and the com¬ pany lawyers are extremely cau¬ tious when it comes to the question of involving MPAA in these things since; as a trade organization with members who have a very bad antitrust record, it is extremely vulnerable.” Sum and substance of the MPAA reply to Youngstein is that. he’s asking the impossible of Johnston, who is functioning, officially and behind-the-scenes, as effectively as he knows how within the frame¬ work of the considerable limita¬ tions that are imposed on him. In¬ siders say Johnston on several oc¬ casions has taken the lead, only to find himself miles ahead ofi-his own crowd, a “leader” without fol¬ lowers. It's partly this circumstance which sees hkn more obviously ac¬ tive in the foreign market, which today is more vital than ever and where his considerable interna¬ tional prestige stands him in good: stead. This, of course, is the MPAA point-of-vlew. There are others who are sharply critical of the MPAA president and who, in vaiy-J ing degrees, go along with Young¬ stein in feeling that Johnston is in the position of leadership without actually leading and that a more persistent effort at uniting the in¬ dustry—even the the face of legal and personality obstacles—might have paid off via a more imagina¬ tive approach to the critical prob¬ lems facing the business. Much of the opposition to Johnston isn't reasoned out. as indeed MPAA claims Youngstein’s charges aren’t logical. What it comes down to is that the industry has been in trouble for years, that traditional struc¬ tures are breaking down and a lot of insecure people are looking for “the Messiah.” It’s at this point that the image of Johnston, so often referred to in lay publications as the “industry czar,” clashes with the harsh realities; Prolong ‘Gigi* Ran Los / nge’es, March 17. The $89,647 take for first six- week stand of “Gigi” at the 868- seat Four Star Theatre has cued United Artists Theatres to extend engagement to 13 weeks. Acad¬ emy-nominated film went into Wilshire Blvd. house for an orig¬ inal eight week*. Musical moved into Four Star on an exclusive bests after playing similar tyoe of run for 25 weeks at the Hollywood Paramount The¬ atre. Latter v/r.s hard-ticket, cur¬ rent engagement grind. .•.• " v '• Harris Gives FCC March 26 Deadline On Paydeo Tact’ Vs. His Ban Bill Toronto’s Ssmnd-Stages Toronto, March 17. N. A. Taylor, president of To¬ ronto International Film Studios (and of 20th Century Theatres), has started building two sound stages <m 150-acre Circle M Ranch just outside this city. Studio City” will have auxiliary ! Washington, March 17. Rep. Oren Harris (D-Ark) has given the Federal Communications Commiss’on a March 26 deadline to work out an agreement with him on pay television. If Commissioners don’t meet it (or fail to come an an agreement 1 , he will schedule feevee hearings before the House Commerce Com- mitte on his bill to ban tollvision except for one-city test of each svs- buildings and by May 1 will, says \ tem, each in a different area of Taylor, be large enough to handle i the U.S. production of feature pictures and tv series “in Volume.” Oklahomans In Hawaiian Buy Honolulu, March 17. Sale of Consolidated Amusement Co. assets to Hialand Development Corp. an Oklahoma syndicate, for about $8,000,000 is final. Included are 19 theatres, addi¬ tional land holdings, and the cir¬ cuit’s 75% interest in the Hawaiian Broadcasting System. Pact giv^s rise to the possibility that the Honolulu Star-Bulletin may gain control of the Hawaiian Broadcasting System properties, in¬ cluding KGMB-TV and KGMB ra¬ dio in Honolulu, KHBC-TV and 'KHBC radio in Hilo, and KMAU- TV, a satellite outlet on Maui is¬ land. The newspaper owns about 25% of the system and has an option to purchase an additional 27 percent. Present Consolidated stockhold¬ ers will be paid off at the rate of about $38 per share as a result of the sale to Hialand. Kilbride Quits Exhibiting Detroit, March 17. The resignation of B. L. Kil¬ bride Jr., as vice president of Michigan Allied, has been accepted with regret. He has disposed of the T have told the commissioners,” Harris told Variety, “that if there is no agreement by March 26. I will have to make plans for the committee accordingly.” Harris and commissioners have been attempting to come to terms on pay-tv control which would eliminate the need for Harris? committee hearing or Congres¬ sional action on his bill, a politi¬ cally explosive issue many law¬ makers would like to dodge in the interests of political expediency. If Harris and FCC successfully get together, feevee tests can be carried out by an FCC order rather than a possible new law. It’s been clear from the start that Harris is not willing to give way much on his ideas of how the tests should be conducted. He dis¬ agrees with FCC, for example, that FCC has no jurisdiction over wire intrastate tollvision such as Skia- tron proposes in California, to tele¬ cast professional football and base¬ ball games for a price. Harris also wants trial runs of tollvision sys¬ tems confined to a single test lor each, while FCC has shown an in¬ terest in larger testing. Another difference is what will happen when the tests are completed; that is, does FCC or Congress decide the future of tollvision then? Dallas’ Acad Contest Dallas, Marrch 17. Fifth annual Academy Award Sweepstakes Contest will be spon¬ sored again this year here by the Dallas News with the Interstate Theatre Circuit, Rowely United and Isley Theatres organizations. The contest will open on March Dawn Theatre which was the last 22 with the 19 theatres of the three of the five Hillier-Kil bride thea- 1 circuits participating and will close tres. He no longer is active as an on Sunday, April 5, the day before exhibitor. i the Motion Picture Academy tele- No action was taken to fill the vacancy. Kilbride will be honored at a luncheon in the Statler-Hitler on March 18 in recognition of his services. Kalws Technicolor Prognosis Technicolor in 1958 sold less 35m hlack-and-white and color footage than in 1957, sh^rplv increased its earnings but skipped paying divi¬ dends. It.i* als*» continuing to Dush determinedly towards diversifica¬ tion in the photographic field. Techni ar.mirl renort. issued, last week, showed that the lab shipped 271.766,595 feet of '35m positive prints, including b & w prints. Sales, genera 1 !'/ were up to $28,- 778,621. an increase of more than $2,000,000 over-1 P57. Profit before taxes ran to $1,179,192 against $242,895 the nrior year. Net after taxes was $553 172 or 28c per share, compared $95,946 (5c per share in 1957. In 1956. Techni¬ color had a net of $1,226,149 or 60c per share. Though the net rose sharply In ’58, the corrmany didn’t pay divi¬ dends for the first' time during the past 27 years. Herbert T. Kalmus, Techni prexy, said that 185 feature-length films were produced in Hollywood during the first 11 months of 1958 of which 115 were in black & white and 70 in color. Tint ratio of 38% actually was higher than in 1957 when 255 features were produced during the same months, with only 31% in color. Kalmus, with cautious optimism, said it was “not unlikely that motion picture theatre attendance in 1959 may be moderately above 1958.” Favoring Factors He based this reasoning on the tendency towards high grade films appealing to the mass audience; people’s desire to seek entertain¬ ment outside the home, and the J “gradual appearance in the larger j metropolitan centers of recondi- | t'oned motion picture theatres of the roadshow' tvpe.” Kalmus sa ; d the Technicolor im¬ bibition process was “more than holding its own with respect to quality of product, character of service, CGst and Drice.” but warned of the possibility of a “further diminution in s ; ze of orders” and a “oossible unfavorable situation in fhe relative cost of raw mate¬ rials and labm\”- ~ Meanwhile, he noted, “your Comnanv is operating •with both the. imbibition and the color positive process.” Kalmus put considerable em¬ phasis on Techni’s Techniraira process. Producers can obtain al¬ most any kind of prints from the Technirama negative, including 70m prints. Total of 31 Techni-| rama pix are either in production or preparation for 1959. Annual reDort showed that Tech¬ nicolor’s British subsid. Techni¬ color Ltd., had handled 141.764.441 feet of positive orints during 1958, a drop from 1P57. Company showed a net of £72.313 as against £156,775 in 1957. Techni now owns about 60% of the stock of the presently shuttered Societe Tech¬ nicolor in France. Kalmus ex¬ pressed hopps for the earning ca¬ pacities of the Technicolor Italiana plant in Rome which has 20 films in production or preparation. Kalmus said Techni’s facilities to handle 16m film and amateur motion picture footage were being expanded both in N. Y. and on the Coast Sales of nontheatrieal subjects on the Coast were up 30% in 1958 over 1957. cast from Hollywood to announce the Oscar winners. Official entry blanks will be available in the lobby of each thea¬ tre on the opening day of the con¬ test. A g: and prize of $500 in cash plus season passes to the three the¬ atre chains will be offered to the persons- whose choices most nearly match the actual Oscar winners. ‘Pacific’ in ‘New’ Capri i. inras Ci.y, Mare i 17. “South Pacific” is set for show¬ ing here in Todd-AO beginning Easter Sunday, March 29. The Durwood circuit which operates both hardtops and drive-ins in this area recen'ly took over the Vic¬ toria Theatre for the purpose. A former legit house, the Vic¬ toria is being converted to the more intimate Capri, the seating capacity being cut from about 1.- 900 to 628.; Showing will be on a 10-per-week basis with a $2.25 top. Plans now call for a press-radio¬ television preview on March 29. and showing to .a number of spe¬ cial groups for about a w’eek fol¬ lowing. Regular public showings will thus actually begin about a week after opening, according to Stan Durwood, general manager. Durwood operates the Roxy Theatre as a mainstem deluxe first run here, and has other thea¬ tres in Leavenworth,^ Kans., and | St. Joseph and Jefferson City, ; Missouri. Beauparlants’ 50th Anci Lewiston, Me., March 17. Emile J. Beauparlant, long-time theatre, -.juanist and orchestra leader, and Mrs. Beauparlant ob¬ served their golden wedding anni¬ versary at their home her with a party recently. Beauparlant was with the Maine and New Hampshire Theatres chain for more than 40 years. He played piano and organ and directed or¬ chestras at the Music Hall, Auburn Theatre, Empire Theatre and Strand Theatre.