Boxoffice-December.17.1955

. .Monoging
ru^ oftke "T/h/C&n 7^£f/^£^ //tdtUl'T^
HE NATIONAL FILM WEEKLY
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ORRIS SCHLOZMAN . Business Mgr
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;'"b«r Audit Bureau of Circulations
as
to
PRESAGING NEW PROGRESS
AICHOIASM. SCHENCK. who resigned
presidenl of Loew's, Inr. and was elected
the newly-created office of chairman of the
board, has rendered long and valuahle service,
not only to his company but to the industry at
large. From a start in the theatre business in
its earliest days, Mr. Schenck entered production
and distribution with the late Marcus Loew. His
expert guidance helped to put together the
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer company and to build this
organizali.iti into one of the world's leading
factors in motion picture production, distribution
and exhibition.
It is fitting that Arthur M. Loew, son of the
pioneer founder of the company. Marcus Loew,
should succeed to the presidency. Hand-picked
by Mr. Schenck for this post, because of the
ability he so well demonstrated in varied posts
he has held with the company through the past
35 years. As president of Lopw"s International,
Mr. Loew has made an enviable record as an organi.ier
and administrator through his development
and expansion of the operations of the company
around the world.
And, further, that Mr. Schenck or "The
General," as he is affectionately called bv his
associates, will continue to keep an active hand
in
the company's affairs.
Our heartiest
congratulations
-Schenck and Loew on their
newbest
of good wishes.
Positive Thinking
It should be gratifying, not only to the employes
and stockholders of Loew's, but to the industry,
that so capable a man is taking over a
large share of the important duties which Mr.
Schenck long since has earned the right to relinquish.
to
the
fKJsts;
Messrs.
and the
Samuel Goldwyn jr., a very shrewd voung
man with a very shrewd paternal adviser, suggested
to the Associated Motion Picture .Advertisers
that it might be a good idea not to do so
much talking about a theatre slump. He was
right.
It used to be an axiom in this business that
nothing succeeds like success—even the maintenance
of the appearance of success. But. of
late, there has been too murh indulgence in
downbeat attitudes openly aired in public.
Young Mr. Goldwyn had just returned from a
publicity tour on behalf of his first picture as
a producer and he ran across many theatremen
who were complaining about their business publicly.
It seemed to him, he said, that these exhibitors
were unwittingly fostering the imj)re.ssion
that television has this industry groggy.
It cannot be denied that theatre business has
been spotty, that there are some particularly bad
situations, with many theatres in precarious positions.
It doesn't improve matters to go around
crepe hanging in public. Nor will they be improved
merely by keeping a cheerful "chin-up"
in public, while the boxoffice is down. Still,
that can keep the boxoffice from dropping
further. What is needed is some positive thinking
that will eliminate the negative conditions,
thereby justifying a smiling countenance all
over the face of the industry!
Can Still
Object
A ruling by Judge Sydney Silverman in the
U. S. District Court, New York, that Wilbur
Snaper, former head of National Allied and the
New Jersey regional unit, cannot intervene as an
objector to erection of a new Loew's drive-in theatre
at Raritan, N. J., does not mean that Allied
cannot object. That opportunity will be given
December 19 at a formal hearing.
The hearing will be one of the results of a protest
made by Allied leaders that the Department
of Justice was granting permission to former
affiliated circuits for theatre building, or acquisitions,
without giving them sufficient notice
to
protest.
This time the notice was given, .\bram F.
Myers, Allied general counsel; Jack Kirsch, head
of the Illinois Allied unit, and Mr. Snaper, with
his attorney, appeared in court. Mr. Snaper's
attorney asked to be allowed to intervene, but the
court turned down this
request.
The issues before the court are whether approval
of the Loew plea to build a neYV theatre
Would violate the terms of the consent decree by
iiitriiducing unfair competition or lend toward a
iiiDiiopoly. Because similar cases will come up
in other parts of the country,
^^
interest in the outcome
of the hearing is general among exhibitors.
'/»d as Second Cbss m.ilter at Post
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'CEMBER 17. 1955
', M
No. 7
and all 300CJ wishes for a
-l^appp i^etD gear