Boxoffice-November.17.1956

TOA-Allied Joint Meet
Prospects Loom Dim
NEW YORK—Unless there is a last
minute change in plans, Allied States
Ass'n will not hold its 1957 national convention
In Miami just before or just after
the TTieatre Owners of America annual
conclave next November. It had been proposed
that Theatre Equipment and
Supply Manufacturers Ass'n would continue
its tradeshow through both conventions.
A TESMA spokesman said here this
week that it may be too late now to include
Allied in its tradeshow plans. On
the other hand, it is reported that the
TOA convention heads are opposed to
having Allied share the TESMA program,
the opposition being so strong that some
threatened to pull out of the committee
if Allied went into it.
Rube Shor, Allied president, was in
New York several weeks ago to explore
the 1957 convention setup. He has not
commented on his findings since then.
Allied Artists Stockholders
Re-Elect Entire Board
HOLLYWOOD — Allied Artists Pictures
Corp. stockholders, at their annual meeting
held at the studio and presided over by Steve
Broidy, president, re-elected the entire board
of directors for the coming year. The members
are: G. Ralph Branton, Broidy, George
D. Burrows, W. Ray Johnston, Harold J.
Mirisch, Edward Morey, Herman Rifkin, Norton
V. Ritchey and Howard Stubbing.
Broidy revealed at the meeting that the
operations of the company and its wholly
owned subsidiaries for the first quarter of
the present fiscal year, ended Sept. 29, 1956,
resulted in a net loss after federal income
taxes of approximately $47,000. This amount
compares with a net profit of $117,000 for the
quarter ended Oct. 1, 1955.
Following the stockholders meeting, a powwow
of the board of directors was held at
which all of the present officers were reelected.
The quarterly dividend of 13% cents
per share on the company's 5% per cent
cumulative convertible preferred stock was
voted for payment Dec. 15, 1956, to stockholders
of record Dec. 3, 1956.
Walt Disney Life Story
Published in the Post
PHILADELPHIA—The Saturday Evening
Post, which seems to be specializing in publishing
full-scale treatment of the lives of
motion picture personalities, turns to the
story of Walt Disney in Its current (17)
issue. Published is the first part of a biography,
"My Dad, Walt Disney," by Mrs.
Diane Disney Miller.
The initial installment deals with his early
impoverished days in Kansas City, when he
was 19 years old, and trying desperately to
get a start in the cartoon business. No
mouse, church or Mickey, writes Mrs. Miller,
was ever as poor as Disney was at this period
of his life. He traded drawings for haircuts,
and depended on a check from an older
brother to re-establish his credit at a nearby
restaurant.
7i^€t4^i»t^toK
•PHE excise tax subcommittee of the House
Committee on Ways and Means, headed
by Rep. Aimee Forand (D-R.I.), will begin
hearings again on November 26 here, and
motion picture representatives are expected
to plug for complete elimination of the admittance
tax.
Robert W. Coyne, special counsel for the
Council of Motion Picture Organizations,
formally has asked for permission to have
COMPO witnesses testify at the hearings. A
brief is to be prepared by COMPO representatives
at a New York meeting before Thanksgiving.
The fight to do away with the admittance
taxes this coming session may not be as
successful as the fight to lower the tax in
the recent sessions of Congress. On the
other hand, considering the resourcefulness
of the motion picture representatives, no
prediction is made that there cannot be success.
When aroused, the Theatre Owners of
America, and the other Interests in the industry,
can make a terrific impression on
Congress.
0-0-0
THEATRICAL Interests Plan, Inc., New
York, N. Y., has filed a registration statement
seeking to register 52,000 shares of its
Class A stock, par value 5 cents per share,
and 28,000 shares of its Class B stock, par
value 5 cents per share. The proposed maximum
offering price per share for the Class
A stock is $10 and the proposed offering price
per share for the Class B stock is 5 cents.
Class A stock is being offered for subscription
at not less
than 25 shares of Class
A stock per subscription at a proposed maximum
offering price, per minimum subscription,
of $250. Class B stock is being offered
only to the original 23 stockholders of the
registrant, concurrently with the public offering
of Class A stock, as more fully described
in the registration statement (SEC
FUe 2-12884).
Theatrical Interests Plan, Inc., was formed
under New York laws in April 1956. It has
not engaged in any business activity and
initially will operate primarily as a nondiversified
closed-end management Investment
company in the theatrical and entertainment
fields and in related businesses.
The plan has been registered under the Investment
Co. Act of 1940.
The purpose of the Theatrical Interests
Plan, Inc., is to provide an investment
medium to investors who are interested in
the field of theatrical investments, theatrical
production and management, theatrical
ownership and operation, and other aspects
of the entertainment Industry.
The corporation intends to invest in entitles
organized for the production, management,
operation and exploitations of ventures of
various kinds In the theatrical and entertainment
fields. These ventures may include but
will not be limited to legitimate plays, motion
pictures, television plays, operettas, operas,
road companies, etc.
0-0-0
PWENTY-THREE writers, actors and other
film industry employes who plead the
Fifth Amendment when asked questions of
Congressional investigating committees, or
^e^tont
By LARSTON D. FARRAR
otherwise refused to answer such queries for
various reasons, have entered a plea with the
U. S. Supreme Court to uphold their "blacklisting"
charges against the major film
studios.
T'he artists sued the Motion Picture Ass'n of
America, Society of Independent Motion Picture
Producers, major film production companies,
top filmdom executives and members
and staff employes of the House Committee
on Un-American Activities.
They charged that the companies and individuals
engaged in a concerted effort to exclude
them "from all employment opportunities"
in the film industry.
California courts ruled against the artists.
Judges there held that there had been no
evidence of any "specific or intended" contract
for the artists and that, therefore, there
was no evidence that any legally-protected
interest had been abrogated.
In appealing to the Supreme Court, the
plaintiffs argue that their constitutional
rights have been transgressed. They include
Gale Sondergard, Anne Revere, Guy Endore,
Waldo Salt, Howard Da Silva and Paul Jarrlco.
o-o-o
lyTOVIE Bits: Morris Cafritz, sometimes
called "Mr. Gwen Cafritz" by social
leaders who go to soirees given by his wife
Gwendolyn and one of Washington's wealthiest
men, has purchased the Albee Building
here, which includes Keith's Theatre, and
he plans to convert the theatre to legitimate
showings' Keith's is leased by RKO Theatres
until 1960, but the lease can be cancelled
in 30 months, or even sooner by agreement
. . . Theodore C. Streibert has resigned as
U. S. Information Agency director, being succeeded
by Arthur Larsen, formerly assistant
secretary of labor and a devotee of the "new
Republicanism" . . . Theatre Owners of America
may ask Congress to change Small Business
Administration regulations to broaden
the agency's authority to make mortgage
loans, if SBA officials can't be made to see
that some of its present rules are onerous to
theatremen, it has been learned here . . . The
U. S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear arguments
in a motion picture tax case which involves
almost a half million dollars . . .
Bessie and Jesse L. Lasky appealed to the
High Court from the U. S. Tax Court and
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decisions that
earnings from the sale of their interest In
profits from "Sergeant York" were ordinary
income rather than capital gains. The High
Court agreed to hear the case, perhaps sometime
during the present fall term.
General Precision Votes
Three Stock Dividends
NEW YORK — The General Precision
Equipment Corp. has declared a dividend of
60 cents a share on the common stock, payable
December 15 to stockholders of record
November 30. The company also declared a
regular quarterly dividend of $1.18% a share
on the $4.75 cumulative preferred stock and
a quarterly dividend of 40 cents a share on
the new $1.60 cumulative convertible preference
stock, both payable December 15 to
stockholders of record November 30.
BOXOFFICE :
: November
17, 1956
15