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'
-rate
Johnston Reassigns
European Personnel
•
NtW YORK riir tlralli ul Ki4>«-lU' W
Altport in liondon iind the rrslgnutlon ot
Marc M Sptntrl in PurLs huvr resulted in new-
Mutton Picture Export A-vsn tt.v>lKi»:"entA In
the European marUrt Eric Johnston, president,
reported Tursduy i3t' that Charles F
Baldwin vklU be axslKned to the London
office. Frederick S Cironlch to Pari*. U>o
D HocJvitetter to Prankturt and Frank Oervaal
has been named to the Rome office
Baldwin joined the MPEA In Detonib«T
1966 after serving In niivny U.S covernment
posts as a foreign service car«'r officer He
wUI take over In London In mld-FebruBr>-
Oronlch. no* manager In Germany. Joined
the MPEA in 1961 as a special public relations
corLsultant Previously he was associated
with RKO in many domestic and foreign
capacities Hochstetter recently returned
from a two-year a-vslgnmcnt as Par
Eastern manager. He Joined the organization
in 1962 as an assistant to Johnston m
Washington
Oervasl. who takes over the Rome post.
has been located there as a newspaper columnist
and a writer for the Italian film
industo' He arrived In the U.S a week a«o
and left for Rome Sunday c26> to work with
Baldwin prior to the latter's departure for
London.
Friends Give Floersheimer
A Farewell Party in N.J.
Ni-'A V(-»KK Mori- inmi -Jo ii.'vM)naif.-> and
Industry friends honored Albert Floersheimer
•t the Parkway Restaurant. Forked River.
N. J.. Thursday night (23'. Floersheimer has
resigned as vice-president of Walter Reade
Theatres to become public relation.-, director
of Theatre Owners of America and the party
was given to wish him a "tx>n voyage."
Guests wore large badge buttons with the
letters T.O-A. on them. Ijut in smaller type
the Initials read. Tired Old Al " The party
was heavily gagged with phoney signs and
gifts However, the Reade personnel presented
him with a wrist watch—a real one
A gourmet supper was served.
Open
Tax-Closed House to
PUNXSUTAWNEY. PA.— With the repeal
of the city's amusement tax. officials of the
Stanley Warner Management Corp announced
the Jefferson Theatre here, closed In
1966 due to the tax. will t>e reopened The
council voted 10 to 1 in favor of the repeal
Federal court recently granted the SW
corporation permission to reacquire and
operate the Jefferson, but denied the SW
request to operate the local Alpine Theatre,
also dark since 1964 The court urged the
r 'ult to dispose of the Alpine to a resporur
person However. SW is permitted to
the Alpine six days out of each six
>nlhs to retain Its theatre llrpn.v
Manager al Tyrone. Pa.
L-
,• f .Mtoona
; V;!' '.M-. V.\ ."...:.j: 1
has assumed the pcuition of maruMCer of the
Wilson Theatre here He is working under
Richard W Neff. general manager of the
Rivoli and Cambrta Theatres Corp. vhoae
main office Is nov located In Tyrone.
Japanese Invest $40,000
In New York Film Week
NKW YOltK i hr Jiiimiu-.sc iilin lliUu.'.liy
invested MO.OOO In Its second Japanr.se Film
Week which op«'ned Wednesday at the
Mu.^eum of Modern Art after a reception at
the Warwick Hotel. Tlie amount, which covered
all expenses, including transportation
from Japan, is borne by the industry except
for an allocation of $4,600 from thr government.
Shiro Kldo. who heads the delegation,
said He Is president of the Sliochiku Co.
and chairman of the Japanese producers' as-
.sociation
If It develops that Americans take a liking
to Jupime.se movies. It Ls reasonable to assume
that the Japanese will coivsider leaslnK
showcase outlets for their product In some
major U. S cities, Kldo said. However, theatre
acquisition is not In the immediate future
It Will be e.ssentlal then that Japanese films
be dubbed, he added.
KIdo's producing compiuiy and others will
reduce rather than Increase production because
of an emphasis on expensive wldescreen
and color processes and the constant .search
for quality American film tastes are t>elng
closely studied, but It Is already the belief
that any film made anywhere which has
human themes of universal appeal can succeed.
As an example. Kldo mentioned "Sayonara"
which he said Is a hit In Japan as
well as here.
Television competition in Japan Ls Insignificant
right now. according to Kldo. but
with four large companies making sets, some
of which .sell for as low- as $100. it can become
a threat. Developments In the U. S.
are being closely studied.
Kldo praised Irving Maas. vice-president
of the Motion Picture Export Ass'n. now located
In Tokyo. He said he w-as well liked
He added that Maas had attended the golngaway
party of the group now in the U. S. and
that Maas has donated 1.000.000 yen to the
Southeast Asia FUm Festival.
French 'Gervaise' Wins
Joseph Burstyn Award
NKW YOiiK Tlu- Ir.dtpn.Jc.t Motion
Picture Distributors Ass'n of America has
chosen "Gervaise." the French film distributed
by Continental Distributing, to receive
the fifth annual Joseph Burstyn Award
as the t>est foreign language film of 1957.
The award will be formally presented at a
luncheon of the Association, now beln«
planned
OervaLse." produced by Annie Dorfman
and starring Maria Schell. recently was
named "best foreign film of 1957" by the New-
York Film Crlllca It Ls currently In its 11th
week at the Baronet Theatre. New- York,
and also opened at the Fifth Avenue Playhouse
January 16
The annual Joseph Burstyn Award w-as
created as a memorial to the late Joseph
Burstyn. pioneer foreign film distributor, and
Li voted by members of the IMPDAA and
other independent dLitrlbutors Previous winners
of the award were "Justice Is Done."
•Gate of Hell." "Umberto D " and "La Strada
Second and third In the 1967 balloting were,
respectively. "Ordet." a Danish film, and
"Smiles of a Summer Night, a SwedLih film,
the latter being distributed by Rank Film
Distributors
Arthur Freed and Vlncente Mlnnelll will
film "Beils Are Rlncin«" for MOM release
N. Y. Varieiy Tenl
Installs Meinhardt
NhW VwUK li.i .MniiU.irU'. wits liisUilled
as the new chief barker of Variety Tent 36
at ceremonies January 17 at Tools Shor restaurant
He succeeds Harold Klein, who held
the post two years Meliihardt asked for more
membership representing all phases of show
business
Dr Emanuel Revicl of the InsUtute of Applied
Biology. Trafalgar Hospital, accepted
a check for $7,500, bringing total club donations
to $25,000 to its cancer research Heart
Project William J. German gave another
check to Ned Deplnet. president of the Motion
Picture Pioneers Foundation, to help the
needy and distressed.
Ralph PreLs. inu-rnatlonal representative,
installed the officers. Besides Meinhardt.
they are Charles Smakow-ltz. first assistant
barker; Irving Dolllngcr. .second assistant.
Wllford W Bower, property master, and
Jack H
Hoffberg. dough guy.
The canvasmen are Charles Allcoate. Irwin
B Frcedmun. Harold M Hoffman. Sherwln
Kane. Martin Kornbluth. Jack Levin. Larry
Morris. Charles L Okun. David Picker. Norman
Robblns. Arthur M Rosen. Earnest Sands.
Morris Sanders. Robert K Shapiro. Saul
Trauner and George Waldman. David A
Levy and Sanders were named honorary lifetime
canvasmen.
Klein received a gift certificate for the
purchase of luggage to be used In connection
w-ith the International convention In London.
It was given In recognition of his past services.
Name UA and Subsidiary
In 518.000,000 Action
NEW YORK—A suit involving $18,000,000
has been filed In New York Supreme Court
by National Telefilm Associates against
United Artists. As.sociated Artusts and Chemical
Corn Exchange Bank.
NTA charges that it had a deal completed
with A-ssociated ArtLsts for the purchase of
820.000 shares of the latters stock for $3,687.-
500 plus 82.000 shares of NTA However. It
is claimed. Associated ArtLsts did not go
through with the agreement but. Instead,
agreed to .sell Its controlling slock to United
ArtLsts' subsidiary. Gotham Television Film
Corp.. In a deal financed by Chemical Com
The plaintiff a.sked the court to order UA
and its subsidiary to hold all of AA's stock
for the account of NTA and a majority of
the outstanding shares be delivered to NTA
against payment NTA also a.sked for an
order directing AA to take Immediate steps
to transfer the stock
A Judgment of $200,000 against United
Artists and Gotham Ls asked If the stock is
diverted at the terms of the contract OtherwLse.
a .settlement of $18,000,000 Ls asked
Arthur Krim. prmldent of United Artist*,
stated that UA's negotiations preceded and
precluded the AA B(re«fnent with NTA
'Frankenstein' Booked
NtrW YORK Hi. Tliratre.
which played 'The A-: i. : , n! Man"
In November and 'The Curse nf • -oln '
In August, will continue the ho::
"I Was a Teenage Fnuiltrn