Boxoffice-January.07.1950

20th
Jersey Allied Unit
Will Act on Taxes
NEW YORK—New Jersey Allied will take
action on the current battle for elimination
of admission taxes at a meeting to be held in
Trenton January 30. A full report from
Abram F. Myers is expected on the activities
of the legislation and taxation committee of
COMPO.
Alleged forcing of pictures will be another
topic for discussion. Members have reported
that some companies not included among the
defendants in the antitrust case are tying
sales of one picture to another in some instances.
They have been notified that this
practice is illegal for all companies and have
been requested to report each violation to the
unit's headquarters.
A television analysis showing the effect of
TV on boxoffice receipts in the New Jersey
area is to be presented at the January 30
meeting.
Members have been told that "Jolson Sings
Again" is now being sold by Columbia at less
than 60 per cent, but the latest bulletin says
members are refusing to make deals at the
reduced rate of 50 per cent.
Rhode Island Exhibitors
Launch Paralysis Drive
PROVIDENCE—Gov. Pastori of Rhode Island
paid tribute to the industry for its contribution
to many causes at a luncheon of the
Theatre Owners of Rhode Island January 5
at the Hotel Narragansett, with Edward M.
Fay, president, presiding. One hundred attended.
The occasion was the opening of the
state campaign in behalf of the National
Foundation of Infantile Paralysis.
Gael Sullivan, TOA executive director, made
a plea for support of the excise tax repeal
campaign. Herman M. Levy, TOA general
counsel, said that if distributors insist on
competitive bidding, there must be equitable
rules set up to govern it and that it must not
be used as a device for increased rentals.
Variety Club New Year's
Eve Show on Television
NEW YORK—Three National Broadcasting
Co. television cameras telecast the New Year's
eve celebration at the Variety Club, relaying
to the public the entertainment staged there
just before midnight. S. J. Kaufman, playwright,
staged the affair which featured Paul
Winchell and his dummy and included introductions
of many Broadway and motion picture
celebrities. There also was a supper and
dancing. A capacity crowd attended.
Samuel Marcovici Dies
NEW YORK—Samuel Marcovici, 76, an exhibitor
50 years, died December 29 at his
home in Brooklyn. He was part owner of the
Williamsburg Playhouse, Brooklyn, which is
managed by his son Howard, and a member
of ITOA of New York. Besides the son, his
widow and two daughters survive.
Myers Seeks Rein on New
State Ticket Tax Plans
Salvation Army Campaign
Is Started with Rally
NEW YORK—The Salvation Army started
preliminaries to its 70th anniversary 1950
drive for $1,292,000, the New York quota, at
a rally in the Astor hotel Wednesday (4i.
Theatre members of the MMPTA have agreed
to show the campaign trailer again this year
and it is expected ITOA members also will
do so. The campaign will start January 30
and run through February 4.
At the Wednesday rally Edward McCaffrey,
license commissioner: Leo Breoher,
amusement division chairman, who is president
of the MMPTA, and D. John Phillips,
vice-chairman, sat on the dais. Part of the
rally program was broadcast over WJZ. A
group of well known stage and screen stars
and several Broadway columnists took part
in the program.
'Battleground' National
Release Date Is Jan. 20
NEW YORK—MGM has set January 20
as the national release date for "Battleground,"
which has concluded its eighth
week at the Astor Theatre. It has also been
playing special engagements in Los Angeles,
Miami Beach, Cleveland, St. Louis, Phoenix
and Atlanta. The company said that about
a week after its national release date it will
be playing in practically every key city.
'Treason' Into 450 Spots
NEW YORK—"Guilty of Ti-eason" (EL)
has been booked into 450 key houses in the
New England and Ohio territories, with close
to 100 additional bookings expected shortly,
according to William J. Heineman, vicepresident
in charge of distribution. Herb
Drake and Ed Dowden are handling the highbudget
exploitation work on the picture, with
more men to be assigned immediately.
WASHINGTON—Opening the industrywide
battle against state and local boxoffice
levies which might result once the federal
tax is repealed, Abram F. Myers, chairman
of the COMPO committee on taxation, called
upon Gov. Thomas E. Dewey of New York
Friday (6i to disavow any plan to impose
a new tax on film admissions.
Stressing that the Supreme Court in 1948
held motion pictures deserving of the protection
of the first amendment, Myers told
Dewey he felt certain Dewey would not seek
to put a discriminatory tax on newspapers.
By the same reasoning, he said, a tax on
film admissions is discriminatory.
He declared that the film industry in New
York state and elsewhere is already bearing
a heavy burden of taxation, "but it bitterly
resents, and invokes its constitutional right
to protest being singled out for discriminatory
treatment."
He urged Dewey to persist in fighting for
repeal of the federal admissions tax because
it is an evil in itself, not simply so that a
state levy can be substituted.
Myers' letter followed several days in which
hope for early congressional action to lift
the federal tax dimmed. Senate Democrats
decided not to support any effort to lift the
tax which was not part of an overall tax revision
plan. This means months of delay.
F*i-esident Truman promised to send Congress
a special message on taxes shortly, and
all action on the excises is probably to be held
up until it is received, except for continued
Republican urging that the excises be cut.
Max Goltz, 80, Dies
DALLAS—Max Goltz, 80, father of Joseph
C. Goltz, foreign sales manager for Eagle
Lion in New York, died of a heart attack at
his home here Thursday ( 5 1 . The son arrived
by plane for the funeral. The survivors are
Mrs. Max Goltz, two other sons and two
daughters.
Two 'Whirlpool' Openings
NEW YORK—"Whirlpool" 1 -Fox i wiU
open simultaneously January 13 at the Roxy
Theatre here and the Oriental in Chicago,
according to Andy W. Smith jr., general sales
manager.
BON VOYAGE—Mr. and Mrs. Louis W. Schine, Gloversville, N. Y., held a bon
voyage party on the Queen Mary following the wedding of their daughter Dorene to
Ross Rigier of Gloversville. The newlyweds sailed for a six-week visit in England and
on the continent. Pictured above: Mr. and Mrs. J. Myer Schine, Mr. and Mrs. Louis
Schine. the newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Jules Higier. The picture was taken on the deck
of the ocean liner.
BOXOFFICE January 7, 1950 N 31