The Film Daily (1948)

Vol. 93, N o. 44 Fri. March 5, 1948 10 Cts. JOHN W ALICOATE : Publisher DONALD M. MERSEREAU : Associate Publisher and General Manager CHESTER B. BAHN : : : : Editor Published daily except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays at 1501 Broadway, New York 18, N. Y., by Wid's Films and Film Folk, Inc. J. W. Alicoate, President; Donald M. Mersereau, Vice-President and Treasurer; Patti Alicoate, Vice President and Secretary. Entered as second class matter, Sept. 8, 1938, at the post-office at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Terms (Postage free) United States outside of Greater New York $10.00 one year; 6 months, $5.00; 3 months, $3.00. Foreign, $15.00. Subscribers should remit with order. Address all communications to THE FILM DAILY, 1501 Broadway, New York 18, N. Y. Phone BRyant 9-7117, 9-7118, 9-7119, 9-7120, 9-7121. Cable address Filmday, New York. WEST COAST OFFICES Ralph Wilk, Manager 6425 Hollywood Blvd. Phone: Granite 6607 WASHINGTON BUREAU Andrew H. Older 6417 Dahlonega Rd. Phone: Wisconsin 3271 CHICAGO BUREAU Joseph Esler, Chief C. L. Esler 6241 N. Oakley Ave. Phone: Briargate 7441 STAFF CORRESPONDENTS LONDON — Ernest \V. Predman, The Film Renter, 127-133 Wardour St., W. 1. HAVANA— Mary Louise Blanco, Virtudes 214. BOMBAY — Ram L. Gogtay, Kitab Mahal, 1!)0 Hornby Rd.. Fort. Bombay 1. ALGIERS — raul Sattar. Filmafrlc, 8 Rue Charras. MONTREAL— Ray Carmichael. Room 9. 464 Francis Xavler St. VANCOUVER — Jack Droy, 411 Lyric Theater Bids. SYDNEY BmvuYri Fletcher, 19 Moxon Aye., Punchbowl. N. S. Phone. UY 2110. BRUSSELS— Jean Pierre Meys. 110 Rue des Paquerettes. COPENHAGEN— John Lindberu. Jernbanealle No. 3, Copenhagen-Van Loese. ROME— John Perdicarl, Via Ludovisl 16. Phone, 42758. MEXICO CITY — Latin American News Service, Humboldt 49. HnAnciAL (March 4) NEW YORK STOCK MARKET Net High Low Close Chg. Am. Seat 17'/4 17V4 17V4 — Vs Columbia Picts vtc. 10 10 10 East. Kodak 39l/4 38y8 381/2 — 1 V& Gen. Prec. Eq 1414 14 14 — i/8 Loew's, Inc 161/s 16 16 — l/g Paramount 185/8 18l/2 18'/2 — l/» RKO 71/2 73/8 73/8 — l/8 Republic Pict 3% 31,4 3% — i/8 20th Century-Fox .. . 19% 191/2 19l/2 — 14 Universal Pict 11% 10}4 111,4 Universal Pict. pfd.. 56V2 56l/4 56% — 1 Warner Bros 10% 10% 10%— l/4 NEW YORK CURB MARKET Monogram Picts. . . . 2% 2% 2% RKO 1% 1% 1% Sonotone Corp 3i/2 3% 3l/2 + % Technicolor 12% 12 12 — l/4 Trans-Lux 5% 5!/4 5% — % OVER THE COUNTER Bid Asked Cinecolor 4% 5% Evidence Presented in ITOA-ASCAP Damage Suit (Continued from Page 1) Weisman, attorney for the 160 ex^ hibitors represented in the action. Suit seeks approximately $900,000 in triple damages and an injunction that would restrain ASCAP from col lecting license fees. Weill On UA Board Harold Weill, of the law firm Leon, Weill and Mahony, has been named a member of the UA board of directors, Reeling 'Round WASHINGTON (Continued from Page 1) know what will happen, but it is likely that his committee will vote to drop the curbs — which expire at the end of this month if not renewed before then. This will mean that unless the curbs are restored by amendment on the House floor — and that is not likely — the matter will be one of several differences between the House and Senate versions of the rent control bill to be resolved in conference. All of which we relate mainly to point up the fact that there is still an excellent chance the building restrictions may be lifted. • • rXHIBITORS will be interested in the "— hearings shortly to get under way here regarding standard vs. daylight time. The importance of that extra hour of sunlight or darkness, whichever it is, to the box office, will probably be portrayed to members of the House and Senate Committees on Interstate Commerce. The Senate Committee will hold hearings shortly. Before the Senate are bills by Senators Overton, La., snd Reed, Kans., which would, respectively, put the entire nation on standard or daylight time. House Okays Proposal To Put Pix in Italy Houses (Continued from Page 1) recommendation for the USIS, the House adopted an amendment by Representative Karl Stefan of Nebraska, authorizing the USIS to contract with distributors of theatrical films abroad to put into the theaters overseas footage selected for the purpose by USIS. This amendment was written after Italian newsreel director Palla Vicini had told Stefan he was ready to run State Department footage and that it would cost the USIS only about $2,000 per week to get its material to a weekly audience of 8,000,000 Italians. Agnew to Coast on Plans For New SRO Offices West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Beverly Hills — Architectural plans for the new SRO offices at 135 S. Doheny Drive here have been completed by. J. McMillan Johnson, studio production designer. President Neil Agnew is expected from New York over the weekend for a series of conferences leading to approval of the final plans. AMPA to Salute Femmes AMPA will salute the industry's ad-publicity women at the organization's monthly luncheon meeting set for the Town Hall Club, March 25. Speakers will include Irene Kuhn, NBC asst. director of information, and Rene Kuhn, young radio commentator and novelist. "Robin Hood" into N. Y. Warner Warners' re-issue of "The Adventures of Robin Hood" has been set for a Broadway engagement at the Warner Theater, starting Mar, 10. Friday, March 5, 1941 Selznick-Atlas Deal For RKO Slock Slowed (Continued from Page 1) that an early change in the RKO setup would materialize. He confirmed that at one time he had discussed the deal with Odium but said flatly there had been no revival, despite trade reports to that effect this week. (The Wall St. Journal said yesterday that the Howard Hughes deal for the RKO stock had progressed to the point that Hughes' auditors were at work on the RKO books. At the same time, yesterday, the Daily Mirror said, via Sheila Graham's Hollywood column, that the deal had been closed. This, however, was denied by usually well-informed sources in New York.) Selznick, in an hour-long give and take with his press guests, covered a variety of subjects. He said that the deal with City Investing for the Victoria Theater on Broadway was still in the negotiation stage. If it is closed he will hold back "Portrait of Jennie" to use it to open the Victoria under a new name in September. Selznick expressed deep satisfaction that the American Government had entered into the negotiations to adjust the British situation. He expressed the opinion that had the American Government entered the picture earlier there would have been a British desire to effect a settlement almost immediately. Circuits, Local 306 Tied Over Contract Terms The word, book, is the main stumbling block that continued to keep apart the respective negotiating committees of the major circuits and the projectionists' Local 306 when they met again yesterday at the Park Central Hotel. The term, book or booking, which was included in the old contract has been omitted in the new one. Union won't sign, says a spokesman-, because in the event any of the majors dispose of theater holdings to other unaffiliated circuits, projectionists would then be bound to accept the lower wage rate which exists with the smaller unaffiliated chains. Responsibility for acts of quasisabotage by projectionists which have been reported by Major Leslie Thompson of RKO was disclaimed by President Herman Gelber of Local 306. Latter had instructed his men at the Tuesday night union meeting that they must refrain from antagonizing management for they wonld be imperilling negotiations. Principal point oi a 15 per cent wage increase has already been granted by the circuits but such matters as when a projectionist may go on vacation, choice of projectionist, and checking in and out, still kept the negotiators from signing a new contract. Another meeting of Local 306 is scheduled for this morning at the Palm Gardens to determine a course of action as a result of the deadlock. comiriG mid come NORMAN H. MORAY, Warners short subject sales manager and president of Warner Path News, leaves for New York today win. studio conferences. ^ JACQUES KOPFSTEIN, executive vL-pres dent of Astor Pictures, has returned to New Yor following a trip to exchanges in Atlanta, Menphis, New Orleans, Washington, Baltimore an Miami. ROBERT W. COYNE, TOA executive directo and HERMAN M. LEVY, general counsel, left b train yesterday for the Coast to attend the boar meeting in Los Angeles. STANLEY PRENOSI is also en route. LEONARD GOLDENSON, Paramount vice-pre ident, will leave New York for Hollywood t plane Sunday to attend the TOA board mee ing. He will be back at his desk March 15. ILKA CHASE will arrive in Hollywood March 21 from New York. DOROTHY STICKNEY will arrive in Hollywoi from New York next Monday for tests for h role in "The Tatlock Millions." DUKE HICKEY, MPAA community relatioi division field co-ordinator, has arrived i York for department conferences. RAY MILLAND, accompanied by his wife, w arrive at LaGuardia Field at 9:40 o'clock S day morning on a TWA plane from Hollywfor a two-week vacation in Manhattan. PAULETTE GODDARD will leave LaGuard Field Sunday afternoon for Hollywood. LOUIS SOBEL of the N. Y. Journal Amerio returns to New York from Hollywood over t week-end. JERRY PICKMAN, Eagle Lion assistant a publicity-exploitation director, returns to I desk from the Coast today accompanied SAM ISRAEL, studio publicity chief. GUY CRAIG, Indianapolis; ED HOCHSTEI Detroit; CLARENCE HILL, St. Louis; HARI OLSHAM, Milwaukee, Columbia branch ma agers, in Chicago conferring with Clark Sha on new product and Montague Sales Drive, nc under way. CHARLES SCHLAIFER, 20th-Fox advertising c rector, was host to Chicago press yesterdc reporting on studio activities. JAMES DONOHUE of Poramount Chica office has gone to Dallas for court appearan in McLendon anti-trust case. Discrimination Denied In McLendon Testimony (Continued from Page 1) fore Federal Judge William H. A well. Underwood said his company d: not require an exhibitor to post specified admission for any pictur but admitted that the admissid charge was a factor in settling fil: rentals and availabilities. Ben jam: Kalmenson, testifying via depositio said Warners ceased putting admi sion price stipulations in contracj in 1946. Company, he said, comd to agreement with theaters on deal ance believed reasonable and nece sary. huSackwa1" Yes, our New York City Brer ot 24S WEST 55TH STREET is now in full swing and ' N EW Send your next special annoui YORK vent trailer order to Filmack PHONE and see why exhibitors all ov PLAZA the country get their trailers 7-3809 tromus. STEFfT *W ^bgtj^co^J ,„,,,„„