The Film Daily (1948)

FILE COPY ntimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Twenty-Nine Years Old FDAILY -3, NO. 49 NEW YORK, FRIDAY. MARCH 12. 1948 TEN CENTS DUTY KILLED; PK BACK TO U.K. fee Era oi Great Prosperity tor U.K. Theaters cpect Peak Performance I Last Quarter Will be jpped, Distribs. Benefit Revelation by J. Arthur Rank that i «ndance at British kinemas since pember has been equal to the peak ched in 1946 was seen yesterday an indication that U. K. theater orators may soon enjoy the most rative period of their history, with nparable distributor benefits. Observers point out that if U. K. irators were able to draw large iences with programs comprising £w of the popular American pic(Continued on Page 3) OA-ASCAP Stipulate Months Contracts iSCAP will offer plaintiffs in the IA monopoly suit six-months con ts with a cancellation on 30 days ice clause, under a stipulation ed yesterday by Milton C. Weis , ITOA counsel, and Louis Froh representing ASCAP. Contracts call for payments at the new agreed upon by TOA and "AP but funds collected will be (Continued on Page 3) K. Theaters Need Gov't ay for Tele B. O. Charge .rge screen television undertakof six Odeon theaters is under experimental license from the sh Government under which aues are forbidden, J. Arthur Rank ained yesterday. Rank said the (Continued on Page 2) w uhor Confident in Hollywood's Future 'est Coast Bur.. THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Confidence in Hollyood giving a good account of itself the next season starts was exsssed yesterday by Adolph Zukor, ramount board chairman. Zukor that he had viewed much proct from Paramount and other comes, thus arriving at this opinion, decried the bad publicity that d originated in Hollywood and the usrified attacks on the industry. AGREEMENT COMMENTS \ktHlLE some top industry executives * were reluctant to comment until they had the full text of the Anglo-American agreement negotiated in London by Eric A. Johnston and James A. Mulvey available for study, and others were unavailable, these representative statements were released to THE FILM DAILY yesterday : J. ARTHUR RANK: "I am very pleased for both America and England. I have always been confident that when Americans and Britons sit down around a table to discuss a problem, they can always reach a happy solution." • ARTHUR LOEW, president of Loew's Int'l: "Our organization, its officers and certainly I, personally, have too many friends in Great Britain to relish a situation that smacks at controversy. I say this sincerely and regardless of sterling or dollars. While I believe negotiations should justifiably have (Continued on Page 8) N.Y. Firemen's Bill Dead by Recommittal Albany — Assemblyman William Clancy yesterday called up his theater firemen's bill which was on the calendar for today and after a brief statement moved to recommit the bill. No such bill will be passed this year. (The Film Daily on Wednesday (Continued on Page 3) U. S. Distribs. to Remit $17,000,000 Annually, Plus Equivalent of U. K. Film Earnings Here, for Next Two Years; Joint Control of Blocked Coin Spending By CHESTER B. BAHN Editor, THE FILM DAILY Settlement by "a mutually attractive agreement" of the Anglo-American film impasse, in effect since Aug. 8 last when the MPEA cut off the export of new Hollywood films to Britain in protest against a confiscatory 75% duty imposed the preceding day, was officially announced in London yesterday. The agreement, negotiated by an American delegation headed by Eric A. Johnston, MPAA-MPEA president, and James A. Mulvey, representing the SIMPP, was ratified by American company heads on Wed(Continued on Page 6) Highlights of the Anglo-American Pact London (Friday — By Cable) — Highlights of the JohnstonWilson agreement, it was learned here today, are: Britain agrees to remove the import duty in April, with normal exportation of U. S. films resumed thereafter. U. S. film revenues defined as sterling revenues accruing to U. S. interests from showings of films in the U. K. or Eire. British revenues defined as dollar revenues accruing to British interests from showings of films in U. S., territories, possessions and the Philippines. During each of the two 12-month (Continued on Page 3) Rank to Meet With U. S. Newsreels on Olympics Chief interest of the J. Arthur Rank Organization in the forthcoming Olympic Games is a color feature to be made and released next Fall, Rank said yesterday. He was uncertain whether U. S. newsreels would have to buy day to day coverage of the events from him, claiming that (Continued on Page 2) 487 Feature Releases in 1947 369 Produced in the U.S., 778 Imported Hit Sorrell's Charges of Prejudice in Pix Strike Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — John M. Houston, a member of the NLRB, said yesterday that at the time the set decorators' dispute was before the NLRB in 1945 he had owned stock in a theater circuit in Kansas, Nebraska and (Continued on Page 8) Careless Economies Can Cost $$— Stevens Careless economies can be more costly than sheer extravagance, opined Producer director George Stevens yesterday at a press conference in the RKO home office. Stevens explained fui-ther: Forcing an arbitrary time limit on production will only result in impaired (Continued on Page 2) Goldman Claims Decision Restores Industry Health Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Instead of ruining the industry, as claimed by defendant distributors, decisions such as that in the Goldman case in Philadelphia will "restore the health of (Continued on Page 2) A total of 487 features, including 369 made in the U. S. and 118 imported from other countries, were released in the American market during the calendar year 1947, it is revealed in a survey conducted for the forthcoming 1948 Film Daily Year \ Book. Comparable figures for 1946 were 467 features released, with 368 made in this country and 89 abroad. | Major companies last year released (Continued on Page 2) Runh Sees No Great V. K. Prod. Jump No spectacular increase in the number of films produced in England is envisioned by J. Arthur Rank, the British executive said yesterday at an interview. Even if the tax-embargo impasse had proved insoluble, he pointed out, it would take some years to train production and studio personnel to make a great many more pictures — even if studio space were available.