The Film Daily (1948)

.^intimate in Character (international in Scope ndependent in Thought FILE COPY The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Twenty-Nine Years Old ar^lFDAILY 'OL.J^ NO. 53 NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MARCH 18, 1948 TEN CENTS iUBjnra. sni.es tbh for nomission \_ivm U.K. Pact Clear o£ Trust Law Entanglements ^hnston, Mulvey Moved low to Make Sure; MPAA oard Gets Prexy's Report Eric A. Johnson and James A. iiulvey, signatories of the Angloimerican film agreement, arrive ome this moraine aboard the SS ueen Mary confident that the pact ,?gotiated in London with the Britjh Government is "in the clear" inirfailffar as the Federal anti-trust laws re concerned. Reports reaching New York yes•rday from London emphasized that ie London conferences had been .-olonged by the American group's •a sire to make sure that the con(Continued on Page 7) Editorial PR Program for TO A . . . is something to cheer By CHESTER B. BAHN House Ways, Means Com. To Consider Plan in Framing General Tax Measure \A/HETHER your IKO-WOR Air Show luilding Palace Biz dm Results of the initial six weeks the RKO Palace-WOR tie in the Movie Matinee" radio program are escribed as interesting, and the leater is optimistic that the pro':am will build so as to become an jnportant patron-drawing factor. Originally booked for nine weeks, sMovie Matinee" has been extended (Continued on Page 6) SC Ecuador Rep Named Minister of Economy Guayaquil, Ecuador (By Cable) — jr. Teodoro Alvarado Olea, well nown and long connected with the m business in Latin America, has een appointed Ministry of Economy (Continued on Page 7) primary interest is in the anticipated added financial return via the box office — a return which will filter down through the industry — or in the motion picture's standing in the community and nation, the present move by the TOA towards a national public relations program is something to cheer. Especially so if, as you have the right to assume, it will be closely coordinated with similar activities to be undertaken by the MPAA directly and through the Advertising and Publicity Directors Committee of which Maurice A. Bergman is chairman, with Charles Schlaifer heading a permanent public relations sub-committee. It is certainly no secret that the industry, as symbolized by Hollywood, has been suffering from a bad press o' late. And, more, from a bad radio, too. To some extent, the responsibility is the industry's, unfortunately. Or perhaps it would be better to say that certain segments of the industry have contributed to both the bad press and the bad radio. THE jim-jams from which Hollywood — and New York, too — suffered in the wake of ' certain events in August, last, certainly played their partYes, retrenchment was advisable, but not the panicky variety that was bound to attract the attention of any fairly alert newsman or radio commentator, whether friendly to the industry or otherwise. And surely some of the "all-is-lost,-boys" quotes of the period were bound to be seized upon. "After all, they said it, didn't they?" And you cannot change your advertising policy and budget overnight. If your pictures are not advertised, the belief is bound to grow that they're not good pictures. Hollywood (Continued on Page 8) Elimination of the present Federal admissions and other excise taxes, and the substitution for them of a general manufacturers' sales tax, is receiving preliminary consideration by Rep. Harold Knutson, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, informed industry sources reported yesterday. The Committee presumably will get around to serious discussion of the matter when it tackles the formulation of the general tax bill. The Committee's first concern at this time (Continued on Page 7) Ask Exhibs. Finance Tele Test in Courts $200,000 Quick Coin Thru Norwegian Deal Kearns Will Resume Hearings On May 17 :::s :-: Aussie Theater Runs Cabs To Nearby Toicn Newcastle, Australia (By Air Mail) — Faced with a lack of bus service to suit screening times. Everett & Price, operator of the Plaza Theater at Dudley, have set up a taxi service between that town and Whitebridge, a mile away. Cabs charge the same fare as buses, with the theater operators guaranteeing normal taxi fare. Move is expected to result in much stronger representations to the bus service to enlarge its schedule. Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — American distributors came in for an immediate S200,000 under the terms of the agreement concluded with the Norwegian Government by MPAA last December, it was learned here this week. Full details on the Danish and Swedish agreements are still not available here. would not come back to Washington The Norwegian deal contains four now to deny new testimony that he 'Continued on Page 8> (Continued on Page 8) Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washingto n — The protracted Washington hearings of the studio labor inquiry bv Rep. Carroll D. Kearns and his colleagues of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee recessed yesterday for two months upon receipt of word from Herb Son-ell, CSU head, that Attorneys for Colonial Radio and Television Corp. yesterday indicated their readiness to go to the courts to remove the threat of litigation by television broadcasters against exhibitors who pipe video programs into their theaters. At a meeting here attended by representatives of most of the major (Continued on Page 8) Cinecolor 16 Weeks' Net $167,882; 20c Per Share Warners Map British Program Revival of Six-Feature Schedule Expected West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Cinecolor, for the 16 weeks ended Jan. 17, reports a net he income of $167,882, after deductions for taxes and charges. The figure is equivalent to 20 cents a share on 820,548 capital shares. Comparable figures for last year are not available. KSTP-TV Sians First Tele Station Affiliation Pact West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Warners British production plans, in the light of the Anglo-American film agreement negotiated last week in London, are being mapped at Burbank studio conferences between Harry M. and Jack The first station affiliation contract in the history of television was signed yesterday bv Stanley E. Hubbard, president and general manager L. Warner and Sir Philip Warter of KSTP-TV, St. Paul-Minneapolis, chairman of Associated British Pic(Continued on Page 6) (Continued on Page 6) Raw Stock Monopoly Projected for Spain Madrid (By Air MaiP— The Valca Co., at Burgos, is reported ready to try to establish a raw stock monopoly in Spain by importing uncoated stock and coating it at its own plants. Formation of a new company to produce raw stock from French Bauchet patents is also projected.