Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1939)

14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD February 4, 1939 FILM LOUISLEWIS FICHT FILM WITHOUT A FICHT Paramount News Records All but Blows, in Protest Against Interstate Shipment Ban Paramount News obtained authorization to make ringside pictures of last week's Joe Louis-John Henry Lewis heavyweight championship Negro prizefight — first newsreel to film a professional prizefight in eight years — but, instead, recorded only a narrator's description of the action, showing no actual blows, embellishing the narration with some "scenery" shots of the Madison Square Garden arena and others showing the defeated John Henry sprawled upon the canvas. Explanation of this unique film treatment of a prizefight without any prizefighting was made in the film itself for the edification, if not delight, of the public, by Bill Slater, Paramount News sports narrator. As the fight was about to begin, Mr. Slater stepped before the camera and declared: "Now, I'm sorry, but the federal law prohibits us from showing professional fight pictures throughout the United States — but there's nothing to prevent me from telling you exactly what I saw at the ringside in those two minutes, 29 seconds of fighting." He then described the blows and the three knockdowns. To Acquaint the Public Behind this treatment, first of its kind ever undertaken with a promoter's authorization by a regular newsreel, is a plan to acquaint the public with what the newsreels call the "ridiculousness" of the anti-fight film law, which has been on the federal statute books for more than two decades. The idea is that perhaps support of the public can be enlisted to accomplish repeal of the law, a proposal now before Congress, as it has been year in and out for two decades. The law has been flagrantly violated for years after each big prizefight, but the violators are not "regular" film producers or distributors, or newsreels. Fight-film "independents," on the fringe of the industry, or elsewhere, manage to get the pictures across state borders — which is the specific prohibition of the law — and when persons then are caught in possession of prints, a stay of sentence on an injunction usually follows for ten days, or long enough to "clean up" in a hurry within that state. A fine of $1,000 for violation eventually is paid — hardly ever are there jail sentences — the fine representing a small "part of the local profits. The "independent" fight-film distributors pay as much as $50,000 for the rights to film a popular bout, but their grosses may run as high as $800,000 (Schmeling-Louis). Paramount paid nothing to get its cameramen inside Madison Square Garden for the Louis-Lewis fistic battle, permitted with the thought of enlisting public support for repeal of the existing anti-fight film law. Filming Not Prohibited The law does not prohibit the filming and inter-state transportation of blows given in amateur bouts. Nor does it prohibit the filming of blows in professional bouts. Paramount would have been entirely within its rights in filming last week's fight and selling those films to any and all exhibitors within New York State. But, because the law does forbid transportation of professional fighting pictures from any one state to another, the company decided against filming for New York because it feared that some exhibitor, rightfully in possession of a print for his New York theatre, might "bicycle" the print across the border, into New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut or Vermont. If this happened, Paramount might be liable for violation of the law, and so the corporation felt it could not jeopardize its position — particularly with the Deoartment of Justice interest in the business being what it is. Not that the company ever had any intentions of violating the fight-film law, of course. The present federal law was enacted after Jack Johnson, Negro-champion, defeated several white opponents, Congress voting quickly to avoid any possible trouble in theatres or elsewhere in the South as a result of screenings. Since then, all-white fight films taken illegally across state lines, have brought enormous profits to the fight promoters selling the rights and to those buying them. However, in the case of the all-Negro LouisLewis pictures, Mike Jacobs, the promoter, granted permission to the newsreel to set up cameras at the ringside. Cooperates in Sound Recording Newsreels, acting without invitation and wholly unauthorized, occasionally managed to get shots of big fights, years ago, much to the consternation of those who were sharing in the profits of the "authorized" filming. The newsreels simply purchased large blocks of tickets, filled them with newsreel workers and among them placed a cameraman with a small Eyemo camera. Even those films did not show actual blows. All such participation ceased about 1930. Mike Jacobs further cooperated on this occasion by keeping all out-of-town sports editors away from Champion Joe Louis' dressing room after the fight to enable Paramount to get a first-hand, sound-recorded interview, without microphone interferences by the sports editors. Paramount thereby had time to meet its Wednesday night makeup "deadline" with those shots. At first it was thought that Paramount News had got the "inside track" to the Louis-Lewis fight pictures because Stanton Griffis, chairman of Paramount's executive committee, is also chairman of the board of directors of Madison Square Garden. This, Paramount News denied, explaining that its own sports editor, Nat Wolensky, personally made the arrangements with Jacobs. Broadway has been speculating for weeks on the possible position of Paramount and its newly acquired DuMont television company at Madison Square Garden, when DuMont is ready to telecast Garden sports events, in all probability at a price to a sponsor. . George Burns Fined $8,000 for Smuggling George Burns, radio and motion picture player, was fined $8,000 and given a suspended sentence and probation for a year and a day on his plea of -guilty to two indictments charging him with smuggling. The decision was handed down Tuesday in New York by Federal Judge William Bondy. Johnston Honored in Hollywood W. Ray Johnston, president of Monogram Pictures, was honored last Saturday at the Lakeside Golf Club, in North Hollywood, by a dinner dance. Occasion was Mr. Johnston's celebration of his Silver Jubilee in the motion picture industry. Bill Slater, sports narrator of Faramount News, directs Joe Louis in a firsthand, sound -recorded interview from the champion's dressing room in Madison Square Garden. "Drive" Exploitation Judging February I I Entries submitted by exhibitors who have done outstanding exploitation of the Motion Pictures Are Your Best Entertainment drive in their theatres, will be judged February 11, at New York City's Hotel Astor, by a judge's committee composed of Martin Quigley, Jack Alicoate, Maurice Kann, A-Mike Vogel, Charles E. Lewis, Roy Chartier, Jay Emanuel and Will Hays. Over 100 entries had been received by Wednesday, some of them ingeniously contrived in their presentation, and from owners and managers of every type of theatre. The awards will total $2,025. Meanwhile, judging of the entries for the $250,000 "Movie Quiz" contest proceeds, with a week remaining before the judges finish their work. Winners will be announced on the evening of February 20, simultaneously to all theatres participating in the drive. The Chemical Bank and Trust Company will handle the announcement and distribution of these awards. In order to insure a simultaneous break to theatres throughout the country in the announcement of the winners of the $250,000 "Movie Quiz" contest, on February 20th, notification of winners' names will be delivered to theatres in the contest as follows : Eastern, 8 P. M. ; Central, 7 P. M. ; Mountain, 6 P. M.; Pacific Coast, 5 P. M.— all Standard Time. The Committee recommends that the sealed envelope containing the list of winners be opened on the stage by the manager of the theatre in the presence of some public official and the winners announced in that way. The list for each theatre will consist of the national winners (24 principal winners), as well as the local winners in the community where theatres are situated. Allie Robertson is now handling publicity for Pathe News. Miss Robertson was formerly with the Salzburg Advertising Agency, of Wilkes-Barre, and is a graduate of the University of Kentucky and Hamilton College, Kv.