Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1948)

Petrillo, Record Firms Agree; to End Union Ban Spurred by dropping record sales and an increasing number of "bootleg" recordings, James C. Petrillo, president of the American Federation of Musicians, and representatives of the record companies agreed last week on the terms of a new contract which would end the long-standing union ban on record making. The ban has been in effect since January 1. Announcement of an agreement came suddenly, only two weeks after both parties had confessed to a complete stalemate. The contract agreement represents a compromise on both sides and a definite backing down in the position of Mr. Petrillo. The musicians waive their earlier demand for the companies to pay royalties on all discs sold during the ban. The companies in turn agree to a "slight" increase in the fees to be paid on records selling at retail for more than $1. Fees on records retailing for less than $1 would amount to less than one per cent of the selling price, it was said. The contract would run for five years and details of the wage scales to be paid musicians under the new agreement still remain to be worked out. The companies want to take to Washington the question of administering the so-called "royalty" fund which the union would use for the sponsorship of free concerts. All terms of the contract will be submitted to the Department of Justice for approval as to its legality under the TaftHartley Act. The first new records made under the new pact should reach the market within a few days, it was said. E. E. Maggard Dies at 67; Inventor of Cosmograph E. E. Maggard, 67, inventor of an early motion picture projection machine, the Cosmograph, died October 24 of a heart ailment at Morehead, Ky. Mr. Maggard manufactured his Cosmograph at Morehead from 1903 to 1908, employing about 100 men at one time. His machine, however, was soon outdated and his factory closed. Mr. Maggard owned and operated Morehead's first electric light system, and was the owner of many business and residential properties in Morehead, including a theatre. He is survived by his widow and one daughter. Elmer E. Galley Elmer E. Gailey, 59, former theatre owner at Wayne, Neb., died following a heart attack while fishing near his home at San Diego, Calif., October 24. Services were at Madison, Neb. ; burial was at Elgin, Neb. Plan Exchange Building A new film exchange building, housing at least 12 exchanges, will be erected in Indianapolis by the Sun Realty Co. at a cost of approximately $100,000. Short Product in First Run Houses NEW YORK — Week of November 1 ASTOR: Musical Gems RKO Feature: A Song Is Born RKO CAPITOL: Why Is If?. MGM Wandering Through Wales MGM Playful Pelican UA Feature: One Touch of Venus Universal CRITERION: Buddy Rich and Orch.. Universal Boy and His Dog Columbia Pigskin Skill MGM Feature: Kiss the Blood Off My Hands. . Universal GLOBE: Pest Thaf Came to Dinner Warner Bros. Ray Eberle and Orchestra Columbia Feature: Hollow Triumph Eagle Lion MUSIC HALL: Free for Breakf asf RKO Feature: You Gotta Stay Happy Universal PARAMOUNT: Popular Science, No. 2 Paramount Unusual Occupation, No. 2 Paramount The Mite Makes Right Paramount Make Mine Monica Paramount Feature: Sealed Verdict Paramount RIVOLI: Billie Gets Her Man Columbia The Little Brown Jug Paramount Feature: The Gallant Blade Columbia ROXK: Magpie Madness 20th Cent.-Fox Bermuda 20th Cent.-Fox America's New Air Power 20th Cent.-Fox Feature: Unfaithfully Yours 20th Cent.-Fox STRAND: My Own United States .Warner Bros. Hare Splitter Warner Bros. So you Want To Be On The Radio Warner Bros. Feature: June Bride Warner Bros. Television Council To Hold Installation Affair The National Television Film Council decided at its meeting in New York last week to install its newly elected officers at an industry-wide dinner in December. Notables in the motion picture and television fields will be invited to attend and hold discussions, in keeping with the NTFC policy of attempting a coalition of thought in the two industries. The officers who will be installed are: Melvin L. Gold, president; Burt Balaban, vice-president ; Robert H. Wormhoudt, secretary ; and Robert M. Paskow, treasurer. Eleven members of the board of directors will also take office. At the meeting, Richard Rawles, manager of television operations for the American Broadcasting Co., who took the place of Paul B. Mowrey, the network's national director of television, as_ guest speaker, discussed the specific needs of television in the buying of films, with special emphasis on the difficulty of timing. He also ventured the opinion that television cannot compete with the production techniques and results obtained by the motion pictures ; that television will not harm the cinema but will help to improve it as an art; and that immediacy is the outstanding factor in the development of television. Legion of Decency Reviews Seven New Productions The National Legion of Decency has reviewed seven new productions, approving all. "Grand Canyon Trail" was placed in Class A-I, unobjectionable for general patronage. In Class A-II, unobjectionable for adults, were : "Belle Starr's Daughter," "Blood on the Moon," "Countess of Monte Cristo," "Her Man Gilbey," "Shed No Tears" and "The Snake Pit." Korda Gets Remake Rights Sir Alexander Korda has acquired the rights to remake "Four Steps in the Clouds," an Italian comedy-drama now playing in Europe and soon to be seen in America. Sir Ralph Richardson will star. TOA Video Goes Back for Study Unable to agree on a unified approach to the problem of television in its relation to the motion picture industry, the board of Theatre Owners of America, at its, meeting in New York last Friday, referred the whole matter back to the TOA television committee for further study. It is understood the Friday meeting discussed the feasibility of TOA applying for low-frequency channels for regular television stations. TOA already has indicated interest in reserving upper-frequency wave lengths for use for theatre television. Gael Sullivan, TOA executive director, recently visited FCC chairman Wayne Coy in Washington and discussed problems peculiar to television in theatres. He also is known to have explored the FCC attitude on the transmission of exclusive programs to a circuit of houses. The TOA television group, under the chairmanship of Mitchell Wolfson of Miami, will meet again soon in New York or Washington. M. A. Lightman, Jr., of Memphis, Tenn., was added to the group which already includes Dave Wallerstein of Balaban & Katz, Chicago ; Walter Reade, Jr., of New York and Marcus Cohn, a Washington attorney. Mr. Sullivan is ex-officio secretary to the group. Following the meeting, Mr. Wolfson said the board had decided to defer any announcement on television plans partly because of the divergence of opinion on just how far TOA should go on the subject and partly because of the danger of disseminating wrong information on a subject vital to exhibitors. "Rumpelstiltskin" for Pal Producer George Pal has begun development of a live action-animated version of the fairy tale, "Rumpelstiltskin," which will probably follow his Technicolor feature version of "Tom Thumb," for United Artists release. 34 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 6, 1948