Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWM-EN'S TRADE REVIEW, October 29. 1949 7 NEWSBEEL CLIPS White CoUarites Sigh New Terms For Home Offices Both the CIO Screen Publicists Guild and the Screen Office and Professional Employes Guild this week ended a 13-month controversy with several major film company home offices over a new contract with two-year agreements starting Oct. 21. The agreements were reached after federal conciliators stepped in and persuaded the two unions not to call a strike which would have involved some 3,000 workers. New Terms The SPG contract provides for no general wage rises but permits the union to negotiate individually for members in all but the top brackets. It calls also for enforcement of union membership, requires that three out of four new members in each organization be Guild members, provides lor arbitration of disputes and for double severance pay when anyone is discharged for "economic necessity." The old clauses providing for severance pay upon discharge ranged from two weeks for one year's employment to 12 weeks for 10 years. SOPEG procured 10 per cent wage rises on salaries of $39.90 and under, five per cent wage rises on salaries over $39.90, a wider and speedier grievance set-up, increased severance pay. The Sopeg deal includes home offices of Loew's, Radio Station WMGM, Columbia, Paramount, 20th-Fox, RKO, National Screen, Exchanges of MGM, 20th-Fox, Columbia, United Artists ; Confidential Reports, and Attorneys Sargoy and Stein, who run the Copyright Protection Bureau. Realart to Distribute Minimum of 15 in '50 Realart will distribute a minimum of 14 to 15 pictures during 1950 and as many more as the market can absorb, Vice-President Budd Rogers declared in New York Wednesday during a lull in the company's two-day franchise holders' meeting. Rogers said the company would not attempt to flood the market. Other points he made in an informal interview were : 1 ) "We're getting more money now than the pictures (reissues) had originally ;" 2) Reissues take special handling which makes them unsuited for major exchange operations ; 3) Star personalities build with the years. ("You know W. C. Fields was a dead one here. Publicity about his book and his name have built him up.") Realart now has 165 features, all Universal product, 38 westerns and four serials in its vault. Prize winners in the company sales drive are : John Mangham, Atlanta ; Lee J. Goldberg, Cincinnati; George Phillips, Herman Gorelick, St. 'Louis ; Nelson Wax, Philadelphia. Hibrow Show As if things around Kansas City aren't bad enough the Park College this week came into the motion picture arena as an active competitor to theatres with public showings of one motion picture program a week, presented on Fridays and Saturdays and open to the public as well as students who pay the fee. The show takes place in the Alumni Hall, 12 miles outside of Kansas City. Sancho Panza a la Cantinflas Mexico'.s belly-laugh-giving comedian, Cantinflas, arrived in New York this week mulling the idea of playing Sancho Panza in a projected Sir Alexander Korda production) of "Don Quixote," which might have Gary (jrant as the chivalry-happy Don. What's holding up the decision seems to be the story for Cantinflas is very story conscious. That is, the story must be Cantinflas-conscious also, since that was the major roadblock to date to the comedian's making a picture in Hollywood, a spokesman revealed, declaring that they had had "discussion with almost all major companies, including Metro." If the Pancho-Cantinflas deal goes through the picture will be filmed in Spain. Cantiflas and his staff revealed that the company planned in addition to its regular schedule of Mexican feature comedies which receive playing times in all Spanish areas, one feature a year in English. Among the subjects considered, Cantinflas agreed, was Shaw's "Androcles and the Lion" which Gabriel Pascal may make with the bull-kidding comedian. In addition Cantinflas will continue his engagements in burlesque bull fights about which he remarked : "The bull is serious, but I am not." Quite a Market Incidentally Cantinflas and his staff revealed the importance of the Spanish-speaking picture market when they estimated that it could reach 17,000,000 people in 14,000 theatres of the world. Youngstein Up Paramount National Director of Advertising, Publicity and Exploitation Max E. Youngstein, was elected chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America's ad and publicity directors' committee, succeeding Warner's Mort Blumenstock. The post rotates among the distributor ballyhoo chiefs. Quotes "Motion pictures can be of immense value in aiding education. The pictures of the better type — and I believe Hollyvi'ood is at least seeing the light — can do much to arouse interest in history, biography and science. Motion pictures Film Events Calendar NOVEMBER 1, meeting. Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Eastern Pennsylvania, Broadwood Hotel, Philadelphia. 7 8, annual meeting. Motion Picture Theatre Owners of St. Louis, Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois, Cjase Hotel, St. Louis. 8 9, annual convention, West Virginia Theatre Managers, Greenbrier Hotel. White Sulphur Springs. 14, directors' meeting. Associated Theatre Owners of Indiana, Hotel Lincoln, Indianapolis. 15-16, convention. Associated Theatre Owners of Indiana, Hotel Lincoln, Indianapolis. 16, tenth anniversary dinner. Motion Pic ture Pioneers, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York City. DECEMBER 1-2, convention. Independent Theatre Owners of Wisconsin, Hotel Schroeder, Milwaukee. are a great force fur right in combatting evil in many ways and many of them carry such an emphatic message into the lives of our young that their weight cannot be overestimated. The 'bad' picture on the other hand can do inestimable harm but fortunately the public itself is a better board of censorship than any man-appointed board."— Walter M. Burse, president of Sullolk University, Boston. Denbow on 'Tower' Sam Denbow will join Irving Allen and Franchot Tone's A & T Film Productions to handle sales and administration of "The Man on the Eiffel Tower," Ansco color film, which RKO will distribute. Pat Murphy Joins Autry Pat Murphy, formerly editor of Ideal's Movie Stars Parade Magazine, has been added to Gene Autry's organization. Miss Murphy will handle personal publicity and promotion of licensed merchandise. Dave Whalen continues as Autry's public relations representative. Goldwyn Takes Fling At Buying Monopolies Producer Samuel Goldwyn reiterated his opinions on monopoly in the film business Oct. 20 in an interview with the Detroit Free Press in which Goldwyn took a fling at buying combines. Declaring that producers are faced with a monopoly situation, Goldwyn, who appeared in Detroit to make a deposition in the anti-trust suit of the Society of Independent Motion Picture Producers against United Detroit Theatres (Paramount partner) and Co-operative Theatres of Michigan, a buying combine, asked : "Can you imagine how intolerable and unAmerican it would be if General Motors, Ford, Chrysler and other automobile manufacturers would eliminate all competition in buying by appointing one single buyer for everything they use? Yet that is exactly what has been going on for years among most of the motion picture theatres in Detroit." No Rest for Dietrich With "The Big Frame" now in the cutting rorms. Producer Ralph Dietrich is preparing three other stories for early starts at UniversalInternational. Democracy? Vancouver, B. C, citizens may have a chance in December to say whether they want Sunday entertainment or not. Alderman Proctor having given the City Council notice of a motion asking that a plebiscite be held at the same time as the civic elections. The motion would ask the Dominion government to amend the Lord's Day act to legalize picture shows, professional sports and legitimate theatre performances on Sundays. Proctor said he anticipated strong opposition from church groups. The amusement business is neutral on the question, being about 50 per cent for and 50 per cent against.