Variety (Apr 1949)

18 PICTVBES Wednesdlay, April 6, 1949 Indie Exhib Assns'. Irate Bulletins Score 20th's Upped Rentals Drive Briefs From the Lots Irate squawks of indie exhibitors -f to 20th-Fox's drive- for increased rentals this weelt preceded the 20th touring committee o£ veepees Al Liclitman, Andy Smith, Jr., and Charles Einfeld across the coun- try. Despite the 20th toppers' m- Bi.steiice that no definite pattern for the rental hike has yet been tormulated, exhibs voiced the fear they would be hit indiscriminately by the boost and accused 20th of "presuming to speak for all film companies." Pacing the complaints was Na- tional Allied, whose Washington homeoffice declared the , tour of 20th's Big Three to convince ex- hibs the company rates a larger share of the boxoffice dollai- is "al- ready a flop." Allied averred the 20th execs are serving as stalking horses for all producers and urged the studios to cut expenses rather than try to get higher rentals. But- letin declared: "We doubt if the campaign has any immediate objective beyond stimulating the sales organizations to drive harder. The long-range objective appears to be to condi- tion the exhibitors' minds to the Idea that the producer-distributors sliould have a still larger slice of- the receipts. This, in our opinion, Is as wrong as It is unjustified, and the time to resist evil is in the be- ginning. 'It is therefore right and proper that the independent ex- hibitor organizations should adopt counter-measures and a c q u a i n i tlif^ir members with the full impli- tjations of the movement and with the facts." North Central Allied, whose pre/., Benhie Berger, last year teamed with 20th's Smith to set up an industry-wide conciliation plan, also blasted'the drive. Its bulletin Skouras on Co-op Ads Underlining the determina-, lion of mpst major , film com- panies to eliminate coopera- tive advertising, 20th-Fo3i: prez Spyros P. Skouras declared last week that the absorbing of ad costs by distributors was "one of the biggest crimes ever committed in the indus- try." Advertising was formerly the sole responsibility of ex- hibitors, Skouras said, and when they stopped paying the costs, most of them "stopped thinking;"; Speaking at the 20th execs meet with N. Y. area exhibs Friday il>, Skouras patted the lowly exchange personnel. He conceded that exhibitors might be operating more economi- cally than filni studios but said distribution personnel work harder ahd get paid less than staffers in any other-branch of the industry. ■■ WB, PhiUy Projectionists Settle for 7% Wage Hike Philadelphia, April S. Ticklish labor situation in Phila- delphia's filmeriefi was settled for the most part last night (Mon.) when projectio'nists's local 307 signed a new pact with the War- ner circuit management. WB chain is considered the bellwether of exr- hibs here and the new pattern is expected to be followed by the Other circuits and indie operators. Pact gives the projectionists a 7% wage hike, retroactive tff last In addition, all men with '"JJ.V^^S '°r/f?tli«"e years or more experience are censure. NCA added that ■ Licht man is undoing all the goodwill cemented for 20th by Smith and warned exhibs that "some district managers and salesmen will try to make homeoffice heroes of them- selves at exhibitors' expense be- fore arrival of the Fox phalanx at Various exchange centres." United Theatre Owners of lUl . Hollywood, April 5. ^ Kietro, once cr^)wded with I^ naries, lias been borrowing stars . nois attempted to rip apart 20th's I lately from the plentiful supply at now entitled to two'week vacations annually, instead of the single week they formerly received. Leo Borrows Stars Hollywood, April:5. Mae Marsh, star of silent films, drew role in "Strange Caravan" at Republic... D. J. Thompson shifts from radio soap opera to films in "Come Be My Love" at UI.. .Rosalind Russell bought "Oh Promise Me," by Leigh Jason and Louise Randall Plerson, for inde- pendent production, aside from Independent Artists, in which she is one of the chief stockholders.,. Sam Jaffe is cooking up an indie film on the career of Grandma Moses, elderly New England art- ist who won sudden note in primi- tive painting circles. Don Hicks' new thesp contract at 20th with "12 O'clock High" his first assignment.. .Sylvan Simons liew pact as executive producer at Columbia calls for $2,500 a week for five years witliout options... Jack Holt, former star of silent eat- ers, signed for a role in the Koa Cameron starrer, "Brimstone," at Republic.. .Frank Whitbeck cook- ing up a two-reeler about the.Bat- tle of the Bulge to be gent out in advance to plug interest in^ the forthcoming Metro production, "Battleground"...Warners is warming up a remake of the old whaling story, "Moby Dick," orig- inally filmed in 1930 with Jehn Barrymore and Dolores Costello as leads. • Republic bought "Bandit King of Texas," by Olive Cooper for Rocky Lane series.. Pete Smith's new term contract starts his 25th year at Metro... Eddie Cline will direct "Maggie Wins a Racehorse," next in the "Bringing Up Father" series at Monogram... Ann Miller will star in "Singing in the Rain," to be produced by Arthur Freed at Metro.. .Metro- borrowed Kristine; Miller irom Par for role in "Death in the Doll's House".. Mary Rech- ner named special assistant to Dore Schary at Metro. . . Crystal White, dancer in Ken ^Murray's "Black- outs,!', signed for a non-dancing role in "Strange Caravan"" at Re- public.. .Roy Rowland's director option hoisted by Metro. - - BIG PAULDING FETE ON Geo. Skouras Counters With i\,mm Claim George Skouras, hd$d of the Skouras theatre chain, is challeng- ing the right of dlstribs to jointly cut clearances against one of his houses. Skouras has put the move to a legal test in a countersuit for $1,800,000 treble damages filed in N. Y, federal district court against RKO, Warner Bros., Universal and Julius Joelson, hea4 of J. J. The- atres. His action, in turn. Is by way of defense in a suit originally brought by Joelson against Skouras, his brother, Spyros, head of 20th-Fox, the latter company and Warners. ' Skouras obtained permission last week from Judge Edward A. Con- ger to bring the countersuit and name the -four defendants. In a bitter attack against the quartet, Skouras claims ', that an unnamed i RKO exec branded his as "a men- ace to the industi-y" and has .threatened to drive him out. of business: Exhibs Still In DarkimMs Rental Drive With the 20th-Fox drive for in- creased rentals rolling: into its. third week, exhibitors around the country report they have seen no tangible evidence of what form the drive will finally take except on the admittedly crucial que<stion of adjustments, General- feeling among the indie exhibs is one of puzzlement, and reports seeping in i'rom the grass roots areas indi- cate the 20th bookers and salesmen are equally conlused. Some exhibs claim they have found the 20th v field personnel sitting back to w ait for more explicit- Instructions from Skouras' countercharges assert i that his Park Plaza theatre, the the homeoffice before attempting alleged statement it is losing •money,' declaring the "record indi- cates Fox is doing very well.'! UTOI bulletin said: "This new ef- fort of 20th-Fox executives must not be taken too lightly. They have hired the talent and they ex- pect to do the job. Their first argu- ment : for higher rentals is their contention that the theatres - of America made a net profit of $200.r 000,000 in 1948. Their sources of information is not quoted and we -will not presume to dispute it. "IF this figure is accurate, it rep- resents an 11% earning on invest- ment. According to the U: S. Dept. of CommercCi more than $2,000,- 000,000 is invested in the motion Warners Recent loanouts from Burbank to Culver City were: Errol Flynn for "The Forsyte Sage;" Alexis Smith for "Any Number Can Play;" Syd- ney Green.street for "Malaya"; S- Z. Sakall for "Good Old Summer Time" and David Brian for "In- truder in the Dust." Bronx, previously held clearance over Joelson's Luxor. RKO and Warner execs, cross-claim asserts, "inspired a. conspiracy" to cancel out the clearance and hring about day-and-date bookings. Joelson's action, inwhich the countersuit is brought, seeks. $2,- 400,000 tiieble balm. It asserts a conspiracy on the part of the de- fendants to deprive the" Luxor of first-run nabe prpduct. Rossellini Reforms; Has^ Scripter on Bergman Pic Rome, April 5. In a Switch ft-om, hiis practice Af "off-tfie-cuff" shootingy; Italian dt- rector Roberto Rossellihit has signed a contt-iict with .Cflan I>^(>i6 Callegari to write the dialog and story development for the forth- coming Ingrid Bergman starrer to be made in Stromboli, off the coast of Sicily. Heretofore, Rossellini has had a KIClir I CAr Till? ATDU i^*^""^ ''^*''< then used anywhere ntiVl IDUu ItllLAlIVC from two lo six Italian writers on I the location set to write the scene and fill in the dialog as shooting progressed. No one knew from one day to the next exactly what would take place. This method, seem- ingly haphazard, has, however, paid off in money and fame, as in "Open City" and "Paisan," Mpls. Boothmen's Tilt Minneapolis, April 5. Minnesota Amus. Co. (Para- I mount) and RKO Theatres here I have signed a new three-year con- ! tract with the local booth opera- ' lors' union, retroactive to last mid- Paulding O. Opening of new SI 60.000 Pauld- ing here in a; town of 2,800 people was big community event; Cham- ber of Commerce ^o\i tickets for two shows hel* opening night, vvith $5,300 receipts going to County Memorial Hospital. Pauld- ing County newspaper published special edition to mark opening. Sole theatre here, it was built on site of Grand, destroyed by fire in 1946. Owners are Jack O'Con- nell, Toledo vet distrtb, and Arthur Weaver,: who manages house. : December, .under which the pro- picture industry Thus, taking i jectionists receive a 3% wage boost | their own figure of $200 ' — " this represents only an 11% earn- ing of the total amount invested in theatresr-not too high a return.'' . ;. 2 New Orleans : Nabes New Orleans. Two new nabe houses opened here. New Pitt, one of largest of its kind, seating 1.000, is latest in chain o£ theatres the'Pittnian fam- ily operates in New Orleans, Baton to line up new bdikings. Exhibs have reacted vehemently to the threat of 20th sales veepee Andy W. Smith, Jr.,. to eliminate adjustments henceforthk Consensus is that they'll be forced to stop booking 20th product If they're no longer : able to obtain 'a lower- ing of terms after a picture has played off at a loss to them. Smith laid particular emphasis on elimi- nating . adjustments and credits in the New York exchange area at the 20th meet with N. Y. exhibs Friday (1) at the Hotel Astor, N.^Ys He declared once a deal i$ - made that deal will stick, regard- less of the boxoffice gross. Accord- ing to Smit:., he discovered that handing out adjustments had be- come, an automatic habit , in the N.Yi area, adding that "if we con- tinued under that system, we would have to close shop." He indicated that adjustments and: credits would . be studied throughout the country With an eye to eliminating them. Backtracking Already? . Smith and 20th veepee Al Licht- man, according to exhibs attending Friday's session, have already back- tracked slightly in their demands. Where Smith previously had called for a 25% rental boost up and down the line, both he and Licht- man said at the N. Y. meet that they have no argument with "the many theatres that do pay us ade- quate film rentals/' With Harry ^Brandt and his In- dependent Theatre Owner.s Assn., ! who had blasted most sharply Ford's Spill Costs Tinky' JR2flO 000' Kaynn '«i<-Anc! Tm ' against the 20th drive, boycotting if£.VV,V\ni, n.dZdn OiepS in Friday's meet, midwestern circuit Philip Pecuhia and George Rayner, Rouge, Sulphilr - arid Lake Charles. Second, the Beverly, also 1,000- their own figure of $200,000,000, the first year and 2% foi: each of ' seater, is owned and managed by ■ ■ the succeeding two years. " " Local independeht exhibitors j also recently made a new pict With; i the pperators, granting them a 5% scale increase. Hollywood, April 5. With -Elia Kazan signed to re- place the ailing John Ford as di- rector on 20th-Fox's "Pinky," it is estimated that the two-week Shoot- ing delay caused by Ford's illness cost 20th some $200,000. Kazan, who directed 20th's Oscar-winning operator Ted Gamble carried the ball for the exhibitors. In an ad lib speech, following talks by 20th prez Spyros P. Skouras, Lichtman, Smith and ad-puta veepee Chai'les Einfeld, Gamble expressed doubt that exhibs will accept "whole- heartedly" 20th's declaration that Gentleman's Agreement" last i it has Cut production costs to the year, cancelled a scheduled Euro-1 bone. Emphasizing he was not pean vacation to plane out to the i speaking in his official capacity as Coast over the weekend. board chairman of the Tlicatre Fordrsllpped in a small ditch, Owners of America, Gamble de- bullt on the set, spraining his back clared that "before any increased Other Distribs ; Continued from page » g going up, so might some of the.se ■ exhibs be forced to .shut down it: their , operating expenses keep; ; niounting—and that Includes film 1 rental." But they agreed with 20th ! execs that some exhibs have, been : buying product at much lower terms than they should pay ami | these are the situations they said ; roust be corrected. None of the other sales chiefs *luestioned plans so radical a step' as 20th's announced move to elimi- nate credits and adjustments if a picture plays off at a loss to the exhib. Most of those who have not already done so will follow 20th in cutting-down clearance In all situations where it's considered lu- .equitable on the basis that llie Dept. of Justice has thrown tlie *li'estion of clearance back in the laps of distributors. The .salesmanagers differed in their choice of selling methods to achl-ve higher rentals, but all . agreed that « picture', should be sold mainly on the basis of its re- turn in test-run engagements. Slid- ing .scale had con.siderable backing .^as the one procedure wliich allow s ^^''a picUire to find its level at the factual bo.^office payoff. Greenlight For 'Bank Nite' Minneapolis, April 5; "Bank Night" in Minnesota the- atres would be legalized under the provisions of « bill introduced: in the state legislature. The measure would permit the playing of any game of chance where there is no consideration in- volved and would extend the privi- lege to. churches, veteran organiza- tions, charitable and other groups as well as theatres. $1,000,000 Calerary (Can.) House Calgary, Can. J. B. Barron, manager of Grand here, announced plans for $1,125,- 000 theatre and office building. Theatre will seat 1,000. and right ankle, and, while re- cuperating at his home, developed a case of shingles. "Pinky" is pro- duction veepee DarrylF. Zanuckis' personal production this year. Hampton-Turner Build in Texas Carthage, Tex. New 800-seat house is under construction here; It will be oper-- ated by H. L, Hampton and H. B. Turner. P. C. McPheison, former manager with East Texas theatres, will be manager. 20th Ui Runs i Continued from page 3 s $100,000 .House For Mexicans . Abernathy, Tex. New 700 seat Nu-Vue theatre I built here at cost of $100,000 I opened here by George Reed. The I Rita, which Reed >also owns here, I will be used tor Mexican patron- age.: ■■■,:/ man emphasized at that time that too much of the ad-publicity impact was dissipated during the time lag between tlie first and subsequent nins. lis a part of .tlie 20th drive for upping film rentals. Minsky's primary job will be to survey the key nabe houses to determine .which of them can open .day:^and-^date with the downtown theatres without entering into direct competition with them: How I many ol the nabes will draw the j 110(1 will be drterniined when! MIn.sk.v reports his findings back ' to the lionieofficet ■ 3 New Canadian Theatres Regina, Sask. New theatres in westem Canada include a 500-seat one at Pincher Creek. Alta.. and a 400-seater at St. Paul. Alta. A new 300'seat house is being: completed at Meadow Lake, Sask. 1,050-Seater for Dallas Ready Dallas The Vogue, new l,0SO-8eater will be opened here in Western Oak Cliff section soon by Robb & Row- ley theatres. Built on site of the old Bison it is seventh house to be operated by circuit in Oak Cliff AMPA Slate Set New officers of the Assn. of Mo- tion Picture Adverti.sers will be voted in tomorrow (Thurs.) at a luncheon membership meeting of the group. Certain to be tapped are Max Youngstein as prez for another: year; Harry McWilliams, veepee; Harry Blair, treasurer; and Marjorie Harker, secretary. Slate has already been named by a nominating committee. Proposed for members of the board along with the officers are Charles Alicoate, Vincent Trotta, Syd Gross. Gordon White and Blanche Livingston, ZOTOS SUED ON % CHIZ St. Louis, April 3. • Metro and Paramount have filed percentage-chiselling actions here in Federal district court agaln.st Christ Zotos, operating the Roose- velt theatre. rentals take effect, the film com- panies should examine very care- fully costs In Hollywood." Extravavanee at Studios He averred that average exhib- itors feel most studios ai-e still ex- travagant, mentioning specifically the high salaries paid to stars, Without referring to high exec sal- aries, he added the companies are "still packing too much overhead in their studio costs." Gamble questioned Smith's figure that the combined net profit for all thea- tres in 1948 was $200,000,000 de- claring many exhibitors have been forced to reinvest much of their profit into building new theatres or renovating old ones. He:,also cracked back at a projected 20th plan to sell all percentage pictures via sliding scale, saying exhibs in the past have found too many de- partures from the set pattern |« which distribs used the scale only as a wedge to get still higher Centals, Lichtman, Smith, Einfeld and Skouras planed to the Coast Friday night with other homeoffice reps. First three will spend several days . . . . . prod- with Skouras viewing new . Complaints in each action In- uct at the studio before starting (section. Lloyd Pullen is manager, picsent. elude the conventional charges that Zotos turned in allegedly false reports on percentage films. Total of $6,000 is demanded on the suits which claim that alleged chiselling dates from Jan. I, 1941, to the another round of exhlb meetings in Los Angeles and San Francisco. They'll then make a countrywide swing, talking with exhibs in mest branch areas and expect to w away from the homeoffice about two months.