Variety (Apr 1949)

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so PICTIJIIES Wednesday, April 6, 1949 Fdm Buy Fear of TV Echoes Early Legit Fear of Pix, Variety Files Show B'way B.O. Cuts Forty years back, when tne nickelodeon era was just beginning to give way to "big business Wm production and distribution, the motion picture indlustry had to buck virtually the . same proWeins Ci^'rernS f^'^i^^' have given filmmakers an open door to pirating dramatic copy- rights. Variety's headline in the Feb. 10, 1912, issue tells the story: "Picture Men Have 'Joker' For The Cojjyright Law — Theatrical Managers Assn. Takes Up The Pro-, $100 As The Penalty For 'tifting Plays For the Camera." Vaudeville also attempted to halt film's onrush in this period. One scheme, reported in the May 11, 1912 issue of VABiETy, involved the opening of a 10-20-30c; circuit for the playing of "cheap shows" to "draw away from the picture houses as well as higher forms (sic!) of entertainment." The project was organized by the Co- operative Booking Circuit, spear- headed by L. Lawrence Weber, with Gus Hill, E F/ Shea, Marcus Loew, Lew Fields, WllUani Briaay, Rajr Comstbck, Lee Shubert, John L. Kerr and Adolph Zukor on the aijvisonr tedard. But; like miany of the current trepidations over the rise of tel^ vision, the fears surrounding the film industry's ascendancy proved unwarranted. Legit, vaude and bur- lesque continued strong for many years after 1912 and it was only. much: ,kiter, under the impact of different economic and social fac- tors, before they went into • de-. '-cline.;.. F&M TAKES LA. PAR SUIT TO NX COURTS Two-ply action against Para- mount has been initiated by Part-, mar Corp., Fantshdn fe torco sub* sid operating the Paramount the- atre, Los Angeles. Partmar has filed an $850,000 treble-damage ac- tion in <N. Y. federal district court against Par. At the same time, F & M subsid has now appealed to the U. Supreme Court from a ruling of the lower bench which denied it the right to intervene in " , , ^ n J , the Government anti-trust action, ture makers. The late Broadway ] ^ . fighting against the consent decree entered by Para- mount. Alleging that it is a 50% stock- Like video today, the film indus^ try just before, the First World War threw the rest of show busi- ness into confusion bordering on ft mild state of panic. The legiti- mate theatre, vaudeville and bur- lesque—the ."Big Three" of the entertainment world then — were facing a boxoffice challenge from a vigorous newcomer with a me- chanical, yet mighty punch. Tiie film industry's rise as a con- lender was slow and gradual at the outset, but later, like video to- day, it came along with a powerful rush. In its earliest days, at the turn o£ the century, the other show bii! fields practically ignored the picture business; It was deemed a "shoestring enterprise" flickering i" its shadowy form, crude in its content and primitive in its tech- nique. There were the usual doubts fbout "whether pictures were here to stay." Around 1910 the general indif- ference and competitive contempt for the film industry began to change into a worried look p.n the faces of "live" showmen. Even though D. W. Griffith's epochal full-length feature, "The Birth of A Nation," was still five years away, the picture business was rapidly acquiring a mass basis. There were already in 1910 several thousand spots, many of which . couldn't be described as theatres, in the main converted stores, de- voted exclusively to the exhibition of films. ■ i Legit's Trepidations According to VAmETY's files, the legit interests, paralleling some contemporary fears among film people over being wiped out by video, took the first steps in com- bating r.nd hamstringing the pic- Coiitmutd from page S { last week, lowering weekend night price to $1.20 and getting only $1 weekdays. Also it put early-bird scale at 50 cents until 1 p.m. Also as the price line wavered back and forth, some stage-film houses, no- tably Ihe Stiand, dropped to $1.25 for final days of extended-run in- stead of sticking to $1.50. The inconsistent of Sunday (March warm day this spring, was not re- peated to any extent last Sunday (3), probably because biz was bet ter all along the line. Veteran Broadway managers frankly are worried over reckless and often absurd changes in ad- mission scales. They cite that the public today, more than ever, must know what it is going to pay'for entertainment. "This constant shifting of the- atre prices is bad in the long run," said one Broadway m a jj a g e r. "You've got to have a set scale, and stick to it. Par Figures 80% of Stockholders ' Will OK Decree and Reorg. Plan Air Fleet for Hi Hollywood, April 5. Fleet of 370 planes Of all sizes, . . ,. „ from bombers down, is being price-juggling mounded up by 20th-Fox for air 27), hrst really ^.^.^ sequences in "12 O'Clock produced by Henry King. • A\>proval of Pahunount's consent decree and plan of reorganization —including the controversial stock- holding restrictions—now appears virtually certain despite early fore- bodings of a minority stockholder battle. With still another week to go before the payoff annual meet of the company, Par has corralled Ships bought or rented from between 55%-60% of the outstand^ surplus mil'tai v equipment deal-:'"g common m favor of the two- lrs.^will be assembled near Fort I company splitup Two-third s vote Wa ton, Fla., where shooting starts jfo'* the anti-trust settlement is nec- April 18. CATHOLICS PROTEST SHOWING SEX FILMS Albany* April 5. A protest against the showing of sex hygiene films to school chil- The public must 1 dren was registered Friday (1) by know what it is going to pay at the the Catholic Welfare Commission. boxoffice at any specified time. Prospective patrons realize that entertainment must have a price, but they also want that price sta^ bilized.' Two films, "Human Growth," made by Eddie Albert in collaboration with the medical school of the Uni- versity of Oregon, and "Human Reproduction" a McGraw - Hill Feeling among many Broadway i goojc co. Text Film Dept. produe- tion, were cited as objectionable by the committee in a statement issued by the Most Rev. William A. Scully, D.D., coadjutor bishop of Albany, arid One time chairrian of the motion picture c<)inmittee of U. S. bishops. The committee felt that "Human Growth," which was intended- for children in grades six to nine, would cause "great spiritual and managers is that when admission prices are moved around for .every good picture it has a bad effect on biz, in two ways: (1). It puts a glaring light on weaker pictures, making the pub- lic only freely put down its money for films getting a higher admis- sion r or (2) it irritates the pros- pective patron who had been counting on paying a certain price and tlien finds a different one harm," while "Human Re listed. Tn either ease,-the film business as a whole suffers because certain production" was looked up on as "a more mature treatment of the same subject matter, which should fans resent having to ^ pay extra be restricted to adults and mar .1. - . —. „ couples." Impetus for th* pro- test was the increasing pressure being exerted: on local boards of education by parent-teacher groups for showings-of these pix. every time a good picture comes along. While they may plunk down their money for the good picture, and neglect the ordinary screen vehicle where the lower scale is in effect, they are apt to become annoyed with having a different admission fee in force every time they go to the theatre. Net result is that they; get out of the theatre- going habit. producer. Charles Frohman, m 1911, inserted a clause in his thesp- ing contracts forcing players to ^^^or^ f^S^TS^rllholder-in the Ij^A-j|jowe- (p it was regarded as a sort of "ack-j-ount^ho.ds the ^othe^ from voting the stock. It also de- mands judgment directing its re- turn to Partmar. Besides seeking $250,000 tripled. for alleged anti- trust violations, F & M subsid is demanding $100^000 for claimed Bernhard's Exit Continued from page 9 ; E. M. Loew's, Hartford, Held Up Twice in 3 Mos. Hartford, April 5. Last Wednesday (31) for the sec- ond time in two months, the box- office of the E. M. Loew's here was held up. Solo thug held up cashier, Inez Quinn, by flashing | point," Balaban stated essary to carry through the reor- ganization, Of the many thousands of stock- holders in the company, only 400 have so far voted against the pro- posal, it has been learned. Be- cause of the strong affirmaiive hand-raising, Par's management is now counting on an 80% approval of the move when the April 12 meeting is over. Because' of a raft of queries by stockholders, Barney Balaban, Par's prez, has circularized a lengthy letter among the shareholders ex- plaining the reasons for the sellle-. ment. Balaban also attacks the premise that the restriction-again.st holding stock of the new theatre and productlon^istribution compa- nies simultaneously will: seriously affect the value, of the stock. Letter constitutes .tiie flr.st offi- cial statement that the- main rea- son for seeking" a- Govemmrnt deal was to save Paramount from a shellacking when It liquidated its partnership theatre's. U. S. Su- preme Court decision. Balaban noted, made the sale of over 1,000 houses compulsory. Par would have been crippled in its negotia- tions,if it could only sell and not buy 'to preserve equality in bar^ gaining powers. : "In most instances, the co-own- ers would be the only prospective purchasers since third pei-sons or- dinarily would not be interested in buying partial interests in thea- tres," Par's topper said. "Accord- ingly, Paramount would be in a hopeless bargaining position with the co-owners who would know that Paramount had no alternative under the court order but to sell." This is an "extremely important indeed, it lisi. Variety, in "its Aug. 5, 1911, issue, reported the story as fol- lows: "That i'l-ohman is taking the pictures seriously, there is no doubt for they certainly have proven 01 position to be reckoned j with. It may be that hereafter a lot of thespians will be given the icy mitt around the Frohman of- fices if they have taken prominent roles in picture plays. Partmar operates the house un- der lease from Paramount which requires it to play the latter'* product exclusively. It is now as- i.T^ . , ■ ^ , i< i. X i serted that Par fed the house poor "It IS hinted that next year the Ipj^. charged "unfair and unreason- able rentals;" and withheld prod- uct in violation of the 10-year lease; inked in 1941. ■ Plaintiff , h a d unsuccessfully sought an injunction against Para- mount during oral argument of the consent decree last month. Latest anti-trust action is one of a the market rate of $6 a share at that time that amounted to $240,000. Price has dropped, along with the rest of the inarket, to about $2,50 per share currently. gun and obtained some $75. I is the key to a clear understand- On Jan. 31 two armed bandits I ing of the consent judgment." netted .more than $600 when they I Balaban played down the inipcr- held up manager Leonard Young. To date no arrests have been made for either robbery. The theatre is Any number of types of deals i located in the middle of downtown are said to be possible for ' re-' Hartford, acquisition by Bernhard of the FC j - stock. Nothing definite has been I discus.sed as yet. Al person, now | an indie producer at 20th-Fox, has | no interest in returning to FC's I ownership or management. men and women, who do the pic- ture pantomimic playing in the cummer, and then fill dramatic en- gagements during the winter, will have harder work in securing berths if other managers follow the Frohman stunt. Henry E. Dixey for a Nickle "The following may have caused i "^^^^^^ "^J" j^g^i "skirmishes"'since Frohman s new contract insertion ^^j^ cross-suing on as to picture acting: This Past ] (.jj^ ^.^j^jj season Henry E. Dixey played the i " Parsons theatre, Hartford, in 'Mary Jane's Pa..l Directly opposite was a picture house which displayed a huge banner with the following: 'Why pay $2 to see Henry E. Dixey when you can see him for 5c.?' | jj^^ ^^^^ ^ij, represent The nickelodeon was then running i ^^^^^^^ ^j^^^ ^ ^^^^^ K^'^if^' °''''H"'»°*"**'*'innni officer. Production will be budg- which Dixey posed for a $1,000 j^^^^ ^^^un^, $250,000-$300,000. remuneration m Chicago last „ ^^^^^ in Philadelphia in ' September and come to Broadway Other managers did follow Froh- during October, man's lead in trying to block par- ticipation in films by legit actors. According to Vamety of Jan. 6, Cinecolor acquired FC with the i on thought that in the highly competi-' tive situation among tinter outfits in Hollywood, ownership of a pro- ! duction - distribution company I would provide it with a certain amount of color biz. FC, when the lENSERS NOT EYE-TO-EYE Hollywood, April 5. Producer George Barnes has re- I placed Ernst Laszlo as cameraman tance of the stock restrictions. He stressed that the voting trust is not a permanent arrangement. The court would end it whenoyer two- thirds of the certificates of interest in the theatre company have been converted, It could be ended be- fore if the court is satisfied that there is no common working con- trol of the two companies. Be- cause ample time is afl'ordcd l)y the decree to divest interest in the stock, Balaban does not believe Parampunt's "Riding High" after latter failed to see eye to , eye with director Frank Capra on i forced selling will deflate its value, how .the ,Bing, Crosby starrer j Although the proxy statement should be lensed. I failed to so specify, proceeds from Result'is that some of the foot-4 the sale of certain large partnef- switfh ua.i itnrif. wn.1 entirpiv - : *8e taken since March 14 may j .ship interests will go directly to outfirbut then sfarted t' i^ave to be scrapped with pic po^ the new theatre company, Balaban j(.; sibly going beyond its May 16 {said. Cash received on these Todd's ^Aida' i Continued from page 1 distribute some new product, v.-; j.„ also acquired its own exchanges | ^'"'^"P deadhne, I from its franchiseholders. This ; shift in operational policy sent it from black to red, out of which it has been successfully climbing in recent months. Non-Strikers Continued from page I A tangent of the issue that prc»-, . , . ceded Bernhard'.s resignation last i "f/n^ers and their employees as week was A. Pam Blumenthal's foUovra: bow-out as board chairman of the two companies a few months ago. Blumenthal, who is also a Cine- color shareholder, felt, it is. under- stood, that Bernhard was attempt- ing duties beyond-the ability of "We will not advise, urge, or otherwise influence our member producers, directly or indirectly, to interfere with, restrain, or coerce their employees in the exercise of the right to self-organization, to one man in heading operations of i form, join or assist labor organiza- 1 Todd, whose prodiiietiori of "As ' the Girls Go," at the Winter Gar- ..nf _ den has been 'the top gro,sser of 1912, Warn.ngs are once more Broadway this season, will leave l?!i,"Lif "fil next week to hear ' singers in various cities as possibilities for the cast. Show is to be a lavish [ one, with large company and heavy and actresses that posing for rhov- Ing pictures'Will make them in- eligible for engagements with the big producers. ... The latest play-} physi'caV'lay-out. ers of prominence to be lured „ .„ , into the posing game are Nat C. Darling Aida" will be the Goodwin, who holds a financial i„. | second musical comedy edition of terest in a motion picture plant; « S^*"'* "Pera to be pre- In San Francisco; Mildred Holland, | "J ^ew York in several with complete repr6duction of all years. The other was "Carmen her plays; and May Buckley,, a ;^,'i"^f'. well-known leading woman." , ZA ^Z,Lr^ ^"if p^''™'-?^ ^, m produced by Billy Rose, with Play Piracy Fears I a Negro cast. Todd previously In 1912, legit producers became produced the all-Negro "Hot Mi- agitated over a proposed Congres- kado," from the Gilbert & Sullivan sional bill that allegedly would operetta. both Cinecolor and FC. Bernhard. it is believedi now agrees with that viewpoint and feels that he can best protect his own heavy invest- ment by divorcing the companies and concentrating on the produc- tion-distribution outfit. No successor has been named to the presidency of Cinecolor. Feldman's Story Buy Charles K. Feldman, Hollywood agent and promoter of film pack- ages, has purchased film rights to "Tender Mercy," novel by Lenard Kaufman, for $50,000. Story was published by Creative Age Press. Yarn deals with a family's im- becile son, a nurse who alone can handle him, and the nurse's boy friend who attempts blackmail of the family. tions, to b a r g a i n collectively through representatives of their own choosing," The back pay awards cover only losses of pay to those involved. For instance, if a man were un- able to work because of illness or because he was in the armed forces, he would get no back pay for that period. If h« were Work- ing elsewhere at less wages, he would get only the difference. In the case of eight of the work'- ers, they were given back pay from the time of their layoffs un- til lATSE either suspended or ex- pelled them eight months later. The Labor Board held that, under a closed sliop agreement, they were no longer eligible for em- ployment or compensation after their union dropped them. ! transactions will not be used in the formula for, division of iis.sels be- tween the two projected outfits and, hence, the production-distri- bution company will not share in such proceeds. Circuits falling in this bi'acket are Interstate, Texas Con.solidated, Malco, Tri-States, Central States, Paramount- Richards and Wilby- Kincey. ,: Lewis' Contract Suit Vs. Rooney-Stiefel Los Angeles, April Funds of Samuel H. Steifel and Rooney-Stlefel, Inc., have been tied up In an attachment suit filed in L. A. superior couii: by Hsfy Lewis. Latter is seeking $26,000 he assertedly would have received under a deal to serve as produc- tion manager on three Rooncy- Stiefel productions. Lewis asserts he was di.scharged from his $500 weekly job after working on budgets and holding conferences on "Hot Hod" when that film had been .sl?ted for pro^ duction at RKO. He claims he was dismissed when production was switched to General Service and producers notified him they wouio have to use production manager oi that rental lot.