Variety (Apr 1949)

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r Wdlnc>J«y» April 6, 1949 PICTURES 25 Kfie«fMor«13iaa30 Anti-Theatre Bills In Albany Gets Anywhere Albany, April 5. The picture business emerged Unharmed from the session of the legislature which ended Thursday (31) and which saw the introduc- tion of more then 30 bills affecting Sieatres. Spokesman for exhibitor organizations, who were doubly on the alert this year after the narrow ■scape in 1948 with the Fine- C1 > n c y firemen-in-the-theatres measure, cited the "perfect score" for 1949 as proof of thv fruits of effective organization. Harry Xamont, temporary chair- nian of the Albany Theatre Owners Ass'n, and one of the first upstate fxhibs to' urge formation,of a legis- lative committee to protect the in^ terests of theatremen at the Cap- itol, declared, "The results spealc lor themselves; organization is be- ginning to pay off." Lamont thanlced exhibitors for their sup- port and a number of legislators lor their "undeirstanding of our {iroblems and their broadmindedr- liess in accepting suggestions." Lamont also pointed out that Leonard Rosenthal, exec director tor the local TOA, and Orln Judd, Metropolitan Motion Pieturc The- atre Assn.' attorney, who coordin- ated the industry's effort this year, received "very'cpurteous consider- ation from the lawmakers. - Among the bills which didn't get a greenlight was one requiring the prominent. display of the original release date on all: advertising of plx in circulation more than a year, and another requesting that tickets for reserved seats facing obstacles ::')iave a printed: notation Indicating partial or obstructed view. 'Worst Is Over' Continued from page 3 companies that have been In the red month after month have begun tO: hit the blacky with costs down and domestic and foreign receipts atabilizing themselves. Since Bankers Trust, which has been very active in indie produc- tion financing in the past, operates on no formula in determining on loans, Ardrey said, any improve- ment in the general situation would naturally be reflected when appli- cations are considered. He ex- plained: "We are making loans as always whenever we feel we can get our money back. We have no auto- matic formulas for guarantees or percentages. Each request is ' judged wholly on Its merits." ' Guaranty, which has made no indie loans for the past two years, "will be guided on future policy by the situation as it unfolds," Abeel declared. He added that the bank holds a large number of loans to major companies "and we are happy about every one of them." , While stating that the indust'-y's problems "appear to be on the way to solution," Abeel admitted that the banks are "wondering what ef- fect television will have." Hegarding the Indies, Ardrey pointed out that Bankers and Security-First National of Los An- geles, which shared a $1,211,000 loan on Howard Hawks' "Red Hiver" (UA), had been paid off completely a few weeks ago. Con- cerning Walter Wanger's "Joan of Arc" (RKO), on which the two in- stitutions share equally in a $3,' 500,000 loan, Ardrey said he was pleased with results to date. THEATRE FOR SALE OR LEASE RIALTO THEATRE 118 Hudson St., Hoboken, N.J. Containt i.ioo i • a 11! fully •qHippod itoge. Two Simplex 35 rnm projtetori with W.E^ *ound. IPtrfeet condltloH.) Immediato Possession! I'w further Information contnrt: MR. PATSY Dl MENZA , Tel.: Hobohea 3.9335, 3-3104 'Itaipe' Budget Continaed'ftom paf • it asi trust- division over the major film companies weighed heavily in win* ning the budget increase. Meantime, the U. S. Advisory Commission on Information which was set up by Congress last year to investigate the effectiveness of the U. S. information program be- hind the Iron Curtain and else- where, has recommended "a much larger expenditure" than the $36,000,000 budget asked for. The present program is good "as far as It goes," said the Commis- sion's report, but doesn't fulfill our International responsibilities; The Soviet Union, it said, spends "enor- mous sums" on "propaganda" and uses "its best and most imaginative brains." The Commission estimated that the Voice of America is reaching millions of Russians; 1,000,000 in Poland, a 10th of the people of Czechoslovakia. In addition, It re- ported, it is our most important medium in getting the American story to Bulgaria, Hungary and , Rumania. Latin-America 'Scratched' In LatinrAmerica, too, the Com-, mission found, the U. S. program can only "scratch the surface" in counteracting "the potential aittrac-^ tion which Communism has for the underprivileged," particularly In Venezuela^ Chile and Mexico.' The Commission objected to the provision by Congress for a $10,- •000,000 appropriation to the Eco- nomic Cooperation Administration to disseminate private, media in countries receiving ECA assistance. Such activity belongs to the State Dept., it said, and should not be limited to ECA couhlries; The Commission' suggested that more documentary motion pictures be used, and that facilities for adapting such pictures in various languages "be rapidly and substan- tially increased." It. also urged ah expansion of mobile units td take motion pictures and other visual materials to people who have no access to radio. : Gen'l Aniline's Big 1948 Profit' Boost Net profits of General Aniline & Film Corp. scored a sharp rise in 1948, hitting $8,604,919 against $3,- 333,250 in the preceding year. Sales for the semester also climbed steeply to reach $90,837,864, a 21% boost over '47 and 41% better than '46, Earnings for common A stock reached $11.74 per share against $4.55 in '47. Economies and technological im- provements in the Ansco film divi- sion resulted in a boost in manu- facturing capacity and appreciable cost reduction, according to Jack Frye, prez. He also reported that the company spent $7^663,838 on plant and equipment improvement, including the film wing. It should give Ansco. increased capacity to enter large scale film markets not available with present capacity, Frye told his stockliolders. Forep Fix' Quality Ebb Plus Peak U.S. Dbtrib Fees lLO!iag Imports Factional Interests Continued from page 3 Up Production Continued from page • ^ with eight starters in the first quar- ter of 1949. Slated for April filming are "Bat- tleground," "Bodies and Souls," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Death in the Doll's House," "Side Street," "The Devil's Doorway" and "Am- bush." Lone May starter is ''Tenr sion,'' to be followed in June by "Quo Vadis," "Love Is Legal" and 8: sequel to "Mrs. Miniver." Fifteen of the 30j)ictures on the UI production schedule for 1948^49 will be completed fay the end of tills month, giving Universal a healthy backlog. Three of the 15, "Come Be My Love," "Sword in the Desert" and "Partners in Crime/'are currently in work. Of the 12 completed; only two, "The Life of Riley" and "Ma and Pa Kettle," are in release. Await- ing distribution are "City Across the River," "The Lady Gambles," "Arctic Manhunt," "Take One False Step," "Abbott & Costello Meet the Killers," "Illegal Entry," "Calamity Jane and Sam Bass," "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," "The Western Story" and "Curtain Call at Cactus Creek." Par- Guns Five More Henry Ginsberg gave the go sig- nal on five features for April and May at Paramount, making a total of 12 starters on that lot since Jan. 1. April blossoms In the garden of celluloid are "Copper Canyon" and "Sunset Boulevard." On the May program are "Dead Letter," "Little Boy Blue" and "Where Men Are Men," all high budgeters. Arnall, head of the Society of In- dependent Motion Picture Produ- cers. His people are also badly hurt by the coin freeze. Unlike the majors, they lack the financial assets to enable them to carry on If their money is tied up in Eng- land, Italy, France and elsewhere. So what has shaped up here this week is a picture of lATSE, SAG and the indies on one end of a rope pulling for unfreezing of funds abroad. At the other end is MPA pulling for a quota re- duction. This has been more than a little confusing to the legislators and others in these parts who want to help the industry. Added Up It Spells Nothin' Principal developments last week were: On Friday (1) Richard Walsh and Roy Brewer of lATSE, and Ronald Reagan and Ken Thomp- son, of SAG, visited the White House. They made their pitch to both President Truman and his aide, John Steelman. While receiv- ing a sympathetic hearing, nothing developed which really showed that help was on the way, although the President did indicate that he would ask the State Department to look into the situation. British Foreign Minister Ernest Bevin, in town to sign the Atlantic Pact, was guest speaker at the Na- tional Press Club Friday. He was asked, "Do you intend to discuss Anglo-American motion picture problems while you are here?." His: meaningless: retort was;'"I am too old." On Thursday Eric Johnston took the problem to Under-Secretary/of State James E. Webbi He, too,''got: a polite hearing but apparently made very little progress. The California Congressional del- egation listened to the troubles of the industry as related by Brewer and Joyce O'Hara, assistant to Johnston. The legislators set up a subcommittee to work on the situ- ation and lend every assistance. However, because the British were here to sign the Atlantic Pact and because the State Department didn't want any trouble, the Gali- fornians were asked to play possum for the time beings' Which they obligingly did. ^ Now Specializing^ ^ in R«/re«hment. Service for ^DBIVE-IH THEATRESy tPORTSERVICC. inc. J«i tun nk.>\ a^RST BLDG. BUffAtO. N. Y. Stromberg's Prod. : Continued from page 1 PAVExhibs West On U.S. Bond Drive Bally Maurice Bergman, Universal's eastern ad-pub head; Max Young- stein, ad-pub veepee for Eagle Lion;.'Gael Sullivan, exec director of the Theatt'e Owners of America, and Edward Lachman, head of New Jersey Allied, plane for the Coast today (Wed.) for a series of con- fabs on the U; S. Treasury's sav-- ings bond drive. Quartet will meet with Dore :Schary, ' Metro's v.p, in charge of productioUi and Arch Reeve, Coast publicity manager for the Motion Picture Assn. of Amer- ica, Sehary is chairman of Holly- wood's . participation committee, and Reeve is assisting, . All studio participation in the drive will be mapped at the con-: fab. It will include setting up a stars' caravan which will take to the hinterlands; production of: shorts, and other ballying; tech-: niques.: Foursome will return to New York over the weekend. Bergman is chairman of the in- dustry's participation committee while Youngstein is serving as his publicity chief. Sullivan and Lach- m&n represent exhib cooperation in the campaign. ■>■■■■ Benny's V. S. Bond Film Hollywood, April 5. Jack Benny will be starred in a one-reeler which the Assn. of MO" tion Picture Producers will lens for the U. S. Treasury Dept.'s sav-^ ings bond drive. Pic, labeled "The Spirit of '49," will be produced this month at the Metro studio by Rich- ard Goldstone and co-ordinated by Armand Deutsch. Allen Ilivkin. is scripter. Benny, will play a triple role of himself, his father and grand- father. Dore Schary, Metro's vee- pee in charge of production, heads the Hollywood committee 'working with the Government.' *■ U. S. disfribs of foreign pix are I .currently in the paradoxical posi-^ I tion of facing a critical coin I squeeze at a time when more i exhibs than ever before are book- I ing foreign language films. Rapid i withering,, profit-wise, of the for- 1 eign distrib biz following the early , postwar bloom is ascribed chiefly : [ to the general decline in quality of i the average overseas importation I and the exorbitant . prices asked I for U. S. rights. j Several hundred indie exhibs, I outside of the sureseater. circuit, I are: meantime buying foreign pix i for one and two-day midweek play- ings in order to plug up gaps left by Hollywood's product shortage. Several of the. major theatre chains, including Loew's and the Skouras circuit, are. also booking I top foreign pix with increasing fre- quency. Loew's, for example, has' just bought "Passionelle" and "Torment" for a wide circuit play. ' Hitch is, however,: that outside of the art house firstruns'in the major metropolitan centers^ the . foreign distribs receive extremely low rentals. From mos.t of the indie exhibs, the returns are so minuscule, they barely cover trans-; portation : costs. In one case, a $40 charge for , a long-distance tele- phone call made by an exhib in booking a foreign pic exceeded his rental cost. One of the few profit- able sources remaining are special college screenings arranged by the Romance Language departments ' which pay oner $200 for a single playing. . While the Italian and French pix are waning,, except for a handful of standout features, the Spanish lan- guage films are: revealing surpris- ing strength. Aside from bringing in steady grosses in special neigh- borhood areas, a Spanish-language Argentine-made film, "White Horse. Inn," will bow in at a regular.. Broadway house, the Gotham, for - the first time Friday (8). Oscar Walkout : Continued from page 4 s ing the industry's public relations, were flabbergasted by the an-< nouncement. Since only -' five companies were involved, the New York and Washington headquarters of the MPA A were not informed. Announcement was made via. the Metro press de- a meeting last Wednesday (29) in the office of Nicholas M. Schenck, MiG .topper; It named as responsi- ble for the declsiota, Schenck, Ned Depinet, Barney Balaban, Harry M. Warner and Spyros Skouras; Dr. DuMont Continued from page 9. Start 500-Gar Ohio Drive In Cambridge, O. (Construction begun on 500-car drive-ln near here, and expected to be ready May 1. Cy and Ferris Francis,,of ByesviUe, O., have five* year lease on property. : New York Theatres pected to get under way in six to nine months. It will be on film. Feature picture will be produced by Stromberg for United Artists release, similarly to product he has been turning out for the company for the past five years. Radio stint is being scripted by Hay Buffum, New York ether writer. He recently toured a num- ber of cities gathering i material from police department files. Show will have tie-ins with local gen- darmeries, with the officers in- volved in the stories being taken to .the Coast for personal appear- ances on the au-er*. processed directly with the film, is now handled in the laboratory and later dubbed onto the film. Same evoluntionary process could take place with actual lensing via kine- scope recording,, he said. One ob- stacle now in the way is the low definition of. TV images but, he said, there is no technical reason why TV can't be made as good as 35m film. Only the necessary time and money have prevented that de- velopment so far. DuMont questioned the commer- cial feasibility of theatre television, noting there are insufficient sports and other special events v staged during a year to support the pro- cess. He speculated, however, on putthig studio broadcasts into the- atres as a second feature. He. salQ It would be easy enough to elimin- ate commercials, substituting in their stead specially-shot film. He added that theatres could easily enough work out the-problem of rights with advertisers. Acad Promises Awards Will Continue as Before Hollywood, April 5. Oscar gallops on, regardless of the recent rhubarb attending the- recent 21st running of the Derby. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that the annual race for awards on the celluloid track would continue in future years even If the major studios refuse to kick in with their entry fees. Report of the Acad- emy's board of governors said; "In past years part of the ex- pense of the Awards program was borne by the sale of tickets in blocks to major studios. Most of the studios generously underwrote the expenses of the presentations in this manner. However, this year a: number of studios f ailed to contribute; and the Award pres- entations were underwritten by six of the producing companies. "In the: lielief that the annual Awards not only, encourage higher standards of motion picture pro- duction but have won worldwide recognition, and therefore consti- tute valid and sound public rela- tions, the Academy, representing the craftsmen of the industry, will undertake. to make Awards as in previous years, without interrup- tion. Metro, Paramount, RKO, 20th- Fox and Warners contributed $57,- 000 to this year's Derby, with Col- umbia, Republic and Universal on the outside looking in. Bankroll- ing of future awards will be decid- j ed by the new board of governors ' after the annual election May 10. M JOAN M of ARC jSSSX^ starring INGRID BERGMAN A VICTOX FLEMING rXODUaiON coioit tr recNNicotoir • uir o* mousAMt iMithtOSErEflltlltkFffANClSl EUlUVAN't CAUOtMISHXHAKOfebNIl 1 SHtPPtRO SIRUDntCK 'KUNO HAlFIEtO • G[NC LOCKHARI • IQHN [MEftt I ' GtOnSE 1C0ULOUKIS • iOm IRLIAND *nd CECIL KtUAVMV hli«d ujnn Ihg ttut pity 'Inin o( LHimiw' b> MAXWELL AHOiltSaN lo**" »lar ^MWtll AMD;iS0f4 mnd ANDREW lOlT • wl JUxlicn kf ' RICHMO D*T . illrtttM •! atwiar•»t>T tOSCPH VAlfNIHt. A.S.C.' Mitil tr WAIIEI WANGII OiiKtii kr VKIOI nEMING DAVID O. 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