Variety (Apr 1949)

MPAA YENS EXHIBS' BALLY TIEUP TOAs Lockwood Favors Exhibs' Prod. I JAK[ OVER PI IParamoimt s Splitup Into 2 New Cos. On Own as an Offset to Dearth of Pix The currently hot plan to form-f an exhib-syndicated production company Is posed by Theatre Own- ers of America's prez, Arthur H. SIARIEO B! TOA' ^ Lockwood, against the distribs as the exhibs' answer to warnings of a possible dwindling of A product. Lockwood's recognition of the This Time for Sure, Sez SmsiU on Valentino Pici : ■ '' ^ iiollyjyoi>d>''Aprit^^^^ Edward Small says he's ppsl*! tively starting his long delayed j move is''made7n7ratTack"against ^^^olph Valentino," with Mth Fox's new rental plan which Sheridan Gibney doubling as slaps dovvn the company's "rental' f''^'"'and associate pro- siap-s uuvvji I. ducer. Virginia Van Upp, who was Lock- ^^Sned in that capacity last De- tour" as "ill-advised." "Such a franchise move, u u „,,,,p,rt- ,,, wood said, "has been under serious S?^ V li i, consideration for a long time; and,, ^J^^^/^^e Small has no^s nor •^"'iVrrun1erX'?nU-S ' ™ to feslonlTnUTt WdVprivfnt 3^^^^^^^ $250,000 in story changes existing the!»tte of its supply of i . ' iirodtact, but rather' would: create additional product for the general market." Prefacing that statement, Lock- wood said: "If the presently ex- isting old'line producing compa- nies are unable to produce enough pictures to supply the market, I •for one am -not concerned. In spite of the risks involved, and the difficulty in financing production, I ajn sure that new producers and producing companies will emerge. There is also the strong possibility i „, „ i.- ^ * , that exhibitors. If faced with un- ^'l'""'*'*' Setting first-class rpasonable demands for hicher attractions was again demon- " . _u™rI:"L tWs week in a deal by which Screen Plays Corp.'s "Home Victoria on B'way Guarantees lOOG To'Home of Brave Tough situation faced by Broad- terms, or a shrinkage in the sup- ply of pictures, will create their own supply of *A' product either by strengthening some of the smaller companies now In business and encouraging them to make jnore 'A' product; or by creating (Continued on page : 20) Studio Baddies Droptol49Pix . HoUywo.od, April 12. ; . Backlogs on the major film lots, numbering 178 pictures at this time last, year, have been reduced i v-t-i. t l- , -.r- i. ■ ^ j to 149. Liquidation is partly the I V Inv^tmg Co.'s Victoria and of the Brave" has- been set to go into the Victoria early in May. Terms call for a $100,000 rental guarantee to the producer, who gets 90% of the house gross after $7,000 in weekly basic operating cost is collected by the theatre. Producer pays for all advertising. "Brave" follows the current tenant. "Joan of Arc," into the Victoria. "Joan" received a $250,- 000 guarantee, which was exceeded after about three months of the run. It will have an engagement of just about six months^ Indications are that high guar- antees and liberal'percentage terms are not flukes, but highly necessary to attract strong product in keep- ing with the long-run policies of Motion Picture Assn. of America may. take over the industry public: relations job started by the The- atre Owners of America last year, and also make a pitch for partici- pation by exliib organizations in a theatre division whicli would be set up by the MPAA, Both plans were discussed by the board of di- rectors in a session in ■■■New York last Friday C8). Scheme : was left in a rather vague stage, with no vote taken, but may be further nailed down this week. There was general agreement among the directors that "we ought to improve our ex- hibitor relations," but no s^ugges- tion on how to' do it beyond the facetious one of lowering film rentals, Francis: Harmon, v.p. of the MPAA in charge of tlie New York oft'ice, has been promoting the ex- hib participation and public rela- tions scheme and has been men- tioned as possibly heading it, if there's a decision to take action along these lines. Getting the- atremen into the MPAA has long been a dream of proxy Eric John- ston. Bringing all elements of the industry into' a single association was one of his earliest efforts when he joined- the jpssociation. Most concrete action the board (Continued on page 22) Betty as Mabel Normand, John Lund as Mack Sennet Hollywood, April 12. Mack Sennett -returns to pic- tures at Paramount, this time as a writer and technical advisor on! his biopie and the early days of ^ Hollywood. ■■•■■•■■■■■ I . Betty Hutton will enact the! Mabel Normand role and : John I Lund will play Sennett, i result of the imminent upswing in new production, and partly the lack of holdover power by numerous films released in the last 12 months. Leading the backlog field at this time is Columbia, with 32 pictures, including 13 . "B'' productions. - iWaroers . is running second - with 1-9 and Metro and Paramount are tied for third with 27 apiece. Among the other major outfits, RKO has 16; 20th-Fox, United Art- ists and Republic, 12 each; and Universal, 10. Hal Wallis Finishes 3 tf - -m mt ir ¥» •■ mat ne naa receii Mnce Jan. 1, N.Y. Respite: frot" 20th veepee Astor theatres. Maurice Maurer, who operates these two N. Y. houses, has used (Continued on page 18) Lichtman Agrees to Meet Harry Brandt and iTOA On ZOth'sUpped Rentals That twice-delayed meeting be- tween 20th-J''ox sales execs and Harry Brandt and his Independent Theatre Owners Assn. will finally be held in New York in the near future. Brandt disclosed this week j that he had received a telegram | Al Lichtman, Tr . V,. . . . , i now on the Coast, that he and sales Hal Wallis arrives m New York i veepee Andy W. Smith, Jr., would from the Coast today (Wed.) to be glad to meet with ITOA upon recuperate from the chore of mak- their return to the homeoffice. ing three pix since the beginning I Accordihg to Brandt, "we will ot the year—which undoubtedly ,„eet them any time they choose." qualifies him as one of Holly- Liehtmart and Smith are scheduled wood's speediest film turner-out- to huddle with exhibitors in the ers, whether independent or on a, los Angeles and San Francisco major lot. Producer has just territories this week and will then wound up "Rope of Sand," star- hold talks with other exhibs ring Burt Lancaster, Paul Henreid, throughout the country as they RKOTagonBoth New Companies? As a necessary- preliminary to I RKO's split into two separate com- i panics, legalites for the major are ! studying the question whether both outfits can jointly use the RKO tag as part of their names. Legal puzzler, it is said, is not free from doubt since there is no clearcut decision whether a name can be parceled out: simultaneously -to two independently-operated outfits. It is not believed that the Gov- ernment would; object to the use of the RKO label by both outfits, ! providing, of course, that is the only thing held in common. How- ever, question has been raised whether public interests would be hit by a possibly misleading joint' use of the RKO tag. I Apparently, Paramount has no j doubt on the subject, since its new | circuit will'be labeled United Par- amount theatres while the produc- tion-distrib unit will undoubtedly also hold on :to the Paramount trademark. v " ; Balaban Backs Up Goldenson on TV To Trailerize Pix Leonard. Goldenson, Paramount's ■ theatre head- and future chief of i the new separate circuit, came all-• out for television trailers at j'cs-^! teray's (Tues.) stockholder meet in i response to queries on tele's effect I on the film biz. Goldenson was I joined by Barney Balabanv Par's | president, who declared that "noth- ing on the record shows that tele-^ i vision has hurt the theatres;" j Balaban buttressed his- optimis- tic view of video's repercussions with the statement that the presi- dent of another company had made i a survey of Tuesday evening busi- ness in New York and found it had not been hit by tele. Tuesday night is regarded as the strongest, pro- gram^wise, for video and Gotham is tele's main stronghold. "I propose to watch the future (Cohtinued on page 20) Historic splitup of Paramount into two separate companies won a landslide stockholder approval yesterday (Tues.) at a meeting which was surprising for its sweet- ness and light. With some 80% of the outstanding common vot- ing, the last hurdle to theatre di- vorcement was cleared by :5,202,183 shares in favor and only 75,576 againsti -: In ah accompanying re- port.; prez Barney Balaban pre- dicted that the two new units would do as veil as. Paramount ■ would have done--if. permitted to' continue. . • While winning approval; Balaban told his stockholders that theatre earnings, except for some bad weeks in the midwest^ were "very close to.': last year's earnings''' dur- ing the first quarter of the year^ : The first quarter of 1948, he add- ed, had been the best of that 121- month stretch. As for film earn- ings, they were .suffering relative- ly because the full effect of the freeze in England had been felt since Jan.* 1. Plenty of cash in the till fot both units is a certainty, state- ments of Balaban and Leonard Goldenson, future president of the theatre outfit, indicated in disclos- . ing deals already made on part- (Continued on page 22) CoFs Upped New Deals For Spingold and Schneider | Nate Spingold, Columbia v.p. in charge of publicity and advertis-r ing, and Abe Schneider, v,p. and treasurer, both won salary in- creases in the new pacts they signed last week. Their contracts had expired^-and the wage tilts were in line with increases that had previously been given to other execs. Schneider's termer, which is for seven years, upped him from the $93,()00 he received from tlie com- pany last year;: while Spingold, who signed on for five more years, is jumped from his old contract's $83,200.: No indication was given of-how big the rises were. National Boxoffice Survey Holy Week, Weather Slough Biz—'Set-Up,' 'Game,' 'El Paso,' 'Door,' 'Joan' Out in Front P.R. Shorts Eye Foreign Distrib With the intra-lndustry battle over "The Movies and You" string of public relations shorts finally ironed out, the Motion Picture Assn. of America, sponsor of the series, is now turning its attention to their bally possibilities in the foreign field. In the past week, MPAA has been showing the first four shorts to foreign dept. execs in an attempt to swing the majors behind wide overseas playingSi Whether the question of rentals-— the sore spot that stymied domestie showings for many months—will crop up again is problematical. Initial reaction of foreign dept. execs is that some of the briefies are suitable to overseas theatres and will be played there. Actual details of distribuUow have yet to be worked out. They may be han- dled either in same way as domes- tically, with each company taking care of its own particular short or by dividing the world market. In the latter contingency, each' com- pany would control the entire se- ries of 12 in an allocated country. Domestic agreement aired this week was only reached after bitter opposition by shorts subject man- agers to an initial proposal that theatres pay one-half regular rent- (Continued on page 62) and Corrine Calvet; "Thelma Jor- dan," starring Barbara Stanwyck and Jeff Corey; and "My Friend Irina," starring Marie Wilson and John Lund. First one went before the cameras Jan. 24. While east, Wallis will huddle jvith his partner in indie produc- tion, Joseph H. Hazen, and execs of Paramount, Which distributes tlie unit's product. Wallis will be east about two Weeks. work their way back ; to M, ■■. Y. Brandt and the ITOA, which have (Continued on page 17) Harry Cohn's Virus Hollywood, April 12. Harry Cohn, Columbia prexy, Who trained from New York to the Coast Thursday (7), was stricken en route with a serious virus infec- tion. He was taken home and bedded immediately upon his ar- rival here. , / Jimmy Stewart's Indie Off, Joins 20th for 1 Pic Hollywood, April 12. .limmy Stewart has inked a one- picture deal with 20th-Fox for "Blood Brothers," which starts in about four weeks. Originally intended as an indie, set up>by Lew Wasserman, Music Corp. of America prez, deal for the pic didn't work out and property went to 20lh. Julian Blau.stein, formerly with David O. Selznick, who just signed a straight two-year deal with the studio, will produce from Michael Blankfort's screenplay. Blaustein's Early spring weather and Holy Week are providingoa .handicap I this session that few' pictures are I finding able to overcome. Only I the very strongest product con- t tinues rolling up sizeable figures, 1 but several new films, just being I launched, hint plenty better biz. ; "The Set-Up" (RKO) is holding to tdp position nationally for the: second week In succession, being pacemaker in two key cities cov- ered by Variety and okay to smash in some, seven other spots.- "Ball Game" (M-G) again is a strong second boxoffice-wise.: "El Paso" (Par ) moved up into third slot, while "Knock On Door" (Col) advanced to fourth, al- though not playing many dates. "Joan of Arc" (RKO) finished fifth, showing surorising strength in a few kevs. Sixth place was copped bv "Kiss in Dark" (WB), seventh by "South of St. Louis" I (WB), and eighth money by "Ca- I nadian Pacific" (20th) (Par), new Bing Crosby starrer, , is Qfl to a flying start at Y. 1 Music Hall, while "City Across; Riyer'' (U) is showing eriough on initial playdate at N. Y. Capitol 1 to hint future possibilities. "The l Champion" (UA) also is sOck on I preem date. "Undercover Man" i (Col), which is next film into.N Y, i iparjainbunt, shapes good in Frisco, i despite dpwhheat : there and Is j stout in Providence. : j "Wake of Red Witch" (Reo^ ! looks solid in Pbrtland, Ore; "Mr.! Belvedere Go^S to CollCgeV (20th) ' going iiito N. Y. Roxy this Week, ' continues staunch in second B9I- timore week. I "Dear to Heart^' (RKO) is do- ing J okay in St, Loiiis this round. "Red StaBion" (EL) shapes aver- age in Seattle. "Force of Evil" (M*G) is surprisingly mild cur- rently in nearly . all of six keys playing. , "Sea in Ships" (20th) looms Ti i. . in,r 11 rStout in Portland, Ore. "Pride of Best runner-up pix are "Walk- vanlrppo" fRK-n^ k„ 1, ^ut iHfj Hilk" (Cnl) and "Ma and Pa! (RKO), being brought irtg Hills icon ana -ivia ana fSk ^ut on reissue just as big leagues Cohn's personal physician, Dr S>tanley Iminerman, is in constant I pact also calls for option for five fttlendance, | additional years. irtg Kettle" (U). latter mainly via two ^ bis playdates. j Four new pictures opening in I current week show high boxoffice I potentials. "Connecticut Yankee" start season, looks good in Cin- cinnati. (Co7Bplete Boxoffice Reports on Page* 8-9) Johnston Office OK^s W(fire) for Rep . "Hellfire" , was okayed as the- title for a Republic picture - by thei Motion Picture Assn. of America board at its meeting in New York . last Friday (8), As a result. Rep will switch the moniker on the pic currently in production under the label "Brimstone." Company jus- tified use of "Hellfire" on the basis that it comes from the Biblical quotation, "hellfire and brim- stone." , , Word "hell" is not permitted un- der the MPAA rules governing titles and so Rep's registration was automatically turned down by the title bureau. Company then made an appeal to the board, which felt the Biblical allusion okay, espe- cially in view of film's' subject matter, which concerns the re- generation of three men. About five titles with the pro- hibited word in them have won waivers in the past 10 years. In each case it is emphasized that it is not to be ^considered: a prece- dent.