Variety (December 1950)

December 13, 1950 PICTURES 31 Hew American Distrib Formed Continued from page 5 about self- as 1\: started with six and later reduced to lour. Lopcrt indicated tliat an early release will be on a roadshow h'lsis and he expects to handle 100 key-city bookings iiim- pic will be “Tales of Hoff- inaii in Technicolor. Star, Moira Sliearer, and producers, Michael jn)\voll and Emeric Pressbiirger, are Ibe same as in the case of “Red Shoes.” with the pic being billed a successor to that. Fall Release Following pix won't start into >lease until fall, Lopert said. J\hi(le, as was “Tales of Hoffman,” under the Korda banner, they in- clude Carol Reed’s production of “Outcast of the Islands”; “Cry the ; Beloved Country/’ Zoltan Korda’s i ft Imitation of the Alan Paton; novel; Herbert Wilcox’s “Odette,” j “The Sound Barrier,” produced by | David Lean; “The Sleeping: Beauty,” in Technicolor, with bal-| let star Margot Fonteyn, and j David Lean’s production of “The > Sound Barrier.” 1 Korda distribution agreement is , for five years. It is for U. S. and ' the Philippines. It does not in-j elude Canada. i New organization is an outgrowth eral art theatres and financed and imported a few foreign pix. Dowl- ing will be board chairman of the new company. His City Investing owns the Astor, Victoria and Bijou on Broadway. It is partnered with Lopert in the Bijou operation. ■The old Lopert Films will be a stockholder in the new corporation and will continue to finance pro- duction abroad. All its current rcr leases and residuals will be taken over by the new company. Korda’s American company, London Films, will continue as is, with its prexy, Morris Helprin, continuing to func- tion as the producer’s factotum here. Korda’s Distrib Difficulty Korda, at one time a partner in United Artists, has had consider- able trouble since the war in find- ing satisfactory distribution in the U. S. He was releasing through 20th-Fox for a while, but that fiz- zled. Since that time, SRO, ELC and other indie distribs have han- dled various of his pix. Figured of prime importance in the trade concerning the new setup is the increasing activity of Dowl- ing in the film biz. City Investing, which owns many major buildings in the Wall street district, and has vast other holdings in a number of of a partnership of Lopert and^ Dowling group for the past sev- cities, has tremendous resouices. the eral vears. They have acquired sev- Zhere's only one Cord Xarlelon The «ntir« Mockfront of ocean-prlpacy 40th to 41 at Sta. COMPIETELV AIR-CONOmONBD Re»ervation», Walter Jacob* Also on the board of the new com- pany is Robert Goelet, associated with Dowling in many enterprises and reputed to be second only to the Astor estate in the quantity of New York real estate he holds. Other board members are Korda, who’ll be chairman of the executive committee, and Helprin, Wilfred Moeller, Harold C. Drayton and Sir Arthur Jarratt, repping the Korda group; Lopert and his attorney, Arthur Krim; and Samuel R. Walk- er and James Hutchinson, City In- vesting financial men. Lopert still has some places on the board to fill. 'Flagrant’ Abuses Continued from page 7 Person Wos Midnight Ffotur# Nighily' COIOR BV Tcchnicofor A Pnroni*unl Picture JOHN FORD'S “RIO GRANDE" starring John WAYNE • Maureen O'HARA A Republic Picture Brandt's MAYFAIR 7th Avenue A 47th Street Illegal clearances; 3. Discrimina- tion as to playdates and prints. This information will be corre- lated by Niles, and that dealing with violations of the Government decree will be forwarded to Abram F. Myers, general counsel of Allied. As to the complaints that' promises of the- general sales managers of the film companies are not being lived up to by the local exchange sales force, these, too, will be foi^ warded to Niles, who will present them to the Allied percentage com- mittee. Members of the committee are, chairman, Col. H. A. Cole, Sid- ney Samuelson, Wilbur Snaper, Irving Dollinger and Charles Niles. Also in attendance at the meet- ing were Jeff Jeffries, president of Mid-Central Allied; Hugh M. Gra- ham, secretary and treasurer; Earl Vandiver, director, Kennett, Mo.; Ted Keelan, Sheffield, 111.; Marion Bodwell, Wyoming, 111.; Paul Steel- man, Zichester, 111. Partial DPT Div¥y Curbs'Due to Finale Soon, Ending Snarl Partial restrictions on United s Paramount Theatres dividend pay- ments, as demanded under the Par antitrust suit consent decree, figure to come to an end shortly after Jan. 1. Divvy curbs and voting trust ar- rangement represented the most confusing portion of the trust pact with the Government so far as the stockholders were concerned. Head- aches aplenty for Par management also were inherent In the plan be- cause it meant added complexitie;? and problems in the stock trans- fers, plus difficulties in clearing the confusion among the security owners. Its elimination, as it is now in view, will mean immediate pay- ment of that portion of dividends which, necessarily, was withheld by the trustee (Bank of N, Y. and Fifth Avenue Bank), and there will be no more such curbs in the fu- ture. Department of Justice felt the measure was necessary to insure •that the two naw Par companies would not be subject to the control of the same group of security own- ers. Agreement provided that the old Par parent stockholders would be given regular stock certificates in the new pix outfit and certificates of interest in the theatre company. Half of the theatre^ company divi- dends were to be held by the trus- tee in all cases where the stock- holder continued ownership of pix company stock. Disposition of the pix stock meant that the holder could convert his theatre certifi- cates of interest into regular stock certificates, and collect back divvy payments. Plan further provided for termination of the arrangement when two-thirds of the interest cou- pons were converted. UPT is now well beyond the re- quired two-thirds minimum, with 2,445,664 of its shares outstanding with no restrictions. The balance of 817,612 remain represented by the interest certificates. While UPT thus has surpassed the required minimum, reason the circuit hasn’t already sought to ter- minate the trust is tliat the Justice Department some time ago agreed to lift all restrictions where in- dividuals owned 500 shares or less. In view of this concession, UPT has been awaiting the conversion of an even greater amount of interest certificates. Outfit figures that by shortly after Jan. 1 it will be ready to ask the Depai’tmen': for approval of the trust elimination and latter’s con- sent will be more of a certainty. The schedule then would call for final ratification by the U. S. dis- trict court in N. Y., which entered the Par decree. Wall Streeters Point for RKO Continued from pae;e 3 — RADIO CITY MUSIC HAH— Rockefeller Center RUDYARD KIPLING'S r\llvl ERROL FLYNN - DEAN STOCKELL Color by TECHNICOLOR A IVIetro-Goldwyn-Mayer Picture and THE MUSIC HALL'S GREAT CHRISTMAS STAGE SHOW Par Blocks Upped To 17 With ‘War,’ ‘Mating’ Number of Paramount pictures available to exhibitors in blocks has been upped to 17, with the addition of “At War with the Army” and “The Mating Season.” Under the Par System, exhibs are invited to license the entire group of 17 films and are given a 20^’c cancellation privilege. Major claims about 3,700 accounts taking prod- uct in blocks. FOR ANY EUROPEAN OPERATIONS Film, TV. Theatre. Etc. AMERICAN PRODUCER ♦ with Important Broadway, Feature Filni, Film Shorts, and Documentary Producing Credits Now resident in Paris, representing American film company, but seeking wider opp^-tunity, Good, correct French and Spanish. Several years foreign produCing^managerlal experience. Cultured, substantial literary, artistic back- ground, including association top writers, actors. Finest references, U.S.A., Abroad. Resume on Request Write Box V-762, Variety, 154 W. 46th St., New York 19,,N.Y. Bank Loans Continued from page 5 from the First National Bank of Chicago, and Manufacturers Trust Co. and Bankers Trust, both of N. Y., due on Feb. 1, 1958. Notes to the three banks made up the balance of the credit. New financing which was set with the same banks plus the insurance company, consists of $8,750,000 of 2^ 2^0 notes due serially 195V5<> and $26,250,000 of 3^2% notes due in 1971. Remaining $10,000,000 is in the form of a revolving credit which, when borrowed, will be in 31. 2 notes due in 1971. New deal will mean an immedi- ate consolidated funded debt of $35,000,000 and approximately $315,000 of underlying non-call- able obligations. UPT’s use of the additional $10,000,000 obviously will increase its debt in the same amount. UPT disclosed that Lehman Bros., N. Y. banking firm, served as technical and financial advisor in the transactions. week: “Hughes (who acquired] RKO control 2^'!> years ago) has not contributed one thing to the ■ company up to now'. It has not I been as efficiently managed as it j could be. W^e’re waiting unti'. after the first of the year, and if there’s no improvement, we’ll fight. We' can present a plenty good case to ' the other stockholders. And if | Hughes can^t make money with the I picture company, then he should liquidate it.” Others Fear Fight Most of the Wall street crowd is not as intrepid as Greenwald, fearing to get into a proxy fight with Hughes because of his vir- tually unlimited resources. It is thought that the wealthy plane and tool manufacturer might throw millions into buying up RKO shares in order to defeat any alliance against him. Should »a proxy fight develop, however, and the Wall Streeters gain control, Greenwald said, their I first effort w'ould be to operate! the RKO production-distribution company and test out its potential. I If it appeared imliossible to make itv^show a profit, there’d be no hesitation, the broker declared, in liquidating it. He revealed that he and some of his colleagues have already sounded out a major television net- work on the potential, worth of RKO's vast film library. Estimate given them was about $10,000,000 —equal to approximately $2.50 per share on the 3,900.000 shares out- standing. With the picture company slated to get about $4 per share in cash from the theatre company when divorcement takes plade at the end of this year, the Wall Streeters have- the production-dis- tribution setup figured as much more valuable than the exhibition arm. Dissolution could be highly profitable to the stockholders, they claim, since book value of the pic- ture company is about $11 per share. The combined picture-the- atre stock is currently selling on tlie New York exchange at under $7.50, while the picture company shares are selling on a When-issued basis at about $4.50. In addition to the cash coming from the theatre circuit and the sale of the film library. Wall Streeters’feel there is heavy coin in frozen m o n e y al/oad, foreign rights to pix, real estate, star con- tracts, overseas subsids, etc. Meantime, another downtown New York financial operator, J. Arthur Warner, who has been w^orking separately from, the other group, is currently on the Coast with the idea of buying up Hughes’ picture company interest. Deal on which he went to Holly- w'ood fell through last wefek, but he has determined to remain on the Coast until Jan. 1 in the hope that Hughes might still change his mind before the end-of-the-year divorcement date. Ill addition to separating the ac- tivities of the production-distribu- tion and theatre companies at that time. Hughes must give up his interest in one or the other. He has signified he’ll sell his the- atre holdings. It has also become apparent in recent w e e k s, how-! ever, that he might likewise part' W'ith his interest in the picture; company. Nothing w'ould please the ■ bi.g shareholders better, since they ■ see in that the best chance of, avoiding a proxy battfe with him. ■ Harry Brandt, at the Same time, ' is continuing his efforts to make a ' deal for Hughes’ theatre stock after divorcement. Noah Dietrich, Hughes’ principal adjutant, last W’eek sent Sam Dembow, Jr., Brandt’s negotiator, the umpteenth counter proposal they have ex- changed in eight months of talk- ing a deal. Exec committee of Trans-Lux Corp., which. Brandt controls and w’hich actually w'ould be the buyer of the Hughes stock, w’as slated to meet this week to consider the new' proposal. Brandt is known to have avail- able $1,000,000 in cash against the $6,500,000 purchase price ($7 a share) for Hughes’ stock. Hughes’ demand for a larger chunk of cash is believed a tumbling block to the deal. If there’s no sale by the end of the year Hughes wall be forced' under his antitrust decree to turn his theatre shares over to a trustee. Brandt is counting heavily on the fact that Hughes probably doesn’t want thus to give up control of the shares and, as far as is known, there are no other bidders for the theatre chain. With Sound Hollywood, Dec. 12. Five marquee names in the voice-^ less film era—William Farnum, Francis X. Bushman, Herbert Raw- linson, Betty Blythe and Helen Gibson—have been added to the cast for “The Hollywood Story” at Universal-International. They will play themselveir. 4 ENGINE DOUGLAS DC-4S OIrMt frtm La Guardia and Newark NON STOP MIAMI $39 10% Discount on Return Trip CURTIS..... $35 $I^CALIF0RNIA$72 STOP Return NORTH AMERICAN AIRLINES Free Tlcliot Del'y, Irr. Fliglits, plus tax BRyont 9-6492 603 5th Ave. (Ent. 42nd 8t.) Suite 100 BROOKLYN UL 5.3B88 HoteUSt. G eerie Clark Street BRONX LU 4-0607 2480 Gr. Conceurse (FerdhamRd) Rm 328 TRAVEL AGENTS RECOGNIZED CARE PACKAGES ARE STILL NEEDED (TAX EXEMPT) (Contributed by a friend) OUTDOOR REFRESHMENT, SERVICE from Coast to Coast •vor % Contury Refreshment Service for DRIVE - IN THEATRES PORTSERVICE CORP. poarstavicr bldg • aurrAic n » vja 2S06 Attention Film Producers A Complete Film Act Available to You by Cl 6-2426 Animation, Story Boards, Special efx. Service 1$ Calling Slldefilms, Drama on Film Growth Hig^hlij^hts Impy Dinner Dramatic presentation depicting the growth of the film industry over past .50 yeav.s, tied in w'ith developments in N. will high- light the Dec. 18 testimonial w'hich theatremen in the area are spon- soring for Mayor V’'incent R. im- pelliterri at the Hotel Astor, N. Y. Justin Herman. Paramount pro- ducer-writer, is doing the script. Thanhs i0 E,reryoue iar a €ireai DANNY O'DAY “The iMohogany Xid“ Assisted by JIMMY NELSON and his new pal HUMPHREY HIOSBY OPENING Dec. 70—Hotel El Rancho Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada. Jan. 1i— Riverside Casino Reno, Nevada. Feb. 1—Ciro's—Hollywood and ROXY THEATRE, New York Mgt. LOUIS W. COHAN 203 N. Wabash, Chicago