Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1940)

Robert Thomsen Testifies as Nick Weston Trial Begins Union-Thealre Talks Delayed by Illness Chicago — Illness of several union officials has postponed meetings between local operators and exhibitors on new contract, according to Neil Bishop, vice-president of the lATSE local. The union is asking a 10 per cent wage boost and two weeks vacation with pay. Bishop said that any agreement made would be retroactive to September 1, when the old agreement expired. Included among the exhibitors dealing with the operators are Jack Kirsch, president of Illinois Allied, Morris Leonard of Balaban & Katz, and James Coston, Warner Bros., district manager. Local 143 Continues to Picket Three Theatres Sx. Louis — Members of Local No. 143 continue to picket the Ozark, Webster Groves, Mo., and the Osage and Kirkwood in Kirkwood, Mo., because the managements of the theatres refuse to continue the employment of projectionists of the union. The former wage scale and working agreement with the houses expired September 1, and according to Robert Thomsen, business manager for No. 143, the theatres thereafter employed non-union operators. Meanwhile, the union is continuing negotiations with independently owned theatres of St. Louis and St. Louis county relative to a new wage scale. Several weeks ago a new three-year contract was entered into with Panchon & Marco covering the Ambassador, Pox, Missouri and St. Louis in the first run field and the St. Louis Amusement Co. fleet of second run, neighborhood and suburban houses. Singles Test Proves a Success in St, Louis St. Louis — A few weeks ago the Panchon & Marco interests, seeking to satisfy the demand of many theatregoers for single feature programs, inaugurated at their Ambassador a de luxe policy under which at the single evening show all seats on the first floor and mezzanine are reserved. Instituted as a test, this policy has proven so popular it apparently has now become an established feature. On Friday, the 20th Century-Pox feature, “Brigham Young,” moved into the Ambassador. Waterloo Lyric Is Taken Over by Larry Rodgers Waterloo, Ind. — Larry Rodgers, a newcomer to the exhibition field, has taken over the Lyric here, which he plans to renovate and open the latter part of the month. Rodgers has been engaged in dance promotions and booking bands. Play "Leopard Men" Chicago — “Leopard Men of Africa” will play 27 Great States theatres starting in mid-October, according to Albert Bezel, head of Albert Bezel Road Shows, firm handling the picture for this territory. Film will open at the Princess, Joliet; Tivoli, Aurora; Rialto, Peoria, and Palace, South Bend. St. Louis — The government’s antiracketeering case against John P. Nick and Clyde A. Weston got away to a rather slow start before Federal Judge Collet here despite the presence on the stand most of the day of Robert Thomsen, business manager of Local No. 143, who was largely responsible for unhorsing the former union officials in state courts earlier in the year. On direct examination, Thomsen told how Nick and Weston took over No. 143 on orders of International President George E. Browne of the lATSE in July, 1935, and how they ruled the imion with an iron hand; and he repeated the story of how a wage agreement was effected by Nick in the fall of 1936 that provided for no changes in either wage scale or working conditions despite the fact theatre owners previously had indicated a willingness to restore a $5 week wage cut on lower scale houses put into effect in 1935. This agreement was reached while Thomsen, then business manager for the union, was absent from the gathering in the Empress Theatre building. He also gave testimony concerning some of the gangster associates of Nick and Weston who had been brought into the union during their regime or who frequented the union quarters. Testimony Olfset But on cross-examination, much of the effect of this testimony was offset by his admission there was much dissension in the union prior to the time Browne directed Nick and Weston to take over, and that the financial affairs of the local were in a deplorable condition due to poor investments and “loose” bookkeeping methods. Also that under Nick several Negro houses in St. Louis were brought into the union and a number of non-union houses in city and county were also signed up, making the district 100 per cent union. He admitted also that he had nominated Nick for first international vice-president of the lATSE at Kansas City in June, 1936. Earlier in the day, Maurice Schweitzer of Paramount, Ben Robin of United Artists, and Raymond V. Nolan of RKO, testified as to handling of motion picture films through their offices and of accounts ou side of Missouri, such as in Illinois, Iowa and Kentucky. This line of testimony was intended to establish the fact that interstate commerce was involved and that the government has jurisdiction in the case at bar. Summon Over 100 Nick is a former vice-president of the lATSE and is currently a member of the stagehands union, an lATSE affiliate. Weston was business manager for Local No. 143 for several years imtil deposed by Circuit Judge Ernest P. Oakley in connection with the receivership suit against the local. In recent weeks he has been working as a projectionist at the Miners Theatre, Collinsville, 111., under a permit. He is a member of the stagehands union. The indictments which allege that Nick and Weston violated the so-called antiracketeering act enacted by Congress in 1934 and also the Sherman anti-trust act, charge 12 coimts and cover 57 pages, requiring about an hour for reading to the jury. The government has subpoenaed more than 100 witnesses, some of them from out of town, while the defense also plans to call a couple score of witnesses in an attempt to refute the government charges, which Sigmund Bass, of defense counsel, representing Nick, and Bryan Purteet, Weston’s attorney, have asserted are mere repetitions of one another. Nick and Weston are being tried jointly under a court ruling in August denying their requests for a severance. Jury and Alternates in Nick-Weston Case St. Louis — ^The men chosen to serve on the Nick-Weston jury in the case now on trial before Federal Judge Collet follow: William A. Adams, secretary. Blue Line Chemical Co., St. Louis. John M. Bean, water engineer. Terminal Railroad Ass’n, St. Louis. Ray Chamberlain, department manager, ScruggsVandervoort-Barney Bepartment Store, St. Louis. Bernhard Boubler, auditor, St. Louis. Carter Gordon, farmer. Bunker, Mo. R. C. Gordon, credit manager. Shell Petroleum Corp., St. Louis. Fred J. Hall, surgical bandage manufacturer, St. Louis. Zack F. Hawe, president, ShaughnessyKniep-Hawe Paper Co., St. Louis. A. G. O’Neal, salesman, St. Louis. Thurston Pettus, automobile insurance underwriter, St. Louis. Tom Smith, barber, Farmington, Mo. Norman Halls, salesman, St. Louis. The two alternates are: James S. TUlman, district representative of a paper company, St. Louis, and John Uptegrove, real estate dealer, Warrenton, Mo. Keep Witnesses Names Names of government witnesses are being kept secret, but among those called are believed to be many local film figures. The two defendants were the leaders of Local 143, projectionists’ union, before they were forced out by a dissident faction. The trial jury has been selected and sworn in, and, on the motion of Judge Collet, it was decided to keep them together during the entire trial. This is the first time this procedure has been resorted to in local federal courts since the Egan Gang mail robbery case nearly 20 years ago. To expedite the trial, which is expected to take almost two weeks. Judge Collet is lengthening court sessions. They will last from 9:30 a. m. to 6 p. m. dahy. To save time. Judge Collet waived reading of the 57-page indictment against Nick* and Weston, but outlined its principal points to the jurors in making the necessary examination of their qualifications. Assistant Attorney-General Roscoe T. Steffen, in charge of anti-trust investigations here for more than a year, is in charge of the prosecution and is being assisted by Paul V. Ford and Marvin Coles of his staff and United States Bistrict Attorney Harry Blanton. The maximum punishment upon conviction under the anti-racketeering act is ten years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000 under each count, while the Sherman act carries maximum punishment of a year in jail and a fine of $5,000. There are 11 counts of alleged racketeering, and (Continued on page 86) BOXOFFICE :: September 14, 1940 C 83