The Film Daily (1942)

'■I. Wednesday, December 9, 1942 3fe I Study Group Urged g By Ed Kuykendall (Continued from Page 1) year," Kuykendall said, "it was a igreed that the basis for the solu-i :ion to problems would be solely in A ;he Jiands of the top active ex scuv s. Instead, the lawyers were ■; feorr^st into it and the company t leads were absent." Wants No "Mouthpieces" Dwelling on the same subject in .in organization bulletin also issued /esterday, Kuykendall urged that a 'study committee" should not be selected to represent particular groups and interests, or as the 'mouthpieces" for organizations or 'actions with an axe to grind and a let idea to hold out for. "They should be competent, well nformed distribution executives .'not lawyers) and actual theater >wners or managers with long ex)erience in the business who thormghly know the business of disribution and exhibition," Kuykenlall wrote. "They are not expected o commit their company nor their jrganization to anything nor to )e the spokesmen for anybody but ;hemselves, nor to negotiate any leals or agreements. "Thus," he continued, "they will >e free to examine each problem :arefully and impartially, find out vhether it is fancied or real, impor;ant or insignificant, and consider low it could be solved, or what ought :o be done about it. What is done ibout it would then be up to the •esponsible leaders and organizations n the industry, but not to the study :ommittee, who must be free from ,he obligation of executing any agreements or enforcing any plan, n order to do the preliminary job "airly and impartially." Would End "Headaches" Because of the many "headaches' n the business, Kuykendall urged igain that the important and responsible factors in the industry :onsider the establishment of such i "study" council or "research" :ommittee to undertake the impor;ant job of making an "earnest, imlartial study of our trade problems" ind lay the foundation for their soution. "In this way," he said, "a definite md generally accepted set of busiless standards for the improved WEDDING BELLS Wilkes-Barre, Pa. — Joseph Kearns, issistant manager of the Comerford Theater, now in the Navy, was marked to Annette O'Malia in St. There's Church. Scranton, Pa. — Rita Rosemary 3mith of the home office of the Jome:ford Circuit, and Norman H. Schroeder were married in St. Peter's Cathedral here. Bearded Monty Woolley' s Popularity Makes Tough Sledding For Prestige of Santa Claus Monty Woolley, — in town for the local premiere of his new 20th-Fox hit today at the Roxy — , beneficently appeared from 11 a.m. to noon yesterday as Santa Claus in Macy's, and his performance was literally a near-riot as thousands of kiddies gathered with their elders about the Grand Throne. The Hollywood star was traditionally costumed, but needed a minimum of makeup because of his natural beard, which he merely combed out to accent its luxuriance. So close-packed became the awed and enthusiastic crowd that the Woolley countenance was bathed in perspiration despite the crisp outdoor temperature. Dick Condon, aide to 20th-Fox's Hal Home, was the "reindeer" charged with delivering Woolley to his personal appearance, along with a battery of Movietone News cameramen. Typical of the sophisticated rising generation, which is thoroughly movie-minded, one kid, en route to the Grand Throne, protestingly and loudly wept: "I don't wanna see Santa Claus, I wanna see Monty Woolley!" U. S. Instructional Film Bids Returnable Dec. 14 Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Invitation to instructional film companies to bid on the approximately 140 productions scheduled for 1943 by the Office of Education are returnable Dec. 14. The document covering the individual bids comprises 42 pages and specifies that each unit will consist of (1) a sound film; (2) a slide dim, sound or silent; and an accompanying instructional manual in the number of 5,000 copies. The Office of Education has specified various amounts per unit which the bidder can select, and these amounts range from $4,000 to $8,000, rising from the first-named figure to the last in progression of $500. For che selected amount, the bidder must tell the Office of Education just what it will receive for the amount chosen. Any bidder who has made at least 10 sound motion pictures in the past two years is eligible to bid, and, further, must furnish the information as to for whom the pictures were made and include reference. Films planned by the Office of Information cover machine shop, shipbuilding, aviation work, plus possible blocks of farm machinery, engineering, and other allied critical war training areas. Stipulation is made that if the producing organization employs technicians and other labor to work on the pictures on such days as New Year's, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas Day, no premium wage or extra compensation except time-and-a-half wage for said work will be conduct of our industry can be worked out and defined, one that we can all respect and defend as fair and just. No such standards of right and wrong, or definition of fair competitive practices, even exist today. How can we determine ethical business conduct without it, let alone plan effective organized self-regulation?" Kuykendall warned against confusing self-regulation of trade practices with the bargaining and trading over film prices. To drag in that issue, he asserted, would wreck any plan for self-regulation, as it did UMPI. "Must we wait again?" he asked, "until we are on the brink of disaster before we try to regulate our own business methods or until the Government forces action on us so the attempt will again be hasty, reluctant and insincere?" Still Wide-Open Bidding For "Life with Father" Reports circulated yesterday to the effect that the spirited bidding by film companies for the screen rights to the Howard Lindsay-Russel Crouse sensational legit comedy, "Life With Father," has narrowed down to bids made to Producei Oscar Serlin by Warners and Samuel Goldwyn were denied yesterday the Serlin offices contending that the bidding is "still wide open" to the studios which have sought the property. Latter, it is asserted, comprise Warners; Samuel Goldwyn; Mary Pickford, for United Artists; David O. Selznick; and Columbia, and, on a different basis, 20th-Fox, RKO Radio, and Paramount. Virtually without exception, each is clearly willing, it is added, to meet the financial terms, declared to be a minimum of $500,000. However, Serlin has listed certain conditions, which have become known in the negotiations as his "ten commandments," governing the making of the property into a feature film. What these conditions are is not revealed, but Serlin himself discloses his insistence that he and his associates have a definite "say-so" in how the play is translated to the screen, and, if this takes place, the conditions will have to be met. Kalmine Calls WB Zone Managers' Parley Friday (.Continued from Page 1) all Warner zone managers starting Friday morning at the home office. Joseph Bernhard, who recently took leave of absence for service in the Navy, is expected to participate in the sessions. Zone managers attending will include James Coston, Chicago; Nat Wolf, Cleveland; I. J. Hoffman, New Haven; Don Jacocks, Newark; C. J. Latta, Albany; Ted Schlanger, Philadelphia; M. A. Silver, Pittsburgh; John J. Payette, Washington; Louis J. Halper, Hollywood; and Howard Waugh, Memphis. Among the home office executives participating will be Clayton Bond, Harry Goldberg, Leonard Schlesinger, Frank N. Phelps, Sam E. Morris, Abel Vigard, W. Stewart McDonald, Harry Rosenquest, Louis Kaufman, Frank Marshall, Herman Maier and Martin F. Bennett. Goldman Trust Suit Names WB, Majors (Continued from Page 1) monopoly of all first-run situations in the city. Defendants include Metro, Paramount, 20th CenturyFox, Columbia, Warners, Universal and UA. The action is the result of Goldman's inability to secure first-run product for his recently-acquired Erlanger, having leased the house in November, 1940, for a term of 10 years at a minimum rental of $12,000 a year. In the bill, it is alleged that the defendants refused Goldman permission to exhibit any fustrun pictures whatsoever, allegedly because of "said illegal combination and conspiracy to monopolize the entire motion picture industry, particularly in the Philadelphia district." Goldman contends that he has been deprived of access to a free and open market to buy pictures and has been relegated to an "inferior position where he may obtain product only on the last run no matter how fine his theater is, and no matter how much he would be willing to pay tor pictures in a free and open market." It is further alleged that the defendants conspired to monopolize che entire film industry in the Philadelphia district by agreeing among chemselves that all the motion pictures produced by the defendants should be exhibited "on desirable runs only by the defendants." In a supplementary statement by William A. Gray, attorney for Goldman, he explained that the significance of this case has not only to do with restraint of trade, violation of ethical business practices, and legal statutes as alleged in the oill of complaint, "but it likewise results in many gross injustices to movie audiences in the Philadelphia area." It is charged that the lateness in the exhibition of pictures to the Philadelphia public is due to the fact that "Warner Bros, has a great backlog of unplayed pictures. By reason of the monopolistic overall control of all theaters and film in this city, they release pictures to the public when it suits their particular pattern." The Warner organization is also charged with regulating admission price policy of the theaters throughout the area because of its alleged control of product. Goldman operates a circuit of houses here and in various towns in Eastern Pennsylvania. STORKS New Haven — Sidney Kleper, manager of the Bijou here, and M: s. Kleper are parents of a seven-pound baby girl, Bonnie Eileen, born at I St. Francis Hospital, Hartford.