The Film Daily (1948)

£Sf Copy atimate in Character nternational in Scope dependent in Thought : The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Thirty Years Old NEW YORK, FRIDAY, MAY, 14, 1948 TEN CENTS icnjnnv request DivoRCsmErtT vm states Flat Rental Fraud Damage Finding is Upheld ederal Judge in Boston lonfirms Special Master's :eport in Lieberman Suit Boston — The right of distributors > recover damages from fiat rental 5 well as percentage pictures in aits based on falsified percentage turns was confirmed by U. S. Dis|?ict Court Judge Sweeney in an ipinion filed here yesterday. I Judge Sweeney's opinion adopted ljnd confirmed the reports and findings of Master Phillip A. Hendrick i'hich awarded Loew's $26,875 and paramount $1,725 in suits against (Continued on Page 4) ilm Stocks Strong n Recovery Parade Film stocks were again strong in Yesterday's market hitting new highs lln their recovery from the level reached as the result of the "panic telling" that followed the U. S. Supreme Court anti-trust decision. 1 At their best figures yesterday all stocks had gained the ground lost a veek ago in the wake of the decree. (Continued on Page 5) ?ara. Holding First of 5 Division Sales Meetings First of Paramount's five divisional sales meetings of 1948 got under way yesterday at the Hotel Astor, ander the direction of Charles M. (Continued on Page 4) Pact Clarification Seen 2-Month Chore London (By Cable) — It will probably be another two months before provisions of the Anglo-American film agreement have been fully interpreted to the satisfaction of the U. K. Government and the U. S. film industry, it was learned here yesterday. John McCarthy of the MPAA, who sails from New York for this side today, is not expected to complete his mission here until late June. McCarthy will backstop and support Fayette Allport of the MPAA in the clarification discussions with Harold Wilson, BOT president. Rank's Suggestion of "Sliding Scale" Use For British Pix Stirs Ire of 17. K. Indies London (By Cable) — The CEA battle with J. Arthur Rank over film rentals for British pix boiled up at the Cardiff General Council session yesterday, with exhibs. indignant at the Rank suggestion he may adopt a "sliding scale" policy for features. The contemplated Rank scale, it is said, would start at 25 per cent, rise to 70 and 75 per cent for exceptional pix. While some indies are urging a boycott of Rank product, the CEA will wait on further clarification from Rank. Para. First Quarter Net at $7,760,1 Paramount yesterday estimated its earnings for the first quarter ended April 3, last, at $7,760,000 after all charges including estimated provision for taxes on income. This amount includes $1,846,000 representing Paramount's direct and indirect net interest as a stockholder in the combined undistributed earnings for the quarter of partially non-consolidated subsidiaries and approximately $650,000 of non-recurring income. Earnings for the comparable quarter ended April 5, 1947 were esti(Continued on Page 5) U. K.-Industry in Accord On Sterling Area Lands London— (By Air Mail)— The British Government and the U. S. film industry have reached full agreement on what countries are to be deemed in the sterling area under the Anglo-American film agreement. Included are 11 in the Americas, the Bahamas, Bermuda, Trinidad, among them; 19 territories in Africa, (Continued on Page 4) Long Pull Ahead on Pix Coin via WCC Even after months of dickering, there's still a long pull ahead so far as the World Commerce Corp. deal is concerned, an MPAA spokesman revealed yesterday. WCC, an international trading organization, has been set up for the purpose of obtaining dollars from frozen credit areas. Motion Picture Association would like to get in on the deal to help member companies get blocked funds. In theory, the WCC plan would operate something like this: Assume country XYZ exports an average of (Continued on Page 4) Wave of Construction In Minneapolis Territory Minneapolis — A wave of theater building in the Minneapolis exchange territory has become evident in the wake of the recent U. S. Supreme Court decision, with drive-ins and year-'round houses getting the goahead signal for construction activity. Harry French, president of MACO, (Continued on Page 5) Italo Equip, in S.A. Markets But U.S. Material in Greatest Demand One-Pic Companies Near U. S. Tax Settlement Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Although no details were leaking out from the Internal Revenue Bureau, it was reliably reported here yesterday that an agreement is nearly completed for the (Continued on Page 4) Chicago — While American films and equipment are in greatest demand in Central and South America, Italian films and equipment are coming into the area in larger quantities, E. L. Schimmel, director of Bell & Howell's international division, reported on returning from a 20-country tour below the border. Schimmel found keen interest in (Continued on Page 5) Old N. D. Divestiture Bill Being "Brushed Off" for Reintroduction in Three By NATHANIEL F. WOOD FILM DAILY Staff Correspondent Minneapolis — North Central Allied is "brushing off" an old North Dakota divorce bill passed in that state in 1937 and repealed a year later as a means of pressing further divorcement proceedings after "disappointment in the U. S. Supreme Court's decision to send the issue back to the lower courts." NCA plans to attack producer ownership of theaters through Congress and State legislatures — "the (Continued on Page 5) Allied, NFC To Mull Delivery Rate Cut Kansas City — Directors of National Allied and of National Film Carriers, Inc., will meet in Denver tomorrow to discuss Allied demands for rate reductions. This was announced at the Kansas-Missouri ITO convention here yesterday following a telephone discussion with James P. Clark, Philadelphia, NFC president, (Continued on Page 2) New DuMont Television Transcription System Bows Allen B. DuMont Laboratories unveiled its own system of transcribing television shows on film at a demonstration in the Park Lane Hotel yesterday. Company announced that its "teltranscription" service was perfected (Continued on Page 5) New Carrier Service For Southern IV. D. Omaha — The Pierce (Neb.) Trucking Co. has petitioned the South Dakota Railway Commission for permission to operate a new film trucking line into Southern South Dakota. Omaha — The Nebraska Carriers Association has decided to discontinue film transport service on Sundays after June 20.