The Film Daily (1948)

Gordon White m r ? i* d itixnate in Character ternational in Scope dependent in Thought FILE COPY DO NOT REMOVE The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Thirty Years Old NEW YORK, THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1948 TEN CENTS urn pact on "trial nno error" basis IKO Would Expand 16mm. Transportation Dates prmpaigns for Worldwide takings on Steamships, r Lines and Railroads <A concerted effort to book RKO's j| mm. product in steamships, air iers and trains has been started sales personnel in this country jjd abroad, it is learned. Effort Sorted last month with the appointfent of Jack Kennedy to a new post, charge of non-theatrical and jnsportation bookings, and is being veloped in all the company's sales ices. Phil Reisman, vice-president in (Continued on Page 8) >> Video Stations b Show Korda Pix fixteen television stations throughthe nation have purchased exisive rights to the 24 Alexander jrda features recently acquired by PIX, The News television station nounced yesterday. •Regular trailers, made originally National Screen for theatrical e and now reduced to 16 mm., will made available for all of the pic(Continued on Page 8) 3th Branches Set New ighs in Smith Drive j Surpassing by 52 per cent the vol 'ne of feature contracts negotiated 1947 in the same period, 20th-Fox ports a new all time record of atures sales for the first 18 weeks this year, it was disclosed yester ty by Andy W. Smith, Jr., general (Continued on Page 8) Korda-Goldwyn Deal For Niven 'Pimpernel9 London (By Cable) — Sir Alexander Korda and Samuel Goldwyn are reported to have closed a production distribution deal paralleling that of Korda and David 0. Selznick, but covering a single feature, "The Scarlet Pimpernel," to star David Niven. Goldwyn acquires the Western Hemisphere rights, Korda retaining those for the Eastern. U. K. Theaters Raise £57,000 for St. Paul's Memorial Shrine to V. S. War Dead in Britain London (By Cable) — British theaters, through the use of trailers on the screen and audience collections, raised £57,000 for the American Memorial Chapel Fund which will erect a national shrine in St. Paul's Cathedral in memory of the U. S. war dead buried here or who lost their lives in operations from Britain. J. Arthur Rank and Sir Philip Warter, on behalf of British exhibitors, presented the checks at a luncheon here yesterday in the presence of the U. S. Ambassador, the Lord Mayor of London, the Dean of St. Paul's and other distinguished guests. Charles Peftijohn Dies in Indianapolis Indianapolis — Charles C. Pettijohn, 67, of Rye, N. Y., former general counsel of the MPPDA (now the MPAA), died in St. Vincent's Hospital yesterday. Pettijohn, who had been in ill health for some time, came to Indianapolis two weeks ago, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Helen Lynch Pettijohn, for medical treatment. His brother, Dr. Blanchard B. Pettijohn, whose guest he was, is a physician at 5030 Washington Blvd. Other survivors include two sons, C. C. Pettijohn, Jr., a member of the MPAA Production Code Adminis(Continued on Page 8) PETTIJOHN NCFC Calls Meeting On Censor Opposition Keen industry interest is indicated for a conference to explore means to oppose censorship and for freedom of expression, to be held tomorrow at the Longacre Theater, under auspices of the National Council on Freedom from Censorship, an affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. Meeting was called, according to Elmer Rice, chairman, to determine (Continued on Page 4) Pirating of Mexican Pix By U. S. Ring Claimed Mexico City (By Air Mail) — Existence of what local film men believe is a well-organized ring making dupe prints of Mexican features showing in the U. S. and then pirating the prints in the Mexican hinterland, has been uncovered. Situation came to light with the accusation by (Continued on Page 5) Selznick Forms Tele Corp. New Compan y Will Deal in Video Programs MPAA Announces 112 Titles for Juvenile Shows Titles of 112 features approved for children's matinees, and to be made available to the 2,500 theaters now subscribing to the MPAA's Children's Film Library, were made public yesterday by the Association. They are the first to supplement the 50 features permanently in the library, and are available after regu( Continued on Page 5) Chartering of Selznick Television Corp. is seen as the initial concrete step in the long rumored desire of David O. Selznick to break into the video field. With the avowed purpose of dealing in television programs, new company was origanized in Dover, Del., with its capital comprising 1,000 shares of no par stock. Selznick, who returns today to Hollywood following a three-month Eastern visit, is understood to have spent much of that time seeking an (Continued on Page 5) Common Sense to Rule Its Working, Says BOT Head; Held Not Legal Document London (By Cable) — The working of the Anglo-American film agreement will be largely left to "common sense and trial and error," it was said here yesterday by a top Board of Trade official as the scheduled meeting of Fayette W. Allport, MPAA British rep., 'and R. G. Somervell and other BOT experts was deferred 24 hours until today. While the reason for the delay in (Continued on Page 8) ABC Talking Video Deals with Majors Growing alignment between the video and film industries is further indicated with reports yesterday that ABC is currently huddling with three majors regarding acquisition of a tele newsreel, short subjects and (Continued on Page 4) New Film Storage Vault Under Test at Capital Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Technicians from Hollywood and from film companies in New York and other Eastern cities were here yesterday for the opening (Continued on Page 4) M PEA May Be Out Of Picture in Holland Final decision as to whether the MPEA will be out of the picture insofar as Holland is concerned is expected to be reached at a meeting here today. Five majors are said to have advised that they will step out as of Sept. 1. A counter proposal said under consideration provides for the companies to use the MPEA facilities in Holland for physical distribution, but with their own sales managers. Stringent Dutch restrictions have cut playing time for U. S. pix for eight weeks for the six months to Aug. 26. Increase in admission tax from 20 to 35 per cent also has given the Dutch industry difficulty.