The Film Daily (1948)

Motion ilcture Association i*est 4~th Street F'LE COPY timate in Character ternational in Scope dependent in Thought Th« 3 Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Thirty Years Old )3, NO. 99 NEW YORK, FRIDAY. MAY 21. 1948 TEN CENTS Onn. CASE TESTS FUTURE Of BRBITRBTjOjl VIP A A Backs MPEA as Indies Under -Sell Abroad nef its Seen Outweighing ccasional Losses; Some bmpanies Said Restive Q By ANDREW H. OLDER ashington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY [Washington — That MPAA will erlook no bets to hold the MPEA ijjether was obvious this week from IJjscussions this reporter has had agth officials of the MPAA. Al iiiough there are "the usual crop" complaints about under-selling by Jjlependents in this country or that (Continued on Page 4) {(Safety Film Would olve U. K. Problem ji 'LlLondon (By Cable) — Revelation by %.j. Gen. Edward P. "Ted" Curtis, !istman Kodak ^ice-prexy, that the ijiimpany hopes to jioduce its new rfety film base i| a commercial nale raised hopes i|re that the fjpme Office may i persuaded to |[fer its planned jjw safety regulations. Curtis, feted sterday at a HA luncheon, jd Eastman ans to conduct series of tests the new base sre, similar to ose made in the U CURTIS If the tests (Continued on Page 4) Would Finance French Subsidy with 25 % Tax Paris (By Cable) — A billion francs subsidy for the French film industry, to be recovered via a 25 per cent tax on receipts of all producers, and on foreign films shown in this country, is proposed by Communist Party representatives in the National Assembly. Introduced by Communist Deputy Fernand Grenier, proposed legislation is under consideration by an Assembly committee. Bill is designed to promote "a rapid and massive production of French films." SELZNICK PLANS SPECIAL TELE PIX Will Completely Divorce Video Production from Making of Theatrical Entertainment David O. Selznick will completely divorce production of entertainment for television from his regular output for the nation's theaters, an informed SRO spokesman said yesterday. Pointing out that the producer was anxious to be fully prepared to meet the anticipated demands of the video medium, spokesman said that, it was for this reason that preliminary steps have been taken in the form of chartering a new Delaware corporation, Selznick Television Corp., organization of which was exclusively disclosed by The Film Daily yesterday. Spokesman was emphatic in denying that the producer had any plans to make either his past or future feature length product available to television but would concentrate on a special type of production designed to meet video's specific needs. Ulman Would Block Schine Rebuilding Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Threat of a trebledamage suit as a means of keeping an independent circuit out came to the fore here yesterday as the Department of Justice admitted it is investigating plans of the Schine circuit to construct a new 1,800(Continued on Page 6) Public Relations Institute On Pix and Video Next Wk. Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Public relations employment of pix and video will be given a thorough going over next week as the American Public Relations Association holds its first public relations institute here. Tuesday (Continued on Page 6) Bergman, Crosby Head Companion With more than one in every four women in agreement, Ingrid Bergman is the favorite film actress of Women's Home Companion readers for the second year in succession. Bing Crosby heads the list of male stars for the third year, at the same time increasing his voting average (Continued on Page 4) Loew's Int'l Realigns Latin American Managers A realignment of managerships of three Latin American offices is announced by Morton A. Spring, first vice-president of Loew's International, who emphasized that the transfers are in line with company policy (Continued on Page 6) TOA Readies for Youth Month Slcouras Lists Chairmen of State Groups Wolfberg Reelected Prexy Of Rocky Mountain Allied Denver — John Wolfberg was renamed president of Allied Rocky Mountain Independent Theaters at closing session of the organization's annual meeting. Joe Ashby was reelected general manager, while Wal( Continued on Page 6) State chairmen of TOA's Youth Month campaign were announced yesterday by Charles P. Skouras, national chairman of the drive against juvenile delinquency, fostered by TOA at the request of Attorney General Tom C. Clark and the National Conference on Prevention and Control of Juvenile Delinquency. Campaign initially calls for the (Continued on Page 6) Crown, Hartford, Files First Complaint Since Kayo by Supreme Court Test of whether the "Big Five" will voluntarily accept arbitration as a continuing method of settling clearance disputes is imminent following a demand for arbitration on, the issue of clearance filed with the New Haven tribunal by the Crown Management Corp., operators of the Crown Theater, Hartford, Conn. Representing the first complaint to be filed with the American Arbitration Association since the May 3 (Continued on Page 6) Mecca Building Sold To National Screen Herman Robbins, president of National Screen Service Corporation, announced last night that he had closed a contract for the purchase of the Mecca Building at 1600 Broadway, (Continued on Page 6) RKO Near Deal for Rhoden Interest in K. C. Main St. Kansas City — RKO will open and operate the long closed Main St. Theater here in the near future if present negotiations leading to ac (Continued on Page 6) MPEA-Bond Confabs To Decide Dutch MUt. Pending receipt of a report by a special committee appointed to confer with officials of the Dutch Bioscoop Bond, decision was withheld yesterday by the board of directors of the Motion Picture Export Association on future operations in The Netherlands. Committee, consisting of Irving Maas, MPEA vee-pee, Frank McCarthy, MPAA Continental manager, and two member company Continental managers, will proceed to Amsterdam late this month for the Bond confabs. Understood that five or six of the companies favor use of MPEA's facilities for physical distribution, but with their own sales execs.