The Film Daily (1945)

Monday, August 20, 1945 ^m DAILY Peace Problems Face CIE and Allied (Continued from Page 1) morning, the discussions to be centered on the New York consent decree and the forthcoming trial of the equity suit, scheduled for Oct. 8. Among the post-war problems to go before the Allied board will be the "jackrabbit" 16mm. shows, sale of Government surplus equipment and films, re-employment of returning veterans, furnishing employment by renovation of theaters, the boon or menace of prefabricated theaters. Government financing for "small business," television and civic affairs. Under the heading of film prices, the board will take up policies of particular exhibitors, Metro's 19 points, need for downward revision during demobilization and reconversion and panel discussion on Cara■van. The question of whether there lis an acceptable substitute for checking will be mulled, as well as checking methods by the distributors. Experiences with Confidential Reports to date will be gone over, according to the agenda. I As to the Government's suit, there will be a report on recent developments and reports on field investigations in Allied and co-operating terjritories. The Goldman case will be given considerable consideration, because of its importance to exhibitors who cannot qualify for relief under Section X of the consent decree. 1 Those who have made reservations for the Allied board meetings are Nathan Yamins, Francis Lydon and Walter Littlefield, New England; Dr. J. B. Fishman and Maxwell Alderman, Connecticut; Harry H. Lowenstein, Ii-ving Bollinger, Lee ;Newbury and E. Thornton Kelley, New Jersey; Sidney Samuelson and Harry ChertcoflF, Eastern Pennsylvania; Meyer Leventhal, Maryland; M. A. Rosenberg, Morris Finkel and Fred J. Herrington, Western Pennsylvania; Martin G. Smith, P. J. Wood, Leo Jones, Leo Yassenoff, C. F. Pfister, Ohio; Ray Branch and Fred Pennell, Michigan; Roy Harrold and Trueman Rembusch, Indiana; Jack Kirsch, Illinois; John P. Adler, W. L. Ainsworth and Harry Perlewitz, Wisconsin, and Col. H. A. Cole, Texas. Attending for the CIE will be Hugh Bruen and Robert Poole, California; Jesse Stem and associates. SERD BIRTHDflV GREETinGS TO: AUG, 20 Charles Boasberg Hyatt Daab Fred A. Kelsey Ted Donaldson • • • IF THE ENTENTE CORDIALE between the American and British film industries required a further bit of cementing, it undoubtedly got it on Friday when former Gov. Carl E. Milliken, MPPDA secretary, called at the Sherry Netherlands to escort Maj. Reginald Baker, President of Britain's KHS, to the Waldorf-Astoria luncheon of industry toppers The Major (who told the story with gusto at the luncheon) thoughtfully elected to leave that cartoon symbol of the Englishman, his rolled umbrella, in his suite Imagine, then, his reaction when he found that the Governor was equipped with — you guessed it!— his own rolled umbrella T T T • • • V-I DUST: Last year a group of local filmites, including Maj. David Silverstein, widely known scenarist, made a vow to open a bottle of champagne on V-J Day to toast the end of the war and future America V-J night Ben Serkowich, the Capitol's advertising manager, ordered a S16 bottle at Harry Elgort's Sportsman Cafe to keep the vow But a toast was added to the major, head of the script dept. at the Astoria Photographic Center, who died last year at Halloran from wounds received in the first World War Odd's End: The waiters, who also knew Silverstein and helped drink the toast, were pooling for the price of the bottle when Elgort snatched the check and they say Broadway is cold-blooded! T T T • • • THE PERSONAL TOUCH: WilUam Fass, traffic manager for Paramount International, today celebrates his 25th year with Paramount. Fass started with the company in 1920 as a messenger boy. . . • Vince Trotta, National Screen Service's art director, and dean of judges in the Atlantic Ciiy "Miss America" beauty pageant, will make this his 11th year of surveying the nation's best in feminine pulchritude. Among others who will serve to ogle this year's crop will be iVIike Todd, Lois Wilson, Vyvyan Donner New York; Ben Berger, Minnesota; Leo Wolcott, Iowa and Nebraska. Berger Confers in Capitol On NCAE Grievances Itaslnngton Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — Benjamin Berger, representing North Central Allied exhibitors, conferred Friday with Several Senators and Repi'esentatives whom he refused to name concei'ning the complaint of his organization against alleged high rentals, poor percentage deals and other abuses by distribs. which his group has been fighting. He said he had a gratifying reaction to the circular letter on these complaints sent to members of Congress last Spring. Berger conferred also with Milton Kallis of the Anti-Trust Division of the Department of Justice, offering the Government additional evidence to use in the New York antitrust suit against the "Big Five." He left here Saturday for New York and will attend the Allied board meeting in Pittsburgh this week. Cyril Scott Dies Cyril Scott, 79, veteran legitimate actor, died Thursday in Parsons Hospital, Flushing, L. I. Roy Rogers Heading East On Four-City Rodeo Tour Republic announced on the weekend that Roy Rogers will come East for a rodeo tour which will take the star to Philadelphia, Montreal, New York and Boston. His p.a.'s in Philadelphia's Arena will be for the span of Sept. 13-21, inclusive; in Montreal's Forum, Sept. 23-30, inclusive; New York's Madison Sq. Garden, Oct. 3-Nov. 4, inclusive; and in Boston's Garden, Nov. 8 through the 18th. Appearance will also be made at various Army and Navy hospitals. Company has made elaborate plans to mesh Roger's tour with theaters shomng his product, so that such houses can cash in on attendant publicity. His current release is "Man from Oklahoma," and he has completed "Sunset in Eldorado" and "Along the Navajo Trail," as well as "Don't Fence Me In," the first of two special productions on Republic's 1945-46 program, each of which is budgeted at $500,000. Codd Opens in New Canton Chicago — John Codd has opened the Gem at New Canton. lA Executive Board To Mull AFL Order (Continued from Page 1) executive board of the Alliance at a conference expected to be held in about a month. The disclosure was made on Friday by Richard F. Walsh, head of the lATSE, following his return from Chicago, where he appeared before the AFL executive council, which discussed the strike at a 10-day meeting in the Drake Hotel there. The order was issued by the council after hearing Walsh and others at the final session of the conference on Tuesday. Should the lATSE's executive board refuse to abide by the order, the AFL executive council will consider what further action to take to force the alliance to comply. Walsh up to now has been adamant in his refusal to withdraw the charters issued to the studio union groups by the lATSE. "We don't want to disobey the AFL," Walsh asserted, "but we do want permission to run our business without the interference of Commies and others." The reference to "Commies" was made in connection with the lATSE's stand against alleged Red infiltration of studio unions affiliated with the AFL. _ It is understood that the AFL council named a committee at its Chicago conference to investigate these asserted communistic activities, acting on the basis of evidence presented by the lATSE. Report UA Into Theater Biz Here and in Chicago (Continued from Page 1) pictures to play the Winter Garden and perhaps be the lead-off feature. The deal for the Oriental, an independent house, reportedly becomes effective in September, with four UA pictures already dated. UA executives were unavailable for comment at the week-end. Wolfe Cohen to Make South American Tour Wolfe Cohen, vice president of Wai-ner International, plans to leave Sept. 4 for his first tour of the South American territory under his jurisdiction. Atomic Bomb's Test Footage in ]\ewsreels Approximately 100 feet of the first films of the Atomic Bomb has been released to the newsreel pool by the Army for inclusion in tomorrow's issue by all the companies. The details of the bomb, of course, remain a secret, but the filming of the first test in New Mexico, taken from a point six miles away, offers plenty food for thought.