The Film Daily (1945)

idnesday, August 22, 1945 DAILY viiys Slate Depl. rtils on U. S. Films (Continued from Page 1) :;iAn that recently expressed by some ;! er industry leaders. rasing his criticism on observa Ss made during his tour, Gould •ged at an industry press connce that the State Department pursuing a do-nothing policy iijfere this nation's film business was cerned. This policy, he asserted, « 3 seriously hampering the in.try's efforts to re-establish itself '■ a going concern in the European 1 ntries, especially France, which i: called the crux of the whole diff ilty facing the marketing of our : een product on the continent. Gould contended that the State )epartinent, failing to take ad'antage of the tremendous world irestige enjoyed by the United '^ Hates at the moment, had done Jj ittle toward helping to remove he obstacles placed in the way if the American film industry larticularly in France. ?he UA foreign executive called the adoption of a more vigorous I "eyes-up" policy by the State ■ partment in the interests of Amern screen entertainment in France 1 elsewhere in Europe. Should Get Recognition If the picture business has come age and is such a vital factor in •moting the American way of life," uld asserted, "it should get recogion from the State Department 1 its flunkies so that it won't have come with its hat in its hand." The State Department was asked Gould to "notify its people in no certain terms that American pieces should have the right of way 3 should be subject to no dismination abroad." It also was ?ed that the American film in;try be left free to exercise selfg u 1 a t i 0 n in its operations in rope. Gould added that he wanted see in the State Department ople who are sympathetic to our lustry." Criticism also was levelled at the ite Department for an excess of i tape which Gould said greatly HOLLYWOOD SPEAKING Br lALPH WILI; TO THE COLORS! * DECORATED * •FC. WADE HALL, formerly of Warner Bros, tsburgh exchange, now serving with the S. Army in China, the Combat Infantrymen's ige and Distinguished Service Citation for standing service in Burma. • PROMOTED * RP. MARTY CLAZER, formerly publicist for the Paramount and Fenway, Boston, to sergeant with Army public relations office in the Pacific. • n)wy • ILIAM M. DUTTON, Wilby-Kincey employe, Tuscaloosa, Ala., to U. S. Naval Training I School, Bainbridge. Md. I LFH CECIL BLANTON, Wilby-Kincey employe, 1, Selma, Ala., to US.N.T.C. Great Lakes, III. HOLLYWOOD Major producers point to soaring producpRANK GRUBER'S best-selling Detective tion figures as emphasizing failure of jurisJohnny Fletcher mystery novels, with an dictional film strike, now in its 24th week, already formed reader audience of more On top of last week's record, the highest than 10,000,000, will be brought to the ! since the strike began, the nine majors screen by Walter Colmes who will produce reported 13 films scheduled to start this and direct. Gruber will write the screenplays i week, with 40 of those previously reported of his eight books. Albert Dekker, will play still in production. This represents an inthe stellar role of Fletcher, and Mike Ma crease of 16 over the number of films shootzurki, Fletcher's strong-arm buddy in the ing when the strike was called on March episodes, Sam Cragg. I 12, and is 10 more than were before the • • I cameras a year ago. Some of the melodies which George Employment figures for office workers Gershwin jotted down in his notebooks and and publicists remain stable. An increase was planning to use when death overtook of 23 office employees on their jobs kept him in 1937 will be heard for the first the SOEG record well over 75 per cent time scon in 20th-Fox's "The Shocking Miss at work; 122 publicists are at work, 39 more Pilgrim." ' than are respecting picket lines at the major Zanuck's Statement on State Dept. Post Offer 1 Murphy Again Elected President of SAG West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — In connection with reports that he is under consideration for a post in State Depai'tment, Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th CenturyFox production, issued the following statement: "I have requested my friends in Washington to abstain fi'om bringing up my name for any public office. Naturally, I feel flattered, at the same time, however, it is my sincere belief that motion pictures which have contributed so much to war effort, can be of immense further good in the coming year. For that reason, I feel that I can be of more service in my present capacity as a motion picture producer." One report was that Zanuck was being strongly considered for the post of Assistant Secretary, the position vacated by Archibald MacLeish. West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — George Murphy has been re-nominated for a second term as president of the Screen Actors Guild. The Guild election will be held by mail prior to the annual membership meeting which will be held the latter part of September. Sustain Arbitration Award The arbitration award in the clear' ance complaint brought by Estates Theatei's, operators of the Utopia, Queens, against Loew's, Paramount, RKO Radio, Warner Bros., 20th-Fox and the Utopia Amusement Corp., operators of the Mayfair, the same borough, has been sustained on appeal. The complainant had asked I that seven days' clearance enjoyed I by the Mayfair be eliminated entirely or reduced to one day. handicapped the travel of film men in Europe. American business men, including those representing the film industry, were found by him to be at a disadvantage in Europe. Not Helping in France? Gould said that the French government in its efforts to encourage the development of a wholly-native film industry was making it tough for the American companies to operate in France. He added that the State Department was offering no help to resist this trend. "By devious methods the French legislators are going to try to stop us," Gould said. "By every known way the French are trying to find a way to stop American pictures from making money." It was Gould's belief that European governments were "playing football" with the American film industry. He regretted that "our Government instead of putting its foot down tolerates the situation." According to Gould, "the people of France are for us, but the producers are against us." He charged that "the French producers are out to get us" in spite of the fact that the French people are enthusiastic about American film entertainment. Charges French "Bad Faith" The French were accused of "bad faith" in adopting a percentage scale for domestic and non-domestic films which at first glance made it seem that the non-domestic pictures, among which ai'e included the American, were getting the better of it. The arrangement, according t o Gould, calls for a minimum charge of 45 per cent for all films made outside of France, while the home-made product could be sold down to 30 per cent. In this he saw a scheme to get the French exhibitors to buy the cheaper-priced domestic pictures and so cut down the market for American pictures. He charged that adoption of the percentage arrangement was a deliberate attempt to "put the brakes on U. S. pictures at the box office." Gould said that although the masses in Europe like our filin entertainment many European government officials are looking askance at American pictures because "it doesn't seem to suit those in authority to see a free flow of Ameiican thoughts and ideas in Europe." His trip, Gould said, brought home to him that the Europeans "want to do business with us on their terms." Gould reported that double bills and flat rental deals had been eliminated in France. Allied Plans Jobs Via Tliea. Renovation (Continued from Page 1) tors which went into session at the William Penn Hotel here, following the adjournment of the meeting of the Conference of Independent Exhibitors. Allied's intentions to sponsor such a campaign will be forwarded today to President Truman. In a special message to President Truman, the Allied board will pledge to him the continued support and co-operation of the independent theaters throughout the post-war era and, further, give the President assurances that the independent exhibitors will welcome returning veterans to their former, and wherever possible better, jobs. The regional associations, the President will be told, will endeavor to place former exhibitors seeking jobs in theaters or help them to establish theaters of their own. The message also will congratulate President Truman on the victorious ending of the war and express the board's admiration of the way in which he has discharged his high responsibility in a most critical period in world history. The Allied board will continue its sessions today when the matters of film rentals, checking and sales policies will be discussed. "Southerner" Ban Lifted; UA Threatens Legal Moves (Continued from Page 1) served notice that the had instructed the legal department of the company "to institute suit against any group of censors which tries to box out 'The Southerner' from any theater box office in any city or town in the United States." Memphis Service Theater Plays Banned 'Southerner' Memphis, Tenn. — In spite of its ban on order of Lloyd T. Binford, chairman of the Memphis Board of Censorship, "The Southerner" has been shown in Memphis and customers were turned away. The run was at the Fourth Airforce Ferrying Group theater. Meanwhile the Memphis PressScimitar, in answer to inquiries, published the information that the picture could be seen at a drive-in outside the city limits and in the nearby towns of West Memphis, Ark., Millington, Collierville, and Covington, Tenn. Al Ptak Convalescing Cleveland — Albert E. Ptak, vicepresident of the Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Association and owner of the Lyceum Theater, has been dismissed from Deaconess Hospital following an operation and is completing his convalescence at home.