The Film Daily (1947)

M. F. Production Dist. 28 W. 44th St. 21st floor w™ York Y. Intimate in Character International in Scope Independent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Twenty-Eight Year* Old -1FDAILY 91. NO. 1 NEW YORK, THURSDAY, JANUARY 2. 1947 CENTS COURTSETS NEWSALESPOUCIES RKO Signs Senary to FiveYear Studio Termer Settlement of Vanguard's Pact Running to Next Nov. Before Rathvon and O'Shea By RALPH WILK West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — Dore Schary has been signed by RKO to a five year contract as executive vice-president in charge of production. The deal was signed here by Schary and N. Peter Rathvon, RKO president. It was indicated in a statement by Schary that he still has 11 months to go on his contract with Vanguard (Continued on Page 10) October Ticket Tax Yield $36393,292 Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — The November admissions tax collection fell off more than 12 million dollars from the alltime high of October, with a total "take" of $36,393,292 reported this morning by the Bureau of Internal Revenue. This figure was just a few (Continued on Page 8) Prods. Snub Inter-Faith Group Meet For Strike End West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Los Angeles — Maintaining that the studio strike stems from jurisdictional differences and that unions should settle these differences them(Continued on Page 15) D of J Gets Decree News via Film Daily Washington Bur., THE FILM DAILY Washington — The Department of Justice was unaware of the fact that the New York Statutory Court had filed its decree in the New York equity suit until informed by THE FILM DAILY on Tuesday afternoon. Pending receipt of a copy of the decree, together with the Court's accompanying memorandum and findings of fact and conclusion of law, Robert L. Wright, special assistant to the Attorney General, declined to comment. Wright headed Government counsel who prosecuted the case. UWF PURCHASES CASTLE FILMS Entire Personnel and Organization Will Remain Intact United World Films, Inc., bought Castle Films for an undisclosed sum. Deal was revealed Tuesday in a joint announcement by Eugene W. Castle, head of Castle Films, and Matthew Fox, board chairman of United World Films, Inc., recently organized affiliate of Universal Pictures, Inc. Absorption of OF marks the first step of UWF's program to enlarge its scope in the home and non^theatrical fields. Entire personnel and organization will remain intact, with CF Division continuing in production and distribution of 8 mm. silent and 16 mm. silent and sound. All present (Continued on Page 3) Air Trade Views at !T0 Charier Hearings Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — The State Department announced over the holiday that a series of informal hearings will be held for the purpose of affording all interested parties and groups to present their views regarding the proposed charter for the International Trade Organization. Although the hearings are separate from the Committee for Reci(Continued on Page 3) Decree in New York Equity Suit Limits Bidding to Competitive Areas, Places Responsibility for Fixing Reasonable Clearance on Distribs; Arbitration Ends Philly Indies Ready Four More Trust Suits In a decree that, in the main, adhered closely to its opinion of June 11 last, the Statutory Court which heard the New York equity suit on Tuesday ignored the Government demand for divorcement and a ban on crosslicensing, established drastic new sales practices featuring bidding in all competitive areas, and placed the responsibility for fixing reasonable clearances squarely upon the distributor defendants. Nothing in the decision, forbids defendant distributors from licensing any product to theaters controlled by other defendants; independents, however, are accorded the right to bid competitively, and distributors may sell to their own affiliated houses without restriction. In an accompanying memorandum, the Court, in addition to limiting competitive bidding to competitive areas, terminates the arrangement for arbitration and an appeal board and "strongly recommends" that some such system be continued "in order to avoid cumbersome and dilatory court litigation." (For full text of decree and memorandum, turn to Pages 11-14). Philadelphia — Four more anti-trust suits are expected to be filed here shortly in U. S. District Court by independent exhibitors against the major film companies, it was learned over the holiday following announcement of a new Goldman Theaters action. The Goldman suit seeks more than $8,000,000 in damages for "loss of profits, damages and expenses" allegedly incurred by the plaintiff between Dec. 8, 1942 and Dec. 18, 1946. (Continued on Page 15) Scophony Suit Motion Will Be Argued Jan. 7 The Scophony, Ltd., motion to dismiss the cross claim of Scophony Corp. of America and Arthur Levey was adjourned Tuesday in New York Federal Court until Jan. 7. Scophony, Ltd. was recently dismissed as one of the defendants in the Government anti-trust action against Paramount Pictures, Television Productions, Inc., General Precision and Equipment Corp., (Continued on Page 15) Admission Tax to 10% July 1 War's Official End Declared by President Columbus Daily Proposes 8-10% City Ticket Tax Columbus, O. — Municipal admissions tax of from eight to 10 per cent was suggested as a possible way of helping balance the 1947 Columbus budget by Charles Egger, Columbus Citizen political writer, fol( Continued en Page 8) Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — President Truman Tuesday unexpectedly declared, on his own initiative, the cessation of hostilities. Of especial importance to the pix industry is the fact that this automatically provides for the dropping of the admissions tax to 10 per cent next July 1. The 20 per cent admissions tax, (Continued on Page 8) Solons Urge World Markets Expansion Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — The House Commitmittee on Postwar Economic Policy over the holiday recommended a (Continued on Page 15) Penn. May Revive State Amusement Tax Harrisburg — Re institution of the Pennsylvania State Amusement Tax appears likely when the Legislature convenes it is reported here. The measure was dropped several years ago when it was relegated to local administration and collection. If the measure passes, Pennsylvania will have three taxes to consider.