The Film Daily (1947)

111 ma Tuesday, July 8, 1947 Let Films Educate, Too, Mayer Urges (Continued from Page II American way of life, and it can be a powerful influence in the lives of the millions in other countries who are either denied access to our way of life, or who have never had the opportunity of experiencing it." This, Mayer reminded, is "not propaganda," and he continued, "Propaganda as such should never masquerade under the cloak of entertainment. Subjects of controversy should be clearly designated." Observing that the U. S. had no quotas and that foreign films are exhibited here on the same basis as U. S. pix, Mayer pointed out that the contrary situation prevailed in most countries abroad, and that some discriminate against American films. "The barbed-wire entanglements erected at the borders of nations must be untangled, if the countries are to be prosperous and the people happy," he warned. The industry, Mayer concluded, while a mighty institution, "has hardly begun to use its facilities," and he expressed the opinion that "its possibilities of power and influence are greater than any other single instrumentality." 1947 Grosses Seen As Equal To 1946 (Continued from Page 1) "although not alarming" decline. Hardest hit is the San Francisco area primarily as the result of the disappearance from the locale of the large number of military personnel quartered and embarking from there during the war. The Midwest is also off a bit, with the Eastern seaboard holding up very well, Kingsberg said. Eklund Takes Over Co. Detroit — Motor City Picture Prods. is now known as the R. H. Eklund Motion Picture Prods., having been taken over by Ralph Eklund, sole owner, following the withdrawal of Joseph G. Kastler and James F. Troy, former associates. Company is now located at 19766 Monica Ave. SICK LIST LEW BARASCH, UA trade contact, is home with a knee injury. JOE LEAVITT, of the Independent Screen Room, Cleveland, and one of the charter members of Local 160, lATSE, is at University Hospitals, convalescing from an operation. HARRY MILLER, Festus, Mo. exhib., checked in at the McMillan Hospital, St. Louis, yesterday, to undergo an eye operation for the removal of a cataract. He will be there for five or six weeks. HOLLVUJOOD-VmE VflRD By RALPH WILE HOLLYWOOD DETTE DAVIS' first pic this year will be "Winter Meeting," being scripted by Catherine Turney from the novel by Esther Vance. Henry Blanke will produce for Warners. ... Vk* U-l has set Vincent Price for the role of Boss Tweed in "Up In Central Park," the Deanna Durbin-Dick Haymes Technicolor musical. ... "A* Richard Lyon, son of Ben Lyon and Bebe Daniels, has been given the part of Joe E. Brown's son in "The Tender Years," an Alson Production for Twentieth-Fox release. . . . -^ Ava Gardner will probably star opposite Robert Taylor in M-G-M's "This Is Love" which Sam Marx will produce. ... -^ Janet Blair and Louis Hayward go into Columbia's "The Black Arrow.". . . -^ Michael Curtiz is planning a musical, "Forever And Always," from an original by Jerry Wald, for Warner release. J. W. is also a Warner producer. . . . -^ Benedict Bogeaus has purchased Ben Hecht's "Miracle In The Rain," published some time ago in the Satevepost. To be released through UA, it will star Ida Lupino, who recently formed Arcadia Productions with Bogeaus. . . . if; Producer Edward Nassour has signed a two-year releasing deal with Allied Artists calling for four films on a $5,000,000 budget, and several for Monogram. Two scheduled for AA release are Haven McClure's "Onward," followed by "Panamint City.". . . -^ Columbia has negotiated with the Beckworth Corp. for the release and distribution of two Rita Hayworth productions each year for the next seven years. "Doctor's Orders" Cause Clark to Quit PRC Post (Continued from Page 1) the home office since late May when he left on a four-week vacation. A checkup last week revealed the necessity for additional rest. Clark plans to leave for the Coast sometime this week, to take advantage of climatic conditions there, and to allow him to spend some time with his son, Ralph Clark, Jr., who is sales manager of PRC's Frisco exchange. Clark's successor will be announced at a later date. Gorrel-Mishkind to Fight Clearance Relief Denial Cleveland, O. — S. P. Gorrel and Leonard Miskind, owners of the Orr and Grand Theaters in Orrville, state they will appeal the arbitration award stipulated by Sidney Jackson, which denied any of the relief sought in the suit. Appeal will be based on other appeal decisions eliminating cleai*ance of one town where the complainant theater is sandwiched between two towns both of which have clearance over it. The Jackson award granted Wooster 14 days clearance over Orrville and Massilon a maximum of seven days over Orrville. Wessling, Formerly of Pathe, Dies in Portland Portland, Ore. — Walter Wessling, 65, booker and former manager of the local Monogram exchange, is dead. Wessling opened Pathe exchange here in 1905 and was manager for Gaumont British here for five years. Impossible Pictures To Make Cartoon Series West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — David Flexer, Memphis circuit operator, has teamed up with Leonard L. Levinson, film and radio writer, to incorporate Impossible Pictures, Inc., at Sacramento, to produce a new series of cartoons in Ansco Color. Levinson is prexy, Flexer, vice-prexy, Sidney Schwartz, secretary-treasurer, and Sam Wolf, counsel. Cartoons will be a series of imaginary travelogues; first is titled "Romantic Rumbolia, the Sea of the Rumba." Memphis — David Flexer is developing a national drive-in chain of theaters in 25 large cities in addition to four movie houses which he owns in Memphis and the MidSouth. E. M. Loew to Operate National in Louisville Louisville, Ky.— The National Theater here was included in the purchase of $1,500,000 of Louisville real estate by I. Jerome Riker and Associates of Brooklyn, N. Y. Riker said that the National Theater had been leased to E. M. Loew of Boston for 21 years with a minimum rental of $700,000. House has been operated as an indie first-run by the Fifth & Walnut, Inc. whose lease runs to 1954. It has a seating capacity of 2,500 and excellent acoustics. Loew is understood to be negotiating for the unexpired part of the lease. Riker, the new owner, said extensive remodeling will begin at once and the estimated cost will be $175,000. Threaten Probe of Television Clause (Continued from Psge 1) AFM head James C. Petrillo yesterday. At the same time there were definite threats by Committee members and the Committee counsel ;* ''" the Department of Justice will^ asked to move against AFM and the producers under the anti-trust laws. Both these developments were exclusively forecast by The Film Daily more than a week ago. Petrillo referred at several times during his testimony to the sharp decline in employment of musicians resulting from the introduction of sound in motion pictures — claiming it meant the loss of 18,000 theater jobs over night — and insisted he would not let musicians suffer another such blitz from tele. Today's $4,500,000 music payroll in Hollywood may be considerable in itself, he said, but it must be compared with the $48,000,000 musicians used to earn in the nation's theaters prior to the introduction of sound in pix. As for television producers and promoters, he said, "They've got the dough and they should spend it — why should we help them build television and then get thrown out when it's developed?" At one point Petrillo told the Committee, "You just go out and build a theater in Washington with 7,000 seats. After it's built try to get pictures to show in it. Will they give you pictures? You may get pictures — but you get them only after everybody has seen them. ... I don't blame them for protecting themselves, but why can't we do the same thing? ... If we stop them from making pictures, the headlines will say, 'Petrillo stops progress, no pictures. . . .' Men and women want to see pictures. I can't stop them." When, at one point Petrillo complained about foreign musical competition, Representative Nixon, R., Calif., remarked that "English pictures, French pictures and, before the war, German pictures all came into the United States, but American motion pictures were so much better, and are today, that there was room for all and the American pictures were not hurt by allowing the others to come in." The AFM chieftain, however, insisted upon the right to protect AFM members against foreign competition. STORK REPORTS Detroit — James W. Tarr, operator at the Casino Theater, has a new daughter, Penelope Amy, born to Mrs. Tarr at Highland Park General Hospital on their first wedding anniversary. Detroit — Bernard Banash, of the Artisan Theater Upholstering Co., I has a new daughter, Bonnie Jean.