The Film Daily (1948)

^ F"1LE COF> PQ NOT R>^^/^. ntimate in Character nternational in Scope ndependent in Thought The Daily Newspaper Of Motion Pictures Now Thirty Years Old -IFDAILY OL J. NO. 55 NEW YORK. FRIDAY. SEPTEMBER 17. 1948 TEN CENTS ;flsi€R LOflns inDicflTC briiks' conFiocncc French Pact Meets ITO Charter, U. S. View . S. Ambassador Caffery, Imisters Schuman and lacoste Sign in Paris dkpi Vashington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington^ — American Ambassa r Jefferson Caffery and French ministers Robert Schuman and Rob :°!i Lacoste yesterday signed in ris the new Franco-American film ;']'reement. The State Department id here it considers the new five ;eks-per-quarter domestic film [Ota -not inconsistent with the pro :';ions of Article IV of the ITO arter. iAlso consistent with ITO prin i)les in view of French dollar diffi Ities, said the Department, is the pvision for a quota system limit (Continued on Page 4) Olh'Fox Produrtion St Up Through 1950 Vest Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Los Angeles — Company's producn program has been set up cough 19'i0, Joseph M. Schenck d Darryl F. Zanuck told delegates the 20th-Fox national sales con[:ence at a dinner they hosted last (Continued on Page 2) ifara. Theater Partners lere for Trial Parleys Paramount theater partners from ^(|,:rious sections of the country have 2n in New York this week for home ice conferences with Louis Phil (Continued on Page 2) I Ricketson-Huffman Close Deal for KLZ \ Denver — Frank H. "Rick" Ricket' son and Harry Huffman, Fox Intermountain Theaters executives, have closed a deal for the purchase of Station KLZ, pending FCC approval. Price is reported to be approximately $3 000,030. Huffman and Ricketson head a company known as Aladdin Television, Inc. Former plans to resign from Fox Internfiountain early next year to devote full time to . radio-video interests. KLZ is a 5,000watt affiliate of CBS. Pacific Coast Ctmference Trustees To Inaugurate ^^Exhihitor Clinics" West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — PCC trustees have formulated a plan to conduct "exhibitor clinics" in each of their principal cities in eight western states in conjunction with trustees' meetings. At these "exhibitor clinics" all phases of exhibition business will be thoroughly discussed and each subject will be covered by an expert in that particular field. Trustees will set aside one full day from their meetings for this purpose. Trustees re-elected Hugh W. Bruen as treasurer and Robert H. Poole as executive director. Walbrook Loses Move To Block Fox Split Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — District Court Justice F. Dickinson Letts yesterday turned down the Walbrook Theater, Baltimore, in its bid to block the booking of Fox pix on a first neighborhood run basis in the Windsor Theater, across the street from the Walbrook. An even division of Fox product was promised the Windsor in an agreement reached this Sum(Continued on Page 4) Schermerhorn Promoted To Reade General Mgr. Nick Schermerhorn, Walter Reade Theaters district manager in Southern New Jersey, has been promoted to the new post of general manager of theater operations for the entire circuit, Reade announced. Working from headquarters in Asbury Park, Schermerhorn will be directly responsible for general supervision of Reade's theaters in seven New Jer(Continued on Page 2) "Snake Pit" Premiere In Nov. at Rivoli West Coast Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Hollywood — World premiere of Darryl F. Zanuck's "The Snake Pit" will be at the Rivoli Theater, New York, on Nov. 4, Andy W. Smith, Jr., 20th-Fox general sales manager, announced yesterday at the company's sales meeting here. Picture, he said, will be given individual handling on a roadshow scale, with the only exception to this (Continued on Page 2) Autry in New Pact to Make 6 a Year for Col. Under a new seven-year exclusive deal between Gene Autry Productions and Columbia, distributor will handle six high-budget outdoor films each year, to be produced by Armand Schaeffer in Columbia's Monochrome process. Details were worked out in Chicago between Columbia executives, Autry and Mitchell Hamilburg, vice-president and treasurer of Autry Productions. F & M Acquires SLA Control Part of Skouras St. Louis Purchases Deal SAG Delegation Coming Here for AFRA Confab With the principal topic of discussion scheduled to be the establishment of closer working arrangements between units here and on the Coast in the light of the proposed AFRA-Equity merger, a delegation from tJie Screen Actors Guild com(Continued on Page 2) St. Louis — Control of St. Louis Amusement Co., which owns eight and leases 20 area theaters, goes to the Fanchon & Marco interests as part of the over-all financial plan under which Charles P. Skouras, president of Fox West Coast and National Theaters, and George P.: Skouras, head of Skouras Theatersj acquired the stock and retired all outstanding bonds of Ambassador (Continued on Page 2) Financial Opportunities Increase as Result of Economies in Production Bank loans to independent producers have eased considerably in the past few months, primarily because of renewed confidence that the industry is now geared to getting its money out of the domestic market, Edwin Van Pelt, vice-president of the Chemical Bank and Trust Co., told The Film Daily yesterday. Van Pelt pointed out that in the wake of the sudden and unexpected British freeze of a year ago, banking interests had immediately reduced _their exposure to a minimum, (Continued on Page 4) Variety Ads Today On Rogers Memorial Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — ^The National Variety Clubs opened its mid-year meet here yesterday with an agreement that the national organization will continue to defray the expenses of the mid-year sessions, according to the policy set last year at the first meeting. Committee reports were (Continued on Page 4) Claim Arbitration Invalid In St. Louis Amusement Suit Washington Bureau of THE FILM DAILY Washington — The Supreme Court was asked yesterday to review the Appeals Court Decision in St. Louis in July rebuffing the St. Louis Amusement Company treble damage (Continued on Page 2) Paul Nathanson Said Slated to Join FPC Toronto — Paul L. Nathanson is slated to become identified with Famous Players Canadian, according to current rumors. His father, the late N. L. Nathanson, was FPC president before establishing Odeon of Canada some seven years ago. Paul Nathanson became a member of the Odeon board, but resigned to concentrate on his own exchange and theater interests in the Dominion.