Harrison's Reports (1948)

16 HARRISON'S REPORTS January 24, 1948 synchronized with such film; and no owner or distributor of any such copyrighted film shall license the public exhibition thereof for profit unless at the time of such license he also possesses the authority to license, and does so license, the reproduction of all copyrighted dialogue, sound effects and music recorded on or synchronized with such film. "It shall be the duty of the several district attorneys of the United States, in their respective districts, under the direction of the Attorney General, to institute civil actions to prevent and restrain violations of this sub-section of the ACT. . . ." As reported elsewhere in these columns, ASCAP has agreed to extend the current music tax rates until March 15, pending completion of negotiations with the Theatre Owners of America for a new music licensing formula involving lower rates than the 300% increase announced previously by ASCAP. The TOA's efforts to reduce the tax are, of course, commendable, but, as it has repeatedly been said by this paper, a reduction in the tax will not solve the problem; it must be eliminated completely, and an amendment to the Copyright Act, such as the one introduced by Representative Lewis and backed by Allied, is the only way by which the exhibitors can rid themselves of this unjust tax. The time when such beneficial legislation could be put through has never been as favorable, for Representative Lewis, as it has already been pointed out, is Chairman of the House Judiciary Sub-Committee on Patents, Trade Marks and Copyrights, which will have to pass on the measure. Whatever efforts you may exert now to secure passage of this bill will be twice as effective as they could be at any other time. So do not lose this wonderful opportunity! Communicate with your Senators and Congressmen and urge them to support the enactment of the Lewis Bill into a law. ASCAP EXTENDS DEADLINE TO MARCH 15 Meeting in New York last week, the board of directors of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers agreed to extend for a period of forty-five days, from February 1 to March 15, the current ASCAP music licensing rates. According to a press release issued by the Theatre Owners of America, the extension was granted on the recommendation of TOA's officials when it became apparent that the negotiations between the two organizations now in progress would not be completed by February 1, the deadline previously set by ASCAP for the boost in rates. These negotiations, according to reports, involve a new theatre licensing formula embodying lower rates than those announced previously. While credit is due the TOA for its efforts in securing this extension, which is applicable to all exhibitors, there can be no doubt that the militant efforts of National Allied and of the Pacific Coast Conference, both in challenging the legality of ASCAP's tax impositions and in advocating legislation to curb the Society's monopolistic hold on the exhibitors, played a major part in the decision reached by the ASCAP board. THE NUMBER OF FEATURE FILMS GETTING FEWER AND FEWER According to an item in the trade papers, Paramount will produce only twenty pictures this year. This writer remembers the time when Paramount, or Famous Players-Lasky, used to produce one hundred and four films a year, and the percentage of good to bad pictures was not less than it is today. (And this goes for every other company ) What has happened? Just now, unit producers, directors and technical crews are in abundance. The only factor that is not in abundance is players with box-office pull. But don't good stories, in a measure, supplant the lack of box-office names? During the history of the motion picture industry there have been numerous instances when pictures without names drew as much and even more than pictures with names. "Albuquerque" with Randolph Scott and Barbara Britton (Paramount, Feb. 20; time, 89 mm.) Good Cinecolor photography and players of better than average marquee value bolster this routine Western melodrama, but not enough to lift it above the level of average program fare. The picture is made up of standard ingredients, with enough excitement and fast action, to satisfy the ardent followers of this type of picture. Others, however, may not find it particularly interesting, for the stereotyped story offers nothing unusual, the characterizations are ordinary, and one guesses in advance just how each situation will unfold. The direction is just average and the performances no more than adequate. The action takes place in 1878: — Randolph Scott, a Texan, is summoned to Albuquerque by his wealthy uncle, George Cleveland, operator of an ore freight line, to manage his business. En route he becomes involved in a stage coach robbery in which ten thousand dollars are stolen from Catherine Craig, who was bringing the money to Albuquerque to help finance the expansion of a freight business owned by her brother, Russell Hayden. Scott investigates the crime and discovers that his uncle, who was bent on crushing Hayden 's company lest he become a formidable competitor, had engineered the robbery. He recovers the money, breaks with his uncle, and joins Hayden's firm as a partner. With the aid of "Gabby" Hayes, his head driver, Scott obtains a contract to haul ore from a mine located on a steep mountain, and is promised other business if he succeeds in making the treacherous run down the mountain with his wagon train. Cleveland, aided by a crooked Sheriff and by a gang of hoodlums headed by Lon Chaney, resorts to many tricks in an effort to stop Scott from carrying through his contract. He even imports Barbara Britton and plants her in Hayden's office to obtain information about his freight operations. Barbara, however, falls in love with Hayden and refuses to be dishonest. Meanwhile Scott and Catherine had fallen in love. After numerous gun battles, killings and fist fights, Scott and his followers bring the ore down from the mountain and, in a final battle, wipe out Cleveland and his gang. Gene Lewis and Clarence Upson Young wrote the screen play from a novel by Luke Short, and Ray Enright directed it. William Pine and William Thomas produced it. Unobjectionable morally.