The Independent Film Journal (1955)

Ne)v Anti-Trust Rash Wave Of New Exhibitor Suits Seek $45,000,000; Bid Rights A new rash of anti-trnst suits, totalling' approximately $45 million, were launched bj' exhibitors this past fortnight in eight ex¬ change areas in the countiy. In Pittsburgh, George P. Madros, opera¬ tor of the Metropolitan Theatre, filed a suit in District Court against the major distribu¬ tors claiming treble damages of $90,000, charging that the defendants discriminated against Metropolitan from Oct. 1951 to August 1954 in favor of Warner Theatres. Seymour Simon and Sheldon Collen repre¬ sent Madros. Filed in Federal Court, Atlanta. Ga., and also in Federal Coiirt, Newark, N. J., an¬ other anti-trust action saw attorneys Simon, Collen and Sidney Krieger filing suit against the majors on behalf of the Lee Theatre, Fairmont, West Va. The complaints contend that the plaintiff was damaged from June 1940 to Jan. 1, 1949, and claim a sum in excess of $170,000 or treble damages of $510,000. Double Sues In Chicago, the Double Drive-In theatre, operated by Marks and Rosenfield, filed suit against the majors and Balaban and Katz, demanding the right to bid for films against B&K’s Southtown and Tivoli Theatres, also Wanier’s Caijital and Avalon Theatres for first outlying runs. At present. Double must bid against Twin and Starlite drive-ins, the management complains, even though these ozoners are not competitive. Seymour Simon, attorney for plaintiff, has asked that a special master be appointed to receive bids for films for the territory involved and that manage¬ ment be present when bids are opened. In Denver, Denver Kar-Vu Theatres, operating Centennial and Monaco drive-ins, have filed suit in the U.S. District Court asking that an order be issued allowing them to bid on first run joroduct. Kar-Vu does not ask any set amount of damages, leaving that matter to the Court. They have asked for a special master to handle the bids for Denver area theatres and for a restraining order to prevent the defendants from carry¬ ing out the alleged conspiracy. Defendants are eight majors plus Fox Inter-Mountain Theatres and Consolidated Theatres. Miami Action Claiming distributors have conspii'cd with theatre owners to monopolize early inns in Miami, Fla. Miami-Drive-In Theatre, Inc., filed an anti-trust action in Federal Court in Miami. Seeking an injunction and unspecified trebled damages, the theatre names Colum¬ bia, Loew’s, Paramount, RKO, 20th-Fox, Warners, United Artists, Universal and ABPT as defendants, and specifies Florida State Theatres, Paramount Enterprises and Wometco as co-conspirators. Five anti-trust cases totalling $8,220,000 in treble damages were filed in the U.S. Federal District Court in Atlanta. Involved in the actions are Charles A. Adams, operat¬ ing the Avon Theatre, Avondale Estates, claiming one million dollars in actual dam¬ ages; John II. and Ruth Carter, former 0])erators of the Brook Haven Theatre, At¬ lanta, claiming $400,000 damages; Buckhead Theatre Corp., operating the Buckhead The¬ atre, Atlanta, claiming $500,000 damages; the Garden Hills Theatre, Atlanta, claiming $300,000 damages; and the Jet Drive-In of Montgomery Alabama, which claims $600,000 damages. Defendants in the first four cases are the same: the eight major distributors and Atlanta Enterprises, Inc. ; Georgia Theatre Co.; Publix-Lucas Theatres Inc.; WilbeyKincey Service Coi'p.; Robert B. Wilbey; Rhodes Theatre Operating Co.; Evins Amuse¬ ment Co. ; West End Theatre Corp. ; East Point Amusement Co. ; Storey Theatre, Inc. and Evans Theatre Corp. Plaintiffs attorneys in the first four cases are George S. Ryan and W. Bradley Ryan. Four other industry anti-trust actions were filed in recent months in this court. $32 Million Sought A suit for treble damages of $32,100,000 against nine major motion picture distribu¬ tors has been filed by the operators of five Buffalo community theatres The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New York by attorneys for Konezakowski Theatres, headed by Mieezyslaw M. Konezakowski and his wife, IMarya. They operate the Circle, Marlowe, Senate, Regent, Main and Utica, and formerly operated the Grand, all in Buffalo. The suit, one of the largest brought by a relatively -small theatre owner, charges illegal monopoly on the part of the defendants and alleges discrimination by the defendants in the runs and clearances of motion pictures. The suit asks $7,800,000 for each theatre, except the Grand, for which an additional $900,000 is asked. Named as defendants are Paramount, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Buffalo Theatres Inc., Warner Bros., Univer.sal, Columbia, United Artists, Loew’s Inc., and Buffalo Paramount Corp. Seeks $350,000 Philadelphia’s Arcadia Theatre here is seeking $350,000 in damages plus statutory penalties in its anti-trust suit filed against seven of the major companies and two cir¬ cuits. The first-run situation is also asking for an injunction enabling the plaintiffs to license motion pictures “free from discrimi¬ nation in favor of defendant exhibitors.” Defendants in the case are the StanleyWarner Management Corp. and William Goldman Theatres, plus the majors excluding Loew’s. Damages date from June 1950 to the present. Claiming that the Arcadia is “worthy of exhibiting quality first-i-un films in Philadel¬ phia,” the suit charg’cs that the defendants did not negotiate with the theatre in good faith when it became a first run theatre for Loew’s product. Instead, the suit claims, the defendants continued to confine their product for first-runs to their own circuits. The new Federal law making the statute of limitations four years led St. Lawrence Investors, Inc., operating A. Papayanakos’ American in Canton, to institute a second {Continued on page 21) Settle Five Cases Out Of Court Five anti-trust suits brought by exhibitors have been settled out of court in various areas of the country. As a result of a Minneapolis out-of-court settlement, the suburban Edna Theatre will have the right to negotiate for a non-conipetitive 28-day run. The Edna Theatre suit for $1,911,000 against the eight majors,^ and the Minn. Amusement Co. and RKO Thea¬ tres was instigated more than two years ago by the late Ben Friedman, owner of the house. The Friedman estate is the current plaintiff in the action. Financial settlement of the case was not revealed by Edna Thea¬ tre attorney Samuel Halpern. Before the settlement. The Edna had to bid against other houses in the southwest Minneapolis area for early run. The anti-trust case of the Lee Theatre, Joliet, Illinois was also settled out of court l)y attorney Richaixl Orlikoff for the plaintiff and film company attorneys. After eight days of trial before a special master, three Rhode Island anti-timst suits filed in Federal District Court by Narragansett Amusement Corp., Artcraft Pictures, and Joseph, Meyer and Max Stanzler were settled for an unannounced figure. The ac¬ tions and counter-claims in the case were dismissed upon the financial settlement. De¬ fendants in the suit were the eight majors, Reiuiblic and IMonogram, and the Loew’s Theatres and RKO Rhode Island Corp. $100,000 Bonus Melon Offered By Republic In Altschuler Salute Republic Pictures branch manager, sales¬ men and bookers will compete for slices of the $100,000 bonus melon offered by the company as a stiniulas in “Republic’s 1956 Salute to Dick Altschuler,” company director of worldAvide sales. In an¬ nouncing the bonus offer, president Her¬ bert J. Yates noted that the sales drive would be backed by a roster of top produc¬ tions. Among the high¬ lights of the sixmonth release schedule are Come Next Spring, starring Ann Sheridan, Steve Coch¬ ran and Walter Brennan, Doctor At Sea, with Dirk Bogarde, in VistaVision and Tech¬ nicolor, and Magic Fire, starring Yvonne DeCarlo, Carlos Thompson and Rita Gam. The company’s initial productions in Naturama include The Maverick Queen, with Barbara Stainvyck, Barry Sullivan, Scott Brady and Maiw Murphy, and Lisbon, with Ray Milland, Maureen O’Hara and Claude Rains. Other films to follow are Stranger At Mg Door, starring MacDonald Carey and Patricia Medina, Dakota Incident, with Linda Darnell, Dale Robertson, John Lund and Ski]) Homier, and Acapulco, with Ralph Meeker, Paul Henreid and Janice Rule. R. W. ALTSCHULER 10 THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— January 21. 1956