Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1934)

1 The Leading rap Picture Industry MOTION PICTURE DAILY Alert, Intelligent the In in All Branches VOL. 36. NO. 130 NEW YORK, MONDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1934 TEN CENTS Work on Plan For Para. Is In Final Rush Expect to Have It Ready For Court Today Final work on the Paramount Pubbx reorganization plan was rushed :hrough the week-end with attorneys working all day Saturday and Sunbdy in an effort to have the plan ready for filing with the Federal court some :ime today. Week-end indications were that the work would be completed and copies li the plan off the presses by late to|day. A slight hitch in the routine, however, could delay filing of the plan until tomorrow, it was stated. The week-end work on the plan was largely that of copy reading and the correctling of proofs, the actual content of ithe plan having been set late last week. Regardless of the actual filing of the plan, the Paramount Publix trustees, (Continued on page 4) Para, Bonus Suit Move Coming Soon A Federal court procedure by the Paramount Publix trustees to recover more than $3,000,000 paid in cash bonuses in 1929 to Adolph Zukor, Jesse Lasky, Sidney Kent, Sam Katz, Ralph Kohn and B. P. Schulberg will be inaugurated this week. The bonus agreements on which the action will be based provided for payment to Zukor and Lasky of a seven per cent dividend after payment to common stockholders of a $4 dividend; five per cent to Kent and Katz (Continued on page 4) Sunday Opening Up Again in Hartford Hartford, Dec. 2. — Another public hearing on whether theatres shall be allowed to open at 2 P.M. Sundays will be held this week by the Board of Aldermen. The aldermen expect to act on the proposal on Dec. 10. A proposal for Sunday opening was tabled at the meeting held Nov. 12. ITO AAllied Tieup Prospect Held Dim There is very little hope that the I.T.O.A. will affiliate with Allied. According to Allied leaders, the I.T.O.A. must come within certain specifications before it will be considered for membership in the national (Continued on page 7) Louisiana Two -Year Debt Law Has Many Limitations New Orleans, Dec. 2. — Huey Long's two-year debt moratorium law doesn't mean that anybody can refuse to pay bills for two years, it develops, and film executives are breathing easier. In fact, the law doesn't even apply to debts contracted since the passage of the act. Anybody who wants to take advantage of the act for old debts has to prove he can't pay. Administration of the law will be in the hands of State Bank Examiner Jasper S. Brock. He is a big business man and has held his post under five governors. Both debtors and creditors must appear before him. Industrialist Washington, Dec. 2. — Under Sol A. Rosenblatt's new post as compliance director of the NRA, he has approximately 1,600 people on his staff with a monthly payroll of $340,000. Since this became known the frequently heard remark : "Well, I won't be paying you anything for the next two years" has sounded less ominous. The act is now in effect, but the (Continued on page 4) Confab Nears To Designate Union Scales Compliance Director Sol A. Rosenblatt is expected to call a meeting in New York Friday of union, independent and circuit theatre heads for conference to set up a basic wage scale fpr this territory. Now on the coast straightening out studio problems, Rosenblatt is due to return to Washington on Wednesday. On Thursday he is expected in New York to attend the regular Campi session. After the Code Authority meeting, Rosenblatt is expected to stay over a day for the union confabs. About two weeks ago, the fact-finding committee, appointed by Rosenblatt some time ago to make a survey of local conditions, reported to Washington its findings. It is now up to the compliance head to set up the basic scale. From some reports, it is held that small houses will have to pay about (Continued on page 7) Rosenblatt Fights to End Coast Deadlock Hollywood, Dec. 2. — Compliance Director Sol A. Rosenblatt is continuing his conferences with key men on both sides in the tussle between producers and actors and writers over a code of fair practice, with nothing thus far taking sufficient form to warrant a statement. General opinion here is that unless writers and actors modify their demands the deadlock will continue. Signal Corps Worries Over War Negative Washington, Dec. 2. — Loss of invaluable negatives made during the World War unless action is taken to duplicate them is seen in the rapidly aging stock now in possession of the U. S. Signal Corps. ' Nearly 1,500,000 feet of negative and postive, not all of which has yet been classified, is in the fireproof, temperature-controlled vaults of the corps' laboratory. Some of the material has been shown to the public as part of the features made by many producers, but some of it has never seen the light since it was developed. Need for an appropriation of about $35,000 for protection of these films has been laid before the Budget Bureau in the hope that funds would be provided in the next War Department appropriation bill. Several attempts have been made in the past to secure money, but the picture situ (Continued on page 7) Nickel Scales Win Ruling in Buffalo Buffalo, Dec. 2. — A move to wipe out five-cent admissions here has been temporarily lost by a decision of the grievance board dismissing the complaint of Nicholas J. Basil, head of Basil Bros., against the Senate, Allendale, Jubilee, Circle, Marlowe, Unity, Orpheum, Plaza and Ellen Terry theatres. The board ruled the complaint was improperly set up and presented. (Continued on page 7) New National Theatre Group Being Talked Progress Depends U pon Exhibitor Attitude Plans for a new national exhibitor organization are being formulated by a number of independents here. Crystallization depends on cooperation from theatre men throughout the country. According to exhibitors working on the latest idea to establish a new countrywide independent organization, the country will be divided into Congressional districts with an exhibitor leader in each state for every congressman. Support for the "little man" will be sought. Leaders in each state will contact their congressman and also form organizations to operate within their own states. Both Allied, M. P. T. O. A. and independent units will be approached. Both the I. T. O. A. and Allied in New York have been broached on the plan. Nothing definite has yet been (Continued on page 4) Metzger Quits BIP; In Theatres, Liquor Los Angeles, Dec. 2. — Lou B. Metzger has severed his connections with John Maxwell as American representative for British International. The arrangement is entirely amicable, Metzger having determined the step because of acquisition of another theatre property to run in conjunction with the Spreckles, San Diego. He is now also active in the liquor business here. Tax Rule Given on Sound Installation Washington, Dec. 2. — Expenditures for the transportation or installation of sound equipment in theatres may be capitalized as part of the cost of the equipment itself, it is held by the U. S. Board of Tax Appeals in a decision upholding the action of the Century Circuit, Inc., of Delaware. It is also ruled that such equipment may be amortized over a period of five (Continued on page 4) Equipment Firms to Test U. S. Sales Levy A test suit to determine the right of the Department of Internal Revenue to collect a five per cent sales tax on sound reproducing equipment (Continued on page 4)