Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1939)

Tuesday, May 16, 1939 MOTION PICTURE DAILY 9 Film Cases Before Courts Expect Trade Code to Start Next August (Continued from page 1) they will he submitted to all organizations participating in the negotiations, jjied States has called for a vote of "TTiclepeudent exhibitors on the code at its national convention in Minneapolis, une 13 to 15. Rodgers is scheduled to discuss the code at the convention, and Allied spokesmen are expected to ■ 'ppose certain phases of it. The pact is scheduled to go into ef| feet with the 1939-'40 season. At the i earliest, the season will not start until early in August, as is the case with JOth Century-Fox. In addition to Rodgers, among those 1 attending yesterday's meeting were Richard Dwight, of counsel to 20th I Century-Fox ; E. W. Aaron and Irv■ ing Greenfield of M-G-M ; I. Howard Levinson, Warners; Ned E. Depinet ! and William Mallard, RKO ; William Scully and Adolph Schimel, Universal ; Neil F. Agnew and Lou Phillips, Paramount; Eugene Picker, ( Columbia. 50 Executives Due At Award Luncheon A final check indicates an attendance of more than 50 top industry figures who will be guests of Martin Ouigley today in the North Garden Room of the Hotel Astor, at the Ouigley Grand Awards luncheon. Presentation of the Grand Award Plaques will be made by William F. Rodgers, M-G-M general sales manager, and among others expected to :~peak arc Spyros Skouras and Frank G Walker. The winners, John Purhorn of Chicago and George Limerick of Enid, I >kla., who arrived yesterday to spend ii a week as guests of Motion Picture i Herald, were widely entertained duri ing the day. To Honor Shaw Today New Haven, May 15. — Loew-Poli : theatre managers and members of the ' division staff will tender Harry F. • Shaw a dinner party at Ceriano's tomorrow night in honor of his fifth anniversary as division manager here. Lion Hunt Is On! Wanted: Leo Jr. Lions International clubs are inaugurating a "lion hunt" to find the successor to Leo the Lion for M-G-M's shorts. The clubs are obtaining photographs of lion cubs at zoos and the winner will be chosen for grace, charm, majesty and photogenic qualities and he will be "adopted" by the M-G-M studio. The choice will be announced at the Lions International convention at Pittsburgh in July. Cubs under eight months old are eligible. L Loew's, Inc., yesterday filed notice that it will apply to Federal Judge Leibell Friday for an order dismissing the stockholders' suit brought against it, 35 of its officers and directors, ERPI, Western Electric Co., the Chase National Bank, and Halsey Stuart & Co. by Norman Wolf and Manes Fuld, for waste and mismanagement. M-G-M Settles $88,500 Bitner-Feist Suit Suit for $88,500 against M-G-M brought by Edgar F. Bitner and the estate of Leo Feist, was settled yesterday at trial before Supreme Court Justice Wasservogel upon undisclosed terms. Plaintiffs had suit for *wo installments of $44,250 allegedly due as part payment for the purchase by M-G-M of 1,450 shares of Leo Feist, Inc., which carried with it the control of the company. Hearing Set May 23 In "Snow White" Suit Walt Disney Productions, Ltd., was ordered by Supreme Court Justice Valcntc yesterday to submit to an examination in Los Angeles on application of Adriana Caselotti and Harry Stockwell. RCA. Mfg. Co. was directed to appear for examination here Fight Mexico Union Ban on Franco Films Mexico City, May 15. — Asserting the action is certain to prompt retaliation that will harm Mexican pictures, producers and distributors of Mexican films have petitioned President Lazaro Cardenas to use his influence toward upsetting the latest film boycott by the Confederation of Mexican Workers, Mexico's strongest labor organization. The boycott is against all pictures to be made in Spain during the Franco administration. The Confederation, \\ hich has banned several German and Italian made pictures, considers the Franco Government Fascist. Briggs 1938 Salary Reported at $25,531 O. Henry Briggs, president of Pathe Film Corp., received a salary of $25,531 in 1938, it was reported yesterday by the Securities & Exchange Commission. In radio, Powell Crosley, Jr., president of the Crosley Corp., received $25,000. Vice-Presidents Lewis Crosley and James D. Shouse were paid $20,000 and $19,000 respectively. Canadian Changes Made in (BelV Film Hollywood, May 15. — Twentieth Century-Fox will insert in Canadian prints of "The Story of Alexander Graham Bell" scenes of the telephone inventor's homestead in Canada, and of the Canadian memorial to him. The studio is now finishing added scenes to placate the reported resentment caused by the minimizing of Bell's Canadian origin in the original script. on May 23. Caselotti and Stockwell, singers in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," are suing Walt Disney Productions and RCA for $300,000 damages, claiming that the defendants, without their consent, made recordings of their songs from the motion picture sound track. May 29 Hearing LTpon Alger's RKO Claim Federal Judge Bondy yesterday fixed a hearing for May 29 upon application of Special Master Alger for an allowance of compensation for his services in the RKO reorganization. Applications of the Chemical Bank and Trust Co. as trustee under RKO note injunctions for $34,375 and $4,025 disbursements, and its attorneys, Wright, Gordon, Zachary and Parlin for $22,500 also was set for the same day. RCA Stockholder Allowed to Intervene in Suit Supreme Court Justice Rosenman yesterday granted permission to Norman C. Norman, holder of 500 shares of RCA common stock, to intervene in the stockholders suit against that company, its officers and directors, American Telephone and Telegraph Co., Westinghouse Co. and General Electric Company, for the alleged unlawful transfer of a large block of stock. Twelve stockholders have already filed action in a suit previously consolidated. Ticket Taxing Bills Opposed In Legislature Albany, May 15. — A two per cent sales tax, designed to raise $125,000,000 which would be returnable to communities for local relief costs, is before the State Senate for consideration. Introduced Saturday by Senator Martin of Syracuse, it does not exempt theatre admissions. It seeks a one cent tax on admissions from 13 to 63 cents and two cents on admissions between 64 and 99 cents. Leaders believe the Martin bill is destined for defeat. Western New York opposition to the Desmond housing bill, which provides for a ticket tax, is being led by the Buffalo M.P.T.O,, which comprises more than 300 exhibitors. $20,175 Monogram Profit in 3 Months Profit of $20,175 was earned by Monogram during the first three months of 1939, W. Ray Johnston, president, advised stockholders in a letter yesterday. Same period last year resulted in $35,956 loss. The figure, unaudited, is the net profit after allowance for amortization but before deductions for Federal income taxes. Including the last two months of 1938, Johnston revealed that profit for the five-month period ending April 1 totaled $57,308. Hal Roach's ZENOBIA should be a very funny picture. And it isl — NEW YORK TIMES RELEASED THRU UNITED ARTISTS i