Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1939)

MOTION VICTIM DAILY and Impartial VOL. 46. NO. 51 — NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 1939 TEN CENTS Battle Isn't Settled Yet, AFA Warns Actors Union to Carry On Says Whitehead ■ Asserting that the American Federation of Actors is still "the same old union fighting the battle of its members," Ralph Whitehead, executive secretary, advised his membership by 'letter last night that the council had decided to continue its fight against American Guild of Variety Artists, the affiliate of Associated Actors and Artistes of America. Referring to the recent settlement reached between the 4-A and I.A.T. S.E. under the terms of which the A.F.A. lost its affiliation with the American Federation of Labor, Whitehead declared: "Thousands of our loyal members resent this bold attempt to destroy our union, and there is an overwhelming nationwide demand that the A.F.A. 'carry on' and so your council has voted to do so." Enforce Closed Shop Pacts Whitehead stated that all closed shop agreements would be enforced. He implied that A.G.V.A. members would be required to join the A.F.A. in night clubs where A.F.A. contracts are in force. After pointing out that lawsuits were being continued, and that economies were being effected, Whitehead declared : "This battle is not over by any means." Effect of the declaration was the subject of speculation along Broadway yesterday. Deprivation of A.F. of L. affiliation means the probable loss of cooperation from the teamsters, stagehands, waiters, musicians and other groups which formerly aided the A.F.A. Meanwhile, A.G.V.A. held its first (Continued on page 11) Bioff to Direct IA's Studio Negotiations Hollywood, Sept. 12. — William Bioff, I.A.T.S.E. "minister without portfolio," today accepted chairmanship of the negotiating committee for 11 studio locals and notified Joseph M. Schenck, A.M. P. P. president, he would confer with him Thursday on "long overdue" wage scale and working conditions agreement. In taking the post at the behest of the 11 locals, Bioff is not rejoining the Alliance in an executive position, it was explained. Newsreels Suffer War Gag With the European war under way 12 days, the newsreels are being left at the post in coverage of the conflict, through circumstances beyond their control. Action shots of the war are admittedly difficult to obtain because of censorship conditions. Meanwhile, the reels are using whatever British, French and few Polish preparedness films are passed by the censors. To fill the gap, newsreel theatres are using pictures made up of library shots of the World War. Newsreel editors believe that as soon as supply channels are established, films will be coming through more or less regularly. The French Government already has taken steps to assure a weekly release, which will be given to all companies uniformly. The Government has pooled all newsreel facilities. Movietone News, in the current issue, indicated a policy of shunning war films until newsworthy material arrives. The others are using films taken just before the outbreak of war, with emphasis on preparations in London, Paris and Red Cross activities in Poland, as well as air raid tests in London, the shipping tieup, eyewitness accounts of the sinking of ships, and the like. Censorship of newsreels is unusually severe. Nothing is known of what will be permitted from Germany as cables to company representatives in Berlin go unanswered. Communication to other nations is also restricted. Fight U.S. Attempts To Rush Trust Trial Affidavits urging Federal Judge John C. Knox to defer his decision on the Government's application for a preference on the trial calendar for the New York anti-trust suit until such time as the defendant companies' obligations to reply to the Government's extensive interrogatories have been determined, were filed here yesterday. An affidavit on behalf of Loew's, RKO, Paramount, 20th Century-Fox, Universal and Warners was filed by John F. Caskey of counsel for 20th Century-Fox. A second was filed by Herman Finkel stein of Schwartz & Frohlich for Columbia. Benjamin Pepper of O'Brien, Driscoll & Raftery will file a similar affidavit today for United Artists. The Columbia affidavit asked that the Government's motion for an early trial of the anti-trust suit be denied by Judge Knox because of the extensive work which will be involved in furnishing answers to the 68 interrogatories covering the history and trade relations of the many corporate defendants and their subsidiaries. It estimated that it would require one year to answer all of the interrogatories. Caskey's affidavit pointed out that the defendants' preparations for trial will have to be discarded if the time (Continued on page 2) WMCA Faces Loss Of F.C.C. License Washington, Sept. 12. — Station WMCA, New York City, was today ordered by the F.C.C. to show cause why its broadcasting license should not be revoked for alleged illegal interception and broadcast of secret government messages from Germany and Great Britain. It is the Commission's first move toward disciplining radio since the war began. The Commission's order asserted that it had information that WMCA had "caused the interception of secret radio communications sent by the governments of Germany and Great Britain, respectively, containing orders of the naval or military forces of said governments to govern the movements of said forces in time of war and therefore caused the said messages to be decoded and broadcast over the facilities of WMCA, all without authority of the respective senders of said communications." MPPDA Directors Convene Sept. 27 Quarterly meeting of the board of directors of the M.RP.D.A. has been scheduled for Sept. 27. Will H. Hays, president, is expected back in New York from the Coast about Sept. 25 to attend the meeting. 1939 5700 Metro Denies War Slashes InProduction No Salary or Personnel Cuts By Monogram Nicholas Schenck Nicholas M. Schenck, president of Loew's, Inc., and Metro-GoldwynMayer Pictures, yesterday declared that his company at the present contemplates no curtailment in production or other retrenchments because of the war emergency. Schenck said "it is foolish to think" that any maj or company will revise production budgets or schedules because "the producing companies are themselves large exhibitors." Schenck's statement follows : "There has been considerable speculation in the industry and in financial circles, regarding the position of the motion picture industry in the present world crisis. Many in the industry have expressed a fear that there would be a lowering in the quality of pictures, and reduced employment. "I, personally, have refrained from forming any snap judgment but have chosen to await developments so that I could see our way ahead more clearly. At this moment it is foolish for anyone to think that our company — or any other major companies — will curtail production or lower the qual (Continued on page 11) Push Plea to Reopen All British Theatres London, Sept. 12. — A joint trade deputation, including representatives of the Cinematograph Exhibitors' Association and the Kinematograph Renters' Society (distributors) will confer at the British Home Office tomorrow, pressing the case for a general reopening of all British film houses. The group is expected to make a special point of the hardships which theatre employes will suffer if many of the houses remain closed indefinitely. The deputation also will point out the peculiar situation in some areas, where some houses are open, while others remain closed because of their location.