Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1940)

Alert, mfy same to the^J gtion Picture Industry MOTION PICTUlt DAILY LMUVL VOL. 48. NO. 15 NEW YORK, U.S.A., MONDAY, JULY 22, 1940 TEN CENTS lioew's Policy High Quality, Says Schenck Outlines Company Plan In View Foreign Loss Maintenance of production quality and caution in operating procedure were described by Nicholas M. Schenck over the weekend as the substance of Loew's future policy as a result of lost foreign markets. Schenck's statement was made in response to inquiries as to the effects of the international situation on the company's future plans. "Our policy is this," he said. "To proceed carefully, to economize where we can but N. M. Schenck Net profit of $7,996,394 is reported by Loew's, Inc., for the 40 weeks ended June 6. Story on page 4. never at the sacrifice of quality in production." "After all," he observed, "our hope is to get the best returns from the markets open to us and it would be impractical to try to increase busi {Continued on page 6) Equity Approves One Actors' Union The council of Actors Equity Association, at a special meeting on Friday approved the plan of one big actors' union, supplanting the various talent unions now affiliated with Associated Actors & Artistes of America. Actors' Equity is the first 4-A group to give approval. The project has still to be approved by the other affiliated 4-A unions which have it under consideration. At Friday's meeting the Equity counsel considered the report of Bernard Reis, accountant, covering the practicability of the consolidated actors' union, which has been under study by Equity's committee on efficiency and economy for the past two {Continued on page 6) U. S. Consent Decree Draft Ready for Suit Settlement Minority Firms Still Hold Out No change in their stand not to concur in any consent decree proposal was indicated over the weekend by Universal, Columbia and United Artists. According to company spokesmen, the position of these companies and their attitudes towards the out-ofcourt settlement of the New York anti-trust suit remain unchanged. They want no part of it, it is stated. Pact to Ban Wide Theatre Expansion That the Big 5 are ready to enter into a "non-aggression pact" on theatre expansion with the Government, in lieu of divorcement, is revealed in the present draft of proposals for a consent decree. This agreement is for three years. Under it, the defendant companies {Continued on page 5) 'Escape Clause' and Arbitration to Be Worked Out; No Mention of Conspiracy; Executives Study Proposals Burden Is on Distributor N. Y. Allied Joins MPTOA ALLIED Theatre Owners of New York, of which Max A. Cohen, head of Cinema Circuit, is president and chairman of the board, with a membership of more than 200, is now affiliated with the M.P.T.O.A. Decision to become part of the M.P.T.O.A. was made Thursday at a meeting of the executive board. The vote was unanimous. The unit formerly was an affiliate of Allied States, but severed its ties with that organization last year. New York Allied's move followed an invitation to join the M.P.T.O.A. by Ed Kuykendall, president. The matter first was broached by Charles Hayman, head of the M.P.T.O.A.'s Buffalo unit. New York Allied will retain its name and will be autonomous. It is the first M.P.T.O.A. affiliate in this territory, and probably the largest of them all. Cohen led the break away from Allied States because of what he termed "unfair dealing" by national Allied both at Washington and at its Minneapolis convention, during the trade practice code negotiation era. By SAM SHAIN Except for the "escape clause" and a plan of arbitration, a tentative draft is ready on the proposals for a consent decree in the New York anti-trust suit. The proposals which are embodied in this draft are not final. They are subject to amendment and may be altered in future meetings between the negotiators. Industry experts and company executives studied the proposals over the weekend. In Atlantic City, Paramount's principal theatre partners met over Sunday, at the call of E. V. Richards, Saenger Circuit chieftain, to discuss the proposals. Meantime, Government lawyers active in the negotiations were conferring in Washington with Thurman W. Arnold, assistant United States Attorney General in charge of the case. There is no mention of conspiracy in the draft. Spokesmen assert that the Government has concluded that for it to prove the existence of conspiracy among the defendants, would be wellnigh impossible, if the manner in which the present negotiations were conducted is taken as a criterion. These parties aver that there has been considerable difference of opinion among representatives of the defendant companies on all the proposals, tentative as they are. The draft is, however, considered proof of the sincerity of all concerned in trying to reach an out-of-court settlement. No principal negotiator, when interviewed, felt qualified to predict when the matter might be finally agreed upon. Considerable alteration in the drafted proposals are anticipated by them, after their company experts on distribution and theatre operation {Continued on page 5) What may prove to be the seed of revolt against accepting the present decree draft, according to spokesmen, is the proposal which designates a run for every theatre and permits the taking away of product from one theatre in order that another may obtain that product. At the same time the burden of justifying the withholding of product from a complaining exhibitor is placed on the distributor. This proposal, according to spokes {Continued on page 5) Max A. Cohen Thurman W. Arnold Reviewed in This Issue "I Married Adventure," "South of Pago Pago"— Page 4. "The Sea Hawk," "Haunted House" — Page 6.