Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1944)

VOL. 55. NO. 97 MOTION PICTURE DAILY NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, MAY 17, 1944 TEN CENTS Ruggles May Head Rank Production But Treasury Objection Presents Problem By PETER BURNUP London, May 16. — Negotiations have been progressing quietly here for some weeks between J. Arthur IRank .and Wesley Ruggles with a view to the latter's taking "supreme Command" of Rank's set-up of favi ored independent producers, including Gabriel Pascal, Paul Soskin, Archers Film Productions, and others. Present arrangements call for Rug! gles to take over in September, ac cording to an agreement reached at I the weekend, when Ruggles relinj quished the direction of Sir Alexander j Korda's "Perfect Strangers," as reported yesterday in Motion Picture Daily. This film, with Korda now I in complete charge, is expected to be {Continued on page 8) KAO Stockholders Elect Directors Stockholders of ' Keith-Albee-Orpheum in annual meeting here yesterday re-elected N. Peter Rathvon, Ned E. Depinet, Malcolm Kingsberg, Monroe Goldwater, Gordon E. Youngman and J. Miller Walker to the board of directors for another year and elected A. W. Dawson, to succeed William E. Whitman. Stockholders of B. F. Keith Corp., who will meet here this morning, are expected to elect the same board. The boards of directors of both corporations will meet in about a week to elect officers of both corporations with no changes expected in either set-up, which include Rathvon as president and Kingsberg as executive vice-president and vice-chairman of the hoard, and others. Petrillo Demands New Hirings Hollywood, May 16. — Interchangeability of musician manpower stands out as one of the more important points at issue in the labor negotiations now under way here between studio and company heads and James <C. Petrillo, president of the American federation of Musicians. Meetings between Petrillo and the (Continued on pat/e 8) See Hal Wallis Deal For 'Wind' Today Hal Wallis will meet here today with Herman Shumlin, producer of Lillian Hellman's "The Searching Wind," for what may be final negotiations for acquisition by Wallis of screen rights to the outstanding Broadway play property. Wallis said yesterday that negotiations for his distribution affiliation are nearing their closing stages and may be concluded by the end of the week. Paramount continues to be reported as his most likely association. Unrest Among G-B Heads as Rank Silent on Odeon Deal London, May 16. — A considerable undercurrent of unrest is manifesting itself among Gaumont-British theatre executives and managers here in the absence of any authoritative statement as to J. Arthur Rank's intentions with regard to the impending merger of G-B with Odeon Theatres. The merger depends upon the agreement between Rank and Spyros Skouras of 20th Century-Fox, by which they would purchase jointly Loew's stock in the Metropolis and Bradford Trust Co., holding company for G-B. This agreement has now (Continued on page 8) To Name U.A. Board June 16 United Artists' stockholders are scheduled to meet June 16 at Wilmington, Del., to elect nine new directors, authorized under the amendments to the company's charter which were adopted on Monday, Edward C. Raftery, United Artists president, announced yesterday. The company's amended charter was filed yesterday at the office of the Secretary of State at Dover, Del. The amended charter, Raftery's statement said, vests in the directors "the following powers : to elect officers ; fill vacancies on the board ; to manage the company and, in particular, to engage all executives and employes, and to make all contracts for the acquisition of product." The amended charter also provided that (Continued on page 8) Services Tomorrow For Newton Steers White Plains, N. Y., May 16. — Funeral services for Newton I. Steers, 68, former president of DuPont Film Manufacturing Co., who died yesterday afternoon, will be held tomorrow at 3 :30 P.M. from his late home, 21 Seymour Place, here. Interment will be in the White Plains Rural Cemetery. Steers was a DuPont employe for 38 years prior to his retirement in (Continued on page 8) M-G-M In Big Spot Air Buy on 52-Week Tie-Up M-G-M will use a nationwide radio film-sales program, having newly purchased a widespread schedule of broadcast time, on a 52-week basis. Howard Dietz, M-G-M vice-president in charge of advertising and promotion, declared yesterday that this sets a precedent in motion picture radio advertising. Covering some 40 cities with over 55 stations participating, the program, which will include leading stations in virtually every kev city in the United States, is the first in the film industry, it is claimed, that will operate on a fixed annual schedule rather than on a picture-to-picture arrangement. The program will provide a series of spot announcement periods and (Continued on page RV 5 Millions So Far For Red Cross With reports now in from 100 percent of the theatres in five areas, a total of nearly $5,000,000 in collections by 11,000 theatres has been reported to date in the 1944 Red Cross Drive, it was disclosed here yesterday by Joseph Bernhard, industry chairman for the campaign. Hundred percent areas reporting to date include : Washington, Philadelphia, Delaware, Northern New Jersey and New Haven. Skouras and Willkie Again Head 20th-Fox Stockholders Approve Stock for Officers Spyros Skouras and Wendell Willkie were elected president and chairman of the board, respectively, of 20th Century-Fox at a board of d ir e c t o r s' meeting held yesterday in the home office immediately following the annual stockholders' meeting. All other officers of the company were also reelected. At the stockholders' meeting all 15 directors named in the company's proxy statement were elected and all resolutions listed in the (Continued on page 8) Spyros Skouras 20th-Fox Quarter Net $3,186,302 Net profit of 20th Century-Fox Film Corp. for the quarter ending March 25 amounted to $3,186,302, an increase from $2,672,773 for the same period last year, the company reported here yesterday. The 1944 figure, after deducting dividends on preferred and prior preferred stock, amounts to $1.57 per1 share on 1,742,004 shares of common stock outstanding — in comparison with $1.34 per share for the first quarter of 1943. The comparisons have been made (Continued on page 8) WPB Order Ends Truckers' Worries Encouraged by the War Production Board's order for the manufacture of 80,000 trucks for essential transportation this year and also by the WPB's earmarking of replacement parts for the same purpose, as well as by the increased manufacture of synthetic tires, the National Film Carriers, in annual convention at the Hotel Astor here, yesterday reported to Arthur Dickinson of the distributor committee of the MPPDA that delivery of films will (Continued on page 8)