Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1944)

2 Motion Picture Daily Friday, December 8, 1944 Personal Mention HARRY WARNER, president of Warners, will leave for the Coast today. • Charles Skouras will entrain from the Coast Dec. 15 for the "March of Dimes" conference in Washington, after which he will come to New York for the Christmas holidays. Robert H. Poole will leave for the East by train Dec. 14, spending a day in New York before attending the Washington conference. • John Cunningham of Warners' advertising copy staff in New York, and Mrs. Cunningham, are parents of a son, born yesterday at French Hospital. They have two other children. • Jack Kirby, Paramount district manager in Atlanta, will leave there soon for Florida because of ill health. • Dave Prince, Southeastern division manager for RKO, has returned to Atlanta from Charlotte. • Lester Krieger and Ellis Shipman of Warner Theatres, Philadelphia, are in New York. • F. E. Pierpoint, manager for Paramount in Brazil, will arrive here by plane tomorrow. • William Erbb, Paramount's Eastern division manager, is visiting in New Orleans. • Harry Graham, Southern district manager for Universal, is visiting the home office. • Al Daff, Universal foreign supervisor, returned this week from England. • Sally Dorf of Modern Film Corp. will marry Louis Spergel on Sunday. Jay Eisenberg of Loew's legal department, left yesterday for Miami. State Dept. Change Delays MPS A Meet Hollywood, Dec. 7. — The special meeting of the Motion Picture Society for the Americas, scheduled for tonight with a view to discussing the possible future establishment of the organization as a permanent industry institution, has been postponed until January. The postponement was decided upon because of the possibility that the appointment of Nelson Rockefeller, Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs, as Assistant Secretary of State may affect the plans for the CIAA, with which the society functions as industry liaison. Friars' Frolic Dec. 17 Annual Friars' Club Frolic this year will be staged at the Imperial Theatre, here, on Sunday evening, Dec. 17. Mike Todd is abbot of the Friars. Million in a Day For Federation The film and amusement division of the current drive in behalf of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies, together with the various other divisions, will seek on Tuesday to collect $1,000,000 in that single day, in a citywide door-to-door and office-to-office canvass. David Bernstein and Albert Warner are co-chairmen of the drive's film and amusements division, and Eugene Picker and Harold Rodner are campaign co-directors. Scully Opens 4IT Meet Here Today Universal's Mid-winter conference of sales executives and district managers will, open at the Astor Hotel here today, continuing through Sunday, with two sessions scheduled each day. W. A. Scully, general sales manager and vice-president, will preside, discussing the soon-to-be-released Deanna Durbin color picture, "Can't Help Singing," at both morning and afternoon sessions today. Tomorrow, Nate J. Blumberg, president of Universal, will address the meeting and will outline future plans and policies. Others who will address the meeting are : E. T. Gomersall, assistant general sales manager, and Maurice A. Bergman, Eastern advertising-publicity director. Others attending are : Fred Meyers, Eastern sales manager ; F. J. A. McCarthy, Southern sales manager ; A. J. O'Keefe, Western sales manager ; E. L. McEvoy, short subjects manager, and district managers David A. Levy, John J. Scully, M. M. Gottlieb, Joe E. Garrison, Dave Miller, H. D. Graham, C. J. Feldman, P. F. Rosian, Salem Applegate and F. T. Murray, and J. J. Jordan of the home office. Lasky Sees Columbia UA, WB on Releases Jesse L. Lasky has been in conference with Columbia and United Artists officials since his arrival in New York in connection with releasing arrangements for the four $1,000,000 productions he is planning to start in April, his publicists announced yesterday. It is understood that Lasky also had conferences with Warner executives, that company constituting his last affiliation. Lasky will be in New York for a month buying story properties and arranging for the financing of plays. Owen to Conferences Hugh Owen, general sales manager for David O. Selznick Enterprises and Vanguard Films, will leave today for Chicago and the West Coast. He will talk with circuit heads while en route and at the Coast will view new product and confer with Selznick. Double Taxation Pact Is Ratified Washington, Dec. 7. — The Senate yesterday picked up a five-year-old treaty on which action had been suspended because of the war, and without a record vote ratified a convention signed in Paris on July 25, 1939, for the avoidance of double taxation. The French treaty is the first of a series of agreements by which the Administration hopes to solve the problem raised by foreign taxation of operations of American companies. The convention provides specifically that American enterprises having permanent establishments in France shall be taxed the same as French enterprises, and when an American company participates in the management or capital of a French enterprise its profits also shall be taxable the same as those of its French partners. However, it was provided, "royalties derived from within one of the contracting states by a resident or by a corporation or other entity of the other contracting state as consideration for the right to use copyrights — shall be exempt from taxation in the former state, provided such resident, corporation or other entity does not have a permanent establishment there." The provision for the tax exemption of copyrights is expected to be the pattern for similar provisions in the other agreements which the Administration has in mind. Music Hall Pageant Aids Yeshiva Fund The production staff of Radio City Music Hall, through arrangements with G. S. Eyssell, president and managing director, will stage an entertainment and religious pageant at the annual dinner of Yeshiva College, Dec. 10, at the Hotel Astor. Proceeds will go to the college scholarship, fund. Feature of the entertainment will be a pageant entitled "Chanukah • — The Sabbath of the World," in observation of the beginning of the holiday week of Chanukah. MGM May Produce 'Leo' Color Series M-G-M may make a cartoon series in color of "Leo the Lion," based on an idea by Si Seadler, home office advertising manager. A one-reeler, "Leo Masters Spanish," made with a view toward interesting the Latin and American market, and with the script written by Seadler, proved successful and company executives now expect to make a series for U. S. release. Loew Stock Leaps Following Dividend Following Loew's announcement on Wednesday of a plan to cancel all authorized preferred stock and increased the authorized common from 4,000,000 to 6.000,000 shares, the company's stock leaped to a new high of 78-54 on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. Coming Events Dec. 10 — Annual renewal of Legion of Decency pledge in Roman Catholic churches throughout the country. Dec. 10 — Fourth Annual American Nobel Anniversary dinner, Hotel Astor, New York. Dec. 11 — Launching of Liberty Ship, SS. M. E. Comerford, Brunswick, Ga. Dec. 11-12 — Television Broadcasters Association meeting, Hotel Commodore, New York. Dec. 13 — Picture Pioneers' annual dinner, Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, New York. Dec. 14-20 — Theatre drive for National War Fund. Dec. 14 — Associated Motion Picture Advertisers meeting, New York. Dec. 15 — Sales Executives Club and Chamber of Commerce dinner for Warner executives, Albany, N. Y. Dec. 19 — Allied of New Jersey annual Christmas dinner, Ritz Restaurant, Passaic. Dec. 19 — Industry leaders to attend White House conference on 'March of Dimes' campaign, Washington. Jan. 2-6 — Annual meeting of M-G-M field auditors, Hotel Astor, New York. Jan. 21-22,— Theatre Owners Association of North and South Carolina meeting, Charlotte. WLB Approves Wage Boosts in Cleveland The Regional War Labor Board having jurisdiction over the Cleveland area has approved a system of job classification with minimum and maximum wage scales and wage increases up to 10 per cent for the office workers in the Cleveland film exchanges, represented by the IATSE. Film company exchange supervisors and representatives of the IATSE met here yesterday to set additional applications for filing with Regional WLB's for approval of 10 per cent wage increases for exchange service workers. 20th Fox Concludes 5-Day Meeting Today Twentieth Century-Fox today will conclude its five-day sales conference with final meetings conducted by sales managers for their field representatives at the home office. Yesterday's meetings at the home office were addressed by John Wood, Jr., March of Time sales manager ; Phil Williams, MOT advertising and publicity director, and William Clark, 20th-Fox's short subject sales mana 'Caballeros' in Mexico World premiere of Walt Disney's color feature, "The Three Caballeros," will be held in Mexico City, Dec. 21, at the Alameda Theatre, RKO announced here yesterday. MOTION PICTURE DAILY, Martin Quigley. President and Editor-in-Chief; Colvin Brown, Publisher; Sherwin Kane, Executive Editor. Published daily except Saturday, Sundav and holidays by Quigley Publishing Company, Inc., 1270 Sixth Avenue. Rockefeller Center. New York, 20, N. Y. Telephone Circle 7-3100. Cable address, "Quigpubco, New York Martin Quigley, President; Colvin Brown, Vice-President; Red Kann, Vice-President; T. J. Sullivan, Secretary; Sherwin Kane, Executive Editor; James P. Cunnineham. News Editor; Herbert V. Fecke, Advertising Manager; Chicago Bureau, 624 South Michigan Ave.; Hollywood Bureau, Postal Union Life Bldg., William R. Weaver, Editor; London Bureau, 4 Golden Sq., London Wl, Hope Burnup, Manager; Peter Burnup, Editor; cable address, "Quigpubco, London." All contents copyrighted 1944 by Quigley Publishing Co., Inc. Other Quigley Publications: Motion Picture Herald, Better Theatres, International Motion Picture Almanac, Fame. Entered as second class matter, Sept. 23, 1938, at the post office at New York, N. Y., under the act of March 3, 1879. Subscription rates per year, $6 in the Americas and $12 foreign; single copies, 10c. •