Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1948)

4 Motion Picture Daily Monday, April 19, 1948 Variety Clubs (Continued from page 1) least, that Tent No. 29, Mexico City, would be in the running importantly for 1950. Colonel William McCraw, executive director, was returned to his post for another year. As reported earlier, the international officers refused to be satisfied with initial charity pledges for this year which would have resulted in a serious drop under 1947 and therefore whooped it up to fractionally above $2,000,000, which placed both years on approximate parity. In 1947, the 31 active tents raised and spent $1,232,540. Tent No. 8, Kansas City, and No. 14, Milwaukee, are inactive. $7,500 for Rogers Hospital Variety International agreed to advance the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital up to $7,500 without obligation on the part of local tents to reimburse the treasury. S. Fabian urged Variety to match the producers who are prepared to finance the Saranac Lake institution up to $75,000. This was vetoed largely on the disinclination of the various tents to embark upon financial support of projects not in their own geographic areas. Terms of the participation deal for "Bad Boy," which Allied Artists will produce, provide Variety 10 per cent of the profits and $15,000 for construction of a swimming pool at the Texas Boys Ranch, pet project of Tent No. 17, Dallas. It also developed Variety has ambitions about spreading into the LatinAmerican countries and that Havana may be the first new tent in this direction. O'Donnell's Executive Staff Serving with O'Donnell as officers will be Carter Barron, Washington, as first assistant international chief barker ; C. J. Latta, Albany, second assistant international chief barker ; Jack Berensin, Philadelphia, property master ; Marc Wolf, Indianapolis, dough guy ; W. H. Lollier, Los Angeles, proposed and then was appointed the first international bouncer (sergeant-at-arms). Nathan Golden, Washington, succeeded J. A. Maloney, Pittsburgh, as Heart committee chairman. Ropsey Tosewell was appointed chairman of the Humanitarian Award committee, and Charles E. Lewis was renamed international convention chairman and publicity director. Named to the international, committee were J.J. Fitzgibbons, Toronto; George Hoover, Miami ; Luiz Montez, Mexico City ; John H. Harris, Pittsburgh, and O'Donnell who, in acknowledging his reelection — never in doubt for him or his accompanying slate — admitted he wanted the post for another year yet urged adoption of a rotating plan for international chief barkers at San Francisco. Review "Antoine and Antoinette" (Siritzky International) \X7 ITH French dialogue and English subtitles, this winner of the Grand VV Prize at the Cannes Festival is a charming picture in the best tradition of the French. Attention to detail is minute and the story is comparatively simple. The picture portrays with clarity a cross-section of French workingmen, their characters and sense of humor. Performances by Roger Pigaut and beautiful Claire Maffei are excellent and a good deal of credit must go to Jacques Becker who kept the continuity flowing crisply. Pigaut is jealous of his wife and villain Noel Roquevert. He had a winning ticket in a lottery, but lost his wallet. As his world seems about to cave in — and after he disposes of Roquevert — Pigaut discovers that the ticket was not in the wallet at all. Running time, 88 minutes. Adult audience classification. Current release. Grand Rapids, Indianapolis ; Charles P. Skouras for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle. Tent No. 23, Boston, was awarded the 1947 Charity citation award, annual competition among the tents for the outstanding charitable endeavor of the year. Boston was selected for substantially aiding the establishment of a cancer research clinic for children, out of which already has developed laboratory treatment alleged to suggest a cure for acute leukemia. Tent No. 28, Toronto, was given honorable mention for already completed plans to build and maintain "Variety Village," a vocational guidance school for crippled children. The decision, made unanimously by Arthur Ungar, Jay Emanuel and this correspondent, was sealed and first divulged at the concluding banquet Saturday evening where Harold Stassen was chief guest and principal speaker. Barkers and delegates began to abandon Miami beginning early Sunday and jammed all Northern trains and planes throughout the day and evening. Jackson Park (Continued from page 1) Lawson Trial (Continued from page 1) Int'l Representatives Named The following were appointed international representatives : Murray Weiss, Boston, New Haven, Buffalo, Albany; William O'Donnell for Dallas, Omaha, Minneapolis, Kansas City ; Jack Berensin for Washington, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleveland ; Allen Moritz for Cincinnati, Columbus , Dayton, Toledo; Ralph Talbot for Oklahoma City, Des Moines ; James G. Balmer for Pittsburgh; H. H. Everett for Atlanta, Memphis, Charlotte, Miami ; Irving Mack for Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, sides had concluded their arguments. Ben Margolis received permission to reopen the case in order to serve a fresh subpoena to the clerk of the House and committee investigator Robert Stripling, ordering them to produce committee records and reports from Jan. 1, 1947, to Oct. 27, the day Lawson testified at the hearings. Earlier in the day Justice Edward M. Curran quashed a similar subpoena for all records since the formation of the committee in 1938. Margolis declared that he believes examination of the records would reveal the illegality of the sub-committee. Martin Popper, Washington member of the defense staff, explained to the court that the Congressional Reorganization Act of 1946 requires all action of standing committees to be recorded. Therefore, he said, if chairman J. Parnell Thomas had been properly authorized to name a subcommittee, it would appear in the records. Popper pointed out that authorization to do this could be given only by a majority of the full committee "physically present" at a meeting. Following a motion to quash this subpoena by Assistant U. S. Attorney William Hitz, Curran ordered both sides to prepare briefs for presentation when the trial reopens tomorrow. This was the first concession obtained by the defense from Curran, who had previously overruled every motion made in Lawson's behalf. which have played smaller neighborhood houses ahead of them by virtue of the new decree system. An "A" house may not be able, because of prior bookings, to date a picture after its two weeks in the Loop. The picture then will be available to a smaller neighborhood house and the larger "A" houses will bypass it when they have an open date because of the prior neighborhood booking. However, outlying houses in some cases have raised admission prices because of the earlier availability to them of pictures. Woods, Oriental Benefit Because the Jackson Park decree does not apply to non-defendants in the anti-trust suit which gave rise to it, Essaness Circuit's Woods and Oriental in the Loop are not subject to the two-week run limitation. They are, therefore, the prime market objective here today for major product bookings. They can play a picture indefinitely, as all theatres could in the pre-decree years. M-G-M has obtained an important measure of the Woods-Oriental playing time of late. "Cass Timberlane" is in its sixth week at the Woods, and "State of the Union" is slated to follow it. Metro has booked some of its top product into the Oriental, too, while more of Leo's releases have gone into another independent Loop house, unaffected by the decree, the 1,000-seat Monroe, owned by James Jovan. The situation has permitted the Monroe, a former subsequent-run house, to switch to a first run policy. Reissues at B. and K. Houses Balaban and Katz Loop houses, subject to the decree, on the other hand are feeling its effects. The Roosevelt and United Artists, former Loop first runs, have found it impossible to get new pictures on some occasions and have been forced to play reissues. The Garrick experimented with third run double features at reduced admissions recently. Results were not encouraging and it is now endeavoring to re-establish its former first-run policy. Virtually all segments of the trade here concede either openly or privately that the decree is impractical and unreasonable, and in practice is at least equally as discriminatory as any condition which the Jackson Park suit sought to correct, having done no more than substitute new inequities for any which may have existed before. It is generally felt that considerable revision of the decree is necessary. 2 More Legislatures Adjourn; No Damage _ Washington, April 18. — Mississippi and South Carolina legislatures have adjourned "with no damage to the industry," according to Jack Bryson, Motion Picture Association of America legislative representative. In Mississippi theatres won the right to Sunday shows between one and six p.m. Legislatures are still in session in New Jersey, Michigan, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. \ ' — ' )i a.'-' Theatre Code for N. Y. in Midsummer Albany, N. Y., April 18.— Promulgation of a new code for places of public assembly probably will not be made until mid-summer. A spokesman of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the State Labor Department said the board is holding three meetings weekly to consider the code. Changes will affect new and old theatres, summer theatres, drive-ins and legitimate houses. Ticket Tax ( Continued from page 1 ) exhibitors throughout the country. Some exhibitor organizations recently have posed the question whether efforts to reduce the Federal admission tax should not be abandoned on the theory that success of such efforts would open the doors to a flood of local taxes. — Ed. Note) TO A Backs Aid Fund For Razed Wyo. City Theatres in the Rocky Mountain states are conducting a campaign to raise $50,000 for loans to residents of Laramie, Wyo., who lost homes and business establishments in a $2,000,000 fire there recently. Theatre Owners of America is aiding the campaign. Eagle-Lion's "The Noose Hangs High" has been procured for a benefit show at the Laramie Auditorium on Wednesday, with tickets priced at $10 and up. Efforts are being made to obtain a personal appearance of the picture's stars, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, as well as other screen and radio personalities. Gamble has requested all TOA-affiliated theatres in Wyoming and neighboring states to cooperate in the program. Associates' Dinner To Aid Rogers Fund The Will Rogers Memorial Hospital fund will receivel a percentage of profits from the annual dinner of Motion Picture Associates to be held at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on May 21, Arthur L. Mayer, president, announces. Proceeds from the journal to be issued will also go to the hospital. MPF Can't Aid Now (Continued from page 1 ) Rogers Memorial Hospital at Saranac Lake, N. Y. Fabian _ also revealed that Morton G. Thalhimer, president of Neighborhood Theatres, Richmond, Va., and prominent circuit operator, is personally trying to raise funds among exhibitors to keep the tubercular hospital afloat.