Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1948)

FIRST IN FILM NEWS MOTION PICTt?KfeT, DAILY Accurate Concise and Impartial 63. NO. 116 NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, JUNE 16, 1948 TEN CENTS Para. Capital Status Keyed To Divestiture Balaban Sees Reduction In Theatre Interests Any reduction of Paramount theatre holdings made necessary by court-imposed divestiture will be compensated for by a corresponding reduction of the company's capital structure, Barney Balaban, P a ramount president, told company stockholders at their annual meeting at the home office here yesterday. "I do not know what the outcome will be," Balaban said in referring to the recent U. S. Supreme Court decisions in the industry cases, "but I believe that our theatre interests will be reduced with a corresponding reduction of our ultimate earning power. "If the assets and earning power {Continued on page 6) Barney Balaban Paramount Officers, Directors Reelected Barney Balaban and Adolph Zukor Paramount president and board chairman, respectively, were reelected here yesterday, with all other company of ficers, at the annual directors' meet ing. At the stockholders meeting earlier in the day, all 16 directors were reelected. Other officers reelected include : vice-presidents : Y. Frank Freeman Austin C. Keough, Charles M. Rea (Continued on page 6) Delft Organizing a Second Film Combine Minneapolis, June IS. — Delft The atres, operating more than a dozen theatres in Northern Michigan and Northeastern Wisconsin, is forming a new buying-and-booking combine, to service accounts from Milwaukee. John B. Schuyler, general manager of Delft, will head the new combine with Fonlas Georgeaddis, former Fox circuit booker, assuming a similar post with Delft. British Are Not Acting in Good Faith, Balaban Says Expressing dissatisfaction over the new British exhibitors' 45 per cent quota, Barney Balaban, Paramount president, told the company's annual stockholders' meeting here yesterday that he does not think the British "are acting in good faith." He asserted that Paramount will make representations to the British to change the quota. Balaban also voiced displeasure with the permissive provisions of the British tax agreement, saying that the uses are so hedged and restricted, and the attitude so far indicated by the English governmental authorities is so narrow, that we are not presently justified in counting upon them as a means of bolstering our dollar resources." "Accordingly," he declared, "we can, at best, use blocked funds in the production of only a limited number of pictures, if at all, in England." Discussing some of the troublesome aspects of even limited production, he (Continued on page 6) Sir Alexander King Calls Quota a 'Farce' London, June IS. — Terming _ the new 45 per cent British exhibitors' quota a "farce," Sir Alexander King, Britain's leading exhibitor and vicepresident of the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association, predicted today that as a result of it twice as many theatres will be in default of their quota committment in 1950 as were last year, when 1,300 theatres could not meet the quota calling_ for \7y'2 per cent playing time for British films. Sir Alexander's comment was typical of the mood with which other British exhibitors greeted the new quota. Producers here were enthusiastic (Continued on page 3) Name Board for New Rank Pooling Group London, June 15.— Directors of Cir cuit Management Association, which evolved from a pooling of J. Arthur Rank's Gaumont-British and Odeon circuits, were announced here today as follows : Rank, chairman ; John Davis, managing director; and J. A. Callum, L. W. Farrow, Lawrence Kent and Mark Ostrer. Some 564 theatres and 20 companies in the Odeon — G-B groups will be affected for a period of five years by (Continued on page 3) British Exhibitors Set to Defy Quota, Rank's Rental Terms By PETER BURNUP Douglas, Isle of Man, June 15. — In an atmosphere of intense indignation, the Cinematograph Exhibitors Association convention here prepared today to do battle over both the new 45 per cent exhibitors' quota and J. Arthur Rank's new rental terms. The CEA executive committee at its meeting today recommended to the general council, which meets tomorrow, that all independent exhibitors be advised to refuse to book Rank's films on his proposed terms and, instead, invoke the relief clauses of the Quota Act whereby exhibitors are enabled to default when unable to fulfill (Continued on page 3) Reciprocal Trade Pact to President Washington; June 15. — The House today sent to the White House a bill extending the Reciprocal Trade Agreement Act for one year, with the President required to give Congress his reasons anytime he ignores recommendations made by the Tariff Commission on new treaties. There is some speculation that President Truman may veto the bill. The Administration has been pushing for a three-year extension without any curbs on the President. Sullivan Calls for Industry Harmony Deploring the "minus signs" which have come between producers, distributors and exhibitors, Gael Sullivan, Theatre Owners of America's new executive director, yesterday called for "plus signs" instead, and pledged himself to assist in the movement for greater harmony in the industry's op erations. The occasion of Sullivan's remarks was a luncheon sponsored by TOA for the purpose of introducing the former executive director of the National Democratic Committee to trade press editors and distribution and exhibition executives here. He was in (Continued on page 3) Para. Case to Get New Start Here Oct. 13 Court Declines to Act Until Third Judge Named A further protracted battle in the Paramount anti-trust case was indicated yesterday when the Government's proposed order designed to to give force to the U. S. Supreme Court's opinion in the suit came up for hearing before Judges Augustus N. Hand and Henry W. Goddard in District Court here and was postponed to Oct. 13. Denying the Government's application for an order on the Supreme Court's mandate with injunctive proceedings, the court postponed a further hearing on the ground it had no jurisdiction in judicial matters pending the appointment of a third judge to sit on the case. Because it considered the question of jurisdiction "too doubtful," the tribunal declined to make any findings at yesterday's hearing and proposed to confine itself meanwhile merely to entering an order conforming with suggestions advanced by the court. Such an order was prepared later in the day and will be served on the defendants to(Continued on page 6) MacMillen Named E-L Vice-president William C. MacMillen, Jr. has been appointed vice-president in charge of operations of Eagle-Lion, it was announced here yesterday by Arthur B. Krim, president. MacMillen's responsibilities will be in administration, personnel and finance and will in no wajr affect the position of William J. Heineman as distribution vice-president. Eagle-Lion is a subsidiary of Pathe Industries, of which MacMillen has been an officer since 1946. He has also been president of the Federation for Railway Progress and assistant to Robert R. Young, principal Pathe stockholder. MacMillen, 35 years old, will make his headquarters here. Corcoran to Manage Western Pa. Allied Pittsburgh, June 15. — George Corcoran has been named general manager of Allied Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Western Pennsylvania, succeeding James Alexander, resigned.