Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1948)

MOTION PfGXKUlE DAILY FIRST IN FILM NEWS NEW YORK, U.S.A., WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1948 TEN CENTS Decree Talks iff; 4 Get let for Trial Government Demands on Divestiture Too Severe Negotiations between the Govrnment and four theatre-owning companies on a consent decree in .the Paramount case have ceased }md probably will not be resumed, a ,:ompany attorney disclosed here on Monday. No further decree talks with the Government are scheduled and new court hearings in the case will begin here on Monday. The decision by Loew's, Paramount, 20th-Fox and Warners to abandon jsettlement efforts was made following discussions between the Department of Justice and Leonard Goldenson, (Paramount vice-president in charge of theatres, on divestiture considerations i peculiar to Paramount to be made , within the framework of a decree for all four companies. Goldenson's re (Continued on page 4) Deweyi Victory Will Affect Talks: Clark Washington, Nov. 2. — Although confident of a victory for President Truman at the polls, Attorney General Tom Clark indicated on the eve of the election that a victory for Governor Dewey will rob him of a good deal of discretion he had had until now in negotiation with film counsel with a view to out-of-court settlement of the Paramount case. In effect, Clark said, nothing less advantageous to the Government than the RKO decree can be accepted by the Government. That means that the remaining four defendants in the case (Continued on page 4) Ten Trust Suits Are Pending in Chicago Chicago, Nov. 2. — Two new antitrust suits, making a total of 10 now in process in this area, were filed here by attorney Seymour Simon in U. S. District Court. The first suit, plaintiff of which is the Ridge Theatre, operated by the Bartelstein circuit, seeks to establish for the North side of Chicago what the Jackson Park decree did for the (Continued on page 4) Bar Goldman Divorce Move Philadelphia, Nov. 2. — Federal District Judge William H. Kirkpatrick yesterday rejected a plea of William Goldman, independent theatre operator, that Warners and 10 other major producers and distributors be ordered to divest themselves of motion picture theatres in the Philadelphia area. At the same time, the court also declined to issue an order, requested by Goldman in an alternative order, which would have barred the companies from cross-licensing films, a practice which Goldman charged enabled the companies to block first-run films from his houses. The decision does not disturb the (Continued on page 4) Wilcox Coming Here On Reciprocal Deal Herbert Wilcox, British producer, is enroute to New York on the Queen Elisabeth^ due here Friday, to discuss a joint production-distribution arrangement with American film interests. The deal presumably would include American distribution for Wilcox's "Courtneys of Curzon Street," "Spring in Park Lane" and "Elizabeth of Ladymead," all of which have been top grossers in the British market. Anna Neagle, star of the three pictures, is accompanying Wilcox. Michael Wilding, who plays opposite Miss Neagle, was to have accompa (Continued on page 2) RKO ALLOWED TO BUY OUT PARTNERS North Central Allied Attacks COD Action Minneapolis, Nov. 2. — A North Central Allied board meeting at the Nicollet Hotel here condemned "revival of the old outlawed" C.O.D. film shipping practice, and blasted Metro's sales policy, which the association charges, is a "brazen scheme to hike film rentals in the face of a dipping box office." Attaching a C.O.D. for something other than the film involved has been declared illegal in the case of Universal against Frank Woskie (the Parkway, Minneapolis), an NCA statement said, resulting in a resolution at the board meeting condemning the practice. "If an exhibitor is in desperate straits and is forced to lift the C.O.D.," NCA executive director Stan Kane said, "we advise him to contact our office before returning the film." U. A. Offers Five for Bidding in Milwaukee Milwaukee, Nov. 2. — United Artists is offering five pictures for individual bidding among first-runs in Milwaukee, including its own partnership, the Towne, it was revealed by Ralph Cramblet, UA Midwest district manager. The pictures are : "The Time of Your Life," "Pitfall," "Innocent Affair," "Urubu" and "Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven." 66 The Snake Pit" [ 20th Century-Fox ] — Powerful, Morbid, Shocking SINCE it deals with a theme never previously handled by so frank an approach, "The Snake Pit" falls into a category of its own. It is easy, and also quite correct, to observe that this is a decidedly uncommon film traveling an unbeaten path endowed with dramatic power and shock impact which few motion pictures, irrespective of source, have attained, or indeed, have sought. It is this dramatic power and this shock impact, however, which point up serious uncertainties about the future awaiting the film. From the viewpoint of picture making — the abilities of those assigned the task to deliver their professional maximum, an unswerving fidelity to subject matter, the measure of dramatic authority — "The Snake Pit" rates extraordinarily high. Those associated with its making have a proper demand on acclaim for what they have brought off with the elements given them as working tools. But these elements cannot escape the closest kind of scrutiny. The subject is insanity. Aside from flashbacks which gradually piece together the shattered fragments of Olivia de Havilland's mind, the (Continued on page 4) U.S. Approves Provision Involving 30 Theatres In Settlement Program Washington, Nov. 2. — The Government has elected to forego the circuit-smashing divestiture it was seeking in return for quick divorcement, it was obvious today from an examination of the consent decree settlement reached over the weekend with RKO. At the same time, the company — ■ only one of the "Big Five" to cave in thus far — was ordered to dispose of its interest in 241 theatres held with independents, and either to sell out its stock in 30 more jointly-held houses or to buy out its partners. These 30 houses could thus be added to the 80 wholly-owned houses which will forrn a new circuit completely divorced from the RKO production and distribution company, although existing stockholders may hold stock in both companies. Howard Hughes, who holds 24 per cent of the RKO stock will sell out of one of the two companies within one year. Independent control and manage (Continucd on page 5) Activities Will Be Unchanged: Depinet RKO as a producer-distributor and the theatre company which will emerge from the proposed reorganization of the corporation will continue their "respective operations largely as in the past," there being no reason to believe that the activities of the two companies will change because of any separation, Ned E. Depinet, president, stated here in a special message to employes. "Fortunately these units have always operated more or less independently," Depinet said. "We have had a picture company and a theatre com (Continued on page 4) Johnston, Company Heads Meet Nov. 10 Motion Picture Association of America president Eric A. Johnston, company presidents and other top industry executives will meet in New York on Nov. 10 to begin three days of conferences.