Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1950)

•'IRST IN :UM •IEWS ?*NO. 108 FILE COPY MOTION PICTURE DAILY NEW YORK, U. S. A., TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 1950 TEN CENTS ouse Group )tes to End iw Stock Tax mwhile, Reductions leril Whole Tax Bill ashington, June 5. — As the ok for any tax bill this year a sharp turn for the worse, -louse Ways and Means Come today reaffirmed earlier tentavotes to eliminate the 15 per to 25 per cent excise on raw L film, cameras and other photolic apparatus used as part of filmag, and to cut the tax rates on pparatus not used in production me other business, e vote means a considerable savor Hollywood studios, if the tax lecomes law. At present the iny is paying a 15 per cent tax on (stock, film and plates, and a 25 tent tax on cameras and other 'graphic equipment. All would be iree under the bill, ere were several reasons for {Continued on page 4) Majors Settle US SUPREME COURT With Nom ikos Chicago, June 5. — An out-of-court settlement in three separate equity anti-trust suits filed last year by one plaintiff, independent exhibitor Van A. Nomikos, against the majors and Balaban and Katz, has been effected by the plaintiff's attorney, Seymour Simon. The suits were filed on behalf of the Empress, Olympic, Cicero and Rockne (formerly Ambassador) theatres. Each charged discriminatory selling practices. Settlement terms have provided each house with the ability to compete for first-run product coming direct from the Loop here. Aim Was to Protect Public: McDonald hibitors Plan Suit End Ky. Excise Uisvtlle, June 5. — Plans to chalthe constitutionality of the state ssion tax through filing a declarajudgment suit to prove the tax iscatory and discriminatory" j be acted upon by the board of (Kentucky Association of Theatre ers at its meeting here on Fri irence Taylor, assistant to the {Continued on page 4) MPP Meet on UK {ct Here Thursday 'stern distribution committee of | Society of Independent Motion ire Producers will meet here on sday for a discussion of the terms e new trade agreement proposed he British. SIMPP president G. Arnall arrived in New York England on Saturday and imately proceeded to his home in ita. He called Thursday's meettrom there yesterday. Washington, June 5. — Zenith President E. F. McDonald neatly sidestepped today the Federal Communications Commission's sharp charges that he may have misled the public into believing that Phonevision was here on a permanent, and not an experimental basis. Last week the FCC declared that it would hold up action on Zenith's request for an extension of time in the Phonevision test until McDonald filed a verified statement explaining his actions in offering radio manufacturers a royalty cut for installing Phonevision decoder outlets in their (Continued on page 4) AFFIRMS DECREE 20th Slates 3 In September Three of 20th Century-Fox's top productions, two of them in Technicolor, will be released in September, it was announced here yesterday by Andy W. Smith, sales vice-president. The three are : "Panic in the Streets," co-starring Richard Widmark and Paul Douglas ; 'My Blue Heaven," Technicolor musical starring Betty Grable and Dan Dailey, and "The Black Rose," in Technicolor, with Ty (Continued on page 4) Reshuffle Hearing Dates for The 8' Washington, June 5. — Dates have been reshuffled for the appearance here for judgment of the remaining eight of the "unfriendly 10" witnesses cited for contempt in the House UnAmerican Activities Committee hearings on Hollywood in 1948. All eight agreed to have their cases decided on the outcome of the appeals of John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo. The U. S. Supreme Court (Continued on page 4) SAG's Demands 'Undercut' TV A % Heller Maintains George Heller, national executive secretary of Television Authority, asserted here yesterday that the Screen Actors Guild's demand for $55 a day for performers in film television "undercuts by half" the demands made by TVA for the same work. The unions are fighting for jurisdiction over talent in films for television. Heller's assertion was made in reply to statements made by the SAG leadership at a membership meeting Sunday night in Hollywood that under SAG wage demands for television film, performers would work at rates considerably higher than those demanded by TVA, the TVA executive said. "SAG leaders have completely distorted the facts," Heller said. "Under the rates proposed by SAG, the minimum for performers in a half -hour program of film television would be $110 for two days' work with 16 hours for rehearsal. Under the rates proposed by TVA, the same performer working on the same program (Continued on page 4) Loew's, 20th-Fox, W.B. Get 3-Year Divorcement Period, 6 Months on Plan Washington, June 5. — The U. S. Supreme Court today in effect ordered Loew's, Warner and 20th Century-Fox to carry out the divorcement and divestiture provisions of the February decree of the New York statutory court. Acting on appeals of the three companies and the crossappeal of the government, the high court affirmed the lower court decision and order. It gave no opinion. Seven of the justices agreed with this decision. Two, Justices Clark and Jackson, did not take part due to connections with the Paramount case before they were named to the bench. As a result of today's high court action, apparently writing finis to the (Continued on page 4) Stiff er Trust Law Penalties Approved Washington, June 5. — The House todav passed and sent to the Senate a bill to boost from $5,000^ to $50,000 the maximum penalty for violating the Sherman anti-trust law. The Administration hopes Senate approval may be won before adjournment, ft would be the first increase in the Sherman Act penalty since the (Continued on page 4) Expect Another WB Extension on Split A new extension of the deadline for Warners to break with its partners in Atlantic Theatres, New Jersey circuit, probably to July 6, is expected to be given by the Department of Justice. The deadline at present is today but the film company has told the Department that the additional time is needed to wind up current dissolution negotiations. Meanwhile, on the overall impend (Continued on page 4) ■A PARAMOUNT PICTURE, IT'S THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN ! • IF IT'S A P-ARAMOUNT PICTURE, IT'S THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN! • IF IT'S A PARAMOUNT PICTURE, IT'S THE BEST SHOW Para mount's SUNSET BOULEVARD ITURE, IT'S THE BEST SHQ\ A Holly wood Story HOW BEING PRESOLD BY COAST-TO-COAST TOUR OF ITS DISTINGUISHED STAR, GLORIA SWANS0N ; TOWN T'S A PARAMOUNT PICTURE, IT'S THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN ! • IF IT'S A PARAMOUNT PICTURE, IT'S THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN !