Motion Picture Daily (Jul-Sep 1950)

Monday, August 14, 1950 Motion Picture Daily 5 FCC Insists on Probe of TV Applicants 9 Trust Records Fox Program {Continued from page 1) propriation for merchandising its 11 top pictures to be released in the 17week period. The company has approved for its 37 domestic branches increased manpower and facilities to handle the accelerated program in view of what promises to be a period of increased business for theatres everywhere. Smith "q*\ as evidence of this, Labor Day' Lek bookings already include 519 theatres which will play "The Black Rose," a new company record for day-and-date bookings on a single 20th Century-Fox picture. The pictures to be released during the Branch Managers Testimonial campaign are : September, "The Black Rose," in Technicolor ; "My Blue Heaven," Technicolor, and "Panic in the Streets." October : "The Fireball," "Mister 880," and "No Way Out," which will have its world premiere at the Rivoli Theatre here on Wednesday. November : "Two Flags West," "All About Eve" and "The Jackpot." December : "An American Guerrilla in the Philippines," in Technicolor, and "For Heaven's Sake." During the period, the company will offer two specials, "Holy Year 1950" and "Farewell to Yesterday." Smith announced that division managers had appointed the following divisional BMT campaign leaders : Bryan Stoner, assistant Western division manager, West ; Paul Wilson, assistant Southern division manager, South; John Feloney, Boston sales manager, New England ; Tom McCleaster, Indianapolis branch manager, Central ; Gordon Halloran, St. Louis branch manager, Mid-West ; William Rowell, Buffalo salesman, Empire State ; and Jerry Chernoff, Montreal branch manager, Canada. Radio Promotions Set for 'Fancy Pants' Paramount's new Bob Hope starrer, "Fancy Pants," slated to open shortly at the Paramount Theatre here, will be promoted starting Sept. 4 on all Chesterfield radio shows, including broadcasts and telecasts of Giant baseball games, and on the Arthur Godfrey program and the ABC's-of-Music Show. The latter two are on CBS. A second deal announced by Paramount national advertising-publicity director Max E. Youngstein, has been completed with WNBC to use records of Hope statements for its round-theclock station breaks. Hamilton Thompson Hamilton Thompson, one of the real old pioneers of the motion picture industry, died in Hartford last week, it was learned here at the weekend. Thompson is understood to have been the first scenario editor for the old Fox Film Company in New York and was active right up to the time of his death, as a newscaster on radio in Hartford. Negro Actors Cite Zanuck The Negro Actors' Guild of America will present an award to Darryl F. Zanuck for his production "No Way Out," at a luncheon at the Hotel Theresa here today. Linda Darnell, star of the film, will accept the award for Zanuck from Noble Sissle, president of the Guild. Washington, Aug. 13. — Federal Communications Commission chairman Wayne Coy told the House Interstate Commerce Committee on Friday that the Commission is strongly opposed to proposed legislation limiting its authority to review the antitrust records of applicants from other fields for radio and television licenses. He objected also to a portion of the Senate-approved McFarland bill which would make it possible for broadcasters to delay the establishment of TV stations simply because of the econ Snaper allowed that it might very well be adaptable to certain theatres, such as neighborhood houses, but he could not foresee its succeeding at the Roxy, 20th-Fox's Broadway showcase, where the company will inaugurate it with the premiere opening of "All About Eve" in October. He based this view on the contention that the Roxy caters principally to out-of-town visitors to the city, a large proportion of whom have "one eye on a train schedule" when they go shopping for motion picture entertainment here. As Snaper foresees the policy in operation at the Roxy, the out-of-towners he described would not be willing to wait for a show to break if they could not spare the time to do so, but instead would patronize the other theatres nearby. His father, David Snaper, founder of the Snaper Circuit, supported these opinions. Leo Brecher, head of the Brecher Theatres and president of the Metropolitan Motion Picture Theatres Association, declined to give more than a tentative opinion of the policy because he had been occupied with Council of Motion Picture Organizations affairs since 20th-Fox president Spyros P. Skouras announced the plan last Wednesday, and therefore had not omic competition which would result. The Commission is currently seeking to complete the writing of a decision regarding applicants with records of anti-trust law violation. While it has been learned that no uniform policy for dealing with such applicants will be adopted, the Commission fears that the McFarland bill — which has been supported bv film industry lawyers— might be interpreted to prevent the consideration of an applicant's anti-trust record as a factor in determining his qualification for a license. had time to examine it thoroughly. He said he thought it might work at a theatre such as his Plaza here, a specialized house that caters to "class" trade, although he appeared unwilling to have this accepted as more than a conj ecture. Trueman T. Rembusch, national Allied president, who, like Brecher, is a member of the COMPO board and attended its meetings here last week, said he only had a vague concept of the plan and therefore was unable to pass an opinion on it. Many other theatremen had this same comment to make when approached for their estimates. Some reminded that they had not seen "All About Eve," a Bette Davis starrer, and therefore could not appraise the policy in conjunction with the film's particular qualities. Twentieth-Fox has described it as a picture which must be seen from the beginning and therefore one which is particularly adaptable to the policy. One prominent theatreman here, the head of a national circuit, who asked that his name be withheld, said he was willing to accept 20th-Fox's description of the picture and the company's statement as to its adaptability, but added he hoped to have an opportun;ty Wald and RKO (Continued from page 1) reached before an agreed deadline. Although progress toward consummation was rapid, the negotiations appeared to slow down recently when autonomy and control became factors in the deliberations, with WaldKrasna demanding complete autonomy and RKO holding out for pre-production control over budgets and principal castings. Both sides made concessions on these points in the final hours before the deadline, set for last midnight. Wald, 39, had been with the Warner studio for 18 years as a writer and producer, and in 1949 won the Academy's Irving Thalberg Award for distinguished contribution to motion picture production. Krasna, 41, also has had a notable career as a writer and producer, winning an Academy Award in 1943 for the best original screenplay, his "Princess O'Rourke." Both came to pictures from journalism. Wald was a columnist for the New York Graphic, Krasna was drama editor of the same newspaper and a staff representative of the Motion Picture Herald. Dietrich Due Back (Continued from page 1) in excess of $8,000,000. The problem of making warranties which are given currently effective next January has delayed closing of the deal, on the terms of which the principals are in agreement. "to sit down and discuss the plan at length" with 20th-Fox executives so that he could form his own opinion of it. Others ventured that it would require considerable time to empty houses between performances, and therefore on the premise that "time is money" in the exhibition business the policy might prove costly to theatres. There will be no penalty clause for breach of the agreement, the company's position being only that the policy would be in the best interests of the public, the picture and the theatre owner. THREE SECRETS 20th's Start-of-Show Policy (Continued from page 1)