Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1950)

Wednesday, October 4, 1950 Motion Picture Daily 7 MGM's Policy (Continued from page 1) Allied Votes on Co-op Buying (Continued from page 1) theatres, and where 6,251 pictures were involved, Rodgers said 3,016 pictures were awarded to the individuals and 2,716 to the circuits. There were 519 unsold. Where two independents were bidding against each other, 94 in number, _aud where 3,803 pictures were invol'"^J:he division was 1,902 pictures in o.j^Hnstance, 1,746 in another, and 155 pictures unsold, Rodgers reported. Competitive Bidding He told the convention that M-G-M uses competitive bidding only where it is obliged to do so to comply with the law and that the company welcomes suggestions for alternative, legal methods of selling its pictures in such situations. Rodgers urged the exhibitors to attend trade shows and said that if more interest were shown his company would extend the showings to a greater number of localities. In a question period following his address, Leo Jones, of Upper Sandusky, O., endorsed Rodgers' suggestion and offered to donate his theatre and a projectionist for the trade showings in that locality. He also recommended that exhibitors meet together following a showing and discuss the exploitation possibilities of the pictures they see. Rodgers, recently returned from a studio visit, assured the exhibitor of M-G-M's faith in the industry's future as evidenced by a huge investment in top new product. There is plenty of new talent in the pictures he saw at Cluver City, Rodgers said. Drive-in Theatre He stated the company has no fixed policy on availabilities for drive-in theatres but deals with every situation on a picture-by-picture and theatre-by-theatre basis. Rodgers made no mention of any M-G-M plan for selling pictures in groups to special situations, although he had stated earlier the subject has been under study. Such a plan was announced to the convention by A. W. Smith, Jr., of 20th Century-Fox, just before Rodgers spoke. He urged the exhibitors to talk over their problems more often with distribution representatives and refrain from resorting to inflammatory statements in their regional organizations' bulletins. Abe Berenson, of Gulf States Allied, admitting to getting "inflammatory" in a bulletin about a 37y2 per cent demand for "Annie Get Your Gun" from M-G-M's New Orleans office, asked what he might have done about the complaint. Rodgers told him if Berenson had telephoned him he would have sided with the exhibitor and arranged to have the picture sold to him at 35 per cent. Complaints from the floor that pictures are still being forced on exhibitors were answered by Rodgers thusly : "If you can prove to me that an M-G-M man forced a picture, he stops working for us tomorrow. That goes for me, too. That is my order from the president of the company." The other main speaker was A. W. Smith, Jr., of 20th Century-Fox. hibitors, and by a lengthy question period concerning trade practices, following addresses by A. W. Smith, Jr., 20th Century-Fox distribution vice-president, and William F. Rodgers, Loew's distribution vice-president. With the convention two-thirds over, observers were marveling today at the almost total absence of fireworks thus far as contrasted with Allied conventions of earlier years. Some expressed the belief that with the government anti-trust suit out of the way, convention orators lack an inflammatory issue and are forced to confine themselves to ordinary topics which have to be discussed at normal temperatures and without raising their voices in any event. The convention has gone through its second day without serious libel or calumny heaped on anything. Voices Opposition Opposition to Allied's entrance into the cooperative equipment and supply purchasing field was voiced today by O. F. Sullivan, of Kansas-Missouri Allied, and by Ray Branch, of Michigan Allied. The latter, however, said that although he believes the subject should be studied by the board, he was opposed to the idea of Allied entering the cooperative buying field. Sullivan contended that it would entail Allied entering the equipment and supply manufacturing fields, also, if anything was to come of it and that being such a remote likelihood, no action could be expected and the board would be laid open to criticism in the end. Co-op History The discussion followed a report by Stanley Kane, of North Central Allied, on the history and character of cooperatives. Sidney Samuelson, of Eastern Pennsylvania Allied, defending the motion, asked whether Sullivan's opposition to cooperative would lead him to resign from his film buying combine in the Kansas-Missouri area. Samuelson also denied that the cooperative idea was counter to Allied's traditional championing of free and competitive markets and individual enterprise. Jack Kirsch, of Illinois Allied, also asked for adoption of the motion, while stating that he was not in favor of a cooperative buying organization. With Martin Smith, of Allied of Ohio, spelling Trueman Rembusch, Allied president, as convention chairman, Myers reported to the delegates on efforts to obtain clarification of the New York Statutory Court's decree on competitive bidding in the hope that it would result in eliminating bidding by one independent exhibitor against another, limiting the bidding to situations in which only affiliated or circuit theatres are involved. Gottleib Promoted Sanford Gottleib has been appointed Eagle Lion Classics' Philadelphia branch manager, replacing Saul J. Krugman, resigned, it was announced by William J. Heineman, ELC sales vice-president. Gottleib was formerly Film Classics Cleveland branch manager. Since Allied is not a party to the government anti-trust suit, it cannot itself ask the court for clarification. Therefore, the Allied board at its meeting last weekend directed Myers and an advisory committee to seek the cooperation of either defendant companies or the Department of Justice in approaching the Statutory Court. Myers Reveals Myers revealed today, however, that one general counsel of an unidentified major company already has told him that while Myers may be correct in believing the intent of section two, paragraph eight of the decree, was not to require independents to bid against each other, he could not advise his company to participate in a test on the grounds that it might subsequently make that company subject to legal actions against it. _ Myers pointed out that the application could be made under the decree paragraph in which the court retains jurisdiction in the anti-trust suit for purposes which include changes and amendments to it. He has indicated that if neither the companies nor the government will cooperate, exhibitors might bring test actions on the grounds they were illegally required to bid. Bidding Irritant Even though Myers referred to bidding as, "one of the chief sources of dissatisfaction and irritation in the industry today," and stated that bidding has "had the effect of materially increasing film rentals," the convention retained its almost indifferent calm. There were no questions asked, no comments made from the floor in response to the customary invitation when he had finished. The film buying clinics began today and were well attended. H. A. Cole, of Allied of Texas, one of the moderators for the small town theatre clinics, reported to the convention later that "fear of reprisals" from distributors employes had restrained discussion to some extent. It was learned that some exhibitors objected to tape-recordings being made of the clinic discussions. The clinics were closed to the press. They were said to have consisted mainly of an exchange of film buying and booking information, similar to the work carried on by the Allied caravan, and to the airing of complaints and problems in connection with buying and booking. Numerous complaints of alleged forcing of pictures were said to have been made. Today's social affairs included an evening reception by Warner Bros., with Major Albert Warner and Ben Kalmenson as hosts, and a luncheon for Rex Allen, Republic cowboy star, with Walter Titus and I. T. Sweeney as hosts. The convention banquet and a dance will follow the closing convention session tomorrow. 'Rocki/ Premiere The Hollywood delegation attending the world premiere of Warner's "Rocky Mountain" in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Friday will visit nearby Camp Carson, the Army's mountain-climbing training center, to give a special show for soldiers on the afternoon of premiere day. B 'wfay Sa le s (Continued from page 1) 40 per cent in the night's business. Theatres with stage presentations minimized the effect of the fight, available at home or at any corner "pub" on television, with the Roxy claiming "no appreciable" drop and the Music Hall taking in $7,000, against an expected $7,500. ■ Main-stem patrons tended to stay out of theatres only during the hour of the fight, but the neighborhoods frankly admitted that many of their seats were empty for the whole evening. Music Hall The Music Hall expects a strong $138,000 for its first week of "The Glass Menagerie," with Russel Markert's "Sketch Book" on stage. "Mr. 880" is doing nicely at the Roxy, with $95,000 due for its first week. Dick Haymes' orchestra and an ice revue accompany the film. Other openers are : "Toast of New Orleans" at Loew's State, with a very good $35,000 expected, and "Born to Be Bad" at the Capitol, which sees a satisfactory $49,000 in prospect. Phil Spitalny and his all-girl orchestra head the stage bill at the latter house. "Union Station" opens today at the Paramount, where "Sleeping City" closed its second week with $48,000, down from a strong first week's $77,000. Duke Ellington's orchestra and Sarah Vaughan are on stage. "Pretty Baby" is doing well in a second and final week at the Strand, with $45,000 expected to match a similar figure for the first week ; the Three Stooges top the stage bill. "The Breaking Point" will open there Friday. 'Our Very Own' "Our Very Own" ended a 10-week stand at the Victoria yesterday with a weak $10,500. "State Secret" and "The Vatican" will open there today. "No Way Out" is only fair at the Rivoli, with $12,000 in sight for its seventh week. "Treasure Island" is still doing satisfactory business at the Mayfair, with $15,500 expected for an eighth week. "Edge of Doom" is onlv so-so in a ninth week at the Astor ; a $12,000 gross is not causing any cheers. "Red Shoes" continues its marathon at the Bijou, with a reliable $7,000 in sight for its 102nd week. "Madeleine" is less than moderate at the Park Avenue, where the boxoffice is only expected to ring up $3,500 for a sixth week. At the Globe, "Good Time Girl" ended its second and final week with a disappointing $10,500. Says Industry (Continued from page 1) the current increase at the box-office and decried the effect of television on theatre attendance. "The villain," he said, was a postwar splurge of installment buying, which cut down on the money left for entertainment. The industry's public relations, Seadler said, can be expected to improve through the Council of Motion Picture Organizations. He told of COMPO's protests against derogatory television shows and against unfair advertising. Communism in the industry will soon be a dead issue, Seadler said, "with political opportunists never again able to crash the press by virtue of a few subversives" in Hollywood.