Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1951)

VOL. 69, NO. 59 MOTION PICTURE DAILY NEW YORK, U.S.A., TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 1951 TEN CENTS Film Kefauver Hearings As Full Feature 20th-Fox Rushes Prints For Release Today An hour-long feature film of the Kefauver Senate Crime Investigating Committee's hearings held in New York and Washington, as compiled and edited by Movietone News, will be released today to theatres throughout the country by 20th Century-Fox. Distribution will be through regular newsreel channels in order to enable exhibitors to obtain the film in the minimum time, according to Peter Levathes, 20th-Fox short subjects sales manager. Senator Estes Kefauver, chairman of the committee, opens the film with a brief introduction and concludes with a summation that makes a strong appeal for citizens to combat crime. (.Continued on page 6) Italians Due Today To Analyze Market Three leading figures of the Italian film industry will arrive in New York today aboard the S. S. Queen Mary to survey various aspects of the American market in connection with Italian films. They are : Dr. Eitel Monaco, president of the National Association of Italian Motion Picture and Allied Industries (ANICA) ; Italo Gemini, president of the Italian Film Exhibitors Association ; and Dr. Francesco Penotti, president of the Italian Film Distributors Association. A fourth representative, Dr. Renato Gualino, who preceded the group to New York, flew back to Rome over the weekend on urgent business. Dr. Gualino, president of the Italian Film producers Association, will rejoin his (Continued on page 6) Answers Due Soon On Allied Bid Plan Washington, March 26. — Abram F. Myers, general counsel of Allied States Association, disclosed today that he discussed both arbitration and competitive bidding with officials of Loew's and Paramount Pictures during his recent New York trip. Myers indicated the arbitration problems would take considerable dis(.Continued on page 4) Easter Grosses at TV. Y. First Runs Top 1950; Records Set Ascap Annual Meet To Hear Report On Producer Talks A report on Ascap's progress in the negotiations with Hollywood producers for performing rights and fees in connection with the use of music in films is due to be made today by Otto A. Harbach, Society president, at the organization's annual meeting at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel here. Harbach will report on a number of other subjects as well. A report prepared by Louis Bernstein, Ascap treasurer, is also scheduled to be delivered to the membership. Following the general meeting, the annual membership dinner will be held in the grand ballroom of the hotel. Among members of the Society who will be heard from during the banquet will be Sigmund Romberg, Eddie Cantor, Jimmy Durante, Igor Gorin and Eubie Blake. IL S. Aiding British In Sulphur Crisis London, March 26. — Film laboratories here estimate that a critical period will be reached within three weeks with respect to supplies of sulphur for film processing purposes, unless relief is obtained before then. The United States is making an immediate allocation to Britain of 19,000 tons of sulphur but warns that this may possibly be taken out of British allocations during the remainder of the year. The sulphur supply of British industry is at a seriously low level and film laboratories are hoping for a favorable position on the lists of priority users being prepared bv the British (Continued on page 6) Canada Tightens Steel for Theatres Ottawa, March 26.— Theatre operators' last hopes of some relaxation or easing of present steel controls to allow construction of new theatres or alterations of existing theatres have been shattered by the statement of Trade Minister Howe here that more rigid restrictions will be required" ' Howe pointed out that the Canadian defense production program which this country would like to carry out this year would require approximately 5,500,000 tons of steel. Canada pro(Continued on page 6) With holiday crowds jamming the Times Square area mornings, afternoons and nights, New York first-run houses are reaping an Easter box-office harvest that in many cases is running ahead of previous years and in a few instances is setting house records. Extra shows and early openings are the rule and up until yesterday few patrons could get in without waiting in lines that often extended for a block or more. Radio City Music Hall, with "Royal Wedding" and a Easter stage show, reports a smashing $101,000 for the weekend beginning Friday, with a take on Saturday of $30,656 representing the best for any Saturday in the house's history, excluding New Year's Eve shows. With early openings scheduled for 7 :45 A.M. on weekdays, the picture's second week is expected to bring in $170,000, about six per cent over Easter week in 1950. Equally impressive is the first week (Continued on page 5) NSS Dallas Leads Raw Stock Savings Dallas, March 26. — The local office of National Screen Service is said to be the first in the country to reach a 100 per cent goal in the conservation of raw film stock, according to Paul Short, NSS divisional manager. Following the recent announcement from Nathan D. Golden, film section chief of the National Production Authority, that a twenty-five per cent cut in raw film stock could be expected, National Screen immediately launched a drive to offset the anticipated drastic cut which would involve a strict limitation of trailer prints. "An appeal was sent out which (Continued on page 6) De Titta Heads 20th's Movietone on Coast Arthur De Titta has been appointed West Coast supervisor for 20th-Fox Movietone by Edmund Reek, production head of the newsreel organization. De Titta will succeed the late Al Brick, longtime head of the West Coast bureau. De Titta will make his headquarters in Los Angeles, leaving here next weekend. A 25-year veteran with Movietone, De Titta has headed the company's Washington bureau, its Pacific Coast office, and was assistant European editor. Propose Code Ban on Film 'Dope' Stories MPAA Board to Weigh AntiNarcotics Action A proposal to repeal the 1946 amendment to the industry's Production Code which authorizes the production of films dealing with narcotics subjects is scheduled to be acted on by the Motion Picture Association of America's board of directors at its annual meeting here today. Another proposal scheduled for board action today would bar film references to abortion. Reconsideration by the MPAA board of the 1946 Code amendment permitting film treatment of narcotics subjects is understood to have been asked by Federal Narcotics Commissioner H. J. Anslinger. Drug addiction, particularly among American youths, and the illegal traffic in dope has increased to such an extent in (Continued cm page 6) Loew's Right to Fire Cole Upheld Washingto-n, March 26. — The United States Supreme Court today in effect upheld the right of Loew's, Inc. to fire screenwriter Lester Cole when he was charged with contempt of Congress. The high court said it would not hear Cole's appeal from a Circuit Court decision throwing out his suit for reinstatement. There was no high court opinion but merely the notation that the appeal would not be heard. Nor was there any indication of the vote on the matter — just a line that Justice Clark did not take part. The action may have considerable bearing on the policy which the studios will follow in connection with witnesses who refuse to cooperate with (Continued on page 4) Painters in Move To Oust Sorrell Hollywood, March 26. — Hebert K. Sorrell, business representative of Studio Painters Local No. 644, and president of the Conference of Studio Unions which conducted the 1945-46 strike against the studios, revealed receipt of a notification from the Brotherhood of Painters, Paper Hangers and Decorators of America that a (Continued on page 4)