Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1953)

Tuesday, January 13, 1953 Motion Picture Daily 5 UPT-ABC Merger {Continued from page 1) Disney Profit (Continued from page 1) stock was redeemed on Jan. 1, 1951. Gross income for the year amounted to $7,722,819, compared with $6,287,539 the year before. Disney stated that the 1952 gross only slightly reflects returns from "Robin Hood" which was released in June, since returns were initially received in the last month of the fiscal year. Principal sources of feature picture income were "Alice in Wonderland" and the reissue of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." 45% in Foreign Income Approximately 45 per cent of the company's motion picture revenue, it was stated, is earned abroad and much of the character merchandising is also from foreign sources. Currency restrictions were cited in the report, which noted that at the end of the fiscal year, there was approximately $1,100,000 of the company's revenue blocked in 18 foreign countries, compared with $825,000 a year ago. As to home television, the report stated that "there has been no change in the company's position. We have no commitments but we are continuing to watch and study closely developments in the field." In a tabulation comparing the financial operations of the company from 1948 to 1952, gross income soared from $4,939,744 in 1948 to $7,722,819 in 1952, reflected in the profit of $451,809 for 1952, compared to the loss of $39,038 in 1948. 20th Slates (Continued from page 1) explained, is the attachment of a special lens to the regular projector. In addition, the process, which is said to give the illusion of a three-dimensional effect, features stereophonic sound. Tests Encouraging The company spokesman said the initial tests are encouraging. He declined to detail the financial arrangement which the company has made with the inventors, but stated that 20th-Fox has contracted for the rights to develop the process. The title of 20th-Fox's third-dimensional film is yet to be selected, a spokesman stated, but the company definitely expects to release the film this year. The 20th-Fox third-dimensional process, it was explained, requires the use of special glasses. 'Bwana' to UA (Continued from page 1) understood that an announcement will be made before the end of the week. Arch Oboler, producer of "Bwana Devil," is in New York for conferences on the transaction in which Chemical Bank and Trust Co. is interested from a financing angle. Independent producer Edward -,L. Alperson also is a participant in the deal. Overlapping of Taxes (Continued from page 1) ever has been willing to relinquish it. Meanwhile in Washington, two more Congressmen introduced admission tax relief bills. Rep. Marchrowicz (D., Mich.) sponsored one to cut the tax from 20 per cent to 10 per cent, while Rep. Patten (D., Ariz.) proposed elimination of the entire tax. P. McGranery has sent the FCC a letter which, while claiming to avoid any actual stand on the merger, actually amounts to a statement in opposition. The Tobey announcement of Senate Committee hearings represents the latest move by the New Hampshire lawmaker to block FCC approval of the merger. He had previously written the Commission criticizing hearing examiner Leo Resnick's recommendation that the merger be okayed. Tobey merely told FCC chairman Paul A. Walker in his latest, curt wire that the Committee would hold hearings in the next two weeks to determine whether the merger is legal, whether it is in the public interest and whether "it would be helpful to prepare and pass legislation to prevent mergers of this kind in the future." Tobey said he especially wanted Walker to attend the hearing". Walker's reply to Tobey is expected to be more courteous than was his reply to McGranery. In effect, the FCC chairman told the Attorney General that his views were very interesting but that they were filed just a little too late in the proceedings to be considered fully by the Commission. McGranery's letter, dated Jan. 7, declared the Justice Department was not expressing any opinion on the merger, but did desire to direct the FCC's attention to "certain factors" of anti-trust significance. For one thing, McGranery said, the merger might encouraage a "general integration" of motion picture exhibition with radio and telecasting. "If the merger is consummated," he declared, "other companies in these industries may well determine to secure for themselves, by merger, the competitive advantages that would accrue to United Paramount and American Broadcasting." If this happens, he added, the visual entertainment field would be con RKO Sales Meet (Continued from page 1) held in mid-February. Cash prizes will be awarded to members of winning branches. Among the top product to be included in the drive period are : "Montana Belle;" "Face to Face;" "Captive Women;" "The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer" and "Bachelor Mother," both re-releases ; "Blackbeard the Pirate," "Hans Christian Andersen," "Androcles and the Lion," "Never Wave at A Wac ;" "No Time For Flowers," "Peter Pan," "Angel Face," "Sword of Venus," "The HitchHiker," "Night Without Stars," "Fort Apache" and "Blood on the Moon," both re-releases ; "Beautiful but Dangerous," "The Sea Around Us," "Port Sinister," "Sea Devils," "Mickey Mouse Birthday Party," "Below the Sahara," "Break-Up" and "Split Second." Williams Here for 'Pan' Roy Williams, veteran Walt Disney studio animator, has arrived in New York to participate in a series of radio, television, newspaper and magazine interviews as part of RKO Radio's promotion campaign for the Roxy premiere of "Peter Pan." 1 trolled by "a few dominant companies," and this would present serious competitive problems. McGranery also claimed that such integration would "impede the entry of new business enterprises" into either field. He also asserted that such integrated companies would have bidding and buying advantages over non-integrated firms. Finally, the Attorney General said, as a result of this merger and those that might follow, "the development of the television industry might be subordinated to the interests of the motion picture exhibition industry. Motion picture exhibition interests placed in a position to do so might well resort to various trade-restraining devices to insulate their interest against the adverse effects of competition from television. In any event, the incentive to improvement that comes from active competition will inevitably be lost under common control." McGranery stated he realized the Commission would have to consider a number of factors, but that he was confident it would give "appropriate consideration" to those he mentioned. O'Hara Rites (Continued from page 1) which will be followed by interment in Arlington National Cemetery. Among the executives will be Nicholas M. Schenck, M-G-M ; Spyros Skouras, 20th Century-Fox; John J. O'Connor, Universal International ; Theodore Black, Republic; J. W. Piper, Paramount, Ned Depinet, and others. From the New York MPAA headquarters will be Fred Duval 1, Ralph Hetzel, Jr., Sidney Schreiber, Irving Maas, Manning (Tim) Clagett, Dorothea Lutjens and Harold Burt. A committee representing the National Press Club Post of the American Legion, of which O'Hara was former commander, has been appointed to attend the services. The group consists of Joseph Davidson, Richard S. Jones, Earl Godwin and H. R. Baukhage. Father Max Jordan of the St. Thomas Moore Church, New York, a life-long friend of O'Hara, will celebrate the mass. Goldman Wins (Continued from page 1) GREAT MOTION PICTURES ARE PROCESSED BY PATHE PAUL WHITE, President of PSI-TF, Inc., Producers and Distributors of TV-Fi/?ns, says : "It takes a highly skilled laboratory to perform our many varied and exacting technical requirements plus a dependable organization to meet daily program deadlines. We use Pathe Labs." If your films, too, are different and need the most versatile laboratory treatment— plus creative ability, high quality and speed— we invite your inquiry. PSI-TV's Pathe-processed programs include: "China Smith" "Playhouse of Stars" and other outstanding television series in addition to 68 current fulllength features. Both New York and Hollywood Have Complete Pathe Laboratory Facilities: 3 {MM • l6MM • COLOR • BLACK AND WHITE Pathe Laboratories, Inc. is a subsidiary of Chesapeake Industries, Inc. In reply, Walker said the Department of Justice had been kept informed from the start of the merger proceedings, but on Dec. 29, 1951, had notified the Commission that the Department was not in a position to participate formally. No request has been made since then asking permission to intervene or participate, Walker added. was based on Goldman's contention that the Clayton Act held that punitive damages or fines are not to be regarded as taxable income by the receiver, but must be charged to the defendant in the case. Since the film companies and Warner are now obligated for the $250,000 difference in the award, they are liable for the tax and not Goldman, according to the court's finding.