Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

Columbia Starts "Montague "Drive For Sales Force Beginning Friday and continuing through June 28, Columbia's 1945 billing campaign will be called the "Montague Twentieth Anniversary Campaign," as a tribute to A. Montague, general sales manager, for his years of association with Columbia, the company announced this week. Mr. Montague, in commenting on the 15-week campaign, said, "In 20 years I have seen Columbia grow from a modest, humble position in the industry to one of distinction and importance." "A Song to Remember," the Sidney Buchman Technicolor production starring Paul Muni and Morle Oberon, which is sold apart from any Columbia program, will be in general release during the campaign, and "Tonight and Every Night," Technicolor dramatic musical starring Rita Hayworth, will be available following its coast-tocoast pre-release showings, the company announced. Among the outstanding films which also will be released during the drive are "Counter-Attack," starring Paul Muni with Marguerite Chapman and Larry Parks, and directed by Zoltan Korda ; "Over 21," the film version of Ruth Gordon's stage play, which stars Irene Dunne, Alexander Knox and Charles Coburn, under Charles Vidor's direction ; "A Thousand and One Nights," the Technicolor film with Cornel Wilde, Evelyn Keyes, Adele Jergens and Phil Silvers, which Alfred E. Green directed, and "T^; Fighting Guardsman," with Willard Parker, Anita Louise, Tanis Carter, John Loder, Edgar Buchanan and Ted Donaldson. Also available to exhibitors during the campaign will be the latest in "Whistler" series, "The Power of the Whistler," starring Richard Dix with Jeff Donnell, Loren Tindall and Janis Carter ; "Rough, Tough and Ready," an adventure film co-starring Chester Morris and Victor McLaglen, and the latest Boston Blackie film, "Boston Blackie Booked on Suspicion." Name Catholic Charities Committee for 1945 John J. O'Connor, chairman of the motion picture committee of the 1945 Catholic Charities Committee, has announced the personnel of the committee which will serve for the current drive. The Committee includes : Bert Sanford, vicechairman ; Jack Alicoate, Martin F. Bennett, Major Edward Bowes, Samuel Broidy, Harry Buckley, Patrick Casey, T. J. Connors, H. M. Doherty, G. S. Eyssell, S. H. Fabian, E. C. Grainger, J. R. Grainger, Al Hovell, John Kane, Austin C. Keough, Leo J. McCarthy, Joseph McConville, Charles B. McDonald, Joseph P. McLoughlin, Joseph E. McMahon, James A. Mulvey, John Murphy, William P. Murphy, William J. Murray, Leon Netter, John Nolan, Dennis F. O'Brien, Thomas F. O'Connor, Charles L. O'Reilly, P. A. Powers. Also: Martin Quigiey, Charles Reagan, Phil Reisman, Herman Robbins, William F. Rodgers, George J. Schaefer, William A. Scully, E. H. Seifert, George Skouras, Spyros Skouras and William White. Utah Governor Attends Republic Film Opening Governor Herbert B. Maw of Utah and Mayor Earl J. Glade of Salt Lake City headed a list of prominent personalities on a broadcast over Mutual station KLO and the Intermountain network that was to emanate from the lobby of the Lyric theatre Saturday, when Republic's outdoor musical, "Utah" starring Roy Rogers, was to have its premiere. This was but one of the highlights of the campaign arranged by Joseph Rosenfield of the Lyric, assisted by Jerry Ross, manager. Governor Maw proclaimed March 17 as "Utah" or Roy Rogers day, in honor of the opening. Both KLO and the Intermountain network used transcriptions heralding the film a week in advance of the opening. Defendants Appeal in Jackson Park Case Attorneys for Lowe's, Paramount, RKO, Twentieth Century-Fox, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Theatres, Warner Circuit Management Corporation and Balaban and Katz last week filed briefs in the Jackson Park Theatre anti-trust suit in the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Chicago. A jury verdict was returned against the defendant last March awarding the plaintiffs $360,000 in triple damages. The plaintiffs, Mrs. Florence Bigelow, Mrs. Marion Kerber, John E. and William E. Bloom and the children of Edward Bloom, owners of the Jackson Park, charged inability to obtain sufficient product and unfair clearance in favor of other theatres. The plaintiffs have 30 days in which to file answers to the appeal, and the defendants have 10 days thereafter for their reply. Decides St. Louis Stagehand Fight A recommendation that one stagehand be dropped from each of five first run theatres and one second run house has been made to the Regional War Labor Board in Kansas City by Jules E. Kohn, Kansas City attorney, who has served as special arbitrator in the dispute between the AFL Theatrical Brotherhood, Local No. 6 and St. Louis theatre owners. If the arbitrator's report is accepted by the board it will mean a reduction in theatre payrolls of $450 a week. One man each would be dropped from the Ambassador, Missouri, Shubert, Loew's State and Loew's Orpheum, first run houses, and from the Empress. All but the Empress now employ five stagehands and the Empress has three. No reduction would be made at the 5,000-seat Fox theatre, which now has six stagehands. The arbitrator also recommends that no change be made in the number of stagehands employed in 41 neighborhood houses. He did, however, recommend that the men at all theatres work in two shifts, one from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. and the other from 4 P.M. till closing time. This change was sought by the theatres to enable the men to do maintenance work while the theatres were closed. In his report the arbitrator made this significant statement : "The title 'stagehand' in the light of present duties is a misnomer. Because of changed conditions, these men have assumed and performed through the years, new and additional duties. The job might now be classified as theatre stagehandcarpenter-electrician-maintenance-property man." Murray Asks Chicago Court To Vacate Dismissal Thomas A. Murray, former owner of the Thalia theatre, Chicago, and plaintiff in an anti-trust suit against distributors, this week filed a motion before Federal Judge William H. Holly in the U. S. District Court, Chicago, to vacate the orders the judge issued last month. The orders included the dismissal of the remaining defendants, Loew's and Twentieth Century-Fox, and the granting of a new trial to the remaining defendants. A hearing on the motion, scheduled for March 12, has been postponed to March 19 due to the illness of Miles Seeley, attorney for the defense. Last January 24, a jury found eight of the defendants guilty of anti-trust violations and ordered payment of damages totalling $105,000. Trade Showinqs Set on Three MGM Pictures Trade showing dates for three new MGM pictures have been set by William F. Rodgers, vicepresident and general sales manager. "The Clock" will be screened in all exchange areas March 21. On March_22, "The Picture of Dorian Gray" will be shown in all territories except New York and Los Angeles, which held screenings February 23. "Without Love" will be shown March 26 in all areas, including New York, where a previous screening was held March 8. Majors in Court Brief Contend Decree "Final" Sato JlJOM ids I" i aim it BO The five Consent Decree companies last wee' filed a 39-page memorandum with Federal Judgj Henry W. Goddard in New York, contending th; 1 the Decree "is final." In it, they flatly contradictej i.( the Justice Department's stand that its arbitration' provisions were in force since November, 194( "by agreement of the parties pending a judici?1 JJ£y determination of such additional relief as the lay may warrant." The defendants' brief answered the Govern' ment's application to enjoin "unreasonable clear ance," made orally last Monday in the New Yor District Court. Griffith Trial Off to May 7 Meanwhile, trial of the Government's anti-trus suit against the Griffith circuit in Oklahoma Cit> previously set for Monday, stood postponed unt:May 7 on motion of the Department. Other points made by the defendants in the Ne\ York brief are : 1. The nature and extent of the proof on whicfj the Government relies is wholly inadequate t'j justify the temporary injunction it seeks. 2. Reduction of clearances by arbitrators an« Appeal Board is no proof that clearances grante were illegal restraints of trade. 3. An injunction prohibiting the granting O' clearance between theatres charging substantiall; the same admission price should not be granted 4. There should be no injunction against th^uum granting of clearance to theatres affiliated with ; distributor. 5. An agreement between a distributor and ai exhibitor fixing the admission price to be chargec the public during the exhibition of the distributor': picture is legal. On the last point, the memorandum quotes the Government's brief in the Interstate case, saying "The copyright law authorizes the owner of sy* copyrighted work to determine the terms uporijj which it will be published, performed or presented to the public. The owner of a motioi picture film of a copyrighted production may ^ therefore license its exhibition on the conditiorif that the exhibitor charge a given price for ad mission to performances at which this film i^ exhibited ..." In asserting that the Decree is final, the defend™ , ants contend that the references to a three yearfo trial period do not apply to its arbitration pro-1] visions. They simply restrict the right of th& defendants to apply for modification of the decree during that period, and the Government to bring^l the divorcement and dissolution issues to trial" ^ during the same period, the memorandum says. sue pday V: Clearance Separate Factor The defendants also point out that the arbitrators: and the Appeal Board are not concerned with the ' question whether the Sherman Anti-Trust Act had been violated when dealing with clearance disputes. "The Appeal Board itself has drawn a sharp distinction between its function and those of a court' determining violations of the Anti-Trust Laws," the brief says. Elsewhere the companies comment that the ' c Government has not and cannot make out a prima facie case showing that the existence of unreasonable clearance is a violation of the Sherman Act. Two appendices, one containing answers by each of the five companies to Government allegations, the oher containing a digest of Appeal Board decisions, were attached to the memorandum. The Government's replying brief is due to be filed with Judge Goddard by March 26. Hochstein Trial Delayed The trial of Harry Hochstein, former Chicago morals inspector, and the sentencing of Isadore Zevin, former bookkeeper for George E. Browne, former IATSE president, both of whom were indicted for alleged perjury by a Federal grand jury, were postponed again Monday to September 12 in the U. S District Court, New York, by Judge Alfred C. Coxe. 14 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 17, 1945