Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

toe k holders of oew's Approve plit of Stock tockholders of Loew's, Inc., March 29 voted to : the present outstanding common stock on a 3 of three to one, effective April 9. No exlge of certificates would be required, it was :>unced, as certificates for two additional shares be mailed to the holder of each present share 3r about May 9. he present board was reelected and four new onal service contracts for executives were aped. Following the stockholders' meeting the ctors convened and reelected all officers of the pany. Officers are : icholas M. Schenck, president ; David Berni, vice-president and treasurer ; J. Robert in, W. F. Rodgers, Edward A. Schiller, E. J. mix, Al Lichtman, Howard Dietz, C. C. Mositz, Joseph R. Vogel and Sam Katz, vice-presis ; Leopold Friedman, secretary ; Charles K. n, R. Lazarus and Louis K. Sidney, assistant surers ; Jesse T. Mills, Comptroller and assis secretary, and Ben Thau, assistant secretary, jew's earnings for the six-month period ended ch 1 would be approximately the same as the esponding period a year ago, when in a 28k period ended March 16, 1944, net profit was 42,698, equivalent to $4.44 per share, Mr. istein informed the meeting, he new personal service contracts approved z for Mr. Schenck, Mr. Mannix, Mr. Lichtman Mr. Thau. It was disclosed that existing racts with Mr. Bernstein and Mr. Rubin were nded for three years by the exercise of options iously approved by stockholders, he change in the company's common stock will ease the authorized shares from the present 0,000 to 6,000,000 shares and for each of the 5,109 shares presently outstanding, two _addial shares will be issued, making 5.055,327 'es outstanding, the par value of which will ain the same, namely $44,609,050. irectors reelected were Mr. Schenck, Mr. nstein, Mr. Friedman, Eugene W. Leake, Mr. kowitz, William A. Parker, Mr. Rubin, Mr. el, David Warfield and Henry Rogers Win P mm "Peace Builders" leased by Brandon The Peace Builders," 16mm sound film sumizing the proceedings and proposals for world anization by Allied leaders from the Atlantic rter up to the forthcoming United Nations iference at San Francisco, was released naally April 2 by Brandon Films, Inc., New York, jrding to Thomas J. Brandon, president. The umentary was produced by the National Film rd of Canada as a result of discussions between n Grierson, Canadian Film Commissioner, and Brandon. Alan Field of the Film Board was :harge of production. eaflets and discussion guides will be released i prints of the film. Meetings at Ottawa, Cairo, leran, Moscow, Hot Springs, Bretton Woods, nbarton Oaks and the Crimea are recorded in picture. everal hundred film service points througnout country will make "The Peace Builders" ilable for rental and sale, requests for rental, 15 per day, and outright purchase, $17.50 per y, will be serviced by the Brandon home office. rfense Files Answers in ilaban & Katz Suit mswers were filed this week in Chicago in the aban & Katz suit seeking an accounting of re)ts from theatres operated by the West SuburAmusement Corporation and the Oak Park lusement Corporation, subsidiaries of the Essan Theatre Corporation. The plaintiff has a finaninterest in the defendant companies. The e for a court hearing has not been set, pending return of Morris Leonard, Balaban & Katz atney, from vacation. Ask Retrial of ASCAP Suits In Nebraska Federal Court A motion for retrial of the ASCAP infringement suits brought against amusement places, hotels and radio stations was filed last Friday by the defendants in the Federal District Court, Omaha. In the application, the plaintiffs are charged with seeking to compel the defendants to repeal the antiASCAP law there. The defendants were threatened, it was alleged, with "enough more infringement action to drive them out of business unless (they) repeal the said statute." Plaintiffs in the original action include : I. B. Harms Company, Remick Music Corporation, M. Witmark and Sons, Chappell and Company, Shapiro-Bernstein and Jerome Kern. Frank J. Brady, former Nebraska state senator, who introduced the anti-ASCAP law, claimed every share of the stock in each company was owned by the Music Publishers Holding Company. The latter, in turn, was owned by Warner Bros., it was said. The U. S. Supreme Court in Washington Monday refused to review the conviction of seven former members of the IATSE on charges of having extorted more than $1,000,000 from the film industry. The court's rejection was in the form of an order, without comment. Six of the convicted racketeers had been fined $10,000 each and sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment. Louis Kaufman, former business agent of the IATSE, in Newark, N. J., was sentenced to seven years and fined $10,000. It was proved that the men had worked with Willie Bioff and George Browne, threatening to tie up production, distribution and exhibition unless "paid-off." The threatened companies were Loew's Paramount, Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros. Besides Kaufman, the six other convicts are : Louis Compagna, Phil D'Andrea, Charles Gioe, John Rosselli, Paul De Lucia and Francis Maritote. The convictions previously had been upheld by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. Legion of Decency Reviews Nine New Productions The National Legion of Decency this week reviewed nine new films, approving eight and finding one objectionable in part. In Class A-l, unobjectionable for general patronage, are : "Docks of New York," "Escape in the Fog," "Identity Unknown," "Patrick the Great," "Tarzan and the Amazons." In Class A-2, unobjectionable for adults, "The Clock," "Power of the Whistler," "The Randolph Family." In Class B, objectionable in part, was "G.I. Honeymoon." Last week the Legion reviewed 14 films, finding three objectionable in part. In Class A-l, were: "Bells of Rosarita," "The Cisco Kid Returns," "Corpus Christi Bandits," "Gangs of the Waterfront," "Road to Alcatraz." In Class A-2, "Behind City Lights," "Brewster's Millions," "Earl Carroll Vanities," "God Is My Co-Pilot," "Rough, Tough and Ready," "Youth Aflame." In Class B, were : "The Corn Is Green," "A Royal Scandal," "Salty O'Rourke." Leader Franchise Trial Now Is Set for May 7 Trial of the Leader Theatre Corporation's suit against Twentieth Century-Fox and the Randforce Circuit this week again was postponed in the New York Supreme Court until May 7. The new date was set because some of the parties involved were not able to be in New York Monday, trial date set after several postponements. Leonard Storch, operator of the Leader theatre, Brooklyn, charges that a Twentieth Century-Fox franchise was taken away from the house after he purchased it from Randforce, and that it was given to another theatre in the circuit. The plaintiff charges that the transfer was illegal, and seeks return of the franchise and damages.. Decree Majors Ask Denial of Arthur Appeal An appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court against an order of Federal Judge Francis G. Caffery, allowing Harry C. Arthur's St. Louis Amusement Company to appeal to the high tribunal from denial of its intervention in the New York Consent Decree case, was filed Tuesday in New York by five consenting companies. The Arthur motion to intervene was denied December 20 in New York by Federal Judge Henry W. Goddard. The companies contend in their new application that the Supreme Court has no jurisdiction over the Arthur appeal because it is from an order, and not from a final decree. Certain sections of the law are quoted to support their position that the Supreme Court has jurisdiction only over a final decree. Motions to dismiss the injunction and damages suit filed by the St. Louis Amusement Company against the American Arbitration Association and distributors were taken under advisement Monday in St. Louis by Federal Judge Richard Mv Duncan following oral arguments by both sides. Both plaintiff and defendants were granted 15 days in which to file briefs. Whitney North Seymour, New York attorney, argued for the defendants, who are seeking summary dismissal of the suit. Mr. Seymour charged that the Federal Court there was being used to attack the jurisdiction of the New York court and the validity of the Consent Decree entered into by the United States and the "Big Five" in November, 1940. Mr. Seymour pointed out that only four parties to the New York action were named as defendants in St. Louis and that one of the indispensable parties omitted was the Government. Interested in Jurisdiction Judge Duncan showed particular interest in the question of his court's jurisdiction in the action and asked counsel to cite authority on that issue. In answer to his question whether the St. Louis suit was a collateral attack on the New York decree, Mr. Seymour said that it was. Russell Hardy, Washington attorney for the plaintiff, denied that it was. Mr. Hardy, in arguing against dismissal of the suit, said that its purpose was to obtain injunctive relief against the American Arbitration Association. 'What we ask is a small beachhead on the vast area of monopoly in the motion picture industry," he said. The plaintiff's attorney argued that the Association was above all Federal courts in its authority and that it had usurped the legislative powers of Congress. Some of the issues in the suit had their origin in the depression when the St. Louis Amusement Company intervened to buy theatres owned by Paramount, Warner Bros., and RKO, he contended. At that time, he said, the film companies had warned that they would refuse product to the St. Louis company. Asks Injunctive Relief The suit asks for injunctive relief against the Association and damages for the defendants' alleged refusal to provide films to the plaintiff company's theatres. Allied States, meanwhile, has issued a bulletin supporting the Government's reply brief on the abolition of "unreasonable" clearance, filed in New York with Judge Goddard March 26. "The best indication that the Consent Decree has failed of its purpose to grant relief to the independent exhihjtors and to restore competition," the bulletin says, "is defendants' insistence that it be retained intact." The bulletin notes that the Government placed sole responsibility for the continuance of the arbitration system on Judge Goddard, and cites its contention that the Government accepted that method of settling trade disputes for a trial period only, and that it was no longer willing to continue to do so. Uphold Conviction Of Racketeers >TION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 7, 1945 25