Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1945)

Majors Refuse to Answer Decree Trial Queries The October 8 trial date of the Government's New York anti -trust suit against the eight majors Tuesday appeared destined for long postponement as attorneys for the companies at a second pretrial conference announced that they had no intention of answering the Justice Department's lengthy interrogatories on trade practices and corporate setup. The Government in turn refused to answer those submitted to it by the defendants. The meeting was held in the Department's anti-trust division offices at 30 Broad Street, New York. Both parties were to bring on their cross-interrogatories either Friday or next Tuesday before Federal Judge Henry W. Goddard in the New York District Court. Judge Goddard, who signed the consent decree between the Government and the "Big Five" in November, 1940, and who recently set the October trial date, will decide which interrogatories are relevant and must be answered. Louis Frohlich, counsel for Columbia, summarized the companies' position when he told Robert L. Wright, special assistant Attorney General in charge of the suit, that the questions Mr. Wright had submitted to the defendants were, in effect, a demand that the companies prepare the Government's case against them. The statistics, charts and compilations requested by Mr. Wright would be used by him against the defendants at the trial, Mr. Frohlich said, and that he had no intention of preparing them, giving answers to the interrogatories. Mr. Frohlich said that if Mr. Wright so desired, he would agree to open Columbia's files to the Government and allow U. S. attorneys the privilege of obtaining the information for themselves. "We simply haven't the manpower to get the information you desire, and we have no intention of preparing your case against us for you," Mr. Flohlich told Mr. Wright. The other company attorneys concurred with Columbia's counsel in that statement, and then Mr. Wright refused for the Government to answer any ©f the companies' questions. Mr. Wright's attitude on the interrogatories was delaying the actual trial, Mr. Frohlich charged. "If you want all these questions answered it will take us well over a year and possibly two years," he said. Although the meeting before Judge Goddard will decide which questions must be answered by both sides, the general opinion among company counsel was that if the questions had to be answered with the limited manpower on hand, the Government would be lucky to get the trial started before January, 1947. There was no discussion of a narrowing down of other issues in order to cut down the actual time of the trial. Mr. Wright will leave May 1 for Oklahoma City to try the Griffith anti-trust suit, which is expected to last, two months. Crescent Has Nine Months To Eliminate Theatres The year of grace during which the Crescent Amusement Company and its affiliates must comply with the divestiture decree of the U. S. District Court, Nashville, Tenn., began last January 18, date of the affirmation of the decision by the U. S. Supreme Court, and not May 17, 1944, George H. Armistead, Crescent chief counsel, said this week. The fact that both the Government and the defendants appealed the original decision of Federal Judge Elmer Davies to the high court determines the beginning of the period in which certain theatre holdings must be dropped by the company, according to Mr. Armistead. The property adjustments ordered by the court were being worked out, he added. Burned in Theatre Fire Barney Hohenstine and Jack Tenant, manager and assistant manager, respectively, of the Tryon theatre, Charlotte, N. C, received severe burns in an explosion of the theatre's air conditioning unit recently. Short Product in First Run Houses NEW YORK— Week of April 9 ASTOR: First Alders RKO Feature: The Princess and the Pirate RKO CAPITOL: The Cress-Eyed Bull United Artists Down the Fairways 20th Cent.-Fox Feature: The Picture of Dorian Gray MGM CRITERION: Rough and Tumble Columbia Rippling Romance Columbia Feature: Between Two Women MGM GLOBE: Sunny Dunham and Orchestra. Vitaphone Saddle Starlets RKO Feature: The Three Caballeros RKO HOLLYWOOD: Unruly Hare Vitaphone Feature: The Corn Is Green Warner Bros. MUSIC HALL: The Eyes Have It RKO Feature: Without Love MGM RIALTO: How To Be a Sailor RKO Moving 4 weigh Paramount Feature: The Mummy's Curse Universal RIVOLI: Bombalero Paramount Report on German Morale VI AC Feature: The Affairs of Susan Paramount ROXY: Post-War Inventions 20th Cent. -Fox Steppin' Pretty 20th Cent. -Fox Two-Way Street .WAC Memo from Britain 20th Cent.-Fox Feature: A Royal Scandal 20th Cent.-Fox STRAND: Congo Vitaphone Glamour in Sports Vitaphone Trap Happy Porkie Vita Feature: God Is My Co-Pilot Warne CHICAGO— Week of April 9 APOLLO: The Egg Yegg Celt Feature: Meet Me in St. Louis QARRICK: Lite With Feathers Vita, Feature: Hangover Square 20th Cer GRAND: Raiding Raiders 20th Cen Harness Racers Features: Here Come the Co-Eds Uni House of Fear Uni ORIENTAL: City of Paradox .20th Cen, Sleepless Tuesday Feature: Tomorrow the World United/ PALACE: Raiding Raiders 20th Cen Sliphorn King of Polaroo Univ Features: Experiment Perilous S What a Blonde ROOSEVELT: Behind the Meatball Vitap Feature: Hotel Berlin Warner STATE LAKE: Jammin' the Blues Vitap Feature: To Have and Have Not Warner UNITED ARTISTS: Gabriel Churchfcltten Paran Feature: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. .. .20th Cen WOODS: Rough and Tumble Coiu Ain't We Got Fun Vitap Feature: It's a Pleasure I Chicago Monopoly Charged In Jackson Park Suit Maintenance of a monopoly in first run and "A" pre-release runs through a price-fixing scheme to stop competition in subsequent run theatres was charged in a reply brief filed by the Jackson Park theatre this week in its anti-trust suit against producers and the Balaban and Katz and Warner circuits in Chicago. The case is awaiting oral arguments in the U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals there, the defendants seeking to set aside damages of $360,000 awarded the plaintiff by a District Court jury in March, 1944. The practice alleged, the brief contends, is illegal per se under the Sherman Act and caused damage to the plaintiff. The defendants' briefs, filed last month, deny a conspiracy. Mrs. Florence Bigelow, Mrs. Marion Kerber, John E. and William E. Bloom and the children of Edward Bloom, owners of the theatre, charge that Balaban and Katz and Warner Bros, are responsible for the current release system there which denies independents the opportunity to buy product on the open market. Prior to that system, the brief says, the Jackson Park got all the pictures it could use and bought product ahead of competitive houses. Today, it contends, no distributor will negotiate with an independent exhibitor before concluding its deals with Balaban and Katz and Warners. Griffith Anti-Trust Trial Starts in Oklahoma City Trial of the $100,000 damage suit of the Mystic theatre, Picher, Okla., against the Griffith Amusement Company and distributors, alleging violations of the Sherman anti-trust act, was to begin Thursday in the Federal Court, Oklahoma City, by Federal Judge Stephen Chandler. The Mystic, an independent, has charged monopoly of films by Griffith, operator of two theatres in Picher at the time the suit was filed in August, 1944, and by distributors. Co-defendants are: Paramount, Loew's, Warner Bros., Twentieth CenturyFox, Universal, Republic and others. Heffernan RCA Vice-President Radio Corporation of America directors last week elected Joseph Heffernan vice-president and general attorney. He joined the company in 1940. From 1942 through 1944, he had been on leave to the Navy. Arthur Appeal i\\ Opposed by U. 4j The Department of Justice Monday fil< \ request in New York Federal Court, asking j£hl U. S. Supreme Court to deny a petition of F|?rj Arthur's St. Louis Amusement Company to itei< vene in the New York Consent Decree ist Federal Judge Henry W. Goddard Decembe 2i denied the intervention petition, and the St. ImJ company recently obtained permission to aj Hi that ruling directly to the Supreme Court. The five consenting defendants last week M asked a denial of the Arthur application, w tending that the Supreme Court had no jj Its diction over the matter since it was an ails from a court order, and not from a final decips The Department joined in the companies' £i;u ment, also emphasizing that if the Arthur <b pany were allowed to intervene, other exhibi Irs whom the Department represents, would askj'o: the same privilege and thus complicate the pa of the action, now scheduled to begin Octob<; J The St. Louis company protests the deci:W of the American Arbitration Association, claiiin; that the company has been deprived of its r; jtt without due process of law. Judge Godlri denied intervention after commenting that hejj.p proved of the arbitration system. Clearance Complaint Filed In New Orleans Tribunal Joy Theatres, Inc., operating the Joy the Shreveport, La., has filed a clearance comp against Loew's in the New Orleans tribunal, American Arbitration Association reported i week. The complaint alleges that pictures g to the Glenwood theatre, also Shreveport, c 35 days or more clearance over the complaii which it says is unreasonable. Eliminatior clearance between the theatres, or, alternate equitable reduction to a reasonable numbei days, not more than five, is asked. Oakley Named General Manager S. L. Oakley, vice-president of the Jeffe Amusement Company, Dallas, has been na general manager. He replaces Clifford Po 32 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 14, 4