Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

Columbia Meet Reviewing New Sales Policies Columbia home office executives, sales personnel and district and branch managers were attending a four-day sales meeting at the Drake Hotel in Chicago this week. The meetings opened Wednesday and were to continue through Saturday. Scheduled for a discussion were a review of the operation of the company's new sales policy and an examination of what has been accomplished since its inception. During the meetings plans were also to be set for the nationwide distribution of "The Jolson Story," and distribution of "The Return of Monte Cristo," starring Louis Hayward and Barbara Britton; "Dead Reckoning," with Humphrey Bogart and Lizabeth Scott; "Johnny O'Clock," which stars Dick Powell and Evelyn Keyes, and "Mr. District Attorney," starring Dennis O'Keefe and Marguerite Chapman. The home office representation to the Chicago meeting was headed by A. Montague, general sales manager, who is presiding, and included Rube Jackter, Louis Astor, Louis Weinberg, Irving Wormser, Maurice Grad, Leo Jaffe, George Josephs, H. C. Kaufman, Joseph Freiberg, Seth Raisler, Irving Sherman, Vincent Borelli, Irving Moross and Sidney Singerman. District managers present at Chicago are Nat Cohn, New York; S. A. Galanty, mideast; Jerome Safron, . western ; Carl Shalit, Central; B. C. Marcus midwest; R. J. Ingram, southeast; J. Underwood, southwest; H. Rogovrn, New England, and H. E. Weiner, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Branch managers attending the meeting are: J. Bulwinkle, Albany; Phil Fox, Buffalo; George Roscoe, Charlotte; B. J. Lourie, Chicago; A. S. Moritz, Cincinnati; Oscar Ruby, Cleveland; H. C. Hill, Denver; M. Evidon, Des Moines; E. Hochstim, Detroit; W. Guy Craig, Indianapolis; T. Baldwin, Kansas City ; W. G. Ball, Los Angeles ; H. Chrisman, Memphis; H. Olshan, Milwaukee ; H. J. Chapman, Minneapolis ; T. F. OToole, New Haven; H. Duvall, New Orlearns; Saul Trauner, New York; C. A. Gibbs, Oklahoma City; Joe Jacobs, Omaha; A. Levy, Pittsburgh; J. R. Beale, Portland; C. D. Hill, St. Louis ; W. G. Seib, Salt Lake City; L. E. Tillman, San Francisco; L. N. Walton, Seattle; B. Caplon, Washington; and Harvey Harnick, Toronto. Brulatour Estate to Widow Hope Hampton, the wife of the late Jules E. Brulatour, will receive a life income from one-half of his estate, it was revealed in New York Surrogate Court last week at the filing of the will. Upon her death the capital will go to the three children, who receive outright the other half of the estate in equal shares. Mr. Brulatour died October 26 in New York. RKO Flat Rental Plan Praised by Exhibitors A statement by Robert Mochrie, general sales manager of RKO Radio, to the effect that he would be glad to sell pictures in any situation grossing less than $700 per week on a flat rental basis, has come in for praise from Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Iowa and Nebraska. The statement was originally made by Mr. Mochrie to Bennie Berger, president of North Central Allied. In a letter to Mr. Mochrie, Leo F. Wolcott, a director of AITO of Iowa and Nebraska, said: "In behalf of our organization and the many small exhibitors in Iowa and Nebraska, we wish to most highly commend and thank you for taking the lead with this far-sighted forward step, so important and pleasing to these many small theatres." Mr. Wolcott said the move would do much to create goodwill for RKO, materially cut checking and other percentage costs and eliminate much of the distress of small exhibitors who do not gross enough to break even on percentage pictures. New York Appellate Court Upholds "Outlaw" Ruling The New York State Appellate Division last Friday unanimously upheld the Supreme Court ruling that had refused to compel three New York City theatres to exhibit "The Outlaw," Howard Hughes' film distributed by United Artists. There was no opinion. The three theatres had originally contracted with the distributor to open the picture on Broadway October 26, but cancelled the opening when New York's Police Commissioner and License Commissioner threatened prosecution and loss of license if the picture was shown. United Artists then filed a petition with the State Supreme Court to enjoin the city officials from interfering with the opening and to force the theatres to live up to the terms of their contracts. Justice Carroll G. Walter's decision was in favor of the city and the theatres. Last weekend in London, the County Council, following public complaints, ordered its inspectors to file a report concerning the 60-by-30-foot cutout of Jane Russell, star of "The Outlaw," erected on the London Pavillion where the film had been booked. The cutout had been termed "a trifle revealing." Warner Brothers Names New Foreign Managers The appointment of three branch managers in foreign countries has been announced by the Warner Brothers home office in New York. W. Wedesweiler, formerly a member of the company sales staff in Brisbane, Australia, has been promoted to branch manager in Bangkok, Siam, succeeding J. R. Lambert, resigned. Douglas J. Granville, succeeding I. Rosenfeld, has been named manager in Chile, and Pedro A. Pietri has been appointed manager of the Santo Domingo branch, replacing I. Seralles. England Favors Johnston Plan, Carr Declares Eric Johnston's proposal for an International Film Council has been received "most favorably" in England, but the impetus for its organization will have to start in America. This is the opinion of E. T. Carr, joint managing director of the Rank Organization's General Film Distributors, who, freshly arrived from England, met the trade press in New York Friday and praised the Motion Picture Association president as a "highly intelligent man who made a great impression in England." Mr. Carr reported the Rank Organization will produce between 25 and 30 features in the 1946-47 season, most of which, if not all, will be distributed in America. Universal will distribute a minimum of 12 and Eagle-Lion from five to 10. Of American pictures in England, Mr. Carr said that for the past 12 months they had been out-grossed by British pictures. "But let me state forcibly," Mr. Carr hastened to add, "this is not because the British pictures are British." Approximately 95 per cent of all features shown in Britain are sold on a percentage basis with the figure reaching 50 per cent and perhaps more. Rentals and admissions have been unfrozen in England and will soon be in the same condition in Canada. Included in the Rank films to be brought over soon are "Great Expectations," which Mr. Carr "honestly and sincerely" believes "will make theatre history," and the Command Performance feature, "Stairway to Heaven," which attracted such a mob at its debut,. Mr. Carr genially exaggerated, that "50 per cent of the people attending were almost killed." Following the interview, Mr. Carr left for California to confer with Nate J. Blumberg, Leo Spitz and William Goetz, of Universal, and with Bryan Foy and Arthur Krim of Eagle-Lion. Dub 1 1 for Germany Eleven American-made pictures have been approved for showing in the U. S. -occupied zone of Germany, according to an announcement from the Motion Picture Export Association. The films are being dubbed in German studios. They are"You Can't Take "It With You," "Keys of the Kingdom," "Ziegfeld Girl," "The Adventures of Mark Twain," "Jane Eyre," "Laura, "Shop Around the Corner," "Lost Angel," "Random Harvest," "Suspicion" and "The Major and the Minor." Pictorial Expands Pictorial Films, Inc., New York, producers of 8mm and 16mm home and educational motion pictures, is now producing industrial films. First on the new schedule is a tworeel subject for Dry Imperator Champagne. 46 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 7. 1946