Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

UNIVERSAL AND UA ATTACK SINGLE SALES AND BIDDING Separate Appeals by Little Three Plead Innocence of "Conspiracy" Charge The appeals of United Artists and Universal, filed in the New York Federal District Court February 20, both center about a "not guilty" plea of conspiracy with the other defendants. Universal sought exemption from the decree on the grounds that it was not in a position at any time to curtail or control the film market. United Artists sought to set itself apart from other defendants by pointing out that it is merely a distributing company and that approval of its exhibition contracts must come from the producers of the company's pictures. Says Exhibitor Fixes Own Admission Price UA, which claimed 80 errors in the decree, findings of fact and conclusions of law, appealed provisions on single sales, competitive bidding, the prohibition of price fixing, the placing of the burden of proving the legality of clearance on the distributor, clearance between theatres not in substantial competition, and the injunctions against franchise agreements, formula deals, master agreements and the arbitrary refusal of some run. The company raised six major questions in its appeal. On the ban of price fixing, UA charges that there is "undisputed evidence" that the exhibitor determines the actual admission price charged at his theatre and that "no inference should have been drawn that the stipulation of a minimum admission price in a license agreement made the defendants guilty of a conspiracy to fix theatre admission prices" The company claimed the court "has deprived the appellant of well-established property rights as well as rights conferred by the Copyright Law" in enjoining the making and performance of such licenses. Holds Only Legislation Can Order Bidding On the matter of clearances, UA submitted that placing the burden of proving upon the one who alleges is the fundamental rule of law, rather, as the court would have it, placing the burden of proving upon the distributor. On the prohibition of franchises, UA insists that franchises insured "the independent exhibitor product for this theatre, did not restrain trade and provided the nontheatre-owning defendants additional outlets for their product." UA held that a competitive bidding order should originate from legislation rather than from the courts. It supported this state FORUM POSTPONED UNTIL DECISION That exhibitor free-for-all, at which the nation's exhibitors, individually and representing any and all organizations, were to talk it over, during a period in which basic practices of the film industry are being questioned and overthrown and new ones being tried, has been cancelled. Wednesday, Fred Wehrenberg, sponsor of the scheduled Motion Picture Forum, March 10 and II, at the Hotel Atsor, New York, said in St. Louis that incomplete response to his invitations made a forum at this time impractical. After the United States Supreme Court has ruled on appeals in the U. S. anti-trust suit, another attempt will be made to hold a forum, he indicated. Allied States Association and the Pacific Coast Conference of Independent Theatre Owners declined to attend the New York forum. The Conference of Independent Exhibitor Associations had not replied. ment by contending that "the Sherman Act provides for injunctions against acts found unlawful ; it does not authorize the court to prescribe affirmative way of doing business." The UA appeal was prepared by the law firm of O'Brien, Driscoll, Raftery and Lawler. The Universal appeal, filed by Thomas T. Cooke, attorney for the company, attacked all the major provisions of the decree. It attacked the decree in finding that Universal conspired with other defendants to fix and maintain minimum admission prices ; in finding that, in the case of exceptional features, it refused to grant licenses unless the exhibitors raised their admission prices ; in finding that the company commonly specified clearances in terms of clearances fixed by other distributors, and in finding that Universal acted in concert with other defendants in the grants of runs. Attack Prohibition on Franchise Agreements The company further attacked the decree's provisions outlawing master agreements and franchises. This was one of the major issues of Mr. Cooke's arguments during the period when the case was being heard. He maintains that Universal's franchises with independent exhibitors were not an issue in the case. The court erred, Universal maintains, in failing to find that the company, as a producer and distributor without theatres, would have no reliable market for the great majority of its pictures. Competitive bidding was also condemned by the company. In a supplemental "Statement as to Jurisdiction," Universal contended that clearance and run are not matters "upon which a non-theatre-bwning defendant, distributing an insignificant portion of the bestdrawing pictures could have any substantial influence." "Whether or not there was a conspiracy among the theatre-owning distributors," the statement continued, "the similarity of Universal's action, in respect of admission prices, runs, and clearances, to that of the other defendant distributors, was not a proper basis upon which to hold it (in violation of the Sherman Act)." Kirsch Re-Named Head Of Illinois Allied Jack Kirsch won re-election as president of Illinois^ Allied for a three-year term and two of the organization's heads were reelected for one-year terms early this week. A 15-men board of directors also was named. Those who won re-election besides Mr. Kirsch were Van A. Nomikos, vice-president, and Ben Banowitz, secretary-treasurer. Harry Nepo again was chosen ser geant-at-arms . The board of directors includes Lou H. Harrison, Arthur Davidson, James Gregory, Verne Lagdon, Sinuel Roberts, Richard Salkin, John Semadales, Charles Nelson, Jack Rose, Harold Gollos, B. Charuhas, Joseph Stern, Howard Lubliner, Al Bartelstein, and Ulidwig Sussman. Mr. Kirsch plans to leave for a month's vacation in Florida next week. Films' Contribution to Brotherhood Praised Other mediums were excellent, but "nothing compares with what was done by the film industry" for the recent American Brotherhood drive, Dr. Everett R. Clinchy, president of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, told an amusement division report-luncheon Wednesday, at the Hotel Astor, New York. Spyros P. Skouras, chairman of the film division, told division members he would be pleased to head next year's campaign. Mr. Skouras is president of Twentieth Century-Fox. Reports on the industry campaign were given by David Weinstock, Roger Ferri, Robert W. Coyne, Tom Connors, Rodney Smith and others. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH I, 1947 15