Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

ON THE MAMCH R^ Contract With U-I Is Set by RED ICANN ii TJ\ VERYTHING in a complete state l"1 of chassis" would be a representative cross-sectional description of the current state of mind among distributors in the light of U. S. Supreme Court Justice Reed's willingness to stay major prohibitions of the New York consent decree until appeals are laid to permanent rest. The situation seems clear. Competitive bidding, scheduled to become mandatory July 1, no longer would be anything of the sort. The restriction against minimum admission prices which persuaded producers and distributors into concluding roadshows were not possible would be a restriction no longer. Conditioning the sale of one feature on the licensing of another, which distributors had been denied, is another indicated approach not applicable until the count is in. The necessity for the distributor to prove the validity of clearance in the event an exhibitor rose in challenge would be held in abeyance along with other major phases of the decree. But, if the situation as to the indicated facts seems clear enough, the procedure of the eight distributor-defendants is not. There are fine lines of demarcation involved. There are delicate judgments in the balance. The emerging policy or policies are so split-hair that no one can know all the answers. Indeed, no one advances such a claim. Having launched competitive bidding, as some distributors have, an immediate question begging for clarification is what slant to pursue. Discontinue the practice which thus far has scratched the surface, or maintain it? If discontinued, those independents who are flexing their muscles because they have outbid a major circuit house won't be happy. And they could even get belligerent. If continued, those major circuit theatres which normally play the product on first run will register beefs, pointing out they were satisfactory customers long before U. S. vs. Paramount, et al and why not again ? No producer or distributor will go to a roadshow policy if faced with legal restrictions on his price scale. In order to get around the condition thrown at him by the decree the producer, like Sam Goldwyn with "The Best Years of Our Lives," has been closing four-wall deals making him the operator and, as such, free to set up his price structure at will. Boris Morros and Sam Dembow, Jr., faced the identical situation on "Carnegie Hall," Neil F. Agnew on "Duel in the Sun" and Charlie Einfeld and Dave Loew on "Arch of Triumph." Under the new status, the old order would be reinstated and, temporarily at least, relieve the producer from any legal repercussions which had confronted him earlier. Presumably, the distributor who had to abandon blocks for individual sales would have restored to him the pro tern right to revert to the old method of four or five in a group which represented usual practice in the instances of the so-called "Big Five." In the instance of the so-called "Little Three," one interpretation already takes into account the possibility of a resumption of full season selling for the duration of Reed's legal dispensation. NOW, there is tempting indecision in all this. The indecision over immediate policy cannot be separated from speculation over what will be determined when the Supreme Court gets around to the appeals in about a year. While it is alluring to contemplate swinging back to selling methods developed through wide experience, no one can predict what the effect will be and to what extent the distributor-defendants may or may not be jeopardizing their positions. At press time, the viewpoint was a decidedly divided affair. To illustrate : Two distributors unofficially maintained they would continue without change, stay or no stay. Their attitude was keyed to the long view which must incorporate the possibility that the Supreme Court will sustain the New York court. In a practical operational sense, these distributors' current preference — subject to change even as this is read — is all for continuing competitive bidding for the experience which is in it so that, never having abandoned it, they will not be confronted with the need to start afresh sometime in 1948. Of course, they are thinking of the advantages accruing through continued experimentation with the new and unprecedented selling system and the benefits over competitors who may determine to tread softly in the new direction. It is worth reporting, as well, that a couple of major circuits, or their accredited representatives, have lost no time in sounding out one or more of the distributors who have been selling away to independents on competitive bids. The approach is what might have been expected. Roughly, this : "We can do business again, for the time being anyway. Let's get back to the old basis and forget this competitive bidding." There is no report on the distributors' answer. Maybe that's because they don't know what to say. A. Savannah exhibitor is reported to have offered Metro a $5,000 guarantee for a week's date on a feature and another $5,250 for 10 days in a tryout of competitive bidding. The offers were against 40 and 41 per cent of grosses which the distributor calculated were beyond the possibilities of both theatres. This is the beginning, but it's not the end. For 21 Years J. Arthur Rank and Universal-International will live together for 21 years, at least. The contract, arrived at after long negotiations, says so. The completion of the document was announced Wednesday in New York by Robert Benjamin, president of the J. Arthur Rank Organization, taking care of Mr. Rank's interests in this country. Mr. Benjamin, an attorney, had been three weeks in London, conferring with Britain's film magnate, along with Arthur Krim, president of Eagle-Lion Films, Mr. Rank's American company; Joseph Seidelman, U-I foreign sales executive ; James Franev, president of United World, the U-I 16 mm distributing company; and Jock Lawrence, who handles Rank publicity. Under the contract, Mr. Rank's pictures will be distributed by U-I. and Mr. Rank's General Film Distributors will continue releasing U-I product. In combination, both Mr. Rank and U-I will acquire theatres in the British Empire, on the Continent, and in this country and Latin America. An "allocation comittee," comprised of representatives of Mr. Rank, Eagle-Lion, and Universal-International decides the pictures to go to each Company. U-I receives a minimum of 12 pictures ; Eagle-Lion a minimum of five. There is no maximum. The committees select pictures on a basis of quality for the American market. The ratio, numerically and in quality, represents a change, Mr. Benjamin noted, in that Eagle-Lion in no sense now receives Grade B pictures. The selection, he emphasized, is 17 pictures from 35 to 40 from the British industry, allowing rejection of films unsuitable. Mr. Rank, he added, under the contract, does not "force" release of particular pictures in the United States. The exception to the allocation is provided by a prior agreement made with RKO Radio Pictures, Mr. Benjamin pointed out. RKO will distribute "So Well Remebered" in this country, and one other. Another partnership, between Mr. Rank's 16 mm interests and United World Pictures, the U-I 16 mm subsidiary, is being negotiated now in London, Mr. Benjamin said, by Ian Javal, representing Mr. Rank, and James Franey, UW president. Universal Exploiteers To Meet and Plan Campaigns Maurice A. Bergman, LTniversal-International eastern advertising and publicity director, will hold a series of meetings with the company's field exploitation representatives in New York April 10 to 12. During the three-day session the representatives will meet with home office executives to discuss forthcoming campaigns on Universal-International and J. x\rthur Rank productions being released by Universal. (8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 5, 1947