Motion Picture Herald (May-Jun 1947)

Warner Net for 6 Months Rises To $14,013,000 Net profit of $14,013,000 for the six months ending March 1, 1947, was reported by Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., and subsidiary companies in a financial report released Monday. The net profit includes a refund of $418,000 of foreign excess profits taxes applicable to prior years and after provision of $8,400,000 for Federal income taxes. The net for the same period last year amounted to $9,125,000 after provision of $8,630,000 for Federal income taxes and after a provision of $900,000 for contingencies. Equal to $1.89 Per Share The net profit for the six months ending March 1, 1947, is equivalent to $1.89 per share on the 7,402,180 shares of common stock then outstanding. The net profit for the corresponding period last year was equivalent to $1.23 per share, after adjusting for the two for one split of the common stock. The consolidated profit and loss statement for the six-month period follows : INCOME: Film rentals, theatre admissions, sales, etc $85,053,227 Rents from tenants and royalties 2,800,726 Dividends received 100,361 Interest and discount earned 192,214 Profit on sales of securities 13,055 Profit, net, on sales of fixed assets 5,704 Foreign exchange adjustments, net 11,418 $88,176,705 COSTS AND EXPENSES: Amortization of film costs...... $16,852,800 Other costs, including royalties • and participations 5,105,572 Operating and general expenses 41,996,968 Amortization and depreciation of properties 1,927,544 Interest expense 279,481 Minority interests' share of profit 18,942 Refund of foreign excess profits tax of prior years (418,285) 65,763,022 PROFIT before providing for federal taxes on income $22,413,683 Provision for estimated federal taxes on income 8,400,000 NET PROFIT for the six months, ending March 1, 1947, carried to earned surplus $14,013,683 Film rentals, theatre admissions, sales, etc., after eliminating inter-company transactions, for the six months amounted to $85,053,000,. compared with $76,863,000 for the corresponding period in the previous year. During the calendar year 1946, the report stated, theatre attendance in Warner theatres was at an all-time high. Box office receipts for 1947 have shown a downward trend as compared with the same period last year. Labor and other costs have increased, the statement continued, and it is estimated that the profit for the six months which will end August 31, will show a decrease as compared with the same period last year. DeMiile Warns Against Communism in U. S. Cecil B. DeMiile, producer-director for Paramount and head of the DeMiile Foundation for Political Freedom, warned that the dangers of Communism in the United States should not be taken lightly, in a speech before the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York during its convention at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York last Thursday. He also attacked Henry A. Wallace for "sowing the seeds of division and disloyalty" in the country. "In the motion picture studios we have special machines to produce fog when we need fog for a scene. Some travelers — perhaps I should say fellow-travelers — have been been going around the country giving a very good imitation of a fog machine. It is time to blow that fog away," Mr. DeMiile said. "It is time to inform the distinguished producer of hybrid corn that we are not in the market for hybrid Americanism." Ned Buddy Joins Staff Of Warner Newsreel Ned Buddy, former editor and general manager of European newsreel operations for Paramount, has joined the Warner News to assist James Allen, Warner News head, in the organization of the forthcoming Warner newsreel. Mr. Buddy was editor of the United Newsreel for the Government and the motion picture industry during the war and managed the American newsreel pool overseas. He also was formerly vice-president and general manager of Television Productions, Inc. Film Classics Acquires Four New Branches Film Classics has acquired four additional branches, giving the company 95 per cent ownership of its branches in this country, the company announced this week. The com pany has acquired the franchises held by John Franconi in Dallas and by John Mangham in Atlanta and is opening new branches in Philadelphia and Boston. Negotiations are under way for a Detroit branch. Graduates from Law School E. Ernest Goldstein, son of Nathan E. Goldstein, Massachusetts circuit executive, of Springfield, Mass., has been graduated from the Law School of Georgetown University, Washington, D. C. He had attended Amherst and Chicago Law School before enlisting in the Army, where he served for three years. He graduated sixth in a class of 105. Bayes With Eagle-Lion Peter Bayes, once associated with the New York Strand's publicity department, has joined Eagle-Lion Films' exploitation staff in New York. He will work under Arthur Jeffrey, exploitation manager. Pathe News Deal Allows Payments By London Unit An arrangement under which the Bank of England will permit the London affiliate of RKO Pathe News to pay the debts of all three Pathe News affiliates to cameramen throughout the world in pounds sterling — provided that the American company transmits to the British Treasury its one-third share in dollars — was disclosed this week by John D. Le Vien, RKO Pathe News' news editor, who returned from Europe late last week. The deal will go into effect in about a month and will facilitate the financial transactions which have long been a thorn in the company's international operations, Mr. Le Vien said. It is difficult either to get francs out of France or to get pounds out of Britain. Up to now remittances were made in dollars from the United States. Besides RKO Pathe, the affiliates involved are Pathe Journal, Paris, and Pathe News, London. Mr. Le Vien, gone a month, visited France, Germany, Switzerland and England. While in Germany he supervised scenes for the "This Is America" short "Passport to Nowhere," which tells the story of displaced persons. In the Reich he said he heard many complaints from GIs based on the army-operated theatres where the latest films are shown. The soldiers also complained about not getting to see enough newsreel material from the States. While in Switzerland he arranged for CineJournal Suisse, the only Swiss domestic newsreel, to supply his company with Swiss events. This was done especially with a view to getting coverage for the 1948 Olympic games. Mr. Le Vien also assigned a man to North Africa, withdrew a cameraman from Lebanon, placed another one in India and arranged for the services of a cameraman in Denmark and of a company in Norway. Foreign interest in U. S. happenings is considerable, he said, with the newsreels of some countries frequently 100 per cent American. European newsreels are a going concern, according to Mr. Le Vien, but, for purposes of morale, they tend to show the lighter side of the news. There is little or no censorship and there are no laws governing the percentage of domestic material in any one newsreel. Brandt To Build Modern Theatre at Miami Beach A new theatre, to be called the Venetian, will be built along the Biscayne Waterway at Miami Beach, Fla., for Harry Brandt, New York circuit operator, by Edward Singer of Miami Beach. The theatre will seat 1,200 and will have two television screens, a launching dock, a patio and all modern theatre equipment. 24 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 21, 1947