Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Feb 1948)

Tribute THE LATE Frank Lovejoy lives on at Eastman Kodak, which he served more than 48 years, and of which he was the fourth president at his death two and one-half years ago. This week the company issued a book about Mr. Lovejoy, entitled: "F. W. Lovejoy, the story of a practical idealist." In its foreword, T. J. Hargrave, now president of the company, says : "Somehow I feel he will be remembered most for his abiding faith in people. He was truly a great humanitarian." The 52-page book traces Mr. Lovejoy's background. Shock London Bureau THE FINANCIAL market here has been shocked by the 50 per cent reduction of the interim dividend on Gaumont-British ordinary stock — from five per cent in 1947 to two and a half per cent this year. An additional disappointment is that the new dividend covers a 15-month period instead of the customary 12. After the announcement last Wednesday, G-B shares promptly fell from 15 shillings and six pence (about $3.12) to 14 shillings (about $2.80). Last year's boomtime stock touched 29 shillings (about $5.80). Another Action Chicago Bureau ONE MORE anti-trust action appeared on the Federal docket this week. Charles and Herman Nelson, former operators of the Lawndale theatre in Chicago, filed in the District Court for treble damages amounting to $1,039,000 against 10 distributors for alleged violation of the anti-trust laws. The complaint charges that from October 23, 1939, to May 8, 1947, when they operated the theatre, the defendants discriminated against the theatre in preferred film bookings. The present owners, Frank Rief and his son, Frank Rief, Jr., are not involved in the action. Code A SIX-POINT code governing the presentation of television broadcasts on theatre screens was presented by James H. Nicholson, chairman of the television committee of the Southern California Theatre Owners Association, to a group of broadcasters and advertising agency representatives at a meeting at the Hollywood Variety Club this week. The suggested code would bind some 500 theatres in the Los Angeles area and seeks to eliminate legalistic and other confusions that have arisen with the presentation of large-screen theatre television. It was arrived at after several months of study by the Association's five-man television committee. The code provides that theatres shall present each program intact and including commercials; no increased admissions shall be charged; television shall not be the sole offering; television shall be announced as an added service to patrons and as a free public service ; all ads for theatre television shall include station and sponsor name, and theatres shall make television installations to the best of their ability and not in a manner "reflecting unsatisfactorily on television as an entertainment medium." Sturdivant's Suit B. V. STURDIVANT, National Theatres executive, filed suit against the circuit in Los Angeles Superior Court Wednesday, seeking $500,000 in back commission. That amount is due him, he told the court, for his work in selling the circuit's Mexican holdings a year ago. He said his arrangement with Charles Skouras* the circuit's president, provided that he was to receive all the money he got from the sale in excess of the circuit's original investment. Mr. Sturdivant became affiliated with the Skouras brothers in 1929 at Indianapolis ; he worked in various capacities for SkourasPublix Theatres, Fox West Coast Theatres, and National Theatres. New Job London Bureau JOHN GRIERSON has been appointed to Britain's Central Office of Information as Controller of film operations. He will take overall charge, the COI states, of the planning, production and distribution of all Government films. Former Canadian Film Commissioner, National Film Board of Canada, Mr. Grierson, frequently under fire for political as well as artistic reasons, has produced documentaries under the auspices of the United Nations and has frequently acted as consultant on documentary film production for European and American governments. For Sale ANYBODY want to buy a theatre ? There's one for sale down in Waco, Texas. It was left there by the Army when the Blackland Army Air Field was closed and city officials have been trying to get rid of it ever since. PEOPLE G. S. Eyssell, president and managing director of the Radio City Music Hall, New York, Monday was named chairman of the motion picture industry scholarship fund for Yeshiva University in New York. Jack LeVien, editor of Warner Pathe News, will be one of the three judges at the annual Press Photographers Association contest in the Hotel Astor, New York, Sunday. Tommy Breen, MGM actor and son of Joseph I. Breen, head of the Production Code Administration, will have two popular songs published by Broadcast Music, Inc. Mr. Breen wrote the lyrics and Nacio Herb Brown, Jr., wrote the music. Lewen Pizor, Philadelphia circuit operator and head of the United Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and Delaware, was presented the third annual award of the Metropolitan Hospital, Philadelphia, for his "untiring efforts in the advancement of the hospital." The presentation was made last Saturday at the Green Valley Country Club. Richard Hayes, who retired last week after 20 years as a Paramount salesman • in the Albany, N. Y., territory, was guest of honor at a Variety Club dinner at Jack's Restaurant last weekend. George V. Allen Tuesday was approved by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as Assistant Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, succeeding William •Benton. His duties will include the supervision of the State Department's Overseas Information Program. Max Cohen, former Universal-International branch manager in Washington, Philadelphia and Cleveland, has been appointed head of Film Classics' Washington, D. C. exchange. Louis T. Stone, an attorney with the law firm of Craveth, Swaine and Moore, New York, has been named assistant resident counsel of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Harold Pearlman, manager of the RKO Palace in Chicago, has been transferred to New Orleans to direct the advertising and publicity of the circuit's theatres. Max Mendel, Film Classics foreign representative, has returned to New York from a South American business trip for special home office conferences. Michael Bergher, Universal-International supervisor in the Far East, has been recalled to the United States for reassignment because of the chaos in that part of the world. The company, however, will not abandon its operation there, it has announced. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, published every Saturday by Quigley Publishing Company, Rockefeller Center, New York City 20. Telephone Circle 7-3100; Cable address "Ouigpubco, New York", Martin Quigley,' President; Red Kann, Vice-President; Martin Ou>g|ey. Jr-. Vice-President; Theo. J. Sullivan, Vice-President and Treasurer; Leo J. Brady, Secretary; Terry Ramsaye, Editor; Martin Oui'gley, Jr., Associate Editor; James D. Ivers, News Editor; Charles S. Aaronson, Production Editor; Ray Gallagher, Advertising Manager; David Harris, Circulation Director. Bureaus: Hollywood, William R. Weaver, editor, Yucca-Vine Building; Chicago, Editorial and Advertising, 120 South LaSalle Street, Telephone Andover 6449, Urben Farley, Advertising Representative; Washington, J. A. Otten, National Press Club; London, Hope Williams Burnup, manager. Peter Burnup, editor, 4 Golden Square. Correspondents in the principal capitals of the world. Member Audit Bureau of Circulations. Other <?uigley Publications: Better Theatres, published every fourth week as a section of Motion Picture Herald; Motion Picture Daily, International Mo*ior Picture Almanac and Fame. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, FEBRUARY 28, 1948 9