Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1947)

10 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, February 8, 1947 NATIONAL NEWSREEL Allied Board Favors Court Appearance on Decree Appeal Refuses to Participate in Requests tor Screen Time: Reelects Kirsch President National Allied's directors, meeting in Washington last weekend, went on record as authorizing an attempt to appear in the United States Supreme Court as amicus curiae should the present anti-trust suit decree be appealed. They rejected an invitation to participate in an intraindustry committee which would work with the United States government and humanitarian groups on requests for screen time from these sources. They also asked the Government to appeal promptly. The directors reelected Jack Kirsch, president; Abram F. Myers, board chairman and general counsel ; P. J. Wood, recording secretary, and William Ainsworth, treasurer. Trueman Rembusch was elected secretary to succeed H. H. Lowenstein. Other action taken by the Allied directors in their two-day session included : 1 ) A decision to establish a central clearing house as part of their adopted program to fight state and municipal tax attempts on theatres, especially by way of admission taxes. (The directors decided that nothing could be done about the federal tax at present.) 2) Postponement of Allied's picture production plans with the provision that all preliminary agreements be extended for 30 days, during which the directors might be called back to take final action on the deal. 3) Backing of Attorney General Tom Clark's plan to equip a special train carrying important American documents and to send it around the country on exhibit. No Action on Forum Bid The directors did not take action on the invitation extended by Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America President Fred Wehrenberg to attend a meeting in New York on March 10-11 to organize the Motion Picture Forum, but sentiment seemed to be against taking part in it. The Allied resolution which would authorize its General Counsel Abram F. Myers to seek to enter the Supreme Court as amicus curiae in event of an appeal on the recent decree, apparently would change slightly the Allied policy in Foundation Advances Plans for a series of meetings which would further the organizational work of the newly-formed Motion Picture Foundation were announced in New York this week as the final drafts of the organization's by-laws and certificate of incorporation were sent to the steering committee for study. As soon as the steering committee, which consists of Chairman Barney Balaban, Samuel Pinanski, Tom Connors, Col. H. A. Cole, Karl Hoblitzelle, Ted Gamble, Charles E. ("Chick") Lewis, Fred Wehrenberg, Edward G. Zorn and Leonard Goldenson, approves the papers, the certificate of incorporation will be filed in Washington, D. C. Abram F. Myers Jack Kirsch Trueman Rembusch Wm. Ainsworth this connection, which hitherto had been confined to action through the Conference of Independent Exhibitors Association. The resolution adopted asks the government to appeal promptly and expresses the organization's appreciation to Attorney General Tom Clark for his "steadfastness in pressing for complete separation of production and distribution from exhibition," as well as its "admiration of the skill and tenacity which his assistant, Robert L. Wright, pursued that remedy in the statutory court." Allied Endorses Two Charities National Allied announced this week that it had endorsed both American Brotherhood Week and the motion picture appeal for the Greek war orphans which is being conducted in honor of 20th-Fox President Spyros Skouras and runs for one month starting March 8. Sctmuelson Declines Post Sidney Samuel son, head of Allied of Eastern Pennsylvania refused an executive post in the Brotherhood campaign, declaring that Allied exhibitors in his region would decide individually the extent of their participation in the drive. Joseph Stickelmaier Rites Funeral services of Joseph Stickelmaier, brother of Great States Executive Henry Stickelmaier, were held in Peoria, Friday. He is survived by a wife and six children. Ex-Leading Lady for Mix Dies Betty C. Ross, 67, one-time leading lady to Tom Mix, died in Hollywood last Sunday of heart disease. Flowers Allied's directors last week reiterated the organization's stand on divorcement, thanked the Attorney General for pressing on the subject and praised Special Assistant Robert L. Wright for "the skill and tenacity" with which he "pursued that remedy in the statutory court." Bidding Up to Exhibitor, Not Distributor-Levy The question of whether or not there shall be competitive bidding in any competitive area has been left by the statutory court entirely to the exhibitor and not to the distributor, Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America General Counsel Herman Levy told the mid-winter convention of the Virginia Motion Picture Theatre Owners in Washington Monday. Levy, who also pleaded for a voluntary arbitration system under the decree to avoid what otherwise, he said, would be continuous court litigation, supported his contention that the exhibitor alone had the right to invoke competitive bidding with the following quotation from the court : "In order to meet some of the objections raised at the hearing to the system of bidding for features described in the opinion of the court, we have modified the system there proposed so that competitive bidding will only be necessary within a competitive area and in such areas where it is desired by the exhibitors." The convention reelected the following officers : William F. Crockett, of Virginia Beach, president ; Benjamin T. Pitts, Fredericksburg, vice-president; Sam Bendheim, Richmond, treasurer; Harold Wood, Richmond, secretary. During the convention Special Assistant to the Attorney General Robert L. Wright discussed the decree, and American Theatres Association Director Robert Coyne declared that exhibitors should seek to eliminate legislation and regulation of the industry in their home bailiwicks. W. F. Crockett Cartoonists Get Pay Rise A one-year contract calling for a 25 per cent wage increase was signed this week between Famous Studios, which makes "Little Lulu" and "Popeye," and the Screen Cartoonists Guild. Forum Could Help The Motion Picture Forum, proposed by the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America, which is to hold organization meeting in New York on March 10-11, could serve as a means to combat misinformation about films, Pres. Wehrenberg declared in St. Louis this week. Wehrenberg, who had been previously incorrectly reported as saying he did not think the proposed Forum could serve as a corrective, believes that this could be one of its important functions.