Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, December 24, 1949 No New Year's Eve-ers Connecticut's motion picture theatres won't run midnight New Year's Eve shows this year because of the law reqiuring theatres to remain closed until 1 P.M. on Sundays. As New Year's Eve falls on a Saturday this year and the shows would run over on Sunday, some theatres are scheduling New Year's shows instead which will not conflict with the law. Admission Levy Groups Dig In For Long Fight The taxation and legislation committee of the Council of Motion Picture Organizations met in New York Tuesday, elected National Allied President Abram F. Myers permanent chairman and dug in for a longdrawn fight to repeal admission taxes. The committee designated work for sub-committees, to be appointed, and mapped out a three point program: 1) To unite the entire industry — production, distribution, exhibition — on a regional and local basis in a nation wide Abram Myers fight on the federal tax. 2) To spearhead this attack with a concentrated drive on the House Ways and Means Oammittee, which meets after Congress convenes early in Jauary, and where finance measures, usually originate. 3) To campaign throughout the nation against box-office taxes, — federal, state and municipal. Now, or . . . Myers, who had held the post of temporary chairman before being appointed permanently, told a press conference that unless the industry could do something about eliminating the federal tax "at this session of Congress, it may be a long time before it has a chance again." "We recognize the fact," he continued, "that this all-industry job cannot be completed over night We plan for a long, carefully-detailed campaign stretching over many weeks." Myers praised the cooperation the committee had received to date. The financing of the ta.x fight, it was reported, would be on the basis of voluntary contributions and would have nothing to do with the funds the Compo plans to raise eventually for the all-industry public relations program. Present at Tuesday's meeting were Myers, Oscar A. Doob, Jack Bryson, Jay Emanuel, Julian Brylawski, Morton Sunshine, Henderson Richey, Gael Sullivan. On the committee but not present because of the distance they have to travel were Art Arthur, Carter Barron, Marvin L. Paris, and Rotus Harvey. Duals Enter 3 B&K Downtown Houses Three of Balaban and Katz' Chicago loop houses were playing double bills this week, leaving only the Chicago and the State Lake on a single feature basis. The three duallers were the Roosevelt, United Artists and the Garrick. In the neighborhood area Irving Davis is trying out triple bills at his Bugg in an efTort to boost business. Binford Sings New Tune; High Court Rules on 'Curley' Will Drop Ban on Negro Actors, Censor Says As Tenn. Tribunal Decides Memphis Censor Lloyd T. Binford this week declared he would no longer censor motion pictures which had Negroes in the cast, a reversal of a long-established policy, which he announced shortly after the Tennessee Supreme Court handed down its ruling on the "Curley" appeal. The high court, sitting in Knoxville for the current term, Saturday rendered a decision in "Curley" which while a defeat for Producer Hal Roach, and distributors United Artists, at the same time appears to have officially limited Binford's actions. The high court agreed with the lower court that Roach and United Artists being out of state corporations and not complying with the laws of Tennessee were not entitled to sue the Shelby County Censor board, of which the 80-year old Binford is chairman, and the city of Memphis. It was on this point that the case was thrown out in the lower court. The high court also declared that since neither Roach nor United Artists were exhibitors, their claim that their rights of freedom of expression, guaranteed by the first Amendment of the U. S. Constitution, and the Fourteenth .Amendment, which makes the granting of these rights mandatory on the states, was not violated. But in ruling the high court commented that the Shelby County Board of Censors "had no authority to disapprove the picture 'Curley' because of the presence of Negro actors in the cast." It was shortly after this ruling that Binford, who has long controlled the three-man censor board, said in an interview : "We will have to stop banning pictures with Negroes in the cast." Handwriting on Wall? That the aged censor may have been moving in this direction is indicated by the fact that he recently permitted showing of "Home of the Brave," "Intruder in the Dust," and "Pinky." He had however, banned "Lost Boundaries," which was taken to indicate that in the main he was sticking to his beliefs that pictures which showed Negroes in relations with whites under conditions not existing in the south, would not pass. Trouble Apparently this had caused the trouble with "Curley" when Roach refused to cut a scene of some Negro children in a white school. Binford claimed that such scenes were not representative of the south and Roach counterclaimed that the scene represented Los Angeles, not the south. It was over this that Roach and United Artists backed by the Motion Picture Association of America, finally went into a state court and sued. ^Curley^ Status Thought Doubtful Just what status Saturday's rule by the Tennessee Supreme Court gives "Curley" was not known in New York late this week. Whether Roach and United Artists could return to Binford and ask once more for a censor seal in viev/ of the high court's opinion is problematical. True the high court apparently tied Binford's hands when it came to barring pictures with Negro casts, but it also affirmed the lower court's view that neither of the defendants were entitled to seek court aid in Tennessee. And if "Curley" were to get a license that apparently would close the case and leave the question of censorship unsettled. Some lawyers thought that both Roach and LTnited Artists had an out in that they might appeal their claim that their rights were being (Confinued on Page 13) Stage Play Plus Movie Is New Dual Policy on Trial at Brandt^s Selwyn A double-bill policy consisting of an actual stage play presented by live actors plus a motion picture was scheduled to go into its tryout run at William Brandt's Selwyn Theatre on West 42nd Street off of Broadway, Friday. The theatre, built for legitimate but in recent years housing double features, will present the new policy on a five-a-day policy with a minimum admission of 35 cents and a maximum which will be determined by the popularity of the experiment. V/ith 'Respectful Prostitute' The first scheduled bill consisted of the late Broadway hit, "The Respectful Prostitute," whose short length makes it ideal for the combined bill, and Republic's "Flame of Youth." Three sets of principals will be used alternately for the stage play in order to provide proper rest periods. The length of the runs have not been determined. Other plays which 'Brandt may try if, the first is successful, are "Behind Red Lights," "The Last Mile," "Sailor Beware," "Ladies Night in a Turkish fBath," and "School for Brides." Maybe That's It Showers of religious films at churches may find it hard going when it comes to competing with the neighborhood show, even when they call in Mickey Mouse to help) — that is if the following incident Jack Brittain tells is typical. Brittain, assistant manager of the San Francisco Coliseum, claims a small boy approached him and said he preferred going to the Coliseum because at the church showings all he ever saw was "Mickey Mouse and St. Peter."