Variety (Mar 1935)

Wednesday, March 61, 1935 PICT HRC S VARlETy CODE UKELY Film Titles, but No C. A. Squawk Broadway -Is still dilsplayihg a neat black eye for the picture bysl- ness. it'S the ivay certain theatres have been : Jiiggfllng the orlglntil titles -6f--fQatures^;--The .Id purely that of attracting patrons to old pictures with new titliesl ' It's bean going on some time. Feature picture, released by iiieitj- bei- compahies of tlie MfttPE»A, have tltlies registered at the; Hays qfllce. Even some Of . these have been re-titied by: certain "exhlbs alohg'Broadwa-y- and pn^2nd street. The Hays attitude on these Is that it Is, a miitter tha.t must be acted oh by the. distributor. But thus far the distributors hai):e been Inclined- to ieave the matter for the fihn Code Authority to decide. The C.A.. has received lib complaints, but the manner In which the pracr tice is spreadinig each ^succeeding weefc~ha'g~arousedT thrrire-xjf^'M peting hbu s es, and these exhib s may protest,. Alecently one exhib changed the titla of a feature entirely So as to b«noflt from the jpdpularity of an- other pic. Those who Jiald to see tiie sure-fire thriller were amazed at. tiic picture actually thrown on tlie . screen, ' . Another twist Is tha,t of -playing up the cast names on the marquee and. giving scant recognition of the ■Vfeatir.'cs being played. ; ■ ■ ' . Publix Wins 3 and On Special TJigbts' Miuiieapolis, March 5 Publix circuit has gained three more decisions here from the local grievance' board against 'Bank Night.'. 'lack J'.bt': and .'Lottery ..Gift NifTht,' making five victories to datf-:: .-■ • - C(niipla;lnts alleging unfair com petition, in- violation of the Indus try code, :were against the Arcade, • Mounds and Roxy theatres of St Paul. The board ordered all three houses to' cease and -desist - holding .the objectionable .'nights'. At the ^sanie time Publix suffered a defeat in Its effort to have 'Bank Night' Tuled-but of-Ben-Friedman's new de liixe Ediha thea.tre,. subur- ban house, the board upholding the repondent's" contention that the Edina arid complaining Publix the- atres arc too. far. apart to consti- tute competitive situations. / Hear-' ing of F'ubllx bank night -omplaints against three other Twin City Inde pendent neighborhood theatres was postponed for'two weeks. The, three Independent. houses against which cease and desist or ders were issued, immediately gave notice of appeal to the Code Au thority, as did Publix .In. the Fried man case. All bther, local board decisions adverse tO; 'Bank Nlghf alroady have been appealed. Knee Deep in Fijins, Exhib Pleads • ; ■ . Tjos- Angeles, March. 5, Distributors for the flrst time iboally are involved ln7ya" picture overloading coniplalnt before the : grievance, boaird. v Squawk ..^yas filed by Morris. Barsky against Warners, ■'trnited: ATHsta,-7Tox.—RkO;. M and Cbluiiibiia, and claims that In taking over tho.'York, he was flooded with contracts- for pictures : for which he cannot find I'uhn ing, time. I' Gb'da .specilie.i) 'only id% jpfthe pictures contracted for may be can- celled, which has local film boys thinking that Barsky will get. ho- , ■vvlicre. ' Vyilliam's 'Claws' ■ . Hollywood, March C>. . Warners has bought 'Case of Velvet Claws' as a Warren wnilam .starrer. McLEOD RESIGNS Quits «s GSTQA HQad—Indie Body^ \ Lines Up. Against ^^C^^ : -' , : . New Orleans, March 6. Successor to Harry Si McLeod, president of CJulit siates Theatre Owners Assn., who reslgred „ the past week; -nrlU not be chosen right away. Understood no om proposed a"t'ini~BbT'faifr ^ ~ ~~ .7v ' 77" ._C.olncldent..wi.th. McLep.d's_ reslj^^^^ nation, organization decided It would swing in , line agallnst the code. Plan it suggested was to appoint an exhibltbr from eiach of thel 31 code territories as a super committee. This group would then swoop dbwiii bn Divisional Adminis- trator Rbsenblatt for actibn. . Screena Salm Swamps CK M^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ • . Chlcagb, March B. ■Local film . biinch upset over the sudden . spread of Screenb, mam- mbth lotto game. Inio. circuit hbuses despite, that Its against the exhibi- tion code. Local code board is up to its ears in complaints. "The board bias been postponing meetings on these cases due to the number , of absentees. Meanwhile; the town is wide open- with .Balaban & Katz, Essaness and other i cli'cuit houses, besides a flock of Ihdle spots, running Screeno and; other games. . ■ ■ ' ■"'■ ::'/'■'■//} - According to a . code bulletin mailed to • all theatres,- the ruling okays giveaways prily when every person.jebelv.ea. a. gift. It prohibits .stunts which allow glftia only; to certain fortunate people. COAST EXHIBS TO TEST CODE SLAP IN COURT Los Angeles, March 6. —-Eeldsteln-&-;DIetrlGh, Oxnard,-Gal and 6. w; Lewis, 'San .Gabriel, will carry the bank night.cpde vlblatlph against them to the federal courts. Actlonjrnust be taken this week or the grievance board will Issue a cease tind desist order against the houses: Appeal from the decision of the local board has been denied by Ad- nilnlstratof Sol Rosenblatt. .. WILL GO TO COURTS Minn. Atty. Says; Appealing AH Adverse Rulings Qf C. A. . Minneapolis, March 6. S; P. Halpern. local film attorney who has represented nearly all In- dependent exhibitor respondents In cases before the local grievance and xonlng and clearance boards, and Xvhb .' has a~ number of "appeals tb the code authority pending, has an- nounced he Is prepared- to appeal to the U. S. courts from any and all code authority decisions against ;his clients. ■' Halpern '. contends - that neither Congress nop the. Pre3.ident has' any jurisdiction ! bver Individual . Inde- pendent' exhibitors - in any ibcality: These theatres are not engaged in interstate commerce. Halpern points out, and therefore maintains, that Congress has no right to. set. rulies and regulations for the conduct of their business and cannot delegate such powe^ to the President. In taking this stand, Halpern has the backing of Northwest- Allied States, Indepiehdent exh lb organ Iza- tlon. :.-.\' V; : ■ Rosenblatt R^N>rted Soheh- ^ ing on PppoMtion to Re* vision—New: . Orleans Speech Called Tipoff— Sen. Nye Makes Six Anti- 'Cpde ^Charges IN NEAR FUTURE .,. Washington, March 6, - Prospects for revision of the film code are brighter today than at any previous time since the pact went into operation 16 months ago. A combination . ot forces—principally criticism from within the industry and: Congressional suspicion—miak^s it likely that th ie agrenteh t. will un- dergo major operations in the Im- mediate-future : Industry groups apparently, can entertain high hope.-} for a' series of changes which Will satisfy' some of their numerous complaints, largely on account of the changed attitude at the .NRA, which Is attributed to Congi'esslonal Investigation steps. Senate probe of monopoly, domina- tion, oppriession and discrimination chai^ges grets under way' this week. Strengthening the belief that a new New Deal for the film- industry Is in the ofllng was eviddnce of . a changed attitude on the part of Bi- vislbnal Administrator Sol A. Ros- enblatt as revealed In his speech' last -week at New Orleans MPTOA cbnvehtloil. Rosy's admission that 'certain changes are needed' > was cited as proof of an about-face on the part of the code author^ who has been resolutely opposed to a major revision up to the present time. The possibility of Congressional investigation was believed in some quarters to have played a prominent parf in Rosy's change of sentiment. The film codti boss la slated for a grilling, on a Senatorial.. witness stand at the hands of bis principal Congressional critic. Senator Nye of North Dakota. Preparations for a top-to-bottom raking of the film pact were mdde late last week' by the :-. North Dakota , Republican after an understanding had been reached_ by which the whole Senifte FlnaiTc^^Colnmrffee- will^maKe pen- etrating examination of a aeries of complaints Against the .NRA and numerous code authorities. With Rosenblatt still nominally In charge of all film code matters, neither Deputy Administrator Wil- liam P. Farnsworth nor-lesser-NRA attaches cared to comment on revi- sion suggestions coming out of New Orleans, but asserted that the pos- sibility of overhauling the pact cer- tainly Is not foreclosed by the Gov- ernment ' ■ Ths Situation The technical situation as tar as amending the film code 1^ concerned may be described as follows: , Any individual or group within the industry Is at liberty to propose changes' of any kind at any time. Suggestions may be submitted through the code authority or sent direct to the NRA, but if the latter course is followed the proposals will be referred to the Code Authority as a matter of routine. If bodlsts fail to act on suggestions submitted directly to them, recommended mod- ifications later, can be. sent by sppn- sbr.q dlrect,tp the Govcrnnient,- Final decision about a hearing to dlsCiuss the changes rests with the NRA, which; may be. lrifl.uenced by senti- ment of .the code authority and othet" representatives and substan- tial elements within tiie industry.; Gbyernment will consult with \var- ious .boards, - particularly with the legal division, before deciding to give proposals further cPnsideration or to ashcan ; ciiango proposals. Revival of the Darrow Board's charges against the film cod^ and Roaenblatl In the Senate investiga- tion was assured last week when (Continued on page 65) . - for New Haven, K. C, Snag at C. A^; F-WC Asks Rehearing on L. e. A. Wait. Spirit of Irresolution which has become Increasingly evi- dent in the Film Code Au- thority the last 10 days has put almost a complete stop- page to vital issues up for con- sideration. The reason ties.: in "wltli -what's going on in 'Wasfi- . ington and_the..way. .in. which. the NRA has bien slapped around by the higher courts recently. .. Present ppllcy of; the C.A. seems to be marking time to see what transpires in Wash- ington. Washington, March 5. Approval of the 1936 filni code au- thority budget and assessment plan for the first halt of the current year, anticipated before the end of this week by. NRA pfllcials.- Recommen- dation for approval was sent; tb Hiram Brown, budget bfflcer, and the Recovery . Board yesterday (Monday) by Deputy Administrator William P. Farnsworth. . With changes approved by the .C,A. finance committee, Farnsworth hoped to be able to give the go- ahead sign on 1934 bills to pro- ducers and dlstrlbutbrs by Thurs- day-(7). Redtiape delay and absence of key officials in the front office blocked signing of the official order earlier, but assurance was given that, this would be washed upi with- in the next 48 hours. Schedules and expenditure'figures remain intact as originally sub- mitted, .but. .two. modIflcations.-have. been made in condltlpns accom- panying approval. First stipulates that while dlstributoris are to be billed for the share due from pro- ducers they are not to be responsi- ble for failure of producers to ante up; second cools hope that forth- coming assessment notices for first iialf of. this year would be sliced because of a surplus piled up last year. Produesr-Dtsitribi In the producer-distributor sit- uation, the order will specify that dlstribs are to pay. a proportion of their assessment equal tb the share of the gross they take front their accounts, and that the remainder is to be allocated by individual dls- tribs among the producers whose product they handle. While dlstribs will In practice serve as cpllection agents they cannot be held liable for the whole amount If the pro- ducers hang biack. In such, a sit- uation .cfidlsts coiiUl call for def- inite, grosa figures from recalcitrant producers arid calculate the amount of. each indlvldua,l'3 bill. Problem created by last _ year's, economy will be. solved at the end of the first half-year, government and cbdl.<its agreed. In'.stead of tak- ing ipbrtipn ofi' the bills 'spbn to go piit, .the; .code; autljorlty. ^yJli. ca^^^ as a'-3.ur,plus- on the account ;of the prbducer-^di.stributor .and exhibitor division.^, the excess piled up last year. If the code is not continued beyond June 16, a cash i-efUnd will be made,, with each individual in each division getting a cut accord. Ing to the ratio 'hi.s brl;a:ln.'i'l ci:)n'- trlbiitlpn bore to the total colloctcMl from his division. Othorwlse thvrn, wlll.be ah equal crcdit^oh tlie bilis for:th*> second half of :lfj35.' Exi>ected speedy abtibn on subse- qtient zonlng-ond—clearance. sched- ules, such as New Haven) Kansas City and Mllwaui^ee, after the ap- parent satisfactory solution of the Los Angeles problem, struck a snag at the Film . Code Authority meet^- Ing In New York last week. ; r C. A; abruptly voted down the TJ^e'w" riayen "cleaf^nice^ skedias ' prelsented, and sent .It back, to the local board far revision. Com- mittee on-clearance and zoning will confer with the New Haven board. , Fu-'ther delay. ; looms. in placing the Lbs Angeles zoning and' clearr ahce .schedule.in effect because Fox. West Coast has asked for a rehear- Inig on certain portlpns of the; zbn-, ing angle, .Appllcatl tn was received top---late—for action—at—last- week-s^ meeting, but Code Authority Voted rto-order the-IjrA;-board-not-t"0-pla'c%- the schedule Into effect until March 16, which previously had been set as the deadline. Representatives of Fox West Cbast will aijpear before the author- ity at the meeting this Thursday (7); The Fox-WC protest is on cer- tain zopes but It was officially Indi- cated that there will be no reversal of the CA.'s action in passing this schedule. . ' Approve Extras' List Approval was voted on the list of 1,004 extras as presented by the-Re-, registration ■ Comnilttee of the Standing Cpmmlttee for .Extras :and provision was made to permit the addition of 602 names to the active list during 1935. However, the C.A. did not accept that .com- mittee's recommendation that the. -list be increased 10% each succeed- ing year, holding that the jurlsdlc-' tion of the committee did liot extend past thp present year. Eddie Can-' tor, mlember of the Code Authbrity,- appeared in. behalf of the extras. By the terms of the resolutions, only th.ose on this extra list;, or those added in the" 60 % quota with the approval of the C.A,, are. to be engaged as 'extra players' under the NRA". The , resolution, however, makes clear that the employment' through . 4ny casting agency of at- mosphere people or 'crowds not classified,' registered or not regis-, "tefedTas" 'extra piayet's;'~is"nQt^pt''b='" hlblted, John C. Fllnn, executive secretary of the C.A., was given authority to. rule on assessment cases. This em- powers him to decide whether or not to accept payments for assess- ments past diie for 1934. Proviso also Is made that those paying after this past Feb, 16 shall not be quali- fied to fllei complaints before any ibcal clearance and zoning boards or local grievance board for 30 days after such payment has been ac- cepted by Fllnn. Acceptance of 1934 assessments also Is confined to 30 days from F2b. 28. ■ I Horwitz case, affecting theatre operations In the territory between Houston and Dallas, Is also sched- uled to come before the Code- Au- thorlty this Thursday. Action was again deferred at last week's con- fab: because of the press of busi- ness. Action was brought by Adel- riian.r a Houston exhibitor, against Tour of the prlnciiial picture oper- ating companies in that area over the matter . of. clearance. 2d Balrd Complaint ■ ' ■ T..O.S An't''jlert,( ,^rarch' b; IjOu -Bard; P.asadenii, wh^ last we0k .sitjiifi 1 a conrplianen ordcr to stop pMcllce of admitting children to .S;itiu-day. matinees fbr hdmis.slbn Iirico 'ot an old I'liboer tii-p", h.-xs had 'another complaint slapped b.n him, • Latest 'cliai'se is by .Gporife I-Ianes, .r'a.Siidft'nn, ' \vho claiin.s; that. Bard's - clt.v wiilci. di.slrilnitlf.n of (-lucstlbn- i i/c-s, ;i (j(''f) m PA 11 iod by a free d ocat,; Is ;in .intent, to cut-rate admission jn-lcf.s and th< v'-toi'<v a .code yibltt- tinn - '. ■ - : .--