Variety (Jul 1937)

Wedoesday, July 7, 1937 PICTURES VAKlETt Doping die U. S: Vs! Interstate Suit Sees Important Decision Thie-anti-trUst aictlort of the De- partment of justice against the In- terstate circuit, scheduled to come up Sept^ 20 in. Dallas, prorhises to fiettle a poiht of law which, in the opinion of leading distnbution and theatre executives, may be of far- reaching importance. Whether favorr ' able or adverse to Interstate, it could vitally affect future policies in the Belli of film, the maintenance of theatre prices and competition be- tween exhibitors. .■ Decision will test film contracts •which seek to regulate admissions by BpeQifying minimums. Interstate haV-! ihg insistied that where its first run houses charge 40c< subsequent runs rriust maintain a scale of not lower thian ?5c. It would iapiply to Inter- state and distributors futhishing this iicuit with pictures but whichever way the decision goes In Dallas, in- dustry leaders contend aii important precedent will be .set that might apply elsewhere throughout the country. Should the Government win its case, dieclaring contracts illegal where pi:ices are specified; there iis little doubt biit that a precedent would be set that would force dis- tribs away from contracts in which regulation of prices was attempted. Subsequent run exhibitors, in that. , would, have no hesitancy tak^ ing the matter of price in their own hands and demiand isupply of film at, any'scale. Pros and Cons . Confidence is expressed in the butr •come of the case for Interstate, al- though no one knows in advance of the trial exactly what the chances are of licking the U. S. suit. At first it struck fear into the hearts of leaders because of the possible far- teaichlng effects it may have within the industry. .These ifears. remain to a certain extent due to the conclu- sion that precedents, are bound to be established one way or another which may never have' been estab- lished but for the bringing of the Action against the Interstate chain. If Interstate loses the suit and its price-fixing film contracts' are de!- clared illegal, the precedents may be ho more ^larmihg than if it wins. In event of the latter^ which would iriore distinctly f ivpr; the distributors than anyone else, exhibitors Would, be placed in the position of being at the niercy of price regulation in buy- ing film. . Distributors would like this but- the theatres wouldn't, not- ably those that follow the big first runs. There is no telUhg, from the theatre man's point of view, how far the distribs might takie price-fi^cihg, if seemingly free to. specify mini- mums, or whether .first runs might nol be told they would have to get certain scales if getting the pictttres. At present all film contracts carry a clause that in no case rhust pic- tures play at less t|ian. a 10c admis- sion. Legality of this, has never been testfed. • Fight Pix in Dixie Atlanta, July 0. To the amazement of everyif.. body, Louie Bach had the temerity to hook the Braddock- Louis fight pics at .his five nabe theatres. They started Sunday <4). Films, handled locally hy Amity Exchange, jwere turjied down by A houses, who feared unfavorable reaction since flight went the wrong way insofar as Dixie fight fans and film pa; trons are concerifed. Films Cure Crosseyes, Optometric Ass'n Told Rochester, July 6. ing pictures can virtually cure many types of .crosseyes and other visual defioiehces -in children,, Dr T. A. rombach, of the University of Galifornia, told members of the American Optometric. Association here. The patient covers the better eye Interest, in the story .accompanied by voices from the screen stimulates the bad eye toward.ndrmal use. when other methods failed because it was impossible to maintain interest. Dr. Brombach said children under. 7 with .1% -vision in one eye may often, have, their sight completely ; re stored. He sai the discovery - inoves from screen shows the stigma of being bad for the eyes and re- lieves paferits of the worry in letting their children go to the the- a;tre'often. X CRITERION New Yiddish Pix Prod. Collective ilm Producers, Inc., has been formed by Roman Rebush and Edgar G. Ulmer to make picts for international distribution. irst productiOin, set to roll late this month in New Vork^ will be 'Green Fields,' adaptation of Peretz Hirshbein's play. Will be in Yid- disli. A chill from Arthur Mayer, opera to^ of the Ri • N. Y., against Par product that does npt play the Para mount, N. Y., its own show-window has resulted in temporary switching of . such available pictures to the Criterion on a percentage, basis and may lead ultimately to a deal under which Par will take over the Crit. .With Mayer in the future possibly getting along, without Par pictures that would be .obtainable, the Par distribution department has con sidered the operation of the Crit but negotiations have reached no deft nite stage as yet. They may never eventuate, also, in case Par is con tent to let the Crit play , certain of its pictures on percentage. Disciission in Par was reported in the direction 6f assuming the leise on the Criterion for yeair aric options or longer, if the prbper deal could be made with Harry L Charnas and B. S. Moss, who have thei house. While never revealed before, it is how understood that Paramount made an offer to take a lease prior to opening of the Criterion early las ; fall. Par offered $56,000 a year for the lease. Moss and Charnas, under their 21-year lease, -average nearly $90,d06 a year for the house. Interstate Not After The OlherJ0% of R.&R. Although it inight be interested in acquiring a few scattered theatres in its immediate territory, In terstate circuit in Texas would not be a bidder for the .50% interest remai in the Robb & Rowley chain recent deal ol; United Artists Theatre Circuit, taki half of R. & R:, it is understood. Iht<»rstate might have swung a deal for interest or, part hership the Robb. & Rowley organization a year ago but hot now Since that time Interstate has in creased its circuit by around a dozen houses. More receritly it was re ported Interstate might iacquire the R. 8e R. holdi or hook up with this soiith.westerri , , but while never confirmed, at least cold now. Tlie R. & circui headec by Harqld Robb and Ed Rowley, is not in conflict with Interstate but ^yere it a part of the Interstate chain the Karl Hoblitzelle-Bob O'Donhell theatre empire would be in almost complete control of Texas and Qkla- honria It Wquld at the same time provi important penetration of Arkansas for Interstate. tinder the U, A. deial, which was closed oh the Coast, Robb & Row- ley continue in operating control of their houses for themselves, the vari- ous partners they have in toWns ex- cepting Little Rock, Ark., and for U.A.- With latter, the deal for a half interest in the R. & R. chain is, at the moment, strictly invest- ment; OA's 50 Ballyhoo Knights A. total df 50 exploitation men are being assigned in ^the field by United Artists to handle' dates on, 'Knight Without Armor' which has been sef i!6r. 52 day-and-date engagements the week of July 16 in Warmer and Lbew theatres. Dates the following two weeks on the picture, up to Aug. 1, brings the total to 103. 't in a T. And Jamaica, of Bidp L. I., Theatre St. L Probe? Shouted Down Hollywood, July 6. Oscar Homolka, playing the. sea captain in Paramount's 'Ebb. Tide,* shouted orders from the quarterdeclc into the wind sO lon^ and loud that he is under treatment, in Avaloh hospital* CataUna, for laryngitis. While there is an eyident rebel' lion against double features in progress right now, industry observ- ers aver it will not : mean thing until it gains considerably niore rho- menturn. / There .will be little , or ho shift in current widespread dualing policysfor at least 12 months, and maybe longer, because .the whole business realizes how -heavily the idea is entrenched and has -its pro- duction geared- to meet/the double- bill requirements; Checks in various sections of the country indicate definite i iii opposition to dualing as cbrhpared with , a year ago, but trade, associa- tion officials have/learned in recent months that polls conducted in thea- tres where .double features revail seldom mean much. NY. COURT 00 PLAGIARISM SUIT VS. COLrVAN DYCKE Columbia Pictures ano: Tom Van Dycke, scenarist and ex-Broadway producer, were named Thursday (1) in plagiarism action in N. Y. f ederal court, brought by Valentine Davies, playwright, who claims his stage tome, 'The Fly in the Ointmetht,' was lifted. He asks an injunction'and accounting on Columbia's and Van Dycke's picture, 'Alibi for Murder.' Davies claiins he wrote his opus in 1929. It was produced in'Roche ster under the title, 'War Dance' and later on Broadway as 'Three Times the Hour.' Claims script of the play was w'idely distributed among the producers and . that Van Dycke got hold of it, saw the play and Ayhen he. Van Dycke, joined up. with Co- lumbia, adopted his stuff in writing 'Alibi.' • Twentieth Century-Fox noW con-; trols the Roxy theatre,: N.' Y. Only technical details of the takeover, re- main to be worked out. Federal Judge rahcis Caffey. made this possible yesterday CTiies.') when he approved the film frahohise term, as proposed, and, the^ first mortgage!, in- denture unde^ which 20th-Fox gaiins the;theatre. There were, objections to sOme phases of the franchise deal by in- die bondholders, but the court over- ruled these in the,-interest of the whole. Under the terms the theatre and film firm will spend $7,500 weekly in advertising during the first year, "rhis ups, according to rates, if latter should go up after the first year. Twentieth-Fox deal fot the Boxy is. for the next 20 years under the new organization, answerable (Continued on page 5*7) The Government's foray into the film business continues apparently. There is strong trade belief that the Government is conducting a qiiiet iriquiry into the firstrrun film situa- tion in Brooklyn,'.Also, Janiaica, L. I. Fact that the Century Circuit (A. B,- Schwartz),' MetrbpoUtah The* atres (Skouras and Randforce), RKO and Loew's blanket this territory would indicate that all these firms are involvied one way or another and linked with thism is every major film distributor, Thus, if there is ah anti- trust eruption by the Government in Brooklyn, it may turn out to be the biggest anti-trust scare of the trade's history, even surpassii) the St. Louis situati Whether the piresent Brooklyn and Jamaica items are. to bring about complete comparable results for the complainants remains open. So far < as known the ' ictment stage has not been reached. However, in ..view What the trade pissed through in the St, Louis situation, there is considerable, con- jecture whether or not more than one complainant rriight be involved in the presently indicated Brooklyn tangle. M-C Starb $2,000,000 Studio Mdg. Pribram Hollywood, July 0. Metro's $2,000,000 building and re- habilitation program- at the Culver City studio got under way this Week when ground ,was broken for the new four-story admi istration build- ing. Also to be constructed this sum- mer are five new sound stages, three- story writers 'building and. the hew cartoon productions buildi how under way. l|adio City's UA Quartet; ^ $2'End;'Hnrricane' Another United Artists pic has been sold to the. Music Hall, N. Y., 'Stella Dallas.' This makes four pic tures that are now dated' for the Radio City first run. 'Dallas' comes in July 29, following 'Knight With out ArmOr' which opens tomorrow (Thurs.) for two weeks. 'Vogues of 1938' and 'Prisoner of Zenda'. are tentatively scheduled for August. PK VALUE AS TRADE HYPO Hollywood, July 6. George J. iSchaefer, UA sales, chief, announced on his departure for New York last Week that he is launching a campaign to roadshow/Dead End' and 'The Hurri ,' Samuel Gold^ ,wyn-UA releases. 'Dead End,' first Goldwyn road- shower, will get release late in August, with 'Hurricane' following around Nov. 1. Lawyer Qark In New ent of Condor Comprehensive, changes in the managemerit and setup of Condor Pictures, Inc., were decided On yes- terday (Tiies. y by directors follow frig the resignation few days ago of George Hirliman, as president. Ed- win N. Clarkv of Robb, Clark & Benr nitt, N. y. .law firm, was elected chairman of the executive commit- tee, by .directors yesterday and as such Will serve as president . r ficio: Also decided to pro- duction and much of office activity on the Coast, only the sales dapartr ment and advertising-publicHy boing kept in New Y6rk. Along with installation of Clark in top spot; irectorate named Harold H. Anderson, Chicago, trustee of Northwestei-h U; Clark, George A. Fry, of Booth, Fry, Allen & Hamil- ton, Chicago; and Lewis C. George of ' E. Buckman & Co., Madison, Wis., investment banking house, as directors. Amadee J> Van Beiiren, chairiixan of board of directors, will keep his headquarters . Firank M, Snell, treasurer, will go to the. Coast immediately to act as chief financial officer. M. H, Hoff^^n, vice-presi- dent in charge ot prbauctfpn, also heads coastward at once to expedite completion of program. Condor Pictures schedule still re- mains at 20 features and 26 shorts. New group coming into the com- pany is not replacing the original underwriters, Buckman ife Co., it was .stated by company officials,, but to strengthen alignmeht, Condor officials claim that Hirli- man resigned because he has secured a four-picture pact with Richard Dix for RKO release in the coming sea- son. Understood that Hirliman. has been anxious to maike these Dix pic- tures for .somie time and with the new contract, desires to devote more time to their production. Hitlimah will prbducie as pre- viously arranged, with his cohimit- ments With Grand National for two (Continued on page 23) Washington, July 6. Creation of a new film unit In the Commerce Department was ordered last week, with Nathan D. Golden* veteran specialist in picture matters,, slated to head the staff. Plans for vigorous promotion ef- forts abroad came to view coincident with Secretary Roper's approval of a . recommendation from Director Alexander V. Dye of the Bureau of. Foreign and Domestic Commercie for establishment of a major division. Unit will plug American pictures, raw film, equipment, and various sidelines in overseas markets.. For the past four years, due to the original New Deal drive to prune departmental budgets, pictures have been given slight attention by the Commerce Department. The former film branch of the Foreign and Do- mestic Commerce' bureau was sub^ merged in the Electrical Division during the 1933 economy furore, and market-watching was curtailed dras- tically. Economic importance of foreign pic sales, which have stirnulated alien demand for many articles made in this country, motivated Dye and Roper in opening the new di- vision. Officials pointed out that direct export trade in photographic arid projection goods, $21,000,000 in 193G, is Only part of the economic value attributed to exhibition of Ainerican films. Researchers havei found, that e:(ports of household ar- ticles, automobiles, industrial ma- chihery, clothing, and many other items have bieen boosted, by Ui S. pictures which develop aliens' yea for pur luxuries and styles. Good-^ will aspect of the pic business also Was hpted by the Commerce execs. Golden has been close to the pic- ture business for 25 years. He is member of Society of Motion Picture Engineers, Airierican Projection So- ciety, and Projection Advisory Coun- cil. 4 GN's on B'way i-and National ill have four films playing first runs oh Broad-* way within the next few days. rnore than at any previous time in the company's history. 'Two Who Dare,' with Anna St.en and Henry Wilcox- on, opens at the Roxy next Friday (9), 'Killers of ,tiie Seia,' with LoWell, Thbrnas, prenriiering the same day at the Rialto: .'Damaged Goods' opens July 16 at the Eltinge and 'Spy , of Napoleon/ with Richard Barthelmess, is due next at the 55lh St. Playhouse.