Variety (Aug 1939)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

24 VARIETY PICTURES Wednesday, August 23, 1939 Crescent Suit Papers Show That U.S. Can Allege 'Monopoly' Even If There's But One House in a Town N. Y. Allied .ConCinucd from page 4_ Further examination oiC the Gov- ernment's latest action against the majors and the Crescent chain ol Nashville, filed Aug. »1 in that city, reveals that the U. S. charges mo- nopoly in a great many cities or towns containing only one theatre. Crescent, which includes nine de- fendants, is now engaged, according to the complaint, in operating thca- 1res in Brownsville, Clarksville, Cleveland, Columbia, Dyersburg, Greenville, Lebanon, Maryville, Morristown, Murfreeboro, Parris, Springfield, Union Jity, Madison- viUe, Nashville, all in Tennessee, for the Crescent Amus. Co... Inc., as well as Bowling Green, EarlinRton, Hop- kinsville, in Kentucky; and Ala- bama City, Decatur and Gadsden, in Alabama. Lyric Amus. Co., Inc., operates in one town, Huntsville, Ala., and the New Strand Co., also operates in one town, Kingsport, Tenn. Cumberland Amus. operates Ijllahoma, Dayton, Rogersville, Crossville, Winchester, McMinnville, Sparta, South Pittsburg, Pulaski, Fayettesville and Franklin, in Tennessee. Strand Enterprises Corp. operate in Ridgely, Ripley, Trenton, Tipton [ ants be enjoined from adding any additional theatre holdings. Says GrlAlth Oklahoma City, Aug. 22. 'If the injunction sought by the Government is granted, it will wreck our business,' a memorandum filed by defendant Griffith circuits in the Federal court anti-trust suit here last week, declared. The memiorandiim is the la.st of those filed by defendants as requested by Federal Judge Edgar Vaught, who ordered both sides to file notes on motions before his court to require the Government furnish further particulars as well as ampli- fy r.nd detail charges. 'When the very existence of these exhibitors is at stake,' the Griffith i memorandum stated, 'they should know with some reasonable certainty {the thing with which ' they arc I charged.' I Some 290 theatres are involved in three States as Griffith circuit prop- erties. The government is seeking injunctions Which would force each Griffith theatre to operate as a sepa- 1^ rate entity in buying pictures from the distributor-defendants narhed in the suit 'These exhibitors are small corpo- rations,' the memo further stated, 'owning and operating small theatres in small country towns. By. efficiency •1, J r.u i J 1 ... 1^^'^ industry, three brothers (H. J. r"?V_!"'^.,^-!'?^^^St'A' Griffith. L. C. Griffith and R. E. Grif- fith, also named defendants) and Parkins, Marked Tree, Earl, Le Panto in Arkansas; Kosunsko,'Lex- ington, Louisville, Morehead, Itla Bema, and Durant in Mississippi and Clinton, in Kentucky. Rockwood Amusements, Inc., op- erate in Rockwood, Tracy City, Coal Creek, Manchester, Huntingdon, in Tennessee; and in Guthrie, Ken- tucky. ' Cherokee Amus. Co., Inc., operates in Erwin, Sweetwater, .^cnoir City, La FoUette and Oneida, in Tennessee. Muscle Shoals Theatres, Inc., op- erate in Athens, Florence, T-iscum- bia, and Sheffield, in Alabama. Kentucky Amusements, Inc., op- e-ates only in Elizabethtown, Ky. Individual defendants include An- thony Sudekum, R. E. Baulch, Ker- mit C. Stengel, and Louis Rosen- baum. The major film defendants are Paramount, Loew's, RKO, War- ner Bros., Vitagraph, Inc., 20th Cen- tury-Fox, Universal, United Artists and Columbia. Other Charges The Government complaint asserts that the defendant exhibitors during the past five years have released 90% of the first-class features shown in these cities and lowns, and 7S% of all features. In order to successfully operate either a first run, second or subse- quent run house in these cities suc- cessfully, it is necessary for' an ex- hibitor to show a substantial num- ber of pictures released by at least three of the major distributors. The defendant exhibitors, it is charged, have been able to take over the operation of all theatres, and keep other theatres which they do not desire to remain open closed, as result of their control over the licensing of th majors films. They have violated anti-trust laws, and refrained from competing with each other. In order to maintain their monopoly, they have purchased in advance of production and re- lease, all of the films, made by the major companies. . As a result they have obtained exclusive distribution and clearance rights. All competi- tion has been eliminated with inde- pendent exhibitors forced to sell their theatre.: through threats of b ilding in op:}Osition, or,refusal to give product. In addition, the. .defendant exhibi- tors have ■ lowered" their prices, given away large cash prizes, and operated theatres at a loss to force out competition. The relief sought by the U. S. is that the acts described be declared illegal, that an injunction be issued preventing the acquisition by the defendants of any more pictures ex- cept on a competitive basis^ that the defendant exhibitors be dissolved, and the properties be rearranged under separate independent corpo- rations, with officers and directors disposing of stock holdings, that the court appoint a receiver or a trustee for these properties, and that for the duration of the action, the defend- their associates have shown some de- gree of success in these enterprises. 'Now along come those in higj( pp,-, sitions in our government and charge, in the most general and obscure lan- guage possible, and ask the court to enjoin further business transactions,' and to decree dissolution of the cor- porations. The four Griffith companies are Griffith Amusement Co., Consolidat- ed Theatres, Inc., R. E. Griffith Thea- tres, Inc., and the Wextex Theatres, Inc. Previously United Artists, Colum- bia Pictures and Universal had filed their memos, as had other defendants. operation and confidence cannot exist between the two bodies so long as Messrs. Cohen and Kosch (Harry G. Kosch, its legal counsel) control the policies of the New York group.' Following notice of the expulsion Cohen, called a conference of the trade press in New York Friday afternoon (18), devoting an hour- and a-half in an effort to justify the position of N, Y. Allied and its of- ficers. In rendering his version of the dilTicultics with the national or- ganization, he pointed out that the N. Y. body never was officially a member, cs indicated by th; parent association. Cohen denied existence of the grounds on which his group was expelled and took issue with na- tional Allied in connection with the action on the code at Minneapolis in June. The N. Y. president stated that the code was voted upon for re- jection on Wednesday morning (June 13) before sessions had been held in Minneapolis in connection with an open forum and distributors had been heard, together with others. Allied States h:is denied that the di- rectors rejected the code before the forum discussions had been held. No, 1 Influence .Continued from page 1_ REPUBUC-BUTTERFIELD; OTHER PRODUCT DEALS J. R. Grainger, for Republic, set another deal covering 108 theatres of the Butterfield Circuit of Michigan. Sam Seplowin, Rep branch manager in Detroit, sat in with Grainger on this deal, and E. C. Beatty, president of Butterfield, and J. O. Brooks, chief film buyer, worked out details and prices. Republic also negotiating with Schine Bros., J^ck Bellman, eastern district-manager from N. Y., accom- panying Grainger on this sales deal. Today (Wed.) latter is-^ue in Chi- cago to dicker with Balaban & Katz; in Los Angeles Aug. 28, and in San Francisco Sept. 1. From the latter point-he inakes stops in Omaha and Minneapolis, 'returning to the Rep h.o. Sept. 11. Grainger flies most of the time. InterslaU-RKO A deal of major importance, with the Interstate circuit of Texas, a Paramount partnership, is in work with RKO Radio Pictures. R. J. O'Donnel is in New York represent- ing Interstate in the negotiations. Jules Levy, RKO general sales man- ager, and Sol M. Sachs, district man- ager for the southwest out of Dallas, are handling the deal in behalf of RKO. Sachs came up from Dallas for that purpose. Universal Pictures' circuit deals on new season product have been 70% closed to date, according to William A. Scully, general sales manager. Six booking contracts were signed within the past two weeks, including Warner Bros. Circuit, RKO Theatres, Comerford, Maine & New Hamp- shire, Melco, Memphis, and Butter- field chains. MG's 3rd Cartoonery Hollywood, Aug. 22. New cartoon unit Is being built up at Metro around William Hanna, di- rector, and Joe Barbera, cartoonist. New animated briefie setup makes three on the Culver City lot. Others are headed by Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman, formerly partnered. his destination ne.xt time he's satis- fied in his own' mind that his vehicle is up to standard. Huntington Park, Inglewood and Long Beach are popular sneak cities with the manufacturers of B fea- tures. Located in the heart of a rich citrus-growing belt, Pomona also boasts of its industrial plants, which makes it stand out in contrast to neighboring Riverside and Redlands, {strictly agricultural, and to nearby San Berdoo, entirely manufacturing. It is also the home of Pomona Col- lege as well as drawing on student body of fashionable Claremont col- lege a few miles away. While majority of Pomona resi- dents are churchgoers, they are also liberal in their vi6ws. Average .comment card following a Pomona sneak carries an intelli- gent and constructive 'review- of the picture, with writer -expressing defi- nite opinion as to worth of offering, pointing out angles that most' ap- pealed to him or her, as well as cit- ing sections considered below par. Comments also call attention to good and bad individual performances by cast members. Far different, though, are cards received following previews in Huntington Park, Inglewood and Long Beach. These usually bear one of two words—'good' or 'lousy.' Type of picture usually deter- mines number of sneaky to be ac- corded it, with- comedies -rating greatest number. ' It is not unusual for a laugh film to get from four to six -out-of-town showings before it is submitted to press critics. Heavy- cost dramas are given one or two preliminary screenings. Pomona's Decidinf Vote Metro producer Hunt Stromberg, for example, toted , his expensive The Women' to Pomona a few nights ago,' scanned the 56G com- ment cards that came back, and or- dered the negative to the lab with- dut changes for processing of re- lease prints. On other hand, the same studio's producer Mervyn LeRoy gave 'Wizard of Oz' three sneak runs, using Santa Barbara first. Long Beach second and Po- mona last. When latter applauded, he was satisfied rest of world would approve his $3,000,000 effort. When producers decide to get pub- lic reaction to films in rough-cut form and often carrying background music from library instead of orig- inal score that will be dubbed later, they -take their reels up the north- coast to Santtf Barbara, Oakland and Berkeley. This is usually because they need audience guidance before they make final deletions or order added scenes, and the further away from Los Angeles and Hollywood they can go, the less peril there is of unfavorable comment seeping back into the section where features must later' pile up sizeable grosses to impress exhibs over the rest of the country. Sneak previews of pictures are far from hit-or-miss affairs, but are looked upon by studio toppers as a vital component in the final result. Situations in which they are to be staged are given careful considera- tion by plant biggies, who are al- ways on hand for the screenings. H wood Fetes Gus Edwards on His 60th Birthday with Quip and Song MG's Opera Recrnits Hollywood, Aug. 22. Herbert Stothart rounded up three Metropolitan Opera singers, Sigurd Nilsson, Irra Petinn and David Laughlin, for Metro's 'Balalaika,' which requires about three more weeks of shooting. Picture co-stars Nelson Eddy and Ilona Massey. ASST. MANAGER, ONE OF CONFESSED THIEVES St. Paul, Aug. 22. Following (uU confessions, Ran- dall Lutes, 22, and Kenneth LaCroix, 23, were jailed here, awaiting charges of grand larceny. The pair admitted robbing the World safe of $300 on Aug. 1, according to Charles J. Ticrney, assistant chief of pnlioe. Lutes, who was assistant manager of the World, went to the safe while the last show was on, according to the confession, took the money, passed it to LaCroix, who pocketed the swag and went inside to watch the show. The pair fled to South Dakota via freight trains, bought a car for $30, wrecked it, then stole one at Sisse- ton, S. D., where they were appre- hended. La Croix was already on probation for a previous auto theft. Rout Safe-Crackers Dallas, Aug. 22. Safe-crackers were routed from the Arcadia, nabc, here last week by special officer J. C. Bridges, who heard noises in the rear. Probing, he found knob knocked off safe, hole drilled in door and charge ready to be placed therein. Prowl- ers escaped but receipts were saved. 14-Year-Old Suspect Atlanta, Aug. 22. Discovered in Alpha boxofflce at 4 a.m., a 14-ycar-old boy last week was lodged in Juvenile Detention Home pending police investigation. Youth was discovered by Patrolman A. C. Potts, who reported he saw boy tampering with combination dial on theatre's strongbox. U. S. Pic on 'Okies' Hollywood. Aug. 22. San Joaquin valley . 'Okies,' around ' whom John St-einbeck penned 'Grapes of Wrath,' are to be subject of one of Uncle Sam's film productions. Pare Lorenz, Governmental pro- ducer-writer, and Lowell Mellct, National Emergency Council direc- tor, have been gabbing with Stein- beck for a week, collecting and in- dexing information on subject. Oklahoma's Peeve Oklahoma City. Aug. 22. Darryl F. Zanuck, 20th-Fox ex- ecutive, says he's going to send a company to Oklahoma's 'dust bowl' to produce scenes for 'Grapes of Wrath' and Oklahoma's various chamber of commerce organizations insist there 'ain't no such animal no more.' Zanuck's announcement was greeted with loud boos by chamber executives as well as newspapers throughout the state who have 'poured It on' John Steinbeck's book from the start. Some tall protests are due to reach Zanuck's office in short order. TITLE CHANGES Hollywood, Aug. 22. 'The Bigger They Are' is new tag on 'Front Page' at Columbia. 'Espionage Agent' is latest handle on Warners 'Career Man.' Paramount switched from 'Are Husbands Necessary' to 'My Love for Yours.' 'Spook House' became 'Beware, Spooks,' at Columbia. 'Law of the Pampas' release tag on 'Argentine' at Paramount. 'Oklahoma Frontier' late.st tag for Universal's 'Oklahoma Kid.' .Monogram switched from 'Murder in the Big House' to 'Mutiny in the Big Hou.se.' Republic's Roy Rogers starrer, 'Missouri Raiders,' becomes 'Arizona Kid.r Warners retasfied remake of '20,000 Years in Sing Sing' as 'City of Lost Men.' 'Dress Parade* new title on War- ners' feature filmed as 'Dead End Kids in Military School.' Los Angeles, Aug. 22. Hollywood gang, mostly trans- planted from Broadway, went sen- timental Thursday night (17) and helped Gus Edwards celebrate liis 60th year in this vale of tears. They sang his songs, lauded his useful life, bandied quips isnd munched on his birthday cake, of such huge propor- tions that it had to be wheeled' in That was the Hollywood touch. Edwards, not in the best of health, passed up the speechmaking but showed the gang he was still chip- per by dancing across the speaker's stand and wiggling his thumb in the approved alligator fashion. Raillery was the evening's keynote after due tribute had been paid to Edwards and his contribution to show business. Eddie 'Cantor presided and in keep-. ing with the Edwards slogan, 'when you're on make it short,' called on Gov. Culbert Olson for an expres- sion from the great commonwealth of California. Cantor quipped that he liked the guv better a.-; Ol.sen and Johnson. Jack Benny was in high form and had the diners roaring. He led off with, 'I'm the only one here who wasn't discovered by Edwards. Nor by Rudy 'Vallee, nor Major Bowes, and that Sol Lesser was out of the question.' He flipped that inasmuch as Edwards started Cantor he should find him a job now as the comic hadn't worked for three weeks. When Cantor brought on Benny— 'through the courtesy of Rochester'— the Jello-again'er cracked, 'And Dcanna Durbin didn't hurt "you any, either.' Benny said that inasmuch as this was a night o( who found who, he might as well admit that he was dug up in Waukcgan and went from archeology to RKO. He said he played his violin for weeks in front of the Astor, but Edwards never came out. 'Those were the days,' he said, 'when I was making 80c., which is equivalent to $40,000 now.' A Tout With An Annuity Benny ribbed the absent Bing Crosby by saying, 'He's the only race tout I know of with an annuity.* He added the only safe bet on Crosby was that the stork would visit his home again. When Cantor kidded him about the sparseness of the fo- liage on his turret, he shot back, 'I've got as much hair as Cantor only my head is bigger.' Weber and Fields sat at the .speak- ers' table and took a bow after be- ing introduced as discoverers of Ed- wards. Mervyn LeRoy, an Edwards discovery, was among the well- wishers. Speechmaking was trimmed to a minimum. Testimonial drew a black tie crowd of 500 to the Ambassador. 'Victor Young led the orchestra in a com- munity sing of the more popular old Edwards songs, hnd everyone in the room lent voice when the downbeat cafe for 'School Days.' It brought tears to the starmaker's eyes and he choked with emotion. It was a fit- ting tribute to a grand oldtimer whom forgetful Hollywood hadn't forgotten. It was an evening he'll long remember. P. S. That 'star-maker' line is by courtesy of Paramount. 'GULLIVER' TRAVELING TO A $1,500,000 COST The cost already having gone over $900,000, Max Fleischer's cartoon feature, 'Gulliver's Travels,' being produced in Miami, is expected to reach $1,500,000 or thereabouts on completion. This is a higher budget than originally figured. Fleischer expects to have 'Gul- liver' completed for Xmas release. It's his first full-length. Richard Murray,- costs executive in Paramount, left Friday night (18) for Miami to confer with Fleischer on 'Gulliver,' which Par releases as it docs all of Fleischer's product. Setting 'Plnocchio' Hollywood, Aug. 21. Walt Disney has cleared the way for forthcoming releases of Lis sec- ond feature cartoon, 'Plnocchio.' Producer has ' dered withdrawal of 'Snow White' from release in Eng- land and two months later on the continent. 'Plnocchio' is scheduled for special showings in the U. S. next Decem- ber,