Variety (May 1941)

22 PICTURES Wednesday, May 28, 1941 Minn^ Stymied for Product Now May Ask Repeal of Anti-Decree Law Having built what may amount to a Frankenstein, Minnesota exhibi- tors, who do not have a backlog ot product to tide them over the sum- mer, are reported begirming to show signs ot perspiration not caused by the weather due to widespread un- certainty over the law passed in that state which goes contrary to the consent decree. Hinted in some quarters that the upshot of ' the whole situation may be a movement on the part ot fearful exliibs to try to get the law repealed. Such a change of sentiment now that radical elements in Minnesota succeeded in scoring what they seem to feel is a victory over distributors parallels to some extent the North Dakota divorcement bill which was wiped off the books while the dis- tributors had a ca'se before the U.S. Supreme Court attacking It. That et the same time was the end of. similar moves iri other states in- spired largely by the more radical I exhibitor cliques which want one | thing today and something else the next With film exchanges in Minneap-, clis having stopped selling, the out- look is not sanguine and probable that some operators will have dif- ficulty getting over the summer un- less there is an early change in the' situation. Beyond that there is also grave doubt, since if the Minnesota law cannot be set aside, theatres may find it difficult getting new .sea-; son's (1941-42) film- A couple major' distribs have already threatened not \ to sell Minnesota at all on the .'41-'421 pictures, while a third is considering setting up an exchange at Hudson, Wis.", which would require Minne- sota accounts to come across the line and then to buy ini accordance, with the decree rather than the lAinne- sota statute recently passed. ' Far's 65 Theatres Paramount is vitally affected Jn Minnesota through operation of 55 theatres In.that state, the only film company in exhibition there, al- though understood it is sufficiently behind on this year's film that no apparent problems are threatened for the summer. Although assured of ketting Its own (Par) product for 1941-42, no matter how it was bought, the theatres might face dif- ficulties so far as other companies ere concerned, especially if a couple of them pulled out entirely and vreren't willing to sell from across the state line. Minnesota Amusement ,Co., the Par subsid in the northwest, has a total of 91 theatres. Most of those over and above the 55 located In Minnesota Itself are In the Dakotas and northern Wisconsin. They also get their film from Minneapolis in most cases. Circuit is opening a 92d house at Duluth, a 1,300-seater, this June 22. It has four there already. Minnesota Amusement took no ac- tion, either pro or con. In the legis- lation leading to the anti-consent law. Test Case Attorneys, busy, for weeks prepar- ing the papers, expect to be ready to file a complaint by the end of this week to test the constitutional- ity of the Minnesota statute. It will be brought in the federal court at Minneapolis before a three-judge' jury with distributors at the same | time seeking a temporary injunction against effectiveness of the law so that they may' continue doing busi- ness in Minnesota meantime. Understood that the three non- consenting distribs, Universal, Uni- ted Artists and Columbia, will'join the Big Five who are party to the decree in fighting the adverse Min- nesota legislation. Principal reason for UA participation would be that it does not offer its full product to all accounts, while as for U and Col the 20% cancellation feature and other points about the Minnesota law are undesirable. Tony Sadekum Not Sure Of Accepting City Post Nashville, May 27. Mayor Thomas I/. Cummlngs an- i nounced that he expects Tony Sude- jkum, presideht of the Crescent Afflus. Co., to accept the post of Chairman of the Nashville Housing Authority. Sud6kum has not as yet reached a decision on acceptance of the post. Although active in civic affairs for the past 20 years, he has not held public office. Sudekum has headed a chain of theatres in Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama for the past 32 years. Defi to Writer jcontlnaed from pace 7; Judge Davis jUontlnned from page being the go-between. Judge Davis is specifically accused of taking bribes to rule favorably on appeals taken in proceedings involving the bankruptcy of Fox's All-Continent Corp. Judge Davis declared he had not spoken to Fox—in fact had never met. him—during the time .:.(1936) when the two alleged 'loans' had been said to have been made. Two employes of the Governor CHinton Hotel testified they saw Judge Davis there in July, 1940, with Fox. At that time, they said, the judge was regis- tered tmder the name of 'Herman Goldberg of Hoboken.' ' Judge Davis, admitted to the meet- ing at the time, but said he had ar- ranged it after he learned he was being investigated in reference to the Fox case and wanted to 'find out what It was all about' He admitted using the Goldberg alias, but said he did it at the request of the Fox law- yers who said the 'F^I might bu watching.* The government rented Its ease yesterday (Mon.). It Is expected to go to the lut7 Thurs. (29), New York Theatres 2ND WEEKSTIIAND2SS2 AFFECTIONATELY YOURS A New Warner Broi. Bit SUrrl.ns . Uerle Oberon * SeniUB Morgan IN PEBSOM WAYNE KING^^„«»S?- DON GUMMING • THE RANDALL SISTERS ^^L. DENNIS MORGAN ORSOX WELLES SPAlACEjasS.'SSi^^ PARAMOUNT tint Time at Popnlar Fr(,c«8 'I WANTED WINGS' AParnmoimtPlcture HELD OVER In Person Vanghn UONBOB and Band Bal BBBRUA]!^ Beatrice KAT MUSIC HALL HBXD OVEB "PENNY ^SERENADE" Spectacular Stage Production! ■ Lot TInu' W<<. ■ Blag CROSBY ■ Bob HOPE ■ Dontliy LAMOUR ■ "BOAD TO ■ ZjUiZIBAH^' ■ Plus Bis ^ Stage Bhmr I Ttiur.,M>y29 Vl>l«ll LiuranM I,eish • Olivier "THAT HAMILTON WOM»H " Id Perwa am ARNHEIM ■nd Oreh, Eib-i I Bciwla a A'tonl* Lang's Yes or No Hollywood, May 27. Director assignment on 'Q^nflrm or Deny,' recently bought by 20th-Fox, goes to Fritz Lang, who recently fin- ished 'Man Hunt' Samuel Fuller and Henry Wales were paid $20,000 for the yarn, which deals with American newspaper cor- respondents In Britain during the war. Script was polished by Joe Swerllng. REPUBUC'STOKELBOr FOR JUPY CANOVA Republic is heavily budgeting 'Yokel Boy,' which it has bought from Lew Brown, who produced the musical a couple of seasons ago on Broadway. Studio paid $5,000 for it. Judy Canova, who's under contract to the studio and who starred in the Broadway show, will also have the same role in the picture version. Want 'Jollity Bldg.' ProOlea Series of three 'Profiles' In the New Yorker recently on The Jollity Building' have attracted attention of severed studios and may form basis for a picture. Tarns by A, J. Lieb- ling, staff writer on tiie mag, are prin- cipally 'humorous delineation of Broadway characters who have of- fices or cubicles in the building; or just hang"out in its telephone booths. Although Liebling carefully avoided mentioning the actual name of the structure, Broadwayites claim It to be the Strand Theatre building. Het Manheim, of William Morris office, is handling film sale. Other new properties in which there Is film Interest are a novel by I. A. R. Wylie, 'Strangers Are Com- ing,' w)iich will be serialized In the American Magazine, and 'Of Fire by Night' by Thelma Strabel. Latter Is about firefighters. Author wrote "Reap the Wild Wind,' novel now be- ing celluloidized by Paramount. •Meet the People,' revue produced by the Hollywood Theatre Alliance, has been bought by Metro after sev- eral months of dickering. Show was bom In Hollywood and brought east for five .months on Broadway after a full season on the Coast granted for limited purposes, he Is asked to make over his rights in toto, thus signing away any prospect of conti'oUing the use of his material or of enjoying further profit from its presentation through other chan- nels. Copyright expresses In formal legal terms the Individual's right to speak, think and communicate. The preservation of that right is more follow if It Is allowed-to dominate, may de- stroy us aU. It is a short step from this sort ot edjtorlal censorship to governmental censorshlft, and we have seen that short step taken in every totalitarian counliy in the world.' The keynote of address by other leading authors, writers, playwrights Tyler Changes Brand Hollywood, May 27. Producers Releasing Corp. signed Tom Tyler as top rider in a series of buckaroo pictures with the general tiUe of 'Frontier Marshal* for the 1041-42 program. .O. Henry Briggs, president of the company, also signed Lee Powell as the male lead and is looking for a comic. than a concern of the author; it Is the foundation-stone ot a free litera- ture and a free people.' Touching on the prevalent editorial censorship policy of national maga- zines, Mary C. McCall, Jr., told the delegates: •The timidity and venality of rou- tine and patterned editorial policy is a source ot concern to every Amer- ican old enough to read. It is more than a trade practice which is in- convenient discouraging, galling to a handful of professional writers, tt represents a way of thinking which. 8 lATSE COAST UNIONS SERVE NOTICE Hollywood, May 27. Business representatives of eight lATSE studio unionsj following a meeting last night (Monday), served notice on Y. Frank Freeman, presi- dent'of the Producers* Assn., for an immediate start of negotiations for an agreement on wages and working conditions. Move was taken to mean the union heads iiqslst on dealing direct with the producers, Instead of trying to get anywhere through the regular labor contacts. Understood that 10,000 lATSE workers are opposed to the negotia- tion of 'any deal by the International in.the east to Regulate Coast Agents Takes Powder Sacramento, May 27. Assembly Bill No. 229, to regulate booking agents, has been at>andoned by Assemblyman Ernest Voight who admitted It was certain to be de- feated after hanging flrie since last January. Another bUl, Introduced by Assem- blyman Maloney, to eliminate dupli- cate license fees for agents with more than one office, passed tl^e lower house and awaits the next step in the senate. ^ Inside Stuff-Pictures First annual jneeting of RKO stockholders since the company emerged from 77-B last year will not be held In June, as originally planned^ hut probably wiU be posftioned until late this faU. Present board of directors was named for two years, which means that their current terms do not expire until January, 1942. Because of this situation, officers decided that there was no necessity for holding the meeting on June 4 at Dover, Del., as originally proposed. Principal business to come before the stockholders would be the elec- tion of a new directorate, and this could be done at a later date. Reported yesterday (Tuesday).that the RKO proxy statement for the annual session would not be prepared for several months. Selection of the annual meet- ing date likely will be made at the next RKO directors' session, Out on his back lot in the early morning, where nobody can see him, is an indie producer, kicking hhnself. He had a chance to sign up one of the outstanding songbirds of Broadway six months ago for $75 a week, a youthful femme who could have fitted in perfectly with the producer's Idea of streamlined musicals. His Manhattan agent sent the kid's contract to Hollywood. AU it needed was the producer's signature, but it was tossed on the shelf to gather dust for half a year. Meanwhile the gal clicked on Broadway, gleaned a wealth of publicity in. national mags and signed with a major picture outfit. Now the indie producer is looking for a femme singer to streamline his series. The Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio has figured out that a B% tax on film rentals, as proposed in Washington and believed likely to go througl), will mean a gross receipts tax of 1 2/3%. This is based on the assumption that rentals average about 33% of the gross which, in some "circles, would be regarded as putting it a little high. ITO of Ohio, of which the active Pete Wood is leader, has asked all exhibs in that state to protest enactment of the rentals tax, Sidney Baetaman: 'Inasmuch as the entire writing panorama is a picture of things in motion, the writer does not find his place in society, but cre- ates it If the writer Is to under- stand the role he is to play, as this kaleidoscope unrolls, he must be ready to change his created ex- pression as rapidly as his world around him changes.* B.C. SherUT: 'The motion picture was the first instrument to bring art music and drama to the mil. Hons of all nations. Prior to the advent of films, such thrills were reserved tor the minority, the upper strata of society. The motion pic>. ture made art and democracy synonymous and presented excite, ment and adventure to the vast ma« jority In the simplest form, at low- est cost' .Paal Franklbu 'The motion pic- ture, in its infancy, was aU eyes with no ears. It grew up. Today radio, the new artistic ^aby, is all ears with no eyes. We hope with the aid ot science and the creative .genius ot the writer to see radio grow up too. Maybe this historic conference will start the ball rolling.' Only Form Changed Balph Block: 'Story telling has re- mained the kernel of writing ex- pression since the dawn of human progress. From papyrus to modern color printing from the first da- guerreotype to the technicolor super de luxe film, form has changed, but its heart, the story, the writing, is constant. As civilization moved on and up, another fact()r became dom- inant that of the financial structure which moulded the artistic develop- ment of creative writing. Social re- sponsibility first arose through the cry for 'cleaner, finer, happier films' in 1009 and adaptation of the old 'morality plays' became prevalent Later eminent authors. and play- wrights were brought to Hollywood to write directly tor the screen, and style in writing Invaded the studios. Films.became a popular art rather than a fine art Producing became a cooperative effort, and the writer found himself clashing with direc- tor, producer and business office, i Withal the writer remains the basic essential for the value of his ideas, without which films cannot be pro- duced.' Hector Chevlgny: The radio writer has risen to'' a position in his j field relatively far more important' ' than the writer attained in the same space of time in the picture busi- ness. Radio, due-to the pressure of the clock, has produced superb tech- nicians among the writers. Yet only a handful have distinguished them, selves in other writing fields. Radio writers are technical experts, but few are true creators because they have had to keep pace with the ma- chine and have little time for any- thing else.' Dwlght Taylor: The time has come for the visiter to lay aside his chronic inferiority complex. Mod- ern conditions no longer justify it and he must be ready to take his active place in an active world. He must become'a businessman In the sense that he produces a commodity which, through the printing press and motion picture machine, he has every evidence that people are will- ing to buy. Because of the wide circulation of ideas which these ma- chines permit he must have a part in their control and realize his rei- sponsibilities towards the advance- ment of thought' Sheridan Gibney, SWG prexy, in delivering the closing remarks of the Conference, visualized the gathering as initiating a new function, both cultural and instructive, giving writers the opportunity to exchange ideas of craft and artistry. He said" in considering new functions, new media, nejv concepts, the writer by virtue of the Conference is conscious of a new responsibility. -It was stated that the Conference, held un- der sponsorship of the Screen Writers Guild this year, will be Hollywood has an acute naval situation, a shortage ot small sea-going craft, the result of Uncle Sam's demand for auxUiaries to the fighting made "an ami'ual'Affair fleet on the West Coast. Several picture companies had powerboats lined «»"ou, up tor marine films but the arrangements were jolted by the require- ments of national defense. Chief amoi^g the Hollywood sufferers Is 20th- Fox, which had rounded up an armada for the evacuation ot an imaginary Dunkirk In 'A Yank In the R. A F.' Sexte^ of Hollywood writers will come east tor session on films at the fourth-biennial American Writers Congress in New York June 7. Those who will attend are John Howard Lawson, John Bright, Donald Ogden Stewart, Viola Brothers Shore, Michael Urls and Charles Pafe. High Above Tree Tops Hollywood, May 27. Ralph Dietrich, associate producer at 20th-Fox, is readying 'Plane Crazy,* based on his own story of the forest patrol. Mary Beth Hughes and George Montgomery slated for the top roles,