Variety (Apr 1942)

^ednesdajt April-1, 1942 piGTinues Pm CraJmuK to ^^^^ Stout Duals to Loew s Hypo Biz Paramount Is continuing to Sell away from the Skouras ^nd Century circuits in the Greater New York area and adjacent territory, making pictures available to Independent accounts as soon as they are avails able, In spite of reports that the Skouras interests have made what amounts to peace overtures. Century "people are not known to have figured Jn any approaches, direct or Indirect ' Not only have Interested parties Interceded in behaU of Skouras, sounding out Par on the matter, but understood that Georgd Skouras himself, operating bis circuit of around 55 houses, has gone to. Par executives to see what could be done about the matter. Ttiat's as far as it's gone,'from accounts. ' One of the reeisons Par has re- fused to deal with either Skouras or Century from the jtart is that If it turned over its product to the . 85 theatres of these two circuits, then it would be breaking faith with other operators who recognize the value of ■the company's pictures this season (1941-42) and are paying the terms asked. Indies Also ; This includes the independents, in opposition to Skouras and . Century, who are buying the company's film, . playing it on - percentage where asked, and giving extended playing time in' accordance with the per- formance of the pictures at the box- ioffice. ' Silling now to the Skouras ' and Century circuits on the terms they are willing to pay would be tantamoiint. to selling out the ac- counts that have been carrying the rental burden without battling. ' ,Par is now offering the fourth and fifth blocks to abcounts in com- petition with Centxiry. ind Skouras, .plus 'Louisiana Purchase,' which is being marketed singly. However, Par is maldng upi a dual bill with 'Purchase,' throwing 'Glamour Boy' with it on bookings. \ -' Reported that grosses In Century and Skouras . theatres have been affected by the sell-way policy of Par, especially since they lost the Par product and have to fill out with other material. Including in some cases reissues or revivals. ; During the past week Par gave the Greater N. Y. Loew - circuit 'Sullivan's Travels' and. 'Lady Has Plans! as a dual. bilL According to reports this doubileton Is doing very big for Loew's. It will also be made available to independents following Loew's. ■ So far as can be learned Par has gone no further with respect' to Building up a subisequent-run circuit of its own around N. Y. but the'Idea has not been dropped.' HAUTICAL SELLING Film Saleamsn Fladi Ezhlb Paddling own Caaee, LltenUly . Detroit, March 31. .A.n.i)e.WAjLta,do business,-George McCoy, Columbia film salesman, de- cided when he arrived in Vassar, Mich., to talk over a deal with Stanley Smith bperatbr of the New Vassar theatre. . A flood ^ad spilled the Cass River "]Jf,' Its banks,' and McCoy found smith,'floating, oyer bis stage in_8 canoe getting the -ampllflers an^ wreen put of the water's ' way. Earlier all the theatre's seats had been removed. However, they made a dfeal-^McCoy from a rented row- boat Seiter Megs 'Rio' , Hollywood,'March 31. ^William Seiter. draws the director Chore on the Columbia musical, X.arnival .in Rio/ co-starring Fred Astelre and ftita Hayworth. Dancing rehearsals with Xavlen Cugat and hU orchestra start In wo weeks, with cameras stated to grind early in May. Cha«. Skouras West Charlie Skouras, Fox West Coast weatres prexy, shoved off for the *-,oast Monday (30). He huddled with 20th-Fox ' and watlOTal Theatres execs In New Rubbed Out Hollywood, March 31. . Film studios are going in for collection of scrap, not to make money on old metals but to save It on rubber. Employees equipped with mag- netic gadgets are picking up nails and other metallic rem- nants which have been causing huge tire repair bills on the ma- jor lots. Even Though Patriotic, Defense Stamp Theatre Giveaway Caases Arrest Ironwood, Mich., March 31'. O. P. Surprenant, manager of the Rex here, named in a gambling war7 rant for conducting a 'Wahoo' gartp, declared, when arraigned in court that he wa; 'the first man ever ar- rested in America for giving away U. S. defense stamps,' and the ulti- mate' outcome of the case is awaited by exhibitors everywhere who have Included defense stamps and bonds in their trade stimulation giveaways. ''Wahoo' is somewhat on the order of 'Hollywood' and 'Bingo,' and Sur- prenant is.accused of paying off win- ners in' his theatre with defense stamps. He declared he had inves- tigated the operation of similar games elsewhere, and that nowhere else- had any arrests - been made. 'Wahoo' has been played regularly..at the Rex for some weeks and patrons are wondering now what's going to become of the $130 jackpot tUat has accumulated. The Rex is one of. the group of houses controlled in this area' by Martin Thomas, -Mrho has a booking arrangement with Fox Wisconsin. - $1,0(M Bond Giveaway Milwaukee, March 31. Spring drive- for business gets un- der way this week- in the Fox Wis- consin group of theatres, highlghted by the giveaway of. $1,000 in U de- fense bonds. Continue Darmour Unit As Feeder to Cohnnbia •Hollywood, March 31. ■ Darmour.studioa 'w'ill.continue to make-pictures-as a-s^arate produc- tion unit for' Cblum.bia.'release, not- withstanding the recant death of Larry Darmour; With Ralph Cohn in a supervisory'capacity, the com- pany is committed to make two more serials for this year's program. First of the cliflhangers, 'Perils of the Royal Mounted,' rolled this week with. .^J?mes .IforS.*— directing_ and_ Robert Stevens, new CoIuSib'la^cbn- tract player, iii the top role. ERPI Sells Coast Studio HoUywood, March 31. General Service rental studio Has been sold by ERPI to American In- dustrial Corp. for approximately $500,000. New outfit, headed by Ben Bogeaus,' takes over Wednes- day (1) for continuation of rental policy for top Indie producers. D. C. Hickson, who operated stu- dio for ERPI, leaves May 1 to take another post with the company east Successor not yet named. Very Little Left for Hmi Hollywood, March 31. New route for James FitzPatrick, producer of Traveltalks for Metro, covers Guatemala,. El Salvador, Costa Rica, Honduras and Panama, starting about Aug, 1. FitzPatrick recently returned from Mexico where he filmed four shorU in technicolor. Forthcoming trip is in keeping with bis general idea to promote - friendly relations' with the Latin-American countries. Hollywood; March 31. flarry Sherman signed tour scribes, three :of them to. work on Hopalong Cassidy westerns and one on the pioneer special, 'Silver Queen.' 'Jack Lait, Jr, Michael Wilson and Joe Pagano are riding along with Cassidy. and Bernard S, Shubert is cooking up adventures for 'Queen,' all'to be released by Paramount. GOV'T SHORTS SOUEEZEOUT OTHERS On weeks when Govem'ihent shorts are being played in the the- atres, they are cutting appreciably into the'bookings of regular one and tWo-reelers, especially where ex- hibitors have long shows on display. There are cases also where news- rebels are being skipped,, at least on some performances. In order to squeeze in the OCD films. Deals on regulation shorta from the various majors vary consider- ably but frequently exhibs contract for one week but pick up extras that are turned out In other in- stances the commitment is for more or less, with many deals calling the entire output 'Where, exhibs sign up for an av- erage of one a week, but formerly have been picking up additional shorts that are. available, many of them how may not be able to do so because of the U;' S. btiefies which take precedence. Understood that some theatres are pairing for shorts they cdn't squeeze .into schedules, where in other cases adjustments are made with the distributors in. view of the general ^tuation and- the desire of all distribs that tbe OCD briefles be giy^n wide drculatioii.' Sale of shorts this season has been a ^ more difficult; problem. to begin wtth due to. the consent \decree which forbids - forcing of the one and two-reelers. with features. As a result distribs have sought bet- ter prices on the shoria which would make fewer contracta aver-' age up the same as for th^ prior year. First to the Filing Hollywood, Mairch 31. Producers Releasing Corp. beat the rest of the studios, in the race for war titles with the registry of 'Corregldor.'. Feature is already In the writing mill,' slatied for a production start at Talisman studios June> 1, as « special on the 1942-43 program. Seen If Distribs and Exhibs Reach Accord on CanceDajtiion Writer's Paradise Hollywood, March, 31. Columbia goes llt.!rary in a record-breaking way this week with a total of 53 writers on the payroll, tiie greatest number of scriveners ever' hire(^ by . the studio at one time.- Th'ey are working on* 43 stories. '■ No Double Daylite Tnne, at Least Not By Washington Edict Washington, March 31. Theatre-owners and broadcasters were~ relieved of one ,pressing worry Monday (30) when the War Pro- duction Board ruled there would be no move on .the part of the Federal Government to set clocks ahead an- other hour in the wartime daylight- saving effort. According to J. A. Krug. chief of the power branch of the. W.P'.B., only a fraction, of the substantial power savings gained by the 'wartime' edict of President -Rosevcilt would be gained by li.QOstlng the ante- an ad- ditional 6b mimites. ; - Amusement pj^prletors are warn- ed against any premature, rejoicing, however. Howls resulting from the enforced 'long evenings' — where nlght-llfers are" retarded in their usual pursuits by an extra hour of daylight—may be. redoubled If cer- tain states take action to Impose a wartlme-pius regulation. Although the Federal Government has relented, there Is. nothing-to pre- vent state-wide legislation inflicting another hour of daytime .ro'mpingi Knig pointed ojjt;'. ■. .','. Most' omlnoiis Aa ■ -the amus'eAierit' industry was. KTug;^; dark. reference to the fact that New York, might be among the stat^ desiring to iadd stlU another hour of Evening sunshine to their -.quota. PartoSeRNewBerfinPic Separately for Next Season Initial sneak preview on 'Holiday' Inn,' the Irving Berlin fllmuslcal with Bing Crosby and Fred .Astaire; has caused Paramount to plan sell- ing this one separately next summer as a begInnlng-6f-the-new-s«ason picture. ._ It's being sneaked again tonibrrow night (Thursday) in Hollywood, fol- lowing which Berlin returns to New York on other show plans. ^oi^s Ptoducers:^P4izzkd by^^^^ Of UeS. Defense (Gratis) Briefies Status ot. ahott»i..iusirt::.8eaHO»..lR. producing real head-scratehing in the industry, both on whether there are to be more briefles made should fewer features be lined up, and also as to the role the short Is to play in the trade's program to aid' the U. S. war effort Admittedly too early to tell if there will be any slash in num- ber of features in 1942-43, with obvi- ous increase in number of shorts, both shorts producers avd distribs are convinced the position of shorta in relation to U. S. war and docu- mentary films is a very real one. At present, entertainment shorta patently compete for playing time with for-free propaganda fllms^ While unable to compete too well just now, industry showmen are wondering whether it might not be an Intelligent move on the part of the film business to bolster future playdating of such documentary or semi-educational subjecta by incor- porating all or part of them in their regular lineup. Otherwise, 'there is bound to be duplication on certain topics with the U. S. war effort likely (lo. auflec. accordingly Jtte{:ausA-CeaUs<tlc. 'showmen fully realize no'matter how' faithfully exhibitors spot such 'must' war documentaries or propaganda films, they will defeat their, own purpose if audiences tire of them. Hast Make Inroads It is quite generally admitted that the continuance of the flood of docu- mentary and prot>aganda shorts will force most companies to curtail their next season's shorta program. At least that .is the way the situation now shapes up, with such strong Government-inspired shorta as the Walt Disney series and others show- ing war games or some phase of armament furnishing stiff competish for regular entertainment briefles. Whole issue .simmers down -to whether shorta producers should supply war-defense propaganda and Government educational films, re- quired for an all-out war effort, by including them on the lineup of en- tertainment pictures, or leave this as strictly a Government function. Shorts producers are inclined to be- (Continued on Dase 52) As 'Va.ritXyf went to . press lost night (Tues.j, distributor 'and e»- Wbitor flToupj were continuing tneet- inps which had been going on alt day,, but Outlook reported was that agreement on a United Molxon. Pic- ture Industry plan would probably be reached if both factions couil get together main}y on cancellations. A compromise in that connection is be- lieved a possibility, while also accord is not unlooked for with respect to conciliation. 'Certain phases of can- cellation rnay be ■ governed by con- ciliation, it was indicated vesterday '(Tues.). Exhibitor , subcommittee of tJiUPl is expected^ to huddle again todav (Wed.), while possible is another ses- sion of the cornmittee of the whol* tomorroro (Thurs.), 'when complete agreement on.a sales plan may be announce^ Refusing to yield entirely to the warning by William F. Rodgers, chairman of the committee of the whole of the United Motion Picture Industry, that ,the distributors under the consent decree, have gone as far as they can on a new sales plan, the UMPI exhibitor subcommittee coim- fered with a proposal for wider can- cellation. Dlssatisfled with the original te-,' jectlou provisions, the subcomihlttee, composed of nine exhibitor leaders,' held a meeting Friday (27), when members agreed to selling in blocks- of-12, but passed a resolution de- manding that elimilh'atfon Jbe spread over the entire, group. ... This proposal, subsequently pre- sented . to the distributors, deemed that a fair oancellatton woql^ b« 20% of the entire group sold, re^ gardless of the rental. average paid by the exhibitor during the 1040-41 season. In view of. the fact that * 20% rejection -would- divide a group-of-12 into 22-6 . pictures,. ttaa subcommittee, was willing to accept the option to Cancel two out of tli« 12^ v^ivlng distribs^ an edge -on ths other two. Thus, the caiieellatioa would actually amount .to 16%.. .For accounta paying over $100 in averag* rental, exhibs might ^ be .willing to permit rejection of only one but ol 12 pictures. " Under tha original UMPI salei plan the account could not cancel - (Continued on page 27)' MINN.STUINIX ONBLOCKS^F-12 Minneapolis, March 31. Despite W. F.' Rodgera'. recent, at- tack on the Minnesota anti-consent 4ecrse-law, the fight being waged in the courta against its eonotltutlon- ali^ .and the fact that It has 'cost th« stag's independent exhlblton a pretty penny by^delaying the release of4941>4iH>ro*scf-^»-4hemr-Ncrtb— west Allied continues to lintf up firmly behind the measure .which compels distributors to sell their en- tire season's product, subject to a 20% cancellation. ' . The organization has gone on. ree- ' ord to the effect that the law's sales "provisKtriTii'5-»M'iuchimi5tejtref6ralsl»" than the proposed blocks-o(-12 plAn. It consequence, it has turned tbumbi down on the latter. YEH, WHICH'LL IT BE? Cant Extend Dates and Use. Up Product Fast at Same Time Minneapolis, March 31. With film exchanges here torn be- tween two conflicting desires relative to their.product, the territory's ex- hibitors' are wondering what's the answer. On the one hand, the exchanges want the utmost extended playing time. On the other, they squawk if their pictures 'pile up' on the shelves. 'Without exception, dlstrlbutora clamor to get their pictures booked and played, and they fret when there's delay, the trade decUres.. 'Yet they become antagonistic when.' they don't get extended playing time' for mnnv nf tYiAir r*T#oQM