Variety (Feb 1943)

Wfdoesday, Febniary 8, 1948 Newsreels Want Bigger WPB Credits On Fib in Army Camp Theatres Moc'iii.j! Of U. S. Army theatre* t)00ki'i> with 'film distribution execs in Ni''<'' Viirk to discuss raw stocl< credits i>ii ncwsreels, sciieduled yes(('ril:iy iTiics.), has been posl- ponod iixlil laler .this wcel<. Con- fal) im roiiiiirc prints \va.s held last riiiilond Ihut greater foot- Sjn- i'l'i'dils .viiiiuid be alluwod on lu'ttsii'i'ls because prints are worth- iifU'r 21 day--, when returned fiiirn till- camp circuit, and values cut i'> vaiiishin)! point even when rciiirnod after 11 days. TIiohkIi allowed 50';- credit on stock used in .servicing Army thea- tres, return on ncwisrecl footage diie.-n'i wiuk out that way Ijecause nuiMiii:iin r-cturn under the War Prudiiclioii Board .«etup is based on 84 pri^ils. ' Newsrcds furnish front IGO to 200 priiils. thus KOttins a raw stork credit of unly 42 prints or approxi- ni.iii'l.v 18'.. (°>iiisiini|>liqu of raw stock for nc.\.-reels during the past year has been increased i>onie 25";. despite tlie vcrcral conservation mea.sin-es, In line Willi the OfTice of War In- f><riii.il:i<ii riejire fi>r siieedy and nMxinuiiu disti'ibutlun. Since tolal .st.ick Nupply is limited to » specilic liKuro dLstribs may be- f'M'o loiiK lind that cxccs^- foqtage VII Ciin.-unuM will likely result in cui.> in features and/or shorts pro- duciiiiii and distribution allocations. Anotlier meelinK with War Pro- duct iun Board reps in Washington Is scheduled Feb. 28 when general raw Dtdck and Army print problems will attain be discussed. N.Y. Theatres Ease Out of Tight Spot • Theatre operators in Greater New York last week won their flght •Raiiist inclusion in general group iiiK of 'places of assembly' for pur- pose of more stringent control by New Yoik city fire, police and build- ing departments. Reference to the- atres was eliminated last Friday (291 from the amendment to the code of the City of New York, in- troduced in the city council, under which niteries and other places of anuiscment are to be grouped. It was conceded that theatres have been adhering strictly to regulations uiidor which they are governed. Councilmen have expressed strong convictions regarding tighter Are and iMlice control of cafes and measin'e, if passed, may force some siKits to shutter if unable to com- ply with the new regulations. Several councilmcn related from persnnal ex|>crience cases of serious overcrowding in night clubs. Martha Raye's African Trek Wins Her Pic Deal Hollywood. Feb. 2. Martha Rave, currently touring army camps in North Africa, was signed thruuuh her agent to a pla.ver coiMract with 2Uth-Fox. New pact was laritoly the result of aclre.<s" overseas trip. She re- ports at the Westwood studio upon her return to the U.S. Theatre Driving Edict Relaxed Persons who are allowed to use their automobiles for business or occupational purpo.se.s under the pleasiM'e-driving ban applicable to the eastern seaboard, may slop at a theatre to see a show if. in so do- ing, ihey do not use up additional milcnfte in getting to the theatre. While It is not generally known this may be done without inctn'riiig liability under ilie plea.suie-molor- ing uka.se, the local New York of- fice of the OITice of Price Adminis- tration informs 'Variety' that as long as extra driving isn't necessary.' it's okay. It is also permi.isible. according to the N. Y. OPA, for any salesnrian or other person - entitled to use a car for business reasons, to stop at a restaurant tor dinner on the way hon\e or at a bar along the way, provided no diversion of the route is taken. In other .words. It is ex- plained, if a man went out of his way to drive to a theatre, before going home, rather than stop at one along the most direct route carry- ing him to wherever he lived, then he'd be In violation of the regula- tions. At the OPA It wM also added that If a car operator is picked up by an OPA investigator, he must be prepared to prove to his local board that he stopped at a theatre, restaurant or bar for relaxation, or food without having gone out of his way to do so. The burden of proof re.sts with the automobilist, it was further explained. AI.<o. the busine.ss man. doctor or other occupational driver who Ls permitted to u.se a car. cannot take it out of the garage on hplidays or other days to go to a nearby the- atre imle.ss it is in the course of a drive for business purposes. RECORD FARM COIN FINDING WAY TO B.O. Klinncapolis, Feb, 2. Reasons for the greatly Improved theatre grdsses in most situations in the territory are found in the Min- neapi>li.< Federal Reserve bank's rmicni irview which shows that Nui iliwest ea.sh farm income reached a npv.- all-time high In 1942. ninrc than l.ti billiun dollars. The vast e.xpuiision of purchasing power thin created Is regarded in show Circles as a precursor of even bet- ter thcalncal times ahead. The |)re- vioiK liii-i, was established in 1919. While farm price advances (lur- in-.; the early years of the first Wiiiiu War were greater than Ihey've been so far in the present eonHict, farm production currently . has niitMripped that of the previ- ous period to account for the lai-ger mcioase in cash income, it's pointed out. The report also reveals that bank jf,!)""''" district Increased JT";. durini! the six months ending Dec. 31, bringing the . total to »l.R73,0O0.0OO. or nearly double the 1929 mark, and reflectint the pros Perity. PAR WANTS TO BOOK TOLLS' A U 'GWTW' If the theatres are available. Par- amount will try to get the Asioi" and Capitol. N. Y.. from Loew's'for si- multaneous showioes of 'For Whom the Bell Tolls.' under plans now be- ing discussed. Thought is to pattern policy of 'Gone With Wind." which opened day-and-date at .^sior and Cap, playing former on twice-daily l)a..< at $2.20 lop, the Cap on continuovis policy at a matinee jca'.e of T.ic and evening prices of $1.10. Bob Gillhanv, now on the Coa,-t. has organized a spec.al p;ii;ii<-,z.'iiB unit to be set up »: the Par honic- ollice for 'Toll.s.' Unit wiM i:'.. W..ic .Mian Mell/.er. N. V.. pa. ai.d •.••o men from the Par s'.ii'lin. Mfi v :•. HtMiser and Idwal .Ium's. v hn v. .;i come ea.>l with Ciillhair. in auoiit a week. THUS CHARGE EXHIBS Minneppolis. Fe'o. Branch manaccrs here rhargr In- I. stances of Twin I'lty independent ! exhIbllorH artually xtapp'.ng selling of Uckets unnecessarily tor perrenl- •ce pictures In order to hold down i the gross, ! They claim ccrliiin llicaire owners are guilty of UNiiiy vari- ous devices and methods fi discour- age patronage. Exhibitors in (lucs- tion don't want the percentage pic- tures to make too good a b»\oiTice showing because they perpetually fear that it would form the lja^is t«r flat rental charges and rc.-iil> in a boo.st of the latter. In the instances that h.ive cume to the exchanges' attention, exhibi- tors closed their b.o.'s early in the evening as soon a.<i their houses were filled and notified prospective pa- trons that no more tickets wuuld be sold. Moreover, such perceniage pic- tures have been yanked despite the fact' thai they have been playing lo big business or they tiave not been given the full playing time war- ranted by the patrona.ge. it's claimed. . Some exhibitors oppo.sed to per- centage make no bones of the fact tliat they 'don't go out of their way' to sell percentage pictures and that they even hope that the attractions in question will not d3 too big a business. What action, if any, the exchanges will take lo halt what they assert is improper conduct branch man- agers are not prepared to say. That there will be reprisals of some sort is intimated, however. More Film Workers Added to Piress And Radio As 'Essential' Occupations Ayerage Studio Pay I Rose $10 in Past Year Sacramento. Fe'o. 2. Avcr;;;;e '.scckly paycheck for De- cember amtjiix waye earners in the picture Inuu.stry was $50.92. aci-ord- 'n\H to the Cilifornia Labor Sialics Bulletin. Pay rcpre.seiTls a consid- erable jiiiii|) over the average 1 wa.ac for December. 1941. which I anuHinleil to S49.0.S. Meantime the j retail co.-! of food wei'.t up taster j lli;,i) l!ie I i v ii! income. I Hour- of -.Mirk per week in De- j ceiiibor. 1!)42. averaged 4U.3 at an I hourly ra;e of $1,485. as against 37).^ I hours a::u $1.:183 for the same monlli in 1941. UAites West for Bd. Meet Grad Seais and ,Artluir W. Keliy left for the (.'oasl SaUuday i.lO' to join Ed Raftery for the L'n led Arl- ists board of directors i:ice!iiia stuca- uled to be held th;.» week David O. SeUnick. U.\ o.-:.er- member who was In Nov York oh the Eddie R;ckenl)ack-r iloiy de»,. also returned lo I.os Anjele, foi me meeting. Goldman s Keith PhiHy ftiy As He GoestoBatVs.WB Philadelphia. Feb. 1. William Goldman, prominent Philly indie exhib, last week pur'- chased Keith's Theatre Bldg., holis- ing one of the Stanley-Warner de- luxers. for $250,000 in cash. Goldman, who filed a $1,330,000 anti-trust suit against Warners and the major di.stribs last month, an- nounced that he would take pos- session of the property April 1, when Warners' lease expires. Purchase of the Keith's—once Philly's leading vaudeville house— gives him three theatres in midtofrn. Goldman already operates the News, which he recently purchased, and Erianger. The three theatres have a total seating capacity of upward of S.OOO. With the three houses under his aegi.s. Goldman is expected to go to the mat against Warners in an ef- fort to get first-run product. Tlie sun filed Dec. 8 was instituted in behalf of the Erianger (which Gold- man has on lea.sei on the grounds that the defendants had entered in tContinued on page 43i , selznic^k'sIplans Corpa of .Aides en Payroll. Prepar- Inii Film for '4.1 Release ." 7" . . . nrc.-.i(iei;t Dav.d O. Scl/.riick is planning to , ■ produce one of the three'stl^rie.^ he ^ i,',Vive. Ca tiov.' !ias uiidci- coiisidcrati'iii foi ic-' .-,.,,1 Mease betore 1U44. PiiKiia ei lias '." |,, i- ,,f Bi; ' beoli nMiIliue two yarn.--, in addition > . :o ■-Me^n Kainpl' »i;d tlie K<ldic. ji : R:ckcnbacker siory fur u hich he | ,„„(,,,. . (..,. ',.;■.;, iv.as prepared to pay $.100.0(10 plus.;Xi)v. \2. 1949 Hi:d .Bl'lioiigh that v.ent to 20th-Fo.\. I B.oll .• ■■' v\ - .- j .SeUnick has not yet dropped •Kainpf from list of po.s'Nibilitics, .M'!i'>..'i;i olii'es of :i-.e ait.iiitt ! lho;i;jh obvjou^ .scripting problems i:, s .'\';oiii"'.v. llo.'arU C. Corcuran ^ are u.nderstood holding ui> a de- •.•o;ild irnke in co.i inciit with re- (cisio:i He has meantime been .-neci !o i:,e e.xic:.sioii, it has been • keep.rig an directors. tecMiiicians ii,c prac'-i-c of federal ji.id.;es to ex- land other production |>er.siiiinel on tc. o ci i.; 'Ci n-:-lor various rea.-op.-. ■ Ihe payroll and retains hi.> taleni j s-.icli as reducing .leolcnccs in ca.^e. i contract list, apart from loanout^ ar-|-.cl-.ei e co:,\ ic'cd defendant*' to- ! •.BiigciTieni. with 20th. Paramount operate v. i:h i-^e (lovcrnmenl ! and other studios. ' The ih\e.-;i<.T-.oii by Wage Rules Eased For Pic Industry The motion picture industry has received more consideration and attentioiV ^from Ihe OfTice of Eco- nomic Stabilization under Ihe price- ccilihg directive of last October than has any other industry of rela- tive importance. Some hope for relief is seen in the attempt of congressmen to attach a repeal rider on wage ceilings to the administration measure calling for a $210,000,000,000 national debt limit However, it is stressed that al- though official Washington has lent a very attentivi! ear and extended itself in cooperating as far as pos- sible under the complex wage sta- bilization regulations, it is impera- tive that final rulings be known at an early date because of the rapid- ity at which many in pictures will reach the maximum gro.ss earnings permitted. Meantime, however, it is added that the picture industry faces • problem In that there may be con- siderable delay before the whole problem is ironed out and thai pend- ing modifications, salary of highly- paid employees w-ill have to be slopped when the gross maximum of $67,200 or more, taking Into ac- count allowable deductions for agents, etc., has been reached. The fight is al.so on, led largely by strong union forces, lo get the Office of Economic Stabilization to relax on Its ruling that no em- ployee, regardless of the salary bracket, may be paid more than 15% greater than earned on Jan. 1, 1941. Several weeks ago one of the com- pany presidents predicted this would occur and Is said to have indicated within that he would be agreeable to such a relaxation because of vast- ly increased living costs, income taxes, bund-buyliig, etc. Washington. Feb. 2. Revision of the list of essential occupalioiis. to include a number of addlilonal Communication .services, has just been announced by Ihe War Manpower Commis>ion as a guide for local draft boards in granting Icfermcnts. Original list of es.'-entlal comnuini- cntions activities, listed last Oct. I, wa< restricted to i;c\vspaiH'rs, raoio l>roadcastlni>. telephone, telearap;-. ncwsreels and tcle\ ision .service-' and Ihe repair of facilitic>. Manpower cominissioir> broadened setup, however, now takes in more technicians in lilm production lin- cUidiiiu technical ami vocational Iraiiiiiii; tiln-s for the Army. .\:\vy aiid war production iodir-'irlc^ i; neW'.p.'iprrs niid news s.vndica'cs; maita/iiu-.i ol Kciieral circiilalion which are devoted |)rlniai:ily to \\\e dlsv'emiiiatloii of public infurmation; radio l)ro,-idraMri;"i. raoio comir.uni- catinr,^ iradiotelcphni.e and rani i- leli-ivaphi: inolcctive sianal systems uliich supplement lire and police proU'ctiun lo miliiary. j>ublic and iM'lvaie indii'-'irial and coinnverclal eslablishineiii>: .'Submarine cable, telegrai>h. telephone and televi>ioii. Ten new critical octiipali-ji;- ir, do- mestic and International l>roadc.'ist- . ing and television are added to the list appended to the url-;iiial occupa- tional bulletin, amons them station manager, prograni director, news editor, managing editor (news), special event:- or public afTair.s. traf'- lic manager, radio broadcast tech- nician (all around^, and mainte* nance mechanic. National Association of Broadcast- ers has already put itself on record in favor of amended lisl. pnintln;* out 'e.-'.seiitial needs of the industry are now well cared for.' Whereas e.'.scntial ucciipa;ions listed for the cominunicali(in> .serv- ices in the original bulletin totaled 92 for all activities covered, the amended list includes approximately 120 ■ e.sscniial occupations. Pointed out that while occupational bulletins serve as a guide for selective service local boards, final decision in each individual case must be made by the local board. Mere listing of an occu- pation as es.sential to the support of the War effort m war production' will not neces.sarily mean that every registrant so engaged will be given a deferment. 'Necessar.v men" in es- .^enllal activitie.«, nonetheless, have been recommended by WMC for 2-A or 2-B classifications. SEE BROWNE AND BIOFF ANGLE IN COURT MOVE AskMoreRawFdm For Foreign Marts John W. Hicks. Jr.. head of Para- mount's foreign .sales slalT. and Jo.seph McCoiiville, Columbia's for- eign manager, went lo Wushinglon yc-sterday (Tuc.».dav > to Imildle on raw rihn allotments fur roreigii ac- count. Both are representing all majors in the foreign field in plea for Mjn.e reall:;iiirieiil of raw stock moie In line with rcquiren-l^nts of foreign busliip"-. Understood lhat one of Federal ijiWe John C. Knox ex- tended the ter;r. of court 'for all pu'rpo.se>' it v.av revealed ye-lcrday iTiiodiivi a; (i thi.- may mean t rhere i- a i-.' ai.-'e i!,a', Ihe prison ancle- to be .stre.-.sed will be that the tcriiis of tJ'Vi. ne F.. Bro'.vne, former I reqiic-ted covera'.!e of the foreign I.'M'SF. and William [ market. cspcciaMy llic on-the-fence . tci: ;,i:t 'r.; 1 I market, especially ilic on-the-fence - • nation.-, will not be po.-.>iblc iii;!e'< ch .iiioiicr ■ .iiine leev.-ay on r:iw film stock is I :nad«' m t!:c iK'ar f.i'.ure >v. lie. ...er-. ing an \ fo."- extoiiiiig al- e ir.:.jor nini a>:!!-.(i.'iiif',. which rc-.iilcd ir. the liliiiij 01 'nackeleerinx ac;' ir:d:et- ('Xte:,ded to t'.-.e '-ast of to Nov. 12. FeJuial :neriis iiiiaiiist Bro'.viie ai.d BlolT. ii iiii'lcr way. Both are ii: l!:u .V. Y. Federal lloii.-e of Detection, .'in'.tiii aflcr their convicl!oi:.s. uiiho igii the u>iial slay In tnc dcle.'.:;on hou.te is about t'.vo week.-. I' I-- known ihal Bru'.cne ai:d Bloff, .-iMce the:r convitlions have been ■>•• ;:il.ig to ul.icii..s inalten with th* Feu'.-ral aiiiliorllies and liave at* li'ii'ieo ii.a: y conleienco i'.eid at Ih* Kc'.teiul codi liiuuse.