Variety (Apr 1943)

WedariMlay. April 14, 194S pictmuss 11 llieir (hm Union Hollywood, April IS. Bttti* for control of axtras In tii» motion picture Industry was inteiul- lled In the past week by rumora of the Impending formation of a new union, to be organized by atmOa- phere players with a promlae of ap- proximately $150,000 In assets as ito per capita share of the Screen Ac- tor* Guild treasury. Some extra leaders are Inclined to favor a complete break with SAG, With a charter direct from the American Federation of Labor or affiliation with some other Interna- tional. Others, more conservative, are willing to accept a sister charter with the Actors, provided the extras ara given complete control of their own affairs. Meanwhile the SAG, while determined to separate the two groups. Is opposed to the issu' anc« of a charter to the extras by any liiternalional other than the AAAA. The Guild points out that it must take that position in order to ba sure ot protecting its own posi- tion in the actor field. Kenneth Tliomson. SAG executive secretary and v.p. ot AAAA. is now In New York conferrintc with other officials of the parent organization. • TtaaaiMn to Outline Plan Kenneth Thomson, SAG executive' secretary, appears before the Asso- oiated Actors and Artistes ot Amer- ica Inlernational board Friday (16) to outline a plan for SAO to grant a local charier to' the Hollywood ex- tras. Although he explains that actual details ot the proposed setup .would have to be worked out later, Thomson Indicates the atmo.<!phere player urKaiiization would be given Its own treasury. Including its share or thtt SAG funds, and would have practically complete self-govern- ment, subject nnly to SAG constitu- tional limitations. The proposed lo- oal might or might not have a voice In the SAG council, but wOuld not ba represented on the AAAA Inter- national board. - ThonLHon revivals that a petition, signi>d by several hundred extras, has been Bubmiltnd to the NLRB asking (or an election to give an at- mosphere plnycrs' committee bar- gaiiiing authority, but he says he is unable to explain Ju.it how such an election would work or what It would Involve, as there has appar- ently never l>een such a situation before. However, he minimizes- the possibility ot the extras affiliating with any other AFL union or ob- taining a Federal charter, because £AG. through the AAAA. has clear Jurisdiction o( thv AFL in the per- former Held. If and when the extras are given their own local charter and inde- pendent treasury, - it will cut the SAG Income and operation expense about SO'"-. Thomson believes. He plans to rcturrx to the Coast Imme- diately after the AAAA meeting on Friday. Drhrt-bs Set to Go Canton. 0.. April IS. Eastern Ohio' drive-in theatres ara preparing for reopening this month. Among the first to get under way la the Lima Drive-In at Lima, which opened April 9. The Boyer Auto Theatre, south of here, near Strasburg, is scheduled to bow April 24. and the Starlight Drive-In, near Akron, will start reg- ular schediile the same date. H'WOODA(mS FAVOR NEW CALIFORNIA BILL Sacramento. April 13. Bill to recla.-tsiry motion picture and radio agents and remove them from the le^al status of employment aaencieH hds been recommended for passaite by the Senate Labor Com- mittee. Measure would require agents to pay license fees o( $50 and past $1,000 bonds with the State Labor Commis- aioner. to protect interests of their Clients. Charles Lyon, Aiiiiembly Speaker, said the bill had been ap- proved by theatrical and musical ' booking groups as well as those han- dling ninis and radio. TITLE CHANGES Hollywood. April 13. The Itifad Brood of Japan' is re- lease tat on 'Behind the Rising Sun' at RKO. 'Ghosts in the Niijhf at Mono- gram became 'Gho.tis on the Loose.' 'Birthday' in -now handle on 'An- gela U 22' at Universal. 'Escape to Danger' at RKO. orig- inally The Fallen Sparrow,' shifted back to its flr.sl title. 'Hit the Ice' Is relea.ie tag on 'Pardon My Ski' at Universal. 'Hit the Ice' is release handle on Pardon My Ski.' which started as vh, Doctor.' at Universal. 'American WorkejM Licked RflTm- niel became 'Blueprint for a Miracle' at Metro. UNW STEPS IN TO STOP A 2D FILM HOUSE IN Hi Inverness. N. S:. April 13. United Mine Workers \s taking up the cudgels against the establishment ot a second theatre here, and the re- fusal' of the provir^cial censors board to grant a license renewal to the Arst local house, the Palace. The U.M.W. of Inverness has objected to the new theatre un the ground there is no room for it in this town, and that the Palace fliled all needs for Aim entertainment. The provincial government, backing up tl-.e censors, claims there is need wf the second house. and that the license for the Palace was refused becau.-ie the thea- tre does not conform to the board's safety standards. Also, that the li- cense will not be available until stip- ulated changes are made at the the- atre. This Is the Arst time any union has gone to bat. for a picture theatre in Canada. Inverness is . wholly a soft coal mining centre, and a complication is that the Nova Sco- tian government has taken over op- eration ot the local mines becausa of the company, which had been in charge, going Into bankruptcy. The board and government claim the new theatre complies with all the de- mands for safety prescribed by the board. Without a license a theatre could operate, but the lioBrd can stop the picture supply by simply notify- ing distributors such a theatre is un- der the ban. Negro Theatre Mgr. Held On ^,000 Theft Ciiarge Salisbury. Md., April 13. Marion Thomas Hyland, 40-year- old Nexro theatre managei-, waii ordered held (or grand-jury action here Friday t9) on a charge of steal- ing $3,000 from the night depository ot. the County Tru.>it Co. ot Mary- land. Afler Hyland (ailed to post $S.000 bail. 'V. S. Commissioner Lewis C. Merrynian ordered him held in the Dorchester County jail in Cambridge. E. A. Soucy, agent in charge of the Balliinore FBI ofAce. said Hy- land admitted taking the money March 27 afler It had been deposited by Thurman H. Dennis, clerk for the Wicomico County liquor dispen- iiary. Soury said that the money, placed in a l>ai<. failed to drop down the chute into the bank vault, and that Hyland admitted taking the bag when he went to the bank to make a deposit for llie thealre. Soucy said about $2,400 of the mi.ssing $3,000 had been recovered. -Asked 14 Days' Clearance; Recovers One Day of It Efforts of an afAliated theatre cir- cuit and Paramount. RKO. Loew's. Znih-Fox and Warner Bros, to retain rlearanre over an independent thea- tre, which succeeded in havina it abolished enlirel.v un going to arbi- tration, has rc-ulted in getlina back only one day of the 14-day protection formerly iii elTecl. Ca.^e. decided by the Appeal Board of the American Arbitration A.".-", during the past week, involve.-- the Netco circiiil conlrollod by Para- mount, which went to ijrciit leiigtin in making a .<iirvcy on the fllinaOiiig liabit.i of rcsi(lont..i of Beacon and iVewburgh. N. Y. Outchehs AmiKeinent Opprator.<. hic. operalinii the Beacon ai Bi-acon. N. Y.. obtained an award from iho; local N. Y. arbi.lraior wipiiis out tlitf 14-day clearance enjoyed <iver llii.'' Iioiyp by Nelro'., Bit/, and Broadway theatres at Newburgh. acrojis the Hud.<on river. Duictie.^s Anui.ieinenl had cluin-ieri. a-ide from the clear- ance i.-sue. thai the Ritx and Bi-oad- way. hou.--o.< exhlbiied man.y fealiiro pictures much later than they be- came Bvailabli; to Iho-r theatre.<. and .so delayed the availabil.ly of the .■<ame picliiro.- I'l the Beacon, de.-troy- ing mo-t of their valui*. The .^nr^ ey made and submitted by Neico indicaied tl-ai a larije nu:nl>«!r of Beaon resiileii!< went to Ne-.v- burgli to »liop \ii to work and that a Blanks' IZSC Manorial Hospital to Son Inspires Wide EdHorial Praise Des Moines, April 13. Tha gift ot a $125,000 children'* hospital to tha people ot Iowa <ln memory ot their son. Raymond, has been announced by Mr. and Mrs. A. H. Blank. Blank is president of Tri- States and Central State* theatres. The hospital will be known a» the Raymond Blank Memorial hospital and will be erected adjacent to the Iowa Methodist hospital in Dej Moines. . In making the . announcement Blank said that because of inade- quate hospital accommodations for children, and an increasiiig demand for them due to the wai-. he hopes the war production board will grant priorities to permit construction as soon as plans are completed. Blanic added that he and Mrs. Blank desired that the hospital 'shall be more than Just an Institu- tion, it' will Include an auditorium which will be equipped for showing Aims and which also niay be used for a playroom or a classroom. We want more than Just treatment of children's physical ills.* Blank said 'We want to treat their mental atti- tudes too. We want to enable them to keep up with their school work and to develop hobbies so that when they leave the hospital they will have a good lite to look forward to.' When he. became, too old to re- main a Scout, Rayniond Blank con- tinued to be active In the movement and was a member of tha board ot directors of the Tall Corn council. Like his father, he had also been active in Red Cross and infantile paralysis campaigns and recently had taken complete charge ot Red Cross week in all theatres In Iowa and Nebraska. At the time of h°.; death he was secretary ot the Tri- Statea and Central States theatro.i and publicity director of the. latter. Lead Editorial The announcement of the gift by Mr. and Mrs. .Blank inspired the lead editorial in the April 9 issue of the Dea Moines Tribune. Those who have ':nown the Blank family Intimately.*'the editorial .states, 'and those who have frequently been charged with conducting our drivc- ot the welfare and relief type, will not be surprised by. this ' generous act at all. ■'All the members of the family have consistently 'got behind' things that needed doing, whether it l>e Ihe raising ot funds for ambulances in .«ome distant war zone or for lh-> help of refugees driven ' from their home country or for merely tlie putting of some less fortunate fam- ily 'on Its feet' here at home. Thi-y have consistently got behind such enterprises.' the editoiial rnn- tinued. 'not just wilh money, but with service on the board.s of wel- fare agencies, with time and effort during campaigns, and so on. These were unostentatious things that *-e may even embarrass the Blar.ks by putting in print. But they are >o. and they deserve to be said. Raymond Blank died March T of a heart attack at his parents' home here. He was 33. He had been ac- tive in numerous organizations deal- ing with children, and wilh the Boy Scouts especially. At 13 he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout, the young- e.-it boy in America who had ever attained that honor, and was elected by Iowa and Nebraska scouts to represent them at a world confer- ence In Wimbledon. Eiiitland. after uhich. wilh an international group of Boy Scouts, he toured the con- tinent. Balaban'x C'ontrlbulian Barney and .Tolin Balaban con- tributed half Of the $2.0IHI-Raymond Blank niemorial fund for the con- struction of a headquarters buildie.i; on the Boy Scouts' Camp Mitgwa .site near De.s. Moines. Ci. Ral|>h j Branton. general miinaser oi the Tn- ' States "Theatres, and hi.s wifo have . contributed the other half. j It has also been aimoimced that { Myron Blank brother uf '.he lata j Raymond Blank, has been apihiiniH < chairman of a building c'liiiMii'te); for the propo.scd Ray.oi.M),! Bljnk Memorial Ho.spilal. AAA Appeals M UmiUe to Give To Texas yiib, M Finds Beef TteaT COAST INNES JDDi CONSENT REVISIONISTS Los Angeles, Aprll 13. Following the lead of eastern ex- hibitors, the PaciAc Coast Conference of Independent Theatre Owners is readying a Aght for revision or modi- Acation of the Consent Decree when it comes up for renewal Nov.' 20. Conference is making a two-year survey of the effects of the decree t-n independent theatre operation in this area. Report will be submitted to the Department Of Justice' in the hope of bringing about more protec- tion for the indies in competition with major circuits. Mpls. Bars and Cocktail Lonnges Worry Exhibs Minneapolis. April 13. Local theatre interests are con- sidering ways and means to combat the InAiix ot theatre bar and lounge and night club opposition. A half- do>!en such elaborate theatre bars and lounges and new night Clubs have sprung up in the past month and more are en route. What Is particularly objectionable to the theatres is the manner In which the establishments advertise their entertainment in the neW's-. papers as 'vaudeville' and 'revues' and 'continuous entertainment,' fol- lowing the'regular theatre pattern. The law prohibits the sale of liquor in theatres, but theatre inter- ests here declare that the clubs, bars, lounges, etc.. now are practically operated as theati-es and enjoy an unfair advantage over the regular .showhou.ses. Moreover, the clubs and lounges are not required to em- ploy stagehands . or abide by the most stringent of Ihe'Are protection requirements. Wilh the lounges'and clubs already starting to lure au^ay patronage from even the movie houses, it's a problem and .unfair, exhibitor leaders say. 76 Parites Expect Wage Increases This Weekend A total ot 70 empi'oyeeis in the Paramount homeoffice beneAting from increases under the 'Little Steel' formula of the Wage Stabiliza- tion Act. are expected to receive the extra coin in paychecks pas.s'ed out this Friday'fl6>. Decision of the War Labor Board, permitting Par to give iticreaves equivalent to 15"-, more than earned on Jan. 1, 1041, is the Arst known to be rendered in this connection in the picture indus- try. It covers only employees- earn- ing up to $100 weekly. The number of 70 employees in- volved in the Par h.o. is low since Ihe Company had previously handed out various raises and also taken into account was the fact that >n- called 'increased-«ost-of-living' lio- nuses has been paid for more than two years.. These two factors brought the vast majority of Par white-collarite.s in the' $100 division up to 15" more than they were gut- ting on Jan. 1. 1941. The bonu.^e.s. recently shifted from a quarterly to a weekly basis, was le.ss at the beginning but for most of Ihe past year has amounted to 10'"- on the Hr.sl $100 ot salary and y: on the second $100. In view of the WLB dcci>:ion. it will be con- tinued only for those not receiving WLB iricVca.scj except that mcniltcrs of the Screen Publicists Guild and other unions as well as a handful of employees who arc under contract to the company are excluded. not incon.<iderable portion of them atiiMided the Newljuigh theaties. !>iil nonethcle.ss. the A|>|>l*al Boar-l re- iii>ed to go further than all.i'.v tlic one-day clearance graiite>l. It ruled that 'the record dfies no' discl'ise such an absence of conioeiilion as ■Aoiild Justify the total eliin'ejiMMi of clearance.' STORY BUYS Hollywood. April 13. Warncr.i last week bought Aim right.: to 'Hand Book for .fealou.s.v'.' uMpubli.^hed novel by Sinclair Lewis. It's to be published in Cosmopolitan. Hol)ert Arthur .<.olrl his war tale. 'The Third C;iory.' to Universal. John Wayne bouijht life siory of ,\laiiir Many I.. Torgerson. Marine paratrooper, a." po.--il)lc starrer for hiiii.si'lf. Arlhiu-.Kobcr working wilh Micky ljii> on 'Pari--. Tenn'. wartime story. rri>ni Uris' oi iginal. PRC purclia.scd 'Meet the Kxecu- lioner.' .>h<ir; story by Fiederick C. Davis. Warners acquired Aim rights to the ol,i Ibsen drama. 'Pillars of Society.' Republir bought 'Berlin Papers Please C'opy,' mag article by Peter P-jige. ' In the case ot a New Braunfcis, Texas, exhibitor who demanded equal fooling with opposition the. aires in bidding for pictures on Arst run. the Appeals Board of tha American Arbitration Assn.. hai found itself unable to grant .relief because there is oo provision in tha consent decree qualifying the pro- testing exhibitor to proceed with his claim. Signincantly enough, how- ever. the board noted -the griev.tnc* of such an operator is re.il and obvi- ous.' Since there is no provi.sinn in the decree, to cover the case in point, the Appeals Board added that neither it nor an arbitrator would !>• JustiAed.in trying to decide the issue. Complaint was brought by Emit Heinen and Louis For.shage. co- partners in the operation of the Cap. itol. New Braunfels. In addition to the Ave distributors under the decrc* RKO. Metro. WB.20th-FuN and Para- mount, the Griffith Con.solidated Theatres. Inc.. operating the Braun- lex. and G. A. Cole, who has th* Cole at New Braimfcl.s. were named in the demand for arbitration as ex- hibitors whose' busine.ss or property might be affected by an award, but neither intervened. Operators of the Capitol com- plained tliat the (!is|ribs offered their pictures Arst-run to the Braunlex and Cole but refused to do so to th« Cap. Reviews Case The Appeals Board, in reviewing the case, stated: 'Each defendant introduced evi- dence, which was not denied by com- plainants, that it ha ■ never refused to license its pictures tn complain- ants but had offered, subject tu-ilt contracts with the Brauntcx and Cole thcatre.s. to liccn.se its pictures to complainants on a second or aub- .sequent-run basis and also to liccns« complainants Arst-run any picture* which the Braunlex and Cole the- atres did not wish to exhibit. Th« record is clean lhat each one of tlta defendant.s, is ^lill ready and willing . to license its pictures to complain- ants on Ihe same basi.s. Complain- ants, however, have .so far Ijeen un- willing to iieKotiaie wilh any de- fendant for pictures other than on a Arst-run basis.- 'When they icomplainanls> took over the operation of their theatre on Sept. 24. 1942. Arst-run on the piic- ture.s ot ail Ave defendants wat licen.sed to the Braunlex and tha only run which defendants could offer complainants was a second or sub.scquent run.- This they offered and the offers are apparently still open. The refusal of complainants to negotiate for. or to con.sider th« terms of. a subsequent run neces- sarily relieved the defendants from any duty to fi>rmulate speciAc terms.' Speaking of an 'omission from paragraph B-.'S of Section X of th« decree, which appears to us to woric a manifest inju.slice on an exhibitor who Ands himself in a situation similar to that of the complaints in this case.' the Appeals Board goes into various technicalities regarding a requested run prior to the decic* and adds: 'Such an operator, even if he is th« owner of llii- llie-it-e Ilk" theye ooin- piainaiiis. may be in a wor.sc po.^ition than if the reqiieslvd riin had never been enjoyed at his theatre by any. one. Wliere tiie requesicd run has tieeii diverted from a complainant's, theatre to a circuit tlie.ilie. and tha other facts provided in Parawraph B of Section X arc found to c.<('..-i. ihei's is no appaieiil rea.son for this differ- entiation.' RKO Quits Burley Pic Dne to Script Snags Hollywood. April 13. RKO abandoned preparations on 'Queens of Burlesque' as a re.siilt ot script problcm.s; Understood Frank Melford. associate producer, and Ray iMcCarey. director will lj« handed other a.'-signinents. fair had been v.rii'kii.u under xxt. Iiurvisioii (»f Lou Ostro-.v. wh« checked off the lot last week. 20th Holds Cummings Hollywood. April 13. Ne.v d.rector contract was handed Irving Cummings at 'iOth-Kox. with •One Destiny.' based on the Phil S^•llr^ novel. a.s his next chore. Currently Cummings is waiting for ihe recovery of Betty Grable from her recent surgical npei ttion to An- i-ilr shooting on 'Sweet' Rosl* O'Giady.*