Variety (December 1943)

Wednesday, December .15, 194S PICTURES 8 Wall St Looks to Continued Sellers' Market in Film Distribution Biz 'Current'sellers' market.is regarded* as the prime reason in financial cir- cles for the continued high not profit being repoilc'd by virtually all pic- ture companies despite high tax out-. Jays. Such market, predicated on continued high attendance at bulk of large theatres, has enabled distribu- tors to obtain good rentals.'since al- most ah v.-type of screen fare is in demand. Extended runs by the bulk of pictures is another factor contrib- uting to the fine financial showings by virtually every film corporation, the trade having full realization that long runs represent a savin in every spot where possible. . Typical of the. demand for all screen tare, of course, is ihe popu- larity of reissues..even in key city dcluxers. and even greater, promi- "nehec in major, company and indie circuit houses. Dusting off the pic- tures that have been on the.shelf, and .obtaining fresh, coin on them when sent out as reissues, represents so ■much gravy for dislribs Fact that there are fewer pictures, with many of them better than usual fare, has proved a leverage in sus- taining the sellers' market.. It's sim- ply a (case; of every exhibitor trying 10 land as much product as possible, so as to.keep open regularly. Net result of this setup, as viewed in Wall Street, probably will be the best financial showing in six years or more by'many picture companies. H obviously is back of the extra melon ■ cuttings this month for year-end dis- tribution or early in 1944. Small Back to Dumas Hollywood. Dec. 14. Edward Small'registered the title, ■ D'Ar'tagnali,', indicating a return to his■ favorite, author. Alexandre Du- mas, for screen material. . # - Picture, dealing with exploits of the old Musketeers, will be released next summer by United Artists. LICHTMAN TO ENGLAND ONM-G PROD. PARLEYS Hollywood. Dec: 14; ■ Al Lichlman shoves off for Eng- land shortly after the holidays to .huddle, with Sir Alexander Korda and Ben Goelz on future Metro pro- duct ion in London. While he. is away- Lichlman's executive board duties will be shared by other boai'd members. Pic Riders Forced By Gas Pinch to Double Up Hollywood. Dec. 14. Sharc-lhc-riders in the film indus- try were-told io share more rides by Paul Barksdale D'Orr. district ra-. tioning chief, at a meeting attended by representatives of 27 studio crafts. D'Orr declared the.gas situation is growing more serious, owing to war's demands, calling tor a cut of 3a r ; in civilian usage! The share-the-ride plan, he explained, could be operat- ed successfully on an average of 3.5 occupancy for all cars! Freedom of Newsreel (Press) Issue in Time's Appeal on Sinatra-RKO Restrained from showing and re-, pro ucing Frank . Sinatra's voice in 'Music at War.' forthcoming March of Time short, set for Doc. 31 .'release, by Judge John C. Knox in N. V. Federal court. Time. Inc.. will appeal to the Circuit Court of Appeals. -.'It- feels that the decision in RKO's fa- vor fails to settle portions of law as far as March of Time is concerned. Sinatra sings a song.' which was gratuitously given before the WAVES at their Hunter College CN.Y.) training station last Novem- ber, in -'Music' RKO Picls contended that release of the short would prove injurious to the distribution of Hs feature. 'Higher and Higher,' star- ring Sinatra, set for pre-release in some spots this month, Judge Knox stressed the need-lor protecting entertainers who willing- ly'contribute their services to aiding- the . Government's war effort and failed to agree with Time's conlen- lfo i that Sinatra's appearance at Hunter College before about '2,000 WAVES was in the public domain or that, as a news gathering organiza- tion-, it was entitled 16 cover such. Time claimed that it covered the singing event at Hunter's at the re- quest of the Navy Department, and as a newsreel outfit had the right to film Sinatra. Judge Knox 'pointed out that Si- natra was .asked-by. authorized rep- (Continued on page 12) E FAST, SOME Sid Due to numerous factors—ranging; 'all the way from- the flow of a small ' amount of product from some ma-! jors, to terms which many accounts feel' are out of line—film selling: has reached what is regarded . in 1 the> trade as the most variable, ever ex-' perlenced. This goes all the. way | from the .closing so far of only a j couple of deals In the exchange ter-| rltory of- one lesser distributor, to j sales approaching 100% in the branch region of another, i . Selling is liot on an even keel. also, because companies which have | shorts to market are held up at the beginning of new seasons in an ef- fort to push the brieflcs with feature contracts.-'-'However.; in'the case of at least one najor which has. almost with stubborness refused to consider shorts along with, features, not mak- i.j a cpnlracl-for the latter condi- tional upon a year's deal to cover all shorts, the feature business has at; lained the highest on record. In other cases, although there, is a con- sent decree which says that shorts or newsreels can't be forced, the salesmen are trying to get deals On both at the same time and this, au- tomatically, is slowin' up some clos- ings.. Where selling has been slow, it has been due, in part, to no immediate need for product among many ac- counts, plus an all-around atteinpl on the part of distributors, large and small, to obtain higher rentals. 'The distributors are trying to. gear the terms up and the exhibitors are try- ing to keep them dovvn.' one circuit executive explained, adding that nowadays business is so good that many theatres are able to stretch the pictures they have bought and. in order to stall on deals, will even play some 'bad ones' or stick in reissues. . Aside from the bickering over terms, selling has not been as. fast on the whole as in. prior seasons, due to the delays caused by rejection of contracts, necessity for renegotia- tions of contracts and the difficulty experienced by salesmen in getting around Xo their accounts oftener. Cowdin Sees Need (or Coin Reserve To Help Industry in Post-War WorlTs BERNARD SOBEL Harks. Back to 'The Midnight Frolics Cycle'' An Editorial Feature of Post'Wgr Show Busines$ Number (38 th Anniversary Edition) UA Bluntly Denies Deal Made on Korda's Shares Or With Rank , With the deal for purchase of Sir Alexander Korda's 25% interest in United Artists by UA stymied again, Korda now has the alternative of offering his stock to an owner-mem- ber of United .Artists.-' Should he fail to secure unanimous approval from lhe.UA owner-members'to. sell his shares to one of them he could then make a deal with outside interests, such as J. Arthur Rank Of England. While it would be necessary for Korda to secure unanimous approval for the sale of his stock to an own- er-member of UA it lj understood that the by-laws of the company do not require unanimous approval for the sale of his stock to an outsider, once both the corporation and an owner-member of the company have failed to make a deal, for the pur- chase of his holdings. If has been reported that Rank is ■interested in- purchasing Korda's UA stock, but such a purchase would not give. Rank control in the company nor would it 'be likely to facilitate distribution of British product in.the (Continued on page 54) In a talk before the-National As- sociation of .Manufacturers in. New York-- last Friday '(,10), J. Checver Cowdin. chairman of the board of Universal Pictures, warned that un- less private industry is permitted to retain sufficient capital'it would not be able to provide post-war jobs for' returning servicemen. Cowdjn pointed out that ji wiU-.be necessary to provide 30:000.000 new jobs when the war is won. He urged modifica- tion of taxation and simplification of tax returns as-one measure to mcex the. problem. Cowdin advocates three essential steps as important in the post-war reconstruction period. First, simplifi- cation of the tax structure in favor of three or four levies, so simple that anyone can'understand them and far below current levies: 2, a balanced Federal budget, which will entail drastic reductions in Governmental agencies andemployees: 3, a plan for servicing and paying off the war;debi starting immediately after the war- ends. Cowdin declared that present taxes approach the point of confiscation for many business firms and of diminish- ing, returns for thousands of others. 'As a result.' he said, 'there has been practically no new enterprise in business now for several years. ...a great scclion of American business has been caught in. a net of rising taxes, rising costs, and dwindling (Continued on page 54) Heast Blasts 'Hostages' In Hun As 'Communistic* Boston. Dec. 14. Tne Record'Airrerican" " (Hearst). gave 'Hostages' the usual severe basting in reviews following pre- miere at the M. 5: P. Paramount' and Fenway theatres, charging the .picture .as-'plain Communism mas- querading under the guise of Czech '• patriotism.' , Yarn was piped in from the Coast under the by-line of 'Thomas Reddy.' According- to Hearst drama dept. no local reviewers looked in on the pic. Brown's PCA Trio .' Hollywood. Dec. 14. inducers Corp. of America has signed Harry Joe Brown to a con- tract a producer-director. hrce pictures asigncd In him cany an aggregate budget of $2,500,- ooo: 'Lifeboat' Into Astor 'Lifeboat.' Airrcrl Hitchcock pro- duction for 20th-Fox. opens at the Astor theatre.' New York. Jan. 6 as- a roadshow. Metro showcase was tinned over l>'' 20th for the showing following negotiations between company top- pers. Your Best Salesman In All Markets- 'Pne&ettt cutd ^utme To Be Published Late In December NEW YORK 19. 154 W. 46th St. HOLLYWOOD 28. 1708 No. Vine St. CHICAGO 1, 54 W. Randolph St. LONDON 8 St. Martin's PI. McGUINNESS, EX-SPORTS ED, ONM-G EXEC BOARD Hollywood, Dec. 14. James Kevin McGuinne6s, produ- cer-writer -at Metro, was upped to membership of the executive board, of which Louis B. Mayer is chair- man. .Former sports editor of the New York 'Evening. Telegraph, McGuin- ness joined Metro as a writer in 1930. His duties as a board .member will take up his full time. Mrs. Raftery Stricken, UA Prexy Rushes East Holiywobd, Dec. 14". Ed Raftery, UA prexy, rushed back east Sunday <12i when advised that his wife had sulfcred a heart attack. He had planned to remain here another 10 days to talk over product with UA producers. Edington, Ex-RKO Studio Head, Joins Lyons Agency Hollywood,. Dec. 14. Harry Edinglo'n. former partner of Frank Vincent in the agency busi- ness., has joined A. qnd S. Lyons'as executive vice-president.. After his split with Vincent a few. years ago. Edington became produc- tion chief at RKO and turned put 'Kilty Foyle' and 'Suspicion.' both of which resulted in Academy awards, for their stars. Recently he lias been an independent producer for the same studio but resigned be- cause of casting difficulties. , Keep Hutton Busy Hollywood, Dec. 14. Added to Betty Hutton's starring schedule at Paramount is ' another musical. 'Gut of This World.' cur- rently in the writing mill with Sam . C'oslow as associate producer; Following 'Incendiary Blonde.' now in production, there arc three, films on the Hutton slate. Other two 'an: The Stork Club' and an untitled Marl; Sanclrkh production about the WAVKS. " K-A-0S $1.75 DIVVY Keitli.-Albei'rOVpheuiii declared a Sl.T-i i-a-i: cli\iclc-nrl on preferred out oT (Hicratitm Mifplus to rover quar- ter e idi'iiy .v.Oxi cc, 31. ■ biw;.- is payable Jan. 3 to holders of nvi.nl rv-- y\