Variety (May 1946)

24 NCTUBBS Wcdnemlay, May 1, 1946 3 Monti Downtown Houses Now Use French Product; Other Xchange News Montreal. ♦ Return of French pictures to the Victory theatre, which was the pre- war policy there, gives downtown a; ■••'trcal three Mm houses devoted i . ''. • vcly to showing*French-made »)>•.>. Victory, on St. Catherine Miwi, not only reverted back to its i>li! ..olicy of-.French product but also vu-.i back to its original title of Cinema de Paris. Other cinemas • now showing French films are the St. Denis and Orphcum. Latter, which is operated by Consolidated Theatres, also uses some U. S.-made films with French sound track; There are several nabe houses also running French films. The Cinema dc. Paris (Victory theatre ) was taken over during the ■war by Consolidated when French product was. cut off, and was used mainly for reissues. With French films now back in circulation, France Filme. which also runs the St. Denis, took over the house again. Ted Gamble Day in Memphis Memphis. Next Monday (6)' will be "Ted Gamble Day"' in Memphis, with the trade in this area turning out to honor the new chairman of the American Theatre Assn. Gamble is coming here on invita tion of Herb Kohn, chief, barker of the local Variety Club, to tell exhibi- tors what ATA is all about. He will be feted twice, at Hotel Gayoso. and at a meeting in the Va> riety Club's quarters. WB Montreal Manager Quits • Toronto. Irvin Coval, Montreal branch man ; ager for Warners, made Toronto manager. Change follows resignation of Sam Pearlman from Toronto man- agement, with Pearlman not set on- future plans. Grattan Kiely steps up to Coval's old spot. Roy .Pelrce Getting Around Milwaukee. L. Roy Pcirce. manager of the downtown Riverside, able to- navi- gate about town after recovering from a severe leg injury caused by slipping on a stairway. Despite the wrench and pain, Peirce stuck to the job throughout. Gives 3 Penna. Houses to Sons Pittsburgh. Mike Serventl, vet district: exhib, is turning over management of his Rimersburg, Petrolia and Chicora theatres to his two ex-GI sons, Lewis and Mark Serventi. Anthony Latella. Natrona- exhib, has bought the. New Atlas theatre on the Northside from: Milt Samuels. WB Eastern Confab - District and branch managers of Warner Bros, in the eastern and mid. Atlantic zones will be held in New York Saturday (4) by Jules Lapidus, eastern division head, for discussion of general sales plans. In addition to Norman Ayers and»Robert Smelt zer, district managers for the two zones, managers of New York, Al- bany, Boston, Buffalo, New Haven, Philadelphia and Washington, ex. changes will attend. In Memphis Too Memphis, April 30. Barney Woolmer, owner of the Drive-in-Theatre, is running a' '. trailer on his screen offering a season, pass for any information leading to' rental of an apart- ment, a duplex or a house. Bearer of such information is requested to see the manager at the boxoffice. Woolncr wants it for himself. way from James W; Karber. They also plan a new house there. .Harris Dudclson, former manager UA exchange in Cincinnati/succeeded Barney McCarthy as head of St. Louis branch. McCarthy went to, the Coast. Homer Hilsoy. formerly on UA Denver sales staff, now is covering the Southeastern Missouri district for the company. 'Astor, Chi, Changes Hands Chicago. Abe ■■Teileli owner of the World Playhouse here, acquired the Astor theatre, Loop third-runner, from the Triangle Restaurant Co. in a deal completed Thursday HI). With ihe small-seatcr, Teitcl also bought thea- tre building, four-story, structure. Playhouse, situated on Michigan boulevard; has been major, distribs* outlet for foreign product, with con- tractual clause calling for specified number of Russian films to be shown each year. This policy will not ap- ply to the newly-acquired Astor, ac- cording to Teitcl. New owner will take possession early next fall. To Fight St L 5? Tai St. Louis, April 30. Adoption of the proposed cily tax of 5% on all picture and legit ad- missions will make St. Louis the only city in the U. S. with a triple tax according to owners who are marshaling to combat the moye. Currently the customers pay 20% Federal tax and the theatres are ob- sorbing the state's sales tax of 2<i.. Theatre owners assert they: cannot absorb the proposed 5% cily tax and are against passing it on to the cus- tomers. They also declare that the solons who are sponsoring the hew tax are overlooking the fact that film lmfatr.es, etc., arc a necessity in every community and not a luxury in the sense the proponents see it. Majors Sue Pitt Exhibs on % Pix Pittsburgh, April 30. . Civil actions have been filed in U. S. district court here against Mike Manos and William Lipsie. :ndie cir- cuit exhibs, by seven distributors alleging misrepresentations and ir- regularities in reporting gross re- ceipts on percentage pix. Seventeen theatres are involved in the charges. Plaintiffs arc RKO. 20th, UA, WB, U, Col and Par. Suit is similar to the one filed here in Federal- court two year's ago against William Finkcl and Carson Amus. Co. There's been no action on that one yet, since Fin- kel filed an immediate answer : de- manding a jury, trial. Bateman Leaving Republic Francis A. Bateman, for the last five years Republic's Pacific Coast district sales manager, has resigned to go into a new biz venture. Resig- nation becomes effective on June 1. Bateman joined Republic in 1935 as t jOS Angeles branch manager, moving over from Metro. He was named district sales manager in 1941. Left Quite V to Be Exhib Utica, N. Y. Sylvan Loft". Albany, sales: rep for Universal, has left the company to take over operation of the Highland ther.trc here, purchased for $37,000 by the Robwin Theatre Corporation, of which Mr. Lcff is president. Cor- §oration also operates the Avon in yracuse. 1BEW Cross-Pickets IA, Also AFL, in L'ville Louisville, April 30, Three houses, Rialto, Strand and Mary Anderson, are being picketed by the IBEW. Point in dispute is that electricians are seeking to es- tablish their right to employment in the downtown houses, to all main-' tenance work in front of the pros- cenium arch. Officials of the IBEW admit that all work behind the arch belongs to the IATSE, also an AFL affiliate, but they are demanding that work, in front of the arch be done by their men. J. C. Williamson, assist- ant business agent for the IBEW, said no maintenance electricians are employed in the theatres from his union, and said "someone else is do- ing it. We asked the theatre oper- ators to meet with us about hiring electricians to do the work in front of the proscenium arch and on the marquees. They refused." Maintenance work on marquees and inside the house has for years been done by . the stage electricians, members of IATSE. Fred Dolle, president of Fourth. Avenue Amus. Co., reported that his theatres never had employed IBEW workers and that the IATSE always had supplied men for all work in the theatres, and that the IA members were not affected by the picketing. IA Threatens Walkout Ottawa, April 30. IATSE walkout is scheduled in all Canadian Odcon theatres May 13 unless six Montreal filmcrs reach agreement terms mulled the past three months. Would Audit So. Cal. Los Angeles, April 30. Southern California distributors are launching a campaign to audit books of theatres in this area using Hollywood product on a percentage basis, following the pattern laid down some time ago in eastern ter- ritories. Distribs here feel that in many in- stances they are not- gelling accu- rate returns on percentage 1 deals. Exhibs in this terrain, while not fearing the audit asked by distribs, may take exception to opening their books to a single^iuditing firm rep- resenting all the distributors. Last N-N Circuit House Sold Philadelphia. The Locust, last of the'old Nixon- Nirdlinger circuit, has been sold to Charles J. Conway. House in West Philly brought $115,000 to the Freihofer estate, and executors of the Nixon Nirdlinger estate which jointly owned the prop- erly. Many III. Theatre Changes . St. Louis. Frisiha Amusement Co., which operates two houses in Lawrence- villc. Ill,, has purchased a site for another theatre there. Ross Bnrricklow sold his Isis. In Toluca. 111., to Russell Hurt, who formerly operated houses in Princeri- ton and LaSalle, 111. C. H. Wells, manager of Sparta Theatres, Inc., bought a site in Sparta, 111., for a new house to re- place . the Grand, 420-seater, now operating. 'Clyde and Dale Miner, Ridgeway, 111., purchased the Strand in Ridge- Kew If A Policy 55 Continued from, page 3 milling each producer to deliver a certain number of films a year. How many doesnlt particularly mailer to UA, whether one or two or four, as long as it knows to what quantity it must gear its distributing-'ma- chinery. However, it is understood that company execs would prefer pictures from fewer established pro- ducers rather than, the dealing necessitated by a great number of assorted occasional filmmakers..This would have the effect of lending added stability lo tile comparty. There arc now more than 20 pro- ducers . with UA releasing contracts or -vestiges of contracts. Terms on renewal will not only, be stiffer on commitments, but on percentage. Most pacts will call for a 27%% distribution fee, which was put into effect for newcomers a few years ago. Some of the old line UA units may be able to continue 25% deals, but there will : be no more "most favored nation" clauses, giving them terms equal to the best any other producer gets from the company. . NY. BACKR00MERS GET NEW DEAL WITH MAJORS A deal, modeled after those closed with distributors in various branch spots throughout the country, has been closed with Local Sl-B, Film Exchange Employees, covering ship- ping rooms in New York. Contract goes back to Dec. 1, 1943, when the old agreement expired. From that date to Dec. 1, 1945, re- troactive pay granted is I0':'c. while from the latter date up to Dec. 1, 1947, an additional 5% increase ap- plies. Instead of a flvc-and-a-half- day work week of 40 hours, the new deal calls for 40 hours spread over five days, with overtime on Sundays and holidays to be time-and-a-half. Under the old agreement the min imum was $30.80 und the maximum $60.50. These are now raised to $35.45 and $69.50 respectively. Lou Johnson, head of the Metro shipping room in N. Y. and president of the local union, headed the com- mittee in working out negotiations. He is a probable delegate to the con- vention of the International Alli- ance of Theatrical Stage Employees, to be held in Chicago in July. Pill FilinroweiV 15% Pittsburgh. April 30. Filmrow Employees Union B-ll has just completed negotiations with the eight major distributors whereby a 15% wage increase was approved. Prior to the -settlement with the majors, Mono, PRC and Acme Dis- tributing had signed t.hc new con- tract. Negotiations with Republic are' continuing in New York. Deal expires Nov. 30, 1047, and is retroactive to Dec. 1. 1945. A 5% increase is retroactive to 1943. a 10% increase to 1944 and 1945, and the 15% lift to last December. Indie Firms Infiltrating S. A. With 16m, Set Challenge for U. S. Distribs Denny Returns to Pix Hollywood, April .30.; Reginald Denny, absent from the screen since early in the war, has two. film chores on his hands, in "What Nancy Wauled" at. RKO and "Forever Amber," where he plays King Charles II at 20th-Fox. Actor gave up ihesping during the . war to manufacture airplane equipment for the Army. ; Market for educational and theat- rical 16m Alms in Latin America has already been penetrated deeply by the Victor Animatograph Corp. and Encyclopedia Britannica Films, Inc., offering a mark for the major Amer- ican distribs to shoot at. Dr. Rob- ert Kulka. who returned, recently, from an 11-monlh tour of L. A, as rep of both companies, revealed last week that he had organized visual education departments in all L. A.- school systems from Mexico to' the Argentine,' and had set up complete circuits of 16m houses for enlcrlain- ment pix. Kulka, who learned the 16m ropes through seven.-years of operating his own narrow-gauge circ'uit' in L. A. disclosed that Victor holds exclusive distribution rights for all EBFI films south of the border. Cooperating with the local governments in each country, he taught the school sys- tems how lo use classroom films .and lined up local companies, working on an exclusive, franchise basis but backed by their own capital, to handle distribution of. the films, projectors and other equipment. Educational program, because of its immense .value to the Latin gov- ernments, will not be run to bring in large returns. Local distribs. rather, will garner their top profits from the theatrical trade in each country, and will operate the-educa- tional program only to break even, Kulka said. He pointed out that vis- ual education would compensate for the lack of teachers in many of the back countries, and predicted thai the illiterate populations could be taught in five years via pix what it would take them 30 years to learn without films. Agents of several of the Latin- American governments declared they had been awaiting just such a program to be inaugurated in 'their countries, Kulka said, and ' quoted Ihem as having added that visual education was the most important step in teaching 'since the invention of the printing press. Not Just DociimentarieB Educational program will consist of specially-selected EBFI pix, with dubbed Spanish or Portuguese soundtracks. Kulka stressed that the films to be used were not documen- taries, but regular classroom pix to be integrated with the teaching pro- gram in all schools and universities. He established tieups with the min- istries of education, agriculture alid public health in several of the coun- tries to further their programs through educational pix. Kulka, accompanied "by his wife who is handling the women's end of the program, even reached the prim- itive tribes along the Jjack waters of the Amazon, where Ihe literacy rale is practically nil, calling for the use of films teaching the alphabet. . He declared that his two companies would eventually encourage the Latin governments to produce their own education films. Parents Asked For Them In some countries, he said, special kids' theatres were established' at the request of parents. These the- atres will run only oh Saturdays and Sundays and will be financed by yearly subscriptions from Ihe par- ents. Each house will have a gov- erness to look after the moppets. Such theatres are needed in many countries, Kulka said, where the kids are restrained from seeing many films because of local censorship laws. Eight such theatres iirc al- ready lined up in Ecuador, to run both educational and - amusement films. . Kulka said that leading financial agencies in each country, recogniz- ing Ihe value of visual education,, were behind the program. He ex- pressed the hope that the major companies entering the'visual' edu- cation field abroad would not prosti- tute it by trying to reap huge profits from their ventures. Such a step, he said, would kill the good will al- ready established and would ruin the prospects of 16m operations all along the line. . Pix for the theatrical trade will be drawn from those turned out by in- die 16m producers in the U. S. More than 4,000 entertainment film houses, are already in operation in villages, factories and prisons, Kulka said," and the two companies hope to.hnve at least 5,000 lined up within the next two years. Prefabricated the- atres will eventually be used. Kulka emphasized that his program would not compete with those. being planned by the American majors. We are anxious to cooperate with the majors," he said. "We feel we've taken an immense step forward: in 16m operations in Latin America and the potential market is so huge that the majors* product will be nec- essary to keep: things running.' 1 Real Wilderness Circuit Many of the 16m houses ' jsol up by Kulka.were in the farthest hin- terlands of the countries, reachable only by miileback, where.the popu- lation had never seen a picture of any kind before. Exhibition offered many obstacles that had to be over- come.. In most places, lack of elec- tricity forced them to run their.pro- jectors- via gasoline motors.. Mental attitude of the population also had to be taken into consideration. Kuika said, pointing-out that his audiences, wanted only straight action 'films, such as westerns. Established 35m exhibs offered no opposition to the program, he -de- clared, because the isolated spots in which he screened his product pre-, eluded any form of competition. In many places the pix were screened in the village plaza, with a town crier hired to advertise the program. Future.plans'call for local exhibs in each country to own their own the- atres or circuits, with Victor selling them product oh either a.percentage deal or a flat rental basis. Kalmine Calls In All WB Theatre Men For 2-3 Day Confab in N.Y. . Calling in all zone managers and film buyers, Harry M. Kalmihe, gen- eral manager of the. Warner circuit, opens a meeting today (Wednesday) in the homeoffice for general dis- cussion of theatre operating prob- lems and plans. It will be the first such session to be held in home lime and probably will run two or three.days; Among other things, ses- sion will discuss exhibit on partici- pation in WB's 2Qth anniversary of sound celebration, spearheaded by Warner's own theatres. In addition to Kalmine, top WB theatre execs will sit in, including Martin F. Bennett, Clayton E. Bond, Frank . E. Cahill, Jr., Herb Cbpelan, NatJcllman, Harry Goldberg, Louis J. Kaufman, Herman Maicr, W. F. Marshall, W. Stewart McDonald, Harry Rosenquest, Frank N. Phcliis, D. B. Triester, Leonard S. Schlcsin- ger, Abel Vigard and Rudolph Weiss. This group in the WB theatre branch embraces general theatre operation, buying-booking, advertising-publi- city, financial end on theatres, labor matters; legal side of theatre opera- tions, real estate and construction. Zone managers due in today (Wed- nesday) are James E. Coslon, Chi- cago; Nat Wolf, Cleveland; I. J. Hoff- man, New Haven; Frank Damis, Newark; C. J. Latta, Albany; Ted Schlangcr, Philadelphia; Moe A. Sil- ver, Pittsburgh, and John J. Pay- ette, Washington. Film buyers from all points are also in N. Y. for the sessions. UA Sales Meet in Chi Chicago, April 30. Meeting of UA's district-managers has been called by J. .J. 'Ungor. ti. s. in., for May 3-4 in Chicago, lo discuss Ihe sale of current and forth- coming pictures. Among t.he contingent of h. o. ex- ecutives, headed by Unger, "leaving. New York by plane on Thursday i.2)-. arc Jack Goldhar, eastern sales man- ager; Maury ©rr, western sales man- ager; Ed Schnitzer, soulher'n and Canadian .sales manager; Paul M. Lazarus. Sr., contract manager; and. Sam Lcfkowitz, eastern district man- ager. . Neilson Heads AMP A Annual election of'the'Associated' Motion Picture.Advertisers on Tues- day i.30) installed Rutgers Neilson. publicity-advertising manager of RKO, as president. Other officers elected: Phil Williams, March of Time, as vice-president; Arnold Stolz, PRC. treasurer; and Max Slrin, 20th-Fox, secretary. The new board of directors con- sists of Dave Bader, retiring presi- dent; Charles Alicoatc. Claude l.cv. Blanche. Livingston, and Marguerite Wuyburn. Ray Gallagher was named trustee for period of three years suc- ceeding Neilson in that post.