Variety (May 1946)

Wednesday, May 8, 1946 PICTURES AUDIENCE RESEARCH BLUES Reorganized Pathe-Eagle-Lion Aims To Buy Out All PRC Franchise-Holders . Spurred by its new distribution ♦ ticup with Eagle-Lion Co., PRC is reportedly planning to buy up all franchise holders of the company. Move, which would have PRC op- erating its own 31 exchanges, be- comes probable, it is understood, be- cause part of the pact between J. Arthur Rank, and Robert R. Young calls for the use of the former PRC physical distribution facilities by PatlK-5agle-Lion, as it. will be known henceforth. P-E-L has al- ready picked up 25 of its franchises throughout the country. In its latest move. this„weok, the company pur- chased the^St. Louis franchise from Andy Dietz. Under the Rank-Young dcafl, the American Eagle-Lion unit which Young controls through his Pathe Industries, obtains U. S., Central and South American distribution rights to 20 pix minimum yearly. Teh would be American and 10 British pix. The American Alms are to be produced by Eagle-Lion with the Rank companies matching their number. While using PRC's physi- cal facilities, Eagle-Lion is to main- tain.-an independent sales force. Rank, on the other hand, obtains for his British Eagle-Lion Co., which he wholly owns, the distribution rights to the same 20 films through- out the- world with the exception of the U. S., Central and South Ameri- can markets. The American Eagle- Lion's choice of Rank's films, under . the agreement, is subject to first-call by United World Pictures on all Rank's product. UW is owned equally by Rank and Universal. Vaughn Aides Eagle-Lion . Hollywood, May'7. James Vaughn, recently released from the Army, moved into the PRC studio to function as production manager for the. reorganized Pathe- Eagle-Lion combination. Before the war Vaughn was 'as- sistant to Tennant G. Wright, pro- duction manager at Warners. Any Old Port Hollywood, May 7. Members of Sol Lessor's "No Trespassing" troupe landed in the Sonora jail, but not for tres- passing. Owing to the housing shortage, a dozen troupers vol- unteered to sleep in the cat- lnboose. . Birmingham Police Head Bans'Scarlet' In Hot Censor Bow Birmingham, May 7. Hot issue of censorship here reached boiling point Thursday (2), when Police Chief Floyd Ecldins, city's one-man censor board, banned VScarlet Street." scheduled for early showing at Ritz theatre. Following a private showing. Chief Ecldins told manager William Coury: "It is a vile picture from be- ginning to end. Violations of the city code are too numerous to list, but some of the objections are the complete immoral background of the pit-lure,- the illicit love affair, the continuous drinking.: the showing of the actual murder, the fact that the murderer does hot get the electric ' chair to pay for his crime." "Lost Weekend," bitterly opposed by women's groups here, was per- mitted to show at the Alabama .the- atre, Chief Eddins said, "because, al- though it concerned 'continuous drinking,' it taught a moral.".. The one-man censor, who has proved more satisfactory to theatre men than the old system of a one- woman censor appointed' annually by the city commission, was under fire a month ago when Eddins. banned showing, of an educational film on social - diseases in public schools and before mixed groups in the city auditorium. At that time, members of the Women's Civic Club and Parents-Teachers Associa- tion, who favored showing of the picture, condemned Eddins for per- mitting theatres to show "such films as 'Lost- W.eckend,' 'Kiss and Tell' and other immoral pictures." _ The women's groups are entertain- ing a movement to' take censoring of films from the police chief and Place.it in the hands of a group.of women civic leaders. Theatre men are bitterly opposed to this. Irv Lazar Prod. VP at Pathe-Eagle Hollywood, May 7. Further broadening its- production setup under plans for higher budget pictures, Pathe-Eagle-Lion (PRC) has named Irving Lazar as exec as- sistant to production chief Bryan Foy and v.p v in charge of all indie units on the lot.-X.azav, who pulled 014 of Music Corp. of America as Coast story and talent head Satur- day (4), will also handle production reins himself on some pictures. Lazar's parting with MCA was en- tirely, amicable, the office agenting the new deal for him. He starts of- ficially at P-E-L as of July 1, but already has a number of projects cooking. Among prospective deals are one which would bring Sam Bischoft" to the lot as an indie pro- ducer. Studio has also been an- proached by Lester Cowan, has a yarn by Fred FinkclhofTe and Ches- ter Erskine and a screenplay by Ed Chodorov ready to go: With seven stages available, the studio is able to offer indies both production space and release. In addition to< pix turned put by the indies and those produced by Lazar, studio will also make pictures on its own. Lazar is due in New York from the Coast today (Wednesday). In the Army during the War, he-cooked up the idea for the Air Corps' hit legiter, Moss Hart's, "Winged Vic- lory," and was largely responsible for the production. Darling Goes With Foy Scott Darling who has been with the Bryan Foy unit at 20th-Fox un- der a three-year contract, will check out with the latter when he takes over as boss of Pathc-E'agle Lion to continue writing chores. Darling will write the story, for the first production to be made by the new setup. It is an untitled original. David Stephenson also moves over to Pathe-Eagle-Lion as story editor. He has been assistant to Foy for the past four years, on stories. STARS, WRITERS POLLS-MINDED Increasing reliance on audience research by the studios has stars looking dreadfully forward to the day when they'll no longer be flesb- and-blood marquee names, but mere percentage figures in a producer's drawer. There's much kidding now going on in. Hollywood concerning the ultimate of the Gallup-polling, but underneath is a strong under- current of fear that the fun's about at an end and those columns of sta- tistical surveys on b.o. drawing power are soon going to be deadly decisive factors in careers. Many a player aU-eady knows the feeling of walking into a producer's office only to have him open that secret drawer, look down a column of figures and say, "Sorry, you're not the type." It becomes quickly obvious then that when the doorbell ringer for some research outfit asked a few hundred Mrs. Doakeses, "Would you go see a picture star- ring Maisie Glutz?" too many had said "No." Stars, of course, are the worst suf- ferers from, the audience research jit- ters, but writers, too, are beginning to wonder where it all will lead. Scripters, above all people, in Holly- wood, have prided themselves on "knowing what the public wants." In the old days, in an argument with a producer, they had a pretty fair chance of winning. Now he pulls a list of figures out of his drawer and irrefutably states: "Don't write that. It's boxofflce poison." Pozzies Everybody And''even producers themselves oc- casionally show signs of bewilder- ment at this new scientific age, let (Continued on page 25) COPLAN MAY RETURN AS UA CANADIAN CHIEF London, May 7. Dave Coplan, head . of United Artists' British operations; may leave that post shortly, it is understood, to 1 return to his former position as the company's Canadian chief. Coplan was named acting v.p. and general manager , of UA, Ltd., in 1944. For two years prior to that he had been Canadian general manager. distribution topper found himself in an embarrassing position with the J. Arthur Rank forces here recently, after he had arranged for David O. Sclznick's "Spellbound" to play the New Gallery without prior okay from the home - office. . When Sclz- nick turned down the date, Rank threatened to sue for damages. . Straightening out the Rank dispute was.one of the major purposes of the recent visit here by Mary Pickford, Grad Sears and Walter Gould. Coplan's pad with UA runs 22 months longer. TOLA'S MEMOIRS Hollywood, May 7. Silent screen star, Pola Negri, re- | ccntly returned from New York, is ; writing her memoirs. I " She arranged for their publication I while cast. Rodgers Accents Films Intern'tl Values to SMPE Stressing the Importance of an International outlook in the film in- dustry, William F. Rodgers, veepce in charge of distribution of Loew's, opened the 59th semi-annual con- ference of the Society of Motion Pic- ture Engineers as guest speaker at the Pennsylvania hotel, N. Y., Mon- day (6). In his address before the 250 assembled engineers' from all phases of the industry, Rodgers de- clared no other medium can carry the worldwide message of the broth- erhood of man as effectively as films. "To accomplish this," he said, "we must face the future of our business ready to assist producers everywhere in their efforts to reestablish motion pictures of their own, and just as we will send them our product so must we be ready to accept whatever of their products are suitable to our audience. We could not maintain the high standard of production here if we could not expect to achieve world distribution over there; Any barriers erected because of our re- luctance to give proper presentation to good pictures regardless of their ' (Continued on Dago 25) Reported Majors, Except Warners, f Wanted to Settle Goldman Suit 'Hatfields-McCoys' - • Philadelphia, May 7. Last Wednesday. (1) a luncheon was held at the Gimbel Bros, store . for . the touring "Goldwyn Girls" making a pilch for. "The Kid from Brooklyn.*' Toastmaster, Harold Gilbert, publicity director of the store, introduced the various guests. He spotted Irving Blumbcrg and Everett Callow of the WB publicity department, sitting near Dick. Mayers and Elmer Hirth of the Goldman chain. "Ladies and gentlemen,"' said Gilbert, "I would like you all to meet the Hatficlds and the Mc- Coys of Philadelphia's film in- dustry." _ Chi Oriental's M-GandUADeak Chicago, May 7. Continuing its drive to win Chi film supremacy, the Oriental theatre concluded a product deal last week with Metro. First pictures con- tracted, for are "Postman Rings Twice," "Bad Bascomb," "Two Sis-' ters From Boston" and "Hoodlum Saint." The Metro signing followed on the heels of the Oriental inking with United Artists for first run pix. Combined with name stage acts, the M-G and UA product provides the Oriental with a real threat to 1 B&K's Chicago theatre, long regarded as Chi's top fllmery. The Oriental, big house of the Essaness circuit headed by Edwin Silverman, made Chi flicker history recently by garnering $78,000 during the first week's showing of. "The Outlaw" with Jane Russell, film star, also appearing on the stage.. The Hughes picture now in its eighth week has passed the ?400,0O0 mark to date. HELIS-WARNER GROUP TAKES OVER HUB TRACK Martin Hersh, proxy of Ideal Fac- toring Corp., N. Y.; film financing outfit, headed a combo that was run- ner-up last wcelt in bidding for the Suffolk Downs racetrack, Boston. Hersh's group went to $3,525,000, with the oval finally going to a syn- dicate headed by sportsman William Helis, of New Orleans, for $3,000,000. Sale, at the Coplcy-Plaza, Boston, took just 11 minutes. Block of stock, 14,991 shares, comprised a 50.27^c" in- terest' in the track. It "was sold pur- suant to a U. S. District Court ruling thai an investment trust, which owned it. could not legally carry such securities. J. Arthur Warner, head of the downtown N. Y. house bearing his n: mc, and w.k. in show biz. is part- nered with llclis in the takeover. JOHNSTON'S TOUR PLANS STILL STALLED Although Eric Johnston bowed out as prez of the United Slates Cham- ber of Commerce last week and is now devoting his full time to the picture industry. Motion Picture As- sociation topper still hasn't been able to set a date for the takeoff on his projected world lour. He. is still hoping to get started by early summer or before, even if only for a limited visit to England and western Europe. He eventually hopes to cover the entire world, selling U. S. films. MPA prez is expected in New York tomorrow (Thursday) or Fri- day for a quick visit. Philadelphia, May 7. Hearings started yesterday (Mon.) in U. S. District. Court here to de- termine damages in the long-drawn- out anti-trust suit of William Gold- man, independent exhib, versus the Warner Bros, interests and the ma- jor distributors. As testimony was being taken be- fore Judge William H. Kirkputrick. it was reliably reported that some defendants had offered Goldman a very big settlement but, it was said, Warners refused to go along, elect- ing to fight the case to the "bitter end." Goldman originally sued for $1.- 350,000 triple damages. The case was adjudged in his favor after a bitter fight in the District and Circuit Courts. Since the time the suit was filed in 1942, Goldman claims, he has sustained additional damages of up- wards of $2,000,000. Current hear- ings are being held to set actual damages suffered, by Goldman by his failure to obtain first-run product at the Erlanger which he has under lease. First witness to testify was Wil- liam Loudermilk, treasurer of the Goldman chain, who declared that the firm spent $32,244 for the main- tenance of the darkened Erlanger from Sept. 1, 1941, when Goldman acquired the house, until Dec; 7, 1942, when he filed the suit. Judge Klrkpatrick denied a mo- tion of dismissal offered by former Judge Joseph F. Proskauer, attorney for the defendants, who maintained that the only loss proved by Gold- man was out-of-the-pocket ex- penses for the maintenance of the Erlanger; that there was no con- crete proof of loss of potential prof- its. SKOURAS HEADS N.Y. FUND FILM CAMPAIGN Chairmanship of the Greater New York Fund Campaign's Manhattan Motion Pictures Committee has been accepted by Spyros Skouras; 20th- Fox prez. Fund is currently driving for $5,- 900,000 in behalf of 415 local hos- pitals, welfare and health agencies operating in New York. Present an- nual campaign seeks 25"/' boost over last year's goal. ■■ Znkor and 174 Others Qualify for far's New National f 5-Year Chb In connection with establishment of a 25-Year Club among Paramount employees, announced yesterday (Tuesday) by Barney Balaban, presi- dent, a search of figures shows that a total of 175, from Adolph Zukor, chairman, down to porters, have, served the company an aggregate of . that many years or longer. A series of dinners throughout the country will be held to induct 25-year men or women into the club, with the first to be held at the Wal- dorf-Astoria hotel, N. Y., next Tues- day (14) when 90 employees, of the Par homeoffie'e, N. Y. exchange and Long Island laboratory will be hon- ored. The Waldorf dinner will be attended by the officers and direc- tors of Par, with Claude Lee, direc- tor of public relations, as master of ceremonies. Lee has been in charge of details in setting up the Par 25- Year Club, compiling data, etc. At the dinners to .be held through- out the. nation those initialed into the 25-Year Club will receive certi- ficates, a Bulova wrist watch, mem- bership lapel pins and a bound vol- ume containing the photographs and biographies of. the club members. It is the plan of Par to hold in- duction ceremonies annually as em- ployees of the company become eligible for membership on comple- tion of 25 years of aggregate service with Par. Par's Special Train Trek to B.C. for 'Waltz' Hollywood, May 7. Paramount is chartering.a special, train ; to send a troupe of 180 persons to Jasper Park, British Columbia, for outdoor shooting on the Bing Crosby-Joan Fontaine starrer, "The Emperor Waltz." Trek of 2.000 miles is the most ^ambitious junket made by the studio since prewar days. Charles Bracket!, producer, and Billy Wilder, director, will lead the company on its travels. Tram F^ke Doesn't Halt Studio Shooting Hollywood. May 7. Street car and bus strike in Los Angeles may mean a lot to the folks downtown but has practically no effect on film production in the Hol- lywood studios. Checkup disclosed that the employe attendance is practically normal. Most of the motion picture studios are serviced by the Pacific Electric intorurban lines, or independent bus systems, which are not involved in the city strike. In tddition, many of the fi'm workers have revived the share-th« : '-- ! ''e system, which solved transportation problems during the war.