Variety (May 1946)

18 PICTURES Wednesday, May 8, ]9,|^ Senator Langer Back With Another Chorus of Same Divorcement Blues' Washington, Mav 7. - — ———— Bill l» provide lor complete di- p.^ Final Accounting vnrccincnl of motion picture exhibi- r w tion from distribution is being read- ! Of 1). W. Gnttlttl, IllC. icd hv Senator William Langev «R.. ' Final ■ accounting of. assets, of the N D>, who hopes to have it in D. W. Griffith. Inc.. film company inane lor introduction in the Semite ' which was dissolved in 1933. was wiihin the next couple ol weeks. :confirmed Friday .»> after hearings Bill al-o would carry the anti- , held before Federal Judge Alfred >s C. block booking and blind selling pro- j Cdxe in New York The accounting visions of the old Neely bill and. j was submitted by. Samuel Schacter, according to observers here, will , company receiver • have no better, chance of gelling.I Total assets of the company, 1hn,uuh (his session of Confess j *mounting to $24,058. will be dts- in;,,, did its predessors in other! ^j"/^*? £21 JCill'S. Lanier is convinced that complete divorcement cannot be expected from the- ihrce-judge expediting ants and for administration claims afler later hearing. The money was secured by the receiver in settlement of claims against Griffith and others in 1945 and 1946. court considering the Big Five case , in New York. He cojnes from a j stale or -mall towns and small ex- . hibilois .ind the bill should prove popular with his constituents during , the Sci;;iorial campaign in which bnsir will be engaged this fall. "I wiiin to give the small inde- pendent the same break as anybody else.'. Liinjjcr told Variety. ''I'm tor single picture selling and I want to prevent the big distributors from owning llieir own theatres.. I have been following the case in New York and have talked it over with Attor- ney General Tom Clark, i jm con- vinced of the necessity for my bill." Z ZTZ . . . renewal of the lease to the theatre Berger In OPA Pitch *» was o(rerec , , 0 Fljed ft the same Minneapolis, May 7. .rental as his previous lease, but the Ai the request of Bennie Berger. ' ) R tler had turned it down. Gold- president of North Central Allied. man was "solicited" for the theatre, independent exhibitors' organization iSa jd Harrison, rather than having U. S. Senator William Langcr of > g 0ne after the property himself. North D;;kola will introduce an j said Harrison: "The theatre has amendment to the OPA bill when it been under a lease to Harry Fried, reaches the Senate placing a price ; sa j<i lease expiring in September of BrynMawr, Pa., Theatre Renewal First Offered Harry Fried Sez Owner Philadelphia, May 7. ! Philip Harrison, owner of the Seville. Bryn Mawr. Pa., yesterday ! flatly denied a story published in ■ trade papers last week that the 'theatre was being taken out from '. under the current operator; Harry . Fried, by the William Goldman in- terests. Harrison declared that a ceiling on films, it was announced by Berger here. The proposed amendment will prohibit distributers from charging more for their Aim than ihe prices that were in effect in 1941. Berscr "says. this year. In anticipation of the termination of the lease. Mr. Fried was asked last Feb. 14 by letter whether he would be interested in renewing the existing lease at no increase in rental. Fried staled that Berger declares the legislation is.he did hot wish to renew the lease necessary lo protect the smaller in- even upon n, e same terms, dependent exhibitors "now threat- "Subsequently. Mr. Penny (Fried's tned with .extinction" because, he j general manager), announced that says, "distributors are running amok', their organization intended to drop in their rental and percentage de- ' the theatre. Thereafter, we investi- mands." Even in the present pros- perous times, many small-town ex- hibitors face bankruptcy because of "distributors' greed," Berger claims. "We have had to seek relief gated various possibilities of ten- ancy.. Mr. Goldman was solicited by a broker who knew .the property would be available in September. We concluded that the best inter- through legislation because distribu- ■ ests of the public' and the property tors continue deaf , to our pleas.'" as- ; would be served by Mr. Goldman's serts Berger. "We dislike going out- : operation." side of Ihe industry with our fight. '■ Asked for comment. Goldman said: but it's the last resort." "Mr. Harrisons statement speaks for While in Minneapolis recently, itself. I never sought the property." Senator Langer made it known that j Goldman likewise denied he was he is sympathetic toward "the pres- j ever a member of Allied, as reported j ent sorry plight of independent ex- ; in last week's story. ! Atlas-RKO I —, continued from pife 3 —J with Utilities Power & Light Co. It took control of the company when it was in bankruptcy, brought it up to a strong financial condition and then sold it; But Ihe execs remained un- changed. As long as RKO earnings are good, it was said, there is no reason lo think lhat stockholders—whether Atlas or anyone else—are going to unseat them. , Experience has been that officials of a profit-making cor- poration can proxy themselves into office election after election. Rathven Staying in ffii^vparticular case. Rathvon has become much more interested in his RKO chores than in his activi : ties at Atlas. So. even should Od- ium sell his control. Rathvon would undoubtedly not voluntarily pull out of RKO. Wall street took as a matter of course the indication of Alias's de-. sire to get out. And ' if it doesn'l gel out now. because of the present ruckus, financial sources said, it's just a matter of time, at most. The company is an investment trust, which' makes its profits from sales of its holdings, rather than as an op- erating company. RKO stock is high now and so it seems perfectly nat- ural to downtowners that Odium will start to sell his interest. He'll take his profits and invest them in an- other company that can be built up from the bottom, they say. Result of such selling, of course, will be unsettling on RKO issues, it was said, but in a short time they will find a level commensurate with the company's earnings. That there was no. reason to be disturbed by Ihe Atlas maneuvering was seen by vet financial men in an old Odium quip well known to Wall streeters: "Any- thing Atlas, has is always for sale." As of Dec. 31. 1945. Atlas held 1.329,020 shares of RKO common with a total market value of $21,- 762.702. there are 3.791,000 shares outstanding, with a few large blocks outside of that held by Odium. The report that started the up- heaval was the following statement which Dow-Jones credited to Hatch after a telephonic interview: "Event- ually we are going to sell all or part of our RKO stockholdings, but we have come lo no. definite con- clusion as to how large a block it will be or When the -sale will be made. Possibly it will be by June 30. but it might not be until some time in the fall." According to the Atlas press. de- partment, what Hatch actually told the reporter was not "we are going to sell ail or part." but "we are go- ing to sell part" of the stockholdings Trunk' and 'Spellbound' Indicative Of Playdate Logjam in N. Y. Suhsequents hibilois." Following a conference with Berger here, he announced lhat unless distributors ceased" their "dis- crimination" in Aim deals against the - independent exhibitors and in favor ' of producer-owned theatres, he! would introduce legislation Congress to slop the "practice." in Good Will Pitch When questioned about the Seville deal. Fried admitted he had re- ceived the letter from Harrison ask- ing him if he was interested in re- newing the lease. "I never answered it officially." Fried declared. "I . talked to Mr. Ball i Harry Ball is Harrison's at- torney) and I understood that we were to have discussed the matter. We never did." RESUME AFTER LULL Continue, from pace , =U ( /QUTLAW BOOKINGS three-month tour in this country during which time she's likely to do much "socializing." Djangaroff con- I faded w.k. flacks around Miami of- ' With dales on "The Outlaw" again fering big coin for a six weeks deal pouring Into United Artists, after a prior lo the Argentine actress' lour lull occasioned by producer Howard to Washington, New York, Chicago Hughes' battle with the Motion Pic- and Ihe Coast on a press buildup j lure Association, final outcome of preparatory to getting a pic contrad. : the court fight may. well be purely Cash was offered on the line, plus - ' expenses, with the proviso that the press agent guarantee a good press and that he keep mum if not in- terested in deal. Djangaroff also conducted flacks in New York and on the Coast, after being turned down by the locals. She received a good press in Miami due to tiff between David O. Selz- ; nick and Jennifer Jones and the; CJoint Exchanges — Continued from pate 9 UWP plans lo employ other com panies' facilities, but they are both lookihg on it as a permanent and economic solution of their film-han- dling problem. Ultimate of this trend of doubling up is the common exchange for eight or 10 or 12 com panies. > Advantages Advantages, of course, are obvious. Instead of each company maintain- ing the space and staff necessary for storage, inspection and' shipping of prints, it would all be centralized, saving both money and trouble. There would be considerably more economy in transportation, too. since delivery trucks could back up to the platform of the exchange center and pick up all companies' prints at once, instead of making numerous stops Weiss, From 20th Studio, Huddling With Schlatter Charlie Schlaifer. 20th-Fox ad-pub chief, and George Weiss, studio (tack, are currently huddling at the h.o. on plans for exploiting the forthcoming slate of top 20th Alms, Confabs are in line with the com- pany's recently-established policy of closer liaison between the studio and h.o. publicity staffs. Since many of the 20lh's new films will be musicals, special em- phasis is being placed on exploiting these pix through radio and rec- ords. Schlaifer and Weiss also laid plans for the preem of "Centennial Summer," scheduled for Philadelphia in July, and for preems of "Smoky" in Denver and Salt Lake City in June. Huddles wind up tomorrow iThursday), when Weiss heads back to the Coast. academic. Film is Slated to open in j Rnd lugging heavy prints around RKOs $3,675,953 Net For First 13 Weeks Substantially Oyer '45 RKO and its subsidiaries chalked up a nek profit of $3,679,953 for the, first quarter of the current year after' all taxes and charges. The company scored a substantial gain over the -$1,141,044 profit for the comparative period of '45. The take is equivalent to 97c per share of the 3,791,661 shares of common out- standing at the ena of the quarter. Company's net profits for the year 1945 totaled $6,031,085, after taxes and o(her charges, as against $5,206,- 378 for the preceding year. Neither the RKO parent company nor RKO Radio Pictures, its sub- sidiary, had any funded debt in pub- lic hands, according to the annual report. Also disclosed was that the refinancing of theatre subsidiary debt in February. "45. by new 3% debentures of RKO Theatres, Inc.. brought about the retirement of substantially all previously existing theatre funded debt. The refinan- cing, the report said; gave RKO an increase of working capital of some $10,000,000. bringing the total work- ing capital of the company and its subsidiaries to approximately $39,- 000.000 as against $15,000,000 a,t the beginning of 1940. All'but 2,019 shares of the 6% preferred stock, called for redemp- tion early this year, was converted into common slock, the report said. This resulted in the issuance of 903,- 608 additional shares of common. The conversion, the report states, permitted the transfer of a large part of the cash provided for the financing plan to RKO's working capital. Pointing lo the overall improve- ment in its financial position, the report noted a reduction of the out- standing funded debt of subsidiaries and of preferred stock from $39,500,- 000 at Ihe beginning of '40 lo the current sum of $22,200,000. The company has thereby benefited by the slashing of interest charges and dividends from a $2,200,000 figure in '40 to $670:000 currently. Dividends on common stock have recently been Initiated at $1.20' annually, the re- port adds. Stockholders' annual meet Is set for June 5 at RKO's principal office in Dover. Reelection of incumbent directors is being sought in proxies out to stockholders. Indicative of how the booking jam is worsening is inability or Warner Bros, to find room ror "Saratoga Trunk" on the RKO circuit in the Greater New York area until Au- gust. It . came oft a 23-week run at WB's own Broadway showcase the Hollywood. April 30, but must lay idle in the entire N. Y. and sur- rounding territory until RKO can play it: Meantime, "Saratoga" » blanketing the rest of the country with the same, true of other top films such as "Spellbound," for ex- ample, which recently completed a long run at the Astor in N. Y. While the booking logjam is' not confined to N. Y., the long runs pictures are getting in the No. l key of the nation is piling,up a large amount of film that can't get im- mediate, dating. Many . independent towns having national release in the area served out of N. Y. are also having their troubles in. absorbing film, not only because of voluntary extension of runs but also because distributors are demanding extra time on top pictures as part of the contract: One of the reasons, also, why re- peat engagements are now being dis- couraged by most dislribs is that too many new pictures arc reposing in Ihe vaults waiting for dales. It's Different In Chi Chica to. May ,7. Speed-up in release of new pro- duct is apparent, in Chicago cur- rently, with nary a reissue on tap. A year ago this time it was another story. There were seven reissues on Loop screens in the course of one week just a year ago: "Sign of the Cross." "Topper,"' "Wuthering Heights." "Rembrandt," "Divorce of Lady X." "Barbary Coast" and "Resurrection.*' It's a different story now, however, with such current national releases as "Blue Dahlia," "Outlaw." "To- morrow Is Forever," "Ziegfeld Fol- lies," "Sentimental Journey." "Dra- gonwyck," "Bandit of Sherwood Forest," "So Goes My Love" and "Wife of Monte Crislo" playing. Speedup applies to Ihe nabes too, of course. And need it be added lhat the Jackson Park, which recent- ly filed another suit for damages allegedly suffered as a result of Chi a release system, is one of the bene- ficiaries? six cities tomorrow (Thursday) and- more next week. Hughes" request for an injunction to prevent ihe MPA from interfer- ing, in any way with the showing of Ihe film is now on the U. S. District Court docket in New York for May 16. Hearing on the temporary in- junction [ request was originally scheduled for last week, but was press when the former refused air postponed .at request of attorneys; interviews and went off on a fishing . who claimed they hadn't time to pre- frip. Miss Thamar went all-out to'pare their cases. In the meantime, entertain the scribes. MPA is under a restraining order Miss Thamar insists that the only not to take any action, reason she is seeking a Hollywood ! By the lime any final decision is contract is that she doesn't -.earn , handed down In the legal maneuver-, enough from pic work in S. A. Also. ' ing. which will require months. "The though related to ex-King Zog ! Outlaw" undoubtedly will have in a through her husband, the wealthy | considerable share of its *U. S. rent- ex-monarch is opposed to her career, j als. Openings this week include In- . Miss Thamar, last week in passing dianapolis, Kansas' City. Louisville. Rochester. St. Louis and Wilming- ton. On the schedule so far for next week are Nashville and Houston, No decision has been reached on through New York, was received by Acting Mayor Vincent Impelletieri. Her publicity affairs; while in New York, are being handled by Patricia Morey. As foreseen by distribution men, one company could build and oper- ate the exchange centers in all cit- ies. This outfit could be an inde- pendently-financed' firm or jointly financed by all companies which use its facilities, thus making it a profit- sharing venture and saving dTslribs still further coin. Although the opposition of unions is seen as no small hurdle to be jumped, since joint handling of prints' .would undoubtedly reduce manpower requirements, distribution men predict (hat it iynot insur- mountable. Same mu/ber of' em- ployees as are now usejU by the com- panies individually cJuld be taken on for the joint job," with some of them having- little to do, and there would still be a considerable saving in exchange operations, it is said, On the other hand, since the plan would be more economic than pres- ent methods, exchange operating company could afford to pay better a house for the New York opening, i wages than arc now given. Hazcn Back s: Continued from past I E penned by Douglas Shearing. De- cision on whether the latter is to be filmed in the U. S. or England will also be ma«le following Wall is' re- turn. There's plenty of story ma- terial in England, Hazen 'said, but not enough studio space to take ad- vantage of it. Wallis Want* Ml Hand Hollywood, May 7. Hal Wallis will start dickering with Henry Ginsberg for Ray Milland to star in one of Wallis' productions to be made in England. Wallis returns this week from England and has ac- quired "For Her to See" with Mil- land in mind. . ' ■ ' * Understood, because of studio shortage, Wallis will stall production in England until next' March or April. WCAU Sale Continued from pace I □ bilious plans for its. new venture, including the building of a $3,000,000 project at Broad and Spring Garden streets to house both the newspaper and radio and tele .stations. Square- block site was acquired by WCAU I wo years ago. Plans call for the construction of one building lo house the radio and tele studios, with an auditorium connecting it to the newspaper plant. Record will also construct a color rotogravure plant on the site to print Parade, Marshall Field's Sun- day newspaper supplement. Record expects lo print nil issues of Parade for nationwide distribution by the Field interests. Philly paper also plans to erect a 612 - foot television transmitting tower. Record will follow the tele pattern set up by WCAU last week, when the station withdrew its appli- cation for a black and while video license to await the advent of color television. WCAU is the second radio station bought by J. David Stern; Record prexy arid owner of the Courier Post.'Camden, N.-.1. Six years ago Stern bought WHAT, 250-watter, which he relinquished 18 months later after an unsuccessful attempt to have the station's power in- creased. Each of Philly's three large news- papers now own large radio stations and the Record's acquisition, is ex- pected to carry the paper's Demo- cratic party line into the radio field. Both the Evening Bulletin, owners of WPEN, and the Inquirer, owners of WFIL, are Republican papers. Haggott Bows With 'Becky' Hollywood. May 7. First chore for John Haggott under his new producer contract at Colum- bia will be "Becky Sharp." based on the William Makepeace Thackeray' novel. "Vanity Fair." Before joining Columbia. Haggott was production manager for the Theatre Guild in New York. .