Variety (May 1946)

20 PICTURES Wednesday, May 13, 19 Ui Schine Proposes Realignment In NX Ohio and Md.-Ky.-Del. Corps. Buffalo, May 14. Outline of a plan of "re-aligiiment" of its theatre chain by the organiza- tion of three separate corporations which has been submitted by Schine Theatres, Inc., to Federal Judge John Knight was revealed at a brief hearing ■ in the judge's chambers. Complete details of the plan were not divulged but Schine lawyers in- dicated that the general idea of the plan was to form three separate cor- porations with Schine retaining stock interest in each but with con- trol of each unit resting in trustees under voting trust agreements. Schine counsel stated that the com- plete printed plan handed to Judge Knight the day before, for study in advance, would "accomplish all that the court desires," . although em- phasis was placed on the fact that Schine is not waiving any rights to appeal to the U. S. Supreme Court from the court's order directing re- organization of the chain. Under the "realignment," one cor- poration would control all Schine theatres in New York state; all Schuie Ohio theatres would be op eratod by another corporation: and a third corporation would operate all Schine theatres in Maryland Kentucky and Delaware. Family Control Judge Knight pointed out that the retention of family control remained a fundamental question under the proposed plan and that, while there appeared to be a separation of own- ership into the three units in a defi- nite and perhaps a practical way, there might still remain the objec- tion or at least the question as to whether the groups were controlled at the head by stock ownership. Schine counsel replied that there would be separate control of each corporation by the trustees of each unit and that the only right retained by the beneficial owners (Schine) would be the right to profits. They stated that they recognized the court's objection to common control, and that the setting up of separate trustees of each unit under a voting trust would accomplish the purpose sought by the court and leave the bcncflicial owners nothing except the right to dividends. Schine rep- resentatives also protested that Schine wished to "conduct his busi- ness on the same standards as others, if a standard is set," that the Schine theatres had signed and had operated under the NRA 'Code, and that it seemed unfair now that they should be compelled to operate un der conditions which do not apply to any of the other thousands of theatres in the United States. They argued further that if the Schine plan were put into effect each cor poration would control a unit which would be comparatively small in numbers; that there would be "scpa rate, independent booking": and that, in .act, "many other individual units arc larger than any one of the three proposed by the plan." Attoiney Robert L. Wright of the U. S. Attorney-General's Washing- ton, staff was not present, but it was staled by a representative of the Buffalo U. S. Attorney's office that Wright had advised him by phone of the essential features of the Schine proposal and had stated that "as far as. he (Wright) can sec, the plan docs not materially alter the present situation." Proceedings were postponed until May 28 with the understanding that In the meantime the Department of Justice will study the plan and in- form Schine by May 20 whether it has any further objections thereto. Red Cross' Idea Opposition to ohe-a-year the- atre collections has been voiced by the American Red Cross. Word to that effect was sent by Basil O'Connor, Red Cross head, to St. Louis during the Ameri- can Theatres Assn. sessions early in April. Depending on theatre hat- passing for approximately 50% cf its annual take, the RC views the ATA restriction as a'potcn-. tial blow to its fund-raising chances. RKO Sets 16m To Oust Jackrabbits RKO is currently laying plans to set up 16m exchanges in all key cities. According to persistent but unconfirmed rumors, the company hopes to sell its regular product on narrow-gauge stock* to its 35m- ac- counts, as a step towards erasing un- fair competition from the so-called 16m jackrabbit exhibs. Company execs reportedly believe that there is a fertile market, still largely unexploited, for 16m enter- tainment pix in this country, and instead of having this business go to the fly-byrnight exhibs, will try to convince their regular accounts to take over. RKO's line of reason- ing, it's believed, runs this way: 'An exhib operating a theatre in a small town usually draws about 10<:o of the population from the sur- rounding small communities once or twice a week. If that exhib. how- ever, were to take a 16m mobile unit into those surrounding commu- nities, he could draw from 80-100% of the population. With new product available to him, the exhib could quickly force out of the running any jackrabbit, who heretofore has been forced to rely on only the old rer issues, ' or independently-produced 16m pix. While RKO execs have not denied the reports of the hew venture, it's also considered significant that the company failed to renegotiate its contract with International Theat- rical & Television, which had handled domestic distribution of RKO's 16m product in the past. Wm. Goldman Says He'll Sue Anew on Erlanger Philadelphia, May 14. William Goldman will file a new damage suit against Warners and the major distrlbs in behalf of the Erlanger as soon as the current liti- gation Is settled, it was learned this week. Damages asked by Goldman in the suit now being wound, up in Federal Court only cover the period September, 1941, the date he leased the house, to December, 1942, date the $1,350,000 suit was filed. Addi- tional damages from December, 1942 to the present will be asked by Gold- .man in the new suit. Testimony to determine .actual damages sustained by Goldman by alleged "freezeout" by the majors of first run for the Erlanger finished on Friday tlO). Judge William H. Kirk- patrick ordered both sides to submit briefs and: then indicated that he would render a decision before July 1. Judge Kirkpatrick facetiously re- marked that he knew that whatever amount he set as damages would be applied by either side and pointed out that the Circuit Court of Ap- peals would hardly be able to take up thcease before the fall. Once-a-Year Theatre Plate-Passing Keys New Charity-Drive Headaches 'Must Pass the Hat' Omaha, May 14. You've gotta stick a tincup under their noses here. Cancer results in the theatres of the dis- trict were terrible when sparked only by trailers, lobby signs and stories. Picked j up when chair- man Bill MIskell of Tristales ordered collections.- FORD RAFFLE A RIOT AT BECK'S CHI NABE Chicago, May 14. Longshot chance of getting n new car brought more payees to Hovard. Beck's northsidc Tiffin lecently than Sinatra in person could have pulled, according to Beck. Eight hours before the raffle of the 1946 Ford a mob estimated between 7,000 and 10,000 by division fire mar- shal John Redmond overflowed the nabe theatre and adjacent strct-'s. To forestall a riot, the marshal oidcrcd the theatre closed, once. it was packed, until the drawing was com- pleted, with extra police squads brought out to keep order. Winner was 20-year-old Florence Otto, and with the car, which was furnished by a merchants' associa- tion, came 100 gallons of gas—culfo— from a neighboring fill-up station. Cbi's Oriental Theatre And Building Involved In Shareholders Suit Chicago. May 14. Order restraining everyone con nectcd with the 32 West Randolph Corp. and Oriental Entertainment Corp.. as Essaness circuit subsidiary from transferring any assets of the Loop building corporation, or dis- posing of any assets "outside of the usual course of business," and sub jec't to accounting by Federal Court was entered here last week. Order, entered by Federal Judge William J. Campbell, followed a mo lion by lawyers for bondholders in the building housing the Oriental theatre, which was recently leased to Essaness, to appoint a temporary trustee to take possession of. the property. For the term of the temporary re- straining order, Judge Campbell re- ferred the case, through which shareholders are trying to set aside the recent purchase of the "32 Corp.'' and subsequent lease of the Oriental to Essaness. to a mastcr-in- chancery, who will be assigned this week, on question of which court actually has jurisdiction over the case. ' Bondholders have Tiled suit in Federal Court and stockholders in Circuit Court. Judge Campbell, however, restrained prosecution in the latter court, ruling it can't ap- point a receiver nor sell the assets till question of jurisdiction is set. Managers Guild Plans Organizing Theatres In N.Y. and Nationally Citing that the membership, of the Motion Picture Theatre Operating Managers fc Assistant. Managers Guild regarded its victory over the RKO circuit in the New York area as a highly important one, George Dunn, chairman, declares the guild will how proceed to organize other theatre chains throughout the coun- try. Guild has received inquiries in this connection, including circuits in the N. Y. territory. Guild contract with RKO, cover- ing managerial help in 41 N. Y. and Westchester county theatres, the first of its kind negotiated; was signed at the RKO homeoffice Mon- day (13). Agreement which runs for two years includes strong protection against discrimination of any kind,' with specific agreement on the part of the company giving protection to all members of the guild in ex- ercising membership or carrying on guild activities. It also .calls for grievance machinery to handle dis- putes between guildites and man- agement. Retroactive pay to Dec. 8. 1944 totals $155,000, a gross amount of approximately $2,050 to each man ager and $1,125 to each assistant. Rate ranges of $85 to $140 for man agcrs and $40 to $75 for assistants are provided for, plus establishment of a 50-hour work week, with Plans Anew For N Y, Variety Club With the Variety Clubs' 10th an- nual convention slated to tee off to- day (.Wednesday) at the Hotel As- tor, N.Y., possibility; exists that a New York tent may emerge from the meet. Several attempts have been made in the past to establish a N.Y. chapter, but all fell through. If the tent iS established this year, Variety hopes to absorb the Motion Picture Associates, another show- men's charity org in N.Y. Execs of the latter, however, are reported' averse to such a move. Despite this, several members of the Associates will attend the Variety convention to get background for a possible merger. General business sessions start tomorrow (Thursday) morning and continue through Friday afternoon. New officers and canvasmcn, to be elected at the close of Friday's ses sion, will meet Saturday morning to lay plans for the forthcoming year. Meet will be climaxed Saturday night with the Humanitarian Awatd inner, at which Gen. Evangeline Booth, retired international com- mander of the Salvation' Army, will be awarded a citation as the in dividual who has "contributed most to- the cause of humanity." Citation is accompanied by a $1,000 honor arium. Gen. Booth was selected this year by a committee of more than 50 newspaper editors and radio commentators, all non-members of the Variety Clubs. Ringside* tables at most of the city's niteries have been reserved for the Variety members by Chick Lewis, exec convention chairman, Lewi's has also obtained tickets for several legit shows, which will be distributed on a first-come, first served basis. a timc-nnd-a-half for overtime, vari ous wage increases, vacations with pay. sick leave and severance pay up to equivalent of 12 weeks In officially announcing signing of the contract Malcolm Kingsberg, president of RKO Theatres, stated that he looked upon the managers as an integral part of the manage ment of the company and expressed the hope that the contract would result in a closer relationship be- tween all factors in the management of RKO theatres to the end that the position and responsibilities of the manager be enhanced and made more important. GRAYSON-MAETIN PAIRED Hollywood, May 14. Kathryn Grayson arid Tony Mar- tin will co-star in "The Kissing Ban- dit" at Metro,. Joe Pasternak will produce in Techincolor. Metro assigned Jimmy Durante and Kathryn Grayson to its forth- coming comedy, "It Happened in Brooklyn." LA. TO N.Y. LENSERS' DEAL STILL UNSETTLED A deal yet to be worked out with 10 of the Itollywood studios . con- corns International Photographers of New York, local 644 of the In ternational Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, to cover camera men when shipped east on produc tion work. Local 644 has a five-year blanket contract with the Coast studios which is reopcnable every Jan. 1 on wage scale alone. Awaiting nogotia tion is the third year, of this con tract dating back to last Jan. 1.' . W. A. Lang, business manager of International Photographers, states that negotiations have been unduly delayed due to Inability of Pat Casey, producer labor contact, come cast to huddle on a deal. 1,000-Seater Id Ft. Worth . Fort Worth Construction has started here on a new nabe 1,000-scatcr being built here by Tri-Statcs Theatres Circuit It will be known as the New Poly Pitt Resumes Banquets Pittsburgh. May 14 Variety Club's annual banquet biggest show biz event of the yea here, which was dropped as a .war lime measure in 1942, will be re- sumed. Affair will be held some weekend in November. Date, to be announced later, will coincide with biggest home football game on Pill 1 ! schedule. John H. Harris has been mimed chairman of the committee on ar rangemcnts. Knotty question of charily collec- tions which the St, Louis meet of the American Theatres Assn. sup- posedly settled continues to hex the- atremen with a growing movement oh foot to drop all plate-passing in the coming year. The anti-collec- tions onslaught has gained impetus within ATA's precincts from the ap- parently insoluble problems of ad- ministration which the charities committee has faced in wresting with a blueprint of allocations. One faction, now on the increase, is. maintaining, that the one-a-ycar drive, a St. Louis compromise, is un- workable and that the only answer is a nix on all collections. Already beset by. a flock of appli- cations by charity organizations which did not heretofore slice the theatre melon, the committee has the headache of weeding out a goodly number of these. Complicating fac- tor is.that many organizations which did not share in national drives came in for a cut on local collections. These groups are pressing for an al- lotment which . will be within the range of their previous take! Addcdi cause for bromide is the necessity of going into a multitude of local situations in which the pe- culiarities of each situation requires special treatment. Local charities in many places took a substantial part of community chest drive funds while actively supporting campaigns in their towns. . Exhib committee members point out that a nationally directed campaign would require an army of clerks and administrators to fix and handle apportionment of funds and that when the dust set- tled the probabilities arc that no one - would be satisfied. Tendency has therefore become more pronounced for exhibs mulling the question to throw tip their hands in bewilderment and then press the argument that local theatres should handle their campaigns on a volun- tary basis without national support. At the St. Louis conclave, it is noted, there already was a solid, minority that actively opposed all plate-pass- ing in theatres with the contention that the practice was driving patrons from the theatres. Meanwhile ATA moved ahead with the formulation of publicity plans which calls for the creation of new clearing house for the ex- change Of exploitation ideas among localities. Idea is to have the or- ganization circularize with exhibs any promotional ' stunts aimed at bettering public relations -which were worked successfully in a lo- cality. Data would be collated at the national h.q. and exhibs would be advised as to the results of a local, stunt. ATA publicity reps, operating on a regional voluntary basis, would pitch in with expert advice to aid the grass roots publicity. Indpls.' Variety Contingent Indianapolis, May 14. A party of eight barkers will leavi Indianapolis Tent No. 10 Tuesday (14) to attend the national conven lion of the Variety Clubs of America in New York, May 15-18.. Group will include Sam Switow of Louis ville, chief barker: Lawrence J. Mc Ginley, Marc Wolf, Manny Marcus, Oscar Kurschner, Fred Sorrells, Sam Winebcrg and Carl Niesse. The' local tent was closed Saturday (11) for renovation and redecora- tion. Gridders for Variety Charity Atlanta, May 14. ' First professional pigskin fracas to hit Atlanta will be staged Sept. 28 between the Miami Seahawks and the Brooklyn Dodgers at Grant Stadium with the Variety Club of Atlanta backing the show. Net pro-, ceeds. will go to the Variety Club Charity Fund. which supports both the Dr. Fclton Williams Summer Camp-for girls and the Bankhead Highway Playgrounds. Teams will plane here. The Miami club includes the familiar-to-the- soutli faces of Johnny Bosh of Georgia Tech; Lamar Davis . of Georgia; Jimmy Nelson, Auburn; and Mitchell Olinsky, Alabama. The Brooklyn roster includes Glenn Dobbs of Tulsa; Billy Dailcy, of Minnesota and Wisconsin; and Mar- tin Ruby, Texas A. 4c M. Film Labor Racketeer Johnny Rosselli's N.O. Appeal Before Court New Orleans. May 14. District court Monday (13) look under advisement the case in which John Rosselli of Los Angeles, seeks release from the Atlanta penitentiary, where he is serv- ing a 10-year term for part In a conspiracy involving attempted ex- tortion of "upwards million dollars" from four major film studios. Ros- selli is appealing the ruling of Judge E. Marvin Underwood of Georgia, who, on Nov. 27, 1945, denied the petition of habeas corpus. : In his petition, Roselli claimed that the N. Y. federal court which sentenced him in Dec. 31. 1943 to 10 years and a $10,000 fine was without jurisdiction. Rosselli paid the fine and began serving sentence March Rosselli is one of the Browne-Bioff labor racketeers. 6 Teen-Age Youths Admit Looting Philly Cinemas Philadelphia, May 14. Police yesterday announced they had nabbed a gang of six youths who had confessed to breaking into six Aimers in this area in recent weeks. Robberies admitted to by the teen- agers included: April 20, $153, from the Eureka; April 27, $600, from the Grant; April 27, $250, from the May- fair; undetermined amounts from the New Perin, the Capitol, and $1,232 from the Studio.