Variety (May 1946)

Wedncwlay* May 22, 1946 PICTURES 'OUTLAW SOURS CENSOR DRIVE With Rank and Spitz-Goetz s 8 Pix Each, UWP Can Add Only 4 Others ■'• Although' a ''flock of indie pro- ducers have been attempting to set release deals with United World pictures, there will be room for very little of their product, prez Matty Fox said this week. Regarding re- ports of various negotiations with UWP, Fox pointed out that the new distributing setup is being geared for no more than 20 films a year and doesn't aim to handle any more than that. . . , Of the 20 pix, Fox stated eight would come from . the J. Arthur Rank organization in England and at least eight more would come from Spitz-Goetz's International Pic- tures in this country, as has been previously disclosed. He emphasized that the International pact called for a "minimum of eight." " Thus, the maximum number of additional pic- tures that UWP could handle would be four. Fox admitted that negotiations are now in progress for pix to fill, the vacant slots. He made it clear that UWP is listening to offers to make up the 20 total, but reiterated the company's policy of handling only high-budgeters. Talks have been held by UWP execs with David Loew and Charles Einfeld oh possibility of .releasing their Enterprise productions, but Fox stated there is definitely no deal in prospect. Enterprise is planning quantity of production beyond what UWP could handle under the de- cision not to exceed 20 releases a year. Sam Wood's Int'l Indie Hollywood, May 21. Sam Wood closed a deal for his own production unit at International, covering three pictures, first of which will be made in England, for ■ United World Pictures release. Starter will be "Ivy," a Marie , Belloc-Lowndes tale with an Eng- lish background.' In addition to "Ivy," Wood owns film rights to The Land Is Bright," "Turnip's Blood" and "Tatiana." Twin City Indie Exhibs Unperturbed'by Record Fix Earnings, Stock Splits Minneapolis, May 21. Many of the Minneapolis and St. Paul independent exhibitor leaders, including pfexy Bennie Berger of North Central Allied, are admitted- ly heavy holders of picture stocks and while fighting for lower film rentals and against percentage, find themselves in the position of not . being especially annoyed by the record-breaking film company earn- ings and stock splits, increased di- vidends and huge rise in stock mar- ket prices through which they're now benefitting, it has developed . here. The smaller exhibs, who have been unable to participate in the stock market boom, now are agitating for ■ Berger and the other, leaders to. use the "stupendous" Paramount earn- ings and the similar unprecedented Prosperity of other companies, as attested by earnings statements and. stock market price advances, as an argument for federal government action to force down rentals. While Merger is behind the U. S. Senator "ilham Langer move for a price eeihng on film rentals, setting them Mck to the 1941 level, he has issued a mild statement on film company earmngs—i, statement which isn't setting well with the smaller fry in North Central Allied. ,.,wv small ? r ^ are wondering whether Berger and their other lead- t !i m , ay not have "divided loyalties" «na conflicting interests" and there even has been questioning of the propriety of independent exhibitor r„f. ania ''on leaders being stock- elders in picture companies. If nas been pointed out that industry •eaders taking federal offices that might be used to further their in- terests are invariably called upon, as a matter of propriety, to divest tnemselves of stock holdings. Slight Switch • Minneapolis, May 21. Frank Mclnerny, ■ Minneapolis Times columnist, has dug up an' ordinance enacted here in 1897 and still on the statute books, but not enforced, that. prohibits the wearing of hats, bonnets or any headgear in theatres. A violation calls for a fine of $5 to $25, or a jail term of from 5-30 days. But the joker, is that there's no penalty for the person who unlawfully wears the hat during a performance in a thea- tre. ' It's against the theatre man- ager in whose house the offense is committed. Par-RK0PooI(5) In Rochester 2d To Be Dissolved In line with the policy of Para- mount favoring dissolution of pools, as reported exclusively in Variety recently, the company is divorcing itself from RKO theatres in Rochv ester, N. Y., on expiration of the contract Aug, 31. Pool in Rochester, involving two RKO houses, the Pal- ace and Temple, and three of Par's, the Century, Regent and Capitol, has been in force. for many years and marks the second RKO-Par pooling arrangement to be broken up. Other was Minneapolis. , The three Par theatres in Roch- ester are controlled by Monroe Amusements, Inc., a subsidiary of Pennconn Corp., which is owned 50% by Paramount and 50% by the Comerford circuit. According to Par sources, no other pools are as yet- set for dissolution. Company is involved in a large number throughout the country, both with other major companies and Independent exhibitors. POE 100% WITH LESSER, GIVING UP ANDY STONE With indie producer Sol Lesser planning to hypo his production slate, Seymour Poe, his eastern rep, has terminated the pact under which he similarly represented Andrew Stone. Poe has handled Stone's past three pictures, released via United Artists. Formerly assistant western divi- sion salcsmanager for UA, Poe has repped Lesser since 1941 and also supervised distribution on a number of David Loew production. Equity Studios Site teased in Hollywood Hollywood, May 21. George J. Schaefcr and Jack Schwartz announced signing of a long term lease on land in Holly- wood for the construction of a film lot to be known as Equity Studios. Schacfer is prexy and chairman of the newly formed banking group, Equity Capital Corp., and of Equity Studios, Inc. Schwartz is veepce and treasurer. Understood Schaefer is negotiat- ing financial and distribution deals with producers, who will be afforded production facilities when the new lot is constructed. BURNS BOTH SIDES Move toward liberalization of cen- sorship, both inside and outside the industry, has been pretty well shelved by the current ruckus over "The Outlaw." As a matter of fact, present indications are that in place of the start that was made toward easing both industry self-regulatory measures^ and local political censor- ship, films are now faced with in- creasing threats from bluc-pencillers all along the line. That's what has both liberal and conservative forces within the indus- try so burned at what .they consider producer Howard Hughes' unrealr istic attitude in insisting on exhibit- ing "The Outlaw" in its more lurid version and in using advertising so questionable ["How would you like to tussle with Russell?"] that most magazines wouldn't even accept it. One of the' things that has all ele- ments of the industry concerned is that 41 of the 48 state legislatures will meet in the fall and many of them ■ are going to Arid censorship legislation on their agendas, some of it directly attributable to. "The Out- law." In Delaware, for instance, the picture has already, brought forth' definite promises of restrictive legis- lative action. The industry is regularly "threat- ened with the war whoop 6f the bluehoses when slate lawmaking bodies get into action. In most cases it has been possible to fight off the legislation through , more moderately-minded representatives (Continued on page 6) Einfeld-Loew Huddle Columbia, U, And Others in N.Y. on Distribution Film Divvys Up Washington, May 21. Film industry dividends for the first quarter of 1946 are well ahead of the same period last year according to Commerce Dept. figures. Melon cut for the quarter amounts to $8,392,000. Contrasted with $5,663,000 for the first three months of 1945. Indication is of a record-breaking year if the pace continues. The March divi- dends were a sock $5,894,000, al- most $1,000,000 above the $4,982,- 000 figure for the same month last year. BUTLER TO PHOT 'DAY' Hollywood, May 21.. Warners assigned David Butler as director on the forthcoming fea- ture, "Tomorrow Is Another Day." Filming starts in June, with Owen Crump as producer. Swanson Heads Vitavision Corp. Cal Swanson has resigned from the J. Walter Thompson ad agency after many years as an account exec to head the International Vitavision Corp., a three-dimensional film out- fit. Matty Fox, president of United World Pictures and a former exec of Universal, is a principal owner of Vitavision. Swanson handled the U account for JWT. Swanson is prexy of the new com- pany, which owns a process for pro- viding three-dimensional pix with- out the use of either a viewing de- vice or polaroid appliances. It will be first employed for advertising dis- plays and slide films, with applica- tion to motion pictures definitely coming, but still somewhat in the future, according to Swanson. Principal shareholders with Fox in the corporation are General Royal B. Lord, who was Eisenhower's chief of staff; Robert Nathan, former chairman of the planning commit- tee of the War Production Board, in which capacity he was at one time Fox's boss; and Lauchlin Cur- rie, an engineer and principal ad- viser to the late President Roosevelt. In addition to Universal, Swanson handled the Lever Bros. (Lux)., New York' Subways Advertising Co. and Reynolds Metals accounts for the Thompson agency. He was respon- sible for "editorializing" the New York subways with the "Mp\ \e-of- the-Month" posters, "Miss Subways," "Household Hints," etc. 0'SEAS ENTERTAINMENT TROUPES SET IN H'WOOD ' . Hollywood, May 21; Two flying troupes of film players will be formed here for USO-Camp Shows to entertain troops stationed in Japan and Germany. ' At request of Generals Eisenhower and Mac- Arthur, the Hollywood Coordinating Committee starts assembling the troupers this week. Pacific tourists will open July 4 in Tokyo and the German preem. will be held -in Nuremberg Stadium on the same day. , Lawrence Phillips, Camp Shows executive vecpee, is slated t.o arrive on the Coast this week to set up the shows, Ms $6241,953 Net 1st Quarter Nearly 50% of'45 Reflecting the general excellence of film business during January, February and March of this year, 20th Century-Fox's first quarter statement, issued yesterday (Tues.), disclosed that the corporation earned in 90 days, almost exactly half of what it made during the entire year of 1945. Net for the quarter ended March 30 was $6,241,953, compared with last year's/first quarter earn- ings of $2,855,485. Paramount's earnings first quar- ter this year of over $11,500,000 likewise equaled net for all of 1945. Board, following 20th's annual meeting yesterday, declared a quar- terly cash dividend of $1.12% on the prior preferred,'payable June 15 to stockholders of record June 7. Quar- terly dividend of 37%c. on converti- ble preferred was also declared, pay- able June 28 to stockholders of rec- ord June 7. Same dates apply on the common, which Was cut in for. 75c. a share. Earnings, after deducting divi- dends on the two types of preferred, amounted to $2.53 per share on the 2,365,477 shares outstanding. Last year's figure was $1.53 on the 1,824,- 711 shares that were out then. Fox's profit for first three months of 1946, reflecting still further the uptrend, was a tilt of more than $1,000,000 over the last three months of 1945. Rentals, Theatre Biz Up Another, indication of how busi- ness went this year is the figures on 20th's gross income from film rentals and theatre receipts, partially ac- counted for by the company's great (Continued on page 26) With both . Charles Einfeld and David Loew in New York this week to talk release deals for their Enter- prise Productions, it has been defi- nitely learned that they've come to no decision on distribution as yet. A huddle Monday (20) night that lasted well into Tuesday morning was held with a delegation of top Columbia execs, but still equal pos- sibilities are a number of other deals. Loew, Einfeld and their attorney, David Tannenbaum, have also left open discussions with Universal, United Artists, RKO, United World Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn. Even Paramount was being men- tioned as a possibility, since in 60 days Enterprise has accumulated a list of name players that is exceeded only by that of Metro. Loew and Einfeld are not ex- pected to come to any conclusion during their current New York stay. They'll return to the Coast this weekend to mull the various eastern proposals still further and then probably be back east within a short time for the final negotia- tions. One of the delays in coming to a decision is the complexity and vari- ety of deals being discussed. For in- stance, the RKO negotiations are for a tieup which is entirely different from that talked with Columbia. And; naturally, should an associa- tion be made with Goldwyn's pro- jected new distributing company, that would be on an entirely differ ent basis again. Einfeld and Loew have not been in a hurry to close a deal, for one thing, because they feel that A num- ber of top industry execs do not re- alize the extent of the production values they have piled up, not only in names, but in story. properties and studio space and equipment. Their major point is that they are not in business on a capital gains basis, but are planning a permanent and long-range operation. Colin Miller, exec assistant to Einfeld, who has also been in New York, will return to the Coast Thursday (23). Retirement Plan OK'd Stockholders of 20th-Fox at their annual meeting in New York yes- terday (Tuesday) approved the re-, tirement plan recently proposed for employes. Board also reelected all officers and directors. Officers renamed to serve until 1947 include Spyros Skouras, presi- dent; W. C. Michel, exec v.p.; Dar- ryl F. Zanuck, v.p. in charge of pro- duction; Thomas J. Connors, v.p. in charge of sales; Murray Silverstone, v.p.; Joseph H. Moskowitz, v.p.; Dohald A. Henderson, treasurer; Wilfred J. Eadie, comptroller and assistant treasurer; Felix A. Jenkins, secretary; Read B. Simonson, assist- tant treasurer; Fred L. Metzler, as- sistant treasurer; C. Elwood Mc- Cartney, assistant comptroller; J. Harold Lang, assistant secretary; George F. Wasson, jr., assistant sec- retary; . William Werner, assistant secretary. Board members reelected were L. Sherman Adams, Robert L. Clarkson,. Connors, • John R. Dillon> Eadie, Daniel O. 'Hastings, Hender- son, Jenkins, Robert Lehman, Mi- chel, William P. Philips, Seton Por- ter, Silverstone, Skouras and Zanuck. Effective date of the retirement plan is Jan. 1, 1946, subject to a fa- vorable ruling of the Commission of Internal Revenue that it. will qualify as a tax exempt trust. 'Golden Dozen' Perusal Reveals No Set Formula For Top Boxoffice Pix Film market researchers and an- alysts, who are examining the cur- rent crop of top coin-making pro- ductions for a magic formula with which -to sell future films, • are not going to find a simple answer. Box- office reports across the country provide no clue to the single ele- ment, or combination of elements, that go to make a film into a surefire drawing card. The only thing the bo. figures do reveal is that film- goers arc lining up at the wickets for any type of picture, whether its theme is sex or psychiatry, just so > long as' it has that intangible qual- ity of entertainment value and that, tangible quality of w.k^ marquee names. Check of the "golden dozen" list- ed in May 8 Variety shows that among the current heaviest money- makers there was one film on a re- ligious theme.'one psycho, one com- edy, one on dipsomania, a Gable- Carson combo, two mellers, three musicals, and two films that can be considered as sexers. "The Out- law," a terrific turnstile-spinner wherever it's shown although not included among the top 12 due to censorship tangles, can be included in the last classification. Neither is there any clear pattern discernible among the newest re- leases that look like record-break- ers on the basis of early receipts. Doing big business on Broadway currently are one Disney feature,one Bette Davis starrer, one Danny Kaye comedy* one pic on adoles- cence, three hard-boiled mellers, and only one film that accents the sex angle.