Variety (Jul 1946)

Wednesday, July 17, 1946 PICTURES Walsh Vs. Bennett Fireworks Spark Election at Forthcoming IATSE Meet Chicago, July 16. -f A fiery session at the Interna- tional Alliance or Theatrical Stage Employees convention, starting here Monday (22), Is foreseen as .the union's executive board meets here this week. The "Chicago Bennett Committee", which Is pulling for William Bennett of Washington, D C to replace Richard F. Walsh ts president, is circularizing the 1000 delegates with broadsides charging that gangster pals of George E Browne and Willie Bioff. con- victed labor racketeers, stiU, control IATSE Walsh, in a statement to Variety, had no' comment on the Bennett committee's charges, but did say that the deal for taking in film thea- tre managers, as forecast in Variety July 10. will be discussed later this week, when representatives of the N. Y. Motion Picture Theatre Op- erators and Assistant Mgrs. Guild, are due to arrive here. He is still withholding his personal views on this matter "because anything I say now might jam up negotiations." Order of business currently Is dis- cussion of grievances, fines, etc. Walsh also said that a simple con- tract to cover television technicians ■will be studied by the executive board, reiterating that. IATSE in- tends to organize television workers, throughout the county. Something new as far as this con- fab is concerned, Incidentally* is the lavish plan for taking care of the press. Jack Robinson, former Hearst reporter, has been appointed public relations manager, and the theme at the convention, according to Walsh, will be "no secrets," with confabs thrown wide open to news- paper people. Trade and daily rer porters were inclined to sniff at the statement but the fact is that arrangements have been made "fry a press room; press table in the con- vention hall' at the Stevens, etc. Bebb's Blast Pincers movement to oust Walsh, meanwhile, is spearheaded by Ora D. Bebb, former official of Local 110. Chicago Motion Picture Op- erations union, who sent out the letter denouncing the present union administration. This group claims to represent a majority of the unions 1,300 Chicago .members; and Bebb's longtime feud with Gene Atkinson, business manager of the Chicago local, flared into the open when it was revealed the letter has been sent. Atkinson* and Walsh denied charges in the letter, claiming that Browne-Bioff charges ■ fit the op- position more than they do present incumbents, pointing to the fact that Pete Shayne, former union head under the Browne-Bloff regime, is lined up with Bebb as proof. Letter accuses Walsh, who suc- ceeded Browne; of waiting two years before he intervened in "the tangled affairs of Local 110, even (Continued on page 22) RICHARD TALMADGE PREXIES 16M OUTFIT Hollywood, July 16. In reorganization of Planet Pic- tures. lGm producing company, Richard Talmadge, veteran star, has been named prexy, replacing Jack Seaman, who becomes veepee. Har- vey Parry will be vice"prexy in charge of production, having moved up from producer berth. Robert Boweii is now treasurer and Hal Potter secretary. Ray Collings will be In charge of coordinating all company activities, as a veepee. Outfit plans releasing 104 feature-length 16m films through ti.eup with 17 producers, and will handle its owii distribution. Midsummer Madness . From the Long Island home of John O'Hara, where the author is working on a scenario for . Burgess Meredith and Ben Bogeaus, came a frantic call on a problem that grew into a short- lived cause celebre. Phoned for quick consultation on a particu- lar sequence were Benny Good- man; Oscar Levant and various horn men In the Goodman band. The problem: does. eating a. lemon in front-of a trombone player make'the sliphorn man's lips pucker? So far, it's still a moot point. While Hughes Remains Critical MPA Holding Off on'Outlaw'Affair With the condition of Howard Hughes remaining critical, the Mo-? tion Picture Assn. of America has again postponed calling a meeting of its board to decide whether the Production Code seal should be re- voked for "The Outlaw" and whether Hughes should be ousted as a mem- ber of the MPA. Despite the fact that the U. S. District Court in N, Y. has given the MPA free rein to do whatever it wants about the situation, the as- sociation wants to negotiate with Hughes personally. Producer has repeatedly stated that, he has set the advertising policy oh "The Out- law," which the MPA asserts is a violation of the Code. It would be futile, therefore, according to as- sociation execs, to dicker with any other members of the Hughes or- ganization. "Taking any sort of action now," one MPA official declared, "would be tantamount to kicking a man when he's down. That's why we want to wait until Hughes recovers, at. which time we'll call him in to explain his advertising." Roach Wins Again In Suit Vs. Film Classics Appeal- of Film Classics in lhe : suit brought against it . by Hal Roach Productions for termination of the. reissue contract to "Topper" was turned down yesterday (Tuesday) by the U. S. Circuit Court of Ap- peals. 'Circuit court upheld the action of the district court in dismissing the counterclaim filed against Roach by FC and rescinded the 1944 contract, which gave FC exclusive reissue rights to the pic- ture. In handing down its decision, the circuit court said that FC's failure to pay royalties which concededly had accrued was "deliberate and with- out justification." and that Roach, having complied with the terms of the contract, was justified in re- scinding the contract.' Royalties of $36,967 were paid by FC during the time elasped between the two court actions. Schoenstadt Hearing Vs. Chains on Nov; 4 Chicago, July 16. Date for hearing the Piccadilly Theatre - (Schoenstadt circuit) triple damage suit, for $6,750,000 against eight distribs, the. Balaban & Katz and Warner chains here was set as Nov. 4 in U. S- District Court last week by Judge Philip L. Sullivan. . Damages incurred by the alleged monopoly that kept them out of the running, clearance-wise, cOver a five-year period ending in Septem- ber, 1943, according to the suit. Breen to Cue Brit Prods, on Scripts London, July 16. In a London press conference Joe Breen, veepee of the Motion Pic- ture Association of .American, hinted at the possibility of English pro- ducers submitting their scripts prior to shooting to an MPAA board. Move would eliminate the necessity for extensive cutting of English films which, the. Britishers allege, has been going on in:the U. S. Breen is currently in England to outline to British producers the re- quirements of the American producr tion code administration and to help their pictures avoid trouble with the American censor board. The MPAA veepee strenuously denied reports that "Henry V," "Rake's Progress," "Wicked Lady," and other British pictures had been extensively cut in the U. S. Breen, also gave a general hint that there might be changes pending in the current production code. Theatre Mgrs. Also To Get in on RKO Bonuses Resuming theatre department bo- nuses. RKO has already made a d'vvy to district managers based upon business during 1045 and is Planning to do the same for indi- vidual theatre managers whose showing entitles them to a bonus. Amounts to be paid will be based upon gross business. done, meritori- ous performance of duty, exploita- tion efforts and other points. . Recently at an RKO circuit get- 'Ofiether, Malcolm Kingsberg, presi- dent of RKO Theatres, indicated he was anxious to resume annual pay- •nent of bonuses to managers and Strict heads. - Pressburger, A. W. Kelly, Harman-Ising's UA Deals Three new United Artists product deals, including two feature-length cartoons, were announced last week by pre-xy Edward C, Raftcry fol- lowing meetings of -the. company's board of directors. Cartoons, to be turned out by Harman-Ising productions, will be titled "King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table" and "The Little Prince." Second deal involves the production- of "Last Year's Snow" by Arnold Pressburger. Based on an original story, the film has been, budgeted at over $1,500,000 and will star Hedy Lamarr and George San- ders. UA will also distribute two fea- tures to be turned out by the indie company recently formed by Arthur W. Kelly, former UA veepee. First of these will be based on the Edmund Goulding play. "The Ryan Girl" and the second will be adiiplcd from "Half Caste," . Eric Baume novel." . Vox-Popping, at Breen Indicating that some of the thea- tre-going public may be veering toward the opinion, already held by many industry officials, that the Production Code is "outdated," a N. Y. Times reader last Sunday (14) blasted. Joseph I. Breen for going to England in order to "attempt to stifle British pictures, too." In a letter to the Times' film editor, the reader declared that . "if J. Arthur Rank of England'thinks his pictures should conform to Holly- wood's interpretation of morals, that's his own affair. But'Mr. Breen shouldn't- help him in his attempt to force this belief on competing. English producers. True, Mr. Breen is to visit London at Mr. Rank's invitation, but I'm sure that if I were a British film producer, I would very definitely resent even the mere suggestion of an 'outsider' attempting to tell me what was moral and what wasn't." Before leaving for England July 9, Breen stated emphatically that any advice he hands out to the British does not signify the inten- tion of producers on either side of the Atlantic to "dictate the future course Of either country's film pro- duction." Jackson Park's Previous Findings Held Applicable by Court in NewSirit To Abolish Chicago Release System Increased Comfort Chicago, July 16. Increased comfort for film-' ' goers is in the bag now. A noiseless paper bag has. been developed by the American Paper Goods Co., which last week announced it will have its non • cracking, noii - rustling candy, peanut and popcorn con? tainers in mass production in a few months. Now things will be easier for screen fans who prefer their sound effects solely from the sound track. Now all somebody has to in- .vent is a snore muffler, odorless peanuts and collapsible knees. Par's Single-Selling Of Final Block Plus Previous Other Films In addition to selling each pic- lure in its final block of five this sea- son (1945-46) singly, Paramount will offer any other releases from prior blocks where they have not as yet been sold. In other words, company will permit accounts to buy solo any pictures that remain unsold; regard- less of when they were originally made available. No competitive bidding procedure has been set up pending entry of a decree but in the interim period Par will conform to the provisions of,the ■ recent U. S. anti-trust decision with respect to eliminating block selling. In its current package of five, winding up the current film year, are "Searching Wind," "Swamp Fire," "Strange Love of Martha Ivers," "O. S. S." and "Monsieur Beaucaire." However, pending re- cent decision to sell everything sin- gly, Par was planning to lift "Beaucaire" out of. this block for marketing alone. Kanin-Ruth Gordon In Int'l Script Deal Hollywood,. July 16. William Goetz inked Garson kanin and Ruth Gordon to turn in an original screenplay, "The Art of Murder," for International on a percentage deal. Filming starts next January, for release through United World Pic- tures. Post-Jackson Park Suit Is Louisville Exhib Vs. All Majors Further repercussions from the Jackson Park case and the anti-trust decision were heard last week when Albert J. Hoffman, owner, aild Fifth & Walnut, Inc., lessee and operator of the National Theatre, Louisville, Ky.. filed a triple damage action for $2,100,000 against the major film companies in N. Y. federal court. Complaint charges that the defend- ants illegally conspired to keep all first run product in Louisville only in certain designated houses and have thereby built up a monopoly, violative of the Sherman Anti-Trust Act. ' Named in the complaint were Metro, Paramount, 20th-Fox, RKO, Warners, Universal, United Artists, Columbia, Republic, ' the Marcus Loew Booking Agency and' UA Theatre Circuit. Complaint charges that, although the plaintiffs have re- quested films on a first run basis since 1943, they were refused and that such refusal was the result of alleged illegal combinations to effect a monopoly, rather than of sound business practices. Defendant distribs book their pic- tures on a first, run basis in Louis- ville with, a uniform clearance- of 60 days over second run houses and 30 days over theatres whose . pa- tronage-, is exclusively colored, the complaint charges. Action seeks a permanent injunction restraining each of the defendants from mo- nopolizing the first run exhibition of films or from refusing to negotiate with the National for a chance to get first run bookings. , Action also seeks to restrain the defendants from entering "contract combinations," including license agreements for exhibition of fea- tures, . among themselves whereby features are licensed for exhibition in any theatre' associated or affili- ated, directly or indirectly, With any of the Louisville first run houses on terms more favorable to the lat- ter than' are given other houses, in- cluding the National. RKO MAPS PLANS TO EXPAND IN 16M FIELD RKO is set to expand in the 16m field, both domestically and in', the foreign market. Ned Depinet, RKO executive veepee, said that on com- pletion of existing distribution pacts; RKO will itself release all 16m ver- sions of its product in the U. S. via its own facilities. There will be no change in company policy as to types of locations it will' service. This merely points up that RKO will never permit 16m distribution to conflict with its regularly established theatres. Phil Reisman. foreign sales chief, also revealed preliminary plans for 16m in the world market. He- did not stale that RKO would use 16m- •versions on all features but ex- plained that RKO would make nar- row-gauge versions at first of action and eyc-appcal films. Company's foreign chief urged regular 35m ex- hibitors to employ 16m prints in out- lying and currently unserviced areas in the foreign field. First picture for the company with dubbed Spanish narration-to go. out in 16m will be "Tarzan and Leopard Woman." Later it will be done in Chinese. Reisman also revealed that Robert C. Maroney now is in charge of RKO's foreign 16m division. Chicago, July 16. Another nail was driven into th« coffin of the Chi system, of film release last week, practically seal- ing the system's fate,, when Judge Michael L. Igoe in U. S. District Court here affirmed the Jackson Park theatre's contention that jury findings in the original Jackson Park case in March, 1944, and subsequent affirmation by Supreme Court in February, 1945, were applicable in . theare's current. litigation to have release system abolished. De- fendants in case had argued this was an entirely different case. Calling the present release system a direct violation of the Sherman anti-trust act and Clayton act, Judge Igoe said "Defendents have each knowingly entered into a combina- tion and conspiracy to fix minimum admission prices in successive runs, and contracts, licenses and agree- ments shown in evidence as to clearance, playing position and licensing of pictures by. exhibitor defendents are an integral and in- separable part of such conspiracy, and said conspiracy and combina- tion is evidenced by the so-called Chicago system of release." ; In entering his conclusions of law Judge Igoe also said that "license agreements between the distributor' defendants and the exhibitor de- fendants with respect to the exhibi- tion of motion pictures by the thea- tres described in the complaint, owned or operated by exhibitor de- fendants, and in competition with the plaintiffs' Jackson Park thea- tre,, are implements whereby said illegal monopoly, price - fixing scheme and restraint of interstate commerce are perpetuated and pro- tected, and therefore they violate the Sher^man anti-trust act and the Clayton act." '..■'. Under the present system of re- lease in Chi, houses owned by the defendants get first call on picts over the Jackson Park and other indie houses. Judge Igoe's decision virtually frees the independent filmeries from being at the mercy of the distributors, and circuits, grants them the privilege of bidding on any -picture released; to set its own admission prices, and to do away with the double-feature pro- gram if if* wants to. Thomas C. McConncll, attorney for the JacksOn Park Corp., hailed the verdist as having equal import- ance to the Supreme Court decision, which awarded the theatre . treble " damages of $360,000 and said that it would mean the eventual death of. the Chi release system, the elimina- tion of fixing prices at theatres and the privileges of buying pictures at auction. Judge Igoe requested McConhell to prepare a final decree, to be pre- sented in court on Aug. 20, with defendants given 20 days after that date to file an'appeal. Defendants in the case are RKO, LOew's, Par, 20th-Fox, Vitagraph, Balaban & Katz. Warner Bros., War- ner Bros. Circuit Management Corp., and Warner Bros. Theatres, Inc. U's 8 Floors in New Tishman Park Ave. Bldg. Twentyone year lease calling for the payment in aggregate of a rental of $8,750,000 has been closed by Nate Blumberg, Universal prexy, with the ; Tishman Realty '& Con- struction Co.. Pact provides for oc- cupancy on. May 1, 1947 by U of eight floors of the new 21-story building, currently under construc- tion at 445 Park Ave, N. Y., be- tween 56thr57th Streets. It will be known as the Universal Pictures Bids. TJ, which is now located in the' RCA building, will occupy 88,000 square feet of space from the third to tenth floors. .United World Pic- tures, International Pictures, En- terprise Productions ' and the J. Arthur Rank Organization, affiliates of U, will be' tenanted in the space. Construction of the new building, so planned as to eliminate all heavy- columns on the exterior of the structure, permits/flexibility in sub- dividing space with 100% light in each office, it is. said.