Variety (Sep 1946)

Wednesday, September 11, 1946 PICTURES GOLDMAN TOPS WB ON M-G BID Threat of Lawsuits May Force All Majors Into Auction-Selling Tactics Virtually ail other major distribs-"- ieel they will be forced within a few weeks to follow Metro into offering pictures for competitive bidding in a limited number o£ sit-, nations to avoid subjecting them- selves to potential lawsuits, it has been learned. That results from the fact that, since they instituted sin- gle-selling July 25, they are begin- ning to receive offers for their product from houses in competition with their regular customers. Otherwise, distrib execs concede, policy of selling each picture sinuly and not contingent on the purchase by an exhib of any other film has had virtually no effect on the in- dustry during the six. weeks it has been on trial. Single-selling was a inovision of the Federal court's anti-triist decree of June 11 and ■was instituted by the Big Five six weeks later, although the final form 6E the decree has not yet been de- cided on and companies are not yet legally bound by it. . . Offers for their product from houses in competition with their regular customers is causing the distribs considerable embarrass- ment. Where they have been deal- ing with an exhib for years, it comes as something of a shock to receive a request from his competi- tor down the street to buy the prod- uct. Even the most hardboiled dis- trib exec feels he owes some allegi- ance 10 customers he has done busi- ness with for a long time and so his natural inclination, if his rela- tions with the original exhib have been good, is to brush off as politely as possible tlie johnnyrcome-lately. That raises the question, however, of whether or not the second exhib (Continued on page 24) T Warners' theatres in Philadelphia were reported thi.s week to have lost out on their bids for "Holiday in Mexico," first picture offered by Metro under its experirneiital try- outs of the auction bidding plan. Film had reportedly been offered to both the Stanley.^Warner chain and the William .Goldman circuit, with Goldman's bids having been ac- cepted. In line with this, William T. Govt. Presses for Total Divorcement; Little 3 Maps Strategy Vs. Policing OVER 3 MILLION JULY FILM DIVVY : Washington, Sept. 10. Near-record.qlividend payments of $3,092,000 were reported for the pic- ture corporations in July, according to Department of Commerce figures, with the 1946. figure almost eiglit times the tab paid by the, biggies in ^ riily,^1945^_^^PiG compajlies only pai^^ Metro veepee over sales, yesterday (Tuesday) that Metro would not allow the unsuc- cessful bidder in sucli a Case to see the terms of the Winning bid. M-G, according to Rodgers, would natu- rally notify the Ibsing eHhib at the same time the winheif was tiotifled but the loser: wOwld not. be allowed to learn the winning terms. Mat- telr is strictly Metro's company busi- ness, Rodgers said, and would be kept under wraps unless. M-G was forced by law to tljtow the terms of the bidding open to the public. With all parties Concerned in the Philly situation refusing to com- ment, reports on the outcome of Me- tro's test in that city have varied. Rodgers, who rettirned 'last Thurs- day (5) from the Cosist; iaXd jrester- day that he hadtft heard ye^ whether Warners or GWdmah Was awarded the film. One Philly report indi- cated that the Warner houses had refused to turn in any bids at all under strict orders from the h.o. Latter, it's declared, had turned thumbs-down on buying product in that way through reluctance to take any part in getting auction bidding started. ■ , ^ . Most Philly exhibs are agalrist any (Continued On page 62) N. Y. Fire Dept. Plan To Remove 110 Men Can Cost 55 Theatres 350G Yearly . Move by N. Y. Fire Commissioner Frank J. Quayle is on foot to force legit houses and fllmeries with live entertainment to hire their own fire- , guards to replace some 110 city fire- men now on detail in 55 Gotham houses. Action which, according to a Fire Dept. spokesman, would be taken under Chapter 19 of the city administrative code would add an :estiiT\ated $350,000 annual, nut to : Broadway's theatres. PrelinTinavy ■ requests for consideration ot the step made by the Fire Dept.'s Divi- out $418,000 in dividends in. that month. . ■ . At the same time, another record was chalked up for the three-month Ijeriod ending July, 1946. In that quarter the majors and indies paid out a total $9,782,000 in dividends. In the same quarter last year, they gave with only $5,670,000. Record figure, for July is almost entirely the result of a $2,000,000 payment by Warners and another $1,000,000 cut from RKO. ; Remain- ing $92,000 was paid by the smaller pix operators. D.C. Nonconunital On Jos. P. Day, Inc. Auction Pix Plan Creation of an autonomous organic zation subject to court supervision to handle the mechanics of auction- selling has been proposed to the Federal Court, the Dept. of Justice and the major company distribs by Jo.seph P. bay. Inc., bigtime auc- tioneer outfit. The . plan has been personally urged Upon Special As- sistant Attorney General Robert L. Wright by Day officials in a Wash- ington confab. Wright was noncom-. mittal after close questioning of the Day reps which indicated that the Government was leery of the possi- bility that the distribs might be be-, hind the move. The Day proposal, unofficially es- timated to cost $500,000 yearly, would require approval of the ma- jority it not all of the rhajors. A separate office would be set up in each of the 31 exchange cities which I would act as central clearing house for all records of pix transactions. SlalTed in each case .by a licensed auctioneer and an accountant; these I offices would provide standard forms for all auction sales. Addi- local' managers would sell (Coiitinued on page 29) ATA Would Unify AU Exhib Beefs CPA CONTINUES TOUGH ONNEWTHUTREBLDG. Washington, Sept. 10. The Civilian Production Adminis- tration continued its "tough'' policy in okaying building of theatre proj- ects and announced last Friday (6) that only three pix house repair jobs had been okayed while 16 other building requests by exhibitors had been turned down cold in. week ended Aug. 29. Heading the list of projects nixed by CPA was a $125,- 000 request by the FoxrWest Coast. Agency for a'liOs Angeles building. Alterations . were approved for Hardy C. Pitlman, Greenview, 111., $15,000; Sam P. Beeson,: Shepherd, ■Texas, $5,500 and the Nu-Strand Corp., Kin.sport, Tenn., repair of fire damage to a theatre^ $50,000. 4- Missing statistics to support its claim that the Big Five through contifiued control of ,first-riin hoiisea will still monopolize the film busi- ness despite auction-selling, the Government last week launched a new offehsive for divorcement in. proposed amended findings which it ■ served upon defendants in the anti-: trust suit. The amended decree, pre- pared as a basis for the Government appeal to the Supreme Court, asks the statutory court to rule.that "di- vorcement of the major defendants from their theatre interests is nec+ eiisary to give legally adequate re- lief in tbLs suit." Meanwhile, mapping their strategy for the October decree battle. Little Three attorneys are preparing briefs which will attack the block-booking nix and'injunctive provisions ot the . decision that order policing, of the industry. Additionally, Little Three briefs will probably ask for a re-: duction of cancellatiort privileges !al-- exhibitors from , the 25% proposed by the Government to 20%. All three companies will probably disavow any intention of participating- in the, arbitration system which the. court has suggested be set up. Taking the lead, Columbia in its tentative brief is contending that block-booking has been held legal heretofore by the courts and that a ban on the practice would be dis- criminatory since the company has no theatres of: its own to act as. tt . cushion. As a blow against booking combines, Columbia is asking the court to enjoin the majors from sell- ing films to any persons acting as agents for theatre owners. Pointing to the hardship which Columbia would face if forced to make an . (Continued on page 29) sion of Licenses of Public Assembly ^ have met stiff opposition from thea- I tionai'yi tre owners, city officials admit. Present assignment .o£ two firemen i .to. every legit house has been car-i nnp yinijpiwp Til I II C Tied .out by authority ot the city IYIjI ' T nlUI lllU IILL U.U. code, which empowers the Fire | Commissioner to detail men where scenery and: machinery are used. :. The planned withdrawal of the city •firemen, is necessitated by, a terrific DECREE BECOMES FINAL Republic's sales plans ,.Ka«e re- mained unaifected by the recent anti-trust .decision .in the .Depart shortage of manpower and strong , j^^^^^.^ ^^^^ .^^jj^j, ^^ange demands for a return to tlie three- .^^ ^^^y methods contemplated for .platoon system o£ Pr«-«'a^^ days, the ^^^^^ few -months. ^ActuaUy, :ac- . Dept. spokesman said. While ,tne ' move is inevitable, it.was said, Com- missioner Quayle would act neither quickly nor drastically. However, should legit opposition continue. Court proceedings to enforce the step would be taken, it was broadly hinted. ■: Theatre owners' expressed nix , to move is predicated on the claim that the public pays more heed to :flremen in uniform than it would : to privately hired employees, While film liouses with flesh: entertainment currently are subjected to inspection only by roving fire deputies they would be included in the new Dept. ukase, the city official said. HOLMAN IN LONDON Russell Holman, Paramount pro- duction chief in New York, lias ar- I'lved in London. Holman will be joined next week by Tony Reddin, head of. theatres and publicity in England fo: cording to sales chiefs in Ijie h.o., there have been no films sold by the company on the general market since the single selling provision pointed at the rnajors went into effect. Cur- rent season releases are all booked. While ' Rep wasn't : specifically named in the suit, execs there say that the company will comply With whatever ruling is handed down re- garding the majors rather than wait for the Government to tap them on the Slioulder and say, "This means you, too." Vagueness, which seems general in the industry, is the chief cause Ipr Rep's maintenance of the status quo. No one knows exactly to what films the single-selling provi- sion applies, and how far retroactive it is supposed to be,: Result is. that. Rep .sales heads plan to stand by for whatever comes out of the final decree which is set for this fall, and: to base now plans on Uiatv .. Recent: board rheetings, at which stock dividends wore declared and oilier company business dis- Gontending that a plethora of ex- hibitor applications for. the right to be heard in the Government, anti- trust suit may crimp the chances of court approval: of intervention, American Theatres Assn., close on its decision to step into the case, is mapping a drive for a unified ex- hibitor plea to the court in one pe- tition. ATA execs have already ap- proached officials of the Motion Pic- lure Theatre Owners Assn. with the idea of both ATA and MPTOA co- ordinating intervention efforts with the organizations ' possibly filing a joint application. : MPTOA state and regional meets are to be held shortly to decide first on intervention and secondly whether to act jointly with AT,A., ■ Plan for merger ot efforts has al- ready gone some distance with an agreement between ATA and the Confederacy of Southern Assns. that the two would fight auction selling in unison. GSA, consisting mainly of ATA members, has promised to take the'^ oue from tlie topflight or- ganization and ATA ^xecs: believe: that the' former will join in with ATA on its application. Strong probability is that the Southern California Theatre Owners Assn. will also drop its idea of a separate court move in favor, of joint action, it is said. Paul Williamsj SCTOA general counsel, now in New York will stay on for huddles with (Continued pn page 29) New Type Decree Selling Keys New Type of Salesman With the new method of selling apparently to become a reality in the not-too-distant future, distribu- tion chiefs of the major companies have been quietly casting about for a new source of sales help. They figure that with single picture, com- petitive bidding,' the days of the "order-taker" arft over and there will be need of plenty of high- pressure salesmanship. With that in mind, distribution toppers are admitting that also at an end are current wage levels for salesmen. A constant source, of sUr-,' prise these days to those not familiar with wages in branch offices is that the average pay for salesmen is $75 a week. Level has remained at that for years, despite what, the ,war did for wages, in other lines of business. Result has been that most of the salesmen are old-timers,, well-ad- vanced in age, who have remained on because they've been in the busi- ness so many years that inertia and lack ot knowledge of any other in- dustry has held them. Meantime, the younger men who have not won promotion to branch managerships I or other executive posts with higher ' salaries have drifted away into other ' lines. And really promising younger | panics, United Artists, Republic and (Continued on page 29) j Monogram. Each of the distribs is (making three titles available, except Monogram and Rep, which will offer two each. One new print ot each of its pictures is now on hand at MPA Urges Exhibitors To Feature Special Pix For Kids on Sat. Mats In answer to squawks from parent and' civic groups on the effect of Hollywood films: on children. Motion Picture Association is urging exhibs to give special Saturday morning shows for the moppets as an anti- dote. To carry out the idea, MPA prexy Eric Johnston has sold dis- tribs the idea of making available 28 pix chosen from their vaults ber cause of their particular suitability for showing to kids. Participating in the plan are the seven member-companies of the MPA, plus three non-member com- — „ -.or Para mount, who planes from New York cussed, Steered clear of single selling •'his week. • -j ramifications. Tradeshow Problem Hollywood. Sept, 10. Prevalent headache among Holly- wood studios is the tradeshow prob- lem. Reviewers are squawking be- cause the studio projection rooms, where pictures are shown to the trade, are too far from newspaper offices. Meanwhile many Of the in- die producers, who: have no studios, are up against it for screening fa- cilities. . Agitation has been started for a centrally located theatre 'to be used, by producers exclusively for pre- view showings. With Teheran' Meller " Steve Pallos is slated to arrive in New York from England next week with a print Of "Teheran," which he recently shot in Italy with partial financing by, J; Arthur Rank. He is coniing to this country to Seek a release here for the picture. Rank's only interest in it is as an investor, Pallos having used some of the Brit- ish pic magnate's blocked currency in Italy, so the film will not neces- sarily be distributed by any of the companies here affiliated with the Rank setup. "Teheran" is a thriller based on the, threat to Roosevelt's lite at the confab with Stalin and Churchill in the Iranian capital:,during. the war. Pallos is scheduled to produce a number of other films in Italy, prob^ ably also with Rank financing. Krim's E-L Powwows Hollywood, Sept. 10.: Arthur Krim,: Eagle-Lion prexy, arrived . over , the vO'eekend for a series of important: meetings with Sryan Foy and A. W. ,,SchwaIbergi sales veepee. Company spokesman revealed that announcement will be made within the next couple of days at conclusion of huddles, concerning distribution plans for E-L as well as type, scope and size of films to be made by the company during the coming year. each ot the various companies' ex- changes. MPA figures this offers exhibs a big enough pool of product to run a show every Saturday from now until next March; by which time a new group of films will have been chosen. The project is known as the Chil^ dren's Film Library. All pix in- cluded in it as well as being proven faves for kids, have the okay of every amateur and pro reviewing organization in the country. Na-f tional Screen Service also is offer- (Continued on page 10) Rep's Trio on B'way For the first time in its history Republic had three pictures playing.: first-run Broadway houses last week and, in spite of lukewarm ^reviews, ' all doing pretty gpod biz. A fourth is coming in soon, when :"Rendez-» vous With Annie" follows "Swamp- fire" into the Victoria.. Currently pjaylng the Main Stem are Ben Hecht's "Spectre of the Rose,'' at the Republic, newly-desig- nated first-runnel'. "Earl. Carroll's Sketch Book" at Loew's State hit together with the house's 25th anni and closed with $38,000 in the till for its second week. Opening Fri- day (6) at the Criterion, "I've Al- ways Loved You;" received: mixed notices but has drawn pretty 'well.