Variety (Sep 1946)

PlCTUBfiS Wednesday, September 18, 1946 Korda's Defense to Landy Lawrence Suit Avers Latter's Secret Deals ■ Laudy' Lnwi-ence was, strieU.v . on-t hia ftwn to the point where he de- voted the major part of liis time to secret, private deals at .office ex^ pense, is the answer ot Sir Alexan- der Korda to Lawrences two N, Y. supreme court suits against his. for- mer employer. Korda, to .back his charges, lists sorrie 23 different trans- actions that Lawrence allegedly dabbled with while und.er contract to Sir Alex, including such diverse mattets as hiring a colored orches tra to appear in a Paris nitery .to peddlitig a product known as Surgi- tiibe to a French surgical dressing company. In Jesponse to Lawrence's t-wo re- cently filed breach of contract suits for $302,400 damages and tor spe- cific perfoirmanbe of a pact which would compel sale of London Film stock at 1/20 its face value, Korda j maintains that when he hired Law- ■ rence in a contract dated April 1, 1946, retroactive to Nov. 1, 194S, the latter agreed to devote his time ex- clusively to Korda's affairs as chief of promotion, production, sales and distribution of all films that Korda had an interest in any capacity. Con- trary to his commitment, the answer claims, Lawrence set up two per- sonal offices, one in Parisv the other in New York with his brother-in- law, Arthur Field, in charge. .Korda also replied to Lawrence's ■ BUit by fHing a counterclaim against him lor more than $100,000 that had been paid him in salary and ex- penses during the time he Was sup- posed to be working exclusively for the British producer. Guild members. Presented at 13th | latter group may earn a small in- come for several yearSi but will car- ry the full brunt of heavy taxation for a single year high income." Supplementing, his tale of woe. Koida asserts that Lawrence availed himself of his offices, telephone and cable facilities for his private deals. What's more, the answer charges, . some of the transactions were in "direct competition with actual or potential business of London Film Productions." The.se deals were inade, it is alleged, secretly and with- out the' knowledge or consent of Korda. On July 1, '46, when Korda learned of plaintifFs activities, he fired Lawrence forthwith, answer declares. Among the alleged deals which Ijr.wrence purportedly negotiated on the q.t. was the acquisition-of mo- tion picture rights to a large number of Ftench, Spanish, German 'ind Bussian pix; the securing of an in- terest in a studio being constructed in Italy; acquisition of distribution rights in Mexico and South America of certain Hal Roach films plus 27 westerns, including a Hopalong Ca.s- sidy series; acquisition of film riyhts to the novel, "Wilderness Cliaui- pien," published by LippincoU & Co , and disposal of a large number of flasks of mercury t1:!rough a certain Batelli in Italy. Topping his claimed grievances, Korda charges Lawrence with exact- ing a stock interest as a personal bonus from a certain Strengholra as inducement to licensing to the latter the rights to pix owned by London lor the Holland territory. In a sec- ond defense, Korda say.s that Law- rence failed to pay or tender to him the purchase price for. the first m- staTlment of stock, 6.066 shares- out of a total of 29,999 shares to be sold to Lawrence, at the due date. 'Bedelia' Leads E-L List Hollywood, Sept. 17. '■1: Arthur Rank production, "Be- deiia," flr.st of 10 to be released in the U. S. by Eagle-Lion, has arrived from England and will be ready for distribution in. two months, . Film co-stars Ian Hunter^ Mar- garet Lockwood and Barry K, Barnes, with I. Goldsmith as pro- ducer and Lance .Comfort as director. ZanuckTeesUpl? Pix in Next 4 Mos. Hollywood, Sept. 17, 20t.h-Fox will start production on 17 films in the. next four months. Darryl F,: Zariuck revealed on his return, frOm. New Yartc. ov^ir' week- end. Although only 14 films are on the studio's starting slate for next eight months, 16 other Stories are in various stages of preparation and may be added to shooting schedule. Films Waiting for greenlight are "Forever Amber," "Chicken Every Sunday," "Boomerang," "My Heart Tells Me," "Mother Wore Tights," "Captain From Castille," "The Ghost and Mrs, Muir," "The Hollywood Story," "The Gay Illiterate," "Party Line," "Honeyfogling Time." "The World Shook," "Ballad of Furnace Creek," "Bandwagon" and "Walls of Jericho." Gloomy Parlay Walter Veevers, head of Sir Alexander Korda's trick photog- raphy department, planed out of New York for London yesterday (Tuesday)—.without regrets. 4Te arrived in New York from the Coast on his way back to England Monday (16) morninjt. He tried to phone the Korda of- fices in the Empire State Bldg., biit found the phone system out ot Older. He then tried to get a cab to go there, .but couldn t find one empty , and .finally walked. He was unable to lo- . cate a ho^el room and wound up sleeping on a sofa in Korda's of- fice. When he got up in the morning hewent out to get a shave and discovered there was a barbers' strike. With that he high-tailed it for the airport and breathed a heave of relief when —as he half-expected by that time—he. found his reservatibn■ had not been cancelled. British Quotas Anew in '48 Seoi As Spur to More UJS. Prods in Eag. Prestige Bows With Xncky' Hollywood, Sept. H. Pi-e.'stige Pictures, new production company organized by C. L. Tevlin, will produce "Sometimes You're Lucky," a yarn by Arthur Caesar, as its first venture. . . "The Man From Cook's," origin- ally .slated as the company's starter, has been set back to next summer. Quebec's Bilingual Pix Plans Grow With New $2,000,000 Studio Setup Montreal, Sept. 17: Quebec's bilingual film production took a step forward with the an- nouncetnent by Renaissance.: Film Distributors that it had purchased a 300.000 square-foot lot for a film .studio near the city of Montreal. : Joseph De Sevc; company's prexy, told Variety that $2,000,000 will be used to build the studio and start production. De Seve would not .say where all the coin was raised but admitted it did not all cw>e from Canada. Metro Clarifies Studio 'Shakeup' "Rumor" that Louis B. Mayer had resigned as production chief at the Metro lot. aired by columnist Louella Parson.s on her Sunday (15) night radio show, was emphatically denied the next day by Metro prexy Nicholas; M. Schenck. "Everyone at .the h.o, iS; completely sa.tisfied ,with., the entire executive production staff and there is no political disturbatice or rumbling of any kind at the stu- dio;" Schenck said. Miss Par.sons' rumor, climaxed a .series of reports emanating from the Coast recently of a general re- shulTling of top Metro production execs called for by Mayer in an at- tempt to trim .steadily-mounting production ccsts. Upon his return from the Coast last week following MartiHSetinRKOaters Hollywood, Sept. 17. Richard Martin ' was assigned by RKO to star in a .series of westerns based on Zane Grey's works, start- ing with "To the Last Man." Actor was upped to stardom be- cause of his recent work in the RKO picture, "Bombardier," plant the Hollywood Of Canada. Meantime, with the arrival of Paul Lukas; shooting started today i.Tues- day) at Ste. Hyacinthe. Quebec, on Quebec Productions' bilingual fea- ture, "The Stronghold." Helmut Dantine and Mary Anderson are in two weeks of huddles with Mayer He said he plans to make the film ■ and William F. Rodgers, Metro vee- ' pee over sales. Schenck announced that the trio discussed future plans of the company in regard to chang- ing conditions caused by the recently inaugurated syistfe.tn Of sinfile-sellihg; for. pixy ' : : " High on the' agenda, moreover, was a discussion of >vays and means the cast and, by arrangement with j the J. Arthur Rank Organization, ; to trim production costs. To stream- Paul Dupuis, Canadian star of Brit-i line activities, Schenck and Mayer igh films, is appearing in the French I assigned Sam Kati.. oxec producer, version only. Producer George Mar-I to assi.st AT Lichtman, J. J. Cohn iCon'tinued on page 12) A B wayite In H'wood ■ By Jack Pulaski - made a fine i but "nobody seems to mind that . Morgan's Indie Siiofts Flan Gives Him Pro Tern Leave From Metro in N.Y. Herb Morgan, Metro Shorts pro- clucer and chief of the company's h.o. shorts department, has left M-G on a tentative basis to try his hand at indie shorts production. Accord- ing to Howard Dietz, Metro veepee Over ad-publicity, Morgan has not definitely resigned and no succcs.sor will be named until his resignation becomes effective. Morgan, presently on the Coasi. recently inaugurated a new series of shorts which he'll produce in co- operation with the Associated Press. New series, to be based on factual events, will' be. rclea.sed through Metro, (he first, "Traffic With the Devil," recently completed and awaiting a release date. Anne Nichols has made a tomebaek 'Wittii''Abie's Irish Kose," in Sound; and she's. up in tlie tax brackets again".'." .She lives in a.hoTise on a hilt back of the Strip.. .Archie Selwyn is in excellent physi'.'al con- dition again, having completely beaten a coronary attack. He swims daily at Santa Monica in the pool at the Honolulu-like California Cabana Club that has no cabanas and doesn't need any, and .he's going back in show business out there, having de- clined to manage a new legit outfit in New York. ■. For fais hit-and-run mistake George White is incarcerated at 1 HC, Pine Valloy road-camp in the mountains about 20 miles from San Diego.. . Last week Louis Schurr, the agent, visited the former revue ; producer and found him in a good-natured mood,-resigned to the prison stretch .'. .T.hey gave him a pick but after one day the warden realized that he was i;ot built for such labor and White was assigned to checkin'i. He's in a clorinitDry with 10 other prison^ ers. He never had many friends but the agent is steadfast and sends fancy "food from Romanoff's and the Ven- dome. Mike Todd cut a swath in expand- ing his "Up in Central Pa.i'k" in the i Hollywood Bowl, the four leading j dailies boo.sting the experiment as their charity funds are getting • a I slice of th.:> gro.ss.. .Maybe the en- 1 gagement will pan out tiut the weather IS so chilly at night that the show's chances are imperilled. ..Be- sides that,' the Currier & Ives drops that meant so much to "Parle" in- doors are mi.sjsed.. .show is ' now framed to play theatres and arenas, indoor or out, but in the, latter form it isn't the "Park" that clicked on Broadway. The pool at the Coral Ca.sino is a replica of that at Saratoga's Spa but; it got so cool after sundown that they lurried on: the heat at the Bilt- more . in late Augu.st.. .Motoring down the ocean highway to Delmar (rack thousands of well derriqks are passed, part' of the state's fabulous wealth.. .At Laguna Beach the odor of oil is noticeable even in the hotels Delmar is one of the most attractive racin j plants, recently acquired by a group, Todd having the directional end. . .dinner on the terrace iilter the races is a feature and on Saturdays the Clubhouse i-emains open until midnight.. .Planes from Los Angeles fly to the track daily, an ad.iacent landing Rold being an abandoned blimp ba.se.. .By air it takes -10 min- utes. Plenty of Sports Opposish Professional football games are weekly events, both leagues having standout teams in pre-season action .. ..Seeing the games at the Coliseum is not for tlie lame and the halt bc- cau.se of long flights of stairs.. .same goes lor the Bowl, reached only up a steep concrete walk.. .Coast snow- men seem to be placid about those night contests along with p.m. base- ball games, yet such attraction.-, are oppo.sition to theatres. Pete Ermatinger, at the Biltmore thera. has Warren O'Hara parked j with "State of the Union". ..Eddie 1 Joseph, head man of I. Magnin's cU -ss specialty .shop... Wolfle Gilbert,-the songwriting kid, though ar grand- I pappy. ..Jimmy Durante, Eddie .lack- son,, Jack Roth and Frank Ro.ss... Mat; Allen of El Capilan i "Black- outs''), and Eddie Sutherland who directed "Abie"... Harry Ros.;nthal who's building a swimming pool in the shape of a grand piano behind bis elaborate house.. . Jimmy the Schnoz- zola rehearsing a lagoon scene for "This Time for Keeps," with Esther WiUi.'ims, Durante in white flannel swalkw tails singing at a piano on | a.platform in the middle of.the drink | as he gets dunkedIt's by Joe Pas- ternak for Metro. Schnoz due east some tinie In November.. .Earl Car- roll's barbecue.. Sidney Skolsky's nifty "Jolson Story".. C. B. tie Mille 1 and George Brown at Pai-, . .Perry ! Charles of McSorley's Mounted | Literary,Society and ei<-m,ui;g Bob Sisk at Metro...Harry. Brand, the Grover Whalen kid.. .Ben Piazza, j the epicure.. .Dave Chasen. champ greeter of Broadwayiies.. .Billy I Grady who swears he's moving back east...Lou Smith of new Liberty .Films...and a flock of others., ■ : : ■( ■i ■: ■ i ■ .■' , i !"■.;■ i.:-' .t'.'.iV '- and M. J. Siegel in their work as chief.* ol the various production units. Although all reports of a slice in the personnel roster were denied, rumors persisted that the heavy list of producers of both shorts and fea- tures would be heavily pruned. Number of junior writers are also slated to be trimmed to minimum requirements and the options of those on the contract list, it was -said, would be allowed to lapse, with their reemployment only as needed. In line with this, Howard Dietz, iContinucd on page 20) L. A. to N. June Allyson Edward L. Alperson Judith Anderson John Bertero Edward Buzzell James S. Clark Jack Cole William F. Combs Judy Garland Karen Gaylord Mary Ellen Glea.son Peter Hilton Bob Howard Sol Hurok George Jes.sel P. J. Kelly Harold Knox Arthur Krim Charles Laughton Andrea Leeds Al Lichtman Florine C. Meyer Vincente MincUi Martha Montgomery George Morris Diana Mumby Mort Nathanson Dave O'Brien Charles O'Curran . Mary Pickford Dick Powell Roy Rogers Virginia Sale S. Sylvan Simon Mike Todd Audrey Tottiar Spencer Tracy Miguelito Valdes Irene Vernon ♦ Concerned over possible action by the British Parliament when the question of quotas comes up before it in .1948, It. S, major film compa- nies are-rapidly shaping plans for renewed pix production in the United Kingdom. While all Yank majors were forced to drop British picture-making during the war. re- vived interest is currently bt'iiig ■ ■ shown in a renewal of production at the point where the blitz forced suspension ot activity. All signs iiv- dieale that a substantial number ot top pix will be produced in F.nij- land before 1947 has faded. Efhtire question of quotas, sus- pended during the war, will be eon- sidered by Parliament with the like- lihood of, new requirements being promulgated. Parliament has boon marking- time since the end of the . war because acute building short- ages have hamstrung restoration of . old studios and building of new one*. Reconsideration of quotas has been set for "48 because building pinch v is figured to be over by then. Majors : would . have- swung into British production even earlier if the building hurdle had not stood In ■ the way. Situation, however, is gradually easing and the American companies are now making proij- rcss. Metro, for instance, has just completed construction on it.s El- I sli ce lot and will probably make 1 live pix in the coming year. Ben : Goetz, M-G British production chief, huddled with Louis Mayer in the ; U. S. recently on plans for renewed pix-making. Reported that Goct-^ will bring over to England Greer Gar.son plus a group of technicians for his first venture. Max Milder, Warner Bros, equix-n- lent to Goetz, is also reported tryiiii! to bring over production per.soniu'l . for an early start. Milder, too, has been confabbing in the States with WB topper.s, and pressed for pro- duction of a number of big bud-^ct pix. Prior to the war, the As.sn-, ciate<l British Picture Co. made .some : small films for Warners. Maurice Ostrer .t« C«l.'.V Other U. S. companies are rapifi- ly pushing ahead. Columbia, re- portedly, is .seeking to pact Maurice Ostfcr, former head of Gainsboroiiiilt st\idios, to run the show for it. , Simultaneously, the company hii!? been active lately on a hunt (or stu- dio space. Parannount's Russell Ho!» man, eastern production chief, is currently in England and it's under- stood that he is eyeing the sitiuilion._ British reports are strong that P;ir has in mind the idea of making .several pix before another year i? up. . ■ ,^ , ■ : RKO in a deal with J. Arthur Rank's Alliance Pictures is already shooting "So Well Remembered ' in Rank's .studios. Alliance and RKO pact calls for two pictures with an . even division of ownership. Both ' Ned E. Depinct, RKO press* and Phil Reisman, foreien chief, are, report- . edly seeking a further Alliance deal to boo.st the number of films. "Re- membered" is being megged by Ed- ward Dmytryk, who brought along an American crew of technician-s. Universal, of course, has no quota problem ."Since its close ticup. with Rank insures it a free hand on the British lots when 'the time comes. Moreover, its di.stribution ot Rank pix in the U. S. would probably be the aaswer to any regulations passed^ by Parliament. Europe to N. Y. Dave Blum George Sanders Murray Silverstone, N. Y. to L. A. Joe Bcrnhard „ Byron Price .Milton Sperlin,g , , , Plans Indie Pic East Julian Roffman and Ben Kcrner, both asisociated with Canadian gov- ernment film -services during the, war, have purchased screen rights to "The Velvet Well," a recently- published mystery-seller by John Gearon, for production in the easl^ Tliey're now organizing a new ind e company to turn out"Wcll'" and other properties they own in New York, Hoffman and Kerner will write, direct and produce "Well." Former Was in charge of film production lur the Canadian Army, Navy and .M'' Force during the war. Kcrner \v;is head of the .script department of the National Film Board of Canada iiii" is co-author with Tom Van Dycke of "Not With My Neck," which has just been accepted for publication by Julian Messner. New Penguin edition of "Well" is .about itu ,be p.ui}Usbe(l.