Variety (Jun 1947)

PICTURES Wednesday,'* June 4, 1947 'Duel' 'Egg' and Tanner's Topped Boxoffice Sweepstakes for May "Duel in the Sun" paced the na- | tional bdxoffice during the month ©f May, according to reports from "Variety correspondents in about 20 leading key cities. Fact that this Selznick production was. spotted in eight keys covered by Vauiety— in the week of May 7-14 enabled it to take a stranglehold on first position in a number of playdates and on biz done the second week of the month. It retained this top position for three weeks running, and only in the week ending May 28 was its hold being challenged as to total coin obteincd. Both "Egg and I" (U) and "Farmer's Daughter" (RICO) were edging up on "Duel" in this final session of May, mainly because the Selznick picture ' was mostly in holdover spots. Second spot -In the list of nine leading grossers for the month was s toSsup between "Egg" and "Daugh- ter," with former copping the honor largely because it finished the first week in May holding the No. 1 po- sition. "Daughter" was second in ratings twice and in third place two times. Showing by "Egg" was all the more marked because it had been climbing steadily for two or* three weeks in national gross business so it was by no means entirely a new comer when it hit the top of the heap. Universal opus never dropped below third all month and was sec- ond in week o' May 21. "Daughter' also was in like category in that it had been around several keys prior to May 1. "Best Years" (RKOJ was hoth contested for fourth place by "Cal cutta" (Par) although the latte never got higher than fifth rankm' all month. Because it teed off May in seventh slot, this relegated it t fifth position nationally. Sixth best money-maker was "Two Mrs. Carrol's" (WB) which edged out "The Yearling" (M-G) in fina' weeks of month. "Macomber Affair" <UA) was nearly in a tie with "Yearling," former ending up in eighth because failing to land in the top nine grossers twice during May. ••Yearling" made this classification trree times, being fifth the first week of month and even in fourth stanza made the runner : up rating. Barely n aking ninth position was "Dis- honored Lady" (UA). Runners-up for the month but showing future promise were "Sep of Grass" (M-G), "Odd Man Out" (U), "It Happened on Fifth Ave." (Mono) and "Imperfect Lady" (Par). "Sea Hawk" and. "Sea Wolf," the Warner oldies, showed the best strength for reissues during the month, most reissued product not Jiving up to distributors' expecta- tions. Start of warm weather in nu- merous key • cities around the mid- dle of May cut deeply into grosses as many regular patrons flocked out- doors. However, it did not mate- rially affect the three leaders "Duel," "Egg" and "Daughter." This again substantiated the old exhibitor saw that a good picture will make money despite weather, opposing at- tractions or slowdown in public spending. Weather moderated later in month and many keys reported near normal boom biz for Memorial Day weekend. U Shooting 2 in N. Y. Title of Mark Hellinger's new pro- duction for Universal-International release has been changed from "Homicide" to "The Naked City." latter the title of the book by the w.k. New York news photog Weegee. Hellinger arrived in N. Y. from the Coast Monday (2) to supervise pro- duction on "City," most of which will be filmed in the east, as will another U-I pic, Nunnally Johnson's "The Senator Was Indiscreet," which ^. gels underway in N. Y. later this K week. Actual shooting on "City" Wf started Monday as camera crews r shot activities in the Holland Tun- nel. Film stars Barry Fitzgerald and features Howard Duff, Dorothy Hart find Don Taylor, latter twi new- comers. Jules Dassin direefs: - "Senator," slated to go befbre the cameras tomorrow (Thursday), marks the screen debut of George S. Kaufman as a film director. Pic- ture stars William Powell and fea- tures Ella Raines, Arlene Whclan. Peter Lind Hayes and Ray Collins. May s Big Nine 1. "Duel in Sun" (SRO). 2. "Egg and I" (U). 3. "Farmer's Daughter" (RKO). 4. "Best Years'! (RKO). 5. "Calcutta" (Par). 6. "Two Mrs. Carrolls" (WB). 7. "Yearling" (M-G). 8. "Macomber Affair" (UA). 9. "Dishonored Lady" (UA). U (Rank) After B'way Showcase With an eye to gaining a deluxe showcase in the Times Sq. area, Universal is pushing negotiations for a long-term lease on one of the two new theatres which City Invest- ing Co. plans to orect on the present site of the Astor and Victoria thea- tres. Deal has been in the talking s-tage for a considerable stretch, with U plugging for the larger house, which will supplant the Astor. Pos- sibility of Samuel Goldwyrj, who -rurrently uses the Astor for his top ixoduct, also bidding strongly for one of the new houses, has com- ■I'icated U's case. Matty Fox, U's exec veepee, is "ronting for the company. Fox last week inspected models of the new 'louses which City Investing had irepped especially for J. Arthur lank. The British biggie left New " r ork for the Coast before the mod- Is were completed. He'll give them he o.o. on his way back to England. Should U close the deal, house •ould play both U's Hollywood 'roduct and Rank's leading British ix. Rank would have dickered on is own for the house but he felt 'iat he would have insufficient mount of product to keep the the- -tre running 52 weeks in the year. : nder the terms of the anti-trust 'ecree. the Britisher then would be •ompelled to throw the house open o competitive bidding on other noduct. Initial talks had City preferring the smaller theatre to U while the tatter insisted on the one supplant- ing the Astor. Recently, City has switched and current huddles are revolving about the larger theatre. Building operations were to start fiis June but have been pushed back because of difficulties in obtaining Government permit. Universal has also been taking soundings in Washington with' a view to leasing a showcase in the capital city. Company is currently flirting with Sam Cummins, circuit operator, who owns a half - block stretch of land on Connecticut ave- nue and intends building a de-luxer. U would like to take a long-term lease on the theatre and Cummins is showing interest in the proposi- tion. Stockholder's Suit on U Officers' Option Deals Asking for the recovery of profits on option deals extended to the ex- ecutive group of Universal, Stephen Truncate yesterday (3) filed a stock- holder's suit in the N. Y. federal court against U, its officers and di- rectors. Profits to U's officers based on stock prices of February, 1945 al- ready come to more than $1,230,500 with 148,285 options yet uncon- verted, suit declares. Accounting and counsel fees are demanded. Chief charge voiced in the suit is that Universal was allegedly caused to wrongfully waive its rights to de- duct the -profits made on the stock from its own taxable income. By that action, it's claimed, U paid a full income tax without availing it- self of the possible deduction while the execs were thereby enabled to score up their take as capital gains at 25% rate rather than 70% under personal income schedules. Personal benefit accrued to prexy Nate Blumberg; board chairman J. Cheever Cowdin; exec veepee Matty Fox; general counsel Charles D. Prutzman; studio exec Cliff , Work; sales head William A. Scully, and foreign chief Joseph H. Seidelman, complaint alleges. U lost $723,500 in taxes, it's charged/and has a rea- sonable expectancy of dropping an- other $1,900,000 once the other op- tions are picked up. The Outlaw' Joins 'GWTW; 'Jolson' As Champ Reissue With most of the majors cur- rently learning the hard way that only a certain type of picture is good for reissue purposes, there re- main a particular few pictures that continue to roll up big grosses no matter how many times they repeat. Such films as Metro's "Gone with the Wind" and Columbia's "Jolson Story" offer strong evidence, ac- cording to industry analysts, that there is no saturation point for cer- tain types of films. With the right Andy Smith, Gehring Upped at 20th; Connors' 52G 'Consultant' Contract •♦• Complete realignment of 20th- Fox's sales force, including an in- crease in the company's divisional sales territories from four to six, was announced by 20th on Monday (2), fn the wake of the resignation four days earlier of sales veepee Tom J. Connors. Andy Smith, Jr., former eastern division sales chief, succeeds Connors as general sales manager. William C. Gehring, for- mer western division manager, was named assistant sates chief. Connors, according to 20th prexy Spyros P. Skouras, resigned because he and the .company couldn't set together on terms for his new con- tract. Connors' current five-year pact, which expires Aug. 14, called for him to receive $2,000 weekly. Renewal clause provided for his sal- ary either to be upped to $3,000 weekly for the next five years or for him to stay on in an advisory capacity at $52,000 a year for a simi- lar term. When he and 20th couldn't get to- gether on the increase, Connors elected to pick up the option re- taining him as a consultant. Orig- Those marriage bells may never ■ j na l five-year pact also provided for ring for 20th-Fox and Paramount j his estate to be paid $52,000, if he Turned Down A little boy in school was asked by the teacher, "How much is two and two," and the boy answered, "six." So the teacher' said, "Get out of the classroom until you learn how much it is." While waiting outside, en- other boy who was late was coming in, and the boy asted him how much is two and two, so the kid said "four." So the boy (who was sent outside) said to the other boy. "Don't go into the classroom—I just offered the teacher six and she wouldn't take it." —Willie Howard. Par-20th Merger On 16m Looks Nix on their planned joint 16m opera tions in the foreign field. The two companies which announced several months back the formation of an outfit to handle narrow-gauge have made no progress towards its or- ganization and things -are currently at a standstill. What's more, chances are better than even that the merger will be abandoned entirely before long, according to reliable reports. Scheme has been stymied so far by legal complications. Company legalites have refused to give a defi- nite greenlight to operations be- cause, it's understood, pendency of the Government anti-trust suit has made that course unfeasible. With an appeal waiting its turn before the U. S. Supreme Court, legalites fear the jointly-owned" company might be dangled before the nine judges as evidence of unwonted friendliness between the two com- panies. Dep't of Justice has claimed, all along, that the majors do not compete with each other. Webb-Clayton Act permits joint operations of U.- S. companies abroad type of appeal at the start and cor- rect followups, such product can be under certain conditionsso the move Indies Unworried On Price'Rebellion In Minn. Theatres Minneapolis, June 3. Although "rebellion" against cur- rent admission prices has broken out in one Minnesota situation, Hawley, near here, major circuits and individual independent ex- hibitors apparently are unmoved and unworried. They say they're giving no consideration at this time to a reduction in scales, although North Central Allied heads assert "the handwriting is now on the wall." Highsctiool students at Hawley had to call off their picketing of the Garrick theatre there when town officials ruled it illegal. But now, however, they're boycotting the house. They demand that the 40c price be lowered. Manager R. H. Veiths, however, is standing pat. In this territory, largely depend- ent -for its eqonomic welfare on farm prosperity, theatre business continues to hold up relatively well in the majority of situations; ■ 'This is mainly due to the general high agricultural prosperity and pur- chasing power. Circuit heads and individual ex- hibitors justify the present scales on the basis of •stiff operating costs. They deny "excessive profits and earnings'' from present-day opera- tions. counted on repeatedly to do busi ness. Surprising newcomer to the ranks of the select few is Howard Hughes' "Outlaw." Picture has played re- peat performances in almost every situation, with the repeats almost in- variably grossing more than the film did on its first run. Despite the fact it's been cut off from two-thirds of the important key cities through either censorship troubles or failure of the Hughes outfit to get together with exhibitors on terms, "Outlaw" has grossed nearly $3,000,000 to date. And with little likelihood that any censor bans on the picture will be lifted, Hughes spokesmen predict the film will have, grossed more th*an $5,000,000 in all within the next year. Fact that repeat engagements of "Outlaw" so often gross more than its initial showing in each territory indicates, according to the analysts, that it's more than morbid curiosity that lures the customers. Film, they believe, is just a good western and the type of picture the public goes for. Fact that the picture was banned by censors and panned by critics indicates, moreover, they point out, that critics and others can't estimate the type of business a picture will do. Much of the success of "Outlaw," according to Hughes reps, is at- tributable to the large-scale public- ity campaign given the picture and to its distribution setup. With its pre- release ballyhoo and day-and-date openings in many situations, "Out- law" predated in such ways the cam- paign given "Duel in the Sun'' by David O. Selznick, Five Starters, 4 Holdovers In Columbia Hopper Hollywood. June 3 Five pictures, starling with "The Mating of Millie McGonigle," get the gun at Columbia this month, making a total of nine in action. Other newcomers are "When a Girl's Beau- tiful." "Last Days of Boot Hill,' "Six-Gun Law" and "The Straw- berry Roan." Carried over from May are "It Had to Be You.'' "The Prince of Thieves." "Double Take" and "The Last Roundup." is legal per se. One condition of that law is that any other firm de- siring to come into the combine must be permitted to do so. New outfit was to have Emanuel Silverstone, 20th foreign dept. exec, as prexy and Dan Frankel as man- aging director of operations. Luncheon to Rank v Winds Up in Tribute To Retiring Pat Casey Hollywood, June 3. Luncheon tendered Thursday (29) by the Motion Picture Assn. honor- ing J. Arthur Rank turned out to be a grand tribute to Pat Casey, who was saying his farewell to the indus- try labor relations job after a quar- ter of a century of service. With Rank and Robert Young, head of Pathe Industries, the hon- ored guests, some 60 people seated at the. tables in the Beverly Hills hotel anticipated a long number of speeches lauding Rank and Young. However, the greetings to the two men were'short and simple, and they in turn felicitated each other and the motion picture makers of Holly- wood. Eric Johnston, head of MPA, who presided, suddenly arose and started eulogizing Casey, who was a guest at the head table. It was a surprise to the "Silver King" and almost brought tears to the eyes of the veteran showman when Johnston said: "Everybody in this room has made a contribution to the growth and prosperity of the motion picture in- dustry. It is impossible to introduce everyone, but I would like to men- tion one man whom I think deserves a great commendation. He has made an outstanding contribution. For many years he has.handled our labor relations problems, and has done a good job when it was most difficult to do a good job. He has always as- sisted the industry whenever his energy and counsel would help the industry forward. I refer, of course, to Pat Casoy, whose selflessness is well known. "He would resent my saying this, but I think I ought to say it today— (Continued on page 20) died within that time. Connors, meanwhile, has made no decision as to his future plans. He left New York yesterday (Tuesday) for a 10- day fishing trip, and took no part in the all-day meet held by Skouras Monday (2) with his entire sales force, at which the new assignments were mapped out. ' Whether Smith is to be m5dc a v.p. of the company and elected to the board, both positions which Connors held,' will probably be de- cided at the next board meeting. Martin Moskowitz, meanwhile, was named executive assistant to Smith, filling the position Peter Levathes held with Connors. Levathes. in turn, was upped to shorts salesman- ager, filling the spot left open by the late William C. Clark. Clarence Hill, former exec assistant to Smith, be- comes supervisor of exchange oper- ations. Morris Caplan was named chief of sales statistics. Eddie Col- lins was appointed homeoffice aid* for the southern, western and Ca- nadian divisions, with Jack Bloom getting a similar job for the mideast and central divisions. 2 New Division Heads Herman Wobber continues as western division chief and Harry G. Ballance as southern division head, with Kansas City and St. Louis added to Wobber's territory.,. Ray Moon, former- New York district manager, was named head of the new Yankee division, comprising N. Y., Buffalo, Boston, New Haven and Albany. Jack Lorentz becomes sales chief for the new central divi- sion, with Tom Gilliam, heretofore Chicago branch manager, named to succeed Lorentz as Great Lakes dis- trict manager. Joe Neger, Milwau- kee branch manager, succeeds Gil- liam and Joe Woodward, Kansas City salesman, replaces Neger. C. E. Peppiatt, former Atlantic district manager, was named chief of the mideast division, heading the Atlantic district and the newly- created River district. Sam Gross, Philadelphia branch manager, suc- ceeds Peppiatt, with Herb Gil)is, Philly salesman, taking over as manager of that exchange. Sydney Samsofl, heretofore Canadian district manager, has been upped to the post of Canadian salesmanager. Charles Kosko, Pittsburgh sales- man, becomes Buffalo branch man- ager. William Graham, who been filling the position temporarily, moves to Chicago as office manager of that exchange. Of the division managers, Moon will headquarter at the homeoffice. Lorentz is to head- quarter in Chicago; Wobber in San Francisco; Ballance in Atlanta; Peppiatt in Philadelphia, and Sam- son, Toronto. Production Up to 10 Pix June 9 For Metro , Hollywood, June 3. Metro's production activities, down to two pictures two months ago, will be upped to 10 on June 9. when "Virtuous" and "Upward to the Stars" arc slated to start simul- taneously. Others in work at that time will be "On An Island With You.'' "Kilter McCoy," "The High Wall." "Alias a Gentleman." "The Pirate." "If Winter Comes," "Cass Timb< r lane" and "The Kissing Bandit."